Merlin Mann is an amazingly funny guy. I've mentioned his "5ives" site here before -- it's where he keeps very, very funny lists of five things. I found myself needing a chuckle this morning so I revisited 5ives and by the time I got to this entry, I was actually laughing aloud:

Five things I'll be doing while you're at Burning Man

1. carefully stewarding my pallor
2. repeatedly watching Law & Order: Special Victims Unit on the TiVo
3. defecating indoors--copiously, often, and without queueing
4. not tongue-kissing a sweaty Java programmer in clown makeup named "Shanti"
5. wearing clothes--lots and lots of square, capitalist, heinous-body-covering clothes

Link

ABC World News Tonight with Peter Jennings has been doing some terrific tech-related work in their 2004 year-in-review coverage. While I can't disclose details, tonight's WNT episode features a technology-related "person of the year" segment in which I am a participant. I'm not a "person of the year" -- just another loudmouthed blogger who always has something to say about whoever is. Details and local air times: Link.

Update: The "People of the Year" ABC featured here -- bloggers. Link to segment transcript. The ABC News piece closed with a screenshot of this Photoshopped "fantasy" cover of what some thought a more deserving candidate for Time's "Person of the Year" issue. The image pays homage to Dan Gillmor's essential book, We The Media.

Update 2: Link to video: WMV (4.19 MB) (Thanks tons, Mike O!)

Nifty gallery of microscopic nature photographs. Shown here: cross section of a lavender leaf. Link

Popular torrent-helper site Suprnova has re-launched, sans torrents. And BoingBoing reader Derek says,

After a few days of having a teaser on their site, Suprnova's Sloncek did an interview with NovaStream.org about a new P2P app and network called eXeem that will be released for download in a couple of weeks. It's being developed by a new, unnamed company, which asked Sloncek to be a representative for them.

It will be Windows only, with no Mac or Linux versions planned at this time. It will be ad supported, and not just banner ads either. It will be full of adware, most of which you can opt out of, according to Sloncek. Some of the less intrusive ones will be required for the application to function though.

Apparently eXeem is based off of BitTorrent, but is different enough that it can't be called a BitTorrent client, and I assume it won't be compatible with BitTorrents either. The application will be downloadable from eXeem.com in a couple of weeks.

Link to details, and here's a link to a .zip of eXeem Beta 0.16. Pseudonym sez: "It won't actually work because of a lack of a working beta code but if ye are curious to have a look at the program then by all means do..."

"Tsunamis shatter celebrity holidays," CNN. Link (Thanks, Realish). Gawker has others: Link

Merlin Mann has posted part two of his year-end roundup of his project to port Getting Things Done, a productivity book aimed at suits, to nerdy types whose life is organized around technology.

I have had the worst time setting up a single, integrated workflow that works for me. I've flitted endlessly between text files, Entourage, Mail.app, vim, online RSS-based calendars, all-in-one apps, paper planners, Moleskines, index cards, and more in search of the right combination. Each tool and habit has its benefits, to be sure, but I never seem to land on a really satisfying set of apps and practices that feels like it has exactly the right "flow" to it. Most corrosively, I often (really often) blow tons of time ramping up to some new bauble only to ultimately discover it lacks some critical piece (export, reminders, etc. etc.). Bad habits for someone who ostensibly wants his work life to be more productive and waste-free.

Of course, I can write some of the time and effort down to "research" and the fact that part of my work involves learning about new productivity widgets, but I can't avoid the fact that I still don't have a method of handling all my information (and actual work) in a way that I find satisfying and intuitive. Plus I have to admit to some terrible habits surrounding my ongoing search for "The Perfect System(TM)."

Link

Thomas sez, "Untold Stories: Creative Consequences of the Rights Clearance Culture for Documentary Filmmakers: A pair of researchers documented increasing barriers to documentary film production caused by the high cost of obtaining rights clearances from IP holders."

The study explores the implications of the current terms of rights acquisition on the creative process of documentary filmmaking in today's marketplace, and from them makes recommendations to lower costs and promote creativity. It focuses on the lived experience of independent documentary filmmakers who work primarily within a broadcast environment (sometimes with a theatrical "window"), in coping with the creative challenges created by acquiring and granting rights. Click here to read Untold Stories.

Independent documentary filmmakers were selected because their work regularly requires them to interact with a wide variety of rights holders, from archives for photographs and stock footage to musical performers to other filmmakers. This is especially clear when it is a historical documentary or one that comments on commercial popular culture, but it is an issue for most documentary filmmakers, no matter what the subject matter. When a trademark appears on a baseball cap, or a subject happens to be watching television, or a radio in the background plays a popular song, or a subject sings "Happy Birthday," rights clearance becomes a professional and creative challenge.

Link (Thanks, Thomas!)

Kevin sez, "Bryan Berg is famous for stacking playing cards. He is the Guiness record holder and tours the world stacking cards. The web site for him is sweet and simple and lets outstanding photography tell the story." Link (Thanks, Kevin!)

According to PCWorld and TechDirt, Windows DRM contains a flaw that allows for attakcers to create music files that contain trojans that attack your computer when you play them, and moreover, the music industry has hired a company called Overpeer which is flooding the P2P networks with infected fake music files.

Overpeer is the same company that the recording industry has hired in the past to dump fake versions of songs on file sharing networks. What the article doesn't answer is whether or not the industry hired Overpeer to dump spyware on the network as well, but it's likely they're pleased either way. Overpeer defends their actions by saying that anyone obviously deserves what they get because, obviously, they were looking for unauthorized files. It's not clear that everyone would agree. Sneaking malicious files onto someone's computer because "they deserved it!" doesn't seem like a very good justification. What may be even more important to this story, however, is the revelation of just how easy it is, thanks to a huge loophole in Microsoft's copy protection technology, to include a malicious file with an audio or video file. Basically, because Windows DRM needs to look for a license, all anyone needs to do is point that license to a website that loads malicious content and off you go. Thank you Microsoft, for creating a huge loophole that will probably make sure millions of new computers are loaded with spamming, DDOSing trojans shortly.

Link (Thanks, Alex!)

More than 115,000 are dead. Pearl, a gate manager for Burning Man, was in Thailand when the tsunami hit -- he survived.

This is Pearl. I am currently in Bangkok waiting for a flight I have cajoled my way onto. I am one of the survivors. With only scratches, briuses and infections I am fine. Everything I own (almost - a small plastic jesus doll made it through!) is gone. My house was wiped out, as were 3000 hotel rooms, around 600 other resident/vacation homes and almost all the business' in the area.

Our house was 150 feet from the beach, that is THE hardest hit beach in Thailand. As water rushed into our house and then ripped open the second story wall, I leapt off our second story roof and swam and swam and swam, riding the wave deep into the jungle, as it destroyed building after building, ripping up trees and spinning diesel trucks into the air. All this with me in the center of it clinging to anything that floats and swimming to avoid the standing buildings or trees that crushed and impaled many others. The wave deposited me, a small swedish girl and a 60 foot poilice cruiser (medium sized steel patrol boat - around 20 tons) 1 kilometer from the beach - in the jungle.

For the next 5 hours i set up a triage center and cared for dead and dying foreigners. Finally we got helicopters in, and I made my way back towards the main town. I found Karin (my girlfriend) and collapsed. We had both assumed each other dead as the destruction was so massive. She had climbed a coconut tree, wrapped her arms and legs and held on. The water kept pullng the tree and her under, but it and she survived. That day I saw around 100 bodies. The next day, another 200, and the day we left there were cattle trucks full of rotting corpses being taken to Phuket.

After days of no news, dwindling food and water - a group of divers virtually kidnapped a driver to take us away. Every few hours someone had created a rumor that another wave was coming, or there was a gas explosion, or the Muslim rebels were attacking. None were true, but it caused massive panic and killed many more people. We were already under massive psychological strain, and this just made it insane. We ran.

My town is gone. There are probably 2% of the original buildings in a recognizable form. I am very lucky to even be making my way home. The U.S. goverment offered me a phone call, a toothbrush, a paperback book and a temporary passport. No hotel, no food, no flight home. I was told that I could take out a loan if I could list three people who would vouch for me at home. The process would only take a few days. I was alone, injured (superficially - but I sure did look bad), no possesions, no money and my government offered my a book.

I don't know who or what to acknowledge for my presence. That will take a lot of soul-searching. I am certainly among the luckiest people in Thailand right now. According to local news it looks like my town had a SURVIVAL rate of 60%. Please think of what you value. Look around, have you given a hug to someone recently? Anyone? If everything you had were taken away, who would you turn too? In the end it is each other, not the things, that make the world spin. I won't ever forget that.

(via Wayne Correia)

Update: Una traducción en español del recuento personal de Pearl está aquí. (gracias, edmz)

A quick roundup of items related to the tsunami disaster. Image: mannequin in pile of wreckage in Thailand, shot by blogger and NBC correspondent Kevin Sites who is on assignment in Asia covering the story. (Link)

*Following up on a previous BoingBoing post, an anonymous Microsoft employee says:

Responding to this: "Reader J. Hahn says, "I am particularly impressed with Amazon.com's Red Cross donation counter that proves Americans are not 'stingy.' Also, as a Mac user, I was proud to go to the apple.com site and see not one product ad on their front page - just links to aid and donation sites, and Microsoft had not one mention of the disaster."

Most of Microsoft's efforts regarding Tsunami relief is focused internally. MS offers a dollar for dollar charitable donation match to all FTE, and is doing everything it can to expidite the process of trying to get the money to where it will do the most good.

* Tsunami Outreach: Bloggers Without Borders' first international project launched last night. Link (Thanks, Sean)

* BoingBoing reader Nicholas Bentley says,

"Hello Xeni, We thought you might be interested in passing on the news of one person's great efforts for tsunami relief. We wanted to donate to a tsunami relief effort with our funds in a PayPal account but had difficulty finding an agency that took PayPal. Eventually we found Kevin McDonald's site where he is doing a fantastic job of collecting PayPal contributions and passing them on to AmeriCares (AmeriCares disaster relief has a 4-star rating from Charity Navigator.) Kevin has even persuaded AmeriCare's webmaster to see about accepting PayPal transfers direct in the near future."

*BoingBoing reader Chris Cummer says,

Family members of a close personal friend of mine are still missing in Thailand. Her father and brother have flown there to try and find them, as this Globe and Mail article details, but the help of the blog community would also be greatly appreciated. I've posted a request for help on my blog at Missing in Khao Lak, Thailand. Hopefully someone might have some information for a Canadian family that's been living on the edge of grief for five days now.

Related: see this "missing persons" wiki page (Link), and a blog devoted to linking missing persons with their loved ones: Link. And the Red Cross has launched a "Family Links" web page where family members can search for missing relatives’ names: Link. "The information is not verified or tracked by either the ICRC or the American Red Cross but is offered by the ICRC as a stand-alone internet tool for inquirers to use on their own."

* Reader Roberto says, "Every year at this time, I empty my jar full of loose change. But this year I discovered I could donate to the Red Cross (among other charities including UNICEF) from a Coinstar machine at my drugstore. And big kid that I am, I had fun playing with the machine." Link.

* Reader Chris Holland says,

I stumbled upon Austin's Blog who's done a fine job of gathering more videos. So earthlink homepage servers don't get creamed, I've created this torrent gathering 5 of the videos from his blog that weren't already covered in the previous torrent which is still available here. Remember, the more people click those torrent links, the easier and faster it is for everybody else to download them too. And try to keep the torrent opened for as long as possible even after you're done downloading. Big Kudos to prodigem's very easy-to-use torrent service. Link

* Andy Carvin says,

I've just set up a tsunami news digest using the news aggregator Kinja.com. The page contains latest news feeds and first-person blogs related to the tsunami disaster from around the globe. I'd like to see others add their own tsunami-related feeds to the site. If you have a news feed or blog that's focusing on the tsunami, or are reading one that you'd like to add to the digest, please visit the website and log on with the following info: login: tsunami-info / password: southasia. Once you've logged in, you can add a news source to the digest by pasting it into the "Add a Favorite" form field in the right column. Or, you can follow this shortcut.

* Among the many first-person accounts appearing on blogs: Sanjiva is an IBM employee from Sri Lanka, who is trying to build information systems to aid in locating missing persons, and help with medical resource logistics. Link.

* Stuart Ian Burns tells BoingBoing:

This del.icio.us tag is offering good links to information about the Tsunami. There is also a tag at flickr: Link. And The SEA-EAT blog have begun a profile to collect photos of the missing: Link.

Link to related BoingBoing posts.

US Patent Office - US 6,751,348 B2 - Automated detection of pornographic images. Or is it, "automatic detection of erogenous zones"? Link (spotted also on Fleshbot)

McDonalds' official China website was hacked by someone identifying themself as "Chinese Hacker," evidently a mainland nationalist upset with the fact that the website identified Taiwan as a separate nation. Link to news story (thanks Yi)

Lisa Rein just posted a helpful article that attempts to simplify the Ohio election/voting fraud situation: Link

Leading cryptozoologist Loren Coleman tells BB:

"Everyone wants to talk about the tsunamis, and so yesterday a reporter contacted me to ask about what impact all this would have on cryptozoology. Questions about cryptozoology in the midst of a global disaster? I frankly was shocked. But then I saw this as an opportunity to emphasize humanitarian efforts, first and foremost, and stressed zoological awareness would be an objective far down the priority list."

Link

Digital Blue's RX5 computer microscope for kids is a big hit with scientists, according to this Wall Street Journal article.

Andrew Westphal, an astrophysicist at the University of California at Berkeley, says he was recently able to examine some microscopic dust from outer space with the help of the RX5's plastic lens. That is because a conventional microscope's glass lens would have suffered from the hydrofluoric acid used to separate the particles from other elements. "Had it not been for the toy, we would have been at a loss," he says.

Meanwhile, patients suffering from Morgellons, a rare type of skin disease, have been getting medical information by using the microscope in sending images of their lesions to Morgellons Research Foundation in McMurray, Pa.

Link (Thanks, Mister Jalopy!)

A commercial airline pilot said that a laser beam entered the cockpit of his plane for several seconds on Monday, while it was 8,500 feet in the air. Air traffic controllers determined that the source of the laser came from a neighborhood in Warrensville Heights, near Cleveland. The FBI is investigating. And in September, a Delta pilot's eye was injured from a laser beam while he was landing a plane in Salt Lake City. Here's the LA Times article about this.

I'm wondering if the idiots who are doing this are using lasers like the ones sold at Lasershoppe.com. Wow: I just went to lasershoppe to read more about the $600 lasers the site sells (which can burn holes through plastic cups, and I learned that they are no longer selling lasers because they don't want to have anything to do with people who would use their lasers maliciously. They link to a CNN article that says six commercial jets have had their cockpits illuminated by laser beams in the last four days. (Photo by Phillip Torrone)

UPDATE: Patricio Lopez sez: A while ago the Ask the Pilot colum at Salon dealt with the whole lase threat issue. Excerpt:

For the record, even a well-aimed laser would be highly unlikely to cause a crash. Hitting both pilots cleanly in the face, through a refractive wraparound windshield, would require a great deal of luck, and even a temporarily blinded crew would still have the means to avoid disaster. Do not equate the results of a laser strike with, for example, having to drive sightless through a busy intersection. Maintaining a jet's stability would be challenging under the circumstances, but not impossible.

One of the Florida State University professors protesting against a proposed chiropractic school at the college created this spoof campus map. Apparently, seven professors have threatened to quit if the chiropractic school happens.
From the St. Petersburg Times:

The threatened resignations...reflect a belief among many in the medical establishment that chiropractic is a "pseudo-science" that leads to unnecessary and sometimes harmful treatments...

The list of critics include FSU's two Nobel laureates - Robert Schreiffer, a physicist, and Harold Walter Kroto, a chemist - and Robert Holton, the chemistry professor who developed the cancer-fighting drug Taxol, which has brought FSU tens of millions of dollars in royalties. In recent weeks, more than 500 faculty members have signed petitions against the chiropractic school, including about 70 in the medical college, said Dr. Raymond Bellamy, an assistant professor who is leading the charge against the proposal.

Link (via Fark)

This site of stamps commemorating cryptozoological creatures is fantastic. I want to collect them all! Link (via MetaFilter)

Touch of Ginger sells an interesting line of gimmicky "Wallet Essentials," credit card-sized "necessities" like emergency cufflinks, ice scrapers, bottle openers, guitar picks, and shirt accessories (pictured here) that you punch out or fold up into functionality. It would be fun, albeit expensive, to get these printed as business cards. Link (via Sensory Impact)