Iron Chef

"Tell me what you eat, and I will tell you what you are. "—Brillat-Savarin

Here is another of my favorite shows. You can learn a good deal about Chairman Kaga and the chefs at these sites:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_Chef

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ic/0,1976,FOOD_9970,00.html

You can also learn a bit about the "Son of Iron Chef", Iron Chef America. Bobby Flay, Cat Cora (!) and especially the mighty Mario Battali. This is great fun for a foodie.

http://www.foodnetwork.com/food/show_ia/text/0,,FOOD_16696_27031,00.html

House-isms

OK, I love House. Hugh Laurie has been a favorite of mine for a long time. If you are just finding him, look also at two great Britcoms, The Blackadder and Jeeves & Wooster. He is terrific in both of them. He has a very cool spy novel called "The Gun Seller".

Fox has a little site dedicated to the House series. Part of it lists the latest "House-isms". These are examples of his sarcasm at its finest.

http://www.fox.com/house/features/houseisms/

The IgNobel Prize

Sort of an anti Nobel prize. "Each year, ten Ig Nobel Prizes are awarded. The selection criterion is simple. The prizes are for "achievements that cannot or should not be reproduced." Examine that phrase carefully. It covers a lot of ground. It says nothing as to whether a thing is good or bad, commendable or pernicious. "

As an example: "Anders Barheim and Hogne Sandvik (Ig Nobel Biology Prize, 1996), who discovered that sour cream stimulates the appetite of leaches, but that beer intoxicates the creatures and garlic often kills them, clearly qualify under the "cannot be repeated" clause. "

http://www.improbable.com/ig/ig-top.html

Brought to you by the Annals of Improbable Research:

http://www.improbable.com/

Biblical Errancy

Is the Bible the word of God, to be believed in all cases? Is it infallible? Is it inerrent? Here is a site that details thousands of errors found in the bible. No matter what you believe, it makes for interesting reading. Spend a few minutes in here. I guarantee that you will learn something you didn't know before.

http://members.aol.com/ckbloomfld/index.html

The Powers of Ten

"View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons."

This is very cool.

http://micro.magnet.fsu.edu/primer/java/scienceopticsu/powersof10/index.html

Giant Octopus Attacks an ROV

An ROV is a Remote Operated Vehicle used for underwater exploration. The SeaEye company was able to record footage of a giant pacific octopus attacking a Seaeye Falcon ROV working off Vancouver Island as it was locating and recovering receivers tracking pacific offshore salmon migration. This is pretty cool. The rest of the site has some interesting info on ROV's. Apparently you can buy one of these things off the shelf. Perfect for zooming around your pool.

http://www.seaeye.com/whatsnew_2005.html

It might help to download the movie. I think their bandwidth might be limited.

Got your Priorities Straight?

TV and Film Locations

So, I found a site called "The Big Waste of Space". There is a section there called TV and Film Locations. Apparently, this guy travels all ove4r the country to take pictures of, yep, locations from TV shows and movies. He has sites from Back to the Future and Star Fleet Headquarters. Wierd.

http://www.bigwaste.com/photos/locations.shtml

The Gallery of Regrettable Food

Now this is what the internet is all about. This is a site dedicated to old, undigestible recipes. The site must be run by someone with way too much time on their hands. There is even a book showing some of the collection. Wierd.

http://www.lileks.com/institute/gallery/index.html

Disney Buys Pixar

For those of you who haven't heard, the Walt Disney Company has just offered to purchase Pixar pictures for roughly $7.4 Billion. This could result in more good movies in the future. As part of the deal, Pixar president and Apple founder Steve Jobs will become a Disney board member.

http://money.cnn.com/2006/01/24/news/companies/disney_pixar_deal/index.htm?cnn=yes

What's Wrong with the Golden Globes?

"It's sad that these foreign reporters are helping define the so-called "best" in our culture for people to remember. Let's hope that when our children look back on the classic movies and TV of their youth, they won't be influenced by which ones won the Golden Globes. I'm already eager to forget who just won. "

Here is a nice diatribe on everything wrong with having 90 odd people guiding American culture. This is a good read.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11751

The Poverty Hype

Walter Williams hits another one out of the park:

"Despite claims that the rich get richer and the poor get poorer, poverty is nowhere near the problem it was yesteryear -- at least for those who want to work. Talk about the poor getting poorer tugs at the hearts of decent people and squares nicely with the agenda of big government advocates, but it doesn't square with the facts. "

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/column/walterwilliams/2006/01/04/180969.html

Above Top Secret

Who doesn't like a good conspiracy? Here is a site that treats all conspiracies as a reasonable discussion topic. A lot of it is nonsense, but there are some nuggets of truth in here somewhere. I like the future tech section. Where is Mulder when we need him.

www.abovetopsecret.com

Cool New Weapons Part 3

I love cool new Military hardware. This is wild. The MetalStorm company has developed a weapons system that has a ridiculously high fire rate in either hand held or mounted versions. The gun will fire bullets and/or 40 mm grenade rounds. I'd hate to meet up with one of these.

http://www.metalstorm.com/

Whale Sighting in London?

Yep. Here is an article about a whale swims up the river Thames. There is a video to go along with it. Wierd.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/england/london/4631396.stm

Update:
Sadly, the whale died during a rescue effort. What a shamu.

Game Oldies

"Game-Oldies.com provides thousands of classic arcade and console video games to play directly in your browser,through innovative, fast and easy-to-use emulation technologies.The only requirements are a Java-enabled browser and a reasonably fast computer.Feel free to browse the games, have fun and post in the forums!"

www.game-oldies.com

Expedition Everest Official Site

This is the official site for the new "Expedition Everest, Land of the Forbidden Mountain" ride at Walt Disney World. Although the ride isn't officially scheduled to open for another couple of months, there is already plenty to see.

http://www.disneyeverest.com/

There will also be a TV special on the Discovery Channel that follows lead Imagineer Joe Rohde as he travels through the Himalayas researching the attraction:

http://www.wdwmagic.com/everest_pressrelease.htm

Finally, there is an animation of the ride, showing the path of the tracks through the mountain. This is very neat.

http://www.wdwmagic.com/animations.htm

National Do-Not-Call List

I'm sure you have heard of this list. When you register here, your number is placed on the list for 5 years. Telemarketers are forbidden to call anyone on this list. Doing so invites a rather large fine. The exceptions are charities and companies you have done business with in the past. I wish they would do something about the charities! Anyway, I received a note at work saying that cell phone numbers will soon be allowed for telemarketing. The DNC list also works for cell phone numbers. While it may not be true that cell phone numbers are soon to be opened up, it is easy enough to block. There is an 800 number (888-382-1222) and a web site. It will only take a minute of your time.

https://www.donotcall.gov/default.aspx

Here is an update. While the DNC list is real, the note about the cell phone numbers being used by telemarketers is not true. Sometimes even Dataman falls for e-mail scams. Here is an update from Snopes:

http://www.snopes.com/politics/business/cell411.asp

100 Greatest Guitar Solos

"Not too long ago, the editors of Guitar World magazine put together a reader's poll, to find out what their readers considered to be the best guitar solos of all time. The results surely reflect the magazine's demographic (no jazz guitar solos, for example), but no one can argue the following 100 selections boast some great guitar work."

OK, you might not agree with the list (or know who they all are), but these are the best of the best.

http://guitar.about.com/library/bl100greatest.htm

Drew's Script-O-Rama

Drew's Script-O-Rama is a site for movie and TV scripts. Sometimes just reading a good script can bring back some terrific memories. I keep a couple on my jump drive. They are nice for a quick read in an airport (or wherever).

http://www.script-o-rama.com/table.shtml

See these sites too:
http://corky.net/scripts/

http://www.simplyscripts.com/

http://dir.yahoo.com/Entertainment/Movies_and_Film/Screenplays/

Young America's Foundation

"Young America’s Foundation is committed to ensuring that increasing numbers of young Americans understand and are inspired by the ideas of individual freedom, a strong national defense, free enterprise, and traditional values.
As the principal outreach organization of the Conservative Movement, the Foundation introduces thousands of American youth to these principles. We accomplish our mission by providing essential conferences, seminars, educational materials, internships and speakers to young people across the country."

You are not alone.

http://www.yaf.org/

The Death Clock

"Welcome to the Death Clock(TM), the Internet's friendly reminder that life is slipping away... second by second. Like the hourglass of the Net, the Death Clock will remind you just how short life is. "

Enter a couple of simple fields and find the date of your death. Morbid, but interesting.

http://www.deathclock.com/

Che Mart

"Are you sick of seeing the face of a communist murderer everywhere? Does the sight of trust fund kids clad in "cool Che" t-shirts make your blood boil? Do you find it ironic that a dedicated communist has contributed to massive retail profiteering by capitalists t-shirt manufacturers? Then you've come to the right place. Here at Che-Mart we sell our t-shirts solely for capitalist pig profits. Please help us laugh all the way to the bank!"

I just hate this guy.

http://www.che-mart.com/

They have a nice bio of the dead commie here:

http://www.che-mart.com/WhoisChe.php

Are TV Characters' Salaries Realistic?

"Think back: When was the last time you saw Carrie Bradshaw chopping vegetables or preheating an oven to cook herself dinner on "Sex and the City?" How about shopping on the clearance rack or setting foot inside a discount store?"

The article has some interesting comparisons between TV characters and their real world salaries. Just some fun stuff.

http://msn.careerbuilder.com/custom/msn/careeradvice/viewarticle.aspx?articleid=623&SiteId=cbmsnsl623&sc_extcmp=JS_623_spotlight1

The target audience of media bias

"The primary audience of talk radio is those of us who are passionate about politics and are committed to a political ideology. We are not normal. "

"Normal people don’t care as much about politics or liberal versus conservative ideology as they care about sports, hobbies, their jobs, family activities, etc. They are not interested in taking the time to understand issues on a deep level. They want sound bites and headlines. They want to glean information efficiently, form quick opinions and move onto something else more enjoyable. "

This article is an interesting take on the role of the media in the lives of the general public. Whether you are decidedly liberal or conservative, the mass media is not speaking to you. They are speaking mainly to those with little or no opinion. Try not to be one of these. Please.

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/ToddManzi/2006/01/11/181852.html

Why I'm skipping the Oscars this year

"I have absolutely zero desire to watch the Oscars. In recent years, lack of quality from Hollywood has turned the Academy Awards into a special-interest-group get-together. If you're crazy, gay, have a disability or are a member of a minority race, you'll likely be nominated for an Oscar; if your film tackles a "deep social issue" (normally an issue dear to the hearts of Hollywood's liberal glitterati), you'll have an excellent shot at grabbing a gold statuette. "

I have to agree with much of what the author of this article says. I'll probably tune in anyway, I'm a sucker for the glitz and the fashion victims.

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/benshapiro/2006/01/13/182213.html

Feminism isn't dead, but a new book wounds it badly

"Some women protest, "I'm a feminist, just not a radical feminist." Kate O'Beirne is impatient with such qualifications. She is not any kind of feminist, and when you finish her sparkling new book "Women Who Make the World Worse," you won't be one either. "
This is a review of a new book by Mona Charen whose earlier book "Useful Idiots" described how liberals are used by more sinister forces. This should be an interesting read, especially for the women in my life (hint, hint).

http://www.townhall.com/opinion/columns/monacharen/2006/01/13/182207.html

Come October, Baby Will Make 300 Million or So

If the experts are right, some time this month, perhaps somewhere in the suburban South or West, a couple, most likely white Anglo-Saxon Protestants or Hispanic, will conceive a baby who, when born in October, will become the 300 millionth American.
As of yesterday, the Census Bureau officially pegged the resident population of the United States at closing in on 297,900,000. The bureau estimates that with a baby being born every 8 seconds, someone dying every 12 seconds and the nation gaining an immigrant every 31 seconds on average, the population is growing by one person every 14 seconds.
At that rate, the total is expected to top 300 million late this year. But with those projections adjusted monthly and the number of births typically peaking during the summer, the benchmark is likely to be reached about nine months from now.

http://nytimes.com/2006/01/13/national/13baby.html?ei=5094&en=965005cbf6337137&hp=&ex=1137214800&partner=homepage&pagewanted=print

Nikon to stop making film cameras

"Nikon, the Japanese camera maker, said Thursday that it would stop making most of its film cameras and lenses in order to focus on digital cameras.
The company, based in Tokyo, is the latest to join an industrywide shift toward digital photography, which has exploded in popularity. Rivals like Kodak and Canon have already shifted most of their camera production into digital products."

It is the end of an era. Welcome to the 21st Century! While I hate to see the end of film, I have to admit that the digital era is bigger, better, faster, and cheaper. This has repercussions for people in the film industry, including my neighbors in nearby Rochester, but time marches on.

http://news.com.com/Nikon+to+stop+making+most+film+cameras/2100-1041_3-6026281.html?tag=nefd.top

Early Days of the Internet

Here is a fascinating news clip from the mid 90's describing a new worldwide network of computers called "the Internet". I remember this time well. In those days it took a bit of explaining to people to get them to understand the whole concept. Today we take it completely for granted, but it wasn't always so. While this clip is dated, it says a lot about what we knew, and didn't know in those days.

http://www.filecabi.net/video/interweb.html

The Great Chinese Experiment

China is betting its economic health on becoming a world leader in the sciences. But will it succeed? This is a very good article on the strategic program in China to move it to the very top rung of the world's research science establishment. Consider just how much effort is going on in China right now to move them forward in the 21st century. Contrast that with what is happening at our own universities and research programs. The future will not belong to us.

http://www.technologyreview.com/BioTech/wtr_16031,306,p1.html

The rest of this site, Technology Review from MIT, provides great insight into our current research programs. Very interesting stuff here.

Winds of Change

Interesting news from the front lines in Iraq. This is a military blog that contains a tremendous number of links from MILBLOG and other sites of similar interest. It is pretty terrific to hear the news from the eyes of the men and women on the ground, rather than from a barely embedded reporter with a barely disguised agenda.

http://www.windsofchange.net/

Free Antivirus Software

Here is a terrific, FREE antivirus software, AVG. I have used it for a couple of years, as my main AV package. It is automatically updated, removes the viruses it finds, and works just as well as the solution you are now using (at least I think so). I recommend this to all my friends, and now to you. I am sure the commercial AV vendors hate these guys. This is a terrific marketing tactic that Computer Associates and others have used in the past with AV programs. I have no idea how long this will last, but for now it is a terrific deal.

http://free.grisoft.com/doc/1

Military hears through walls

Lasers, Phasers, and hearing through walls. Here are some pretty interesting new developments from weapons labs working with the US Armed Forces. You know how much I am fascinated by these technologies. I am also glad to know that my hard earned tax dollars are being used for this stuff.

http://www.livescience.com/scienceoffiction/060109_military_hears.html

http://www.livescience.com/technology/ap_050713_phasers.html

The rest of the site is pretty interesting too.

http://www.livescience.com/

Global Warming a Damp Squib

Here is an interesting global warming discussion from down under. It's just a reminder that the "Science" surrounding global warming is anything but solved.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/common/story_page/0,5744,17729019%255E7583,00.html

What's wrong with Kwanzaa, part 2

Here is an Ann Coulter article that once more covers the origins of this "Hallmark Holiday". Imagine a white racist created a holiday for whites called "Anglika". Suppose it was based on the ideals of a terrorist organization. Can you imagine the wild cries that would be heard around the country if the president actually wished white America a happy Anglika? Racism is wrong no matter where it comes from. But that's just my opinion, I could be wrong.


http://www.townhall.com/opinion/column/anncoulter/2005/12/28/180605.html

The Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest

"It was a dark and stormy night". Ever since these words were first used by a certain cartoon beagle, I have been fascinated by the horrible writing of this particular author. This site contains the results of the latest contest. I will try to update this post when the next contest occurs.

"Since 1982 the English Department at San Jose State University has sponsored the Bulwer-Lytton Fiction Contest, a whimsical literary competition that challenges entrants to compose the opening sentence to the worst of all possible novels. The contest (hereafter referred to as the BLFC) was the brainchild (or Rosemary's baby) of Professor Scott Rice, whose graduate school excavations unearthed the source of the line "It was a dark and stormy night." Sentenced to write a seminar paper on a minor Victorian novelist, he chose the man with the funny hyphenated name, Edward George Bulwer-Lytton, who was best known for perpetrating The Last Days of Pompeii, Eugene Aram, Rienzi, The Caxtons, The Coming Race, and--not least--Paul Clifford, whose famous opener has been plagiarized repeatedly by the cartoon beagle Snoopy. No less impressively, Lytton coined phrases that have become common parlance in our language: "the pen is mightier than the sword," "the great unwashed," and "the almighty dollar" (the latter from The Coming Race, now available from the Broadview Press)."

http://www.bulwer-lytton.com/

Coming Soon .Net

I have gotten some comments about the recent serious entries, so I decided to put a few fun articles in for a bit of a change of pace. Comingsoon.net is a site dedicated to upcoming movies. There are several sites like this, but I like this one. It also has reviews of currrent movies and DVD release information.

http://www.comingsoon.net/

Spark Notes

Did you know that Spark Notes are online? Well, they are. The complete library, available for your review. You can download a printable copy for five bucks. Not bad. Once you are through with the need for them for school, you just might find that they have a great deal of information. This assumes that you want to read real literature in your spare time.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/index.html

The Roosevelt Myth

Today's history lesson is about a man many consider to be the best president of the 20th century, Franklin Roosevelt. In my book, he rates as the worst president. Here is a site that helps to explain why. From prolonging the recession, to his failures in World War II, to the infamous Yalta conference, to his disastrous social programs that plague us tcday, his record is one of serious incompetence and failure. His obsession with bringing socialism to America made him downright dangerous.

http://www.rooseveltmyth.com/

Top 10 Conservative Films of 2005

"It wasn’t a particularly good year for conservative cinema. It rarely is. Yet alongside the cavalcade of ideology, mediocrity and stupidity that is Hollywood today, a few gems shone forth dazzlingly. What is a conservative film? Let’s start with what it isn’t. It’s not about men with bulging biceps and even bigger guns. It’s not cartoonish action heroes. It isn’t revenge tales masquerading as heroism.Conservative cinema does more than entertain; movies that do no more are visual candy. It instructs and inspires."

OK, so I admit that I like things conservative. As an apology to my brother and others of the liberal bent, I do not agree with the entire conservative agenda. I do agree with much of it. Even if you don't like all of the arguments, you will probably find many of these movies to be better than the average tripe from Hollywood.

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/lists.php

The Soviets Had the KGB -- Al Qaeda Has the NYT

"America spends $40 billion per year on intelligence operations aimed at discovering our enemies’ secret activities. All our enemies have to do is subscribe to the New York Times and, for as little as $4.65 per week, they can discover most of our secret operations -- at least as long as a Republican is President.
Granted, reading the Times won’t give them an accurate picture of the growth of the U.S. economy, the progress in the Iraq War, or the average American’s political opinions. But it will provide them a detailed description of almost any classified military, CIA, or NSA operation designed to catch or kill them."

http://www.humaneventsonline.com/article.php?id=11222

Mediacrity

Media criticism from an insider.
"A media insider's occasional rants on goofs, bias and hypocrisy in the media"
Enough said here.

http://mediacrity.blogspot.com/

Write to Me

Once again, I am going to ask you to write to me if you have been reading this blog. I am keeping track for a project for work. I am particularly interested in how you heard of it, or stumbled over it, and whether you find it interesting enough to return. Be sure to send me other links of interest, including your own blog, if you want to be included in the link list. If you can, please try the link ads. I am also testing them for usefulness. (Don't worry, they won't hurt, or make you buy anything).

Thanks,
Dataman

The Top 10 Junk Science Claims of 2005

It’s that time of year again when we at JunkScience.com reflect on all the dubious achievements and irresponsible claims made by the junk science community throughout the year.
These “lowlights” have a lot in common — namely exaggeration and hidden agendas — but they cover a diverse range of scientific themes, from child development to embryonic stem cell research to everyday radiation exposure to trying to lay blame for hurricanes.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,180148,00.html

I love these guys!

The 10 Most Puzzling Ancient Artifacts

Over the last few hundred years, many perplexing artifacts have been unearthed that do not fit the currently accepted theories of geology and the history of man. These are some pretty strange things that have been dug up around the world where they shouldn't have been.

Weird!

http://paranormal.about.com/library/weekly/aa011402a.htm

Happy New Year!

Here's a little something to celebrate the new year with: a combination of extreme sports and lumberjacking, a little something called "Catch a Tree". Warning: This is either funny or gross, depending on whether you think it is real or not.

http://videos.humpingfrog.com/13029/2005/12/catch-a-tree.html