Flutterby™! From 1998-06-01 to 1998-06-26

But I was only doing my duty... What scares me most about the recently released papers on the Mississipi Sovereignty Commission isn't that there were people in government that ignorant and prejudiced. It's that there still are, and we don't know about them. Think about this next time you call on the government to solve a problem.

The San Francisco Chronicle reports that wine makers are being kept from telling the truth about their product, and Strom Thurmond is leading the charge.

To learn the health effects of moderate wine consumption, send for the federal government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans, Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, USDA, 1120 20th Street NW, Washington, DC 20036 or visit its Web site: http:// www.usda.gov/fcs/cnpp.htm

Or just read the newspapers.

Strom Thurmond stifling the truth Well, okay, that's probably not really news, he's a politician after all, and Washington is where we send the liars and dilletantes to keep them as much as possible out of our hair.

[ related topics: Politics ]

From Eric S. Raymond's fortunes files

He who joyfully marches to music in rank and file has already earned my contempt. He has been given a large brain by mistake, since for him the spinal cord would fully suffice.

Albert Einstein

[ related topics: Music ]

Susie Bright does it again in Salon: http://www.salonmagazine.com/col/brig/1998/03/nc_27brig2.html

[ related topics: Web development Sexual Culture ]

VOTE ANARCHIST!

Well, if I'd read my messages more carefully I'd notice that the deadline for voting was yesterday. As a consolation prize, here's some information on Margaret Sanger >From http://www.usmint.gov/dollarcoin/meeting.html

Any member of the public wishing to submit a design concept should do so via the Internet by accessing the Mint's web site ( http://www.usmint.gov ) and e-mailing the Mint at dollarcoin@usmint.treas.gov by June 1, 1998. Alternatively, if no Internet access is available, design concepts may be submitted in writing to Michael White (see below); mail must be received no later than June 1, 1998. A summary of suggested concepts that comply with the parameters listed below will be compiled and presented to Committee members prior to the meeting.

I'm going to nominate Margaret Sanger.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Web development ]

Hugh Thompson deserves more recognition. During the My Lai massacre he helped stop the killing of Vietnamese civilians by American troops. A story worth reading.

[ related topics: Web development ]

It's a good thing my T-shirt drawer is already full. And they've got lots of other cool ones, too! Thanks Rick!

[ related topics: Religion Web development ]

From The Gate: You know you're in San Francisco when you get your entry form for the Gay and Lesbian Tennis Federation's Team Tennis and see that players are divided into: Top, Bottom and Versatile

[ related topics: Sexual Culture ]

For those of you who have trouble remembering when to use that stupid apostrophe.

It's is not, it isn't ain't, and it's it's, not its, if you mean it is. If you don't, it's its. Then too, it's hers. It isn't her's. It isn't our's either. It's ours, and likewise yours and theirs. -- Oxford University Press, Edpress News

[ related topics: Interactive Drama ]

Putting the Internet in Perspective Dept.: Gary Chapman notes that "the entire global Internet-using population is about four percent of the `Baywatch' audience." An estimated 1.6 billion people worldwide tune into "Baywatch" every week. Remember this when we talk about the indispensibility of the 'net.

Mark Frauenfelder wrote Light Fuse and Get Away, a look at the online pyrotechnics craze. Boom. Ooooohhh. Aaaah.

[ related topics: Web development ]

My how far we've come. I've now seen a real world application which is crashing because something (we're not yet sure what) is using signed 32 bit integers to keep track of memory, which is exceeding two gigabytes. And we're getting nervous about only having 32 bit pointers in our application. I'll let that sink in for a moment. A running application using 4 gigabytes of data. Choke. It was only a short time ago when we thought that was a big database. It's funny to hear OS and hardware vendors revise terms in year or two old documents which refer to this as "essentially unlimited."

ONE-MILE-WIDE ASTEROID TO PASS CLOSER THAN THE MOON IN 2028 Excerpts from the URL at http://cfa-www.harvard.edu/iau/pressreleases/1997XF11.html tell us: Recent orbit computations on an asteroid discovered last December indicate it virtually certain that it will pass within the moon's distance of the earth a little more than 30 years from now. The chance of an actual collision is small, but one is not entirely out of the question. The asteroid, known as 1997 XF11, was discovered by Jim Scotti in the course of the Spacewatch program at the University of Arizona. This program utilizes modern electronic technology on a 36-inch telescope at Kitt Peak that was built 77 years ago. [snip] Observations made on March 3 and 4 by Peter Shelus with a 30-inch telescope at the McDonald Observatory in western Texas extended the observed arc of 1997 XF11 to 88 days. This time, the orbit computation indicated a miss distance of only 30 thousand miles from the center of the earth; the earth's radius is about 4 thousand miles. The time of encounter would be around 1:30 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time on Thursday, October 26, 2028. That evening the object should be visible with the naked eye. In Europe, where it would be dark by that time, the object should be a splendid sight as it moves from northwest to southeast across the sky over a couple of hours.

[ related topics: Web development ]

CyberPromotions gone, for now.

[ related topics: Business Web development ]

Disband the patent office! It appears that on January 13, 1998, the patent office issued a patent for the bicycle wheel. The heck with the problems with software patents, we need some sanity on patents in general. http://www.patents.ibm.com/details?patent_number=5707114

[ related topics: Intellectual Property ]

Susie Bright on Feminists and the Lewinski scandal http://www.salonmagazine.com/col/brig/1998/03/nc_13brig2.html

I can't take it anymore! Every time another pundit or reporter claims to describe what feminists are or aren't doing about the White House scandals, I want to scream, "That's no feminist you're talking about, buddy, that's a Gutless Wonder with a Vagina."

[ related topics: Web development Sexual Culture ]

If you live in the bay area and have Wednesday, Friday or Saturday evenings free, you might want to take a field trip. Pictures at http://209.104.221.62/electrum/electrumpics.html for the rest of you.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Web development ]

From: http://www.ora.com/people/staf...t/netfuture/1998/Jan0698_63.html Peter Cochrane, Head of Research at British Telecom Laboratories, was asked "What do you want to say to the elderly who cannot get to grips with all these newfangled contraptions?" He replied:

Don't worry -- you're going to die soon.

[ related topics: Web development Technology and Culture ]

I haven't had a chance to check this out, but On Our Backs is back in print, and apparently they've got a web site too!

Heartless Bitches has such uplifting features as the Sappy Site of the Week

A little history of nuclear weapons testing.

"Those who have power get to censor, and those who lack power get silenced. If you find yourself in a position to demand and get censorship, you can be sure you are among those who have the power, and you are acting to oppress others."

--Avedon Carol, Feminists Against Censorship, quoted at http://privat.ub.uib.no/BUBSY/sex.htm

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Erotic Sexual Culture ]

Once again, something I don't have time to check out before I post it, but here's the message:

I'd like to announce the launce of my new website, The Soul of Erotica, the project of passionate images of couples in intimate moments. Some of you may remember me working on this for the last two years.

Please be my guest and enjoy these images, and of course, let me know what you think.

http://www.solart.com/artist/suzanne.steel/index.html

[ related topics: Web development Erotic ]

While I'm blithely forwarding stuff without checking it out first, Reka's usually got pretty good stuff. She says:

I've updated my list of academic programs in human sexuality. Please take a look at it, let me know if something is inaccurate or broken, and definitely let me know if there's a program I've left off!

http://www.byz.org/~sexuality/html/academia.html (for frame-capable browsers)

http://www.byz.org/~sexuality/html/body_academia.html (for frame-incapable browsers)

Follow the "Which institutions...?" link.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Web development ]

ExoSci reports that back in May astronomers found a diamond the size of a planet. I don't know how fringe these folks are, but it makes for good entertainment.

[ related topics: Web development ]

Once again The Daily Illuminator finds a jewel, Gothic Gardening. Beyond the usual assortment of nightshades, carnivorous plants and so forth, we've also got plants which attract insects which attract bats and numerous other suggestions for the truly goth gardener.

Updated URLs:

I'm writing to let you know Jesus is Gother Than You and its sub-pages have moved to a new directory.

Please update your links/bookmarks to [ http://fox.nstn.ca/~daveman/jesus/ ].

The Witching Hours has also moved. The new URL is [ http://fox.nstn.ca/~daveman/witch ]. The correct URL for The Witch Hunters is now [ http://fox.nstn.ca/~daveman/witch/hunters.html ].

Thanks for all the support! I apologize for any confusion this may cause, but it's something I should have done two years ago. Sigh....

[ related topics: Religion Humor Web development ]

Carol Queen fans and Blowfish customers take note: It hasn't been updated in a while, but Fishnet Magazine has some older writings.

[ related topics: Sexual Culture ]

Truth that you can find everything on the web: The Random Country Song Generator.

I met her in Sheboygan at McDonald's. I can still recall those training pants she wore.

She was crawlin' through the prairie in the twilight and I knew that she would be an easy score.

My Pooh Bear said I'd have my rash forever.

She said to me there was no other guy.

But who'd have thought she'd wind up in her Maytag.

I now can kiss my credit cards goodbye.

[ related topics: Humor Music McDonald's ]

Also in Salon today, an interview with Terry Gilliam, director of Brazil, 12 Monkeys and, of course, ex-animator with Monty Python's Flying Circus.

[ related topics: Web development ]

A wonderful sendup of a certain "free" web page hosting service at GeoShitties, read the Manifesto afterwards.

Now this is way cool: Books on demand. Lightning Print, a division of Ingram, will, for a $100-150 set up fee, print 300 page books on demand for about $5/per book. In a way it's sad, we're seeing the end of the book as a unique item, but the value of the book is in the content, not the form.

[ related topics: Language Web development Books ]

http://www.anybrowser.org/campaign/ is the campaign for a non-browser specific WWW. Failing horribly, but I might start adding icons here soon.

The mind boggles. New, from Japan (where else), the Lovegety, a device which you set for one of a set of predetermined interests, and it alerts you when someone else with a device set to go off for similar interests is within about 15 feet.

[ related topics: Web development ]

If you're not one of the current crop of critics who believe that we have too much nature photography already, you should check out the excellent pages of Don Baccus.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Photography ]

I needed that I like I need a hole in the head: http://www.trepan.com/

Mouth Organ is a weekly comment on s e x, gender, and culture.

[ related topics: Sexual Culture ]

THE RISKS OF KEY RECOVERY, KEY ESCROW, AND TRUSTED THIRD-PARTY ENCRYPTION is a paper on why you shouldn't trust the FBI or the Clinton administration. Or at least one more reason.

[ related topics: Politics ]

Trying again to make sure I've got all of the parser bugs worked out, here's the one that screwed up yesterday: Christ was into body piercing. He only did it a few times, but what a statement he made with his piercings! Jesus Was Gother Than You along with The Witch Hunters, "a starting point for historical research into the great witch craze of 1100-1700 AD."

[ related topics: Religion Humor Web development ]

http://www.symbols.com is a large encyclopedia of western signs and ideograms. For instance, ever wonder what the background behind the pattern used on the Apple "option key"? Now you can know.

[ related topics: Apple Computer Web development ]

I've shared an office with Phil Beffrey for a bit over a year, and he got me into photography. He's just put up an exhibit of his landscape photography on the web. Nowhere near as cool as in person, but it does still come across.

[ related topics: Photography ]

A new card game: Spammers

If you're on the Internet (and we know you are), there's no better way to make money than by sending enormous quantities of Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail. You've seen them. They have subject lines like "Get Thin By Watching Free Cable TV!" and "Foreign Spouses Delivered to Your Door!"

As a hapless net.citizen, you have no recourse. But in SPAMMERS, the (non-collectible) card game of Internet Marketing, you can take the Net in your own hands and reverse the roles. You own the companies and you operate the Scams.

By using technology like Enormous Monitors and Little Black Boxes, you can send Mailings to your own Proprietary Lists or to the Unwashed Masses. You'll mail to groups like Bigots on Parade, the Sex-Starved Teenaged Boys, or Citizens for Decency on Our Net.

[ related topics: Interactive Drama Web development Erotic Games Sexual Culture Technology and Culture ]

Having tech support problems? Submit your feedback here.

And Unamerican Activities creates industrial-strength cultural propaganda.

[ related topics: Web development ]

Praise Cheeses! http://www.cheesesofnazareth.com/fatt.html

[ related topics: Web development ]

Dave Winer reports that you can get anything on the Internet:

Our mechanical dummy cows with built-in operator space are used regularly on nearly all bulls all over the world.

NUMEROUS ADVANTAGES

Our new model is silent when moving and weighs 700 kg to provide necessary stability. All movement and height adjustments are made by noiseless motors and hydraulic jacks, controlled by the operator seated inside or from outside controls.

[ related topics: Dave Winer ]

An Interview with Bettie Page at Nerve magazine.

[ related topics: Erotic ]

Sheer Phallacy, the phallic symbol collection. Pictures from all over the world.

[ related topics: Web development ]

I guess I've ranted and raved that there are two potential hobbyist activities which could turn into the next '70s style computer revolution: Electric cars, and hobbyist level biotech. Well, Biotech Hobbyist Magazine is here.

Misha Gordon is a "conceptual photographer". Surreal black and white images, sometimes disturbing. maybe reminiscent of Magritte? Anyway, with my kick towards landscape photography recently this provides some interesting images to think about going the other way, heavy studio and manipulation kinds of images.

[ related topics: Photography ]

Lesbian sex! Now that I have your attention, actually Fantasmagoria is also one of the best art/multimedia pieces I've seen on the web. In the exhibits area the builders manage to break ideas up into small pieces without being annoying (unlike, say, Wired). Web designers who tend towards the heavily visual could take some clues.

[ related topics: Erotic Sexual Culture ]

The Daily Illuminator once again points us to a great find: http://www.fbi.gov/foipa/ufo.htm is what the FBI wants you to know about its investigations into unusual phenomena.

At the close of the millenium the Supermodels of the world are at war. Forces of light and armies of darkness struggle for conquest. Now you will know the story.. Soldiers of Fashion

Digital Proverbs in Salon Magazine. Things such as:

A fool and his money are soon automated.

-- Robert Kaye

An applet a day keeps coherence away.

-- Perry Hewitt

[ related topics: Web development ]