It’s been a couple of weeks since I’ve posted anything, so I apologize. This week’s webcomics were clearly all about the “mosque”. Click for the full-sized versions.
Troubletown:
This Modern Life (not a link to Salon!):
Slowpoke:
And just to totally derail the theme, a horrifying, hilarious Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:
Well, it’s Wednesday again and I haven’t posted a damn thing since last Wednesday. I realize this is ultimately my fault, but let’s blame my new girlfriend anyway. I vow to post more original content in the future, while continuing to allow her to (delightfully) monopolize my time.
I started this blog at a very low time in my life and since things are much, much better these days I’ve been neglecting it. I may even shut this one down and create a shiny new blog with selected content from this one.
Don’t forget to click on the ‘toons to see the full-sized originals and show the artists a little love!
First, Matt Bors. Admit it, he’s totally right about this:
I don’t think I’ve linked to any Wonderella here before, but here’s a timely one:
Obligatory nerd humor from Toothpaste for Dinner:
Now that the new girlfriend’s in the picture, I have to meet her friends and family. They seem like okay folks so far, but Cyanide and Happiness describes the situation’s existential dread pretty well:
Even more nerdy humor from Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:
And speaking of other new girlfriend considerations…
Wow, have I ever been a negligent blogger. Here are a few more from the usual cartoonists. Click for full-sized…
Cyanide and Happiness:
Toothpaste for Dinner:
xkcd:
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal:
This weeks brings a bigger edition, but mainly because I’m including a couple of ‘toons I skipped last week. I’ve reconsidered and decided they ought to have made the cut. Remember to click the images for the full-sized ‘toons, author commentary (in some cases), and sweet, sweet advertising.
Lulu Eightball:
Big Fat Whale:
Toothpaste for Dinner (x2):
Matt Bors, addressing the fake controversy which lead to the hilarious Boobquake Experiment:
Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal (x2):
Spleenal (site is frequently NSFW, funny as hell):
Good news — we’re all drug mules now! Here’s how to open a locked zipper, then close it without leaving a visible trace. Just like the Kryptonite bike lock fiasco, all you need is a ballpoint pen. Via Core 77:
Dammit, this is sad. Apparently as many as four Tata Nanos have self-immolated recently. I’m a big fan of the fugly little things and was really hoping for a crack at the US domestic version, although I have my doubts they’ll make it into the US market without their retail price inflating 2-5 times over their $2500 (USD) Indian sticker price.
According the Jalopnik source article, Tata is refusing a recall, stating that the electrical short in the rear engine compartment is not a design issue. Somehow I don’t think that explanation’s going to work out in other markets, let alone India, since at least one of the owners of an as-yet un-charcoaled Nano is already trying to return the car for a refund, refusing any sort of replacement, and pledging never to buy another.
Although the organization behind this looks a little, well, mercenary, their project is pretty cool. Free Range International is training Afghans to build their own wifi repeaters out of pretty much whatever they have on hand. It reminds me of the chicken wire satellite dishes mentioned in William Gibson’s Count Zero, and pretty much all of the improvised infrastructure in his Bridge Trilogy.
Via Boing Boing.
The Consumerist is reporting that phishers and other scammers are already mining Google Buzz, ultimately targeting the users’ email info. I apologize for not remembering where I read about Buzz described as “the answer to Facebook no one asked for”, but it’s pretty apt. An investigation has begun:
The Electronic Privacy Information Center is currently preparing a formal complaint to the FCC regarding Google Buzz, the same group that led a similar campaign against Facebook’s questionable privacies policies.
“Both companies have broken promises to their users about how personal information would be used,” says Marc Rotenberg, executive director of EPIC. “They did so in ways that were misleading, unfair, and deceptive. These are serious concerns for any user of these services.”
As a Gmail user, the first thing I did when the scam-hole appeared was disable the evil thing. At least I hope I disabled it. Here’s an article which explains the steps necessary to keep Google from automatically turning your account inside-out.
Bruce is gonna try to avoid philosophy, but this reeks of it. In a good way. Beware: Entry-level PHIL/SOC lurks ahead…
Via Core 77, here”s Bruce Sterling’s keynote address at the Transmediale conference on the subjects of atemporality and futurity. He makes some good points on the previous, linear views of history and cultural mechanisms (books, for example), versus the emerging atemporal cultures and societies, where time no longer seems to be a driving, linear force and everything is experimental and contingency-based.
Basically, it’s traditional civilization against network civilization (or the lack thereof).
I just finished reading Sterling’s The Caryatids and this mode of thought was obviously a driving force behind the novel. I’ll have a review available shortly, but take a look at the video to get an idea of where the author’s head was while writing the book.
I love the fact that Bruce is using his laptop as a coaster for his wine glass.
Via Boing Boing:
Just like a tick on a rat, University of Georgia “security analyst” (quotes mine) Dorin Dehelean has been twisting students’ arms for bribes in exchange for not turning them over to university officials for RIAA violations. Apparently part of Dehelean’s job was to act as a sort of process-server and actually inform students of their RIAA violations. I’m forced to assume that he was also the one who discovered and documented the violations, which is the only way he could hope to get away with this sort of thing. That’s a dangerous combination of authorities and never should have been allowed to happen. Dehelean was arrested in an undercover sting operation and charged with extortion.
Regardless of how I feel about the RIAA (Hint: It’s not very charitable), this guy’s scheme is truly evil. The RIAA will cheerfully bankrupt you for file-sharing – whether you’ve actually committed the alleged crimes or not. The amount of leverage Dehelean had over the students in question is enormous and this guy deserves everything the legal system can throw at him. Then the RIAA/MPAA need to be looked into, themselves. From the Torrent Freak source article:
One of the more profitable schemes are the copyright infringement notices that include the option to settle the issue for a few hundred dollars or pounds. After the RIAA scored two major victories against individual file-sharers last year, many people are now eager to settle immediately.
…
If they’re done with their investigation, it might be a good idea to look into the practices of some copyright holders, to discover if these fall into the extortion category as well.
