] "My first thought was, that's a really big dolphin. But
] then I noticed it was swimming side to side rather than
] up and down," he said.

An article so California it hurts. "I thought I was dust".
Surfers staying out even after the attack. "That's the heaviest thing I've seen". Reasonable explainations that "the shark felt threatened".

Surfer goes toe-to-toe with shark / 'I thought I was dust,' he says of 5-minute ordeal off Bodega Bay

] The legislation argues that consumers own their vehicles
] in their entirety and should be able to access their
] onboard computers. Just how the codes would be released
] to car owners isn't addressed, but possibilities include
] publishing them on CDs or websites, or requiring
] carmakers to create indicator lights that would pinpoint
] problems instead of lumping them together under the
] generic Check Engine-type warnings

Neat. Although some of us have the option with our car to buy aftermarket computers that /are/ pretty accessible.

Wired News: Drivers Want Code to Their Cars

] Then we sat in front of the computer for a few hours and
] I made her a playlist of more songs she had loved as a
] small girl, the ones she'd remembered and the ones she'd
] forgotten, which led to our having The Conversation. You
] know, the one I've known was coming for the last
] almost-nineteen years.
]
] I dragged songs from her childhood over to the playlist
] -- "Barcelona" and "Nothing Compares 2 U" and "I Don't
] Like Mondays" and "These Foolish Things" and then came
] Lou Reed's "Walk on the Wild Side". "You named me from
] this song, didn't you?" said Holly as the first bass
] notes sang. "Yup," I said.

Neil Gaiman

] Our concern is that derivatives in general, and interest
] rate swaps and total return swaps in particular, have
] helped make the economy and financial markets
] hypersensitive to short-term interest rates, much less
] the insanity of valuing long-term assets based on over-night
] interest rates. Nevertheless, the markets of late are
] reacting dramatically to the mere discussion of when a
] quarter-point increase in rates might occur. Liquidity
] and short-term rates have always been a factor in
] markets; however, the old rule of thumb was it took three
] increases by the Federal Reserve before markets took a
] hit. We believe that multiple factors have made the
] markets hypersensitive to short-term rates. The above
] mentioned derivatives, the emergence of the
] financed-based economy, the pervasiveness of the
] carry-trade, the leverage in hedge funds and margin
] accounts, and last but not least the debt-to-GDP of the
] U.S. economy. Even if we accept the low reported rates of
] inflation (which we question), real rates of interest are
] currently negative. A return to a more normal
] relationship between inflation and interest rates is too
] painful to contemplate.

Interesting emphasis on the Carry Trade, which does seem particularly vulnerable. And, of course, more questions on the hyper-derivitive financial environment (looming disaster?). In my Finance course, it is hard to maintain cognitive dissonance between the power and worship of derivitives, and the understanding and fear I've personally picked up from watching from the Berkshire side.

FNM, the Carry Trade, & other thoughts

] The creation of the Theme Park ScienceFictionLand was
] also the Producer's plan for the funding the film, Lord
] of Light.
]
] Fortune 500 companies around the world had been contacted
] to act as sponsors. Internationally acclaimed scientists
] were intrigued and several had begun work on Research and
] Development. Even 3M had already expressed interest in
] building a 1/2 mile high Floating Heated Dome (based upon
] Buckminister Fuller's original designs for NYC) over the
] entire park. The film's financing was contingent upon the
] development of the themepark.

Quite a story. Novel concept for funding a film and foundation. And wow, 3M wanted to build the floating Dome.

CIA- Lord of Light

] Jody Gorran, 53, said Thursday that he was seduced "with
] a bacon-wrapped cheeseburger" to blindly follow the
] Atkins Diet, which also made his cholesterol soar to a
] risky level.

This was clearly a cherry picked, opening salvo lawsuit. But it really sounds like maybe the next fads will have to have reading comprehension waivers in order to participate. Blindly following is a bad idea in anything health related.

This is made worse by the fact that South Beach, which is similiar in nature to Atkins, was developed by a cardiologist to /help deal with cholesterol/. It wasn't intended for weighloss, but it was published when it showed such behavior as well. My dad has significantly improved his cholesterol levels with it.

It sounds like the guy should have put the book down, anyway, if it really was a matter of being 148 pounds desiring 140. Atkins diet -- or "lifestyle" -- is /way/ too extreme for that.

Yahoo! News - Man Sues Atkins Diet Over Heart Problems

] America's inmate population grew by 2.9 percent last
] year, to almost 2.1 million people, with one of every 75
] men living in prison or jail.

Look to your right, look to your left. Now, look to that neighbor's other side. And that neighbor's side.... One of you may be in Prison. Wow. Think about, if this ratio were demographically uniform, which it is not, how many people from your elementary, or high school, or college class should be in prison at this time. Or your little league. Or whatever.

Yahoo! News - Report: 1 of Every 75 U.S. Men in Prison

] The result has been $100M animation budgets. Even "Sky
] Captain", which was supposed to be a low-budget effects
] movie, is headed towards that figure. (The production
] team screwed up, and now ILM is bailing them out. ILM
] makes a sizable fraction of their money bailing out the
] botched productions of others.)

Shrek 2 How-To

] The Federal Aviation Administration's Associate
] Administrator for Commercial Space Transportation
] (FAA/AST) is expected next month to certify that the
] Mojave Airport Civilian Flight Test Center as a
] non-federal spaceport to handle horizontal launches of
] reusable spacecraft.
]
] As such, Mojave Airport can offer a range of launch and
] landing services making it a hub for high-flying craft
] intended to help spark public space travel. The Mojave
] Airport is located approximately 100 miles north of Los
] Angeles, in southeastern Kern County, along the western
] edge of the Mojave Desert.

Spaceport to Rise in California's Mojave Desert

] Wright: I'm uncollecting. I buy collections on eBay,
] and I disperse them out to people again. I have to be
] like an entropic force to collectors, otherwise all of
] this stuff will get sorted. It's like the opposing force,
] uncollectors.
]
] All of these things are collections of weird stuff. I
] go to estate sales and pick up collections from people
] who got tired of collecting.
]
] GameSpy: Are you trying to start a movement?
]
] Wright: No, it's just a hobby. It's fun.
]
] GameSpy: How much stuff have you uncollected so far?
]
] Wright: A lot.
]
] GameSpy: What are some of the things you have uncollected
] so far?
]
] Wright: Oh, lets see %u2026 little dolls--souvenir
] dolls from cities, dice, fossils, a lot of stuff.
]
] GameSpy: How much are you willing to spend on an
] uncollection?
]
] Wright: I don't spend much on it. It's always really
] cheap stuff. I've been spending my real money on Russian
] space hardware.
]
] GameSpy: Russian space hardware?
]
] Wright: Control panels, controllers, joysticks%u2026
]
] GameSpy: From Sputnik?
]
] Wright: Soyuz, Mir...

Except that with the Russian pins -- if these are like the russian pin collections being hawked at Red Square, they have bazillions of them and they go for $2-10, depending on how you negotiate. They always claim they are authentic, and they are nice and metal and old seeming, but you get the distinct sense there is a factory somewhere making them and they sell for $1 or so.

Good interview. Neat character.

GameSpy: Breakfast with Will