Been seeing a lot of announcement news about this.  Seems like Small Form Factor is the new trend these days.  As always, Apple innovates and others follow.  In this case its a good thing.  A small form factor Linux based PC for $399?  Sounds wonderful to me.

AOpen Springs Pandora For Holidays –

As we mentioned back in June, Taiwanese computer company AOpen has finally scheduled its release of two Mac Mini look-alike computers (just two-inches tall), code-named Pandora, in time for the holiday season. The Linux-based version should go for $399 and the Windows XP-based computer will retail for $499. Both include slot-load CD drive, three USB ports, keyboard hook-up and serial port in the back of the box. Also expect internal wireless network connectors.

AOpen box inspired by Mac Mini [CNET]

(Via Gizmodo)

 So I have found yet another feed worth throwing in the aggregator.  This is getting a bit ridiculous.  But what can you do.

This post comes from Beware of the Blog and has some simply hilarious Van Morrison offerings as MP3s.  Hilarious because of why they were recorded. 

Van Morrison’s Contractual Obligation Album – MP3s: 31 improvised songs from Van Morrison’s Bang Records Contractual Obligation Session, below the jump. In the great pantheon of contractual obligation records, there is the noisy (Lou Reed’s Metal Machine Music), the brassy (Neil Young’s This Note’s For You)…

(Via WFMU’s Beware of the Blog)

 Excellent article on the MIT Media Labs plan for low cost laptops for developing nations.  Great idea.  Especially this part:

What about connectivity? Aren’t telecommunications services expensive in the developing world?
When these machines pop out of the box, they will make a mesh network of their own, peer-to-peer. This is something initially developed at MIT and the Media Lab. We are also exploring ways to connect them to the backbone of the Internet at very low cost.

One Laptop per Child – A $100 Laptop for Every Kid. With a plan to distribute up to 15 million rugged, innovative, and very low cost laptop computers by the end of 2007, MIT Media Labs may be calling Steve Ballmer’s year old bluff, in ways commercial vendors haven’t. [more inside]

(Via Metafilter)

<Maduin> Is it weird if you recognize a girl in your inbox porn from your highschool?
<TheUpstairsProTHAway> I think the most comedic answer would be, "It depends what part you recognized."

Not much to add here, except to say that I’m old enough now that most porn delivered to my inbox features women who definitely are too young to have attended high school with me. Sad but true.

 Not a lot of meat in the article but the synopsis is damning enough (no pun intended).  What many of us have suspected.  Religious devotion does not breed morality.  Christianity does not lead to ethical behavior.

Societies worse off ‘when they have God on their side’ – Societies worse off ‘when they have God on their side’ RELIGIOUS belief can cause damage to a society, contributing towards high murder rates, abortion, sexual promiscuity and suicide, according to research published today. According to the study, belief in and worship of God are not only unnecessary for a healthy society but may actually contribute to social problems.

(Via Metafilter)

Well, Michael Brown is weighing in on his version of events surrounding Hurricane Katrina. He is, to his credit, taking responsibility for quite a bit. To wit:

 "My biggest mistake was not recognizing by Saturday that Louisiana was dysfunctional," Brown told a special congressional panel set up by House Republican leaders to investigate the catastrophe.

My personal favorite, though, is this:

Brown in his opening statement said he had made several "specific mistakes" in dealing with the storm, and listed two.

One, he said, was not having more media briefings.

 Of course, that’s what I’ve been saying for weeks. If only there had been more media briefings, things would have turned out MUCH better.

 I refuse to acknowledge the existence of this site.  And yet I am drawn to spread the word that things like this exist.  From now on, this must be refered to as The Site Who Shall Not Be Named

apologies – daily show slash fiction

(Via Metafilter)

 File under "Hell Yes!!"  And at under $1000 this one actually seems like I might one day be able to afford it.  Alothough, judging by the distance from the chair to the screen, I’m going to need a bigger monitor (or three).

HotSeat Entertainment Station for the Lazy –

Ever wished you could just throw your PC, video game consoles, and other assorted electronic crap altogether next to your Lay-Z Boy so you don’t have to do any real work? Of course you have. That’s why the HotSeat entertainment station exists. For $800 you get a racing seat built in some steel contraption with a desk and monitor stand. But that’s not all! You also get 5.1 surround sound. If you got the cash…why not. Might as well. Comes in a variety of funky paint colors too.

HotSeat
Personal Movie & Gaming Station [Zatz Not Funny]

(Via Gizmodo)

QDB: Quote #544203 – i worked on a project once where somebody named variables defined in various places explicity so on one line of code, it showed up as:
function_name($all, $urBase, $rBelong, $toUs);
closest i’ve ever come to manslaughter

(Via Bash.org)

This cracks me up which is usually what happens when "All your base" is used.  But I never knew where the phrase came from.  Enter Wikipedia and its vast repository of serious sounding trivia.

All Your Base are Belong to Us

The phrase arose from a poor translation used in the English version of the Japanese video game Zero Wing, originally produced by Toaplan in 1989. The infamous quotations were taken from the European localization of the Sega Mega Drive port released in 1992. The arcade version of Zero Wing does not include the quote, nor any other dialogue; the intro for the PC Engine version has CD quality spoken dialogue, but has a completely different introduction. Zero Wing was never released in North America, and therefore never came to the Sega Genesis, the North American Mega Drive.

 I know its not funny, but I am giggling any way as I envision the scene.

"Where’s little Billy?"

"I left him in the car."

"You mean the one about to run over your other child?"

"AHHHHHHHH!"

Really, what is an 18 month old doing in a car unrestrained and alone? 

Eighteen-month-old runs over family (Reuters) – Reuters – An 18-month-old child started the family car and ran over three family members in a southern Polish village Saturday, police said.

(Via Yahoo! Oddly Enough)