Partyers tear-gassed, arrested

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The Daily Loper

Todays links of interest:

• Help RickRoll the NY Mets! Vote for the 8th Inning Sing-A-Long!
  Actually, I voted for "Meet the Mets" as sung by YoLaTengo.
• Sci Fi’s "Battlestar Galactica": A primer
  It’s finally back tonight, and we couldn’t be more fracking excited!!!
• Gates: Windows 7 may come ‘in the next year’
  For Windows people, this is good news, because like Star Trek movies, they seem to get it done on every other one. Hopefully that means that this one is more along the lines of XP and 98, and not ME and Vista.
• The Rolling Stones, MP3 Music Download at eMusic
  Uh, don’t look now, but the Rolling Stones are now on eMusic. And not the lame late-era stuff either.
• Random and others equip staff with Sony Readers
  Because everyone loves the smell of books until they’re drowning in them and lugging around boxes of manuscripts. Seriously, this is a great (and probably long overdue) move.
• Sony dives into TV talent pool
  File under intended benefits (depending on who you are).
• New Bill May Speed U.S. Visas for Artists
  Naturally, there will be an exception for artists who exhibit the dreaded "moral turpitude".
• ITunes records a sales milestone
  Can we please, please, please put to rest the notion that people expect content to be free? People will happily pay for content that is reasonably priced, easily obtained, and portable/usable/flexible.

Violent video-games are relaxing

Here's a short item about a Middlesex University study that concluded that players of violent video-games experience relaxation after they finish playing:

The psychologists studied 292 male and female online gamers playing World of Warcraft. They found that overall the gamers, aged between 12 and 83, were more likely to feel calm or tired after playing, although there were differences depending on sex, age and personality.

"There were actually higher levels of relaxation before and after playing the game as opposed to experiencing anger but this did very much depend on personality type," said Middlesex University's Jane Barnett, who is also an International Game Developers Association committee member.

Link (via Wonderland)

Rhianna-Sos(Karaoke Version)

S.O.S. (Rescue Me) [Intro] Lalala lalala la la lala la Ohhh You know... I never felt like this before Lalala lalala la la lala la Ohhh Feels like.. so real [Verse 1] I'm obsessive when just one thought of you comes up I'm aggressive just one thought of closing up You got me stressing, incessantly pressing the issue 'Cause every moment gone you know I miss you I'm the question and you're of course the answer Just hold me close boy 'cause I'm your tiny dancer You make me shaken up, never mistaken But I can't control myself, got me calling out for help [Chorus:] S.O.S. please someone help me. It's not healthy... for me to feel this way Y.O.U. are making this hard, I can't take it, see it don't feel right S.O.S. please someone help me It's not healthy... for me to feel this way Y.O.U. are making this hard You got me tossin' and turnin' and can't sleep at night [Bridge:] This time please someone come and rescue me 'Cause you on my mind it's got me losing it I'm lost, you got me lookin' for the rest of me Love is testing me but still I'm losing it This time please someone come and rescue me 'Cause you on my mind, it's got me losing it I'm lost, you got me looking for the rest of me, Got the best of me, so now I'm losing it [Verse 2] Just your presence and I second guess my sanity Yes it's a lesson, it's unfair, you stole my vanity My tummy's up in knots so when I see you I get so hot My common sense is out the door, can't seem to find the lock Take on me (uh huh) you know inside you feel it right [CD version:] Take me on I'm put desire up in your arms tonight [Video version:] Take me on, I could just die up in your arms tonight. I'm out with you, you got me head over heels Boy you keep me hanging on the way you make me feel [Chorus:] S.O.S. please someone help me. It's not healthy... for me to feel this way Y.O.U. are making (Y.O.U.) this hard, You got me tossin' and turnin' and can't sleep at night [Bridge:] This time please someone come and rescue me 'Cause you on my mind, it's got me losing it ('Cause you on my mind) I'm lost, you got me lookin' for the rest of me Love is testing me but still I'm losing it This time please someone come and rescue me (someone come and rescue me) 'Cause you on my mind got me losing it I'm lost, you got me looking for the rest of me, Got the best of me, so now I'm losing it Boy, you know you got me feeling open And boy, your loves enough with words unspoken I said boy I'm telling you, you got me open I don't know what to do it's true I'm going crazy over you, I'm begging [Chorus:] S.O.S. please somebody help me. It's not healthy... for me to feel this way Y.O.U. are making this hard (are you making this hard for me, baby?), You got me tossin' and turnin' and can't sleep at night [Bridge:] This time please someone come and rescue me (someone rescue me) 'Cause you on my mind, it's got me losing it I'm lost, you got me lookin' for the rest of me Love is testing me but still I'm losing it This time please someone come and rescue me 'Cause you on my mind got me losing it ('cause any time) I'm lost you, got me looking for the rest of me, Got the best of me (best of me), I'm losing it [Outro] Lala lala lala lala Ohhh Ohh ohh lala lala lala lala Oh oh

Author: AimzY1983
Keywords: Rhianna-Sos(Karaoke Version)
Added: April 7, 2008

The Daily Loper - April 1, 2008

The Tube of History Edition

Todays links of interest:

• TargetCast: Network TV’s Prime-time Spot Cost Drops 12%
  Who didn’t see that one coming?
• Social Network for Journalists Gets 2.75M in Financing
  Publishing2 wants journalists to have just as much as college kids and wanna-be models…now there’s funding!
• Why Blog? Reason No. 92: Book Deal
  Guy starts blog, gets huge advance on book deal, smart analysts note that Martin Mull already wrote book. Still, this is the modern world and there’s quite a bit of snark happening out there is publishing land.
• Now on the Endangered Species List: Movie Critics in Print
  See previous re: book critics.
• Clinton likens herself to ‘Rocky’
  She also says Obama is more like Bullwinkle.
• Online raiders stole my book
  A messy, not-quite-fully-considered look at how piracy *might* impact authors. A few key points: offline raiders "stole" the book, it’s unclear if there was any impact on the author at all, except time, and, at the end of the day, it’s all about paying authors.

Debating the feasibility of an in-flight liquid bomb

A UK court finally heard evidence about the bizarre liquid-explosive plot hatched in 2006 by some fairly unrealistic suicide bombers, the origin of the global ban on taking liquids through aviation security checkpoints. The plan? To mix Tang and peroxide in Lucozade bottles and make airplanes go boom. Ever since the plot first came to light, chemists and explosives experts have been highly skeptical of it working, and the TSA and UK authorities have blithely insisted that they believe it could come true.

Now, readers of Bruce Schneier's security blog are invited to weigh in on the feasibility of such a scheme, given the information that just emerged in court:

The court heard the bombers intended to use hydrogen peroxide and mix it with a product called Tang, used in soft drinks, to turn it into an explosive.

They intended to carry it on board disguised as 500ml bottles of Oasis or Lucozade by using food dye to recreate the drinks' distinctive colour.

The detonator would have been disguised as AA 1.5 batteries. The contents of the batteries would have been removed and an electric element such as a lightbulb or wiring would have been inserted.

Link to Schneier's blog, Link to Daily Mail article

Hard journey for Olympic torch

The Olympic torch crosses London, sparking widespread protests. CNN's Emily Chang reports.

World Report - 'Technology' 1

World Report takes you into space for a closer look at the International Space Station and NASA's mission to Mercury.

Best practices for water imbibing: "Just drink when you're thirsty"

NPR talked to scientists who say that the benefits of drinking tons of water are overrated, and that you don't need to carry a water bottle for a stroll around the park -- "Just drink when you're thirsty."

Myth No. 1: Drink Eight Glasses Each Day
Scientists say there's no clear health benefit to chugging or even sipping water all day. So where does the standard advice of drinking eight glasses each day come from? "Nobody really knows," says Dr. Stanley Goldfarb, a kidney expert at the University of Pennsylvania.

Myth No. 2: Drinking Lots of Water Helps Clear Out Toxins
The kidneys filter toxins from our bloodstreams. Then the toxins clear through the urine. The question is, does drinking extra water each day improve the function of the kidneys?
"No," says Goldfarb. "In fact, drinking large amounts of water surprisingly tends to reduce the kidney's ability to function as a filter. It's a subtle decline, but definite."

Link (via Kottke)

The Daily Loper - March 31, 2008

Waiting For The Plane To Land Edition

Todays links of interest:

• Live Add: U2 Joins the Nation
  It’s a 12 year deal, which should be good enough for up to two full albums worth of new U2 songs!
• Scott Sigler’s INFECTED — free download, inexplicably limited
  Cory Doctorow dissects the "free" promotion related to Scott Sigler’s new book. Seems like Crown Publishing is trying to have it all, create new and different partnerships, and confuse readers. The comments thread is equally fun to read.
• Yahoo hopes women take a Shine to site
  Sorry, after a headline like that, we’re out of snarky comments. Yahoo discovers that women are people too.
• SpiralFrog’s deal with Warner Music is half-baked
  Hilarious. Not only that, they claim that they are the 3rd-biggest download site on the net. The basis of the this is that claim 850,000 registered users vs. the 400,000 that Emusic has. I have a Spiral Frog account, which I used once, and never again. On the other hand, I pay Emusic every month and visit it every week. To whom am I more valuable?
• Is Joe Torre Worth the Money?
  A new, sabermetric spin on the eternal question of how much a manager contributes to his team’s success.

Woman bites dog

A pit bull attacked Amy Rice's canine companion Ella. Rice couldn't get the dog off Ella so she bit it on the nose. Ella is recovering with staples and stitches while the pitbull is in quarantine. From the Associated Press:

"I didn't plan it, that's what happened. I broke the skin and had pit bull blood in my mouth," she said.

"I knew what happened, and I knew that it wasn't good..."

Rice said her doctor will have to determine whether she should get shots for rabies.

Link

World Report - 'Technology' 3

World Report looks into a new generation of robots, and an exhibition featuring new Chinese designs.

Torch incites heated exchanges

Read full story for latest details.