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If this were an actual picture of Chicago, at least one of these buildings would really have to be leaning.

(via BoingBoing)

On Yahoo’s MI_BM list, Dan E. writes:

Mandatory nude flights.

It’s the only logical solution to this problem.

Flickr, via BoingBoing

From the HAMEG web site.

“Polar explorers need multimedia, mobile and communication technologies as they need to feel in touch with the rest of the planet.”

Internet addict turned polar explorer Dmitry Shparo, on the need for Wi-Fi at the North Pole, Sci-Tech Today, 14 April 2005, via D I T H E R A T I: see the digerati dither, daily

Remember the book “Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus”?

“Well, today we will experiment with a new form called the ‘tandem story’. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. As homework tonight, one of you will write the first paragraph of a short story. You will e-mail your partner that paragraph and send another copy to me. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story and send it back also sending another copy to me. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to re-read what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. There is to be absolutely NO talking outside of the e-mails and anything you wish to say must be written in the e-mail. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.”
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Rafael Heiling (dre) via BoingBoing

European companies are finding ingenious ways to disguise ugly, but necessary, mobile phone antenna masts. Customers can pick everything from trees to crucifixes.
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Gollum has a new precious, my precious, and he is not going to let that fat hobbit get his filthy paws on it, will he, my precious? (T-Shirts Available)

Democratic presidential hopeful Rep. Dick Gephardt, D-Mo., casts a shadow on the flag as he is introduced to speak at a rally Monday, Dec. 1, 2003, at the police station in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Gephardt, faulting President Bush for “gambling with our safety,'’ on Monday called for spending $100 billion over five years on homeland security.(AP Photo/Charlie Neibergall)

A news.com.au correspondent in Texas writes:

A FORMER shipping clerk pleaded guilty in a US court today to shipping himself from New York to Dallas in a wooden cargo crate.
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Blogger and tech journalist Paul Boutin called for a Black Rock City version of Hipster Bingo, and you responded. BoingBoing reader Lev Johnson created the Burningman Bingo card, and here it is.

(via BoingBoing)

I found this today and I really can’t explain it:

Date: Fri, January 11, 2002 4:12 pm
To: postmaster
From: “Fred Cooper” postm
Subject: blustering
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border="0" alt="You are OS2-Warp. You're plagued by feelings of abandonment and disgust for your backstabbing step-brother. Oh, what might have been.">
Which OS are You?

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(via BoingBoing)

The Young Fellow Was about to Be Married and Was Asking His Grandfather about Sex. He Asked How Often You Should Have It. His Grandfather Told Him That When You First Get Married, You Want it All the Time….And Maybe Do it Several Times a Day.
Later On, Sex Tapers off and You Have it Once a Week or So. Then as You Get Older, You Have Sex Maybe Once a Month.
When You Get Really Old, You Are Lucky to Have it Once a Year….Maybe on Your Anniversary.
The Young Fellow Then Asked His Grandfather, “Well How about You and Grandma Now?”
His Grandfather Replied, “Oh, We Just Have Oral Sex Now.”
“What’s Oral Sex?” the Young Fellow Asked.
“Well, ” Grandpa Said, “She Goes to Bed in Her Bedroom, and I Go to Bed in My Bedroom. And She Yell, ‘Fuck You’, and I Holler Back, “Fuck You, Too”.

Hear on shortwave: The Devil Has No More Use For Him [MP3] (24k)

Happy Birthday to You, the four-line ditty was written as a classroom greeting in 1893 by two Louisville teachers, Mildred J. Hill, an authority on Negro spirituals, and Dr. Patty Smith Hill, professor emeritus of education at Columbia University.

The melody of the song Happy Birthday to You was composed by Mildred J. Hill, a schoolteacher born in Louisville, KY, on June 27, 1859. The song was first published in 1893, with the lyrics written by her sister, Patty Smith Hill, as “Good Morning To All.”

Happy Birthday to You was copyrighted in 1935 and renewed in 1963. The song was apparently written in 1893, but first copyrighted in 1935 after a lawsuit (reported in the New York Times of August 15, 1934, p.19 col. 6)

In 1988, Birch Tree Group, Ltd. sold the rights of the song to Warner Communications (along with all other assets) for an estimated $25 million (considerably more than a song). (reported in Time, Jan 2, 1989 v133 n1 p88(1)

In the 80s, the song Happy Birthday to You was believed to generate about $1 million in royalties annually. With Auld Lang Syne and For He’s a Jolly Good Fellow, it is among the three most popular songs in the English language. (reported in Time, Jan 2, 1989 v133 n1 p88(1)

Happy Birthday to You continues to bring in approximately 2 million dollars in licensing revenue each year, at least as of 1996 accounting, according to Warner Chappell and a Forbes magazine article.

(via http://www.ibiblio.org/team/fun/birthday/)

“Stock prices are no longer tied to the number of unique visitors you have. Now investors have this little idea of being profitable.” says Online-ad researcher Rex Briggs, on the dwindling significance of Web traffic counts, in The New York Times on 24 February 2003. (via ditherati)

A cross county skier passes through the nearly deserted streets of Times Square in New York early February 17, 2003 as a winter storm pounded the northeast United States. The storm was expected to leave 18 to 22 inches of snow in New York City, which had 1,300 plows and 148,000 tons of salt ready to clear streets. REUTERS/Mike Segar