Paternity testing may be opening Pandora's Box.

See Who’s Your Daddy? by Steve Olson http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200707/paternity

Jerome K. Jerome :)

"I love work; it fascinates me. I can sit and look at it for hours. I love to keep it by me. The idea of getting rid of it nearly breaks my heart. "

"It's not if or when but how bad?" is the slogan on a No Fear tee-shirt about motocross and bodily harm. It seems to apply to us as an economy and as a nation.

Which state will try to secede 1st?

#1 and #7 have me covered.

Local TV news directors have been getting bonuses for live tears since television began, like 60 years ago (NBC Cleveland started October 1948).

Mad Magazine was parodying that fact in print in 1960-1 with the newscaster twisting the victims arm off camera.

There were some books about this that I read 40+ years ago:

The Doors of Perception by Aldous Huxley, 1954 (mescaline)
The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test byTom Wolf, 1969 (LSD)

and this one about the origins of Christianity:

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East by John Marco Allegro, 1970

Many people, now in their late 50s and early 60s tried all of these for curiosity and/or fun. Overdoses did not confer psychic powers.

3rd vote for Halting State, it was great. Haven't been to Locus in a while, but this list is what I'd be looking for. Thanks Cory and congratulations.

Ah, a great story. All those lucky people who haven't read this yet. I first read it under the title "Blind Shrike" by Richard Kadrey first published in the Infinite Matrix http://www.infinitematrix.net, April 2005

The Infinite Matrix is where I get Cory's work sometimes. Though this Kadrey story isn't in the archive, there are 50 more stories there by Kadrey alone. Cory Doctorow has "I Robot" and an excerpt from "Down And Out in the Magic Kingdom".
http://www.infinitematrix.net/archive/archive.html

In the PDF that I read the formatting is a bit different than this offering. Each chapter number and title was presented as a page with the lead sentence a quote in larger pt. type. It really looked spiffier; but lacked the authors photo of the link here.

My hope is that the RIAA gets their asses sued completely off by the artists' and the institution dries up and blows away. They're worse than the patent trolls and deserve to cut out of the loop.

Let's all encourage the music makers to go direct to consumers via the Intertubes.

Thanks for this Xeni. I'll pass it on.

I'm more impressed with Johnny I Hack Stuff all the time. I've read some of his writing about social hacking from his new book and been impressed. Even more impressive is the work that he and his wife have been doing in Uganda. Proceeds from his new book go to Africa. You want hackers? Check out his co-author!!!

No Tech Hacking: A Guide to Social Engineering, Dumpster Diving, and Shoulder Surfing by Johnny Long and Kevin D. Mitnick (Paperback - Feb 21, 2008) http://johnny.ihackstuff.com/

Read this one (purchased the book) all ready. The rest of you are in for a treat. It is a good story and Scalzi's writing style goes down well.

Yeah, the age thing on the sign page was funny. My Analog magazine subscription started in 1962. A present from the family trying to keep up with my voracious appetite for Science Fiction.

Episcopal alters, stained glass and signs sometimes have a 3 interlocking rings in the same knot signifying the Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Always enjoyed comparing the churches rings the Ballantine's Ale rings; Purity, Body and Flavor. It was a bad idea in religion class.

Lament the loss of the India Pale Ale. Anyone interested in Ballantine's Ale should see http://www.falstaffbrewing.com/ballantine_ale.htm

Read about this elsewhere this morning. Hard to understand how a US judge has authority to shut down a site over posts concerning someone else's criminal wrong doing in a foreign country.

Hopefully, the Swiss bank gets counter sued and scrutinized for their actions. Not just here in the US and not just for their funny banking; but in their hounding of the bank official and his family in the Cayman Islands and back home in Switzerland. Of course, anyone with enough clout to launder trust fund money in the Cayman Islands as a business probably owns judges and elected officials in several countries.

Not toxic as prepared. See http://www.williamrubel.com/mushrooms/amanita-muscaria

Xeni got a love note from Warren Ellis' blog for this post :)

You must be really popular right now.
After a long pause ...

Safari could not open the page “http://download119.mediafire.com/dydut05dhylg/awmcn1zm3u0/Dispatch+Volume+1+Pt1.pdf” because the server stopped responding.

Firefox complains also
quote>
The server at download119.mediafire.com is taking too long to respond.

The interior shots are weirdly reminiscent of scenes in the snow from the film Thirty Two Short Films About Glenn Gould (1993).

Abandoned mining towns throughout the world share some of the same ambience.

For those far from home:
The London Evening Standard Headline Generator http://thesurrealist.co.uk/standard.php

Random collages made out of lines from Evening Standard Headlines. Not as much fun as the real thing, but gives us a flavor here in the US.

For anyone lucky enough to find a copy of these belly laugh funny books, of course it helps to be in Britain. Richly rewarding, laughing to tears, and a unique and wonderful guide to second hand books in Britain. Don't know if there are anymore recent issues

drif's guide: To the Secondhand & Antiquarian Bookshops in Britain
THE ONLY GUIDE THAT'S BEEN THERE, London 1991
(I also have his 1986/87 guide spelled "driff's")

D I S- C O N T E N T S

DIRE TRIBES

MINOR INSULTS

GROSS INSULTS

GRATUITOUS REMARKS

REMARKS IN POOR TASTE

REMARKS IN NO TASTE

RACIALIST OR RACIST REMARKS*

ANTI-FEMINIST, ANTI-GAY, ANTI LIBERAL REMARKS

REMARKS DESIGNED TO ATTRACT ATTENTION

PIECES WRITTEN TO TRY TO PERSUADE
YOU TO BUY THIS BOOK WHEN YOU ARE
STANDING IN A BOOKSHOP READING IT

PSYCHIATRISTS REPORT

AFTERWORD

I agree with #7 a "Waste of good rope."

Weaving something fantastic out of the rope would be cool. I'd rather have a lovely light chair and the rope on a spool.

Cool story. Very interesting bit of history.
An uncle of mine, Bob Deily, appeared in a Major's uniform on VJ Day surprising all who knew him. Everyone had been told that he was 4-F and had been a traveling textile salesman for the duration of WWII. In fact he had been a courier commuting by rail from Oak Ridge to Los Alamos and back with a briefcase filled with documents handcuffed to his wrist, taking his meals in his room on the train, armed. He became a librarian for the State University of New York. I can find one reference: Ehrsam, Theodore G. and Robert H. Deily. */Bibliographies of Twelve Victorian Authors./* New York: Octagon Books, Inc., 1968.

Cool bit of history Cory, thanks!

I use a laptop and have desktops as well. The iPhone's $20/month premium, over cell phone base fee for unlimited data is very tempting. Give me a small laptop with $20/month unlimited data plan nationwide and I'll buy one. [prefer Darwin or Linux based, thanks.]

Met Jon Taplin in about 1970 when he was working with the Band. Just checked out his blog and have it bookmarked, interesting. Another good one Cory, thanks.

Two Favorites from Iain M. Banks:
Feersum Endjinn, 1994 - virtual reality
Excession, 1996 - one of many universes (Culture)

All humor is based on tragedy, funny; but painful and sad.

#17 has it. The one thing that the TSA can't do is surprise; but fear anger and contempt (for them), I feel it every time. In Seattle last July the TSA told an 85 year old, blue eyed woman (mine) with a long braid that she'd never fly again for not taking her shoes off. They forgot to get any names just quick with the threat of banishment from the skies.

Fifteen years ago leaving Frankfurt the German security team did a thorough pat frisk of every single passenger of a 747 quickly and efficiently. No one had any cause for complaint. The TSA looks like a clown fantasy camp in comparison.

Visiting family have a Mac Pro (10.5.1) to use QWest 2700HG-D wireless router. Setup was made more difficult by the number of WPA WiFi options in Leopard. Chose the simplest and it worked Ok until coming out of Sleep. The Mac Pro could not reconnect until the AirPort was turned off and then on again. It has been fine since.

Flying to Las Vegas has gotten me to a plane flying home a couple of times, and for less money than the suggested hubs. Give it a look next time some says "can't".

Definitely not recommended for use with the TSA if the electronics are inside. Actually, I wouldn't even want to explain the hollow book to that group.

Proof that it is possible to be well educated and have no common sense. #2 hits it squarely.

Appears that a 6-1 can be had here http://scientificsonline.com/Product.asp?pn=3053776&sid=google&cm_mmc=google-_-cpc-_-edmu-_-unimat1&bhcd2=1195706089 for $449, gift wrap available.

Schwarzenegger's quote is taken out of context. He goes on to say that weight lifting was his drug.

Psychotropic plants came first then came humans who invented religion. It's a pretty good bet that the dreams and visions that lead to religion came from "special" plants. There's even a pretty good thesis that Christianity came out of mystic cults that intentionally took drugs, specifically Amanita Muscaria:

The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East

Darwin awards are well deserved for anyone who types Admin password at porn site.

Works for crabs too!

I vote with #20 and #24, a height transfer gauge. Pattern making or pattern take off? The whole tool is more delicate than machinist gauges which were often a machined casting for the base. They are made that way to this day. http://catalog.starrett.com/catalog/catalog/groups.asp?GroupID=545

Some might prefer an old fashioned, Barbie Doll motif. I believe this one works:
http://www.hellinahandbasket.net/BARBIE1%20%282%29.jpg

Regardless of method, don't touch your nose or eyes until your hands are clean. Think of mucous (home sweet home for viruses) and don't pick your nose or work something out of the corner of your eye with your finger after handling your cell phone, restroom pull handle, or paying money and taking change at the coffee shop. Don't you love it when the antiseptically gloved sandwich maker goes to the register and makes change for you?

Dark Roasted Blend = long time fave. A gem.

Somehow this just seems to be a really, really bad idea. What, is there a special discount deal on at the Fear Monger's Shoppe that I missed? No need to practice or get any training right? We see it most nights on TV. It must be easy to do, I mean, wake up and kill someone, isn't it?
What size shot should I use, 00 Buck? Let's see that ought to go through 3-4 double sheet rock walls taking out the flex gas lines on the furnace and the water heater on their way into the kids bedroom. Better safe than sorry, right? It's 30' to one neighbors bedroom window from our bedroom sliding door, maybe I could just blow a couple rounds through his windows just to alert him to the danger over here. Go get a big kitchen knife to place in the hand of the corpse you just shot before the cops get there. Make sure to get a good set of his prints on that handle too, cause you'll do time if you were not threatened with deadly force in most states. Repeat, it doesn't matter that you're scared to death (except Texas and Florida?) you need a weapon in the corpse's possession to have used deadly force in many places or you go to jail. Check your local laws before pulling that trigger. Ask a cop. Oh, anyone know how to get dried blood out of wall to wall carpet and pad?

The woman I've shared a bed with for 30 years took a single .30 caliber rifle round (messy) 29 years ago and lived. There are 18 .30 caliber pellets in each 00 Buck round. Actually, we sleep better after making love with no guns at all in the house. I'd just like a holster for the KY jelly and a couple of Kleenex, but usually we just tuck those under the pillows.

We had the neighborhood basketball court on an empty lot we own next door. It worked well for almost 30 years. People started to wander in to look over the back fence, some drove in never asking or caring that we were out on our patio and watching. We put a 5' fence midway in the lot. Music got louder, seems they couldn't play ball without boombox tunes, cigarette butts and empty beers were routinely left, nobody helped with weeding or cleanup. The brooms were broken on the backboard's post. Then the beer drinkers started standing behind the trees to pee, hidden from the street; but in full view from the kitchen window. We moved the fence up between the court and the street, no problems.

"Good fences make good neighbors." - Robert Frost

The phone companies and the NSA had "secret contracts - worth hundreds of millions of dollars" http://politics.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/10/11/1932207 They really should be prosecuted and fined at least for what they made off of the deals if not punitive damages, and a harsher bit should be placed in the mouth of the NSA.

The palliative argument the administration has been handing out is that they didn't listen they just logged who called who and when. No thanks, I'd like to see a warrant issued for that information please.

When it is so cold out that you cry from the pain as your hands and feet warm up, one of these is most welcome. 1962, Vermont -40 F, and if your car wasn't plugged in overnight it wouldn't start in the morning. Zippo definitely didn't make them then and their current product is about twice the price other brands. They do make good product.

Went right out and listened to some samples - surf Ramones
http://payplay.fm/ramonetures

Sex, Drugs, Rock'n Roll.!! No wait, that was earlier. Then in 1970 this book was published: The Sacred Mushroom and the Cross: A Study of the Nature and Origins of Christianity within the Fertility Cults of the Ancient Near East The sex, drugs, rock'n roll crowd had 'rediscovered' the effect of mushrooms before the book was published. Ah, skip the organized religion part as it causes more brain damage than the drugs.

#1's got it. The throw lines and climbing lines arborists use rarely knot ot tangle in stuff sacks, all the pros use them. In WWII there were specialists who untangled parachute cords. All tangled coils are made of loops, by making the loops equal sized the tangle falls apart easily. Personal fav is the twist free, kink free, figure-8 coil for air/water hoses and anchor rodes.

Best story of all was Alexander the Great and the Gordian Knot. He used a sharp sword.

Shucks, I was hoping that Negroponte's 2002 "Lily Pads" predictions had finally come true. http://www.wired.com/wired/archive/10.10/wireless.html

'Set and sink' or you're too slow with an 8d-coated like the pic shows. :) Anyone who needs this would probably bend the nail with their first hit after taking the guide off the nail. Like all things in life, practice makes perfect.

Great review, clicked and ordered it. Yes, publishing your work for free, like Stross has done with Accelerando and Cory has done with Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom and other works sells books. Thanks guys! It's working.

Patiently waiting for Iain Banks' next Culture novel (February)...

This was initially done in the 1960s to power remote sensors and satellites to this day like the Keyhole spy sats. A radiation source for heat and thermocouples to change heat into electricity. They exist and are large. NASA redesigned a miniature version in 2004 http://www.techbriefs.com/content/view/807/32/

Ah, the problem would be you'd need to use it in a pool of water filled with ice cubes and it would fade your genes.

I'm with FLYING SQUID, #13. Sadly it probably will happen, I just wonder were my favs will shake out in the multi-tiered pricing. Think - coach vs 1st class, 1 bedroom vs penthouse, suburban vs waterfront, public park vs private club - twas ever thus.

#14 posted by Christovir
Great point. I saw US soldiers with M-16s in airports right after 9/11 and in Frankfurt, DE there are 19 year olds wandering around in uniform with machine guns. Great theater, but really stupid. One full-auto burst from a machine gun would probably kill and injure as many people as a small bomb. Not the right tool to prevent harming innocent bystanders, unless they're up to the "Kill them all and let God sort them out" point.

V. interesting, read it last night, scary. It isn't unique, similar to what has happened here, eg. George H. W. Bush head of CIA to 41st president.

When dealing with someone who is armed and a police officer, anything less than "Yes, sir!", "No, sir!", "Three bags full, sir!" is just asking for trouble.

On the other hand, the painfully deficient police hand to hand control with a perp was excruciatingly painful to watch. Who trained these police officers and what are their departmental standards? My dad was an MP and I've played with military hand-to-hand combat instructors and light weight state wrestling champs. You are under their control in less than a second unless you run away. The first touch by someone who knows what they're doing and you are through. Any grab or hold that you attempt is immediately broken and turned into a hold on you and it can be made to be excruciatingly painful at will. They used the taser because they had no other skills.

The very first officer had the protesters arm behind his back and that should have been the end of the story right there. The officer should have been able to get the protester's total attention and have him on tip-toes and begging for mercy, totally focused on pain or face down on the floor to be cuffed. He had no help from his fellow officer either. It looked like a bunch of drunks in a bar and got worse as they headed for the door. No professionalism whatsoever. I bet that any police officers who watched this video are shaking their heads in dismay.

Get the f#*king van out of the river, assholes. Cheap inner tube, old sneakers, bathing suit, beer. Float down stream quietly, wave at the fishermen as you float by and use the van to ferry you on dry land back up to do it again. Float on water don't make mud, damn.

Old air cooled, wimpy, stock VW bus has embarassed a hell of a lot of 4X4s over the years. I sold one to buy a Power Wagon once and the 4x4 could not get up the the same stuff that the VW didn't have a problem with. Oh, and the VW had a 1700+ pound payload capacity. I could also push start it by myself.

On driving I'm just a wierdo who happens to perfer having my CG as low as it can get. Anytime I'm driving something with the CG below 12 inches is just shits and giggles 'cause it means racing and track time. I could roll a lifted van over on its side leaving a 7-11 parking lot, no thanks. Drifting in 6th gear with your ass 1" off the pavement and 22 other crazies trying to catch you is fun.

The gamma-ray annihilation laser is old news, 21 years old.
Here's a Bibtex entry for an Abstract from 1986, Harvard, NASA...

@ARTICLE{1986LPB.....4..577L,
author = {{Loeb}, A. and {Eliezer}, S.},
title = "{A gamma ray laser based on induced annihilation of electron-positron pairs.}",
journal = {Laser and Particle Beams},
year = 1986,
volume = 4,
pages = {577-587},
adsurl = {http://adsabs.harvard.edu/abs/1986LPB.....4..577L},
adsnote = {Provided by the Smithsonian/NASA Astrophysics Data System}

Damn, I used live in New Haven, VT and never knew. 375 registered voters and way more cows than people c. 1973.

15 miles away in Middlebury there's the grave of Prince Amun-Her-Khepesh-Ef, two-year-old son of King Senwoset III and Queen Hathor-Hotpe [sic], who died in 1883 B.C.

Poster #1 wins!
No way anyone installing cabinets for a living would use this tool. They'd have single purpose tools that do one thing well. Yes, you can dress out a deer and fix your carburetor with a Swiss Army knife. You just can't find a mechanic or a butcher that does it with one. I had a display cabinet shop 30 years ago and most all of the tools plugged in to outlets and said Delta on them. There are many carpenters who have built works of art. They start with giant power tools and finsh things by hand. Check out these two names - East coast, George Nakashima; West coast Sam Maloof. Their works are in museums and galleries, presidents and vice presidents own their work (that's US Presidents).

1995, Taco Bell, Salt Lake City, 94 cases of Hepatitis. Know one man who lost both kidneys as a result. I'd prefer one of the many taco carts downtown to Taco Bell. It's a chain for crying out loud, if I want cheap food I'll nuke a burrito at 7-11.

I find the best food where the family that owns the restaurant is there, and even better when the owner is the cook. Go to the Red Iguana, if you're ever in Salt Lake, where there's usually a line waiting outside on the sidewalk.

No, you're not the only one with that dream, and sadly I think that your thought about Iran is coming no matter where Cheney ends up.

As of Fri Aug 31 13:49:05 MDT 2007 Cory's "Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom" is still there http://www.scribd.com/doc/257318/Down-and-Out-in-the-Magic-Kingdom-by-Cory-Doctorow

Or was it put back up?