boingboing

Old-school Bluegrass godfather Dr. Ralph Stanley cuts radio ad for Barack ObamaThe Barack Obama endorsement ad here [direct mp3 link, and alternate link] featuring Dr. Ralph Stanley is currently running on radio stations in Southwest Virginia. That's about 900 kinds of wow, and I say this as someone born and raised in this part of the country, familiar with the social fabric. Blogger NMC at folo.us explains: [Ralph] Stanley is the survivor of the Stanley Brothers, one of the few remaining figures of the first generation of bluegrass musicians. He’s from the part of the mountains the Carter Family came from, and has had a recent career revival for his part in the Oh Brother Where Art Thou music. Ralph Stanley cuts the best radio ad of the cycle (folo.us via Ned Sublette, via TPM) They've embedded a classic Dr. Stanle
» 5 Oct 2008, 10:05 pm

Bible as GlossySo I thought I was breaking some new ground in Testament by interpreting the Bible through the comics medium. It gave me the chance to play with a near-future frighteningly like the deep past being described in the ancient mythical stories. Now, a Swedish adman and former CEO Dag Soderberg is leading a team called Illuminated World that's reinterpreting the Bible as a magazine - complete with sidebars, coverlines, and subheads. He's using the straight text, for the most part, but embellishing it with Bennetton-style photos and pull quotes. On the one hand, I feel like objecting to the project outright. Something about the combination of an advertising perspective with the Bible feels like a contradiction. This project is provocative, but it
» 5 Oct 2008, 6:00 pm

Beatbox Rave Oonsk-Oonsking with a Jaw HarpJean Jean french beatboxer guimbarde UP YOUR SOUND !, YouTube (Thanks, Brendan via "friends list")...
» 5 Oct 2008, 5:04 pm

Sarah Palin in 30 secondsSim says: Here's my latest video remix, this time of America's latest sweetheart/demagogue....
» 5 Oct 2008, 3:56 pm

Annual Alfred Korzybski LectureAbout ten years ago, Genesis P-Orridge, Richard Metzger, Parker Posey, and I hopped in a cab to see Robert Anton Wilson give the Annual Alfred Korzybski Lecture in New York on behalf of the Institute for General Semantics. None of us knew much about general semantics at the time, but it was a fun talk in a swank location, completely free, and decidedly mind opening. General Semantics spawned everything from cognitive psychology to NLP, and informed everyone from William Burroughs to Richard Bandler. This year, I was invited to present the 56th Annual Alfred Korzybski Lecture. Besides being a tremendous honor, it's also an opportunity for me to take everything I've been talking about and rethink it in the context of general semantics - which
» 5 Oct 2008, 6:51 am

Wonderful Non-skid Sticker ThingsMy two-weeks is almost up (I heard that), but not before I post my first actual wonderful thing to this blog of wonderful things. Graphic designer Jesse Milden's Subhead Premium Grip Anti-Slip Stickers! These are the flat black things you'd usually see applied to an outdoor deck or staircase - someplace that might get wet and become dangerous. Even the edge of a subway platform. Seeing an opportunity for graphical treatment where none was envisioned before, Milden designed some cool and retro patterns, making these stickers suitable as a functional decor statement - or even a customized skateboard grip. I'm using them in strategic locations for toddler traction. Douglas Rushkoff is a guest blogger....
» 3 Oct 2008, 12:42 pm

If McLuhan Were Alive...he'd be a member of the Media Ecology Association. Marshall actually came up with the term Media Ecology, and worked with Neil Postman to create the Media Ecology program at NYU. While the program went to the great beyond with Postman's passing, it has morphed into an international organization of people from a wide range of fields who look at the way media and culture influence one another. Their conferences fall somewhere between a traditional academic conference and a DisinfoCon. And, best of all, they're open to papers and presentations from anyone. My favorites of the past few years were one by Lian Amaris on the World of Warcraft funeral raid, and Corey Anton on the Tao and media. I just received the call for submissions for the ne
» 4 Oct 2008, 8:27 am

Round UpMy time is almost over and there's still gobs of stuff I wanted to share with you. So here's a brief list of things I would feel just terrible if I didn't let you know about. 1. Robots and Monsters: A Charitable Menagerie, is back. They launched in 2007 to fundraise for SF AIDS Foundation, and now they're relaunching to support the EFF. For fifty dollars, Joe Alterio or another fabulous artist will pen a custom robot or monster for you - defined by three words you supply - and send it to your door. You get a cool picture and the EFF gets fifty bucks to help keep the net a happy and good place. 2. Scott Draves Software Artworks, 1992-2008. This short film chronicles the work of software artist Scott Draves. And it's pretty cool. Dreams in Hi
» 4 Oct 2008, 6:05 pm

Trip with RickRick Veitch is the comics writer and artist who got famous for the Swamp Thing issues he drew for Alan Moore, and is probably still best known for a later issue he planned (the infamous cancelled #88) in which Swamp Thing went back in time, met Jesus and served as the cross on which the messiah was crucified. Although Moore resurrected Swamp Thing, it was Veitch who wrote that story about a hippy actually eating one of the monster's tubers and tripping Veitch continued the series' psychedelic path and took it in some even more dangerous directions. Veitch split from DC for many years, and became a sensation on his own, publishing extremely bizarre yet resonant psychedelic fables. Psychedelic being the operative word. Now they're back - bigg
» 4 Oct 2008, 6:16 pm

Making acorn flourMy pals Eric and Julia of Ramshackle Solid made acorn flour this year, and in their blog they showed how they did it. Once the flour is dried out it may be a little coarse. You can put it in a cleaned out coffee grinder to get a finer texture. A good food processor also works and I am pretty sure they make attachable gadgets for mixers that really mill the flour if you get completely obsessed. Our favorite use is acorn pancakes. Just mix the acorn flour 1/2 and 1/2 with wheat or other flour from your favorite recipe. I love the acorn flavor - slightly nutty, very hearty. If you make your own, let us know how it went. I'm going over there uninvited for pancakes. Link...
» 3 Oct 2008, 7:02 pm

Serialization of The Deal, Chapter 18My friend Joe Hutsko contacted with the intriguing offer to serialize his novel, The Deal, on Boing Boing. I jumped at the chance. I read The Deal when it first came out in 1999 and loved the thrilling story about a Apple-like company's undertaking to create an iPhone-like device. Here's a link to Chapter 18 as a PDF or a text file. (Here's chapter 1 and an introduction to the book, and here are the previous chapters) To buy a paperback copy of the book, visit JOEyGADGET or purchase directly from Amazon....
» 28 Jun 2008, 11:31 am

clipmarks

Choo Choo!clipped by: duliosClip Source: www.dailykos.com
» 5 Oct 2008, 8:12 pm

McCain in 2000: Attack ads are sign of no visionclipped by: masburyclipper's remarks: New DNC response ad Clip Source: sageMCCAIN: "Uh, I, I just have to rely on the good judgment of the voters not to buy into these negative attack ads. Sooner or later, people are going to figure out if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future or you're not ready to articulate it." [The NewsHour with Jim Lehrer, 2/21/2000]CHYRON: McCain Campaign's Ad Spending Now Nearly 100 Percent Devoted to Attack Ads [Talking Points Memo, 10/3/08]Tags: mccain
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:06 pm

Cannabis less harmful than drinking, smoking: reportclipped by: Silkweaverclipper's remarks: The British government is pressing for cannabis to be re-classified in law as a Class B drug compared with its current, less serious, Class C classification. Clip Source: www.camizone.comClip Source: www.physorg.comCannabis is less harmful than alcohol or tobacco, according to a report by a British research charity Thursday, which called for a "serious rethink" of drug policy. The Beckley Foundation, a charity which numbers senior British and other academics among its advisors, said banning cannabis has no impact on supply and turns users into criminals. "Although cannabis can have a negative impact on health, including mental health, in terms of relative harms it is considerably less harmful than
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:13 pm

Out pours a waterfall of GOP buzzwords ...clipped by: masburyclipper's remarks: "The American people are asking of the candidates a serious question: how will you put our country back on track? Rather than provide a direct answer, the McCain campaign has exhibited a wholesale embrace of the tactic that Palin has made legend: it is attempting the change the subject to distract from the fact that it has no acceptable answer" Clip Source: www.dailykos.comWhen Palin is presented with a question she either does not understand or that she does not want to answer truthfully, she opens her mouth and out pours a waterfall of GOP buzzwords, cascading haphazardly from her lips and leaving listeners drenched in the horrific realization that this small-town mayor turned newbie governor from Al
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:48 pm

Top British Commander calls Taliban unbeatableclipped by: masburyclipper's remarks: Political settlement must be made with more moderate insurgents, he says. Clip Source: sageThe Times: The departing commander of British forces in Afghanistan says he believes the Taleban will never be defeated. Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith, the commander of 16 Air Assault Brigade, whose troops have suffered severe casualties after six months of tough fighting, will hand over to 3 Commando Brigade Royal Marines this month. He told The Times that in his opinion, a military victory over the Taleban was “neither feasible nor supportable”. Read moreThe Afghan government must instead reach some political settlement with more moderate insurgents, concluded Brigadier Mark Carleton-Smith. Tags: talib
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:53 pm

AP: Palin attack "exaggerated" or "outright false"clipped by: masburyclipper's remarks: No evidence shows Ayers and Obama were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago Clip Source: ap.google.comIn her character attack, Palin questions Obama's association with William Ayers, a member of the Vietnam-era Weather Underground. Her reference was exaggerated at best if not outright false. No evidence shows they were "pals" or even close when they worked on community boards years ago and Ayers hosted a political event for Obama early in his career.Obama, who was a child when the Weathermen were planting bombs, has denounced Ayers' radical views and actions."Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:01 am

Mishaps mark John McCain's record as naval aviatorclipped by: bonifaceclipper's remarks: McCain says he knows how to "win a war." Where did he learn this? He was the very bottom of his class (so he didn't learn it there), he crash three jets during peace-time (so he didn't learn it there), the explosion on the carrier was actually his panicking and dropping his bombs into a fire on the deck (so he didn't learn it there), he was downed and became a POW (so he didn't learn it there), the war he was in was Vietnam, the only war the U.S. ever lost (so he didn't learn it there). So where exactly did McCain acquire this great ability to "win a war?" I don't see it! Clip Source: www.latimes.comThree crashes early in his career led Navy officials to question or fault his judgment.John McCain was
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:44 am

With so many conflicting messages, it’s hard to know what’s “green” and what is notclipped by: einbarClip Source: www.dailygalaxy.comno matter how we disguise environmentally harmful practices and smooth them over with positive words that ease the conscience, such practices will nonetheless continue to have a negative impact on the planet and the quality of life of future generations. In other words, a rose by any other name is still a rose. With so many conflicting messages, it’s hard to know what’s “green” and what is not these daysThe majority of the general public is willing to make sacrifices to offset global warming, or at least according to pollsmost of us don’t have a clear picture of what will actually end up doing the most good, and how to go about itthere is no clear consensus about what’s “good�
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:36 pm

The brain parasite that influences human cultureclipped by: JohnWatermanclipper's remarks: Spread by cats Clip Source: scienceblogs.comWe like to think that we are masters of our own fates. The thought that others might be instead controlling our actions makes us uneasy. We rail against nanny states, we react badly to media hype and we are appalled at the idea of brainwashing. But words and images are not the only things that can affect our brains and thoughts. Other animals - parasites - can do this too. According to research by Kevin Lafferty from the University of California, Santa Barbara, a common brain parasite, Toxoplasma gondii, could be influencing human culture across the globe. spread by catsin another animal, it travels to the brain and changes the host's behaviour to maximi
» 6 Oct 2008, 4:04 am

Thomas Sowell Opines --- Do Facts Matter?clipped by: merrieclipper's remarks: So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago. Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter? We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't. Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter? Then there is the question of being against th
» 4 Oct 2008, 9:41 pm

newsclipped by: DW29JWclipper's remarks: scary stuff Clip Source: atlasshrugs2000.typepad.comPercy Sutton, NYC  political icon in the African American community, tells a news reporter that Dr. Khalid al Mansour solicited favor and recommendation on behalf of Barack Hussein Obama in order to secure Barack's entry into Harvard. Think about that. Obama's mentors, friends, comrades tells us his story. These associations  show us who he is. Terrible, all of it.I often wondered where Obama got the money for his long strange trip. But this, Dr. Khalid al Mansour development is .... outta hand.
» 5 Oct 2008, 10:12 pm

digg

Celebration Of Smoke Photography and Smoke Art (PICS)139 diggs //<br/>In this edition of our Monday Inspiration series, we present 60 examples of beautiful smoke photography and smoke art: a round-up of some of the best examples of photos and artworks where smoke dominates.
» 6 Oct 2008, 4:50 am

Is Google Using Chrome to Index Password Protected Web?198 diggs //<br/>An interesting theory we heard recently is that Google will use Chrome to index the password protected Web. Right now the Chrome Terms of Service prevents Google from indexing private data. But when you consider that Chrome was initially presented as a browser for applications, instead of just web pages, this theory begins to make more sense.
» 6 Oct 2008, 4:20 am

24 Words The Dictionary Wants To Ditch215 diggs //<br/>Apparently the dictionary needs to make room for 2,000 new words. They must be trying to embrangle us with that many new words I think. Or, maybe it will just make us all more nitid?
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:57 am

How green is your computer?147 diggs //<br/>Reusable tote bag? Check. Prius? Check. Rooftop solar panels? Check. In the bid to secure your green bragging rights, you have the usual suspects covered. But what about your personal computer?
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:53 am

GMail's Achilles Heel: Terrible Customer Service237 diggs //<br/>Losing access to your GMail account is tantamount to banishment from the internet, but Google's non-existent customer support makes it nearly impossible for rightful owners to regain control of their accounts. The New York Times asked Google why they couldn't afford to offer phone-based customer support, a simple question Google needed three people
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:50 am

Voyeuristic landlord spied on female tenants229 diggs //<br/>A woman had a rude awakening when she discovered a hidden camera in her room. Since reporting the incident it has been revealed that a suburban Philadelphia landlord secretly videotaped 34 female tenants over two decades after hiding cameras in their apartments.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:40 am

Astronaut's diary goes on display in Jerusalem133 diggs //<br/>Pages from an Israeli astronaut's diary that survived the explosion of the space shuttle Columbia and a 37-mile fall to earth are going on display this weekend for the first time in Jerusalem.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:20 am

Getting 133 MPG in a 1998 Pontiac209 diggs //<br/>When you first start hypermiling, I find, you really wish you had someone to ride along with you to show you the ropes. Sadly, that's not yet an option for most people. Until then, we can learn from some of the best.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:10 am

Keating Economics: John McCain and a Financial Crisis450 diggs //<br/>See the full-length video at http://KeatingEconomics.com starting @ noon Eastern on 10/5. KEATING ECONOMICS: The story of John McCain and the making of a financial crisis.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:50 am

Sarah Palin in 30 seconds442 diggs //<br/>"Sarah Palin's debate performance, reduced to its essence.""Here's my latest video remix, this time of America's latest sweetheart/demagogue." from http://www.boingboing.net/2008/10/05/sarah-palin-in-30-se.html ...
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:40 am

Hibernating a Linux Laptop...FINALLY!193 diggs //<br/>The good news and the bad news. The good news is that Linux can do Hibernate fairly well. AND there are even GUIS to help you configure Hibernate. The bad news is that Linux is a ways away from any sort of reliable Suspend.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:30 am

dzone

RSyntaxTextArea: New Entry in the Java Syntax Highlighting Text Component ArenaThe developers of RText, a pure Java programmers text editor have split out the syntax highlighting component of their text editor into it's own project: RSyntaxTextArea. This component seems to be very mature, and extensible. Also appears to be pretty easy to add new languages to the editor; either provide a JFlex lexer or code one my hand.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:28 am

Game Of Life in 3 Lines of CodeSeeing Jop Wielens' implementation of Conway's Game of Life I wondered if I might be able to figure out a way how to run the whole game entirely with Flash's bitmapData methods. It turns out that it works, and it even works pretty fast. And at its core it just needs 3 lines of code
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:09 am

Building scalable server in 20 linesMINA is an Apache open source network application framework, it provides developers with all the necessary infrastructure required to build scalable and high performance server. The following chart shows the performance of MINA compared to Apache server, the chart was obtained from the following link
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:33 am

What’s new in .NET Framework 4.0?Good question. There are a few things we know about Microsoft’s managed application runtime and class library: There will be major updates to the Windows Communication Foundation (WCF) and Workflow Foundation (WF). According to this announcement along with this post by Steven Martin we are going to see “better support for
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:33 am

How To Kill an Open Source Project With New FundingThe OpenSource multimedia authorware project Sophie, formerly hosted by USC Los Angeles, may just have been killed by new funding. The original funding organization, Mellon Foundation, approved a grant to redevelop the four year project from scratch in Java.
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:32 am

Making a JTable fill the view without extensionAhhh, the old table-doesn’t-fill-the-view problem. Nothing says “this is a Swing app” more than a JTable that only fills up part of it’s parent JViewport. Apparently this behavior was not the original behavior (as I had once thought), but was introduced, presumably as a bug, back in Java 1.2 (see this bug report). This behavior has been fixed in Java 6, though not by default - you have to call JTable.setFillsViewportHeight(true).
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:30 am

15 High Quality Premium-Like Free WordPress Themes15 Free Premium-like WordPress Themes that are truly impressive and you might be willing to use for your next project.
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:07 am

Free Chapter: “Coding and Design Patterns” from Stoyan Stefanov’s Object-Oriented JavaScriptStoyan Stefanov is a member of Yahoo’s Performance team; he’s worked on a variety of performance-related projects at Yahoo, including the popular YSlow plugin for Firebug. Stoyan’s latest project is Object Oriented JavaScript, a new book from Packt. Chapter 8, “Coding and Design Patterns.” is available as a free download.
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:53 am

You Say You Want a (RIA) Revolution?Written by Lennon and McCartney and released on the B-side of The Beatles' Hey Jude single record 40 years ago, these lyrics to "Revolution" have been a rallying cry for causes and corporations. As I was checking referrers to this blog today, I noticed that a fairly new site name RIA Revolution contains a link to my Some Perspective in JavaFX post. According to their About page, "RIA Revolution is a community site for all things RIA [Rich Internet Applications]. The site features news, stories, podcasts, screen casts and videos to keep you updated about the happenings in the RIA World." As I mentioned, it's a new site, but I'm excited about its "revolutionary" tone, and about watching it continue to be populated with "all things RIA".
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:28 am

Getting Paid To Abandon an Open Source Project?I'm facing a difficult dilemma and looking for opinions. I've been contributing heavily to an open source project, making considerable changes to code organization and quality, but the work is unfinished at the moment. Now, a company is approaching me to continue my changes
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:01 am

Take Advantage Of Multiple CoresFirstly, let me say that if your application is multi-threaded, then it is already taking advantage of multiple cores. In Java, threads will use all the available cores by default. So, if you are using GridGain to grid-enable your application, your application will take advantage of multiple cores just because GridGain is multi-threaded on its own.
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:20 pm

google

Barack Obama accuses Republicans of distracting voters from the ... - Los Angeles TimesABC NewsBarack Obama accuses Republicans of distracting voters from the ...Los Angeles Times - 1 hour ago‘TURN THE PAGE’: Obama in Asheville. His poll ratings have risen recently, even in red states such as North Carolina. John McCain wants to 'distract you with smears rather than talk to you about substance,' the Democrat says in Asheville, NC, ...Video: Palin Defends Terrorist Comment Against Obama AssociatedPressPalin attacks Obama San Jose Mercury NewsThe Associated Press - Boston Globe - USA Today - New York Timesall 3,278 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:03 am

At least 7 killed, 38 injured in Greyhound bus crash - Los Angeles TimesSky NewsAt least 7 killed, 38 injured in Greyhound bus crashLos Angeles Times - 1 hour agoThe bus was heading to Colusa Casino Resort in Northern California when the driver lost control, spun out, rolled completely over and ended up on its wheels in a ditch, the CHP reports.Ten dead in California bus crash BBC NewsSeven dead, many injured in crash of casino-bound bus San Francisco ChronicleInternational Herald Tribune - Bloomberg - Sacramento Bee - San Jose Mercury Newsall 842 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:06 am

Sri Lanka suicide blast kills 27 including military chief - Times OnlineBBC NewsSri Lanka suicide blast kills 27 including military chiefTimes Online - 1 hour agoA suicide bomber killed at least 27 people, including a retired army chief of staff, and injured 80 others in northern Sri Lanka this morning as the army closed in on the Tamil Tiger rebels' jungle headquarters.Tiger suicide attack kills 27 in Sri Lanka: officials AFPDeadly suicide bomber strikes in Sri Lanka guardian.co.ukBloomberg - The Associated Press - Voice of America - Reuters Indiaall 1,101 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:27 am

EU split on how to tackle financial crisis - XinhuaCanada.comEU split on how to tackle financial crisisXinhua - 1 hour ago¡¡BRUSSELS, Oct. 6 (Xinhua) -- Despite a pledge by the leaders of the European Union (EU)'s big four -- France, Germany, Britain and Italy -- to coordinate in tackling the current financial crisis, divisions in Europe in the face of the difficulty ...France's Sarkozy spoke to Brown, Trichet on crisis ReutersEuropean Leaders Vow to Fight Financial Crisis New York TimesTimes Online - Manila Standard Today - United Press International - AFPall 1,911 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:42 am

China detains 6 more suspects in milk scandal - The Associated PressBoston GlobeChina detains 6 more suspects in milk scandalThe Associated Press - 1 hour agoBEIJING (AP) - China pledged to improve food safety after authorities detained six more people in the country's contaminated milk scandal as the government increases efforts to restore public trust in Chinese-made food products.Video: No Traces of Melamine in New Test of Milk Powder AssociatedPressBan Imports From China Washington PostInternational Herald Tribune - Reuters - Los Angeles Times - United Press Internationalall 1,099 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:41 am

Voter registration trends appear to favor Democrats - Los Angeles TimesLos Angeles TimesVoter registration trends appear to favor DemocratsLos Angeles Times - 3 hours agoMatt Rourke / AP ROCKING THE REGISTRATION: Martin Fagin, right, passes voter registration forms to an audience member Saturday in Philadelphia before a free Bruce Springsteen concert in support of Barack Obama and voter registration.Registration Gains Favor Democrats Washington PostBoth parties target voter registration, turnout USA TodayFlorida Today - Free Internet Press - The Ledger - Kansas.comall 27 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:04 am

The Supreme Court&#39;s new term - Los Angeles TimesSeattle Post IntelligencerThe Supreme Court's new termLos Angeles Times - 3 hours agoToday begins the third full term of a US Supreme Court transformed by President Bush's appointments of Chief Justice John G. Roberts Jr.• Supreme Court's Future Hinges on Who Wins '08 Race Washington PostPresidential race may shift balance on Supreme Court Houston ChronicleBoston Globe - New York Times - USA Today - National Review Online Blogsall 330 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:01 am

Biden suspends campaign after death of mother-in-law - Philadelphia InquirerWSLS.comBiden suspends campaign after death of mother-in-lawPhiladelphia Inquirer - 3 hours agoBy Sandy Bauers Democratic vice presidential candidate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has suspended campaign activities for today and tomorrow after the death yesterday afternoon of his mother-in-law, Bonny Jean Jacobs.Mother-in-Law of Biden Dies New York TimesBiden Steps Off Trail for Mother-In-Law's Funeral Washington PostBay News 9 - Reuters - The News Journal - Portsmouth Herald Newsall 263 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:13 am

German Stocks Fall to Lowest Since 2006; Hypo Real Estate Drops - BloombergWashington PostGerman Stocks Fall to Lowest Since 2006; Hypo Real Estate DropsBloomberg - 1 hour agoBy Michael Patterson Oct. 6 (Bloomberg) -- German stocks fell the most in eight months, sending the DAX Index to the lowest since July 2006, as the deepening credit crunch forced the country's financial industry to double a credit line for Hypo Real ...European crisis deepens as bailouts continue MarketWatchHypo has liquidity problem, business sound-Germany Reutersguardian.co.uk - Washington Post - International Herald Tribune - Los Angeles Timesall 1,978 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:37 am

A world where half of Fortis is more than Wachovia - MarketWatchA world where half of Fortis is more than WachoviaMarketWatch - 40 minutes agoBy MarketWatch LONDON (MarketWatch) -- Let's say for a minute you're an executive at BNP Paribas, France's largest bank.Euro Slips Further Against Dollar on Europe's Banking Woes Wall Street JournalUPDATE 2-"Dutch revenge" in bank crisis draws Belgian ire ReutersBloomberg - Insurance Business Review - Columbus Dispatch - Forbesall 672 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:19 am

Bank of America to alter mortgages in $8.4 bln plan - MarketWatchWall Street JournalBank of America to alter mortgages in $8.4 bln planMarketWatch - 1 hour agoBy Robert Daniel, MarketWatch TEL AVIV (MarketWatch) -- Bank of America and a number of US states reached an $8.4 billion accord under which the banking giant will modify troubled mortgages and enable nearly 400000 Countrywide Financial Corp.UPDATE 1-BofA in $8.6 bln settlement over Countrywide loans ReutersCountrywide mortgage pact may be worth $3.5 billion to California ... Los Angeles TimesAHN - TheStreet.com - The Associated Press - Hinduall 403 news articles
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:05 am

huffingtonpost

Miley Cyrus Closes Disneyland For 16th Birthday PartyANAHEIM, Calif. — Miley Cyrus' 16th birthday party was more boisterous than sweet. Cyrus celebrated the hallmark birthday at an over-the-top Disneyland celebration Sunday _ even though she doesn't actually turn 16 until Nov. 23. The theme park was closed for the supersized soiree, which included a four-song performance by the teen queen and a fireworks display above Sleeping Beauty Castle and 16 giant inflatable candles. "Miley is really hard to surprise," her father Billy Ray Cyrus said at the event. Organizers estimated over 5,000 people attended the special party, which cost $250 a ticket. On the event's purple carpet _ that's Cyrus' favorite color _ the "Hannah Montana" star bragged that her parents bought her a new puppy for
» 6 Oct 2008, 5:01 am

New DNC Ad Criticizes McCain Over Negative Attack Ads (VIDEO)The DNC has released a new ad criticizing McCain for his aggressive turn towards negative campaigning. The spot ends with McCain, in a clip on the campaign trail from 2000, saying "if all you run is negative attack ads you don't have much of a vision for the future, or you're not ready to articulate it." As TPM notes, the McCain campaign's ad spending is now nearly 100 percent devoted to attack ads. Watch the DNC's new ad below. CHYRON: "John McCain... readying a newly aggressive assault on Sen. Barack Obama's character." [Washington Post, 10/04/08] VIDEO: Montage of McCain attack ads CHYRON: John McCain is "looking forward to turning a page on this financial crisis." [Washington Post, 10/04/08] VIDEO: Montage of McCain attack ads
» 5 Oct 2008, 10:18 pm

HuffPollstrology: Candidates' Horoscopes, Polls And More For October 6Polls have come to dominate the media's horse race coverage of political campaigns. Pundits and reporters constantly use them to tell us who's hot and who's not -- but skip over the fact that plummeting response rates and variables like undecided voters and margins of error often render these polls useless as anything other than lightweight diversions on par with horoscopes and political betting lines. Below you'll find a slew of polling, astrological, and betting information that will hopefully help the polling junkies in the media keep polls in the proper perspective. We've also updated HuffPollstrology to bring you regular takes from astrologers on the state of the presidential race. And we've included a section that digs deeper into ho
» 5 Oct 2008, 10:01 pm

Hot Seat: Liberty Mutual Advertisement VideoWatch "Hot Seat," an ad by Liberty Mutual.
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:59 pm

7 Palin aides to testify in abuse-of-power probeANCHORAGE, Alaska — Seven aides to Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin have reversed course and agreed to testify in an investigation into whether the Republican vice presidential nominee abused her powers by firing a commissioner who refused to dismiss her former brother-in-law. There is no indication, however, that Palin or her husband will now agree to testify in the legislative inquiry, which has dogged her for the past several months and could hurt John McCain in the final weeks of the presidential race. Palin, a first-term governor, is the focus of a legislative investigation into her firing of Public Safety Commissioner Walt Monegan a year after she, her husband and key advisers began questioning him about getting rid of a state troop
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:58 pm

NYT Madonna Concert Review: The Coldest Pop Star"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Madonna's backup singers sang as video screens and subwoofers blasted to life at the Izod Center. Time obsesses Madonna on her Sticky and Sweet Tour, which made its first American stop here on Saturday. Time means beat and rhythm, and it means the pop history encapsulated in the hits Madonna has been making since 1982. It also means the aging that she defies with workouts, image makeovers and what looks like plastic surgery. At 50, Madonna can no longer be seen as a clubland ingénue, a Hollywood glamour queen, an iconoclast rejecting a Roman Catholic upbringing or a kinky provocateur, and she won't be any kind of dowager yet. Time has brought out her core: careerist ambition and a combative tenacity. Has there eve
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:26 pm

McCain's &quot;Keating 5&quot; Scandal Involvement To Be Highlighted By Obama CampaignThe Obama campaign, in an effort to combat increasingly negative attacks by the McCain camp, is launching an aggressive, multi-pronged effort to highlight McCain's involvement in the "Keating 5" savings-and-loan scandal: Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.) on Monday will launch a multimedia campaign to draw attention to the involvement of Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) in the "Keating Five" savings-and-loan scandal of 1989-91, which blemished McCain's public image and set him on his course as a self-styled reformer. Pushing back against what it calls McCain's "guilt-by-association" tactics, the Obama campaign is e-mailing millions of supporters a link to a website, KeatingEconomics.com, which will have a 13-minute documentary on the scandal beginning
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:11 pm

Palin: Wolf In Sheep's Clothing"Teeth of terror sinking in The bite of the she-wolf" --Megadeth (chorus from the lyrics of Shewolf) At a time of extreme economic crisis at home and two wars abroad, John McCain is gambling that an attack mounted by Sarah Palin on Barack Obama's tangential ties to 1970s radical bomber Bill Ayers will reverse the Arizona Senator's steadily diminishing prospect of victory on November 4. This strategy carries high risks. First and foremost, a number of experts in the field doubt that when the economy has been on the brink of collapse, when the situation in Afghanistan is worsening, and the debate over the US war in Iraq has intensified, negative campaigning is an effective political tool. Vanderbilt political scientist John Geer, who h
» 5 Oct 2008, 8:11 pm

Are Blogs Good For Democracy? A Debate Featuring The Yale Political UnionArianna Huffington recently spoke before the Yale Political Union at a debate around the question, "Resolved: Blogs Are Good For Democracy." While Arianna argued that blogs support democracy inasmuch as bloggers can challenge conventional wisdom — a cornerstone of American democracy going as far back as Thomas Paine — the students in the Yale Political Union engaged in a spirited debate about the role blogs and bloggers play in a democratic society. The resolution passed, 33-22. In honor of that debate, and to bring that dialogue to the Huffington Post, we have featured four students' speeches from that night. Fernando Reyes' post, Blogging Towards A Digital Democracy, highlights "the real possibility that individuals that have be
» 5 Oct 2008, 7:07 pm

Rolling Stone: McCain The &quot;Make-Believe Maverick&quot;At Fort McNair, an army base located along the Potomac River in the nation's capital, a chance reunion takes place one day between two former POWs. It's the spring of 1974, and Navy commander John Sidney McCain III has returned home from the experience in Hanoi that, according to legend, transformed him from a callow and reckless youth into a serious man of patriotism and purpose. Walking along the grounds at Fort McNair, McCain runs into John Dramesi, an Air Force lieutenant colonel who was also imprisoned and tortured in Vietnam. McCain is studying at the National War College, a prestigious graduate program he had to pull strings with the Secretary of the Navy to get into. Dramesi is enrolled, on his own merit, at the Industrial College
» 5 Oct 2008, 6:51 pm

White Sox Beat RaysCHICAGO — Thanks to John Danks and the White Sox, Chicago still has one team standing. Danks pitched another big game to save the season and well-traveled DeWayne Wise delivered a two-run double as the White Sox beat Tampa Bay 5-3 Sunday, trimming the Rays' lead in their AL playoff series to 2-1. Game 4 in the best-of-five matchup is Monday in Chicago, with Gavin Floyd facing Tampa Bay's Andy Sonnanstine. Less than 24 hours after the Cubs were swept out of the playoffs by the Dodgers, dashing Chicago's hopes for a crosstown World Series, the White Sox avoided elimination before a black-shirted, white towel-waving crowd of 40,142 in their home park. "At least we play tomorrow," White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen said. "Like I say, w
» 5 Oct 2008, 6:30 pm

mixx

Attractive Face ScaleThese women do not exist. They each are a composite of about 30 faces that I created to find out the current standard of good looks on the Internet. On the popular Hot or Not web site, people rate others’ attractiveness on a scale of 1 to 10.
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:13 am

Sarah Palin in 30 secondsSarah Palin's debate performance, reduced to its essence.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:45 am

Make-Believe MaverickA closer look at the life and career of John McCain reveals a disturbing record of recklessness and dishonesty
» 2 Oct 2008, 12:48 pm

Insights for WordPressThe Insights plugin fills an empty space in the productivity sector of WordPress blogs.
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:21 am

Muslims celebrate Eid al-FitrA man and his son stand next to a telescope as they prepare to sight the new crescent moon from the peak of a mountain. The new moon marks the end of the Ramadan fasting month. The following day, Eid al-Fitr, is a day for feasting.
» 5 Oct 2008, 2:54 pm

What to do when you are banned from digg."According blog zaibatsu, digg.com has been busy again banning many their top users." Probably because they want to kill off all the power users... come to Mixx, great site. But if you guys and gals still want to be on Dig, I have some great tips
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:33 pm

YouTube - Kerry Washington Wants You to Register to VoteKerry Washington encourages everyone in Ohio to visit http://ohio.VoteForChange.com/ to register to vote.
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:05 pm

NGC 253 Close-UpThis dusty island universe is one of the brightest spiral galaxies in the sky. Seen nearly edge-on, NGC 253 lies a mere 13 million light-years away and is the largest member of the Sculptor Group of galaxies, neighbor to our own local galaxy group.
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:51 pm

USDA issues warning for frozen chicken dinners - USATODAY.comThe government is urging consumers to thoroughly cook frozen chicken dinners after 32 people in 12 states were sickened with salmonella poisoning.
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:07 pm

YouTube - Please Don't VoteBig name celebrities come together to... tell you not to voteHonors Other Vids!#2 - Most Discussed (This Week) - Canada#85 - Most Discussed (This Week)#1 - M...
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:55 pm

newsvine

Old events fuel new presidential campaign attacksThe gloves are off, the heels are on, and the presidential race is dredging up infamous events from 20, 30, even 40 years ago.
» 6 Oct 2008, 12:50 am

Miley Cyrus celebrates Sweet 16 at DisneylandMiley Cyrus' 16th birthday party was more boisterous than sweet. Cyrus celebrated the hallmark birthday at an over-the-top Disneyland celebration Sunday — even though she doesn't actually turn 16 until Nov. 23. The theme park was closed for the supersized soiree, which included a four-song performance by the teen queen and a fireworks display above Sleeping Beauty Castle and 16 giant inflatable candles.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:50 am

Jimmy Kimmel returns as American Music Awards hostJimmy Kimmel is coming back to provide more laughs for the American Music Awards.
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:24 am

Pope: financial crisis shows futility of moneyPope Benedict XVI says the global financial crisis show the futility of money and ambition.
» 6 Oct 2008, 3:17 am

Connecticut towns grapple with new Web lawHarwinton residents hoping to learn about recycling policies and library hours online are out of luck.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:37 am

Doctors: No hamsters or exotic pets for young kidsWarning: young children should not keep hedgehogs as pets — or hamsters, baby chicks, lizards and turtles, for that matter — because of risks for disease.
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:06 pm

Iran: No US request on diplomatic postIran says it has not received any request from the United States to establish a diplomatic outpost in Tehran.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:34 am

US House race in Oklahoma heats up after bailoutThe political ad begins with classical music playing, then a picture of Republican U.S. Rep. John Sullivan.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:22 am

Obama's role in Ill. ethics bill was complicatedBarack Obama likes to give himself star billing for his role in enacting ethics reforms in Illinois a decade ago, but he didn't act alone.
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:51 am

Karzai's brother denies links to drug tradePresident Hamid Karzai's brother denied Monday that he has ever been involved in Afghanistan's heroin trade, and accused U.S. officials of fabricating allegations to harm the president.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:35 am

Earthquake kills at least 60 in KyrgyzstanA powerful earthquake struck the mountains of Central Asia, destroying a village in Kyrgyzstan and killing at least 60 people, emergency officials said Monday.
» 6 Oct 2008, 2:22 am

slashdot

Plug-In Hybrids Aren't Coming, They're HereWired is running a story about the small but vocal, and growing, number of people who aren't waiting for automakers to deliver plug-in hybrids. They're shelling out big money to have already thrifty cars converted into full-on plug-in hybrids capable of triple-digit fuel economy. "The conversions aren't cheap, and top-of-the-line kits with lithium-ion batteries can set you back as much as $35,000. Even a kit with lead-acid batteries — the type under the hood of the car you drive now — starts at five grand. That explains why most converted plug-ins are in the motor pools of places like Southern California Edison... No more than 150 or so belong to people like [extreme skiing champion Alison] Gannett, who had her $30,000 Ford Escape conve
» 6 Oct 2008, 1:11 am

No Naked Black HolesScience News reports on a paper to be published in Physical Review Letters in which an international team of researchers describes their computer simulation of the most violent collision imaginable: two black holes colliding head-on at nearly light-speed. Even in this extreme scenario, Roger Penrose's weak cosmic censorship hypothesis seems to hold — the resulting black hole (after the gravitational waves have died down) retains its event horizon. "Mathematically, 'naked' singularities, or those without event horizons, can exist, but physicists wouldn't know what to make of them. All known mechanisms for the formation of singularities also create an event horizon, and Penrose conjectured that there must be some physical principle — a 'c
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:17 pm

Linux Turns 17 TodayMeshach writes "Over at the Linux Journal, Doc Searles is noting that today marks 17 years since Linus posted to Usenet, starting Linux (post). As a Linux user at work and at home I say, thanks Linus!" The anniversary is also featured on the top page of the Encyclopedia Britannica.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
» 5 Oct 2008, 6:54 pm

Jobs Rumor Debacle Besmirches Citizen JournalismOn Friday someone posted a false rumor that Steve Jobs had suffered a heart attack on CNN's unverified citizen journalism site, iReport. Apple's stock price went vertical, losing 9% before Apple stepped in and denied the rumor; the stock then recovered most of its loss. The SEC is investigating. PCWorld looks at the hit taken by citizen journalism as a result of this incident. "[The] increasingly blurred line between journalism and rumor is a serious concern for Al Tompkins, the broadcast/online group leader at The Poynter Institute — a specialized school for journalists of all media forms. 'How could you possibly allow just anybody to post just anything under your [CNN] label unless you have blazing billboards that say, "None of this has
» 5 Oct 2008, 4:35 pm

Mimicking Electric Eel CellsAn anonymous reader writes "A team of US researchers has asked the following question in the new field of systems biology: 'Do we understand how a cell produces electricity well enough to design one, and to optimize that design?' They believe it should be possible to build artificial cells replicating the electrical behavior of electric eel cells. In fact, such artificial cells could deliver better performance — as much as 40% more energy than real eel cells, a computer model suggests. They could be used to power medical implants and other small devices."Read more of this story at Slashdot.
» 5 Oct 2008, 3:23 pm

A Wikipedia Conspiracy and the Wall Street MeltdownPatrickByrne writes "This is The Register's world-class investigative piece concerning one aspect of the meltdown on Wall Street ('naked short selling') and how the criminals engaged a journalist to distort Wikipedia to confuse the discourse. The article explicitly and formally accuses a well-known US financial journalist, Gary Weiss, of lying about his efforts to distort a Wikipedia page under assumed names, and accuses the Powers That Be in Wikipedia (right up to and including Jimbo Wales) of complicity in protecting Weiss. This is not another story about a 15-year-old farm kid in Iowa pretending to be a professor. This is like the worst Chomskian view of Elites manipulating mass opinion. But it is all documented." We discussed the allege
» 5 Oct 2008, 2:14 pm

Encrypted Images Vulnerable To New Attackrifles only writes "A German techie has found a remarkably simple way to discern some of the content of encrypted volumes containing images. The encrypted images don't reveal themselves totally, but in many cases do let an attacker see the outline of a high-contrast image. The attack works regardless of the encryption algorithm used (the widely-used AES for instance), and affects all utilities that use single symmetric keys. More significant to police around the world struggling with criminal and terrorist use of encryption, the attack also breaks the ability of users to 'hide' separate encrypted volumes inside already encrypted volumes, whose existence can now for the first time be revealed." The discoverer of this attack works for a compa
» 5 Oct 2008, 1:04 pm

Birth of a New African OceanKhemisty writes "Formation of an ocean is a rare event, one no scientist has ever witnessed. Yet this geophysical nativity is unfolding today in one of the hottest and most inhospitable corners of the globe. Africa is splitting apart at the seams. From the southern tip of the Red Sea southward through Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Mozambique, the continent is coming unstitched along a zone called the East African Rift." This stretching of the earth's crust has been going on for 20 million years, and within another 10 million the Red Sea will have broken through to create a new sea.Read more of this story at Slashdot.
» 5 Oct 2008, 11:53 am

Dispelling Myths About Geomagnetic ReversalUniverseToday has an interesting look at geomagnetic reversal, the process in which the Earth's magnetic poles trade places. The article cites known trends and recent studies to debunk doomsday myths and unsubstantiated claims about the process. One such study is attempting to model the earth's core with a 26-ton ball of molten metal. Another recently found evidence that the Earth has a second, weaker magnetic field. "We do know that this magnetic pole flip-flop has occurred many times in the last few million years; the last occurred 780,000 years ago according to ferromagnetic sediment. A few scaremongering articles have said geomagnetic reversal occurs with 'clockwork regularity' — this is simply not true."Read more of this story at Sla
» 5 Oct 2008, 10:43 am

Optical Character Recognition Still Struggling With HandwritingIan Lamont recently asked Google if they planned to extend their transcription of books and other printed media to include public records, many of which were handwritten before word processors became ubiquitous. Google wouldn't talk about any potential plans, but Lamont found out a bit more about the limits of optical character recognition in the process: "Even though some CAPTCHA schemes have been cracked in the past year, a far more difficult challenge lies in using software to recognize handwritten text. Optical character recognition has been used for years to convert printed documents into text data, but the enormous variation in handwriting styles has thwarted large-scale OCR imports of handwritten public documents and historical recor
» 5 Oct 2008, 9:37 am

Gov't Database Errors Leading To Unconstitutional Searches?Wired is running a story about a case the Supreme Court will be hearing on Tuesday that relates to searches based on erroneous information in government databases. In the case of Herring vs. US 07-513, the defendant was followed and pulled over based on a records indicating he had a warrant out for his arrest. Upon further review, the local county clerk found the records were in error, and the warrant notification should have been removed months prior. Unfortunately for Herring, he had already been arrested and his car searched. Police found a small amount of drugs and a firearm, for which Herring was subsequently prosecuted. Several friend-of-the-court briefs have been filed to argue this case, some calling for "an accuracy obligation on l
» 5 Oct 2008, 8:30 am

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