The This American Life radio show (which I listen to via the Internet) was more than usually interesting in the most recently Internet broadcast segment, “Them“. All three of the “acts” in the hour-long show were equally excellent in different ways.

In Act One, Jon Ronson, a British journalist/humourist talks of his experiences hanging out with a whacky Muslim extremist in London (who says, among other things, “be careful from homosexuality – it is not good for your tummy”). In Act Two David Sedaris talks about the bizarre (but true!) Christmas customs of the Dutch, and in Act Three there is a touching real life story of how a black man’s life was touched by the kindness of the Newfoundlanders who saved his life during WWII (more on his story is available here).

This moderately amusing piece from Satirewire skewers those naive enough to get infected by email viruses…

Digital technology penetration in the UK is higher than I thought. According to a new Government survey (summarised by the BBC) almost half of UK households had PCs last year compared with a third in 1998, and satellite/cable/terrestrial digital TV was available in 40% of homes in 2000 compared with 29% in 1998. It’s interesting to compare today’s figures with those further back as well – it is hard to believe that as late as 1972 when the survey started only 37% of households had central heating (92% now) and only 42% had phones while the figure now is 98%.teen lesbian moviessex anal free movieslesbian moviesxxx moviesmovies pussyporn movies sample freeampland moviesfree movies pornomovies free fuckingmovie clips job handloan auto bad alaska credit$550 loansmilitary loan payday 10 advances 15only 16 canadian payday 11 loanmortgage loan colorado 125loan 1500 installment cash advancequick 2500 loan1000 loans payday day 30 Map

Bah humbug! egreetings.com and bluemountain have imposed charging to send electronic postcards (and the former is one I used to use a lot – I guess they are the same company underneath?) but Hallmark is still free for similar mainstream cards, Corbis has a lot of plain photo cards free and you may find something useful if a little alternative at Pulp Fiction Cards or The Tacky Postcard Archive.wife movies homemade sexhorror movie quizzesspot hot moviemovie hot teenporn illegal moviesgadget inspector movieinteracial sample moviesmovies gay sex interracial Map

The absurd and costly spectacle of well-meaning people searching for body parts in the rubble of the WTC prompts Anne Karpf to write in the Guardian:

“They say death is a great leveller. They’re wrong. Inequality pursues us after life too…

“$121m has been paid out of the American Red Cross’s Liberty Fund so far, averaging a $25,000 payment to 25,000 families of those bereaved or affected by the WTC attacks.

Contrast this with the average $1,300 compensation a head for the 14,824 Indians killed by toxic gas fumes from the American-owned Union Carbide pesticide plant in Bhopal, the site of the world’s worst industrial disaster in 1984. For several hundred thousand people still disabled and diseased, the average payout has been $580. Last week it was announced that those who watched on television their relatives die in the twin towers attack would receive $20,000 compensation…”

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Just for light entertainment here is a highly amusing piece on establishing the location of the definitive “Armpit of the US” (the answer is Battle Mountain, Nevada).

“When The Washington Post calls to say it is thinking of identifying as the Armpit of America the city or town in which your career is unspooling, negativity often yields nicely to sputtering indignation. At least, that was the way it usually worked.

I telephoned Lorrie Baumann, editor of the Battle Mountain Bugle, and told her my idea.

“The Armpit of America?” she said.

“That’s sort of the, um, concept.”

Silence.

“Sounds about right,” she said.

But it’s a such a big country, I said, with so many crappy places. How could I be sure this was the ‘pit?

Lorrie’s response was as dry as a desert full of toilet brushes.

“I think a quick drive around downtown will answer any questions that might be lingering in your mind.”

My review of Civilization III is now available as Mindjack’s cover story. In a nutshell? It’s Civ II with a little (admittedly welcome) tweaking and no multiplayer support (boo!)

This is the mysterious “Ginger”?! A two wheeled electric scooter costing $3000? The New York Times bends over backwards to be kind, but as far as I can tell this will make its inventor, Dean Kamen, a laughing stock.

The report I helped produce for the UK’s e-envoy on “E-enabling the Voluntary and Community sector” has been published. (A Guardian article about it and the new Volcom group is here) I hope it helps to spur the Government to provide more support to the voluntary sector and that the sector itself will wake up to the opportunities that the Internet offers…

The “War on Terror” is not the only reason to be wary of widespread use of encryption and anonymity-protecting technology – paedophiles can use it too. More than 100 were arrested today but according to the police (admittedly a biased source, but still…) another 400 suspects could not be traced because they left no electronic trail.