Verkhovensky’s Internals

Copyright bill makes us all crooks.

EXCESS COPYRIGHT: Prof. D’Agostino on Bill C-61

New Law will make it hard to live in the past.

Below: Jim Prentice talks to Search Engine. Very political. He answers basically zero questions. Bit of a snake, me thinks.

It’s possible that this has been around for a bit - I normally get to Flickr by typing in the url, but accidentally Google searched it instead, so I wouldn’t know. Here is the first search result:

So, Google is providing embedded searches on their own search results pages? (I just checked and it works with YouTube as well - but not Verkhovensky’s Internals… - nor, unsurprisingly, Yahoo or MSN). On what criteria is the decision being made to include or exclude an embedded search field for a certain site? If the inclusion is based on how often a site is searched, then surely both Yahoo and MSN should be get the same treatment. Are human hands massaging the search algorithm?

(Incidentally, although the YouTube search is useful, displaying movie thumbnails along with descriptions on the results page, the Flickr search returns only text results. Seems to miss the point of an image search. Yahoo is really doing it right with this one.)

(Doesn’t mean you should do it.)

I love fireworks, and, I’ll admit, this love has persuaded my better conscience into lighting them off in some dangerous situations. Having a lighter in one hand and a small-scale explosive in the other evokes a powerful feeling, a feeling enhanced by the inevitable drunkenness that inspired you to choose such a combination in the first place. But what a rush those cascading colors are!

As the US prepares to shoot down one of its wayward orbiters on thursday, a few notable onlookers are voicing their vexation. Russia, for instance, has said that,

There is an impression that the United States is trying to use the accident with its satellite to test its national anti-missile defence system’s capability to destroy other countries’ satellites.

There is an impression? What manner of fantastic thinking could lead one to such a verdict? They’re saving us from a rogue flying-machine hellbent on dousing the globe with ‘toxic fuel.’ Demonstrating to the world that America is capable of destroying ‘other countries’ satellites’ is a mere byproduct of this otherwise humanitarian mission.

What type of firework is this exactly? The impartials at the Washington Post:

The three-stage Navy missile, designated the SM-3, has chalked up a high rate of success in a series of tests since 2002, in each case targeting a short- or medium-range ballistic missile, [but] never a satellite. A hurry-up program to adapt the missile for this anti-satellite mission was completed in a matter of weeks.

That such an adaptation of the defensive weapon took weeks to accomplish is testament to its makers innocent intentions. Moreover, Navy officials went out of their way to assure anyone with (obviously irrational) fears that “changes will be reversed once this satellite is down.” I mean, once they’ve said that…

Russia is one thing, but China is really grasping at straws here. A ’specialist’ at a Beijing university - and this is some communist logic - has said that,

In my opinion, this decision is imprudent and ill advised…If this satellite is shot down, the toxic fuel will still be there. Therefore, the pollution still exists.

Sound logic, on the surface, although where the toxic fuel exists will not be the earth’s surface, but space. Of course, the US’ move will effectively prevent sensitive technologies from falling into the wrong hands, but, again, this is a byproduct of the humanitarian object of the operation. China itself conducted their own humanitarian ground-to-space dismissal of a weather satellite last year - you can’t have some weirded-out earth circler predicting off forecasts, after all. China, get a grip. You know the score.

I’m not suggesting that the US is the global version of a drunken kid with a bic and a Roman Candle (who in that scenario loses the thumb?), but they sure know how to spice up the party. The economy is hurtin’, the debt is growing, and we’re runnin’ out of booze. Ugh - fireworks!

The message in this video is really important, of course. But that polar bear costume is so compelling! Extremely cute - political polar bears.

From Boing Boing:

A Greenpeace activist was recently arrested for protesting in front of the US Department of the Interior while wearing an awesome polar bear fursuit. He was trying to draw attention to the Bush Administration’s delay in issuing a final Endangered Species Act listing for the polar bear due to global warming.

Awesome! Perhaps we could begin arresting the real animals for causing all this trouble. I mean, concern for their well being is really affecting the profits of the big oil regimes - that’s gotta be illegal. And polar bears? What have those fish mongers ever done for us? (Just kidding - polar bears are the rock stars of Arctic animals.)

From Greenpeace:

Every week it seems there is new evidence that the sea ice is melting and that the polar bear’s habitat is disappearing. The U.S. Geological Survey released a report this past September predicting that if current warming projections continue, two-thirds of the world’s polar bears will likely be extinct by 2050, including all of the polar bears in Alaska. With a timeline like that, it is hard to understand how the polar bears aren’t already protected.

Check out the video!

It’s quite clever. But, oh! do I ever want that polar bear costume.

Technorati Tags: greenpeace, global warming

For the past seven years America has been led by a maniac. For most of us with even the slightest concern for the welfare of the world at large this time has felt much like a sad and often shameful eternity. But all things must pass, as has wisely been said.

I am not from America, and therefore cannot cast my ballot in this all important election on the horizon of American history. Nevertheless, I want to point to two individuals who have recently made their opinions known, Randall Munroe of the xkcd webcomic and Daniel Jalkut of Red Sweater Software. In candidly sharing their thoughts about the upcoming election, both express a belief in the potential of America to become a nation of openness and generosity, respected throughout the world not for its power and the fear that such power inspires, but for its integrity as a world citizen. And for both, the candidate who will bring these aspirations for their country into reality is Barack Obama.

From Munroe’s blog post:

I want someone who can lead the country. When people grow cynical and detached from government, or blinded by partisanship, evil runs amok. Obama represents an honest shot at making our government something we can be proud of. I’m tired of throwing things at CNN. I’m tired of feeling depressed when I read speeches by the founding fathers. I want Jon Stewart to smile again. For a brief moment, next Tuesday, we’ll have a shot at finally getting things right.

Munroe ends his post optimistically and reflects on some approaching events to put our (and his own) future into perspective:

…there are lots of comics and projects I’m looking forward to on the horizon. Also, someday soon we’ll be able to spectrally image the surfaces of Earth-like extrasolar planets, which is way exciting. Space is on the verge of becoming an adventure again, Windows Vista is flopping, and Mario Kart will be out for the Wii soon. I think the future will be okay.

Jalkut’s Obama-post does not have the humorous edge to it that Munroe’s does (Jalkut is a software developer, after all, and not a webcomic publisher), but his words have an immense sincerity and personal tone to them which, I think, reflects how heavily the issue of the accountability of his country to the world weighs on his conscious. From his blog post:

I personally think that Barack Obama represents our best hope for jumpstarting a change in our relationship with the world…At this point in our country’s incredibly short yet powerful history, I believe we need to elect a President whose leadership and vision give us a head start in the eyes of the world. A President who causes the world to sit up and acknowledge: “America cares about us.”

Jalkut ends his post with an appeal for Obama support as well as an optimistic message to non-American citizens aware of the the upcoming election and their stake in it:

I’m ready for…a leader who will represent everything hopeful about our unique, positive attitude toward the world. If you’re American, and you’ve got something hopeful to say to the world, I strongly encourage you to consider voting for Barack Obama. If you’re not American, and you’ve got some faith left in us, I strongly encourage you to sit tight and see how much better we can be, when we try.

Although I am not from America, I do belong to that majority for which this election is of great importance: a human being who cares about the fate of our planet and the people on it and recognizes that the leadership of our most powerful county has a direct and powerful impact upon that fate. A recently published CBC poll has found that 15% of Canadians would forfeit their say in Canada’s next federal election to instead vote in the U.S. election, and I’m sure many others around the world would do the same. As Jalkut rightly observes, we’re all in this together.

From Randall Munroe:

xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math and language
xkcd blag and Politics (Obama endorsement) post

From Daniel Jalkut:

Red Sweater - Amazing Mac Software and particularly MarsEdit local weblog editor for Mac (which, incidentally, this post and nearly every post on Verkhovensky’s Internals is written from).
Red Sweater Blog and Red Sweater Endorses Barack Obama post.

Barack Obama official website.

Technorati Tags: xkcd, Red Sweater, politics, Obama, election