August 24, 2004
August 15, 2004
Link Mini-Dump
Only a dozen or so this time. Keep your pants on. ;)
Calling Mrs. Tu and Who Makes These Changes: More meditatable wisdom from Winds of Change.
Allahpundit reports on Iranian stupidity over women's sports. That country needs to just chill out. Either that or get laid. Just sayin'...
Dissecting Leftism has this great bit of the gander getting sauced: A Hofstra law student has filed a complaint against the New York Times, claiming that the Grey Lady's famous slogan "All the news that's fit to print" constitutes deceptive advertising.
Venture Philanthropy: Venture Capital with a non-profit twist.
802.11n standard submitted for approval: Next Generation WiFi. Based on MIMO-OFDM (multiple input, multiple output-orthogonal frequency division multiplexing.) I have no idea what the frack that is, but it sounds damn cool.
Thought For The Day: Albert Einstein on why America rocks.
Anglo-Saxons versus Latin-Catholics:
Chrenkoff chrenks off on the recently released foundational document of French foreign policy. Something about how to play both sides against the middle.Gruntwork: The Secret Anti-Terror Weapon: The best defense against terrorism: Information, with a side of shoe leather.
Roving packs of liberal regulators: AKA "Nanny-State Commandos." So close to reality I'm not even laughing.
YOUR MISSION FOR THE DAY, SHOULD YOU CHOOSE TO ACCEPT IT: New York Times reporter interviews famous economist Richard Fair, about his econometric model that predicts a Bush victory. Questions Fair's deviance from Democratic party line. Gets her ass handed to her on a silver platter. Inexplicably decided to come back for seconds.
Dammit. Wish I knew about this when I was taking the SAT.Wiretapping the Web: No VoIP until it's wiretap capable. Trust me. this is a good thing.
The Rationale Behind Londistan: Brit journalist thinks not taking down radical Muslims working in the UK keeps the kingdom safe. Ever hear of the wordTaqiyya, fellas?
At the WTC: Imago Veritatis rediscovers the reason why we fight. Read, and understand.
Spontaneous Property Rights: Law is so much more vast than legislation, and so much richer. Much of it – perhaps even most of it – isn’t written down anywhere. It’s embodied in people’s expectations about how others will act and about how others expect each of us to act under various circumstances.
Now if you excuse me, I gotta go watch the Olympics. USA vs. Japan: Women's Beach Volleyball. It's like a real-life videogame.
August 14, 2004
The Most Massive Link Dump In Recorded History
I save a lot of links in my blog surfing, thanks to FeedDemon's NewsBin feature. Too many. But see, I usually have no time to blog. Thus, these entries are filed away in my newsbin, ported back and forth from home to office computers and back again, just sitting there waiting to be broadcast to the world.
This has been going on for the last three months. Well, no more.
Presenting, herewith, more than patiently accumulated links, spanning three months of blog-surfing, in chronological order, from oldest to newest...
UN Implements Sex-For-Food Program In The Congo: Not just oil-for-everything-but-food...
How To Ace An Intervention: Useful advice in some quarters.
Iran: A Plea for Western 'Soft Power': Tehran Delenda Est.
Louisiana's new online citizen opinion site: Democracy in Action in the Bayou.
Black Irish: Some English descended from Moors sent to guard Hadrian's Wall. Cracker racists have no comment.
Fixing the Tax System: Hope for something better that an out-of-control income tax system.
Fighting Fire With...: Someone suggested sabotaging the RPG's used by Iraqi insurgents to make the explode and kill the user. So Evil it just might work.
Talking Torture: Instapunk touches the third rail of ethics.
The Cop And The Criminal Defense Attorney: Cop hypes DUI arrests, kicks them over to buddy, the defense attorney. Corruption ensues.
Torture Videos From Abu Ghraib: Just Click It. Not what you think, no? [GRAPHIC]
"The Weenie Caucus" Tees Off On Bush: Four-stars and pinstripes criticize foreign policy. Considering that these f*ckers got us into this mess.
Two Cool Things: Very Cool.
Elsewhere: Psychiatrist thinks W. is crazy, as a matter of medical opinion. Ever hear of something called a defamation suit, jackass?
So There I Was: Where Were You?
None so blind dept. Part the Bazillionth: Are we serious yet?
No One Asked Us: Why do the soldiers think we went?
You wouldn't think Secret Service agents were that romantic, would you?: You may now frisk the bride.
Federalist #1: Two Auspicious Beginnings.
Good Tort News: Judge tosses out a bunko lawsuit. Hero!
Oil For Blood: Where your gas money goes.
Flirting, Dating, Marriage: Was Tongue Involved?
Not That We're Surprised: Would things be better if...
Plain Talk: 'Nuff Said. Read it.
Splinter: Not technically a blog, but still...
Russian Intel: Saddam Was Planning Terrorism Against the USA: Hmmmm....
Moms Who Rock: Mom busts a suicide bomber in Israel.
Moms-To-Be Who Rock: This mom trades Olympic Gold for a baby. Hero!
Cory's DRM Talk: Do you hear this, RIAA? Or shall we turn it up for you?
When This Broker Talks They REALLY Listen: 'Cuz he tells them to...what?
US Unemployment May 2004: I'm lucky to live in VA.
Answers To Your Questions: Flashback to Iraq's 2nd Liberation Day...
The Consequences of Social Democracy: A better life isn't one of them.
How To Dump IE: *sigh*
Overheard: Which Care Bear Are You?
No Fuel Efficiency For You!: **SIGH**
Where Was I?: Brian Noggle Don't Know!
Phase 2: "The end of the beginning..."
How the UN deals with problems: It Doesn't.
Eugene Volokh, Porn Star: You can guess what happens next.
Computer Generated Redistricting: Gerrymandering with a 21st Century twist.
Code: How to switch your blog entries to a new domain name.
Inexplicable: Why?
President Announces Controversial New Educational Initiative: Heheheheh.
Privatizing Foreign Policy: Why should states have all the fun?
Rummy's New Rules For Reporters: Do You Feel Lucky?
The Revolution Within the Revolution: Tranzis, the Brezhnev Doctrine, and You.
Heisenberg Public Policy Principle: Hmmmm...
Video Of The Day: I'm going to ask it again...Do You Feel Lucky, punk?
Introducing You to the Concept of Taqqiya: In other words, lying.
Fight Club: Mr. Cramer breaks the first rule of Fight Club.
More Wonders of Socialist Hell-Care: And we need this here...why?
Bug Me Not: En otras palabras, no me jodas, pendejos!
The Leftinator: Is it live or is it randomly generated socialist crap?
When Islam Breaks Down: Nothing good happens.
What We Don’t Know Can Hurt Us: In more ways than one.
Terminator: I'll be back.
More Crushing of Dissent: Watch me not care. ;)
Truck Guns: Truckin...
Is the CIA Anti-Bush?: Is there any doubt?
Cogent Thoughts on Homeland Security: On air security...
Proud Digital Brownshirt: Watch as we crush your dissent! MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Sports, Clausewitz, and You: Is winning everything?
Who's In Charge Here?: On the border, it ain't us...
How the GOP ended up in NYC: Not what you've heard...
Three Moore Posts In One: Heheh.
Honesty is the Best [Withdrawal] Policy: Hillary: "We're going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good."
Network Analysis to Prevent Attacks: How to spot a terror attack before it happens.
Allawi: Saddam "Natural Partner" of Al-Qaeda, Terrorism: Listen, and understand.
IE: No longer ready for prime time: It's over, guys.
Even His Supporters Agree: Michael Moore Lies: Duh.
The culture that matters: J-Lo's ass conquers the world.
Celebrating the Underblog: You can't swing a dead cat without finding some good blogs here.
A CIA operative?: Secret....Aaaagent Bush!
More On Gettysburg: The exploits of Gen. Joshua Chamberlain and the Irish Brigade.
Libyans Finds Al-Qaeda Base, Informs West: Score one for our side.
Singing a new tune: NASA channels Janis Joplin.
Cool Test: Very cool test.
Architectural Musings: What do do with big box stores when the stores leave and all you have are the big boxes?
Iranians Building Baghdad Carbombs Apparently Not News: Whad'ya expect?
Iraqi Radioactive Material Secured: Score another one.
Street smart vs. smart in school: The real problem in public schools.
You have to do before you can redo: You must habilitate before you can rehabilitate.
Youth Gone Wild: An 11- year old Republican blogger?
Intel and Military Transformation: Very, very interesting.
The western roots of Islamism: So that's what Camus was up to...
University English Departments Are Frauds: This I know.
Fahrenheit 9/11 on the State Department's Dime: What. The. HELL.
The First 9/11 Victim: And not the last. Pray for a speedy end to this war.
Fanatics: Must-read piece from Ender's Game author Orson Scott Card.
Recap: Let's lay this out for y'alls, shall we?
Los terroristas quieren negociar: Como se dice el Gral. Kinnard en el batalle de Bastogne: NUTS.
“My mind is just a piece of….”: Winnebago man loses his s**t.
Sounds like he's a whiz at "creative thinking": College student + Whole bag of shrooms = n0
Who is REALLY spending more: Not who you'd think...
Fire Elementary and Secondary School Math Teachers, Too: Innumeracy kills.
Letter From Iraq - Army Engineer Officer's Candid Take on Iraq: "We are not rebuilding Iraq. We are building it."
Steyn on Blunkett's Ban: Was Churchill a hater, too?
Mexico's Bionic Attorney General: "Gentlemen...We can rebuild him..."
The Case For War: What Blair REALLY Said.
STIGMERGIC LEARNING AND GLOBAL GUERRILLAS: Stigwhata? But hey, it's about killing terrorists.
Putting Mosquitos Before People: In the New York Times. Sad.
Not Idiots: Cop invites public to use cop range, interact with police. Hero!
The Rowback of All Rowbacks: The New York Times Strikes (Out) Again!
Spain Ignored Mosque Tied to Train Bombs: And it was all about the oiiiiiil!
Ireland's Personal Injury Assessment Board: Cracking down on frivolous suits across the pond. Heros!
Fighting Invisibilty: How to get your blog read without pulling ridiculous stunts like this!
How Much Worse Off Are We?: Not much, but try telling the Dems that!
Plan of Attack: Terrorists and Netwar
Thought for the Day: On The Biggest mistakes...
Taking One for the Team: Volunteer to go to jail.
Dear America…: If you want socialized medicine, you're crazy.
GG Technology: Secure P2P Communication.
The fifth authority: Mohammed asks some uncomfortable questions. Can anyone answer them?
Objective or Subjective Equality?: Some are more equal than others...
For mental ages 18 months and up: New voting devices for literacy-challenged Floridians.
The Kids Are Alright: Hear that? We're "aggressively normal!"
The Man with No Name: Does Al Qaeda exist?
Iraq Incognito: Another good milblog.
Getting It Out Yes, there is a life after gangs.
The Morality of Software: Is software better than law?
Keep Your Laws Off My Sex Jokes: Stupid, stupid lawyers ruining them for the rest of us.
GOP Convetion Protestors Funded By Kerry's Wife: Is it really that hard to imagine?
How to collect guns and irritate PETA: Three guesses as to where I found the link... (sorry, Kim, lost the original...)
Transforming the Military: A SOF Pilot Speaks: Comms, UAV's, logistics, etc.
Iraq-Vietnam-Bosnia: the readers have their say: Chrenkoff shares some reader comments.
Illegal Immigration and Social Pathology: Can we fix our borders NOW?
Heads I win, tails you lose: Contradictions, contradictions...
Thought for the Day: On jobs...
Duke Buys Entire Freshman Class IPods: Good call, but if this is about stopping students downloading music, then they got snaked.
How To Combat Alzheimers Disease: Eat your veggies and exercise your brain!
Jail and mutilation for Janjaweed militia: Justice in Darfur? If only...
A Combat Officer On The Draft: For the 1000th time, IT WON'T HELP.
Wrong Song of the South: The dangerous fallacies of Confederate multiculturalism.
They Report, They Decide: Outfoxed - Unfair, Unbalanced.
50 Things Also Found In Sandy Berger's Pants: Not just for classified documents!
Why I need a husband, part 452: A Dead Mouse. In the Dryer. BAKED IN HIS OWN BLOOD.
Inside a Fedayeen Training Camp: Meat Bombs in Training.
We The People ... Snap Pictures: Free hosting space for pics from Iraq, Afghanistan, and Election 2004.
Governor Kean And Others Speak: Back when this was new, when their plan was the only plan.
Tarek Heggy: The Absence of the Critical Mind: Do Muslims know how to think?
Congress Says "Genocide" in Darfur; UN Sanctions Threatened: Faster, Please.
Interesting Find: 9/11 Commission says Islamic Fundamentalism cannot be negotiated with.
Both Ends Against The Middle: How to explain the connection between Saddam & Bin Ladin...
Saboteurs: The UN can't help Iraq.
Take The Pledge: Disagree with a blogger that you respect today. [Ahem] "Commissar, you ignorant slut..." ;)
Steyn: Dems Want Another Holiday: We used up our vacation time, guys.
Dar al Islam - meet Dar al Jihad: Yet another difference between Islam and the West
Firefox Request: More stuff on what's going to replace IE.
U Penn Prof for Shari'a: Why are we supporting this?
No Democracy for Workers: No secret ballots for Union Voters. And guess who supports it?
Morality, Manners And The Law: Why religion is so important.
Not that I'm surprised: What Kind of Snob Are You?
Do eggs over easy make the tests easier, too?: More dangerous than an empty stomach.
From The Vatican: Hope for Islam in Mali, Vatican Endorses GM crops, and a Catholic Bishop talks straight about Sudan.
I'm glad I don't live on: Skunk Misery road. Beats Why, Arizona...
Howell Unplugged: Former NYT editor/jackass also get unhinged over why so many poor people vote Republican.
Vice Principal (Accent on "Vice") Attempts to Frame Student: Vice Principal plants pot in student's locker. Gets himself busted for posession. Dumbass.
One Man's Not So Unusual Experience: Medical Lawsuits=Fishing Expeditions.
7 Things RSS Is Good For: No, this is not one of them.
Uh-Oh: IT'S A TRAP!!!
Neurobiology says we need our mothers: "Mommy, why do people write blogs?" "When you're older, pumpkin."
See What You Share: Troll P2P networks for personal info for fun and profit.
Kyoto Myths: Facts are a bitch, no?
Hell Is For Economists: Sheesh, no wonder they call it the Dismal Science.
Tarek Heggy: The Saudis' Choice: You can hate the rest of the world, or you can move forward.
Britain's emergency planning against terrorism: An even more helpful site...
9/11: A failure of academia?
Send in the Pinkertons: Unions Busting Unions. Dumbasses.
DIY HDTV DVR, OK!: Screw the MPAA!
The Palestinian Arguments: We want to see dead Jews, but that doesn't make us, y'know, racists...
Kerry Clean-Suit Flap Exposes Media Bias Against “Nerds”: On the moon, nerds are spanked with moon rocks.
Porn & Videogames: From the Government! YEEEEEE-HAAAA!
This Is What You Support: Mohammed takes the Iraqi "resistance's" supporters to task.
How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love GM Food: Yes, people, it's safe.
GWB's tax cuts: Greenspan says they were a good thing!
Don't Blame The Lawyers: But...it's so fun!!!
Heroism in the Name of What?: NYT's Nick Kristof can't tell the difference between something and nothing.
Médecins sans Frontières blames America first: Says military has made it to dangerous to operate in Afghanistan. People who are actually shooting at them, who think no medicine beyond the 7th Century is OK, not mentioned...
Fahrenheit 9/11's Effect on the Troops--and A Suggested Antidote: U.S. Soldier takes Moore and Co. out behind the woodshed, beats them rhetorically senseless.
Website Expansion: Kim Du Toit has a forum. No liberals allowed. UNDER PAIN OF DEATH. ;)
Just Sayin'...: Aussie Lefties: Improve world order, kill an American today. KDT: GFY.
Cry Me A River: I love Virginia. I really love it. If it were a woman, I would marry it.
How to remove MSIE from Windows: Happy Happy, Joy Joy!
Hey NATO, are you paying attention at all: NATO's turn behind the woodshed.
Doctors Without Borders - The Blackfive Experience: Blackfive takes his turn on MSF. Dumbasses.
Vice Squad from the Maldives: Porno Good!
Still More Porn Lessons: More Porno Better!
Got Price Supports?: SF Chronicle bemoans high price of milk. It is illegal to sell milk below costs in CA. Dumbasses.
Bizzare: Rabbit escapes cruel owner. Lucky feet, lucky feet, lucky feet, lucky feet, yes...
With Apologies To Alfred Lord Tennyson: But He's Got the Biggest...Balls Of Them All!
A new generation: Al-Qaeda 2.0.
Undeveloped Ideas: When you absolutely, positively, need it destroyed and rebuilt overnight.
An Open Letter To Max Cleland: No one questioned your patriotism. Now shut up already.
The Case For George W. Bush: Yes....give into the Dark Side.... ;)
The Urge to Do Something: Why Gun Control Doesn't Work in Britain.
Funny Jokes: From Iraq! Nice to see Iraqis laughing again.
Actions and Words: Kerry has one, not the other.
Sex In Antiquity: Is there EVER a bad time for sex?
It is not defence cuts but defence restructuring: Hillarity from Across the Pond.
An Abe Lincoln thought experiment: "A House Divided," 2004 Style.
Screw Caps: Prof. Bainbridge is OK with them. Also, Wine Boxes not that bad.
Sufi Wisdom: Hasan's Masters: Let us meditate upon this wisdom now. So....oooooooooom....
More like this, please: A policeman questions gun control.
Stepping Up to the Plate: Brazil steps up in Haiti.
From Home to Grave: A pregnant woman leading Al-Sadr's army. Dumbass.
Kerry's Foreign Policy Adviser: Send Nuclear Fuel to Iran: Dumbass's Dumbass.
Cornholio Soundboard: MY BUNGHOLE, IT GOES RAAAAAACACACACACACACACACACA!
Know Thy Enemy: Democrats: "Every time someone votes for a Democrat, Baby Jesus cries."
Reader Email from Presbyterians: "Narcissistic Do-Goodism."
Your Mission Today: BURNINATION!
Failed States vs. Rogue States: Both bad for us.
"In November of 2001, police arrested fifteen Atlanta pimps.": AKA: Everything I ever need to know about pimping I learned from the 3rd Circuit Court of Appeals' decision in U.S. v. Pipkins.
Georgia on my mind: Even Ex-Communists know taxes suck!
"I am for Islam. But I am against an Islamic state.": In other news, Hell has frozen over.
Joy Personified: You love me! You really love me!
The Terror Web: Guys, this is the real deal. Pay attention.
Women Kick Ass: "Polite political campaigning is for pussies."
Random Thought: KDT sticks it in, breaks it off.
Secret Audio Tape: "Call me sir, g**dammit!"
How Strong is Al-Qaeda in the USA?: Perhaps stronger than we think...
Vacciene Pushers: Michelle: Vaccines suck. But they sure as hell beat a shot liver requiring a transplant.
Blinded by the Light: Sharia comes to Canada, NYT has no clue.
The Failure of the Media In Iraq: No context whatsoever.
Interning the Japanese: A DoubleplusUngood thought on Internment vs. Affirmative Action.
Where Do You Draw The Line?: The raciocrats and privocrats win another one.
Not to Split Hairs: 9/11 Commission thinks it's the 800-pound gorilla.
Al-Qaeda's "Reverse Cargo Cult" Mentality: Kill the symbols, kill the people? Nope. Dumbasses.
Viet Cong Vets for Kerry Refute Swiftboat Book: About the only vets who support Kerry anyway...
Georgia has Seceded: And this time, it's cool!
Overheard: Dumbasses on an NYC subway.
Iraq Evidence Led to Missile Arrests: What was that about "no connection?" Anyone? Bueller?
Tell Me What You Fear: Clowns. Don't Ask.
I've Been Snookered: News Flash: Progressives beyond logic, call Bush illogical. Dumbasses.
Jerks: Media bias in action.
None so blind etc: Well well well...
FCC: why should the courts interpret copyright when we can regulate it?: Your government at work. Dumbasses.
Improve your legal writing: Which reminds me...I gotta work on those law school applications...
The Malkin Media Diversity Test: How Conservative are You?
Congressman Moran: CUT SPENDING!: Why, oh why, do we elect Dumbasses like this to Congress?
"What kind of intelligence reform is necessary?: Dan Drezner has thoughts.
The New Immaturity: The Democratic Party's regression to childhood.
Albany Mosque Owned by North American Islamic Trust: In other words, it's a Saudi shill.
Replace every image on a WiFi network with goatse.cx: OK people, move along, nothing to see here...
Bush Speaks out on Terror Threats: We are what we are...
Rudy: Kerry is Moore's Stooge: America's Mayor takes Moore behind the woodshed!
Does Vietnam Matter?: Maybe not.
This is Interesting: 90% of Vietnamese-Americans voting for Bush, 10% for Kerry. Hmmmm....
Ribstein's Film and Firms: Hollywood hates capitalists, but have no problem taking their money...
Pickering and Racial Relations: Charles Pickering=Not A Racist. Democrats: LALALALALALALAWEARENOTLISTENING!
Sufi Wisdom: The False Guide: More wisdom to meditate upon.
Protracted defense of laziness: I've been waiting for this! Hero!
What If We Win?: "We fight in the end not to disbelieve but for the right to believe again."
Questions for members of the ABA: Will you let lawyers speak their minds without fear of disbarment? Magic 8-Ball: "Signs Point To No."
Kids Say the Darnest Things: Awww.....
Thought For The Day: On Red Meat.
Peed-out Prozac detectable in UK water-supply: "Hanging on in quiet desperation is the English way..."
Kids Riot in Iraq!: For Toys!
Guest Editorial: The Disengagement: Why no sane person should vote for Kerry.
Who needs draft?: Not the U.S. We have more than enough soldiers. No. Really.
Advice to Law Students: It's all good!
John Kerry's Resume: Turnabout is fair play, dudes.
Kerry Defies His Church ... Again: Senator, either become Epsicopalian, or shut up about being Catholic.
Six Posts About Better Legal Writing: More! More! Keep it up!
Monitor This: The UN is coming to make sure our election is clean. Will send observers from China and Zimbabwe. Dumbasses.
SBHFS: Sudden Bush Hatred Fatigue Syndrome. There is no cure. Until Nov. 2nd.
Violent Kids In Japan: Some trends should not happen. Sad.
Chief of Najaf IP: Calls Al-Sadr "evil." Hero!
It’s The Democracy, Stupid!: NYT bites the bullet?
Allies Not in Formation on Kerry's Troops Plan: Yeah, like this was really going to work...
Zdravstvuite Russia!: Russia Roundup... is the KGB back in town?
Game Plan: Have we ever had a plan for peace that worked?
We Need More Violence in Political Debate: Frank J. is a syndicated columnist whose columns appear worldwide on IMAO.us and is the author of such mindlessly controversial books as "Hitler: He Wasn't So Bad" and "Kids Should Smoke More".
Daily Dose: "The ultimate result of shielding men from the effects of folly is to fill the world with fools."
Is it any wonder we have the immigration mess we do?: Nope. Not at all.
How to Spot a Democrat: It ain't hard.
Who's Being Divisive?: WHO divided the country? Not us!
What to say (or not) in a Supreme Court Argument: Res Ipsa Loquitor.
The "irresponsibility" of showing what works: How DARE you prove we're wasting taxpayer money on something that doesn't work?
Soldiers Of Fortune: In action in Afghanistan...
Sistani and the future of the Hawza: There's a reason Sistani left Iraq...
They’re NeoCOMs, that’s what they are!: Necons, Meet Neocoms (Neo-Communists...)
The Saudis' Covert PR Campaign: The why and how of Saudi PR deceit...
Do know (a little) somethin' bout history: Not enough, though...
Bash.org: "i'm going to become rich and famous after i invent a device that allows you to stab people in the face over the internet"
"Old Media: As The Industry Turns: and turns towards DEATH.
The Global Agenda: Dawn Olsen's going wobbily! Bloggers...ASSEMBLE! We have to do something!
Is there intelligent life beyond Earth?: Likely not, but... I still want to Believe...
Things They Never Tell You About in History Class: Not in my history class, either. Scary...
Target: general aviation services: The Lawyers go after private planes...with disatrous results. Dumbasses.
Iran's October Surprise -- I Told You So!: Another reason not to vote Kerry. Do you REALLY think he and his "allies" can handle something like this?
"Why should judges not disclose conflicts of interest?": 'Cuz if they do, they could end up DEAD. Dumbasses.
Ronin Thought of the Day: On keeping your word...
Child violence in Japan: Not what the Western Media Reports.
The worst-case scenario: An electoral college tie? It's very possible this year...
The Fight in Najaf: What's REALLY going on...
Web Site Of The Day: MoveOnPlease.org. - Democracy Inaction.
Oh. My. God.: "...try to get John Kerry on the line...tell him he's about to copulate with a creature from outer space."
The Threat From The Sea: 70% of the Earth is a lawless no-mans land. Perfect for Al-Qaeda.
Bloggers, their commenters, and libel law: Are bloggers liable for comments posted by readers? In a word, no.
"Anti-Americanism isn't quite what it's cracked up to be.": So the world hates us? Then explain this...
Radiology group expels member over testimony: Medical group expels member who gave misleading testimony in a malpractice suit: Heroes!
The End of Free Speech?: Enjoy saying things on the airwaves about candidates while it lasts...'cuz it will soon be illegal.
Once It Becomes Conventional Wisdom, It's Over: "Once the press decides something is true, that's it. They stick that "fact" into subsquent stories over and over and never look back."
Horse Race: The media doesn't care about the policy, only who's ahead.
Al-Qaeda's Structure: Highly renundant, networked, with few weaknesses...but not invulnerable.
Get any on you?: A new meme. Watch it spread. Mememememememememememememememememe....
Procrastination Chemistry: Scientists have found the gene responsible for procrastination. Resistance is futile. You will get your butt back to work.
Benefits of incrementalism: How to win an argument on socialized medicine.
False Conciousness: A dead concept, brought back to life in the 21st century, with bad results.
A Stray Cert Pool Memo?: Very interesting to see. Even the smallest people can change history.
Bioterrorism: The Looming Threat?: Great. As if we don't have enough to worry about, people can now grow their own viruses.
Always a Touch of Poetry: Journalists cannot resist writing sob stories, when they should be writing news. Dumbasses.
Well, That Didn't Go So Well...: Two terrorist-looking journos try to hire a helicopter to prove how vulnerable we still are. Get pinched by an alert businessman and the FBI. Dumbasses, meet Heroes!
The Joys of Being A Military Staff Officer: I am glad I am not in the military. Because it sounds just like my normal job, which sucks enough as is.
Dramatic Failures: Not whose failures you think.
Samizdata quote of the day: On Diplomats...
Interview With An Iraqi: "I wish that American Forces stay here in Iraq for a long time."
Counter Pledgers: Dean asks people to give Kerry the benefit of the doubt if he's elected.
The roots of French policy: Envy, Apathy, and Cynicism. No, really.
Privacy: Give Big Brother the Finger. Find out what's really on your driver's liscence.
James Madison and the Future of Limited Government: Looks interesting. Can we send it to every Senator and Congressman?
"I Accept Your Nomination": What Bush should say in his nomination speech. It's good. I mean REALLY good.
And last, but not least:
A successful blog (or blogger) is…: above link-dumping for sheer purposes of putting on the Blogosphere's Lamest Publicity Stunt Ever. Dammit.
Now, you may be asking yourself why I did this. Answers:
1) To test the limits of my blogging software.
2) To see how people would respond to having old entries of theirs trackbacked.
3) Because it has never been done before.
I hope you enjoy reading these links as much as I did.
And go easy on the flames...please?
August 08, 2004
Spambots, Turing Tests, Captchas, and You
There has been a change in commenting at the Den.
From now on, every time you enter a comment, you will be required to put in an anti-spambot code (A.K.A. Captcha.)
This code is a string of randomly generated numbers presented as an image. It is readable by humans, but not machines. (This is something called a Turing Test, named after English mathemetician and computer scientist Alan Turing.)
In other words, those spambots are hosed.
I realize that this may present problems to a few readers who are blind or visually impaired, and who rely on text readers to navigate the web. For that, I truly apologize. If you wish to post a comment, please feel free to e-mail it to me at thief AT thiefsden DOT net.
Now, for the techies...
The captcha patch I am using, S-Code, was designed by James Seng, who I want to thank for his ingenuity and help. I had some technical problems during the install, which I traced back to the fact that I was using Jay Allen's MT-Blacklist, which had taken over commenting. Thus, in addition to applying James' patch to Comments.pm, I also had to patch Blacklist.pm. (Thanks to jca at James Seng's weblog who suggested this.) Unfortunately, no piece of technology being perfect, I am seeing some weird code being displayed at the bottom of my comment pages.
MT::App::Comments=HASH(0x810a494) print() on closed filehandle MT::SCode::OUTFILE at lib/MT/SCode.pm line 50.
MT::App::Comments=HASH(0x810a494) print() on closed filehandle MT::SCode::OUTFILE at lib/MT/SCode.pm line 50.
In addition, I cannot run mt-blacklist to get it to work without it generating the following error:
An error occurred: Global symbol "$q" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3112. Global symbol "$app" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3113. Global symbol "$app" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3113. Global symbol "$q" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3120. Global symbol "$q" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3121. Global symbol "$app" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3124. Global symbol "$app" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3124. Global symbol "$app" requires explicit package name at extlib/jayallen/Blacklist.pm line 3134. Compilation failed in require at mt-blacklist.cgi line 29.
If there is anyone out there who is well-versed in Perl or MT who can help me out, please contact me by e-mail and I can send you my source code and any other relevant information.
UPDATE 04/05/05: Problem Solved. Thanks to Jessica for the tip.
Gentlemen...BEHOLD!!!
I....HAVE BLOCKED ALL COMMENT SPAMMERS TO THIEFS DEN!
MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Seriously...I had decided to take a hiatus from blogging rather than have every post I made be taken over by certain irresponsible asshats selling certain unmentionable items.
Technical briefing on the new feature to follow.