Updating the Updated Updater Update
Posted on April 17th, 2009 at 10:10 am by Steve

So Apple does a lot of things well, and, usually, Software Update is among those things. For instance, in preparing my venerable PowerBook G4 for its new owner, I wiped it and reinstalled with the original 10.4.2 retail DVDs. When I ran Software Update, it “just worked” and left me with OS 10.4.11.

However, subsequent attempts to update yielded a new Java update, to “Release 5,” an 81 MB download. After downloading and installing that, Software Update told me that an update for Java was available, “Release 6,” also an 81 MB download. And so on:

It finally gave out after Release 8, which also seems to be when the Java/Mac engineers figured out how to release a patch, instead of giving you the whole thing each time. Crazy.

Video Artist Bill Viola At MIT
Posted on April 16th, 2009 at 11:30 am by Steve

Talk About “Toxic” Assets!
Posted on April 16th, 2009 at 11:03 am by Steve

According to Andrew Clark in the Guardian,

The rump of the bankrupt bank Lehman Brothers is sitting on a stockpile of 450,000 lb of uranium “yellowcake” which could be used to power a nuclear reactor or, theoretically, to make a bomb.

Those are some seriously toxic assets!

Remember when yellowcake was such a big deal that the U.S. government used it as justification to invade and destroy Iraq? Here are those famous sixteen words again, in case you’ve forgotten Bush’s fabulous 2003 State of the Union speech:

The British government has learned that Saddam Hussein recently sought significant quantities of uranium from Africa.

So, maybe the U.S. will be invading Lehman Brothers next…?

Pandora Test
Posted on April 14th, 2009 at 5:40 pm by Steve

TROOPS! An all-time Noiselabs favorite.
Posted on April 10th, 2009 at 7:20 pm by Steve

“TROOPS is filmed on location with the men of the Imperial Forces!” An old VHS hand-to-hand classic is, of course, now coursing through the Tubes:

You Can’t Make This Shit Up
Posted on April 10th, 2009 at 3:08 pm by Steve

So, on the heels of the Iowa Supreme Court striking down Iowa’s ban on same-gender marriages, and Vermont’s activist legislators legislating from the Legislature to allow “teh gays” to marry in their socialist kingdom… things are really heating up in right-wing-nut-land.

Did you know that there’s an organization called the National Organization for Marriage, or NOM? (I did, but I’m a nerd.) They’re devoted to STOPPING “teh gays” from marrying. They have started a new campaign which they’re calling – and I am not making this up – 2M4M. In their cloistered little world, this means “Two Million For Marriage.” But when it comes to “teh gays”, “M4M” has a very particular meaning involving a person of the male persuasion seeking another person of the male persuasion to engage in the sorts of activities that made Sodom such a fun place to visit (especially in the summertime). Obviously, 2M4M is just double the pleasure (and double the fun!).

It’s just stunning. A supporter of “teh gays” has already registered the domain 2M4M.org. And if you search for the National Organization of Marriage by its self-chosen acronym NOM on teh Google, you get this:

(h/t: Joe.My.God.)

Jonny McGovern’s Three Dollar Bill
Posted on April 10th, 2009 at 2:31 pm by Steve

Certain friends of mine have gotten me interested in Jonny McGovern, the Gay Pimp (of “Soccer Practice” video fame) and the work of drag superstar Kevin Aviance. The video, “Work,” is, strangely, Not Safe For Work. (But check out Kevin Aviance’s fabulous MetroCard gown!)

The Hipster Olympics
Posted on April 10th, 2009 at 10:49 am by Steve

Apparently this is an oldie but a goodie, but I’d never seen it:

Freight Hopping With Bo Keely
Posted on April 9th, 2009 at 7:04 pm by necco

I was recently invited to learn how to hop a freight train out of Los Angeles with master hobo Bo Keely. I’ve mentioned Bo before: veterinarian, world traveler of over 100 countries, racquetball champion, writer, desert rat and man of infinite inspiration. I admit that the train hop was one of the most intense series of scary moments I’ve ever experienced, but it was also exhilarating and a chance to truly learn how to weave all five of my senses into a powerful antenna. Bo is over 60 years old and has been hopping trains since he was in his late 20s. He knows what he’s doing and I had a hard time keeping up with him although I’m more than 30 years younger. He posted our story on Daily Speculations.

Before our trip we spend some time with two other “executive hobos” in the desert. We hiked up to Panamint City and hung out with old miners in the ghost town of Ballarat.

Our crew in Panamint City:
2893

The smelter stack built in the 1860s still stands:
290

George the gold miner in Ballarat:
305

Bo describing the hike up:

I’ve spent the last week sharing my life with Bo and I’ve been inspired to travel, live more healthfully and to open my mind to all the adventures this world has to offer us.

Putting the “pro” in “Propaganda”
Posted on April 9th, 2009 at 12:28 pm by Steve

A beautiful design by Matt Jones, with limited edition prints being sold as a fundraiser for the Creative Commons organization.

(Mr. Jones, by the way, has an excellent blog about design, psychogeography, map-making, and many other topics of interest.)

In the course of enjoying his poster, I also came across this Flickr group of parodies of the original “Keep Calm and Carry On,” one of my favorites of which being this one:

(That one’s for you, MiniTrue!)

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