randomWalks

The “potato safe”?, the “onion cabinet?”… There’s a new Ben Katchor strip online at Metropolis.

I just stumbled across the New York Times' photo galleries. They’ve got a ton of stuff to look through. I particularly like the photos of volcanoes, Malcolm X, this house, this bathroom sink, a church’s observance of the heritage of slavery, and these twins attending their prom.

Recently people have suggested that slashdot is becoming increasingly less relevant. I’ve been reluctant to accept this, but today’s poll (best poll ever) reveals how true this is—given a chance to vote for their favorite Iron Chef, the majority of voters reveal that they know nothing about the show. If this were a mainstream site, fine… but slashdot can’t claim to be about ‘stuff that matters’ if it’s readership, which supplies 99% of the content, doesn’t know what that stuff is! I did glean one thing from the comments, though: there is a site called rantsylvania which runs weekly recaps of the show.

The Village Voice this week carries a survey of online ‘radio’ stations. I’m not down with their recommendation of using the ugly buggy RealPlayer exclusively for your streaming needs, but the article offers a great selection of sources for less-than-commercial music that you won’t hear anywhere else. If you want to skip the article: luxuriamusic.com, gogaga.com, WFMU, Radio Nova, InterFace, more. Conspicuously absent from the list is Factory 188, the Old Faithful of net radio, providing beats to live by.

“Give me 100 choices of what this could be, and ‘a gift from Helsinki simulating the northern lights’ would be the last one.” An escalator at the Dupont Circle metro station in Washington DC is the temporary host of an exhibit from Finland.

“I’m always immaculately dressed, and my truck is always clean. Still, some people ask, ‘How can you do this?’ I tell them: ‘If you saw my check, you’d understand.'” Pedro Gomez sets up portable toilets in New York City.

“I can see everything now. What I remember of colours, they were all pale, but now everything is so vivid, the colours, and they fascinate me. I had assumed all my clothes would be dowdy beiges and blacks but when I opened my wardrobe I literally cried with happiness at the colours that were mine.” Jean Baxter, blind for 18 years, recently had her cataracts removed.

“I was tossed and pitched about most terribly through the rapids, but that was not so bad as the drop from the precipice. I struck some rocks, I believe, and was hurled about and knocked frightfully. I could tell when the descent began by feeling that something had given out from under me. Ugh! It’s a terrible nightmare. I don’t want to experience it again. I’d sooner be shot by a cannon or lose a million dollars then do that again.” The Buffalo News tells the story of Annie Taylor and the 14 others who have ridden Niagara Falls. This American Life took a look at the town obscured by the mist. Here’s an okay picture (check out the people for scale) that should convey why you really ought to visit at least once.Thanks, Larkfarm.

Astronomy Picture of the Day—not that great today, but browse the archives for some amazing pictures.

I would love to find some of these Three’s Company bubble-gum trading cards. For more pop culture wackiness check out the Objet of the Week archive.

Sequential Tart is a Web zine working to raise awareness of women’s influence in the comics industry. One great feature is the Bizzare Breasts column, in which an anatomically impossible drawing is critiqued and, when possible, repaired.

Now I know how a catalytic converter works. Of course, if you really want to know how stuff works….

WebApps is also tracking browserware. Here’s one I am going to have to investigate further: Zaplet, “the new way to communicate that turns your email into a live, shared place.” I don’t know what that means either.

Ars Technica’s recommendations detail what components you’ll need to DIY good, better, and best boxes suitable for running Linux, BeOS, and various Microsoft OSes. Once you’ve got it, their Complete System Buider’s Guide explains how to put it all together. I’m putting the ‘good’ list on my Palm for quick reference; one of these days I’m gonna build me a linux box. thanks, FactoVision.

Random walk along a line: a simulation.

Feed weighs in on the suburban sprawl tip:

“Do there exist man-made places that are as valuable as the nature they displaced? How about your hometown Main Street? Or Charleston? Or San Francisco? Few would dispute that man has proved himself capable of producing wonderful places, environments that people cherish no less than the untouched wilderness. The problem is that one cannot easily build Charleston anymore, because it is against the law. Even the classic American Main Street, with its mixed-use buildings right up against the sidewalk, is now illegal in most municipalities. Somewhere along the way, through a series of small and well-intentioned steps, traditional towns became a crime in America."

“Watch this transcendent one-hour comedy about high school kids trying to figure out where they fit in and you will experience the painful laughter of recognition. And you will fall in love with the show’s motley crew of nerds, stoners, brainiacs and confused souls and you will say, ‘How come nobody told me this was so awesome?'” Joyce Millman has been telling you since September. “Freaks and Geeks” is in desperate danger of being cancelled, but it’s on tonight at 8pm EST on NBC. If you’re concerned, you can help keep the show on the air.

Cardinal Giacomo Biffi, the Archbishop of Bologna and a leading contender to succeed the Pope, said last week that the Antichrist was “already on Earth in the guise of a prominent philanthropist … [who] espoused vegetarianism, pacifism, environmentalism and animal rights,” though he declined to identify the beast by name. Others have identified Antichrists by name: David Hasselhoff, George Dubya, and Pope after Pope, and many more.

“What deeply worries him is that these technologies collectively create the ability to unleash self-replicating, mutating, mechanical or biological plagues. ‘If you can let something loose that can make more copies of itself, it is very difficult to recall. It is as easy as eradicating all the mosquitoes: They are everywhere and make more of themselves. If attacked, they mutate and become immune. . . .'” Bill Joy, co-founder of Sun Microsystems has come to the conclusion that “advanced technology poses a threat to the human species.” Look for his forthcoming Wired article to be published on Tuesday.

<img src=“https://omega.randomwalks.com/imgs/blog/weeklycatshow.gif" width=“150” height=“82 vspace=” 8” hspace=“6” border=“1” align=“left”> “Actually, you are strong and tough, Robert. But Billy is weak and nervous and crazy about Dance!!” Props to NetDyslexia for turning me on to the incredible Weekly Cat Show.

I’ve been meaning to consolidate my dozen-plus email addresses, and email vs. email looks like the way to do it. An elimination tournament is just what the doctor ordered. Unfortunately, in early sparring my hotmail account seemed to be able to take any challenger—but certainly there’s a winner among my endless supply of randomwalks aliases! thanks, gmtplus9.

James Fallows asks why the best high schools in the nation didn’t make Newsweek’s list of the best high schools in the nation, and Jay Mathews (who devised Newsweek’s ranking system) responds.

I like nothing better than a good tongue-in-cheek deconstruction of the detritus of consumer culture. Don’t miss the archives. thanks, Boing Boing.

Speaking of rockin', I would do anything for this Microcker t-shirt, but I won’t do that.

What browsers will Mac users be rockin' 6 months from now? Raul Gutierrez has the lowdown.