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Month: February 2012

This is creepy

This just in from a reader who’s a frequent flyer. It’s creepy, even though it is voluntary. I have no words, so I’ll just let him tell it: Hi Claire, This is just too weird. KLM will help singles hook up on flights between Amsterdam and New York, San Francisco and Sao Paulo. They call it “Meet and Seat.” The basic idea is that single travelers can browse the Facebook and LinkedIn pages of strangers booked on the same flight, and request a seat next to them. I thought it was a joke until I went to the KLM website:…

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Wednesday miscellany

We may need eight hours of sleep, but maybe not in the way we’ve been told. Two related from NPR: The “right to be forgotten” threatens free speech and how much does the cloud know? (Tip o’ hat to PT.) An open letter to the MPAA’s Chris Dodd from Eric S. Raymond. You might save this one for when you’ve got plenty of time, but here’s a special report from ShadowStats on our prospects for hyperinflation. Yoga. And sex. About those FEMA camps … (Can anybody tell me why we’re going to need camps for “displaced citizens” now when we’ve…

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Is it a good sign or a bad sign …

… that I just bought these at Wal-Mart? The nearest Wal-Mart, in what passes for the local Big City, is one of the older, smaller ones. When I was there two weeks ago, they didn’t have any such thing as this. Then yesterday I got an excited email from a friend, saying she’d spotted a large — but diminishing — array of storage foods on Saturday. Had to see for myself. Sure enough. They had everything from bulk buckets of oatmeal and wheat berries to #10 cans of fruits, vegetables, soup mixes, TVP, and more. “Had” is the operative word…

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Stratfor on the ATF

Not verified. But this (.pdf), from the documents WikiLeaks just released, is a glossary of intelligence terms defined for Stratfor employees. Check out what they say about the ATF: Alcohol, Tobacco, and Fire Arms. Rednecks with a license to kill. Never, ever, ever ask for their help on anything.

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A very big WikiLeak

A big build-up. The cooperation of 25 worldwide media outlets. The hacking skills of Anonymous. A dramatic (and humorous) countdown. An announcement at midnight (GMT) and five million emails revealing how “private” intelligence service Stratfor and governments (not to mention Big Money and Big Media) work cooperate collude together. I don’t know how significant this is going to be, but if the reality matches the build-up (a build-up that showed Twitter is definitely good for something besides timely Oscar buzz), big. ADDED: And Anonymous has an announcement (semi-related) coming up in a few hours.

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Happy dog, moss graffiti, and the wisdom of bureaucrats

While we’re just goofing around on a rainy Sunday … And speaking of rain, it’s often said that in the NorthWET climate, if you stand still too long, you’ll grow moss on your north side. In recognition of that, here’s a recipe for making moss graffiti. Really. Moss graffiti. Both these finds are courtesy of S, who must have been in an unusually unserious mood. —– Here’s another unintentional laugh from the NorthWET. Nothing to do with the climate this time; this one comes from government (that endless source of snorts and giggles). A reader writes to say: The other…

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The strange things you find on the Web

Okay, so I was doing an image search for “frog eyes.” Yeah, maybe not the most common search. Not like looking for pictures of Justin Bieber or any random Kardashian. But when you’re doing art, sometimes you need to know these things. And I ran across this: Uh, not exactly what I was looking for. But a must-see, all the same. It took me a little longer to find its original source — which is here. And contains even more adorable oddities. And here we thought Joel’s Jayne Hat was as weird as it gets … Oh. Also. For the…

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