good for Wiki

Contrary to the craven corporate cowardice of big-time internet outfits like Google, Microsoft and Yahoo, Wikipedia told China to piss up a rope when asked to censor it's entries to comply with China's authoritarian demands.

Wales said censorship was ' antithetical to the philosophy of Wikipedia. We occupy a position in the culture that I wish Google would take up, which is that we stand for the freedom for information, and for us to compromise I think would send very much the wrong signal: that there's no one left on the planet who's willing to say "You know what? We're not going to give up."'

A bit of positive news in the sea of negativity.

Southland Sojourn: day one

I zipped down to Boboland for a few days last week- Anner was in Paris and Bobo had a spare few hours for hanging out.

Took the train because I hate driving long distances and like trains. I rode a lot of trains in my youth and I can't say I'm happy with the changes wrought by cell phones- every other seat had some Chatty Cathy spouting the usual monologue ("yeah...I'm on a train. Where are you?"). But as technology taketh away it also giveth- I was able to dam the tide of cellular triviality by plugging in to my iPod, replacing banal minutiae with quality modern music.

Bobo picked me up at Union Station, a gorgeous, old-timey terminal and we went in search of late night provender.

Bobo's first several choices were all closed so we tried Del Taco, which had the dual advantages of a drive-through window and no outposts in my hometown. Alas, hungry as I was I couldn't get past all of their combo meals being served with French fries.

WTF man. Who in the hell wants fries with their asada taco?

This crisis led Bobo to a startling realization:

"I've been thinking like a white man!"

Minutes later we pulled up to his favorite taco truck, where the dilapidated menu offered head, tongue and buche* as well as the more traditional beef, pork and chicken.

I went for a pair of Al Pastor tacos (heavily spiced shredded pork) and an asada burrito, all of which were excellent. While some purists argue that serving burritos is a black mark, I disagree. They're not traditional, but so long as they're not the gigantic rice-stuffed monstrosities you expect to find at chain margarita joints I think they have a place.

We cruised back over the hill to Casa Bobo, greeted the hounds, relaxed for a bit and then turned in for the night.

(to be continued)
*subsequent investigation led to the discovery that Buche is pig skin.

panoramas!

dig it.


I'll have some posts on my southland sojourn up tomorrow.

Amazon's pointless new service.

Oh shiny shiny!
Amazon is offering downloadable movies.

Of course, they're overpriced (14-17 dollars- more expensive than Best Buy) and they are crippled with idiotic restrictions.

I realize it's a hard reality for corporations to come to grips with, but at this point in the digital revolution consumers are used to doing whatever they want with their media. Proprietary formats and usage restrictions don't fly with a customer base that could if it so desired order a movie from netflix or pick one up from their local video store and make a copy that plays on anything and that they can do whatever they want with.

Contrast that with paying full retail for a gimped version with severe restrictions on use.

If they want people to pay full boat, they need to give them full use.
If they're not going to give them full use, they need to DRASTICALLY reduce the price to reflect the limited nature of their offering.

/edit
I dislike Barenaked Ladies in their entirity, but one of the members makes excellent points on the corporate mania for crippled content:

Basically, they're saying you can have all this music for free, but you can only keep it on your computer and one other device. That kind of maniacal need for control is what will be the death of major labels. If they continue to stop people from listening to music in the way they want it, people will continue to make other choices. I think that labels need to stop the restrictive and manipulative use of DRM, and, frankly, we should legalize P2P, and have it properly licensed from the ISP level (sure, the ISPs will complain, but, let them complain).

DIY gourds!

A follow-up of sorts to my gourd art post a while ago.

vegiforms.

Turn your fast-growing veg into art!

neat pictures of books

clicky clicky

Old timey cocktails

A random drink recipe from a facimile edition of the Savoy Cocktail Book:

POOP DECK COCKTAIL

1/2 Blackberry Brandy
1/4 Port Wine
1/4 Brandy

shake well and strain into cocktail glass

Shudder.
It doesn't specify, but I assume all measurements are in jiggers.

And here are "A Few Hints For the Young Mixer":

1: Ice is nearly always an absolute essential for any cocktail.
2: Never use the same ice twice.
3: Remember that ingridients mix better in a shaker rather larger than is necessary to contain them.
4: Shake the shaker as hard as you can: don't just rock it: you are trying to wake it up, not send it to sleep!
5: Drink your cocktail as soon as possible. Harry Craddock was once asked what was the best way to drink a cocktail: "Quickly" replied that great man, "while it's still laughing at you!"

Here's the recipe for a Tom Collins, circa 1930:

Juice of 1/2 Lemon
1/2 Tablespoonful Powdered Sugar
1 Glass Dry Gin

Shake well and strain into a large bar glass. Fill up the glass with plain soda water and imbibe while it is lively.

Interesting- I'll have to check it out, although I'm generally no fan of soda water.
The version you'll get in most contemporary bars is gin, sweet & sour mix and tonic water. The version I've always made is gin, Collins mix (which you can still get at most grocery stores) and tonic.