back in action

2004.06.14
Thanks to LAN3 for tending to kisrael.com over the weekend...I think it was a neat change of pace.


Quote of the Moment
A person without doubt is a monster.
Garrison Keillor at Ocean Grove, New Jersey, 2004.06.12.
I think in indirect reference to the current administration.


Link of the Moments
One more link from LAN3:
Kirk, I left your links and text below, and here's one that might be up your alley:
http://wheredidthetimego.com/
It's a flash toy on the topic of mortality. At first it appears to be yet another mortality clock, but after a very short survey (that uses sliders, mainly, not multiple choice, heh) it shows you what portion of your years has gone to doing so-and-so, and amusingly so, rather than how much time you have left, etc. My favorite bit is tiny: the "loading" animation has a great little anim of the answer to the Riddle of the Sphinx. (I wonder why nobody combines this sort of thing with mortality clocks, so you can look at it and say "Oh, thank god, I'll get in at least 21 years of sleep before I die I might as well stay up tonight.")

Historical Footnote of the Moment
An impulse item at, oddly, one of those highwayside gas station / restaurant areas, I picked up a multi-CD set War on Radio, with lots of original radio footage from World War 2: speeches, propoganda broadcasts, interviews. It makes you realize what a simplified view we have of that time, the speeches in particular have all kind of fascinating subtopics that a typical high school or college overview wouldn't have covered. But, interestingly, both Churchill and FDR pronounce "Nazi" differently than (I assume) most people do now...I think most people now say "Not-See", but then it was more like "Gnat-See"...which makes sense, given that it's a shortening of the German for "National Socialist". Assuming "Gnat-See" was the general pronunciation then, and I'm right that "Not-See" is the predominant way of saying it now...I wonder when it changed?


Photoshopping of the Moment
--Coolest Photoshopping Contest I've seen in a while, Cyborg Animals. Some of the insects were really cool...