Googleberg

That's a mashup of Google and The Gutenberg Project, in case you were wondering.

 

Imagine those two in cahoots.  Especially now.

 

Now Web users can use Google's powerful servers not only to look up words in the Dickens novel, but also to download a copy -- a process that can take anywhere from a few seconds to about 15 minutes, depending on the size of the book and the speed of the user's Internet connection. The book arrives as a set of scanned images from a printed copy of the book, and some include original drawings, library markings and notes jotted in the margins by previous borrowers. Google Book Search's copy of ``A Tale of Two Cities" was scanned from a copy printed in 1908 by the University Society. A rubber stamp on an inner page indicates that the original book was obtained by the Harvard College Library in 1942.

Google won't say how many books are currently in its index. But with the ability to scan books at six of the world's biggest libraries, Google's library of public domain titles could surpass that of the Gutenberg Project, which contains about 16,000 titles.

When was the last time that I linked to the Boston Globe?  Never?  That's what I thought.  Strange, that.

 

For now, the Google Book Search service offers full downloads only of ``public domain" books, whose copyrights have expired. These include many of the most famous titles of all time, such as the writings of Dickens , Shakespeare , and Dante.

 

Why, thanks again, Google.  Also thanks to the good people at Project Gutenberg, who I should probably put a permanent link to somewhere.  Why, I just downloaded Dante's Inferno today (no, not as a roadmap).  However, as you can see from the article, Yahoo and Microsoft are teaming up to create an alternative book download service.  Oh no!  Can Google succeed?

 

With all due respect to this movie:

 

Prince Microsoft:  Your Google is dead.  I killed it myself.

Princess Buttercup:  Then why is there fear beneath your eyes?

 

Indeed.

 

 

 

 

Looks Like The Creepy Looking, Vaguely Effeminate Guy Didn't Do It

Via Yahoo.

 

BOULDER, Colo. (Reuters) - A DNA sample taken from John Mark Karr, the schoolteacher who claims to have been with child beauty queen JonBenet Ramsey when she died in 1996, does not match DNA found in her underwear, a Denver TV station reported on Monday.

 

Duh.

 

Can we please, please go on to something more relevant now? 

 

Perhaps we can live in the here and now, and stop stomping over the grave of a sadly snuffed out pre-adolescent beauty queen who probably would have rather ran outside in her yard through a sprinker on a hot summer afternoon than be forced into makeup, fishnet stockings, and pink cowgirl outfits.

 

Rest in peace, poor little rich girl.

 

The Beauty Of A Perfect Headline

Did you want to see an example of an almost perfect headline?

 

Really?

 

Seriously, it's in English, and everything.

 

All right.  I'm going to write it now, with proper attribution, of course.

 

Nuclear Apocalypse Milder Than Expected

By Thomas C Greene in Washington

 

Update The Register is pleasantly surprised to learn that humanity continues to muddle along after a leading Islamic scholar predicted its abrupt destruction on 22 August.

Academician Bernard Lewis, a specialist in Middle-Eastern culture and politics, and one of Dick Cheney's favorite thinkers, appeared to have it all worked out in an op-ed piece published by the Wall Street Journal . After a careful reading of scripture, and a bit of arithmetic, Lewis was able to determine the ideal day for Iran to nuke Israel, initiating the atomic Armageddon that we've all been worrying about.

That headline, found in The Register (yes, they're British.  Figures.) is as crisp as the early morning air on a dewy early October morning in the Midwest.  I've seen cherry blossom season in Washington DC, a hazy, red and bluish sunset over the Rocky Mountains in Denver, and a sunrise over Lake Michigan in the spring off of Lake Shore Drive in Chicago, and none of them were as beautiful as that headline.

 

Thomas C. Greene, I applaud (bows).

Join The Agency

Why this amused me, I have no idea.  But this might be good advice for some:  How To Become A CIA Agent.

Does that James Bond movie marathon you watched on TV have you dreaming about being a secret agent? If you're a U.S. citizen, you may be wondering how you can get into the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), the nation's top career choice for aspiring spies. Before you get your heart set on joining the Agency, however, there are a couple things you should know.

 

(word to WikiHow)

 

So.  Personal aside to Stew, Charles, Mike, or whatever they call you guys now... if you're reading this, please don't delete it.  I'm performing a service. 

 

In the meantime, bone up on your Russian, Farsi, and Serbo-Croatian.  That's what I hear, anyway.

 

 

 

 

 

Boing Baby Boing

Again, I hate to be so quick, but it's late, I'm tired, and rapidly turning into a pumpkin.

 

Ultra-violent Charlie Brown student film.

 

EFF: How to keep your search private.

 

Online sleuthing leads to capture of JonBenet murder suspect. (yeah, right.  I think that one's a trap.)

 

and finally...

 

As with liquids, TSA bans motherf(bleep!)ing snakes from planes.

 

All stories can be found in Boing Boing.  I love Boing Boing.  It's like that one sweater that you have that doesn't shrink, is the perfect color, and never, EVER goes out of style.  Stay classy.

 

I must, however, end today's post, since tomorrow is August 18, 2006, with this:

 

A man, and a plane full of deadly snakes.

What are you gonna do?

 

Either you get it, or you don't.

 

 

 

 

Hack Your Life

Hey all!

 

Sorry that I haven't been blogging too much lately; just got a new job, trying to get a new place... probably a lot of you know how it is.  For me, what suffered?  My blog.  My poor, sweet blog, that never did anything to anyone.

 

However, let's remedy that.

 

Immediately.

 

So... did you ever want to be a regular?

 

The Urban Monarch blog describes how you can go about becoming a regular at your favorite restaurant.

 

That sounds fun. 

 

Next we have this little blurb:  Google Maps for your webpages.

 

Previously-mentioned Google Maps mashup site Wikimapia has put together a tutorial for quickly and easily adding a Google Map to any web page in 30 seconds using Wikimapia.

 

Both of the above tips come via The Hack.  Use it, love it, make Lifehacker your friend.

Sleep. Sleep, Data.

I know that it seems like I haven't been blogging a lot lately.  I'm trying to make up for it.

 

How?

 

Well, by not sleeping, of course.

 

Science magazine's Career Development section has an article about sleep deficit and the science of a good night's sleep.

 

Paging BoingBoing!

 

Seriously, people, not sleeping will make you crazy.  Science says so.  So if it's 3:00 in the morning where you are, and you've been on the computer for the last 24 hours, go to sleep.  NOW.

 

 

Fear of (Free) Flying?

Then take a look at this article on frequent flyer miles on the Consumerist .

You're broke. Your woman has left you. But bigger than your heap o' troubles is a pile of Frequent Flyer miles, sitting in neat, invisible little stacks, to be exchanged for a trip to Hong Kong, Amsterdam or any other far-flung clime with easily accessible and cheap companions.

But with Frequent Flyer programs becoming increasingly impenetrable; with free tickets being harder and harder to come by; with airlines increasingly trying to parlay free ticket requests to be used for hotels and restaurants... how can you guarantee a posh seat on a free jumbo jet?

Sure, The Consumerist has this.  But how did I find it?

 

Show Lifehacker the love.

 

 

 

The Amazing Race

AOL.

Time Warner Inc.'s (TWX) AOL unit said it will make five gigabytes of online storage available free to all Web users.

The Internet service provider and online portal said the added storage will enable users to store any type of file and will support a drag-and-drop interface between online storage and hard drive.

The storage offering will be available to any users who have an AOL or AIM screenname starting in early September.

 

Via MarketWatch.

 

Biker and perennial underdog Dick Parsons raced up the mountain.  It was Stage 17, one of the most treacherous stages of the newly-created Tour de Earth, just started in late 2006 to replace a scandalized (and far too small, in Dick's opinion) Tour de France.   His mind mulled his chances:  Ballmer, Gates, and especially Schmidt... they were all in front.  And they weren't tiring.

 

Suddenly, Dick thought seriously about just giving up.  This was a young man's game.

 

Stop that.  Dick's mind replied.  We didn't come all this way for nothing.  Before anyone cared about the World Wide Web, before Google, and when Usenet was young, we were there.  Before broadband was the way, before the Internet crash, before Amazon, and before eBay, we were there, giving away CDs by the carload.  We introduced the world to the Internet.  We showed the world that money could be made.  We have the backing of one of the largest multimedia conglomerates the world has ever seen.  And we will not go quietly, no matter what the cost.  We can do it.

 

Dick's spirits brightened, if only just a touch.

 

But just over the top of the next hill, Dick Parsons could just see the beginning of an orange and bluish hue, steadily getting brighter with every push of his tired legs, which every drip of sweat, and every drop of adrenaline.

 

The sun was rising.

 

And with that, Dick Parsons, CEO of America Online, realized something important.  Something that would enable him to continue the race.  Something that would give him hope.

 

He was getting stronger.

 

This would be a long race, indeed.