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June 2005
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August 2005

Web helps reading

TIPPINST -- Over the past three years, we have discovered that a vibrant e-learning environment nurtures the art of reading. Some of this occurs as a result of set pieces on the curriculum such as book reports, open mic sessions and classroom discussions. After all, a book offers one of the least expensive forms of content for students. Books have unlimited battery life with easy to read pages. That's not the case with expensive, power-limited e-book readers.

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Why not citizen journalism

BRIAN GREENE -- Long-time Irish internet user BHG asks why the national networks want images from mobile phones after the London bombings. "Why are network TV news brands falling over each other to get our pics and vidz from the terror zone? ... What is it they want?" Greene points out "there are AP & Reuters vans in London and they will be beaming clean feed live within minutes of an incident. If the networks have broadcast quality pictures why go for wobble and smudgie low res?" He answers himself.

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Making title-only blog post

TYPEPAD -- We have developed a way to send email containing a title only from a handheld device to a weblog. We've modified the MT template, starting first with the code that generates the list of post:

<$MTWeblogIncludeModule module="entry-list"$>

We replaced this code with something like:

<MTEntries>
<p><a href="<$MTEntryPermalink$>"><$MTEntryTitle$></a></p>
</MTEntries>

This will create a listing of the titles of your posts and each is linked to the individual archive page for that post.


Tip from Typepad's help staff.
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20 Things that only happen in movies

NOSTALGIA CENTRAL -- Here are 20 things that seem to happen only in movies, taken from a list of "40 things" on the same subject.

  1. It is always possible to find a parking spot directly outside or opposite the building you are visiting.
  2. When paying for a taxi, don't look at your wallet as you take out a note. Just grab one out at random and hand it over. It will always be the exact fare.
  3. Television news bulletins usually contain a story that affects you personally at the precise moment it's aired.
  4. Creepy music (or satanic chanting) coming from a graveyard should always be closely investigated.
  5. Any lock can be picked with a credit card or paperclip in seconds. UNLESS it's the door to a burning building with a child inside.
  6. If you decide to start dancing in the street, everyone you bump into will know all the steps.
  7. All bombs are fitted with electronic timing devices with large red digital displays so you know exactly when they are going to explode.
  8. Should you wish to pass yourself off as a German officer, it will not be necessary to learn to speak German. Simply speaking English with a German accent will do. Similarly, when they are alone, all German soldiers prefer to speak English to each other.
  9. Once applied, lipstick will never rub off. Even while scuba diving.
  10. The Eiffel Tower can be seen from any window of any building in Paris.
  11. Any police officer about to retire from the force will more often than not die on their last day (especially if their family have planned a party). (Caveat: Detectives can only solve a case after they have been suspended from duty).
  12. Getaway cars never start first go. But all cop cars do. (They will also slide to a dramatic stop in the midst of a crime scene).
  13. If staying in a haunted house, women should investigate any strange noises wearing their most revealing underwear.
  14. On a police stake-out, the action will only ever take place when food is being consumed and scalding hot coffees are perched precariously on the dashboard.
  15. All grocery shopping involves the purchase of French loaves which will be placed in open brown paper bags (Caveat: when said bags break, only fruit will spill out).
  16. Cars never need fuel (unless they're involved in a pursuit).
  17. If you are heavily outnumbered in a fight involving martial arts, your opponents will wait patiently to attack you one by one by dancing around you in a threatening manner until you have defeated their predecessor.
  18. If a microphone is turned on it will immediately feedback.
  19. Guns are like disposable razors. If you run out of bullets, just throw the gun away. you will always find another one.
  20. All single women have a cat.

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Guns, Germs, and Steel on PBS

PBS -- The Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is airing "Guns, Germs and Steel" by Jared Diamond. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize for non-fiction, the Rhone Poulenc Science Book Prize, along with three other international literary prizes, Guns, Germs and Steel has been translated into 25 languages and has sold millions of copies around the world. Recommended.


PBS -- "Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Show"
Jared Diamond -- Guns, Germs, and Steel
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Keith Alexander RIP

Full-back Koi TattBlogger and Twisted Sister friend Keith Alexander died yesterday in New York after a bike accident. I knew him by the ink on his back. His Koi Tatt looked a lot better than Koi tasted when I had it for Sunday brunch years ago. Boing Boing readers might remember the interesting things he suggested through the years. Xeni Jardin remembers him fondly. From Xeni:

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