Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.kk.org/streetuse/archives/2007/11/popup_market_in_bangkok.php

This has to be seen to be believed. Anyone who's travelled through poorer countries knows that railroads tend to be centres of commerce due to the good access of maintained track. I've never seen a market built around the in-use tracks before...

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://consumerist.com/consumer/badvertising/toys-r-us-invites-you-to-save-+10-319089.php

I love the small text for the "Was..." price. Everything on the sign is absolutely correct with the exception that a sale is precisely what is not being advertised.

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://www.aintitcool.com/node/35108

New Line and Peter Jackson have apparently patched up their differences. So, it looks like "The Hobbit" will be on celluloid and done properly. Woohoo!

I'm trying to figure out this comment though:

The deal includes another film to be made that takes place between the end of The Hobbit but before LOTR.

I can't think of anything completed by Tolkien, even in "The Lost Tales", that would fit in there.

(Via Kottke)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DCyPTM2FJgA

The original opening sequence for "Star Wars" makes for an interesting piece of arcana, but I agree with Kottke: it didn't deserve to make the final cut.

(Via Kottke)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ykN-00i7VVs

I've not seen this "Not The Nine O'Clock News" skit in quite some time. Get it while it's still on YouTube!

(Via Pharyungula)

Link: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/12/29/AR2005122901412_pf.html

This one isn't news but it's a reference to various plans the US and Canada had to invade each other over the years. It makes for entertaining reading and fortunately the plans (like the concepts posited in the alt-history writings of Harry Turtledove and Harry Harrison) have never been tested.

(Via #sc on arcnet)

Link: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2007/12/western-digital.html

This is an unusual one: Western Digital put out a NAS that actually filters out 20 file formats by their suffix as being copyright infringements.

The DRM is buried in software used by the product to make files available remotely (i.e. outside of a secure subnet.) Some discussion on BoingBoing suggests that the DRM is due to software's uses of a central server run by WD to act as a point of contact and as such they would open themselves to being the equivalent of an illegal Torrent or filesharing site. It's a weak argument but at least it resembles justification. While WD does acknowledge there are limits on the functionality of the unit on the website, apparently there's no such limitation on the real pacakging meaning the purchaser is getting a pig in a poke. Keep in mind that the limitations are arbitrary and conveniently cover only audio-visual types; one suspects the MPAA and RIAA had a hand in this one.

Anyway, I still recommend DLink's DNS-323 which is a far nicer solution, unemcumbered by insane DRM requirements. And that remote access functionality? The DLink's FTP functionality works like a charm.

(Via Pogge)

Link: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/hollywood/magazine/15-12/ff_futurama

Excellent piece from Wired on "Futurama", the utterly brilliant and sadly prematurely-cancelled animated series from Matt Groening. If you've not seen it, I have a complete set of the DVDs I'd be happy to lend out*.

(* Offer limited to people I know and like. Which, given the total readership of this blog, probably includes you.)

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/canada/calgary/story/2007/12/12/cell-phone.html?ref=rss

This is an impressive one and it doesn't even include an iPhone.

Full story »

Recently I was asked to proof some well-known literary quotes, amongst which were some Shakespearean ones that had to be identified as such.

Full story »

Link: http://www.wired.com/entertainment/theweb/news/2007/12/fark_nsfw

I quite like Fark but I have to say that trying to take out a trademark on the term "NSFW" is a rather poor show. The only thing that could justify this is if they're attempting to make a statement about the inappropriateness of taking a common term and making it a private possession, and then putting back into the public domain.

I recently decided to "upgrade" my old "Die Hard" DVDs as my original transfers which, while reasonable for the time, were substandard. Besides, the pack including the as-of-yet unwatched fourth installment so I figured it was a decent choice.

Full story »

Link: http://informationweek.com/news/showArticle.jhtml?articleID=204203573

Cory Doctorow has a good article up about the principal driver of the boom'n'bust nature of social network sites. To wit:

It's socially awkward to refuse to add someone to your friends list -- but removing someone from your friend-list is practically a declaration of war. The least-awkward way to get back to a friends list with nothing but friends on it is to reboot: create a new identity on a new system and send out some invites

I've seen many people on Facebook with friends lists in the hundreds. Who actually has that many? More importantly, who really wants to share day-to-day details with them all?

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://www.metafilter.com/66883/The-Voice-of-the-Underground-is-silenced

This one's too bad:

the voice of the London Underground has just been fired for recording and posting some spoofs on her own website. "Mind the gap" no more.

(Via BoingBoing)

Link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CJHpUO-S0i8

One common comment I've heard questioning the survivability of the small Smart Car is whether anyone in it could live through a head-on collision. The video from a British motoring show appears to suggest that yes, you would. Even so, I certainly wouldn't want to try it.

For a far less successful crash, take a look at these two Chinese sedans run through a more formal test by the German ADAC.

(Via Kottke)