Morning Link Scans

I don't argue with creationists over evolution for the same reason I don't argue with people who think gnomes control gravity: There is no way to convince a crank that he's wrong.

Still, this is a blog that's all about "counterpoints", so here are a few links that make the case for creationism:

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(Note: This was part of a longer video. Go ahead and laugh - then remember that these are the kinds of people that want to run your childs science department.)

(Note: This is supposed to be satire... but it makes as much sense as anything else.)

“Indisputable evidence - long hidden but now available to everyone - demonstrates conclusively that so-called ’secular evolution science’ is the Big Bang, 15-billion-year, alternate ‘creation scenario’ of the Pharisee Religion,” the memo said. “This scenario is derived concept-for-concept from Rabbinic writings in the mystic ‘holy book’ Kabbala dating back at least two millennia.”

(Note: Ohhhh... well that explains it. It's all the Jews fault that we believe in science. Damn you Abraham!!!)

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Ha! Betcha thought it was going to be "love" or "romance" or some squishy fare.

No sir! Valentines Day is nothing more than an excuse for those in solid relationships to tell the rest of us: "Neener neener... we're getting laid tonight, and you're not."

So to counter the mass-marketing of vulva-shaped boxes, (Otherwise known as hearts.) today's theme will be commemorate alternatives to Valentines Day.

Happy 78th Anniversary of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre!

(Note: A cheesy, re-enactment of the St. Valentine's Day Massacre.

February 14th is a good time to remember the futility of prohibition. Thank God we've learned that banning mood-alterning substances is not an effective way to deal with the problems of drug abuse.

What???!!! I said "we've learned", I didn't say that lessons have transferred into wise drug policy.)

Happy aniversay to Penicillin, a treatment for venereal diseases such as syphilis, was introduced to the world on March 14, 1929.

(Note: Sure, it's a month early - but why not celebrate today?)

"Before it was called Valentine's Day, back when it was called Lupercalia, a big Roman festival in honor of the fertility god Lupercus, before the ever-scowlin' church got a hold of this ancient and rather odd and blood-pumped Roman lust-fest, co-opted it and de-sexed it stripped it of its more salacious and admittedly libertine joys, as the church is so tragically wont to do.

...snip...

Then came the sex lottery. Oh yes. Say it like you mean it. Pretty much only have to say the words, "sex lottery," and already you're like, damn, count me in, sure beats dinner and a movie.

And all the young lasses in the city would place their names in a large urn, and the city's eligible bachelors would choose a name out of the urn and become paired for the year with his chosen woman, often resulting in marriage. You know, sort of like the Mormons. Only with actual sex. And booze. And without the creepy undergarments."

(Note: Okay, this is a holiday I can get behind. Let's bring back Lupercalia old-school style. Better this than chocolate and roses.)

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Last night I attended Drinking Liberally for the first time in over six weeks. To celebrate, today's theme is: Mildly inappropriate material featuring beer.

Gross - but funny beer commercial.

(Note: A gross beer ad; but I still enjoyed it. Go ahead and flame me. )

(Note: This is probably the single-most dumbest image I've posted on this site in over three years. Yet, I just couldn't resist because, after all, it's a squirrel... drinking beer! BTW: Photo taken by Betty France.)

"This week I was asked an interesting question concerning drinking beer and exercising. It seems that a former Navy Radioman has developed quite a gut since retiring, and was curious about whether he should give up his beer to lose weight? Not only does the gentleman enjoy drinking about 2-4 beers daily, he also has quit exercising. Moderate beer consumption is actually healthy, so I set out to define "moderate" as well as educate on the basics of caloric intake and caloric expenditure. The radioman is not suffering from a beer belly but an INACTIVITY BELLY! Yes, you can still drink beer and be very fit."

(Note: Woo Hoo! I can Fill my water bottle with tasty Guinness when using the treadmill.)

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This weekend at a yard sale I found a hoola-hoop, a stack of disco albums, a Members Only jacket and a Rubics Cube all together on an old blue tarp.

Seeing the bones of past fads in one pile got me to thinking: Is blogging just a temporary thing like all those other items?

Personally, I don't think so. In the early days of widespread literacy, people used to publish "broadsheets". These evolved into what we now call "Daily Papers".

Similarly, I suspect that once the economics works itself out, blogging will evolve into something we don't have a word for yet.

Today's theme: Are blogs just a fad?

(Notes: It feels like it was another age, but the general public only learned about "blogs" a little over 18 months ago with the Gannon/Guckert controversy. This is a good place to start when discussing if blogs are a fad because we can compare how much has changed since then. Be sure to watch the end of the clip where Jon Stewart interviews Colbert.)

By all appearances, the blog boom is the most democratized revolution in media ever. Starting a blog is ridiculously cheap; indeed, blogging software and hosting can be had for free online. There are also easy-to-use ad services that, for a small fee, will place advertisements from major corporations on blogs, then mail the blogger his profits. Blogging, therefore, should be the purest meritocracy there is. It doesn’t matter if you’re a nobody from the sticks or a well-connected Harvard grad. If you launch a witty blog in a sexy niche, if you’re good at scrounging for news nuggets, and if you’re dedicated enough to post around the clock—well, there’s nothing separating you from the big successful bloggers, right? I can do that.

In theory, sure. But if you talk to many of today’s bloggers, they’ll complain that the game seems fixed. They’ve targeted one of the more lucrative niches—gossip or politics or gadgets (or sex, of course)—yet they cannot reach anywhere close to the size of the existing big blogs. It’s as if there were an A-list of a few extremely lucky, well-trafficked blogs—then hordes of people stuck on the B-list or C-list, also-rans who can’t figure out why their audiences stay so comparatively puny no matter how hard they work. “It just seems like it’s a big in-party,” one blogger complained to me. (Indeed, a couple of pranksters last spring started a joke site called Blogebrity and posted actual lists of the blogs they figured were A-, B-, and C-level famous.)

That’s a lot of inequality for a supposedly democratic medium. Not long ago, Clay Shirky, an instructor at New York University, became interested in this phenomenon—and argued that there is a scientific explanation. Shirky specializes in the social dynamics of the Internet, including “network theory”: a mathematical model of how information travels inside groups of loosely connected people, such as users of the Web.

(Notes: This is a must-read for all writers who want to make a living from blogging. Like I mentioned earlier, the economics of blogs still has to work itself out.

The difference between a fad and a trend is the amount of wealth it can generate for those who enter late in the game. If the first group of people who entered blogging are the only ones who can make a living from it, the medium is doomed to mediocrity.

A quality blog takes a tremendous amount of time and work to build and maintain. Without a source of income, even the best bloggers will have to drop out eventualy. Fame without money does not pay the bills.)

Six Apart is currently working on a new product, codenamed Comet, that will start beta testing this quarter. "It's meant for the next generation of blogs," says Mena Trott, without revealing details. Just before setting off for Monterey, Calif., to speak at the annual TED conference -- that's technology, education, and design -- Trott spoke with BusinessWeek Online reporter Reena Jana about challenges in blog design -- which, she hints, Comet will attempt to address. Here are edited excerpts from their conversation:

Do you think that blogging will supplant mainstream news Web sites and other established media?
There will be similarities. But blogging and traditional journalism play by different rules and will remain distinct. They're meant to complement each other, play off of each other in terms of the readers' attention.

What do I read when I wake up? I go to news sites. But I'm more excited right now about personal users. The 10 blogs I really care about are written by my friends. I'm interested in the community of a blog network.

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Today we are going to hear some viewpoints about Net Neutrality. Net Neutrality is a series of regulations that force your Internet Service Provider (ISP) to treat everyone who wants access to internet equally. It's a bit like laws that say your water company can't reduce your service just because they would prefer that you buy more soda.

Today's theme: Net neutrality.

(Note: This video explains the pro-Net Neutrality viewpoint. For a more humorous explanation ask a ninja.)

(Notes: This cartoon is by a public relations firm on behalf of the corporations who oppose net neutrality. There is nothing wrong with Fortune 500 companies trying to get their point-of-view across to the public; it's just I never thought I'd see corporations like AT&T, Verizon and BellSouth complain about "Big Money".)

"That's it. Burn DC to the ground. I got to my inbox yesterday and found yet another example of dishonest hackery from Mike McCurry's group on net neutrality and internet freedom. This time it's a negative hit piece, backed by a massive blogad campaign. The telcos, so you know, are spending millions of dollars a week on this fight. This ad is an example of it, repeating the lie that the government had no role in the internet's success and that bloggers are a bunch of irresponsible rabble. "

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One of the things I admire about conservatives is that they are not scared to speak from their values. You don't have to wonder where a Republican stands on an issue.

There was a time when Liberals spoke from their values about the vision they had for America. Today we are going to look at some examples.

Today's theme: Liberals and progressives who speak and act from their values.

IF THE VIDEO DOES NOT PLAY, FOLLOW THE LINK ON THE TITLE.

(Note: Something to remember: Senator John Pastori was a notorious hard-ass in 1969. Everyone thought he was going to tear into Rodgers that day. Notice how Rodgers stays calm, respectful and speaks from his heart.)

Photo Album: Images of a Peoples' Movement

After his presidency in 1980, Carter assumed the role of an elder statesman and international mediator, using his prestige as a former president to further many causes. He founded the Carter Center as a forum for issues related to democracy and human rights. He has also traveled extensively to monitor elections, conduct peace negotiations, and establish relief efforts. In 2002, Carter won the Nobel Peace Prize for his "efforts to find peaceful solutions to international conflicts, to advance democracy and human rights, and to promote economic and social development." Carter has continued his decades-long active involvement with the charity Habitat for Humanity, which builds houses for the needy.

(Notes: Jimmy Carter is one of my personal heroes. Not only was he a great public servant; but after his presidency he worked for fair elections, human rights, and built houses for the homeless.)

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Today's theme: Different Kinds of traffic.

(Editor's note: Time-lapsed video of radar showing FedEx flights dodging thunderstorms. This also has a nifty soundtrack.)

Microsimulation of road traffic (Java Applet)

(Editor's note: This Java applet will allow you to create simple traffic simulations. I had a lot of fun with this.)

"There's a long list of high-traffic sites (beginning with theglobe.com and extending to hotmail and many others) that couldn't monetize. They were stuck because the bait that got them the traffic had no room for a reasonable hook. You could use a TV like model and interrupt with irrelevant ads, but it doesn't work so well.

All a long, long way to say something simple:
Whatever your website, I think you want better traffic, not more traffic.

You want to figure out why the right people will come, not build a sideshow that attracts exactly the wrong people."

(Editor's note: I disagree somewhat with the author of this article. While it is true that high traffic in-and-of itself is useless; it's easier to generate a buzz and get cross-linked when you are popular.)

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Today's theme: Mentos.

(Note: Three teens fight over a pack of magic Mentos. Hilarious!)

(Note: A great collection of pop and classical art with a pack of Mentos creatively Photoshopped in.)

A sassy young lady sashays past an open air French style cafe, gaining the attention of a business man, and at the same time interrupting his newspaper enjoyment. As she glides past, a footwear malfunction occurs, leaving her sans one heel. She reaches for her secret freshness enducer, Mentos. After administering a piece of the magic elixir of nuttiness, she breaks off the remaining spike, proclaiming to the world her resourcefulness, and endless freshness. The man in the cafe is undoubtedly impressed.

2. The Fake Press Agent (or 'Those Crazy Kids I')

A young lad and his pals file through a mob of fanatics and paparazzi, in order to get a closer look at their favorite star. However, their adventure takes them over the legal boundaries of said activity, which is then pointed out to them by the authorities. After a bit of contemplation, and a hearty dose of freshness ala Mentos, our hero cunningly disguises himself as a member of the media, and breaks through the defenses of the establishment.

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Today's Theme: Sleep.

Let me sleep

(Notes: Baby falls asleep in the kitchen sink with the water running. If the faucet is turned off, she wakes up to turn it back on.)

Have you been so tired?

(Notes: Many more pictures at the site.)

How to survive on 2 - 3 hours of sleep a day.

"Polyphasic sleep involves taking multiple short sleep periods throughout the day instead of getting all your sleep in one long chunk. A popular form of polyphasic sleep, the Uberman sleep schedule, suggests that you sleep 20-30 minutes six times per day, with equally spaced naps every 4 hours around the clock. This means you’re only sleeping 2-3 hours per day. I’d previously heard of polyphasic sleep, but until now I hadn’t come across practical schedules that people seem to be reporting interesting results with."

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