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Below are the most recent 25 friends' journal entries.
- King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia Reiterates His Desire To Crush Secularism
- ( As heard on NPR )
- The Periodic Table of Political Interference in Science
- ( Nifty design, disturbing content )
- Minnesota Science Museum will be Closed during Republican National Convention
- ( Irony! )
| Friday, July 18th, 2008 | |||
|
djmrswhite |
8:44p | The very first 'Project Runway' recap is up now on Advocate.com I'm recapping the new season. Here's the link: http://www.advocate.com/exclusive_detai | |
|
james_nicoll |
11:22p | As pointed out to me by Jasmine of Confessions of a Cardamom Addict, a recipe for Flying Spaghetti Monster Treats | |
| dsgood | 8:47p | From http://eurekalert.org: Public Release: 18-Jul-2008 American Journal of Roentgenology iTunes allows radiologists to save, sort and search personal learning files iTunes has the ability to manage and organize PDF files just as easy as music files, allowing radiologists to better organize their personal files of articles and images, according to a recent study conducted by researchers at Renji Hospital and Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine in Shanghai, China. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea Public Release: 18-Jul-2008 Nature Geoscience Saharan dust storms sustain life in Atlantic Ocean Research at the University of Liverpool has found how Saharan dust storms help sustain life over extensive regions of the North Atlantic Ocean. http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea Public Release: 18-Jul-2008 Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research Loud music can make you drink more, in less time, in a bar Commercial venues are very aware of the effects that the environment -- in this case, music -- can have on in-store traffic flow, sales volumes, product choices and consumer time spent in the immediate vicinity. A study of the effects of music levels on drinking in a bar setting has found that loud music leads to more drinking in less time. Centre de Recherches en Psychologie, Université de Bretagne-Sud http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea Public Release: 17-Jul-2008 Science Predicting the distribution of creatures great and small In studying how animals change size as they evolve, biologists have unearthed several interesting patterns. For instance, most species are small, but the largest members of a taxonomic group -- such as the great white shark, the Komodo dragon, or the African elephant -- are often thousands or millions of times bigger than the typical species. Now for the first time two SFI researchers explain these patterns within an elegant statistical framework. Santa Fe Institute http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea Public Release: 17-Jul-2008 Law and Human Behavior Complex questions asked by defense lawyers linked to convictions in child abuse trials Defendants in child abuse cases are more likely to be convicted if their defense lawyer uses complicated language when interrogating young victims according to new research out of the University of Toronto and the University of Southern California. National Institute of Health http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_relea Public Release: 17-Jul-2008 Science Research publications online: Too much of a good thing? The Internet gives scientists and researchers instant access to an astonishing number of academic journals. So what is the impact of having such a wealth of information at their fingertips? The answer, according to new research released today in the journal Science, is surprising -- scholars are actually citing fewer papers in their own work, and the papers they do cite tend to be more recent publications. This trend may be limiting the creation of new ideas and theories. http://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?c | |
|
roseembolism |
5:23p | Let me Tell you About My Character! (4E) Out of sheer boredom on a Friday afternoon, I'm going to toss off a character. I made this character (an Eladrin Warlock) both because I wanted to see if I could make a good warlock out of a non-warlock class, and also to shyow that one could do as melodramatic a character background as in any other game. About Valeshara du Fey: When Valesharashe was young, she was so beautiful that it was a certainty among her Eladrin clan that she would someday marry a prince. And indeed she did, though not in the expected manner, because the Fairy known as Lord of Bleak Joys espied her and took her into the deep Feywyld to be his bride. A year and a day she spent in his realm, despairing of escape, until she made bargains with other primal fae, beings not allowed into her lord's court. To the Wood of Unspoken Terror, Our Lady of Shadow Tears, and Moonlight's Laughter, she traded ten years of her life, her firstborn daughters tears, and the soul of her first love. In turn, they taught her the powers she needed to free herself. She fled, with the Lord vowing to wait seven days and then pursue and capture her. To her horror, the year and a day turned out to be 300 years on the outside. Her family was dead, and her clan feared both her and the fairy lord that claimed her. So, she soon left for the human world, looking for power, friends, and magic to defeat the Lord when he must inevitably return. She has her freedom now, and is determined that nothing shall ever deprive her of it again. Her whole life now centers around this desire Valeshara is unselfconsciously beautiful, as wispy and ethereal as any Eladrin maiden in appearance, even though now she favors simple, practical clothing over the gowns she used to wear, and binds her waist-length silver hair in a loose braid to keep it out of the way. She dresses in soft-blue leather armor. and wields the silver sickle that she used to escape from the feywyld. She is hesitant and withdrawn around strangers, but people tend mistake her shyness for eccentric elegance. She smiles seldom, is usually lost in her thoughts, and has a tendency to say odd non sequiturs. However, when she loses her temper and strikes out, her change in temperament is shocking; all her bitterness and fear flows outward and she becomes solely focused on harming her enemy. Current Mood:  bored | |
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klausnomi [ feather333 ] |
5:09p | yesterday, I got home to find Za Bakdaz waiting for me. >squee!< i'm so glad it got here, but i'm almost sort of afraid to listen to it. the packaging was so perfect and lovingly designed, and the story fragments just blew my mind with the imagination and care and work that went into them... this guy inspired and still inspires so much love and devotion and attention to detail, it's hard to believe. i think i'm going to wait for the right time to listen to it... when no one else is around, and it's safe to weep if i feel the need, without caring that someone will hear me and wonder what's wrong ;-) Current Mood:  thoughtful | |
|
erins_pub |
7:41p | Martha Stewart blogs her trip to the DMV Martha Stewart blogs her trip to the DMV She wrote a blog post about her visit to the DMV to get her driver's license. She titled it "A Fun Trip To The DMV." Just 2 days before, I had flown to Maine and there was a window of opportunity between returning home and immediately packing my bags for an expedition to Iceland. I was informed that the computers at the DMV were down, so I escaped into nearby Katonah for a much-needed pedicure and manicure. When I arrived at the DMV at 3:30, the lines were empty and the service was fast and friendly. I was allowed to pay the $42.50 charge by credit card. They seized my old CT license – for reasons, unexplained. My new license is good for 5 years because I am from another state – another reason unexplained. I was told that after the 5 years, when I renew, it will be good for 8 years. | |
|
richm90071 |
7:43p | ETIA First Contact: Hello Humanity I'm going to try to get this back on track, now that my spring allergy issues etc. have died down. === The humans want someone-of-us to make a statement to their communication network, sent Dira. You're elected. Me? Why me? sent back a startled Ruk. Consequences, sent Dira. --- "Hello, this is Jerry Hawker reporting for Memory Hole News. I'm here with one of the aliens, who has agreed to make a statement about their sudden arrival on Earth. So, Mr. Ruk e'Buk, what would you like to say to the human race?" "Hello, uh, Humanity," said Ruk. "I should explain that I don't have a prepared statement for you. The people with the prepared statement are still several hours away. We kind of got ahead of them. So, I'm kind of making this up as I go along. Also, I hadn't even heard of the English language until like five minutes ago. I'm using an automatic translator, and your language...my language has a lot of words that don't exactly translate into yours. So if it sounds like I'm having trouble finding my words, it means that I am. Literally. Like having to run Google searches for them. "So, priority. We come in peace. We mean you no harm. I've been made to understand that some of you were frightened by the manner of our arrival. I apologize for that. I wasn't aware how insecure you people are. "The reason we're here is because of a recent trade agreement between the Threans and the Bratchthyans, two of the larger...local...economic powers? My people, the Grimmans, and specifically m'Traan clan, have been granted a contract to develop a trade route between the two. This star system lies along the route, so we built a space station here. Uh, that's what that ring around your planet is. A space station. "Okay, next. As you seem to have anticipated, we...the people of the galaxy...have been monitoring your radio and TV broadcasts. And, in fact, your popular entertainment has become popular with some of the...galaxy people. Several trillion...Galactics?...watch your TV shows and stuff every day. So, the Threans did some market research, and found that a number of Galactics would be interested in visiting Earth. They project a possible ten to twenty billion tourists per Earth year. So, we've built some...spaceports down on the ground...downports?...for the convenience of people visiting the Earth." === Notes: It is significant that "Humanity" is capitalized and "human" is not. Copyright © 2008 by Richard C. McCluney, III | |
|
erins_pub |
7:38p | Three reporters shot at anti-gun campaign press conference Three reporters shot at anti-gun campaign press conference Posted by David Pescovitz, July 18, 2008 "At a press conference held in Nanchong, China about the success of anti-gun campaign, three news reporters were shot. A police office was holding up a homebrew gun when it accidentally fired. From the BBC News: A reporter needed surgery for injuries to his ankle, crotch and chest, after being hit by what appeared to be pebbles fired by the gun. Two others were slightly injured in the incident... According to the Chongqing Times, the home-made gun had been designed for shooting birds." | |
|
mouseworks |
7:08p | A really Evil Writer ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. ) | |
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toronto [ maize ] |
7:04p | Caterer Suggestions... So, after much searching, I figured I had nothing to lose by asking the all mighty Toronto community... I'm gettin' hitched in September, and am looking for suggestions on caterers... It's an evening cocktail reception, so I'm really looking for someone that does appetizers well. About 70 people. Medium budget. Nothing to shi-shi frou-frou... the fam's would much rather eat mini burgers, and samosas than prosciutto wrapped something with beure blanc whatever. A place that does platter type deals is preferred.. TIA! ETA -- Has anyone heard of a caterer called "All my favourite foods" I've skimmed across one mention of it, and the idea of mini mac and cheese,and sliders suits me quite well. However, my google-fu is failing me and i can't find anything more. Current Mood:  stressed | |
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toronto [ seeinginside ] |
6:59p | I need of finding a new camera charger. Ah I recently lost my camera charger at a hotel, the camera is Olympus FE-220 and the battery is Li-40B I am looking for anything that would charger the camera or just the battery even, so the power adapter or just a universal battery holster charger, I went to Blacks they had the generic one but it was like 80 dollars a little steep for a charger heh so anywhere in the GTA would be great thanks so much. | |
|
eveglass |
5:38p | Vindicated That file that I was working on? The one that was my first-ever single proof? I got back the file from the guy who was double-checking it for me. He made a bunch of corrections, all of the same type (a very technical point). The thing is, I thought I had been doing it right and the corrections were wrong. So I checked with my trainer. He checked with the senior trainer and the department head. It turns out, I was right after all. I got to post an official suggestion and everything. *And* I got congratulated on catching it so fast. (I checked the file as soon as it was delivered.) Go, me! | |
|
nhw |
11:34p | The Dominion of the Ionian Islands ![[info]](http://p-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif){kind=small} james_nicoll's interest in matters counterfactual was piqued by my post about Arthur Kavanagh's 1860s cruise. He raised the question of what it would have taken to have a Dominion of the Ionian Islands in the British Commonwealth some time in the twentieth century, amd speculated that they might have got there quicker than India (1947) if not as quickly as Ireland (1922).Well. ( A longer answer than I gave James ) | |
|
mouseworks |
4:53p | Where is the doe of yesterday? ( You are about to view content that may not be appropriate for minors. ) | |
|
lux_apollo |
5:30p | X-Rant. St. John Allerdyce's eyes are blue, and no other colour. That is a fact in movieverse, in 616, and in every other marvelverse that I know anything about. What pisses me off even more about people messing it up in movieverse fic is that Aaron Stanford's eyes are blue. Am I the only fic author this obsessed with little details? Argh. A pet peeve of mine, I guess. Michael. Current Mood:  aggravatedCurrent Music: Sesame Street - Sing | |
|
roseembolism |
12:44p | Recommended Reading: Fantasy Magazine Truth to say, I generally have limited patience with online magazines in the SF/Fantasy field, which range from insipid like io9, to glorified advertisements for a hard-copy product like Asimov's. I've been disappointed a lot in the past by lack of content and production values. Current Mood:  curious | |
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aman_geld |
10:18p | Will be back by mid-August; see you later
| |
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toronto [ ravenousx ] |
4:13p | Have you had your bike stolen recently? A local "bike shop" was recently busted for having stolen wares. (I won't comment more on this. A lot of people know about Igor.) "Think your bike might be among the missing? Police are having an open house Saturday and Sunday. The recovered bicycles will be available for public viewing at Central Garage, 9 Hanna Street, on from 10am to 6pm both days." http://www.citynews.ca/news/news_24 And on a related note, register your bike with Toronto Police! It can't hurt. Do it now before you lose your wheels! | |
| Saturday, July 19th, 2008 | |||
|
czalex |
12:11a | Заявление по поводу взрыва в Минске БЕЛОРУССКИЕ ВЛАСТИ ИСПОЛЬЗУЮТ ТЕРАКТ КАК ПОВОД ДЛЯ РЕПРЕССИЙ ПРОТИВ ИНАКОМЫСЛЯЩИХ В ночь на 4 июля в Минске, на концерте ко Дню Республики сработало взрывное устройство, начиненное гайками и шурупами. Более 50 человек, среди них гражданка России, были госпитализированы с ранениями разной степени тяжести, многие до сих пор находятся в больницах. Допустив совершение подобного теракта на концерте, на котором присутствовало до полумиллиона человек, белорусские силовые органы продемонстрировали свою некомпетентность и непрофессионализм. За годы правления А.Лукашенко основной функцией МВД и КГБ стала не борьба с преступностью и предотвращение подобных происшествий, а оказание давления на несогласных с политикой президента Лукашенко, слежка, прослушка телефонов, сбор компромата и организация репрессий против людей, неугодных царящему в Беларуси диктаторскому режиму. ( заявление участников пикета 17 июля в Москве ) | |
| Friday, July 18th, 2008 | |||
|
centralasian |
10:09p |  Уезжаем в отпуск, не в Зазеркалье, к сожалению, как можно было бы предположить из этих экспериментов с отражениями, но тоже нифига себе маршрут. Не уверен, что будет много интернета по пути, так что недели через три только здесь что-то будет из новенького. | |
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toronto [ katsuki ] |
3:56p | Veterinary Hospitals Hi, I'm looking for an animal hospital with reasonable prices that treats small mammals downtown. I want to take my rat to get checked out, but I think the subway would give him a heart attack so the closer to the core of downtown the better. Thanks, Kat | |
|
elfs |
12:47p | Open Minded Brains Current Mood: shrill Current Music: Enigma, Sensing the Spheres | |
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1fish_2fish [ corpus_juris ] |
12:18p | CO2 advice, etc. Hey all, I put in some new background plants yesterday that are pretty high maintenance. Since I've been going kind of low-tech with stuff lately I haven't bothered with yeast-based CO2 like I have in the past in this tank and things have been largely ok, but I'd like to start it back up again to get the tank looking lush again. Thing is, the CO2 setup I had was an unreliable pain. Since I'll be leaving in six months on my Grand Adventure in Fish I don't want the expense / hassle of bottled, injected CO2 (or do I? is it available cheap? is it not as intimidating to set up as it seems?) so I was wondering about opinions on other methods. I use flourish excel daily but it's no cutting it - my tank is pretty heavily planted. So I have a red sea-brand yeast setup that's basically a 1.5 liter plastic container that runs into a powerhead/diffuser in the tank. I had been making my brew based on the krib's simple graphic of 3/4 cup white sugar, 1/4 teaspoon baker's yeast and filled to the top room temperature de-chlorinated tap water. Does anyone use a different ratio or ingredients? I'd love for it to last longer than a week or so and be more regular in output. Also, in some of my plant books I see devices that I've never found in stores - one is like a chemical stick that slowly dissolves and releases CO2 into an attached bell that sits in the corner of the aquarium - anyone seen / used something like this, or any alternatives to pressurized tanks / DIY? The guys at my store seemed to have never seen one before. Thanks, as always, for the helpful discussions that come out of this community! I just got a digicam the other day and am experimenting with tank photos - when I get something good out of it I'll post and show you how things looks these days! EDIT: Aw hell, I got two crappy photos last night after I planted new background plants - so excuse all the particulates clouding stuff up - but now I'm excited to share (or show off, right?).   I will also likely make a post in the next few days as I'm thinking of replacing my HOB filter with an external so that I can lay a second strip light along the top (currently the filter is physically in the way of additional lighting since it's on the side of the tank, rather than the traditional backside) and I'll want rec's on brands, etc. yay resurgent fishgeekery! | |
| tinmanic | 6:08p | Ten Years of Gay This is an important anniversary for me. Ten years ago this week, I finally accepted that I was gay. I had struggled with my sexuality for years — doing mental gymnastics, filling page after page in my diaries and journals, arguing with myself, talking with therapists. I didn’t know whether I was gay or straight or in between or whether I should be gay or straight or in between. I spent year after year analyzing myself, trying to think my way to the answer. It was like trying to argue a symphony. In July 1998, I was 24 years old, living in the Glee Club house while working as a research assistant to a law professor for the summer. It was the summer after my second year of law school at UVa. Most law students did such jobs after their first year of law school; after the second year, you were supposed to work as a summer associate at a law firm somewhere. But my interviews hadn’t gone well, and I didn’t know what I wanted to do with my degree, and at the last minute I’d found this mind-numbing research job. Stuck in Charlottesville for the summer — again. I hated the job and I wondered what the hell I was doing with my life. I was living in the house with several other guys, including my gay friend Jim, with whom I’d privately shared my confusion a few months earlier, after I’d fallen hard for a straight guy — harder than I’d ever fallen for anyone before, so hard that I’d had to tell someone. It had been five years since I’d had a gay friend that I could talk to about these things. Now, one summer night several months later, Jim was sitting in the living room, talking with another guy who lived in the house, a straight guy, about what it was like to be gay. I sat there and listened. I couldn’t say anything, because the other guy didn’t know about me. It roiled me inside; I was living in the same house with a gay friend of mine and I was feeling all these things so intensely about my life and I didn’t know what to do about any of it. A couple of nights later I was doing a writing exercise from The Artist’s Way. I was working my way through the book that summer, trying to get in touch with my inner creative self. In this exercise, I was supposed to write about my ideal day. As I wrote, I found myself dreaming up a boyfriend and including him in my fantasy. It hit me. In my ideal life, I had a boyfriend. It was an epiphany. This was what I wanted. This was what would make me happy. After all the years of confusion, all the pages and pages of tortured logic, the answer turned out to be comically, painfully simple. This is what I want. And it’s okay. That day or the next, an image came into my head: I was standing on a flat rocky plain, watching the enormous sun rising in the distance as it turned the sky a mixture of deep purple and orange and red. I would be going toward that sunrise. I would have a happy future after all. That night, I went out and bought a book by Michelangelo Signorile, Outing Yourself. It was time. I was ready. While I occasionally had doubts over the following weeks, nothing could shake that initial epiphany. I’d forever changed. I knew who I was and where I was going. Last week I pulled out my journal from that time, because I wanted to make sure I had the right date.
I wrote on for a couple more pages and ended by saying I was gay. I wrote again the next day. And then the next. And then that week I discovered gaycollegeboys.com, which led me to IRC, or Internet Relay Chat. Gay chat rooms. I didn’t write in my notebook for six days. After that, I didn’t write in my notebook for a whole month. I was too busy living. So it’s been 10 years. In 10 years I’ve had lots of gay sex and lots of gay dating and lots of gay heartbreak. And I’ve fallen in love. If anybody had told me 10 years ago that in 2008 I’d be living fully out as a gay man, living in Manhattan with a man I love, my partner of four and a half years, a man whom my family embraced as one of their own — well, my head would have exploded. Happy Gayversary. | |
|
toronto [ mildred_strange ] |
2:57p | I need gas. I currently have 2 empty propane tanks and a sad, lonely bbq. I've been thinking about all the gas stations downtown and my brain is not telling me which has propane re-fill service available. I'm at College and Dovercourt, but have an automobile this weekend, so if anyone could point me in the direction of propane re-fills within TO I'd be very happy (and so would my belly). | |
