Plurib.us

The push for universal support for the Open Document Format seems to be gaining a lot of momentum.

software.newsforge.com/software/05/10...

Moore says the move toward open standards is bigger than open source. "Although many of our current members have a history of serving in the open source community, it is important to make it clear that OpenDocument is not a proprietary versus open source issue." He adds that "big players" are joining the push for ODF, noting that Adobe has joined the OASIS Technical Committee that maintains OpenDocument, and Corel has plans to support ODF in the next iteration of WordPerfect.

Also, some shake-down on Massachusetts's demand for ODF support:
zdnetasia.com/news/software/...

Sony music CDs put unremovable "copy-protecting" virus on your computer;  blogger gets in a huff;  so does everyone else;  Sony says "sorry", but it's too late.

news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technolog...

As long as I'm posting recurring events, here are the results of this year's World Beard and Moustache Championships:

worldbeardchampionships.com/

November is National Novel Writing Month.  Write a bad novel over the next 30 days!

nanowrimo.org/

Landscapes + Meat =  Meatscapes

machineanimalcollages.com/Menus/MeatScap...

Court tells feds they can't track people by cell phones [potential human tracking devices] without probable cause.

wired.com/news/technolog...

Forbes magazine has a bunch of articles on the subject of communication by various well-known people, including Steven Pinker, Arthur C. Clarke, and Sid Meier (!).

forbes.com/2005/10/18/com...

Never seen before pattern in Saturn's F ring caused be a near-by moon.  (pic)

spaceref.com/news/viewpr.ht...

Scary MS monopoly grubbing -- Thankfully, these things are caught and corrected sometimes.
theregister.co.uk/2005/10/27/acc...

Strange article on Wikipedia, "Why Wikipedia isn't like Linux" -- It's funny this seems to be all over the press lately.  It's also funny that only recently have I been running into WP articles that haven't quite made my expectations.
theregister.co.uk/2005/10/27/wik...

OpenOffice 2.0 is released
trends.newsforge.com/trends/05/10/2...

A near-infrared image of the center of our galaxy.

antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap051023....

Apparently it is old news that a star was discovered orbiting a spot that (given certain measurable things about the star's orbit), many now believe is the super-massive black hole that holds our galaxy together.

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Galactic_...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagittari...
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/S2_%28sta...

Images (see especially the revealing [drawn?] movie in the first link):
eso.org/outreach/press...
astro.ucla.edu/~jlu/gc/

It's Vaguely-Related Theme Night on Plurib.us!  This guy makes many lists of five things:

Five terrible alternative names for the band “The Decemberists”:
1. The Counts of Enjambementy Cristo
2. The Pirate Folk Family Players
3. The Whirled Accordion to Garp
4. Thesaurus Wrecks
5. Avast Ye Thar, English Majors!

5ives.com/

(For the Vague Relation, go see our Rockmusic page.)

Propaganda posters:
WWI:
afsf.lackland.af.mil/Images/WWI/ind...

WWII:
afsf.lackland.af.mil/Images/WWII/in...

( j-walkblog.com/ is totally awesome.)

Consider buying 5 pounds of Silly Putty.

crayolastore.com/product_detail...

Funny, artists that are not Mirah:
cse.sc.edu/~wrightjb/mira...

MN driver's license numbers are just functions of First, Middle, Last names, Month and Day of birth.  [Works for mine.]

highprogrammer.com/alan/numbers/d...

Local Twin Cities Info Day at Plurib.us!  Why?  Because OUR TWIN CITIES can kick the butt of the Quad Cities, and probably even your wussy "Tri-State Area"!  And we can do it with our oversized mall tied behind our Twin-backs!
------
Anyway:  Local, hippish, and semi-pro blog:
mnspeak.com/

Local, less hip, and semi-amateur blog:
minneapolis.metblogs.com/

Ladies and Gentlemen, the Interrobang:
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Interroba...

WCCO: Minneapolis Man Cited for Dancing In the Streets.

(I play it safe--I don't dance at all, even on my infrequent dance-club visits.)
wcco.com/watercooler/lo...

Long, long ago, my mom taught me a trick: If I have to almost-sneeze,  I just look at a bright light.  I'll invariably sneeze twice.  I always thought this was normal, but it turns out it's from a genetic nerve malfunction.  It's called Photic Sneeze Reflex, and it's reasonably common.

Unfortunately, people with this condition may not fly combat aircraft.  Presumably, I'll still be able to pilot armored subterranean combat-drilling-machines.  (Motto: Drillers Do It Boring!)

en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Photic_sn...
loin.free.fr/john/medical_a...
(via Metafilter.com and Jessica)

Do you care about mathematics theorems?  If you do, (and you should,) here's a list of the top 100 theorems:

personal.stevens.edu/~nkahl/Top100T...

The internet was invented for many reasons, and one of the bigger reasons is demonstrated by this "List of weapons that don't exist, but should." 

A crocodile with crocodiles for limbs?  Grenade filled with shotguns or vice versa?  There's no way I'm going to lose my next imaginary war!

uncyclopedia.org/wiki/List_of_w...

Maakies mystery strip:
maakies.com/archive/m555.h...

Totally surreal video of the Earth recently taken by a Mercury-bound spacecraft.  Real images (especially movies) of the Earth like this are actually quite rare.

spaceref.com/news/viewpr.ht...

I have a new personal bookmarks start page.  Everything that Plurib.us bookmarks was supposed to be, protopage.com does better.  I am a convert.

protopage.com/brianlukis

"This is Not the Title of This Essay," an essay on self-reference.  Very well done.

singlenesia.com/eris/selfres

The Christian Guide to Small Arms:

The most probable scenario that the Christian American, called to fight for God, family, and country, will be presented with is that of the guerrilla resistance. He will be facing an enemy occupational force that will have great superiority in materiel and organization.

The second-most-probable scenario presumably involves a 300-foot-tall athiest dragon.

users.frii.com/gosplow/cgsa.h...

Long ago, I could argue convincingly for each of seven different proofs for the existence of God, as well as for six reasons against.  I have since forgotten most of them, except for "I happen to own a lot of Bibles."  However, I can now present 351 proofs for the existence of God:

79. ARGUMENT FROM PERSONAL SANITY
(1) I've had religious experiences that can't be explained unless I'm insane or God exists.
(2) Therefore, God exists.

260.  ARGUMENT FROM BANANAS
(1) Bananas have many characteristics that make them attractive as primate food.
(2) They're so good that they must have been designed.
(3) Therefore, God exists.

godlessgeeks.com/LINKS/GodProof...

Is your high-speed internet connection really all they say it is?  Find out with this fully-featured internet speed inhibitor*:

homeqos.com/

* I am really using this program to see how slow 256kbps really is.

Finally, a magazine which speaks to me!
plurib.us/peterphoto/mag...

(via flagrantdisregard.com/flickr/magazin... )