Not So Fast

FCC to allow cell phones on airlines. But the best part is this:

Currently, the only way passengers on domestic flights can communicate with the ground is through phones usually built into seatbacks. That service isn’t very popular: It costs far more than conventional or cell phones — about $3.99 a minute — and the reception often is poor.

Then one paragraph later:

Verizon Airfone, which is the only company that offers seatback phone service, maintains that letting one company handle the service would ensure the best quality.

Oh yeah.

Tom Ridge realizes too late that no one takes his rainbow of fruit colors seriously.

This is why I live in fear of global warming. Oh wait, no I don’t.

“For instance, often women don’t know how to swim, so in a flood situation that can lead to a higher instance of death or injury,” Angie Daze, a program manager with a Canadian group called Reducing Vulnerability to Climate Change, said.

…

Women are highly dependent on the environment for their family responsibilities” in developing countries, said one environmental worker based in Bangladesh.

I think that has more to do with the grinding poverty in Bangladesh than their gender, as mentioned here.

New-fangled eyeglasses.

Wil is on to something here.

Whoa! A remix of my favoritest oldies song. (direct link)

The rovers are still rovering.

Open the Amazon box that came today or wait until Christmas?

And boy, is it heavy.

$26,500 for a freaking imaginary island!

The fact that they plan to, and probably will, make money off of it doesn’t make me feel better.

According to Right Wing News.

I have wondered about this. I’m still not sure if I agree, but it’s something to think about.

Washington’s recount continues apace.

UPDATE: A visual representation of the situation for the reading impaired.

A temporary tax on alcohol—to fund the Civil War—has been lifted.

Something sure happened.

It was mentioned here back in October. I still think it was the lettuce.

300 pound woman has a 66 pound cyst removed surgically. WARNING!!! teh nasty pic. And there’s a video but there’s no way I’m watching that.

UPDATE: Yes, the news is so underwhelming today I have nothing better to blog about. Somebody say something outrageous or do something.

Nobody crosses the Mob, er, I mean, Italian businessmen.

And just a reminder Return of the King comes out TOMORROW! w00t!

Star Wars Lego video game.

Dave Barry heals the division.

Yes. This is called ”diversity,” and it is why we are such a great nation — a nation that has given the world both nuclear weapons AND SpongeBob Squarepants.

How to become Rich and Famous in the blogworld.

via Instapundit

Poor? Need free software? The Open CD 2.0 is here for you. As soon as I fix replace my hard drive at home, I am so getting this.

via Slashdot

Is Europe the Ents? If they are, does that make America the Entwives?

Walking in a winter wonderland snowglobe.

Pleeeeasse, Chriiiiiistmaaasss, dooonnn’t beeee laaaaaaaaaate!

Warning! I could only get it to work in IE. Oh, wait, Opera too. Still not Firefox though, my l33t internets skillz have failed me.

Like those nifty calculator watches that were so cool amongst the nerds back in my day.

Why are the British people putting up with this crap?

A little bit about former-atheist philosopher Flew’s conversion to deism.

Scott is on a roll. Especially this one.

And speaking of coffee, a guy came through today that was a dead ringer for Macgyver/Jack O’Neill. Of course the 30-year old beater Ford he was driving and his lunchbox caused me to doubt it was actually Macgyver, but it livened up the morning. And he tipped well.

Sorry kids, actual work is interfering with blogging. Hopefully it’ll all calm down by tomorrow. To make up for it, here’s a picture of a bunny with a pancake on its head.

So, Norm Mineta is staying on as Secretary of Transportation.

Disney is throwing it’s weight behind Blu-Ray DVDs.

Of course, the real question here is when is Disney going to release Rocketman on DVD? Any DVD format will do, just release it already.

That one day, any person, of any economic class, will be able to afford toner cartridges.

I think this helps.

The brain-in-a-dish was DeMarse’ idea.

For future reference, brains-in-a-dish is never a good idea.

Dick Clark is a robot, how could he have a stroke?

UPDATE: I guess technically he would be an android. Sorry, my bad.

A collection of Jonah Goldberg quotes over at Right Wing News.

Okay, the story isn’t that interesting, but the subhead on the frontpage is great (in the box near the top).

I know I’d feel safer with one of these.

Lileks goes off on Morality

Where do tourists buy stuff that says “Coeur d’Alene” or “Idaho” on it. I need gifty things for Christmas and I’m guessing I won’t be able to pick them up online where I normally do my shopping.

Alton has a holiday recipe up.

And speaking of which, did you know you can get custom printed M&Ms?

This week’s Amazon Theater is a refreshingly normal one.

86% remission of leukemia with this new pill.

Ben Stein on post-election Hollywood.

via Inoperable Terran

This sort of thing just amazes me.

“The results show that people can learn to use scalp-recorded electroencephalogram rhythms to control rapid and accurate movement of a cursor in two directions,” said Jonathan Wolpaw and Dennis McFarlane.

Who wouldn’t “scope out” a building before attacking it? That’s like saying, “and we think they were upset at us”.

Does the future really need an oral history of Ted Kennedy?

via Fark

The Satsuma tangerines are 10 times better than those other ones that start with an F. No seeds. Tangelos trump all though.

Carry on with your lives.

Young people are used to using and getting information from the internet.

via Slashdot

Dumb dopers.

Elven magic is what makes Google so delicious.

Intel cans Pentium II.

Yes, I’m actually typing this on the Lappy 486.

A scientist claims that soon we may be able to live to be 1000 years old. Think of the Social Security. Of course, I’m really used to being alive and wouldn’t mind keeping doing it for a long time.

And the opposing view. Sort of. More like the doubting view.

via Slashdot

What is with the freaky picture Drudge has up right now?

“Progressive” equals “classical liberal”? Dumb political correctness.

The special edition LOTR trilogy is available. I would have thought they would wait 6 months.

See beautiful Zimbabwe and lose weight.

via Inoperable Terran

Suprisingly, the Nazis have nothing to do with it.

I don’t know if I want to live in a city full of dirt dumpers.

The Pentagon’s job isn’t to do news, it’s to fight wars. And hopefully they will use whatever tools necessary to do the job. Within reason. Of course, that’s the rub.

Equal is suing Splenda.

William Shatner does Rocketman. Where could I have found this before the internet, I ask you.

via The Guardian

Careful with your Lava Lamp.

A bit on the Ukraine troubles and how to solve them.

I’d figure out a way to fill it.

4-wheel drive is the greatest thing ever. When there’s snow on the ground, 4wd does nothing against the solid sheet of ice built up around the stop signs. Of course, my vehicle turns like a cow in 4wd and gets cow-like gas milage, but that’s not all bad.

This’ll go well.

VDH on Alexander.

Alexander the Great is third-rate Cecil B. Demille in drag.

Yeah, I found it amusing.

Here’s a list of stuff to do before you die.

I heart Scott.

The spokesman quoted Mr. Bush as saying, “My Canadian trip is just a diplomatic visit to our faithful neighbors whose partnership with the U.S. over the years has been inconsequential in so many way

HD DVD wins support of 4 studios.

That’ll cost you $66,334.

via Fark

Wifi billboard shirts.

via Instapundit

Apparently Alexander isn’t too good. Which is a bummer because I wanted to see it.

I just blacklisted myself. Argh.

And while I’m here. This weeks Amazon Short is biz-arre.

Things like this cause me to wish we had a Democratic congress with a Republican president. Or a Democrat Senate and a Republican House. Anything to stop this sort of stupidity.

The best and worst of the year.

via Instapundit

Color printers have been helping the government track you. Yes, you. Right there. Yeah, we see you.

Laser-printing technology makes it incredibly easy to counterfeit money and documents, and Crean says the dots, in use in some printers for decades, allow law enforcement to identify and track down counterfeiters.

via Fark

It’s good to see Jews and Arabs coming together.

On the level below that are the “Humanitarians.” Based on benchmarks available from other sources, the “Humanitarians” seem to have given between $100,000 and $500,000. In their ranks are the King of Morocco, Mohammed VI, as well as a Pakistani-American businessman from California, Farooq Bajwa. Several perennial Clinton donors are on this list, such as the Big Apple Supermarkets chief, John Catsimatidis, and a San Diego class action lawyer, William Lerach. The U.S.-Islamic World Conference gave at the Humanitarian level, as did several Jewish groups, the Jewish Communal Fund, the Jewish Community Foundation, and the University of Judaism, according to the information available on the computer screen in the Clinton Library here.

via Drudge Report

It hasn’t snowed here yet. Okay, there was snow falling this morning, but only a little and it didn’t stick.

Awesome. I’m getting Christian 419 scammers. Here’s a summary.

In short, I have sold all the properties after their death, as instructed by Mr. Rahman Bolkiah before his death. And as a matter of fact, after I sold all their properties, I realized more than $10,000,000.00 (Ten million US dollars plus), and what supposed to be the percentage interest of my right legal fee was first of all deducted by me from the total amount realized from the sold properties, this was based on the initial agreement between me and the owner of the properties before his death. Therefore the total amount left to be invested into God’s work as instructed by the owner, is $10,000,000.00 (Ten million US dollars) only.

…

Therefore, as I was preparing myself to fly to Holland due to my
persistent illness, in order to have access for more money in the
Consignment, so that I can remove out of the money again to take myself to
the best Hospital in Europe in order to receive the best treatment, I then
had encounter with Christ when Pastor Benny Hinn was preaching on
television concerning Ananias and Saphira in Acts 5:1-11. And after
hearing the word of God, I then gave my life to Christ and became a born
again Christian.

I guess God could use Benny Hinn. He clearly misses the point of Ananias and Saphira’s story though.

…

So after my fasting and prayers, I asked God to make His choice and direct
me to an honest Christian or the chosen ministry that deserves this fund
by His Grace. I then came across your address on the Internet as I was
browsing through a Christian site, and as a matter of fact, it is not only
you or your ministry that I picked on the Christian site initially, but
after my fervent prayer over it, then you were nominated to me through
divine revelation from God, so this is how I received such a divine
revelation from the Lord and how I got your contact information, I then
decided to contact you for the fund to be used wisely by you or through
you for the things that will glorify the name of God.

Why God didn’t reveal to him how to look up my snail mail address on the internet and just mail me a check is beyond me.

A test, for you.

83%, yo.

Another bit of hard learned knowledge out the window. The earth has two moons.

Yesterday Casto said the OBL tape was a plot by Bush to win the election. Today, Kerry says the tape cost him the election. Weird, eh?

Why Firefox is the greatest. thing. evar.

A new and improved way to realize that some things never change.

And really, does a newspaper article from 1923 really need to be copyrighed? Are the Hursts still collecting royalties off of it or something? C’mon.

via Slashdot

They think they found the Al Qaida headquarters in Fallujah. The sign gave it away.

Nifty ant habitat. Them NASA guys, they are clever. Like rocket scientist clever.

Plus, they don’t need to be fed or watered. Even I could keep them alive.

A roundup of the Arafat death rumors. And a Canard-O-Matic to make your own.

Locusts plague Egypt. Again.

More on why Bush’s second term isn’t necessarily a triumph of conservative values.

Apparently Call Before You Dig doesn’t work for Verizon.

A 19 vote lead? Phew.

Fark is down! Where will I get my news and witty/inappropriate comments from today? I’m used to the internet coming to me, now I have to go out and find it. Drag.

UPDATE: Fark.ru is still up though. If only I spoke Russian.

Tracking students. Any kid that wants to goof off or a kidnapper is going to toss it first thing, so I’m not sure how it makes anyone safer.

It starts like this:

For God’s sake, if Patton were alive today he’d be slapping civilians.

And it goes on similarly.

This week’s Strong Bad Email is a classic. Poor Compy.

The number one song on my birthday was Chuck Berry’s My Ding-A-Ling. What a cruel, cruel world to be born into.

Here’s the thing. Bush sucks as a conservative at home. Don’t expect too much from him.

I cannot fathom wanting the government to control peoples’ lives like this. Grow the welfare state? Why would you want to do that? It’s like she’s talking a foreign language.

Or maybe I didn’t tell you, but I told someone.

Assuming they actually come out with these, of course.

I’m guaranteed to be blind by the time I’m 50.

Not sharks, no.

While we concede that a world free of panic-striken guinea fowl would be a safer, happier place for our children and that fitter chickens would relieve the NHS of a great burden, we cannot accept that even tentative development of a laser-guided cybernetic cockroach is anything other than a gravely misguided concept.

Although the InsBot researchers believe that they are contributing to our eventual subjugation of the animal kingdom, it’s evident that taking the only creature on God’s Earth capable of withstanding a nuclear holocaust and bringing it into contact with its ostensible nememis can only end one way – post apocalyptic winter with a human slave army serving the merciless hordes of bomb-proof, laser-armed roboroach hybrids. We cannot stress strongly enough that this research must stop now, the lab be consigned to the flames and all elements of the InsBot dissolved in molten steel.

Take heed.

Carl’s Jr., ahem, has your daily caloric requirement in one handy burger.

I just like saying “economy”. How’s Canada’s economy? Because I’m sure bringing Mexico’s economy up to snuff is just what the US economy needs.

Couldn’t Canada and Mexico just form something without us? We could let them use I-5 or something as a corridor if it would help.

Peace Summit in Iraq.

“This is America,” Melinda answered, “I don’t need permission from anyone to carry a gun.”

“Actually, it’s Iraq,” Buck said.

“Whatever.” Melinda then turned to her camerawoman. “Make sure you have the lens cap off this time; this is a historic peace summit and we have a FOX exclusive.”

Everyone knows it’s not fair to bring up Clinton administration in a discussion of the Bush administration.

The country is in good hands.

10,000 visitors. That’s what Instapundit does in what, an hour?

Europe wants to take over the moon. I bet that’s why the US is looking into arming satellites. It all makes sense now.

Jonah Goldberg on Ashcroft.

Call 911 and get the AED!

Roomba vs. Segway. Oh, and I guess there was some conference or something going on.

via Slashdot

I don’t watch Red vs. Blue often, mostly because they are slow and boring, but Episode 43 has a hilarious line. It’s about halfway through.

UPDATE: It’s at 5:38 or so. And it’s not safe for work, btw. Unless cussing is okay at your work.

Scrappleface nails it. He’s so subtle.

Now, the kid should have stopped when they told her to, but c’mon, they’ve outlawed CARTWHEELS! What next? Stop walking! You might trip!

I find this amusing and slightly disturbing at the same time.

“We wanted to beat Martha Stewart to the punch” is the explanation one inmate gave for the book, said prison spokeswoman Lori Scammahorn.

/look there’s a walla and there’s a walla

I fail to see how recording driving patterns is going to stop people from crashing into things like Farmer’s Markets.

According to Joe Osterman, director of highway safety at the NTSB, the recommendation was inspired in part by a tragic auto accident involving a 86-year-old man who drove his car into a crowded Santa Monica farmers’ market last summer, killing 10 and injuring 63.

Osterman said a black box in the car might have not saved the people in the crash, but would have allowed investigators to find out how it happened and how cars could be better designed to reduce the likelihood of greater injury in the future.

Nifty looking maps, weighted by population.

On why not to cross the United States.

In Great Britian.