The Null Device

2000/6/5

[5] - 10664 bus error netscape
The power's back on; I was examining a website for possible inclusion in Grouse, and as I selected the next page, Netscape crashed. What does one have to do to get a stable web browser around here; downgrade to Windows?

(Yes, I'm one of those weirdos who runs a weird operating system on the desktop; Linux in my case.)

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For some reason, the fluorescent lights here at work keep blinking out momentarily every few seconds. This is so in my office, the corridor and the building next door. Oddly enough, my computer is unaffected.

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Coupmania spreads throughout the Asia-Pacific region: Not long after the Fijian coup, rebels in the Solomon Islands stage a copycat coup. Meanwhile, Australian comedian Dave O'Neill proposes a similar coup in Australia.

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An interesting exposé of how corporations keep track of you and what to do about it: (ChipRowe.com)

In California, Robert Beken took Computer City to court after he wrote a "contract" on the back of his check that said, "By accepting this check, Computer City agrees not to send me any mail." When the store did, he sued.

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Lesser-known alternative sexualities: The Celibate FAQ is amusingly written, and raises a number of interesting questions about the meaning of life and the subconscious assumptions of contemporary culture.

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After two decades of retirement, John Lennon is writing songs again. Or so says a woman in North Dakota who claims to have been "channeling" Lennon and recording his new material. Not surprisingly, the example on the page has a much more Bible-belt slant than Lennon's pre-mortal work. (via ChipRowe.)

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Cypherpunks sign agreement with Sealand (the real one, this time) to build an offshore data haven. HavenCo will house sites wishing to avoid cryptography restrictions, or far-reaching copyright laws, but will not do business with spammers or child pornographers. Meanwhile, some of the world's governments are taking a dim view of such enterprises; in any case, this will be interesting to watch.

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Germany has long since been renowned for its extraordinarily well-organised nudist movement. Now, heaping absurdity upon absurdity, there is a growing rift in the movement's ranks between traditionalists, who want nudity enforced, and liberals who want it to be possible for nudists to wear clothes and still be considered nudists: (The Times)

[T]here is something more ridiculous than well-disciplined nudity - the topsy-turvy idea that nudists should be given the right to wear clothes and remain nudists. This paradox, worthy of G. K. Chesterton, is splitting the ranks of Europe's largest nudist movement, which is already divided between western and eastern German factions.
[Y]oung people, especially adolescents, are increasingly reluctant to walk about naked. They want to conceal a little - and if they are not given these concessions, they will boycott the family nudist holiday. The result is that official membership has slumped to below 65,000, most of them elderly people.

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Not long ago, archaeologists found the ruins of the ancient Egyptian city of Herakleion under the sea off the coast of Egypt. The findings have gone on display. (The Age)

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Scientists have reportedly broken the speed of light, getting light to travel faster than believed possible. Details are still under wraps, but some speculate that this may invalidate Einstein's theory of relativity. (Sunday Times)

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