BBS Lettering Style

Back in the day when the network meant dialup BBS boxes, the hackers were the guys who knew the ins and outs and who had all the cool lettering. You can have a lot of fun with this kinda thing in email still, but use monospace fonts, like courier and monaco.

See also the demoscene for the animated lettering and multimedia hacker crews.

Argon Zark

web comic deluxe with hidden features

$c13nt0l0g

Oh, and free online South Park episode just banned in the UK is too funny.

MySpace info helps cops arrest Boston kids

This is really dog-bites-man news. Who didn't expect this sort of thing?

People on MySpace and other photo sites need to realize they reveal a lot of info about their location (IP address) automatically when they upload. To say nothing of posting additional personal info. And read the fine print. All your photos, music, and info may belong to the site after you upload them.

Noam Chomsky: There is No War on Terror

"Well, the first thing that should be done in Iraq is for us to be serious about what's going on. There is almost no serious discussion, I'm sorry to say, across the spectrum, of the question of withdrawal. The reason for that is that we are under a rigid doctrine in the West, a religious fanaticism, that says we must believe that the United States would have invaded Iraq even if its main product was lettuce and pickles, and the oil resources of the world were in Central Africa. Anyone who doesn't believe that is condemned as a conspiracy theorist, a Marxist, a madman, or something. Well, you know, if you have three gray cells functioning, you know that that's perfect nonsense. The U.S. invaded Iraq because it has enormous oil resources, mostly untapped, and it's right in the heart of the world's energy system. Which means that if the U.S. manages to control Iraq, it extends enormously its strategic power, what Zbigniew Brzezinski calls its critical leverage over Europe and Asia. Yeah, that's a major reason for controlling the oil resources -- it gives you strategic power. Even if you're on renewable energy you want to do that. So that's the reason for invading Iraq, the fundamental reason.

"Now let's talk about withdrawal. Take any day's newspapers or journals and so on. They start by saying the United States aims to bring about a sovereign democratic independent Iraq. I mean, is that even a remote possibility? Just consider what the policies would be likely to be of an independent sovereign Iraq. If it's more or less democratic, it'll have a Shiite majority. They will naturally want to improve their linkages with Iran, Shiite Iran. Most of the clerics come from Iran. The Badr Brigade, which basically runs the South, is trained in Iran. They have close and sensible economic relationships which are going to increase. So you get an Iraqi/Iran loose alliance. Furthermore, right across the border in Saudi Arabia, there's a Shiite population which has been bitterly oppressed by the U.S.-backed fundamentalist tyranny. And any moves toward independence in Iraq are surely going to stimulate them, it's already happening. That happens to be where most of Saudi Arabian oil is. Okay, so you can just imagine the ultimate nightmare in Washington: a loose Shiite alliance controlling most of the world's oil, independent of Washington and probably turning toward the East, where China and others are eager to make relationships with them, and are already doing it. Is that even conceivable? The U.S. would go to nuclear war before allowing that, as things now stand.

"Now, any discussion of withdrawal from Iraq has to at least enter the real world, meaning, at least consider these issues. Just take a look at the commentary in the United States, across the spectrum. How much discussion do you see of these issues? Well, you know, approximately zero, which means that the discussion is just on Mars."

.... and other stuff worth reading as always. Noam brings it home. Check it out. Search out some of his online audio also. It's great.

50 Fun Things to do with your iPod

Maybe the people are not as stupid as the government

Some good news about what's up in the USA, finally. With any luck the people will try harder to elect a not-stupid goverment next time.

Edge World Question 2006: What is Your Dangerous Idea?

There is some very interesting stuff in here. Last year's Edge answers were worth reading also. Pace yourself. I like a page per day, but one idea per day would probably be better.

Technology, like money, can be used for good or for evil

It's not just in the USA that spying on citizens is fashionable. Google filters out dangerous ideas for the big C government. Yahoo reveals the identity of a C news reporter who is then jailed for 10 years. Maybe if I don't use the C word, they won't censor this site too. If ethicalcorp.com disappears, WORRY.

Sydney Opera House "No War" activists sue to get paint can back

They sold photos and other No War memorabilia to pay their 50-thousand-pound fine. They also got weekends in jail for 9 months.



original story

Typographica's Favorite Fonts of 2005 (part 1)

Interesting blog, really nice fonts. The main page tells of FontLab Studio for Mac in case you're interested in being a fontographer.

Get a load of Josh Darden's "freight" typeface, which comes in 60 font styles.