Ready, Aye, Ready

Link: http://www.wired.com/culture/lifestyle/commentary/alttext/2007/09/alttext_0912

This Wired humour piece gave me a laugh.

Link: http://cpcc.ca/english/pdf/CPCCPressRelease-Distribution-25January2006.pdf

One of the questions about the levy placed on blank media is where does it go? In 2006, the proceeds of the levy were finally distributed amongst the allocated participants. In this case, it means over $60 million was divvied up amongst the following 65,000 eligible participants (breakdown from Neil Eton's website):

• Authors - 66.0%
• Performers - 18.9%
• Makers - 15.1%

And I love the weasel word "small" in describing the levy in the CPCC announcement.

(Via CopyrightWatch)

Depending on the genre of music I want to listen to, I typically either want to listen to a random collection of individual tracks or a random selection of albums. For example, most rock and pop albums work best when excerpted so I like to use a song shuffle on them. Most classical or thematic -- let's say a film score -- albums do not work so well like that so I prefer to use an album shuffle. Apple's iTunes supports both of these modes of listening but buries the option to switch between them deep within the program's configuration menus.

Given that they've stuck the icon for shuffle play right on the main interface and that it's related to each playlist, I can't think of any good reason they opted to ignore the example non-binary state of the repeat button right next to it. All the pieces are present in the program but even after all the iTunes upgrades over the years, they're still not pulled together.

Why, yes, I am trying to make sure there's a new blog post a day. Best way to encourage people to read regularly, right?

As an aside, there are some days where I do write a post but nothing appears on the main list. That's because there are some that are left flagged as "members only" and thus won't appear for public consumption or searchbot fodder. How do you read those? Easy: ask Ritchie for a Nimblebrain account!

Link: http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2007/09/11/russian-bomb.html

The quote is from a Russian general describing his country's new mega-bomb:

Unlike a nuclear weapon, the bomb doesn't hurt the environment, he added.

Oh good, it's green. That makes all the difference when you're being blown up.

Link: http://www.albinoblacksheep.com/flash/geeks

Link is to a rather wonderful Flash music video. Truly, this is serious Dena and Ritchie territory!

(Via Pharyngula)

Link: http://www.clavius.org/techdefect.html

A few days ago, Ritchie posted a link to a conspiracy-debunking site related to the Apollo and Gemini space missions. On one of the pages, there's a discussion about the huge number of outstanding defect reports when the various missions launched. The writers of the site have to say about that:

Full story »

Link: http://www.channelfrederator.com/methminute39/episode/TMM_20070906

As the original linker said:

I recognize most of the people in this video, which might be a surefire sign that it is time to disconnect ;).

Quite.

(Via Amber Mac)

Link: http://www.designforiphone.com/minijukebox.htm

Although the illustration has an iPhone rather than an iPod, this is quite a novel dock for the system. If I had the money (or an iPod for that matter) I could be tempted... :)

(Via Gizmodo UK)

Link: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/7aab7680-f5a6-11db-a3fe-000b5df10621.html

A few months ago I read and referenced an article on "locavores", or the process of eating only what can be sourced from a nearby region. This article from the Financial Times is the other side of the coin in terms of the energy cost of production.

(Via Kotke)

Link: http://scienceblogs.com/pharyngula/2007/09/jaws_of_the_moray.php

I actually saw this description on the morphology of the moray eel in one of the Calgary free weeklies first, but Pharyngula has a better description plus I can actually link to it.

Cute title aside, I'm pretty sure H.R. Giger came up with his "Alien" design independently given that I've never seen this comparison before.

Link: http://www.jinx.com/men/shirts/geek/nobody_reads_my_blog.html?catid=1

I gave this one to Ritchie about a year ago; I'm now thinking about repossessing it as based on the referrer logs he's doing quite well on readership by stirring up the creationist stewpot!

Link: http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070902/en_nm/venice_bladerunner_dc;_ylt=AuqHaAW1EP6pGJwnDBolI6Gs0NUE

Sometimes I feel I'm the only person -- including the director -- who actually liked the film noir narration in the theatrical cut of "Blade Runner". The ending probably did improve with subsequent cuts but I felt stripping Harrison Ford's voice-overs hindered rather than helped the film.

Still, I wouldn't mind finding out what Ridley Scott has done to it this go-around. I'm not so sure about labeling it the "final cut" though...

(Via Daring Fireball)

Link: http://blogs.nimblebrain.net/index.php?blog=3&p=395&more=1&c=1&tb=1&pb=1#more395

They've been awfully quiet over in Annandland. I'm suspicious that there may be great evil brewing... :)