Date: Sun, 13 Feb 2005 19:10:24 -0500
An operations manager for Jack in the Box was late for a meeting and called his boss to tell him he was running late. As he was leaving the voice mail message, he witnessed an accident and went on to provide "play by play" of the incident. This is the actual voice mail message. It was forwarded so many times within Jack in the Box, it crashed their voice mail server.

http://home.swbell.net/kf5tv/voicemail.mp3

The panel, chaired by senior U.S. Appeals Court Judge Laurence H. Silberman and former senator Charles S. Robb (D-Va.), was direct and unsparing in its conclusions, saying the intelligence community was not a community at all but a fragmented collection of rival bureaucracies that were consistently and unfailingly "wrong" on almost every point with regard to Iraq.

More broadly, it said, the intelligence agencies have become obsolete, technologically backward and "increasingly irrelevant" to the new challenges confronting the United States since the end of the Cold War.

[...]

Intelligence collection and analysis will "never be perfect," Bush said. "But in an age where our margin for error is getting smaller, the consequences of underestimating a threat could be tens of thousands of lives."

[...]

"Intelligence will continue to be a critical underpinning for U.S. national security capabilities. As the circumstances in the world continue to evolve, the US intelligence community must have insights into the challenges and continue to strengthen and improve the way intelligence is collected and analyzed."

Many of the world's ecosystems are in danger and might not support future generations unless radical measures are implemented to protect and revive them, according to the most comprehensive analysis ever conducted of how the world's oceans, dry lands, forests and species interact and depend on one another.

The new report collates research from many specific locales to create the first global snapshot of ecosystems. More than 1,300 authors from 95 countries participated in the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, whose results are being made public today by the United Nations and by several private and public organizations.

Last week, thousands of students took a new version of the SAT reasoning test. What are they saying about the revamped exam?

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Bush's approval rating slipped to a new low in the latest national survey with pollsters suggesting federal government intervention in the Terri Schiavo controversy may have been a factor along with growing concern about the economy.

The USA Today/CNN/Gallup survey released on Friday found 45 percent of the 1,001 adults surveyed Monday through Wednesday thought Bush was doing a good job, compared with 52 percent during three previous surveys in late February and early March.

The president's previous low since taking office in January 2001 was 46 percent in May 2004.

After years of relatively modest increases in luxury ready-to-wear, the prices of well-known items like a Chanel tweed jacket or a Giorgio Armani stretch wool pantsuit have spiked recently, largely because of the weakening dollar, which has declined about 30 percent against the euro since 2002.

That means that while European tourists are flocking to American department stores to take advantage of the exchange rate, American consumers of high-end fashion and leather goods from Europe may be in for sticker shock. Joan Stahl Israel, an independent personal shopper in New York, described looking at a price tag recently and thinking the number was so high, "it's just a telephone number."

Octopuses, known for using camouflage to avoid predators, have been observed apparently trying to sneak away by walking on two arms while pretending to be a bunch of algae. Two kinds of octopus were seen to use different ways of walking along the sea floor, researchers were reporting in Friday's issue of the journal Science.

Of course, we can’t vouche for the validity of this Playstation 3 Mockup, but it’s awful pretty, isn’t it? It would sort of make sense for the PS3 to play UMD, but something about the front of the big mockup looks funky to me. Still, cool. (Thanks, Junki!)

iPod is great for playback, but it’s not much use when it comes to recording. Try Edirol’s R-1 instead: palm-sized, integrated stereo microphone, and recording to CompactFlash. With 1GB of CF running about $70 (the R-1 costs under $400), removable media is the way to go. And as opposed to cheap consumer audio gadgets, this box records absolutely clean; even the built-in stereo mic sounds terrific (check out the audio samples).

The Social TV project is in research stages right now. But the idea is that, with the help of a bit of software, perhaps a keyboard or two and several strategically-placed microphones, people can remotely discuss a TV program while they are watching it. You’ll be able to see which of your buddies is watching which program in his or her house, and join into the viewing. Or, you might start a program-watching session of your own and invite friends.

Indeed, in many ways, Social TV will be similar to the Instant Messenger you already use on your computer. Only it will be more dynamic: Social TV software, located on a device like TiVo or even your TV set, might notice that your and your buddy’s yacking has gone well past the commercial break. The software would conclude that you are no longer watching the show and, perhaps, pause the program until you are ready to resume, says Nic Ducheneau, member of PARC research staff.

Disguised as an old man, prolific street artist Banksy has repeated his notorious tate britain stunt by placing his own guerilla artwork in each of New Yorks four main art galleries.

Staff at the New York Met discovered and removed their new aquisition early Sunday morning while Banksy's discount soup can print took pride of place in the MoMA for over three days before being torn down.

As of now, the other two pieces currently remain firmly in place...

Check out wooster collective for the rest, they've got all the images documenting all the museums (supplied by the man himself).

As far as I'm concerned, this is probably more interesting than most of whatever else is happening in the art world right now and instead of tearing it down, the MoMA should move it into their contemporary art collection.

I read Xeni's "Toy Zen" post, and it reminded me of Cincinnati's Toy Lab, a wonderful (non-profit) place where children (and adults) make toys out of old toys. They run all their donated toys through a gigantic washing machine several times before unleashing them on the masses. Kids assemble their toy, name it, and assign it powers before having it photographed and placed on the Web for all to see. I've spent hours of productivity giggling at the toys these kids have invented.

Name:	The Twister
Inventor:	Lucy
Age:	2
Comments:	It can run real fast!

The project was led by Robert Brunner, who was Apple's chief designer from 1989 to 1996 and who oversaw the design of the PowerBook line, among many other hit products.

SAN FRANCISCO Mar 14, 2005 — A judge ruled Monday that California's ban on gay marriage is unconstitutional, saying the state could no longer justify limiting marriage to a man and a woman.

In the eagerly awaited opinion likely to be appealed to the state's highest court, San Francisco County Superior Court Judge Richard Kramer said that withholding marriage licenses from gays and lesbians is unconstitutional.

"It appears that no rational purpose exists for limiting marriage in this state to opposite-sex partners," Kramer wrote.

Because everyone deserves equality.

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Our method is based on a simple premise: neighboring pixels in space-time that have similar intensities should have similar colors. We formalize this premise using a quadratic cost function and obtain an optimization problem that can be solved efficiently using standard techniques. In our approach an artist only needs to annotate the image with a few color scribbles, and the indicated colors are automatically propagated in both space and time to produce a fully colorized image or sequence. We demonstrate that high quality colorizations of stills and movie clips may be obtained from a relatively modest amount of user input.

This is an exciting technology that has to find it's way into the next version of PhotoShop. It's so simple and powerful. The same job can be done with the current version of PS, but it would be a tedious work to get it done right. With some experience and skill I can see this technology could help create some very interesting effects.

Adbusters' associate art director talks about the message behind the magazine, Adbusters' Blackspot sneaker project and why she didn't pack up and move to New York after art school

A new Social Security war room inside the Treasury Department is pumping out information to sell President Bush's plan, much like any political campaign might do. It's part of a coordinated effort by the Bush administration.

The internal, taxpayer-funded campaigning is backed up by television advertisements, grass-roots organizing and lobbying from business and other groups that support the Bush plan. The president's opponents are organized too, though they do not enjoy the resources of the White House or Treasury to sell their message.

For the administration, the communications effort is being coordinated out of Treasury's public affairs office through the new Social Security Information Center. Three people have been hired, with two more hires possible soon. The first three employees are veterans of the Bush-Cheney campaign or the Republican National Committee.

[...]

To sell the plan, the administration has launched a two-month travel blitz by administration officials including Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney and Treasury Secretary John Snow, as well as other Cabinet officers and White House aides. The new center is coordinating their schedules.

It is developing talking points to ensure that all officials are "singing off the same song sheet," Nichols said. And it will soon launch a Web site featuring the president's comments on the issue, copies of speeches and news stories and columns that are supportive of the Bush plan.

Additionally, it will deliver "rapid response" to media coverage it doesn't like. "If there is an editorial in a paper that does not reflect the view of the president, they will engage in the traditional rapid response effort to ensure an op-ed or letter to the editor that states our view," Nichols said.

Sgrena's partner said he could not fault the U.S. soldiers, telling Reuters they were probably "scared boys," and the blame lay with those who had sent them to Iraq.

But CNN's Alessio Vinci reported that Saturday's Il Manifesto newspaper had accused U.S. forces of "assassinating" Calipari.

In a written statement, Multnational Forces said that at 9 p.m. (1800 GMT) they opened fire on a vehicle that was approaching a checkpoint at a high speed.

U.S. troops "attempted to warn the driver to stop by hand and arm signals, flashing white lights, and firing warning shots in front of the car," the statement said.

"When the driver didn't stop, the soldiers shot into the engine block, which stopped the vehicle, killing one and wounding two others."

CNN's Nic Robertson said coalition forces's rule of engagement permit them to use escalating levels of force if they felt threatened. They can use lethal force, for example, if a car refuses to stop for a checkpoint.

The road where the incident took place, near Baghdad's airport, was particularly dangerous, Robertson added.

But "Million Dollar Baby," despite the acclaim, is not a well-conceived story. Without spoiling it for people who haven't seen the film, the pivotal scene is a manipulative device that couldn't possibly happen. It's just a terrible conceit that ruins any credibility going forward.

You have a boxer, played by Hillary Swank, about to fight someone known for being dirty. Prior to the emotional denouement, Swank's character is the victim of at least four punches that would have immediately disqualified her opponent. This is a boxing film, is it not? What happened in the ring would never have happened as depicted.

Of course, such implausibility happens every week on "24," and millions of people still watch. But, thankfully, "24" has yet to receive an Emmy for best drama, whereas "Million Dollar Baby" was the movie industry's darling on Sunday night.

How does a film with such illegitimate logic become the toast of the film world? Prior to the gimmick that swung the movie, audiences already had to endure some hoary old dramatic devices... [continue]