Book Of Norm

The French are now making ebay pay for the sale of fakes on the site. The ruling (in a French court and protecting French companies, which means in all likelihood the case was a total sham), states that eBay was negligent in not policing its massive number of auctions in order to discern which items were fake. What really hurts is that they also stated that the sale on eBay of certain items means that eBay is violating distribution agreements -- in other words claiming that eBay is not a market but a seller of goods, and limiting the ability of individuals to buy and sell items which they legitimately own. eBay, much as I hate it at times, is one of the purest markets out there, and in many ways has revolutionized modern sense of ownership rights and value, at least as our lives get cluttered with more small and expensive items, and costly luxury goods. There is similar case in the US, with a ruling expected in the near future. Let us hope that markets come out a little better off in t...

Though--sadly and stupidly--this will appease all the "No Blood for Oil" bumper sticker crowd, Iraq has opened up to foreign oil companies in what is certainly an important step for the nation. Granted, this is the opposite of what other Gulf Stats, notably Saudi with Aramco, have done, but I think it is the best, fastest and most productive way to develop the fields. Iraq does not have the 5 decades and stable rule most of the other Arabian oil states had to develop their fields. That said, many of them are still well behind the majors in terms of production technology (why invest in technology when you have the worlds largest oil fields sitting under your lawn). The move will also greatly benefit Iraq as a democratic state (which there are actually strong signs it could survive as, albeit with Kurdistan separate), as it has been repeatedly proven that wealth is the best guarantor of democracy.

This is mainly sad because Microsoft will now loose the one personal touch that it had - the richest (for most of my adult life, though not currently) man in the world. Without him (and no, Steve Ballmer does not count), Microsoft is in dire need of a frontman of note. And a personality...

Remember when the Clintons left the White House? Remember how they took things that were not theirs, and then asked the public to help them out with their $7 million dollar debt, at the same time as they took a Manhattan penthouse as their NYC home for Hillary, all on the taxpayer's tab? Well, this time around, Hillary is $22 million in debt. Newly buddy buddy with Obama after their cute little jaunt to Unity NH, he is asking that campaign donors help her "retire her debt." Obviously this is a good thing for the party, but I would be livid if I were in the DNC (unlikely as that is...) as she wasted $22 million on 4 months of campaigning that the whole country knew were completely useless. Also, where does the debt come from? What was the collateral for the loan? Or did she just max out 152 different credit cards? Because I dont know who would be stupid enough to give her campaign anything for the last few months..

My junior year of high school, me an a bunch of friends went in on a deal to buy 'high end' gaming mice. Razer was not really around at that point, and optical mice were just coming in. For $17 each, we got Logitech Mouseman Wheel mice. I still use mine on my desktop, and I have to say, that of any mouse I have ever used, it is by far the most ergonomically comfortable, just a classic design. I will not miss mice once we move on to Minority Report style frantic arm waving, but this really is a classic. Honorable mention goes to my small and unnamed microsoft laptop mouse. Before it was mine, it was my fathers, and he used it for years. I inherited it with an old laptop he gave me about 4 years ago. Since then I have abused it to the limits of reason, constantly dropping it on the floorwhen I move my laptop and forget it is attached etc. For its small size, it is highly ergonomic, and functions well. I bring attention to these little guys, because with now (at least for someone ...

Albedo. What the heck is that right? Well, its is a measurement of the reflectiveness of the earth's surface. Basically, white (snow/ice) reflects more than anything else. Less white = less albedo. This summer, for the first time in recorded human history, we might be looking at a north pole free of ice. Regardless of the crazy Russians and their claim to it, this is a scary idea. Good for shipping, but not good news for the earth overall. A few years ago, saying this could happen in 50 years was pretty radical. Today, its a matter of this year, next year, or maybe a couple years from now.. Couple to this the recent studies of Greenland's ice cores, which show that massive climate change occurred in 4-10yrs, with sometimes very short bursts of intense change, and there is a good chance that the best skiing will be in Morocco in a few years...

Some interesting/surprising ones in here, adjusted for inflation. Of course shows Gone with the Wind, but I did not realize that the original Star Wars would be #2, or 101 Dalmatians #11. For your perusal: DOMESTIC GROSSES Adjusted for Ticket Price Inflation Rank Title (click to view) Studio Adjusted Gross Unadjusted Gross Year^ 1 Gone with the Wind MGM $1,390,067,000 $198,676,459 1939^ 2 Star Wars Fox $1,225,462,800 $460,998,007 1977^ 3 The Sound of Music Fox $979,817,800 $158,671,368 1965 4 E.T.: The Extra-Terrestrial Uni. $975,957,800 $435,110,554 1982^ 5 The Ten Commandments Par. $901,280,000 $65,500,000 1956 6 Titanic Par. $883,019,700 $600,788,188 1997 7 Jaws Uni. $881,182,300 $260,000,000 1975 8 Doctor Zhivago MGM $854,051,900 $111,721,910 1965 9 The Exorcist WB $760,712,400 $232,671,011 1973^ 10 Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs Dis. $749,920,000 $184,925,486 1937^ 11 101 Dalmatians Dis. $687,43...

So, Berkley--nasty environment hating institution that it is--decided to cut down some trees in order to build a new athletic center. These were not threatened Redwoods, or 200yr old patriarchs, they were oaks planted in a 1923 project by the college. The college will plant new trees to replace the old ones, but that was not good enough. A group of students took to the trees, and have been staying up there for the last 18 months. Originally, they had supply lines running in, but these were cut a couple weeks ago, and most of the would be ewoks left. However, a few remain, and all you need to know about the level of their intelligence can be found in the following sentence: "Protesters howled, flung excrement and shook tree branches as campus-hired arborists cut supply lines and removed gear."

From Frankie; I hate this article in the Nytimes today: “Your Brain Lies to You.” http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/27/opinion/27aamodt.html?em&ex=1214712000&en=07a0cd373fc51d40&ei=5087%0A To me, it’s basically saying that people can’t be trusted to accurately remember anything or everything, that their brains control them and their thought. And this ties so clearly into capitalism and they did us a slight favor by even mentioning at the end of the article that we can’t trust the doctrine that the market will guarantee only the best ideas survive. Meaning the market is worthless because peoples’ minds are worthless and can be tricked. What they failed to consider here, of course, that the examples they gave are of ideas that no one cares enough to challenge. Not to mention that your brain fools you because you tell it to value something differently: you don’t want to recognize that your govt kills people (or remember how many they kill) because you value a perceived nati...

Mars is all flat an shiny in the north, but hilly and rugged below the equator. Why has long been a question without a good answer. New research proves that the top of Mars is actually a giant impact crater. Pretty crazy.. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/26/science/space/26mars.html?em&ex=1214625600&en=e948268a678b129a&ei=5087%0A

Interesting, the governing body of such things just voted to allow personalized top level domain names. Thus Microsoft could be www.bluescreenofdeath.microsoft, or apple could be overprice.apple etc. Going to cost $150,000 to $500,000 to register, so sadly it will be a while before globaldomination.norm goes live...

I dont photoshop my pics regularly, though i occasionally use it to correct something I consider an 'error' - like too little lighting, or removing something from the pic like a bystander or powerline. That said, here is the difference it makes, this took me about 30 seconds, and shows the difference in contrast, color, saturation etc. Almost all pro photographers photoshop their images, some quite extensively. I am really not sure how I feel about that..

Forwarded from Jim. Good article: International Herald Tribune June 17, 2008 Exaggerating America's decline By Michael Fullilove A new international relations orthodoxy is coalescing, to the effect that America is slouching towards mediocrity. In newspaper columns articles and on TV talk shows you will hear journalists charting the "relentless relative decline" of the United States. The military is overstretched; the economy is exposed; the political system is broken; the punters are suffering from an Iraq-induced hangover; and when it comes to international legitimacy, the White House has maxed out America's credit card. And all the time, potential competitors such as China, the European Union, Russia, India and Iran are closing in. The best works in this area, by Richard Haass and Fareed Zakaria, are full of insight. Yet as a non-American living in the United States, I'm struck by the gulf that still remains between America and the rest - in terms of hard power ...

I love cryptozoology. Ties in well with my belief in UFO's, ghosts, etc. I tend to believe that the simplest explanation is the most logical one (Achem's razor), and that usually the simplest explanation is the one ignored because of societal and cultural preconceptions. And the close mindedness of most individuals. That said, I think I will be adding in some good 'ol fashioned cryptid news in here, along with a smattering of UFO info, crop circles, and other interesting stuff. To start with, a short article on precisely how little we know about things that may be very very large: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bloop The Bloop is the name given to an ultra-low frequency underwater sound detected by the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration several times during the summer of 1997 . The source of the sound remains unknown. The sound, traced to somewhere around 50° S 100° W ( South American southwest coast), was detected repeatedly by the Equatorial Pacific O...

Never trust a Frenchman. And a nation of Frenchmen? Well here you go: France, in 1985, blew up a Greenpeace ship in order to conduct a nuclear test. They killed one man, tried to cover it up, and then threatened NZ if they tried to punish the perpetrators. Mitterrand was actually directly responsible as well: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sinking_of_the_Rainbow_Warrior

Yet again, our state is regulating our ability to make our own contractual decisions. A case surrounding the status of FedEx's 'contractor' drivers (and largely because of a UPS investigation, as UPS uses the teamsters...) will come to court and question the status of outside contractors who essentially work the same jobs as 'employees.' If anyone needs a little refresher, it used to be that this country accepted and understood the rights of citizens to make their own economic decisions as well as social decisions. The two sets of rights actually used to be lumped together, as they should (try and find one that does not overlap). Instead, in a series of idiotic rulings, the Supreme court conjured up a convoluted debacle of jurisprudence which protects certain social rights (disappearing rapidly) and gives the govt. control over just about everything economic. Lets hope that FedEx comes out on top in this one.   Bloomberg article: http://www.bloomber...

An interesting article on the historical foundation of one of my favorite books: it seems that Odysseus may have timed his arrival home for perfect dramatic effect, a solar eclipse. Actually, it seems that the ancient world may have kept much better records (orally) that previously thought. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/24/science/24home.html?ref=science

We got water. Actually we had water three days ago.. hopefully no one was counting.. damnit. Well, still we got water on mars. That interstellar slip'n'slide is almost a reality..

I know I know, way behind on this one. But it is interesting because it is the second time that the people of Europe have struck down the idea of the EU as the US of E. Ireland was the only nation to have to have a popular vote, the rest of the 'democracies' were just going to stick it to their people regardless of their desires. The treaty makes sense to those living in the forest (read: Brussels), but only because it makes the EU more efficient at governing the states of Europe. Turns out that when asked, the European people (and I think most nations would have voted down the treaty) are not all about getting run by a bastion of bureaucracy. On the other hand.. Looking at the Euro currency movements, it is apparent that traders are betting the content of the treaty of Lisbon or some other workaround will be slipped into Croatia's accession treaty. So there you have it, bureaucracy finding a way to smother the people in its rawest form, the greatest downfall of the modern ...

At least a step in the right direction. Sadly, it is really South Africa who actually needs to step in on this one..

“Only God, who appointed me, will remove me" - Mugabe Mr. Tsvangirai has now officially pulled out of the runoff election. The main issue seems to be that he did not want all of his supporters to get killed and the country fall into a civil war. Mugabe, of course, was completely happy with that course of action, because he has been appointed by God. Seems that even South Africa, which has not wanted to act, will be forced to make some kind of a move now that the elections a total sham. The UN, in its usual way, is looking at creating economic sanctions for a Zimbabwe ruled by Mugabe. Of course, the main issue with placing sanctions on a state ruled by a despotic dictator is that they tend to simply become more introverted and repressive, so I am not even sure that would actually help anyone out in this case. As is often the case, military power (the kind the US or South Africa has, and to an extent the UN) is the only language that a dictator is likely to speak. Let us hope that t...

Check this out, jumping into a pond on mountain bikes. Sweet. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TRtBDuoHwyI&feature=related

some real classics in here.. http://crave.cnet.co.uk/gamesgear/0,39029441,49296103-2,00.htm

Israel might just go ahead and strike Iran on its own, if their little show of force is any indication. Of course, China and Russia are against any unilateral action. The US's reaction? "No Comment." It seems that the U.S. National Intelligence Estimate released in December said Iran stopped its nuclear weapons program in 2003, so the US is none too bothered about blowing anything up this time around. Now why the hell Iran would continue its craptastic (read 50's technology) heavy water fission reactor when the US etc. are offering to help it build light/sweet modern reactors as long as it gives up any weapons ambitions is beyond me if they already dont have a program. To me, that would be they bluffed and won the bet. Instead, they are going to keep bluffing until the crazy Israeli guy across the table shoots them in the face. Its an interesting tactic...

Campaign finance: Obama has opted out of public financing, the first candidate since the 70's to do so. The golden child claimed that the system was broken and the Republicans were gaming the system using 527 groups, and so on and so forth. That damn McCain and his scheming downright dirty campaign finance, what with the dirty real estate deals and shady past.. oh, that Obama? McCain was a crusader against such abuses? Oh, sorry, got confused. I forget the actual numbers, but in the last election the money flowing into pro-Kerry PAC's and 527s was multiples more than what came into the Bush campaign. For every "Swift Boat Veterans" ad, there were 100 from moveon.org. And, someone I know who owns a number of TV stations said that the democratic groups were blatantly organizing advertising, trading off days and making sure they spread the ads in the best possible way. It is illegal for PAC's to talk to each other an coordinate. Of course, the golden child will likel...

Top Gear is back on for the US, and hosts have been announced. Needless to say, I am just happy that we will be getting Fios (supposedly) sometime later today, and along with it BBC America and the real top gear... " Top Gear has just officially announced who will be hosting the U.S. version of the popular car show born in the UK and now officially scheduled to appear on NBC sometime this fall, and the winners are... (drum roll, please): Adam Carolla , Tanner Foust and Eric Stromer . Everyone knows Adam Carolla, of course, having watched him hit the big time hosting The Man Show with Jimmy Kimmel. He now hosts his own nationally-syndicated radio show called "The Adam Carolla Show". Tanner Foust brings some actual professional driving cred to the show with a resume that includes stunt driving in "The Bourne Ultimatum," "The Fast and the Furious: Tokyo Drift" and "The Dukes of Hazard". He's also a winning rally driver, has medaled in th...

This is, undoubtedly, a slanted piece. That said, it makes some interesting points. Forwarded from James: Top 10 reasons to blame Democrats for soaring gasoline prices By William Tate This started out as an attempt to create a light and humorous, Letterman-esque Top 10 list. But the items on the list, and the drain Americans are seeing in their pocketbooks because of Democrats' actions (sometimes inaction) are just too tragic for that. 10) ANWR If Bill Clinton had signed into law the Republican Congress's 1995 bill to allow drilling of ANWR instead of vetoing it , ANWR could be producing a million barrels of (non-Opec) oil a day--5% of the nation's consumption. Although speaking in another context, even Democrat Senator Charles Schumer , no proponent of ANWR drilling, admits that "one million barrels per day," would cause the price of gasoline to fall "50 cents a gallon almost immediately," according to a recent George Will column . 9) Coas...