Author: Heather Meadows

ICANN was going to, apparently.* (No wonder there have been so many people out there claiming that ICANN is eeeeeeeeevil. I never quite put it together before.)

U.S. keeps control of Internet computers

Michael Froomkin, a University of Miami professor who helps run an independent ICANN watchdog site, said the date for relinquishing control has continually slipped.

Some countries, he said, might withdraw support they had for ICANN on the premise it would one day take over the root servers.

In a worst-case scenario, countries refusing to accept U.S. control could establish their own separate domain name system and thus fracture the Internet into more than one network. That means two users typing the same domain name could reach entirely different Web sites, depending on where they are.

The announcement comes just weeks before a U.N. panel is to release a report on Internet governance, addressing such issues as oversight of the root servers, ahead of November’s U.N. World Summit on the Information Society in Tunisia.

Some countries have pressed to move oversight to an international body, such as the U.N. International Telecommunication Union, although the U.S. government has historically had that role because it funded much of the Internet’s early development.

By the way, how do you like that subtitle? “Calls to hand function to international body ignored.” Yes. The US is ham-fisted!

[Revised at 12 noon due to a lack of reading comprehension on my part. Hey, it was like 2:45 am, man…]

Would-Be Bride Throws Homeless a Party

I think it’s great that she turned her reception into a party for the homeless, I just think it sucks that she called off her wedding so late in the game.

At least she didn’t run off to Vegas and then call the FBI and claim she’d been kidnapped.

A couple of films have been released recently about WWII/Japan. Thought I’d link ’em.

Film about Emperor Hirohito wins Russian film fest prize

The film, “Solntse” (Sun), directed by Aleksandr Sokurov, focuses on the emperor’s anguish from August 1945, when he decided to agree to Japan’s unconditional surrender, to January 1946, when he renounced all claims to divinity. The movie is the third part of a trilogy by Sokurov on people in power during the 20th century. His two previous works were about Adolf Hitler and Vladimir Lenin.

Filmmaker documents Japan’s WWII germ experiments in China

A documentary film on Japan’s notorious secret unit that conducted germ experiments on Chinese prisoners of war (POWs) in northeastern China during World War II is to be shown in Tokyo Friday evening, its producer said Thursday.

The 60-minute film titled, “The Phantom Unit 731,” directed by TV producer Haruko Yoshinaga, will be shown at the Shufu Kaikan hall in Chiyoda-ku, beginning at 6:30 p.m., Friday.

Bleh. Didn’t want/mean to do that.

I designed a logo today, and it is totally cool. (No word yet on whether or not it will actually be used, but it is cool, I tell you.)

It’s really hot today. I took off my overshirt and shoes to eat lunch under the canopy at the mini-stage at Riverwalk. While I was there, a huge group of children came by, and then that group of regular exercisers arrived to do their leg lifts. I managed somehow to not get kicked in the head.

When I finished eating, I walked around taking pictures for awhile. Unfortunately, I ran out of batteries rather quickly, so I couldn’t take pictures of all the pretty flowers I kept seeing. I was obsessed with this weird bird–I guess it was some kind of duck, all black with a short white bill–and I used the digital zoom to get pictures of it, and that chewed right through the AAs.

Alas.

I headed up to Broad Street to see if I could find some batteries, to no avail. At that point I lost the desire to explore any further (it’s so hot), so I ended up coming back to the office a little early.

Is it just me, or is it extraordinarily irritating to have to stay in one place (that isn’t your home) for eight hours? Nine when you add in the lunch. I mean, come on. I want to be going places if I’m not at home.

I found this on Snopes today. It’s one of those things you might get in an email forward from your mom. But it’s one of the good ones.

You don’t actually have to take the quiz. Just read this straight through and you’ll get the point. It is trying to make an awesome point!

Here’s the first quiz:

1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.

2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.

3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America contest.

4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer prize.

5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.

6. Name the last decade’s worth of World Series winners.

How did you do?

The facts are, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

Here’s another quiz. See how you do on this one:

1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.

2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.

3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.

4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.

5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with.

6. Name half a dozen heroes whose stories have inspired you.

Easier?

The lesson: The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

Buy it at Threadless.

Ever since I was a teenager, I have looked forward to my 30s and 40s. I always thought that would be the best time of my life. By then I would understand who I was, and I would be settled into my life. (I also assumed I would be married and have kids. No problem on the first one; so much for the second one. But I digress.)

I didn’t spend much time thinking about the meantime, but I guess I assumed I would get all the “exploring” out of the way, get all that “figuring stuff out” done so I could relax.

I’m twenty-seven years old. I’ve barely explored anywhere, and I haven’t figured out anything!

What am I doing with my life? Why am I sitting around in my underwear reading blogs and watching MacGyver at 4 in the freaking afternoon?

I may be somewhat “trapped” by our current lack of funds, but that doesn’t mean I can’t do anything! It just means I have to try harder to make the things I want to do work out.

But instead, I’ve just been sitting around whining and wishing.

I’m going to run out of “exploring” time before I’ve actually done anything!

Peter Ejtel came by and posted a comment on my entry “The “blogger market”; plus, a question for my readers“. He clarified his position with Tucows and then went on to ramble about the current “revolution” (there’s always a revolution, isn’t there?).

I posted a reply that you might find interesting. In it I was finally able to quantify the reasons why blogging is troubling to me as a medium.

Mercenary Girl just did a flying side-kick out the eighth story window…! Nice going, spaz ;D

MacGyver: I thought you were leaving.
Mercenary Girl: Couldn’t run the risk that you’d find the device and disarm it.
MacGyver: Oh, yeah, you think I can do that?
Mercenary Girl: Don’t be modest. Everybody knows MacGyver’s MacGyver.
MacGyver (shrugging modestly): Eh.

Last night I dreamed I was part of some sort of roleplay. (As is usual in my roleplay dreams, everything was a LARP. I guess that’s because dreams are so visual…)

I had chosen to be the ship captain, but nobody would do what I said. I kept running around the deck yelling at the crew to hurry up and do the things that needed to get done, but they all ignored me. Eventually, AJ, who was the GM, pulled me aside and asked me why I had to be the captain. I said it was because I liked being in charge and having my decisions make a difference. He then suggested I could be a monkey in a cage belonging to one of the other characters. I asked him how in the world that would allow my decisions to carry weight in the game, and he said, “I’ll make sure you have influence.”

I wasn’t buying it.

Player versus Player, now with 50% more Jesus of Nazareth.

Look at what he posted yesterday:

I Have Invented A New Word

Mon, June 27 2005 – 4:00 PM
by: Tycho

That words is lexiconnoisseur.

It describes the sort of person who would make up a word like that and then tell everyone about it.

(CW)TB

:D :D :D :D :D

Just watched Yawara episode 32.

Man…he totally screwed himself over. “I want to write a great article about it,” indeed!

Well, I’ve been pulling for Matsuda and Yawara pretty much since the beginning, and I don’t think this setback will stop them from getting together, but it is annoying to watch him shoot himself in the foot!