The Beautiful Letdown

In Your Facebook

2006-01-12T10:05:00.000-05:00

Monday, January 9, 2006

AS far as Kyle Stoneman is concerned, the campus police were the ones who started the Facebook wars. "We were just being, well, college students, and they used it against us," says Mr. Stoneman, a senior at George Washington University in Washington. He is convinced that the campus security force got wind of a party he and some buddies were planning last year by monitoring Facebook.com, the phenomenally popular college networking site. The officers waited till the shindig was in full swing, Mr. Stoneman grouses, then shut it down on discovering under-age drinking.

Mr. Stoneman and his friends decided to fight back. Their weapon of choice? Facebook, of course.

Once again they used the site, which is visited by more than 80 percent of the student body, to chat up a beer blast. But this time, when the campus police showed up, they found 40 students and a table of cake and cookies, all decorated with the word "beer." "We even set up a cake-pong table," a twist on the beer-pong drinking game, he says. "The look on the faces of the cops was priceless." As the coup de grâce, he posted photographs of the party on Facebook, including a portrait of one nonplussed officer.

A university spokesman, Tracy Schario, insists that noise complaints, not nosing around Facebook, led the police to both parties. But, she says, "it's sort of an inevitability that if a party is talked about on the site, word of it will reach the enforcement people, who then have no choice but to investigate." In fact, two campus police officers and the chief's assistant are among the 14,000 Facebook members at George Washington.

The stunt could be read as a sign that Facebook has become more than a way for young people to stay in touch. Started in 2004 by Harvard students who wanted to animate the black-and-white thumbnail photos of freshman directories, the site is the ninth most visited on the Internet, according to Nielsen/Net Ratings, and is used by nearly five million college students. Facebook is available at most of the country's four-year colleges, and many two-year colleges, too.

Because of its popularity, though, the site has become a flashpoint for debates about free speech, privacy and whether the Internet should be a tool for surveillance. It has also raised concerns from parents, administrators and even students about online "addiction." "There are people on this campus who are totally obsessed with it, who check their profile 5, 6, 20 times a day," says Ingrid Gallagher, a sophomore at the University of Michigan. "But I think that more and more people are realizing that it also has a dark side."

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One-Eyed Cat Had Medical Condition

2006-01-11T14:33:00.000-05:00

PORTLAND, Ore. - A photo of a one-eyed kitten named Cy drew more than a little skepticism when it turned up on various Web sites, but medical authorities have a name for the bizarre condition.

"Holoprosencephaly" causes facial deformities, according to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke, part of the National Institutes of Health. In the worst cases, a single eye is located where the nose should be, according to the institute's Web site.

Traci Allen says the kitten she named Cy, short for Cyclops, was born the night of Dec. 28 with the single eye and no nose.

"You don't expect to see something like that," the 35-year-old Allen said by telephone from her home in Redmond in central Oregon.

Allen said she stayed up all night with the deformed kitten on her recliner, feeding Cy a liquid formula through a syringe. She says she cared for the kitten the next day as well, until it died that evening.

Allen had taken digital pictures that she provided to The Associated Press. Some bloggers have questioned the authenticity of the photo distributed on Jan. 6.

AP regional photo editor Tom Stathis said he took extensive steps to confirm the one-eyed cat was not a hoax. Stathis had Allen ship him the memory card that was in her camera. On the card were a number of pictures - including holiday snapshots, and four pictures of a one-eyed kitten. The kitten pictures showed the animal from different perspectives.

Fabricating those images in sequence and in the camera's original picture format, from the varying perspectives, would have been virtually impossible, Stathis said.

Meanwhile, Cy the one-eyed cat may be dead, but it has not left the building.

Allen said she's keeping the cat's corpse in her freezer for now, in case scientists would like it for research.

She said one thing's for certain: "I'm not going to put it on eBay."

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Scary Dolls

2005-11-29T08:52:00.000-05:00

Hmmmm, I see some xmas ideas here. *snicker*

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IPOD Bed.

2005-11-29T08:50:00.000-05:00

Presenting the world’s first iPod compatible bed by DesignMobel. “Pause”, as it was named, features an integrated iPod Dock and can accomodate a Bose Speaker Systen. The bed is crafted from solid New Zealand Rimu with aluminium detailing. Now you can bring some style and function into the bedroom.

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Two 360s taken in Virginia armed robbery

2005-11-29T08:48:00.000-05:00

Consoles taken at gunpoint just hours ago; thief apprehended, consoles recovered.

A Stafford, Virginia, Electronics Boutique store was the scene of an armed robbery this morning. According to sources, the perpetrator made off with two Xbox 360 systems, forcing the store manager to hand them over at gunpoint.

Sources tell GameSpot the local police responded quickly, cordoned off the store, and immediately pursued the thief. The thief was apprehended shortly afterward.

Because the police consider the heist an ongoing criminal investigation, store employees were reluctant to discuss details of the robbery. But as of press time, the store is open, and all systems are back to normal.

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Xbox 360 snagged at gunpoint

2005-11-29T08:47:00.000-05:00

A Jonesboro (Georgia) woman was robbed at gunpoint outside of her home early Tuesday morning after returning from Best Buy with a newly purchased Xbox 360. Patsy Springer, a 53-year-old widow, had waited nearly nine hours to secure her son’s coveted Christmas gift.

When Springer reached her home she was approached by a man who pointed a gun at her face and grabbed the shopping bag containing the Xbox 360 and additional accessories & software (valued at roughly $600). The man then fled to his car, at which point Springer attempted to pursue him in her own car—she eventually gave up. The attacker likely followed Springer from the Best Buy parking lot.

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The Deadly Kiss

2005-11-29T08:41:00.000-05:00

Christina Desforges a teenage girl died due to Peanut allergy after her boyfriend kissed her after having a peanut butter.

Desforges is from the city of Saguenay, though she received a dose of adrenaline soon after the kiss she could not be cured of the hypersensitivity reaction and died a week after the kiss. The exact cause of the death is being investigated and an autopsy has been planned for Christina Desforges.

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HOLY CRAP!

Fun Little Puppet

2005-10-28T09:05:00.000-04:00

This is really fun. Navigate yourself to the puppet page.

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Flaming Bag of Poo

2005-10-28T08:54:00.000-04:00

Click here for a fun little poo game.

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Civil Rights Pioneer Rosa Parks, 92, Dies

2005-10-27T10:24:00.000-04:00

DETROIT - Nearly 50 years ago, Rosa Parks made a simple decision that sparked a revolution. When a white man demanded she give up her seat on a Montgomery, Ala., bus, the then 42-year-old seamstress said no.

At the time, she couldn't have known it would secure her a revered place in American history. But her one small act of defiance galvanized a generation of activists, including a young Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., and earned her the title "mother of the civil rights movement."

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This woman left a legacy. :o)

Divorce Magazine....

2005-10-26T21:30:00.000-04:00

Omg, check out the cover of the magazine. Ugh.

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Complaint from seat 29e

2005-10-26T21:28:00.000-04:00

Literally, a complaint written to Continental Airlines. I laughed out loud...hysterical.

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The Banana Guard

2005-10-11T21:00:00.000-04:00

Are you fed up with bringing bananas to work or school only to find them bruised and squashed? Our unique, patented device allows for the safe transport and storage of individual bananas letting you enjoy perfect bananas anytime, anywhere.

The Banana Guard was specially designed to fit the vast majority of bananas. Its other features include multiple small perforations to facilitate ventilation thereby preventing premature ripening and a sturdy locking mechanism to keep the Banana Guard closed. The Banana Guard is of course dishwasher safe for easy cleaning.

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This is one of those websites that has me asking...are they serious?
Honestly, I think I like the colors best:

Ravishing Red
Outrageous Orange
Mellow Yellow
Sublime Green
Skyhigh Blue
Brilliant Blue
Passionate Purple
Pretty in Pink
Glow in the Dark

Matchstick Fly Airplane

2005-10-10T09:04:00.000-04:00

"Catch a bunch of flies. Put them in a jar and put the jar in the freezer. In a few seconds the flies will be chilled out completely. This is called cryogenics, and it has its drawbacks. For example, the flies will be dead flies if you freeze them too long. Dead flies are no good. So if you're a tinkerer, refrigerate your flies. It takes longer to make them comatose, but they have a higher recovery rate than the ones you leave in the freezer next to the burritos."

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I really wonder if this would work?

Real Life Photoshop

2005-10-09T20:08:00.000-04:00

This is really stupid, but I figured I would share.

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Quad Zipper

2005-10-09T20:04:00.000-04:00

Five years ago, while on a particularly chilly camping trip with his father, Justin faced an age old dilemma: “How can I possibly leave the warm haven of my sleeping bag for the cold morning wilderness?” Being a natural problem-solver, Justin figured there had to be a way to stay in his warm sleeping bag and still get up and walk around. His solution: the Quad Zipper. The Quad Zipper is a new zipper technology that allows for synchronized, compartmental transformation of fabrics. The Quad Zipper simultaneously zips and unzips parallel rows of zipper tape to transform articles of clothing without adding or removing any parts. For example, the Quad Zipper transforms a sleeping bag into a walking suit, allowing the occupant to get up and walk around in their sleeping bag while maintaining the generated body heat trapped inside.

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Thanks Noobs...blogworthy indeedy.

Coffin Swimsuit Edition?

2005-10-09T20:02:00.000-04:00

Ok, I rarely post anything like this...but I thought this was too weird to not share.

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Warp a Celebrity

2005-09-29T10:38:00.000-04:00

This is fun.

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Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness

2005-09-29T10:35:00.000-04:00

"Welcome to my Hall of Technical Documentation Weirdness. On this page, I list wacky, bizarre, surreal and otherwise strange examples of technical documentation, particularly illustration. This page is in its infancy, so I welcome submissions, both written and visual. Note that I'm not looking for just bad technical writing--there are plenty of examples of that. I'm looking for the inexplicable, the surreal and the strange. Email me at (DARREN at DARRENBAREFOOT fullstop COM) with your submissions. When you're done, you might want to check out my weblog, which includes other fascinating things."

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Nightmare for African Women: Birthing Injury and Little Help

2005-09-28T15:02:00.000-04:00

I read this article today on fistulas in young African women and girls and was horrified. I have heard of genital mutilations on young women in Africa, but never heard of this. This made me sick. Where is the UN, where are human rights? To think that these families and husbands literally threw these girls into huts as trash was utterly disturbing.

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Armed and dangerous - Flipper the firing dolphin let loose by Katrina

2005-09-26T11:22:00.000-04:00

It may be the oddest tale to emerge from the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina. Armed dolphins, trained by the US military to shoot terrorists and pinpoint spies underwater, may be missing in the Gulf of Mexico.

Experts who have studied the US navy's cetacean training exercises claim the 36 mammals could be carrying 'toxic dart' guns. Divers and surfers risk attack, they claim, from a species considered to be among the planet's smartest. The US navy admits it has been training dolphins for military purposes, but has refused to confirm that any are missing.

Dolphins have been trained in attack-and-kill missions since the Cold War. The US Atlantic bottlenose dolphins have apparently been taught to shoot terrorists attacking military vessels. Their coastal compound was breached during the storm, sweeping them out to sea. But those who have studied the controversial use of dolphins in the US defence programme claim it is vital they are caught quickly.

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This one's from Joe. OMG?!?! I had to re-read this....twice.

Battle robots could join dogs on S.Korea border

2005-09-23T11:26:00.000-04:00

SEOUL (Reuters) - Armed, six-legged robots may one day work alongside man's best friend on the southern side of the Korean DMZ.

South Korea will spend 33.4 billion won ($32 million) over the next five years to develop the robots for the heavily fortified demilitarized zone that divides the peninsula, the Communications Ministry said in a statement on Friday.

South Korea envisages the robots performing roles on the battlefield now done by dogs, such as sniffing for explosives and catching intruders, the ministry said.

The robots will stand knee-high to the average adult, mounted on wheels for road missions or on as many as eight legs to get them over uneven terrain, it said. Equipped with firearms, they will be able to carry out combat missions via remote control.

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After years spent crafting nifty little plastic toys that fill vending machines, Korea decided to turn things up a notch and created BATTLE ROBOTS! I'm not too concerned though. If they match the quality control of their cupie-doll cousins, they will easily break apart in a few days.
*snicker*

Condoms Are Named for Clinton, Lewinsky

2005-09-23T11:23:00.000-04:00

A rubber company in China has begun marketing condoms under the brand names Clinton and Lewinsky, apparently seeking to exploit the White House affair that led to the impeachment of America's 42nd president.

Spokesman Liu Wenhua of the Guangzhou Rubber Group said the company was handing out 100,000 free Clinton and Lewinsky condoms as part of a promotion to raise consumer awareness of its new products.

He said that after the promotion ends, the Clinton condoms will go on sale in southern China for 29.8 Yuan ($3.72) for a box of 12, while the Lewinsky model will be priced at 18.8 Yuan ($2.35) for the same quantity.

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Gives new meaning to "giving a Lewinsky"

Do we want more French people?

2005-09-23T11:21:00.000-04:00

"We must do more to allow French families to have as many children as they want," the prime minister said.

France's fertility rate, at an average of 1.9 children per woman, is the second highest in Europe after Ireland's, around 2. But it is still below the 2.07 level needed to prevent population decline.

The European Union average is around 1.5, dropping to less than 1.3 in some countries, including Greece, Spain, Italy and the new EU member nations in Eastern Europe where fertility rates dropped precipitously after the collapse of communism. Some experts fear that the decline in fertility rates across the continent could have far-reaching economic and social consequences.

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Ok, just an interesting thought...ever hear of survival of the fittest? Maybe the true cause for the decline in the fertility rate of France is just a part of natural selection? Hmmmmm.... ;o)

Silicon Art

2005-09-21T11:08:00.000-04:00

Check out the 4 gallery links on the left. This is art that was found on microchips... these images are 200 to 500 times their original size. Also check out the "How it is done" link.

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