Day: December 30, 2007

Brave new world:

“When a robber started taking cash from his register over the weekend, Dunkin’ Donuts employee Dustin Hoffmann fought back by clobbering the man with a ceramic mug. But Hoffmann admits he was less worried about the stolen cash than how he might look on the video-sharing site YouTube.” [link | via]

Hoffmann could have easily gotten himself, or others, killed while doing this, so it’s obviously a bad example. But, in general, the idea that altruistic or heroic behavior might be motivated by YouTube-inspired guilt isn’t entirely unappealing.

“A senior lawyer for the American government has told the Court of Appeal in London that kidnapping foreign citizens is permissible under American law because the US Supreme Court has sanctioned it.” [link | via]

But hey don’t worry. It’s not like we’ve ever arrested the wrong people.

“10,000 Filipino families live in this massive graveyard in Manila. I recently spent five days walking among its residents taking photos and hearing stories of struggle and survival.Some families ended up here almost accidentally. Some inherited the mausoleums that they now live in from their great-grandparents. Others came from the provinces and couldn’t make enough money to live in the big city. In all cases, they’re basically families with nowhere else to go.” [link | via]

We’re well on our way to living out Maureen F. McHugh’s Nekropolis.

“Humans have moved into the evolutionary fast lane and are becoming increasingly different, a genetic study suggests.” [link | via]

Vive le difference!

“In what sounds like a dream for millions of tired coffee drinkers, Darpa-funded scientists might have found a drug that will eliminate sleepiness.A nasal spray containing a naturally occurring brain hormone called orexin A reversed the effects of sleep deprivation in monkeys, allowing them to perform like well-rested monkeys on cognitive tests. The discovery’s first application will probably be in treatment of the severe sleep disorder narcolepsy.” [link | via]

It may sound like a dream, but I for one share much of Thud’s concerns:

Usually we worry about new drugs making it to the under-privileged, but a no-sleep drug… would this make sleep a luxury activity? One only the rich could afford?

Is it Sunday all ready? Seriously, you take a week off from work over the holidays and your entire perception of time just flies out the window. Somehow, even though I knew yesterday was Saturday and today was Sunday, the idea that the day before that was, therefore, Friday had not even occurred to me. So I completely missed doing this:

1. “Learn Chinese” by Jin
   And amigo I ain’t talking about Spanish
2. “Sunny Afternoon” by Jimmy Buffett (orig. the Kinks), guessed by Betty
   And I can’t even sail my yacht
3. “Souvenir” by Paul McCartney, guessed by Kim
   Every little thing is gonna come right in the end
4. “Us and Them” by Pink Floyd, guessed by Kim and Eric
   God only knows it’s not what we would choose to do
5. “Padrino” by Smash Mouth
   Rev up the Lincoln and lets get to drinking some caffeino
6. “I Go Wild” by the Rolling Stones
   Without you I’m dead meat
7. “All the Things That Go to Make Heaven and Earth” by the New Pornographers
   Put your new weight in gold and see what it’s worth
8. “Like a Rolling Stone” by Bob Dylan, guessed by Eric
   You’re invisible now, you got no secrets to conceal
9. “Rock and Roll” by Lou Reed
   My parents are gonna be the death of us all
10. “Brown Skin Girl” by Sonny Rollins
    And if I don’t come back, stay home and mind baby

Better late than never, though, right? This is the last Random Guess 10 of 2007, so…well, still no prizes for correct guesses, but you’ll be able to walk proudly into the new year with the knowledge that you guessed them first.

There were not a lot of guesses last week, but I have faith in you (and in the relative non-obscurity of my musical tastes). As always, good luck!