Thursday, December 18, 2003

Dept. of Deep, Space

A picture named darkmatter.jpg Science breakthrough: proof of our exploding universe. Findings settle arguments about age and composition of cosmos. [Guardian Unlimited]

Yes, our universe is expanding just like your holiday waistline. And, not unlike yourself, you can blame a mysterious substance- dark matter, that disappearing last slice of pie in the fridge of cosmology .

Welcome to the dark side. Around 73% of the universe is made not of matter or radiation but of a mysterious force called dark energy, a kind of gravity in reverse. Dark energy is listed as the breakthrough of the year in the US journal Science today.

The discovery - in fact a systematic confirmation of a puzzling observation first made five years ago - paints an even more puzzling picture of an already mysterious universe. Around 200bn galaxies, each containing 200bn stars, are detectable by telescopes. But these add up to only 4% of the whole cosmos.

Interestingly enough, purloined leftovers make up 4% of all holiday eating binges. Coincidence?!?

I think not!

11:43:12 PM     leave/read comments []



Dept. of Inquiries

Which Letterman Lawsuit Are You?
brought to you by the good people at cuddlybunnies.com

Props to Don

9:20:50 PM     leave/read comments []



Dept. of One-Stop Shopping

A picture named giftshop.jpg The new Gift Shop has all sorts of What The Hell Am I Selling Here merch, and other Mediawench goodies, now all in one convenient place! Check it out!

I promise this will be the last time I flog the store this week.

3:46:13 PM     leave/read comments []



Dept. of Commerce

NEW ITEM!

Wet Cat Jr. Spaghetti Tank
$19.99

Because julie asked for one.

3:07:02 PM     leave/read comments []



Dept. of Hip Ain't What It Used To Be

A picture named flashmob.jpg Flashmobbing gets sense of purpose. Online: The favoured pastime of bored students and the radically hip loses some of its radical edge with one of the first ever publicity stunt flashmobs. [Guardian Unlimited]

Standards are down all over.

In a related story, local cats, dog, jump on flashmob bandwagon.

2:22:44 PM     leave/read comments []



Dept. of APPLE NOTICE

A picture named panther.jpg 10.3.2 available for download. Apple has released Mac OS X v10.3.2, an update to its "Panther" operating system, available for download through the Software Update System Preferences pane. Apple also notes that a standalone installer should be available, though it didn't appear to be available yet as MacCentral posted this article. The new update is recommended for all users, according to Apple. [MacCentral]

1:13:00 PM     leave/read comments []



Damn, boingboing is finding so much good stuff today:

DIY medieval tapestry.

Vanessa sez, "This is just amazing -- the authors manipulated images from the Bayeux Tapestry and created a Flash-based kit where you can make your own medieval comic strip. Images are scalable, type can be colored. You can send your images as ecards to the medievalists of your acquaintance." I made an Orwellian one that I'm quite proud of, in my own, quiet way.

Link

(Thanks, Vanessa!)


[Boing Boing Blog]



1:11:07 PM     leave/read comments []


Dept. of Get Legal On The Phone, PRONTO!

A picture named nosegway.jpg Segway Stumbles in Europe. The Segway Human Transporter isn't making it to the top of many European Christmas lists this year. In addition to costing thousands of dollars, the two-wheeled scooter appears to be illegal in most of the EU. By Jeroen van Bergeijk. [Wired News]

Whoops!

1:03:56 PM     leave/read comments []



Source: Boing Boing Blog; 12/18/03; 12:49:15 PM.

Dead Logo Graveyard.

A wistful, meandering walk through the graveyard of dearly departed logotypes. Link (thanks, Jean-Luc)


[Boing Boing Blog]



12:59:02 PM     leave/read comments []


Source: Boing Boing Blog; 12/18/03; 12:49:16 PM.

Canadian Feds adopt RSS. The Canadian government is syndicating its daily news items as RSS feeds. There are a bunch of feeds running, including:

National news

Regional news
Aboriginal peoples

Business

Children

Educators

Link

(Thanks, Andrew!) [Boing Boing Blog]



12:58:29 PM     leave/read comments []


Dept. of Damn Yankees

The Slat Rat provides the laugh of the day!

This is for Peter: Evil almost always wears a Yankees cap..

From Jack Hoya via Dowbrigade. [The Slat Rat Chronicles]



12:28:20 PM     leave/read comments []



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