Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Lee Keller King, Sugar Land, Texas — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:53:05 GMT

"MIT team designs sleek, skintight spacesuit - Not exactly Barbarella."

Not exactly new, either. Earlier versions were around in the early 60s (see http://www.jerrypournelle.com/view/view475.html) and the idea has been used in numerous science fiction novels.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Viv, Austin Tx — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 18:57:27 GMT

love that Zune anti-theft device!!!! What a hoot!

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Grant Newton, Leland, NC — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:27:05 GMT

I read Sullivan's column on Obama as an alternative to the disappointing choices within my Republican Party, but his assertion that sometimes your party must be punished by the 'useful" tool of selecting the opponent doesn't seem to make sense to me. To knowingly select Barack Obama (a liberal as Sullivan describes it) is to select his liberal agenda. Why would I think to punish a candidate (how that would happen in the first place, I don't know) when guaranteeing a raise in taxes on my hard-EARNED money would punish me instead? And no, my household is not anywhere near the six-figure mark. I could never espouse a candidate that believes that the government is the answer to everything. If anything, they have proved the opposite.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

drew, kc — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 20:58:21 GMT

Maddox rules.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Jason, NYC — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:13:42 GMT

Will,
Re: the WWI photos. I'm not sure about the rest of the pics but the first one is HEAVILY photoshopped, and I don't mean in a "touched up" kind of way. Google image search "passchendaele" and you'll see the original right there on the first page. Funny when you look back at the doctored one, after looking at the original, it looks pretty ridiculous. Incidently, thanks for your consistently entertaing diverse bag of topics. I never know what I'll find on Clicked but I can be pretty sure I'll find it interesting (Love your shots of Brooklyn too.)

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

John Brak — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 21:51:32 GMT

I read the "intimacy" chart as having occurred over about 17+ years (89-07). Anyway, I know internet and phone are new mediums for meeting people, but I can't help but think there's a sensible correlation between someone who meets 1/3 of his girlfriends online or over the phone (chat lines, I guess) as being the ideal candidate for taking all those warm, intimate, sentimental life experiences and putting them in a... well, chart. Stay tuned for the PowerPoint presentation.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Cherie — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 02:03:51 GMT

I seem to recall a program years ago on The Discovery Channel that concluded that the "Cerne Giant" is probably Hercules drawn by Roman soldiers.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Steve, AR — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 03:04:46 GMT

The IPod/Nokia comparison was some of the funniest stuff I've seen in a long time (in an immature National Lampoon kind of way).

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Rob, Philly — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 11:18:42 GMT

Hey Will,
Love the Pixar short, and speaking of aliens, what do you make of this?

http://isaaccaret.fortunecity.com/

It was posted in a comment on gizmodo.com. I know I should be skeptical, but something about it just seems to ring true.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Dennis McClain-Furmanski — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 12:54:49 GMT

Anyone with any interest in the war being waged by the RIAA/MPAA MafIAA against pretty much anyone they can, should link their browser to The Recording Industry vs. The People (http://recordingindustryvspeople.blogspot.com/). This site lists lawyers and legal firms, working with groups like ACLU and EFF, who are offering to help defend against the strong arm tactics of the music and movie industries. It also chronicles many of the relevant stories, such as the Texas grandmother who is suing back based on the fact that the investigation company hired to produce evidence against her by examining her computer in Texas did not have a Texas investigator's license, and that those who'd hired them knew this. This is just one of the far too few stories we hear about in the media. People can and are fighting back successfully, and they have legal help available to do so. Costs would be up to each agreement, but at least there are people specializing in helping with this problem.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Will Femia — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 13:43:00 GMT

Rob, I've seen some of those photos. See the alien related links at the top of this entry.
http://clicked.msnbc.msn.com/archive/2007/05/24/202653.aspx

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Tom Ford , Nashville Tn — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 14:31:18 GMT

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19827784/page/2/
what's with the pic of the guy in the interactive section of this article? He's unshaven and seedy looking, smoking a cigarette? Let's villify smokers, tax em to death etc.......Looks like editorial bias to me here guys

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Viv — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 16:47:15 GMT

About the Harry Potter "Leakage" - I'm in several groups and have seen multiple "shares" for this - I keep replying - "It's out in 3 days - why bother?" - The only answers I seem to get are "But we want it NOW!" - People just don't have patience anymore - they've waited for 2 years and they can't wait 3 more DAYS!?!

Veruca Salt would be proud of them!

Proudly waiting for the audio version to savor every WORD.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

John — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:09:14 GMT

Sullivan is a very good writer, however his mercurial position swings, his fickleness, and his obsession with minutiae, has soured me on his writings a long time ago.

He does have a point. Given the current GOP condition, the right Democrat with the right message could draw a large number of conservative voters. A fiscally responsible Dem could get some of the fiscal conservatives, while a Democrat hawk could very easily draw the pro-national security folks away from the right.

Unfortunately, there is not a Democratic contender that qualifies. (That is to say, no one has the bona fides good enough to draw conservatives away. I am not saying that they do not possess those qualities.) Clinton is the closest thing the Dems have to a hawk, and conservatives do not trust her. Both Democrats and Republicans have shown that neither is good with spending our money.

Obama, who happens to be Sullivan's cause du jour, certainly does not qualify.

The Dems best chance is to hope that conservatives are just too demoralized to show up and vote.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

James — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 18:48:14 GMT

Very interesting note by Jason about those Passchendaele photos. I thought those Germans looked strange. Now I can see why... they didn't photoshop their legs in there with them.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Jeff Weidner, San Clemente, CA — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 19:53:59 GMT

I concur with Jason in NYC on the photoshopped WWI photo. The first is definitely photoshopped. The image he refers to provides the majority of the composition, to which someone has added the machine-gunners, changed the foreground, removed a destroyed tank shown behind the large water/mud hole, as well as added heavy smoke effects to the sky to partially obscure the exploding shell in the background.

The original photo can be found in the Library and Archives Canada web site:

http://mikan3.archives.ca/pam/public_mikan/index.php?fuseaction=genitem.displayItem&lang=eng&rec_nbr=3194756&rec_nbr_list=3628721,3194756

(sorry for the long url, didn't want to use tinyurl)
click on the thumbnail for a larger version and you can see for yourself.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Jason, NYC — Thu, 19 Jul 2007 23:39:05 GMT

There's also something, that I can't quite put my finger on, that particularly turns me off about the manipulation of that picture. We only need to look as far as this blog entry to see evidence of the ubiquitous photoshopping in print advertising. I'm used to that (and somewhat numb to it) but somehow, the manipulation of an image tied to a battlefield where young men lost their lives seems somehow especially disrepectful.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Matthew Hall, Sydney, Australia — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 01:54:27 GMT

On the grapefruit story - it is more complicated than it appears. A good friend of mine did a podcast on the topic that sheds some light :

http://www.hereswhy.tk/2004/07/grapefruit_got_me_pregnant.html

Yes, grapefruit has been involved with altering the effects of many drugs.

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Jahntassa V, Conyers, GA — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 13:19:54 GMT

Hey Will! Speaking of those Google Streetview cars. I managed to find one of the Windows Live! Tahoes! Well, i'm guessing it's for some sort of streetview concept, considering the huge 'Windows Live Local' logo, the cameras on the roof, and the fact that the company on the truck does that sort of thing..

http://forums.genvibe.com/zerothread?id=29236

Mugged by muggles? (contains no spoilers)

Janis Dodson, Sierra Vista, Arizona — Fri, 20 Jul 2007 19:09:16 GMT

The photoshop people did put a disclaimer on top. They said the photos were, "lovingly hand-touched in colour to bring to life the nightmare of Passchendaele" The goal was to bring a nightmare to life. So in effect they are telling the jury that they disclosed up front. Weasels.