Farcical Pestilence: July 2006

Friday, July 28, 2006

Userscripts.org: HTTP-to-HTTPS redirector: Greasemonkey script: Replace http:// with https:// in the address bar, to make sure you're using the SSL-encrypted version of a page. Only enable for pages that you know are SSL enabled. Good for GMail and SourceForge and others. (firefox greasemonkey javascript security software)

Wikipedia Celebrates 750 Years Of American Independence | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: "According to our database, that's 212 years older than the Eiffel Tower, 347 years older than the earliest-known woolly-mammoth fossil, and a full 493 years older than the microwave oven." (funny history humor internet news theonion us wiki)

CNN.com - Lance Bass: I'm gay - Jul 26, 2006: 'N Sync singer worried he would harm group. In other news, scientists discover water is wet. (gay music news)
CNN.com - Dobbs: Why is the president ignoring our laws? - Jul 26, 2006: Lou Dobbs argues that President Bush has been flouting the Constitution by picking and choosing which laws he enforces. (bush congress evil politics rant us)
YouTube - Owl / 貓頭鷹 / mao tou ying / cat / bird: How to frighten owls, and the unexpected result. (funny japan owl video weird)

How to Avoid Going to Jail under 18 U.S.C. Section 1001 for Lying to Government Agents: Rule #1: Insist on having counsel present. Rule #2. *Insist* on having counsel present. (crime howto law politics privacy reference security us)
FBI plans new Net-tapping push - CNET News.com: New legislation, seen by News.com, would force ISPs and net gear makers to build in Big Brother. (calea congress evil internet law liberty nsa politics privacy security surveillance terrorism us)
The 'terrorist' batting average - The Boston Globe: Since 2001, federal officials have carried out wave after wave of arrests and crackdowns on alleged terrorist financing. But none of those apprehended in the United States have been linked to Al Qaeda. (declan evil politics security terrorism tsa us)
CNN.com - Inquiry: Secret bills aided Cunningham - Jul 23, 2006: Cunningham's case has put a stark spotlight on the oversight of classified -- or "black" -- budgets. Unlike legislation dealing with social and economic issues, intelligence bills and parts of defense bills are written in private, in the name of national (cia congress crime evil politics security us)

Framework Performance in Ruby on Rails: Django beats Ruby on Rails and Symfony (PHP) by a good margin. (apache benchmarking django framework php python rails ruby)
Sploid: Idiot clown crime wave: Traditional evil clowns acted alone -- if confronted by one of the face-painted monsters, you at least had a chance of escaping. No longer; the creeps have organized into trailer-trash gangs and are terrorizing towns across America. (clown crime evil news rap sploid us weird)

Fuck Everything, We're Doing Five Blades | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: Added for it's prophesy value, since Gillette introducted their 5-blade razor (Fusion) in early 2006, two years after this article originally came out. (business humor rant theonion)

The Gentle People: Impressed by their piety, courts have permitted the Amish to live outside the law. But in some places, the group's ethic of forgive and forget has produced a plague of incest—and let many perpetrators go unpunished. (amish crime culture evil news religion sex technology us weird)
U.N. Orders Wonka To Submit To Chocolate Factory Inspections | The Onion - America's Finest News Source: The chocolate-making capabilities of Wonka's heavily fortified compound have long been a source of speculation. Wonka, defying international calls for full disclosure, has maintained his silence regarding his factory's suspected capacity to manufacture co (bush chocolate cia humor news theonion un)

On July 14th, one del.icio.us user will win $100. Enter this contest.: One randomly-selected del.icio.us user who bookmarks this page will win $100. (del.icio.us greed network social weird)
'Breast ironing' to stunt girls' growth widespread: "Breast ironing" -- the use of hard or heated objects or other substances to try to stunt breast growth in girls to lessen their sexual attractiveness -- is a traditional practice in West Africa, experts say. (africa boobs culture evil news weird)
New Scientist Features - 13 things that do not make sense: 1 The placebo effect.2 The horizon problem.3 Ultra-energetic cosmic rays. 4 Belfast homeopathy results.5 Dark matter. 6 Viking's methane. 7 Tetraneutrons. 8 The Pioneer anomaly. 9 Dark energy. 10 The Kuiper cliff. 11 The Wow signal. 12 Not-so-constant con (medicine physics science space weird)