Michael Leunig draws some of the cutest cartoons I’ve seen. And includes points.

this cartoon made me stop and think about exactly how often history repeats itself.

It reads,

“Our armies do not come into your cities and lands as conquerors or enemies, but as liberators.
Your wealth has been stripped of you by unjust men… The government of Iraq, and the future of your country will soon belong to you… We will end a brutal regime… so that the Iraqis can live in security.”

and is attributed to General F.S. Maude, commander of the British forces, to the people of Mesopotamia, in Baghdad,

1917

.

No man is exempt from saying silly things; the mischief is to say them deliberately.
- Michel de Montaigne

Super busy right now but just wanted to give a shout out to Radar.net. (join page here) They’re a mobile sharing service that does a few things very right. It’s kind of hard to tell until after you’ve signed up and gotten a few friends but then you’re like, ohhhh yes, this is right. It’s a startup so it’s a constant work in progress but I think this is worth signing up and keeping a close eye on them.

:: Study via science direct ::

My solution? Medieval style catapults + nuva rings Also, I didn’t look into the study and see how the data was collected but I’m going to guess they used self reporting to determine if pregnancies were intended. That number has to be way higher.

I just read this on Ze Frank’s site, which I only read sporadically, but I have since decided that I should read it a lot more. Anyways, he asked to take over someone’s facebook page on his Twitter, and was overwhelmed with responses. One of the girls he chose to imitate had some interesting insight to the whole thing, that I thought was worth sharing.

Deth P Sun.

Im not actually on the road yet; Im actually still in Denver waiting for my visa. However, TD asked me to post in order to “get people excited” about my trip to Azerbaijan, where I will undoubtedly will be posting about any hilarious cultural misunderstandings that occur. I will be doing research on the oil industry and the State Oil Fund, thanks for the State Department’s Fulbright Student Scholarship. I even got mentioned on the Azerbaijani Embassy newsletter.

For those who don’t know, Azerbaijan is a small, oil-rich country in the South Caucasus. It borders Armenia, Iran, Russia, Turkey, Georgia and the Caspian Sea.

I will be embarking on a journey for over a year. In preparation, I have bought two flashlights because electricity in Azerbaijan is spotty, and I think the street lights don’t always work. After doing some research, I have discovered that Azerbaijan has SO MUCH oil, that they actually bathe in it:

Tuesday I leave for a three week turn around. I’ll arrive in San Francisco Airport at 12:12pm. Meeting up with SuziQ (yeah Q) from england. and then headed up to sf. I’ll be there until saturday, doing venture capital stuff and hanging out with my long lost homies. Saturday I’m flying to seattle for a hot minute and then I’m off to Montana. I’m driving in an rv with my father and two half brothers to burning man. It’s going to be…an interesting experience. My dad is a conservative christian so I’m mostly just concerned that his brain will explode. Post bm, I’ll be in san francisco for a day or two for more vc stuff. After that, colorado and then back to nyc.

From there, it’s unclear. I really hate snow and so a new york winter (even under the aegis of global warming) is like hell on earth for me. If it’s feasible and won’t harm the company I want to spend some time working from someplace with a warm beach. Chances of that happening are 30%. Luckily I’m doing this for an awesome project.

Hit me to make area plans :-)

after the second minute it drops off substantially. Music 2/5

I just found this character who calls himself “why the lucky stiff” who writes, cartoons, makes music, and does badass work programming and writing about the Ruby programming language.

This cartoon really got me:

Moral of the story: Carry a camera with you, always record police activity. Haven’t decided yet if it’s better to do it secretly. Pro: less likely to have police attack you out of rabid spite. Con: Open filming probably prevents brutality.

Also, holy shit, that was a great piece of journalism. It had an expert, a police response that didn’t seem totally insane, video documentation and a followup. Good work Nine News!!!

I think those lasers are added digitally.

“My design is futuristic with a sense of acceleration and speed; organic with seamless flowing forms,†says Grass. “Simple, well-balanced and peaceful, while simultaneously creating a sense of awe.â€

“I find inspiration in vehicles such as cars, aeroplanes and spaceships; in the structure of bones and in the fluid forms of fish.â€

This is futuristic? ORLY? Perhaps most annoying is that this is just a computer model of a”concept couch,” it doesn’t actually exist. Or at least it only exists to taunt you into wishing life was more like Star Trek.

:: Phillip Grass Website via DeZeen blog ::

{oops, somebody has a webdesigner who only uses flash so it’s impossible to link to direct images or pages, faux pas!}

When I have to work at a computer all day I try to drink lots of water. 1. it keeps me hydrated which is good for the braining. 2. It forces me to get up every so often and think about what I’m doing, why I’m doing it, etc. I could probably accomplish 2. more effectively by occasionally taking a break to refocus in a more mindful fashion.

You must reseduce a girl everyday you date her

Forget where I heard this but it’s been flipping around in my head for the last couple weeks. It’s sort of obvious to say that you have to keep the passion alive in something but the details are sometimes a bit more elusive. That’s why I love the quote.

:::: UPDATE from the comments thread ::::

amy.leblanc on August 14th, 2008 at 10:17 am #

TitaniumDreads on August 14th, 2008 at 11:02 am #

The name may have changed, but the artist formerly known as Diebold—now Premier Election Solutions—is still catching heat over problems with its electronic voting machines. Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brenner is suing the firm, seeking unspecified damages for breach of contract and fraud. The suit blames faulty software for losing votes in 11 of the 44 counties that use Premier machines.
Related Stories

The company was already embroiled in a legal battle with Ohio’s Cuyahoga county, one it filed preemptively in May after election officials there decided to mothball $22 million worth of Premier touch-screen machines. Premier had hoped to forestall any claims against it by seeking a declaratory judgment that it had met its obligations.

:: ORLY? Via Ars Technica ::

I just like to juxtapose this little image here

I think that donating $ to a politician is kind of like gambling on campaign promises.

Hello, TitaniumDreads-ers! Agent Wildcard calling. Here’s my first shout into the world:

Martin Waugh dedicated his life to taking these amazingly beautiful super-macro photos of liquid.

See more at his site, http://www.liquidsculpture.com

“I find television very educational. Every time someone switches it on I go into another room and read a good book.” -Groucho Marx

My theory is that everyone who reads anything should have a blog. Even if it’s just republishing things from other places with a bit of commentary here or there. There are some small barriers to entry in blogging so on occasion I ask a friend to step in and publish things here. In that spirit, I’m happy to welcome WILDCARD!!!

Meeting the CEO of Bloomberg tomorrow. whoa, my life is awesome.