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POPSHow to wreck $100,000,000 worth of cars Mazda Corp. decides to destroy almost 5000 new vehicles after an almost-sinking freighter exposes them to unknown environmental stresses. Turns out wrecking a lot of new cars isn't as easy as it sounds: they created a "disassembly line."
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POPSTransgendered Oregon man is pregnant (he says) Thomas Beatie, who has undergone sex-change surgery and is legally male and legally married, has conceived a child via a home insemination from a sperm donor. He plans to carry the child to term. Others, however, are skeptical of his claims.
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POPSRepRap: the self-replicating rapid prototyper A "3D printing" device (rapid prototyper) made from parts that the machine itself can make; thus, it can "copy" itself. This project is still under development, but it seems likely that it will be built in the not-too-distant future.
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POPSA blog about coffee and the environment I've been wondering lately about the environmental impact of my fairly serious coffee habit, since I know coffee farming and trade has a pretty hefty ecological footprint. I came across this blog. Voila.
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POPS"Fogcatchers": a new source for potable water In remote Chilean villages where fresh water is often scarce and contaminated, a simple new technology -- mesh sheets strung between posts -- captures condensation from coastal fog, providing an abundant and reliable source of cheap drinking water.
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POPSTravelling by bus in Sweden? Beware of dwarves One of the weirdest news stories I've read in some time. Apparently some criminal gangs are smuggling dwarves in duffel bags into the luggage compartment of long-haul buses, where they loot the other passengers' bags.
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POPSNewsflash about me: I got tenure! This is a personal note... This semester, I was up for tenure at the small Pennsylvania college where I work. I was just informed a few days ago that my tenure bid was approved. This clip says a little bit about what that means.
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POPSSlavoj Žižek on the Matrix This is Žižek's famous 1999 essay, "The Two Sides of Perversion." I'm clipping it because I intend to read it; the bits I've looked at are very good.
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POPSFlickr + Library of Congress: Flickr Commons What a great idea. Collaborative tagging and description for publicly-owned, historic photos. Some creative thought re copyrights as well -- they've introduced a new designation, "No known copyright restrictions." Cool.
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POPSSexy chatbots deployed to steal your personal information! Some evil geniuses have developed an automated chat program that convinces people it's a real cybersex partner and convinces them to reveal personal information, which can then be used for ID theft, or it lures them to a fake malware-laden website. Called "CyberLover." Only in Russia thus far, but look out.
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POPSCritique of religious-studies public school curriculum Critical response to a seminar on teaching with the theme "Religion in American History," from a conservative Christian perspective (from EdWatch.org). For the record, I think the critique is misguided, but it's still an important one.
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POPSMini-diaper-changing kit for $50 A miniature version of a diaper bag, including changing pad and various compartments and pockets. I hate huge, unwieldy diaper bags, especially when I'm on foot. Now I guess I'll have to clip something about football or guitars to prove my masculinity.
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POPSOld-school journalism + blogging, social networks: synergy? Linked from Dave Winer's blog, I think. A cool, experimental idea: connect beat reporters with an online circle of stakeholders joined by modern net-based social-networking tools. In this scenario, the "new" "Web2.0" model of information distribution doesn't kill old-school journalism but reinvigorates it.
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POPSMusharraf's speech defending martial law You probably know that Musharraf declared martial law on Nov. 2 against the strongly expressed wishes of U.S. and other Western diplomats. The irony is that he claims (quite plausibly, in my view, but I don't know that much about it) to be doing it in order to prevent Pakistan being overrun by violent Islamist agitators, which would be a disaster of unfathomable proportions for the GWOT and U.S. policy generally (not to mention India and Afghanistan). I'm mystified about what the U.S. really wants Musharraf to do.
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POPSWhite House "eviscerates" CDC head's climate-change testimony Ho hum. Once again, the White House censors the presentation of scientific data. Hello? America? Anyone paying attention out there? The funny thing is, this time they said they did it because the CDC testimony conflicts with the IPCC report, which it doesn't. But since when does the White House care about the IPCC? Do they think everyone is stupid?
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POPSGreek statuary showing reconstructed pigmentation Archaeologist Vinzenz Brinkmann has reconstructed the original painting scheme that colored many classical sculptures. The effect is startling. See the NYTimes, http://snipr.com/1sesr. This is the best collection of photos I could find, but it's short on information; plus, it's in Danish.
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POPSFor teens, family dinners are best predictor of success The best predictor of a teenager's positive and negative social and academic outcomes -- doing well in school, using drugs and alcohol, experimenting with sex at a young age, fighting -- is how frequently he or she eats dinner with his family. This is more influential than race, family income, educational level, gender, or many other factors.
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POPSPrivacy law: "I've got nothing to hide" misses the point Haven't read this yet, but it looks interesting. Addresses the common, dismissive response to concerns about privacy and the law by people who say, "I've got nothing to hide, so why should I care?" and explains why this misrepresents the nature and importance of privacy.
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