Billy Dalto

Important Tip

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:42:11 -0400

Don’t ever let your ACLU membership lapse. They will send you 13,407 direct mail letters begging you to come back. Now that they’ve wasted so much paper on my behalf, I feel obligated to become a member of Greenpeace.

So either join the ACLU and stick with them forever, or just join Greenpeace.

National Geographic is a bit clingy too. I expected an easy breakup but they tried to win me back by killing a few trees.

minuswell: Pilots earn their pay. I get annoyed whenever I...

Wed, 23 Jul 2008 19:14:31 -0400

minuswell:

Pilots earn their pay. I get annoyed whenever I hear people complaining about how pilots don’t have the right to strike and that they already get paid too much for a routine job.

Sure most flight are by the books, but when the unexpected happens, a calm, collected, and skilled pilot is worth his weight in gold.

This is a vid of the jet blue incident a few years back. The nose gear was stuck in the stowed position which made the wheels perpendicular to the tarmac. Despite this the landing couldn’t have been smoother or more precise. Well done.

Patrick Smith’s discussions of pilot pay here and here were enough to convince me pilots are not overpaid.

It’s difficult to say which part of this photo I like...

Sat, 19 Jul 2008 01:11:50 -0400

It’s difficult to say which part of this photo I like most. It’s either John Daly’s mullet or the streaker’s plastic golf clubs.

A new look for the condo. Spills should no longer be an issue.

Fri, 18 Jul 2008 11:22:39 -0400

A new look for the condo. Spills should no longer be an issue.

"It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the..."

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 02:41:16 -0400

“It’s easy to play any musical instrument: all you have to do is touch the right key at the right time and the instrument will play itself.”

- J.S. Bach. I thought of this quote today as I struggled against my own fallibility during a rough game of the iPhone version of Super Monkey Ball.

sazerac: Wish I could stop here on red instead of diving into...

Wed, 16 Jul 2008 01:38:36 -0400

sazerac:

Wish I could stop here on red instead of diving into the swirling Mississippi River that is the work week.

mills: I’ve finally found a use for that second monitor: putting...

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:10:52 -0400

mills:

I’ve finally found a use for that second monitor: putting Frank’s beautiful face on permanent, benevolent display for the whole office, like a combination of a guru with Big Brother. I already feel better.

I feel so serene.

saramcpherson: Oh, man— go, Tel Aviv graffiti. The best part is...

Tue, 08 Jul 2008 00:08:11 -0400

saramcpherson:

Oh, man— go, Tel Aviv graffiti. The best part is that the arrow was pointing to a currency exchange stand. Perhaps there used to be an establishment of a different ilk there; otherwise, the currency exchange world must have some seamy underbelly of which I am unaware.

Oddly enough, my brother mentioned something along these lines a few weeks ago. During high school, an old friend of mine travelled to Israel with a group from his synagogue. When he returned, he mentioned he didn’t notice any overweight Israelis, something he attributed to their compulsory military service. He also said an unbelievable number of stars are visible at night and that “Israeli girls love American dick.” My brother wouldn’t confirm this statement but he did say he heard from another Marine that all of the sluts are in Tel Aviv.

Nice algae.

Fri, 04 Jul 2008 03:17:50 -0400

Nice algae.

Judge Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Records As part of Viacom’s copyright suit against Google,...

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 21:33:00 -0400

Judge Orders Google to Turn Over YouTube Records

As part of Viacom’s copyright suit against Google, a judge ordered Google to provide Viacom with records listing which users watched every YouTube video. Each record is linked to an IP address and, if a user was logged in, a login name.

Believe Me, It's Torture

Thu, 03 Jul 2008 02:47:34 -0400

Believe Me, It's Torture:

topherchris:

Christopher Hitchens gets waterboarded so you don’t have to.

The inhalation brought the damp cloths tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly and annihilatingly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I triggered the pre-arranged signal and felt the unbelievable relief of being pulled upright and having the soaking and stifling layers pulled off me. I find I don’t want to tell you how little time I lasted.

Video footage.

Via the Jason Kottke.

Reading Hitchens’ article make me want to experience this. On the other hand, this technique is probably best explored vicariously. Maybe I’ll shake things up by taking a different route to work tomorrow.

Daring Fireball mentions an AP article run by OneNewsNow, a...

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 01:01:00 -0400

Daring Fireball mentions an AP article run by OneNewsNow, a Christian news site in the habit of automatically replacing “gay” with “homosexual.” Although the article was corrected at some point today, at least one other example still remains. Lending itself quite well to the substitution, the second example reads, “Memphis Grizzlies backers hit the hay hoping that Kevin Love would open things up for Rudy Homosexual in the frontcourt.”

Update: I’m not sure how I failed to notice that Stumblng posted this screenshot a few hours before me.

Michael Phelps set a new world record in the 400m individual...

Mon, 30 Jun 2008 03:31:07 -0400

Michael Phelps set a new world record in the 400m individual medley in today’s Olympic trials. In second place was Ryan Lochte, who, in his quest to finally beat Phelps in the event, swam fast enough to break the old world record. In track and field, Tyson Gay ran the 100 meter in 9.68 seconds, the best time ever recorded. It doesn’t qualify as a world record because the tailwind was too fast.

If anyone’s interested, the NYT has a section devoted to the Beijing Olympics.

I hope the system isn’t referring to me.

Thu, 26 Jun 2008 18:46:46 -0400

I hope the system isn’t referring to me.

bauldoff: Scottie Cowan photographed the weirdest thing I’ve...

Wed, 25 Jun 2008 20:54:09 -0400

bauldoff:

Scottie Cowan photographed the weirdest thing I’ve ever seen in Chicago.

Somewhere down river, there is a giant Tetris player that is about to be VERY happy. (via wtf is pantone?)

The Economist reports a 16% increase in coca production last...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 20:43:48 -0400

The Economist reports a 16% increase in coca production last year in the three largest producing counties. This is despite large-scale efforts in Colombia to destroy crops.

Here’s Roy the Job Opportunity Cowboy meeting a Microsoft...

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:48:19 -0400

Here’s Roy the Job Opportunity Cowboy meeting a Microsoft developer. This is one of many videos available on the View My World channel, which is part of Microsoft’s recruiting efforts. In each video, Roy’s song is followed by an employee describing, with cowboy lingo, what s/he does for the company.

sydvish: Will came over with 3 diet cokes and started a diet...

Sun, 22 Jun 2008 02:12:55 -0400

sydvish:

Will came over with 3 diet cokes and started a diet coke party. Woo! Just what I needed.

DC party!

matthewb: The very eerie “Untitled (Variant Crowd 2)” by Russian...

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:04:29 -0400

matthewb:

The very eerie “Untitled (Variant Crowd 2)” by Russian photographer Alexey Titarenko from his City of Shadows project (1992–1994). (via Kris Lane)

(via stumblng) I dig the way this guy does business.

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 02:19:49 -0400

(via stumblng)

I dig the way this guy does business.