Listening to: Annie Mac - Radio 1

From gapingvoid:

Listening to: dreaming…pt 1 - Evermore

Happy! Happy! From April 18th apparently. It’s enough to make me this
happy.

src: David.

Listening to: not too sure… this was computer generated.

DSC04233

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Originally uploaded by polg.>

Listening to: Shakedown On 9th Street - Ryan Adams

I have just spent the past few hours playing the role of ’support crew’ (with Jeff)
for a couple of friends who got tattoos today. I have been into both tattoo and piercing
studios and I find the experience eye opening.

I was bought up with a number of inarguable rules (many of which I have broken), thou
shall not jump out of a perfectly good airplane at altitude and tattoos are for the
less desirable elements of society. Because I have this bias fairly heavily ingrained
I am always surprised when I watch people work in these studios. It has been my experience
that tattooists and piercers are unerringly professional. It makes sense because of
their exposure to blood… but seeing them in action, both in prep and while performing
their tasks, is really well worth it. They are the very definition of meticulous and
their ‘bed side’ manner is often far better than many doctors or dentists I have dealt
with. For me that jars against my biases… which is something that is worth experiencing
every now and again.

The other thing, in particular, that stuck me today was the number of tourists who
wandered in while I was there. It was like it was something they do when in NZ…
it seems to sit on the to do list next to bungie jumping and jet boating. Just another
‘extreme’ thing to do.

I sat on the couch and hear voices burbling up the stairwell, each some sort of variant
of the Swedish Chef. A gaggle of young people would then emerge and start shifting
around the foyer, nervously checking out the generic designs on the wall. Then there
would be this weird little dance as they tried to both catch and avoid the gaze of
the nearest tattooist. Eventually the recipient of the new tattoo would step forward
and negotiate design and timing around their inevitable departure from Wellington.

Listening to: Through The Wire - Kanye West

C forwarded this great
link to me this morning… it investigates the inconsistencies between what is
said and done in the name of fighting abortion:

Listening to: This Is It - Ryan Adams

The NY Times published a fascinating article about the reasons behind the stalling
of the Vista OS. It is a real object lesson in the long term costs in being addicted
to complexity:

Back in 1998, the federal government declared that its landmark antitrust
suit against the Microsoft Corporation was not merely a matter of law enforcement,
but a defense of innovation. The concern was that the company was wielding its market
power and its strategy of bundling more and more features into its dominant Windows
desktop operating system to thwart competition and stifle innovation.

Eight
years later, long after Microsoft lost and then settled the antitrust case, it turns
out that Windows is indeed stifling innovation — at Microsoft.

On the other hand it is also important to note that all is not wrong in the OS group:

Like other Microsoft executives, Mr. Goldberg bristles at the notion
that little innovative work has come out of the Windows group since XP. In the last
five years, he said, Microsoft has released two versions of the Windows Tablet PC
software intended for pen-based notebook computers, and four versions of Windows Media
Center. To combat viruses plaguing Windows, much of the engineering team focused for
18 months on fixing security flaws for a downloadable “service pack” in 2004.

Listening to: Girlfriend - The Darkness

My brother forwarded this to me and I also saw in
in Boingboing yesterday:

Gilles Tréhin, an autistic gentleman who lives in Cagnes sure
Mer, France, has designed an incredibly detailed city that exists only inside his
head.

Amazing!

Listening to: Lifetime Piling Up - Talking Heads

Good to see that the memo of the pre-war meeting between Bush and Blair is finally
get some good coverage:

• The War Memo
• Phillpe Sands explains
  the new “Memo for War”
• Bush
  Was Set on Path to War, British Memo Says

Listening to: Pete Tong - BBC Radio1

My brother forwarded me this
link… some stunning images from Cassini:

Listening to: Pete Tong - BBC Radio 1

Cool: