Woo. Hoo.

11:49:54 PM     leave/read comments []

The Internet at 43 gigabits per second. [ITU Strategy and Policy Unit Newslog]

A Japanese research team claims to have achieved the world record speed in data transmission using internet protocols. The team, comprising scientists from Keio University and divisions of Japan's largest telcoms firm NTT, achieved a speed of 43 gigabits per second over an optical network between two campuses of Keio several kilometers apart. NTT and NTT East provided the optical network between the two labs. The experiment involved the use of the ITU-T G.709 standard, designed for optical networks. According to a statement from NTT, a movie file on a DVD took under one second to transmit.

 

[Nippon Goro Goro]

11:47:43 PM    

The CIA  believes North Korea has produced one or two nuclear weapons and is confident in their performance through high explosive tests, according to an article somewhere on the FAS web site. [Nippon Goro Goro]

Just so long as this isn't the same "CIA" that found the African Yellow Cake, if you know what I mean. Dubya is uppity enough as it is.
Image of the Mike hydrogen bomb explosion that destroyed an uninhabited atoll in the Marshall Islands in 1952. From: U.S. Department of Energy.

11:37:28 PM     leave/read comments []

For months, soldiers at Camp Doha, Kuwait, have been wearing T-shirts that say, "Operation Iraqi Freedom: Mission Accomplished." But recently a new T-shirt has appeared suggesting that the mission may be more open-ended.

It reads, "Operation Iraqi Freedom: Established 2003."

8:13:47 PM    

Amazing sculptures by woman with Down Syndrome. "Judith Scott (born 1943), a fifty-five year old woman with Down's Syndrome, has spent the past ten years producing a series of totally non-functional objects which, to us, appear to be works of sculpture, except that the notion of sculpture is far beyond Judith's understanding. As well as being mentally handicapped, Judith cannot hear or speak, and she has little concept of language."

Link (via Geisha Asobi)
[Boing Boing Blog]

7:39:20 PM    

Turkey Won't Send Troops to Iraq. The announcement today is something of a setback for President Bush. By David Stout. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

Well, well, yet again, no Turkish Delight for little Georgie.

I hope he doesn't get too mad and do something rash, like invade North Korea. They're so volatile at that age.

The government of Turkey, reversing a recent decision that had sparked anger at home and alarm in Iraq, said today that it would not send troops across the border in support of the American campaign in Iraq.

Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul told Secretary of State Colin L. Powell of the decision in a telephone conversation Thursday night, the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement from Ankara.

"After necessary assessments, Foreign Minister Gul told Mr. Powell that our government would reconsider its request to send troops to Iraq," the statement said. In Washington, the State Department said the decision should not hamper the American pacification efforts in Iraq.

And then monkeys flew out of their Foggy Bottom.

7:30:52 PM     leave/read comments []

Pity the poor Bobcat.

Ever since I discovered ringworm on my cat Bob, he's endured a wide-ranging, often annoying (for him and me) series of different treatment attempts.

He's done the anti-fungal cream (licked it off, gave him diarrhea), a dipping at the vet (stunk to high heaven, licked it off, gave him diarrhea), liquid AF medicine (wouldn't swallow it, foamed at the mouth for almost an hour, may have given him diarrhea) and finally, the one that seems to work (without giving him diarrhea); medicated shampoos. He's no fan of the cat shower, but aside from puncturing my forearms the first time, he's been quite good about the entire sloppy, soggy procedure.

Scooter, my little one, has a less serious case and she gets her baths on the days that Bob doesn't. She's been very cooperative, thank goodness.

Though there is nothing quite as pathetic as a little wet cat, shaking and shivering in a damp towel in your lap.

We've been at this for over a month now, and fugi willing, we're just about finished with it all.

4:24:59 PM     leave/read comments []

Ladies and Gentlemen, START YOUR ICONS!

4:01:14 PM     leave/read comments []

Ishihara-Koreans (Kyodo).

Koreans in Japan rally against Tokyo Governor Ishihara.

Makes you wonder if maybe, just maybe, he's related to Donald Rumsfeld.

On Oct. 28, Ishihara said at a gathering in Tokyo, "The annexation was made with an agreement of the nations worldwide and (the Korean people) had to choose between Russia, Shina or Japan, and they decided to seek help from (the Japanese), who had the same facial color as their own."

"Shina" is a Japanese word referring to China and was often used as a derogatory term before and during World War II.

3:57:48 PM    

c|net: "Five reasons not to buy an iPod" [The Macintosh News Network]

OK, cutting to the chase, here are the five (and one-half) reasons, sans rationales (you'll just have to click on the link).

1. Six-plus hours of battery life is not always enough.
2. Jogging with a hard drive-based player is not cool.
3. The iPod is expensive.
4. You want to make high-quality digital recordings.
5. You want a choice in online music stores.

5.5: You're Steve Monkey Boy Ballmer.

2:38:52 PM     leave/read comments []

Source: Boing Boing Blog; 11/7/03; 10:49:03 AM.

IRS has a $1MM tax-refund form.
How much is Dubya's tax-break worth to the hyperrich? Enough that the IRS has a new form for the electronic deposit of a tax refund of $1 million or more.

28k PDF Link [Boing Boing Blog]

So, are ya angry yet?

Remember, don't talk about "Class Warfare," that's for your betters. Now, back to work, you peon.

2:28:11 PM     leave/read comments []

Web Zen: Hipster Zen.

handbook
mr. hipster
free williamsburg
trucker hat
feathered hair
bingo
bumplist
terrorists
why hipsters suck
anti-hipster forum
not lost in translation
her
i hate nyc
six months ago

and, of course...
gawker [which we love, shamelessly. --XJ]

web zen home, web zen store, (Thanks, Frank). [Boing Boing Blog]

10:45:31 AM     leave/read comments []

Time to boycott Belkin (no link, I hear their routers do that for you) for their presumption, their invasion of privacy and their out and out lying.

Belkin router "upgrade" tries to sell you censorship. Belkin's new router firmware "upgrade" automatically redirects http sessions to a Belkin sell-page for some bullshit censorware filtering crap. That's some upgrade: from a router that routes packets to a router that pushes the antithesis of free expression.

In response criticism, a Belkin product manager came forward this week to confirm the behaviour was designed into the products as a way to make it easier for consumers to sign up to a free trial of its parental control software. Belkin's Eric Deming is keen to allay concerns about the technique which have produced sharp criticism of the company on the news.admin.net-abuse.email newsgroup.

Link

(Thanks, Rick!) [Boing Boing Blog]

So, you buy a router and it hijacks your network and the computer on it, delivering advertising to your captive eyes. And what does it advertise? Censorware. Maybe this item should be "Dept. of Big Brother Only Wants Your Wallet?"

The router would grab a random HTTP connection every eight hours and redirect it to Belkin[base ']s (push) advertised web page.

"It seems the router now supports a parental control and the market droids at Belkin got the bright idea of equipping the router with intrusive nagware," writes Uh Clem. "Of course, I have this strange notion that routers should pass data unmolested by marketeers!"

10:21:28 AM