Links

Stuff I find around the web that interests or amuses me.

More info on JetBlue

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Wired has released more info on JetBlue’s release of 5 million passenger records:

JetBlue Airways confirmed on Thursday that in September 2002, it provided 5 million passenger itineraries to a defense contractor for proof-of-concept testing of a Pentagon project unrelated to airline security — with help from the Transportation Security Administration.

The contractor, Torch Concepts, then augmented that data with Social Security numbers and other sensitive personal information, including income level, to develop what looks to be a study of whether passenger-profiling systems such as CAPPS II are feasible.

It just keeps getting better, doesn’t it?

Comment spam for Dean?

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Well, this is a shame. It appears that ‘Laura in DC’ has recently started a new pro-Dean weblog (at http://deangrassroots.blogspot.com/ ), and is so excited about it that she feels that spamming weblog comments is the best way to get the word out.

Earlier today, I saw her comment to this BackupBrain post and gave her the benefit of the doubt — maybe she was just being a little pushy. Then, not long ago, I found an identical comment on this Esoterically.net post.

‘Laura in DC’, if you happen to find this — we’re glad you support Dean. We’re glad that you’re excited about him, your weblog, and whatever else in life you might be excited about. But spamming comment threads is just going to piss people off and cause problems for you in the long run. If you’ve got a good site, people will find it. Trust in links and Google, but please — ditch the spam.

Update:

Laura stopped by John P. Hoke’s Asylum too. Damn, now I’m starting to feel left out. ;)

Update:

I just checked back to Laura’s site, and realized that she issued an apology on the 19th — just a case of a “newbie” getting a little over-excited. In the long run, not that big of a deal.

How To…

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Need to know how to…

How To: By You looks like the place to go. Fun little idea someone’s come up with:

Every now and then, a new topic will be posted. It could be anything from ‘How to eat peas.’ to ‘How to build an areoplane.’ No answer is wrong and it’s up to you, the player, to explain how to do it. Eventually a voting system will be implimented and the answer with the most votes will win. Right now, HTBY is in beta testing and there is no such system. Just have fun. Try to keep it on topic and check back for more updates.

(via Anil)

Cauliflower of love

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Things like this really do make the ‘net worthwhile some days. Only NSFW if you (or your employer) take things way too seriously.

sexysusan: Thats ok. Ok I’m a japanese schoolgirl, what are you.

J-Dogg: A Rhinocerus. Well, hung like one, thats for sure.

sexysusan: Haha, ok lets go. sexysusan: I put my hand through your hair, and kiss you on the neck.

J-Dogg: I stomp the ground, and snort, to alert you that you are in my breeding territory.

sexysusan: Haha, ok, you know that turns me on. sexysusan: I start unbuttoning your shirt.

J-Dogg: Rhinoceruses don’t were shirts.

sexysusan: No, your not really a Rhinocerus silly, it’s just part of the game.

J-Dogg: Rhinoceruses don’t play games. They fuking charge your ass.

sexysusan: Stop, c’mon be serious.

J-Dogg: It doesn’t get any more serious than a Rhinocerus about to charge your ass.

(via MeFi)

Hurricane Isabel

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Hurricane Isabel from the ISS

Wow.

This picture of Hurricane Isabel was taken from the International Space Station. Just incredible.

Seems like every time the human race starts to get a little egotistical, good ol’ Mother Nature comes along to show us who’s really in charge around here. Good for her. Though, I have to admit to being glad I’m on the west coast right now — and it looks like it won’t be hitting Florida too hard, which is good news for my grandparents.

(from Yahoo! News, via MeFi [lots more good links for both info and pics on that MeFi link, too]).

Dean Seattle flashmob

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Last week I mentioned the Doonesbury-inspired flashmob at the Space Needle. I didn’t go (to be honest, I remembered it exactly when it was scheduled to happen), but pictures and a quick account have been posted by Harvey Wallbanger. If I’d remembered earlier, I’d have been there — but failing that, I can at least live vicariously through the power of the Web.

Nice tits

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A selection of beautiful pictures of Tits.

12/5/19 Update: When originally posted, this linked to a page with pictures of birds. But the domain has since been acquired by a porn site, so…no more link on this post. But at the time, it was amusing.

Opus is back!

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Penguins

(This picture has nothing to do with the story aside from the fact that it’s penguins, I’ve been looking for an excuse to use it, and it cracks me up. Anyway…)

After eight years away from newspapers, Pulitzer Prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed is creating a new comic strip called “Opus,” starring his beloved penguin of the same name.

The Washington Post Writers Group, which will syndicate the strip, is expected to officially announce Breathed’s return this Sunday. The reclusive Breathed, who rarely gives interviews, could not be reached yesterday for comment.

The new strip will appear on Sundays in The Washington Post starting Nov. 23.

(via /.)

How much to ship…me?

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Okay, so on one level, this article about a man who shipped himself from New York to Texas is kind of amusing. Wanting to save a few bucks, he somehow puts himself in a shipping crate, manages to survive two flights in cargo planes, then pops out of the box once he arrives at his parents house — at which point the surprised delivery man calls the police, who arrest the man on an outstanding warrant.

But, on another level — aren’t we supposed to have more stringent screening of airline flights, and what’s getting shipped around the country? While I’m sure they can’t x-ray or check every box that gets shipped around, it seems to me that this one might have had something about it that might have raised some questions. Apparently the guy had enough room to move in the box to use a prybar to open it when he arrived at his destination — wouldn’t that affect the balance of the box enough to catch someone’s eye while it was being moved around? I don’t know what all else, but it just seems amazing to me that this guy successfully did this, and that he’d have gotten away with it if he hadn’t opened the box while the delivery driver was still there.

Fred Phelps needs help

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Somehow until now Fred Phelps had managed to slip completely under my radar, but from what I’ve seen this evening, this man needs some serious help.

It seems that today was opening day for New York’s Harvey Milk School, a high school for GLBT teens who do not feel safe going to normal public schools. The streets outside the school were filled with demonstrators — primarily many people giving their support to the kids, because Phelps had arranged his own demonstration. Phelps and his small group of “Christians” (and I use the term very loosely here) were protesting the school and its students with signs with such warm, Christian sentiments as “God Hates Fags”, “Fags FDNY”, and “Thank God for Sept. 11” while standing on American flags.

It never ceases to amaze and sadden me the horrible things people will do in the name of Christianity.

(via the go fish)