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Posted at 05:47 PM

By now, I'm sure many of you have seen the photos of oddly constructed webs by spiders which have been administered various drugs by research scientists.

Now our Canadian wildlife staple, Hinterland Who's Who, has provided us with a highly educational video demonstrating the effects of various drugs on the common wood spider.

Thanks for the link, Mom.   :-)

Posted at 01:32 PM | Comments (3)

For a slimy libertarian, Llewellyn H. Rockwell has some good insights about Iraq in this article about the state.

I want to make it clear that I in no way support the majority of libertarian politics; I can't stand them. But this man makes many excellent points: add them to the laundry list of "things wrong with the Iraq situation". There's a power vacuum in that country right now and until groups vying for control have it out we're unlikely to see any stability.

But perhaps this is EXACTLY what Bush wants. By robbing the region of stability, you create a situation in which Arabs spend more time fighting eachother than America. The worst thing America could imagine is a unified middle eastern nation which would play hardball with the west when catering their energy needs.

While we're adding to lists, let's not forget to add to the ever-growing list of Things to be Thankful That You Live in Canada For. For example, the power struggle referenced in the above article stems from distrust and intolerance between different religious and ethnic groups in Iraq. We blanket them all as "Arabs". Left-leaners usually scoff at this oversimplification as proof of our ignorance to the situation. True, but I'd like to think there's also a more positive reason...

You see, when I walk out on the street in Vancouver, I routinely see people who are European (a horrible oversimplification), East Indian (also an oversimplification), Asian (oversimplification again! terrible), occasionally African (woe!) and those who are a blend of any of the above. They're Catholics, Protestants, Jews, Muslims, Athiests, Bhuddists, Hindus, Wiccans, and a dozen other things. There are some intolerant pigs, sure, but for the most part we all get along. Living in Vancouver is a wonderful cultural cornucopia and it all works together marvelously. So perhaps that's why it's hard for us to grasp why a nation of people with such minor ethnic and religious differences have trouble celebrating their national identity in peaceful harmony.

So give thanks. Give them...

Posted at 07:51 PM | Comments (0)

So sick. Sore throat and fever. Drinking nothing but tea. Sitting in bed. So bored. Internet... no longer entertaining.

Stupid germs. I hate them so much.

Posted at 10:15 AM

It was only a matter of time.

Posted at 01:04 PM | Comments (0)

I can't believe the things I've seen
I wonder 'bout some things I've heard
Everybody's crying mercy
When they don't know the meaning of the word

A bad enough situation
Is sure enough getting worse
Everybody's crying justice
Just as long as there's business first

Toe to toe
Touch and go
Give a cheer
Get your souvenier

People running 'round in circles
Don't know what they're headed for
Everybody's crying peace on earth
Just as soon as we win this war

Straight ahead
Knock 'em dead
Pack your kid
Choose your hypocrite

Well you dont have to go to off broadway
To see something played absurd
Everybody's crying mercy
When they don't know the meaning of the word

Nobody knows the meaning of the word
When they don't know the meaning of the word
Nobody knows the meaning of the word
Nobody knows the meaning of the word

- Bonnie Raitt
  1973

Posted at 06:38 PM | Comments (0)

American Vice President Dick Cheney and the rest of the Bush administration are still suffering from their self-inflicted reality delusion field. Did someone say impeachment? But seriously kids, as the die-hard American conservatives are now purporting, if you're against war, you're supporting terror. You're not a terrorist are you? I thought not.

On a lighter note, here's some amusing photoshopped pictures of celebrities who have undergone celebrity face transplants. I'm especially fond of "Owen Stiller" and "Kofi Cosby".

Posted at 10:13 AM | Comments (3)

Apple announced its TV streaming device today. But that's not the best...

They have the iPhone, and it's basically the greatest portable deivce ever created. It's a phone, an iPod, a touch-screen PDA, a portable web browser. Don't believe me? Check out the live keynote speech, which explains all the features in depth. This is high technology, baby.

*wants*

Posted at 10:22 AM | Comments (5)

Newsflash - Bees roast invading hornet to death.

Posted at 12:53 PM | Comments (5)

For those of you who expressed interest in seeing Children of Men (Alfonso Cuaron's dystopian story of a future where humans have become infertile), you might want to take note. It seems that due to lukewarm opening performance in the box office, Universal is quietly pulling the film from theaters. Many people are bothered by this, arguing that Children is one of the best films to come out in the last year and arguably Oscar-worthy. An online grassroots campaign has spawned to make sure people go out to see the movie right away to boost its performance and make it a success. Check your local listings.

Posted at 11:23 AM | Comments (3)

Dilatant and auxetic and ferromagnetic fluids! Oh my! Check out this list of videos and pictures of fluids with weird properties.

Angela and I went to see Body Worlds 3 at Science World last night. It was interesting. Seeing all the example organs with various diseases deteriorating them did little to help my budding hypochondria. The bodies themselves were interesting too, but I was rarely able to suspend my disbelief in a few ways. A lot of the men couldn't have been taller than 5'2, and many sported athletic poses that I doubted they could have managed in life. I'd spend much of my time wondering who they were when they were alive, how old they were, or whether the two bodies posed together as "lovers" even knew eachother.

All interesting, but I know I wouldn't make a good forensic pathologist.

Posted at 11:32 AM | Comments (0)

Probably due to the obscene and boastful nature of it's expression, nobody commented on my quite successful prediction of an open source car project. But I was right, and there's important implications to my successful prediction.

Few of my readers would argue that our society is currently driven by corporate commerce. The reason we don't have an affordable, reliable alternative-fuel car is because it's not profitable to build one, and profit drives the industry, and the industry builds the cars. Many would argue that we don't have cures for cancer or AIDS because it's not profitable to put billions of dollars into a research effort that may not yield results. And it seems that no single company can unseat Microsoft Windows from the OS throne. Our society has considerable industrial and scientific clout; but it's not devoted to bettering society, it's devoted to making profit.

That's why the open source model is so revolutionary and so important. For the first time in history, individuals from all over the globe can effortlessly collaborate on a range of products from the simple to the incredibly complex. When a cooperative of individuals can drive the software industry, the drug industry, or the auto industry, we can change the motivation of society from profit to universal mutual benefit.

A new book titled (marvelously) Wikinomics explains how the creation of value has become democratized. The information age is changing our society's economics, there's no stopping it, and it's a great thing.

UPDATE: The Wikinomics site has been Slashdotted. Here's Google's cached version.

Posted at 12:49 PM | Comments (6)