Dude! UK's State of Fear
cn | 22 May, 2007 17:26
Okay, so I've been light on the political postings lately, but THIS is scary. If you care at all about government monitoring, Big Brother, 1984, freedom, individuality, personal expression, democracy, etc., etc. From BBC.com:
The UK's first police remote control helicopter has taken off.
Merseyside police are using the "spy drone", fitted with CCTV cameras, mainly for tackling anti-social behaviour and public disorder.
And you've got to visit the link, if only to see the picture of the thing!
BBC story here.
Originally found via boinboing.net.
Posted in Computers/Technology, Politics, Speeding Towards a Police State . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink
10 Best Train Trips in the World
ben | 21 May, 2007 16:45
GORP.com has a great article about the 10 top train trips in the world. The list:
- Canadian Rockies, Canada
- Coast Starlight, U.S.
- Sierra Madre Express, Mexico
- Cuzco to Machu Picchu, Peru
- Arctic Circle, Sweden/Norway
- Glacier Express, Switzerland
- Blue Train, South Africa
- Palace on Wheels, India
- Orient Express, Malaysia
- South Pacific, Australia
The only significant train ride I've been on that I can remember is an overnight from Chang Mai, Thailand to Bangkok. We paid for the budget sleeper accommodation, and budget it was! The blaring florescent lights never went off, it was steamy-hot all night, and the berth wasn't made for a towering Westerner like myself (er...a towering 5'8.5", so that it to say, the bed was quite short). But it was a fun experience, all the sweating aside. One nice third-world quirk: at one point in the night I went into the bathroom. There was a stainless steel toilet, no water. I pissed into the toilet and it looked as if the refuse was sloshing around a bit down in the dark hole, but the room itself smelled fine.
In the morning I went to piss again. Through the hole, in the morning light, I could see the base loose stone and ties of the railroad track. It wasn't the refuse I saw sloshing around in the night, it was the stone whizzing by! And all the shit and piss of the passengers simply dropped down onto the track. Kind of like when a cruise ship is in international waters, except way different!
Anyway, I think I'm due for a good trip soon, and #5 above looks quite appealing!
See the article here.
Posted in World Culture/Travel . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink
June 18th-24th - PorcFest 2007!
cn | 19 May, 2007 10:28
The Free State Project's 2007 Porcupine Freedom Festival is coming up this June 18th to 24th in Gilford, New Hampshire at Gunstock Mountain Resort (near Laconia, north of Concord). From their website:
PorcFest is about bringing together people that are, in any shape or form, connected to the Free State Project. Whether you are simply curious, whether you are a friend of the FSP, whether you are a signer of the Statement of Intent, whether you are originally from New Hampshire, or whether you are have already moved, PorcFest is the place to meet, talk, plan, and enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the Live Free or Die state.
Organized activities will include bus tours, hiking, training, speakers, entertainment, bbqs, and more. It looks like a lot of fun and I love their intent and the process they're using to create political change.
See th Festival homepage here.
Posted in Politics, World Culture/Travel . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink
Irony of Technology
cn | 15 May, 2007 09:31
I love the Discovery Channel, especially now that I have the pleasure of watching DiscoveryHD - the high-def version of the channel. It has some programs that are simply amazing.
This morning, for instance, I turned on the TV and tuned to the Discovery Channel to find that Sunrise Earth was just starting. In Sunrise Earth they filmed a location with a number of cameras over a span of perhaps 3 hours from the pre-dawn darkness through full sun-up. There is no narration and there are no commercials. All you get are breathtaking shots of the subject for the day and the natural, accompanying sounds. For instance, today's show was titled 'Yellowstone's Geysers' and throughout the hour the scenes shifted from location to location within the park as the sun rose. It can be a breathtaking experience just to watch it on TV!
And therein lies the irony! I love the outdoors, love nature, am awed by its grandeur. Through the marvels of technology I can sit in my climate-controlled living room behind my computer, sipping my microwave-heated tea, and get a pseudo-experience of watching the sunrise in the vastness of the great outdoors. Yet here I am. In my living room. Experiencing what it's like to watch nature on TV. And to me it seems that I'm somehow missing something. Which is a good thing.
On the one hand, watching a show like this inspires me to get up and get going - get out there and experience it for myself...yet on the other hand, it's like a surrogate experience - now that I have a pseudo-experience of nature, why go out when I have so much work I could or should be doing?
Not to mention the fact that the show is on at 10am, so in a reality-twisting way I'm experiencing sunrise at 10am, and I'm nowhere near the arctic circle...
Regardless, check out the show on DiscoveryHD if you have a chance, if only because there aren't any commercials!
Posted in Computers/Technology, Ecology, World Culture/Travel . Comment: (0). Trackbacks:(0). Permalink