Miksi Otto tykkää japanilaisista koulutytöistä? Koska Otto on lonkero!
English speakers: nevermind. Anyway, I, too, saw this yesterday. Didn’t have my camera along though.
Beverage adventures in Japan
Dialogue with the Oxford Chiropractic Clinic
So, a few people have been contacting their local friendly chiropractors regarding the recent ASA ruling. I think Martin was the first; jdc325 and Tristan have also done their bit, the latter with remarkable success!
The ASA ruling states that the chiropractor could not “refer to the treatment of IBS, colic and learning difficulties” in his advertising. Now, it should be noted that the ASA do not regulate advertising on websites (but, randomly, they do on leaflets!) However, the General Chiropractic Council’s own Code of Practice states that chiropractors may “publicise their practices or permit another person to do so consistent with the law and the guidance issued by the Advertising Standards Authority.” My interpretation of the GCC guidelines is that they extend the ASA’s recommendations from advertising to all information published by GCC members.
Recording scanner output dictaphone-style, with silence detection
I tried to find a Linux solution to automatically record scanner traffic, something like Scanner Recorder for Windows. It looks like I am not alone. Anyway, I figured it out.
This is how I did it under Ubuntu:
- Download xpvox here.
- Compile it (I had to install libforms and then change all instances of
#include "forms.h"to#include <X11/forms.h>). - Install speex.
- Make sure /dev/dsp0 exists (if not, mknod /dev/dsp0 c 14 3).
- Run
xpvox -ios | speexenc -V --rate 44100 - out.spx.
After you quit xpvox, you’ll find a file called out.spx which contains all recorded traffic, with silent bits cut out.
A land of a thousand islands
Apparently, British Airways wants to assure its customers that its routes will not change after the polar ice caps have melted. Take a look at this scan from the February 2008 edition of their in-flight High Life magazine, pages 96-97.
This is what BA thinks Europe looks like:
Cropped around Finland:
Google Earth’s view on the same area:
The map is proudly produced by Oxford Cartographers.
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Most viewed pages on Conservapedia
Kieran Healy of Crooked Timber has unearthed some interesting statistics on Conservapedia, that beacon of piety in the secular world. As of right now, Conservapedia’s most viewed pages are as follows:
- Main Page [1,907,392]
- Homosexuality [1,575,873]
- Homosexuality and Hepatitis [517,112]
- Homosexuality and Promiscuity [420,721]
- Gay Bowel Syndrome [391,120]
- Homosexuality and Parasites [388,155]
- Homosexuality and Domestic Violence [367,707]
- Homosexuality and Gonorrhea [331,558]
- Homosexuality and Mental Health [292,100]
- Homosexuality and Syphilis [265,330]
Why have I never heard of Béla Fleck before?
These guys are amazing:
Béla Fleck
Hat tip to CC.
If cryptography is outlawed…
Some animal rights terrorists have been asked to hand over decryption keys under Part III Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) a mere few weeks after it was activated. Completely apart from the fact that I disagree with their cause, I think this is a worrying development. I hope it accelerates the development and adoption of deniable encryption.
Transatlantic beverage adventures
Have you met my hot friend the coke bottle? She has a less attractive American cousin.
For the record, I hate the word beverage.