European MEPs from Greece, the Czech Republic and Germany have submitted a declaration opposing ACTA, the secret copyright treaty that is the first piece of global Internet law to be negotiated in private, without participation from poor countries, the public, or the press. Now they have 90 days to get their fellow MEPs to sign onto it, and if they make it, the opposition will be formally adopted by the European Parliament.

If you're a European, please write to your MEP (contact info here) and ask for their support for the "Written declaration on the lack of a transparent process and potentially objectionable content concerning the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) from - Zuzana Roithova (CZ, EPP), Stavros Lambrinidis (GR, S&D), Alexander Alvaro (DE, ALDE) and Françoise Castex (FR, S&D)."

Welcome to my list of stuff. Stuff I found interesting. Enjoy.

Cool. As kitchen things go. Can you be cool in a kitchen?

This is pretty damn cool. Oxford Clay is a funny and wry look at dinosaurs coming to the conclusion the end is nigh.

You can find more at Oxford Clay.

I am insane now.

From the Daily Beast

As admissions letters hit mailboxes—and amid growing concern about mental health on campus, The Daily Beast looks at which schools are the biggest pressure cookers.

Kids who aim for top colleges know full well that this month's stress over which envelope—-thick or thin—is only the beginning. And in recent weeks, concerns about the pressure cooker environment on some campuses have escalated. At Cornell University in Ithaca, N.Y., there have been six confirmed suicides this academic year, including two on successive days last month. Last week, Cornell installed chain-link fencing along many of the bridges that cross the gorges on campus, serving both as deterrent and a physical reminder.

OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS/AP) In these cash strapped times, almost anything goes. In Oklahoma, a woman has pleaded no contest to ...   more »

What? Censorship gone nuts.

With the Shuttle fueled and up and about, NASA have again published an interesting diatribe on why this is important. Well, actually, yes, it is important. We need to know how to cook pasta in space.

Well, like you don't smell or nuttin'


You can enjoy more chiselled men talking about armpit hygiene here.

Indeed.

Sometimes right, sometimes wrong, always interesting.

Rachel Anne Maddow (pronounced /ˈmædoʊ/; born April 1, 1973) is an American radio personality, television host, and political commentator.^[1][2] Her syndicated talk radio program, The Rachel Maddow Show, aired on Air America Radio. Maddow hosts a nightly television show, The Rachel Maddow Show, on MSNBC.^[3] She was also a guest host of Countdown with Keith Olbermann and Race for the White House. Maddow is the first openly gay anchor to be hired to host a prime-time news program in the United States

The Ghost Army was a United States Army tactical deception unit during World War II officially known as the 23rd Headquarters Special Troops. The 1,100-man unit was given a unique mission within the Army to impersonate other U.S. Army units in order to fool the enemy. From a few weeks after D-Day, when they landed in France, until the end of the war, they put on a traveling road show, using inflatable tanks, sound trucks, phony radio transmissions and even playacting. They staged more than 20 battlefield deceptions, often operating very close to the front lines. Their mission was kept secret until 1996, and elements of it are still classified. <more>

Months after getting stuck in the Martian dirt, a NASA rover has stopped communicating with its controllers here on Earth.

The space agency said late yesterday that its Mars Exploration Rover Spirit did not make a communication session that had been scheduled for Tuesday. Scientists expect that the robotic machine has entered into a low-power hibernation mode, where most functions are ended to conserve valuable, and dwindling, energy. MORE

Funny Sports Bloopers!! - Click here for more blooper videos

It’s true! NASA’s space shuttle is controlled by a computer running on only one megabyte of RAM. How is this possible? Since the space shuttle and all its hardware is over 30 years old, so is its computer. The current computer is actually an upgraded version of the 500-kilobyte computer that was used until 1991, but still based on the same outdated technology from the 1980s.

It folds clothes.

From DailyCamera

heh heh. I can't add anything to this

Buyer beware.

Should they report the real news for April Fools?

Honestly. I am not.

The trouble started when Raj Patel appeared on American TV to plug his latest book, an analysis of the financial crisis called The Value of Nothing.

The London-born author, 37, thought his slot on comedy talkshow The Colbert Report went well enough: the host made a few jokes, Patel talked a little about his work and then, job done, he went back to his home in San Francisco.

Shortly afterwards, however, things took a strange turn. Over the course of a couple of days, cryptic messages started filling his inbox.

"I started getting emails saying 'have you heard of Benjamin Creme?' and 'are you the world teacher?'" he said. "Then all of a sudden it wasn't just random internet folk, but also friends saying, 'Have you seen this?'"

Police said a 15-year-old driver drove a car into the entrance of a Titusville convenience store early this morning, smashing a gas pump along the way and causing thousands of dollars in damage. MORE

Who’s top dog in your office kingdom? If you’re convinced that the office would devolve into mayhem without your team’s contributions, you’re not alone–in thinking you’re the most important, that is. <more>

I reprint this from Gordon Keith, partly because it's very sad and partly because I think it indicates the truth that you should cherish your children as you never know how long you have with them

I received the following message from a good P1.

Hey Gordo, I’m a long time P1 and I just wanted to get the word out about my 7 year old daughter who passed away yesterday. It was a freak choking accident while she was in school. Fox 4 is doing a piece about her tonight (Wed 3/31) on the 6′oclock news but I know it’s too late to get word out for that. If there is time permitting on your show tomorrow morning could you possibly mention her and the fund we have in her name. Her name is Jensen Wright and donations can be made to any Denton Area Teachers Credit Union.

I know all fathers say their daughters were perfect but Jensen really was. She was smart, beautiful and always thought of others first. We still don’t know how we are going to go on without her. Anything you can do would be very much appreciated.

Thanks,
Jeff Wright

Donations to assist Jensen’s family with funeral arrangements may be made to:
Jensen Wright Memorial Fund (Checks made payable to Jennifer Wright)

DATCU
P.O. Box 827
Denton, TX. 76202

Contributions may be mailed to the address above or dropped off at any DATCU location.

Please leave Jeff and his wife a comment if you are so moved.

From the Star Telegram

From Fox 4

From Denton Record Chronicle

Fox 4 story

Sweden's Medical Products Agency (Läkemedelsverket) has banned three brands of silicon breast implants due to the risk of bursting.

The agency confirmed on Thursday that it has followed the lead of the French authorities to ban the products manufactured by Poly Implant Prothese (PIP).

Since 2001 it is estimated that the breasts of around 35,000 to 45,000 European women have been augmented with the faulty implants. There are no firm figures for how many Swedish women may be affected, while in France around 1,000 women are set to be offered alternatives. <more>

Just because something works outside the mainstream media, doesn't make it bad. Commercial radio offer the same diet of shit jokes, bad commercials, poor news and samey, crap music. New radio offers something more. Here's an interesting it fromt eh Motherboard

Via: Online Schools
So there.

I was sent these pictures of Koalas asking for water in the raging heat in Australia. It's good to share.

Amusing article on the Gordo.

Step outside, posh boy. LOL

WASHINGTON (AFP) – A US warship on Thursday captured five suspected pirates who had opened fire from a small boat in the Indian Ocean near the Seychelles, the US Navy said.

The skiff was no match for the missile-guided frigate USS Nicholas, which returned fire and quickly chased down the boat.

The Americans took three suspects into custody before sinking the vessel, the US Sixth Fleet said in a statement.

Two more suspected pirates were detained from a "mother ship," and that boat was seized, it said.<more>

They didn't think that through.