What The Hell Am I Doing Here?

Saturday, January 24, 2004

Dept. of Guess Who's Coming For Dinner?
A picture named rover.jpg Opportunity rover lands on Mars. The second of two Nasa rovers successfully lands on the Martian surface, where it will search for signs of water on the planet. [BBC News | News Front Page | UK Edition]
Spirit has company. Let's hope it goes better than most family reunions, after all Spirit is already spouting gibberish, just like my Uncle Vern after a couple of cocktails.

11:53:34 PM leave/read comments []

In Death Watch for Stranger, Becoming a Friend to the End. A new program in New York trains "doulas," volunteers that befriend those fated to die in solitude. By N. R. Kleinfield. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]

It's nice to know that true compassion has not faded from America.

11:47:36 PM leave/read comments []

McDonald's diet makes you sick as hell. Lorin sez, "Documentary maker subsists on McDonalds 'food' 3 meals per day for 30 days, gets sick as hell."

Within a few days of beginning his drive-through diet, Spurlock, 33, was vomiting out the window of his car, and doctors who examined him were shocked at how rapidly Spurlock's entire body deteriorated.
"It was really crazy - my body basically fell apart over the course of 30 days," Spurlock told The Post.
His liver became toxic, his cholesterol shot up from a low 165 to 230, his libido flagged and he suffered headaches and depression.

Link (Thanks, Lorin!) [Boing Boing Blog]

11:43:17 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of High Spirits

A picture named spirits.jpg Mars Rover Communicates Again, but From Sickbed. The Mars rover Spirit called home on Friday morning, re-establishing contact after two days of garbled transmissions. By Kenneth Chang. [New York Times: Science]

NASA engineers are now questioning their decision to pack a fifth of "good luck Jack Daniels" along with the inebriated rover.

On Friday afternoon, when the Spirit should have been sleeping, it sent a large burst of data, mostly gibberish, to the Mars Odyssey as it passed overhead.

It also demanded a turkey pot pie and a six of Coors Light from the satellite. Mars Odyssey refused comment, and would only shake its high-gain antenna in shame and disapproval.

2:42:34 PM leave/read comments []

Dept. of Because You're Worth It

A picture named sadgoth.jpg Study Links Some Hair Dyes to Kind of Cancer. Scientists have found more evidence for a possible link between non-Hodgkin's lymphoma and long-term use of dark hair dye. By Mary Duenwald. [New York Times: Science]

Well, at least now Goths have something to be genuinely depressed about.

2:23:42 PM leave/read comments []

Gabriel to launch musicians' union. Rock legends Peter Gabriel and Brian Eno will launch a musicians' union to help artists in the digital age. [BBC News | Technology | UK Edition]

Hello Mudda.

What a terrible name. And the reasoning seems to be a bit fuzzy- is this a union created to protect workers from customers? It's not really clear.

2:10:56 PM leave/read comments []

The CIA revolt against the White House. Former intelligence official Larry C. Johnson blasts the Bush administration's "outright pattern of bullying" in a candid interview with Salon. [Salon.com]

Man, even I know you don't screw with the spooks.

2:05:03 PM leave/read comments []