3.15.2013

Stuff we are definitely putting on our worry list

On hearing yesterday’s news that Carnegie Mellon University had developed a robot that turns into a tank, one of my fellow Geekosystem editors pointed out that at some point, we’re just asking for a violent robot uprising.
Geekosystem

Our nomination for Best Pun in a $.99 Novel


"He realized he could have his cake and Edith too."
From a novel entitled "Hit Man" by Lawrence Block. We will no doubt post a link anon.

Also, criminally cheap pens


Preface: Not all banks are criminal enterprises. The wrongdoing of a particular bank cannot be attributed to other banks without proof. But – as documented below – many of the biggest banks have engaged in unimaginably bad behavior.…
Washington's Blog

Remember, when a big bank does it it's called a blunder


JPMorgan Chase, the nation’s biggest bank, ignored internal controls and manipulated documents as it racked up trading losses last year, while its influential chief executive, Jamie Dimon, briefly withheld some information from regulators, a new Senate report says.
The findings by the Congressional investigators shed new light on the multibillion-dollar trading blunder…
New York Times

Honest, Officer…

3.14.2013

We can barely imagine

There is a place in San Francisco called Bacon Bacon. It serves food with bacon, which, presumably, smells like bacon, or, put another way, delicious. Andsomeone allegedly complained about the glorious bacon aroma that wafts from Bacon Bacon's kitchen as if angels were sprinkling love dust over the masses. We repeat: Someone complained about the smell of bacon.
Esquire

"Pure evil,""security professional" says


A government database on computer vulnerability has a vulnerability problem of its own. According to reports Thursday, the National Vulnerability Database (NVD) website — which includes databases of security checklists and security-related software flaws — was among sites taken down for two weeks after malware was discovered on their servers.
Salon

Cold Duck

Cold Duck by Ted Compton
Cold Duck, a photo by Ted Compton on Flickr.

Just stay over there

If you’ve always dreamed of smelling like a walking corpse, you’re in luck, because weird-perfume maker Demeter has recently launched Zombie for Him/Her, a new line of putrid fragrances for both men and women.
Oddity (no kidding) Central

Another one? (Yes)


MIAMI (AP) — Carnival Cruise Lines is making arrangements for passengers aboard the stranded ship Dream to fly home.
AP

Our travel editor says, pack oars. 

I hope they don't expect too much

NEW YORK/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Obama administration is drawing up plans to give all U.S. spy agencies full access to a massive database that contains financial data on American citizens and others who bank in the country, according to a Treasury Department document seen by Reuters.
More

3.14159265…

Our annual Pi Day celebration.

Oh go ahead, tell us what you really think


In one of the dumbest, most counter-productive, anti-free market moves in recent history (which is saying a lot), the U.S. government is considering a bailout of the sugar industry.
Yahoo Finance

3.13.2013

What is a limited commercial, exactly?

Because when Hulu says it, "brought to you with limited commercials," limited clearly does not mean few.

3.11.2013

Or you could just call it artisanal legislation

OpenSecrets.org (@OpenSecretsDC)
The Senate clings to its arcane and antiquated ways -- like filing campaign finance reports on paper. bit.ly/13SdQs9


Or possibly correlations just aren't all they're cracked up to be


RESEARCHER: ZOMBIE FADS PEAK WHEN SOCIETY UNHAPPY

Resouped beans (why not?)

I made some refried beans on Saturday. Or tried to. They wound up a mess. So Sunday I turned the whole project into soup. A very passable soup. You can make soup out of almost anything and it's always good, frequently terrific. Go soup.

Supersize me, dude


LONDON (AP) — Even without modern-day temptations like fast food or cigarettes, people had clogged arteries some 4,000 years ago, according to the biggest-ever hunt for the condition in mummies. 
Researchers say that suggests heart disease may be more a natural part of human aging rather than being directly tied to contemporary risk factors like smoking, eating fatty foods and not exercising. 
AP
And hurry. It's an emergency.

Can you spell yawn?


Here’s a hard truth: all the emotion and outrage and sadness that followed the Dec. 14 shooting of 20 children and 6 adults at Sandy Hook elementary school may make almost no difference in federal gun control laws.
Read more: http://swampland.time.com/2013/03/11/how-gun-control-ends-not-with-a-bang-but-a-whimper/#ixzz2NFKgq2z5
Palm Pattern
iPhone abstract: Phil Compton

3.10.2013

Who freaking cares?


Daylight saving time 2013 [was] 2 a.m. Sunday, with much of America turning the clock ahead one hour. But when does daylight saving time save money?
Monitor
It's not about saving money (well it was for Ben Franklin, but this is now), it's about having an extra hour of sunlight in the evening. I say go sunlight. We could have daylight savings time all year around as far as I'm concerned.

Problem solved

(Reuters) - With debate intensifying in the United States over the use of drone aircraft, the U.S. military said on Sunday that it had removed data about air strikes carried out by unmanned planes inAfghanistan from its monthly air power summaries.