The Epinions section on L.A.-area cell phone services is a fun source of poison-pen wrath from irritated users.
Die Puny Humans – Warren Ellis’ blog
Comic author Warren Ellis has a blog and everyone is talking about it (and his cool domain name).
[via everyone]
Online version of Alternative 3 video
Alternative 3 was a documentary produced in 1977 by Anglia Television in the UK. Originally reporting on the “brain drain” of UK scientists, the documentary crew eventually discovered a secret joint US/USSR space program that had actually landed men on Mars in 1962 in advance of “alternative 3” – a plan to evacuate the Elite from Earth and colonize Mars before Earth succumbs to global warming and eventual environmental collapse (which was going to happen much quicker than folks thought). Some “ordinary folk” would be kidnapped, pacified via mind control, and used as slave labor on the new Martian colonies while the rest of us proles are left behind to wallow in our own filth.
Oh yeah, along the way evidence is discovered of extraterrestrial life.
The whole program was a sham of course – sort of a modern version of of Orson Welles’ War Of The Worlds broadcast but with current (for 1977) production values, “official sounding” presenters, and plenty of “documentation”. The documentary was supposed to air on April 1st 1977, but due to scheduling issues it didn’t air until June. A follow-up book tie-in was published and as they say… hilarity ensued.
Of course, quite a few folks took it seriously and still do. Fortean Times and Wikipedia both have a good rundown of the whole Alternative 3 mythology.
Circle Of Light: Looks like a cool movie but with stupid fscking RealPlayer requirements
Pamela Bone’s Circle Of Light looks like a cool movie (Delia Derbyshire is credited with sound) but I can’t watch the full length stream of it because RealOne Player generates a “There is no software update available from RealOne to support this content: CLV1”
Then why is it in Real format to begin with? Grrr… RealOne (or whatever your calling yourself now) go stream in Hell.
al-Qaida and Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series
The Guardian speculates on the dogmatic connections between science-fiction classics, such as Asimov’s Foundation and Herbert’s Dune and Osama Bin Laden’s particular brand of fundamentalism.
[via Electrolite]
Local government payola
John Robb reports that my Congresswoman, Loretta Sanchez, received $16.5K in Hollywood payola. Garden Grove isn’t exactly the entertainment suburb of the world, but Disneyland is one town over.
Global warming and mini Ice Ages
John Robb points out some interesting reading over on the Woods Hole web site about global warming’s side effects of weather instability.
The mechanism for this is simple. The north pole’s ice cap is melting quickly due to global warming. This has created an extremely large pool of fresh water near the ice cap. That pool of water will eventually drift southward. When it does, it will disrupt the gulf stream due a change in the density of the water. Without the gulf stream, the northeast US and Europe will quickly experience a 10 degree drop in temperatures.
This mini Ice Age would be similar to the one we experienced between 1300 and 1850. Remember that picture of Washington crossing the Delaware River? See the ice? That doesn’t happen anymore. According to the Woods Hole scientists, it will again. There is also an outside chance that disruption of the gulf stream could disrupt the entire ocean conveyor system which would impact the rest of the world.
Better bundle in some cold weather gear in that canoe.
[via John Robb’s Radio Weblog]
I have a recurring dream
John Robb posts…
I have a recurring dream. I am in college. A person that I have seen in a couple of my classes, comes up to me and asks me if I want the “everything” drive. I ask, what is the “everything” drive? He whispers that it has every book, song, newspaper, magazine, and movie that has ever been published. Everything is categorized and first quality. It even includes a clone of Google and some new search techniques that are even more powerful. Incredulous, I ask what the catch is. He says, nothing, just knowledge. I then ask how much it will cost. He says nothing, just the time it takes to transfer it and a promise to give it to two other people.
Ferrari’s red paint to fly to space
Civilization may crumble, but Ferrari’s famous “Rosso Corsa” red paint will endure – on Mars. Representative of Rolls-Royce and Mercedes Benz were unavailable for comment on if they plan to send their distinctive hood ornaments into space.
A British Guide to Pub Etiquette
It’s not just a guide to pub etiquette, but etiquette in general. Must read double-bag item.
Our first task in the preliminary research for this project was to find out how much tourists knew about pub etiquette. Not surprisingly, given the lack of information available, we found that what tourists didn’t know about pub etiquette would fill a book. This is the book.
[via kottke.org]