–Paris police discovered an underground movie theater hidden among the miles of catacombs that wind beneath the streets of Paris. There was a well-stocked collection of films, from 1950s classics to current releases, as well as a bar set up in a niche. However, when police returned with electritians to trace the theater’s power source, all of the equipment had been hastily removed, replaced with a note which read “Do not try to find us.” A group called “The Perforating Mexicans” has claimed responsibility for the cinema. This reporter, in addition to being very sorry that he did not get a chance to visit this cinema, believes that Dave Barry would agree that The Perforating Mexicans would be an excellent name for a rock band.

–Wanna see $260 million go splat?

–This datafountain is very cool. It uses fountains of water to display the exchange rates of yen, euros, and dollars. Its inventor imagines incorporating other “implicit data” into our surroundings as natural, aesthetically pleasing forms such as water and light. On the one hand, I would love for the environment I live in to be less hard, cold, and technological, and more like nature. On the other hand, will this eventually lead to a “clockwork” environment where even so-called nature is a computer-driven “representation” of nature.

–Quote of the day:
“Because if we make the wrong choice, then the danger is that we’ll get hit again. That we’ll be hit in a way that will be devastating from the standpoint of the United States…”

–Dick Cheney, borrowing a persuasion tactic from John Gotti.

THIS video* takes the words from my mind. Someone tried to tell me once that it was hard to speak in front of all those people, some people aren’t good at it. Someone once told me that the stumbling was just an act, to lull his enemies into a false sense of security.

I think he’s just stupid. But hey, maybe that’s just me.

*6mb, but worth it even on dial-up
** Thanks, Sam

Want to know about your favorite serial killer? Maybe a weird crime has caught your eye?

Then you should go visit The Crime Library.

You can even send an e-card adorned with a wide variety of criminals.

Got this in the mail yesterday. (How we got on Bush/Cheney’s mailing list is beyond me.) What it is is a form to request an absentee ballot from the county. What it looks like is a ballot encouraging the recipient to vote for Mr Bush. (What you don’t see, because it wouldn’t all fit on the scanner, is the section deriding John Kerry’s policies and character.) The county election office’s address is on the front. I’m all for encouraging as many people as possible to vote one way or another, but I am left with distaste at this flyer’s implication that it is somehow an endorsement by the county for George Bush.

Afghanistan is preparing for its first democratic election. Polling stations are being prepared (separate ones for men and women), and the public is being educated on how to cast their vote through a series of cartoons and illustrated posters. Another problem is in finding enough people to man the voting centers in a country rife with illiteracy.

As a way of ensuring each person votes only once, voters’ thumbs will be marked with endelible ink. This has made some citizens concerned about becoming targets for Taliban sympathizers.

To help ensure security, the ballot boxes will be shipped off to Denmark, where they will be counted. ‘”This country has never experienced elections before,” Mr Azam says. “The results may take two to three weeks.”‘ Hey, compared to our elections, that’s no time at all to find out who your president is!

Oh, and where are these ballots being printed so that Afghanistan can enjoy the democracy that the United States brought to them?

Canada.

–I’ve discovered the joy of surfing bOINGbOING as if it were a miniature Google by plugging random words into their search engine and seeing what entries come out.

For instance, here are the results for the word “skycap“.

“Photoblogger”

“Poetry”

–As a result of that last search, I discovered Rob’s Amazing Poem Generator. Ok, it’s not that amazing, because I wrote one of these myself back in college. The difference was, that one was written in spitbol for a DOS environment, and Rob’s runs on the web, which makes it a much more convenient application. Actually, none of Collapsing World’s posts make very good poetry. Maybe you can find something that works better.

Two things make THIS a must have:

1. “In practice, you can experience the benefits of this improved accuracy by mousing over surfaces other than a standard mousepad–a glossy magazine, a shiny wooden floor, even your shirt.”

Because I want to be able to mouse on my shirt.

2. “Note: According to a Logitech spokesperson, the laser has surpassed class 1 safety standards, so it should not be harmful to the human eye. He went on to say that a lot of time was spent, on the engineering side, to ensure that even if the laser were altered, it could not be made harmful.”

Because of that note, I want one. Because I bet I could make it harmful – as a projectile if not as a laser.

Note from Oliver:
All I have to say is this:

Quote of the day:

“In Russia, democracy is who shouts the loudest. In the U.S., it’s who has the most money.”
–Russian President Vladimir Putin

There is a movement afoot in my state, led by our governor, to repeal the restriction that prevents police officers from asking for proof of citizenship status without cause. This follows the recent arrest of a man in North Carolina who was videotaping skyscrapers*. Suspicious, police detained and questioned the man, who, as it turns out, was in the country illegaly, for which he is being charged. Officials are touting it as a foiled terrorism plot and an example of why police should be able to demand proof of immigration status at their discretion.

On the surface, this seems to be common-sense. A person here illegaly cannot expect the same rights as legal citizens, including the right to privacy. The problem arises when determining what situation justifies querying citizenship status. I do not like the idea that the police, a la Nazi Germany or Soviet Russia, can stop me on the street and demand to see my citizenship papers.

But I’d never be asked that, would I? I’m white, and no cop will ever stop a white person and ask to see their papers. Anyone even slightly dark-skinned, on the other hand, will become instant targets of suspicion. (Ok, they already are, and have been for decades. However, now a person who may have once been guilty of only “driving while black” can now expect to be suspected of being a terrorist as well.) It’s already happening. A Seattle photoblogger has been harrassed twice by police while photographing a local landmark. Ian Spiers is half-black, which gives him a light skin tone remarkably similar to a Middle-Easterner. Suspiciously, none of the white tourists who were photographing the same landmark were bothered.

“Homeland security” is not an excuse to hassle people on the street, legal or not, if they are not doing anything that violates the law. As much as the people in charge would love to ride their delusional wave of power, we are not a police state.

* For the record, here is a .pdf document outlining what any person may legally photograph.

My first post here, and I’m determined to get Oliver on the “Watch List”. As if he wasn’t already there. This video was interesting very much because I can recall watching the coverage all that morning and thinking some of the same things this brings up: Where is the debris? Shouldn’t you be able so see something? Shouldn’t there be MORE?

I thought that I just didn’t know enough about that kind of thing to know any better, but if there were others who DO know more about these things who thought the same, maybe I wasn’t so far off.