Here's some news and no mistake:

Trees soak up lagoons full of hog manure

Which will make it easier to close down the 1700 enviromental disasters in North Carolina known as manure lagoons which are awaiting cleanup treatment. Who knows how many of these pestholes exist nationally? The standard treatment is to scoop the stuff out and spray it on fields, then fill in the hole. Messy, and it takes a long time for the soil to recover. Using the trees, it's just cover and run, and the land can be reused in a decade or so.

Of course, the real solution to the problem of hog manure lagoons is not to raise hogs in dark, dank, disease infested confinement barns in the first place! Pasture them - they're healthier, we're healthier, our enviroment is healthier and the cost difference is minimal or even cheaper (we sell bacon from our free ranged, pastured hogs for $2.50 to $3 per pound - less than most of the supermarket brands).
10:06:13 PM     comment []

This bit on "off shoring" (moving technical jobs overseas to save money): Outsourcing's offshore myth from CNet so infuriated me that I had to write a response.

It turned into quite the rant, so I moved it into my stories section as it was just too lengthy to fit properly on the front page as a post.

Here's the link: On Off Shore
9:30:25 PM     comment []

Just when I noticed that there hadn't been any news on the "bullshit patent" front comes this gem:

Roxio first target as CD-R patent owner threatens industry. Optima claims ownership of key burning technique [The Register]
1:48:06 PM     comment []

Nice piece on the efforts in New England to get agriculture back to it's roots.

Saving the Family Farm "Innovation" might not be the word that comes to mind when you travel the back roads of New England. And "marketing expert" might not be the term you'd apply to the guy cutting hay. But agriculture is changing, and farms are having to change with it. Witness these four examples of farmers breaking with tradition to survive. [The Boston Globe via MyAppleMenu]
10:12:17 AM     comment []

Ya know, I think I oughta show up outside the Metrodome in Minnespolis for the next Vkings home game carrying protest signs about the teams name and "mascots"... you have no idea how insulting horned helmets and the "big blond" stereotypes are to us European-Americans trying to reclaim our culture!

It's just horrible! Why, watching the NFL people would think that the Vikings were all just testoterone driven raiders bent on pillage and mayhem, rather than gentle traders ...

If my tongue gets any further into my cheek I'm gonna have another hole in my head.... these "activists" need to lighten up, before they die of an overdose of political correctness.

The Squabbling Illini: Rallying Cries Lead to Rift. The debate over mascots with Indian themes is not new, but the case of Chief Illiniwek at the University of Illinois is unique. By Mike Wise. [New York Times: NYT HomePage]
9:33:40 AM     comment []

Here's a link to a nice piece on the underlying design differences between Unix and Windows ... and why Windows cannot be made secure short of a complete rewrite.

Mac OS X Security Criticisms Countered [Slashdot]
9:12:19 AM     comment []

Ah, the joys of centralized factory farming! Notice in the piece that there are only 5 major feed lots in the entire US! Un-fucking believeable!

Maybe if we weren't so busy trying to put the small operator out of business, this kind of terrorist attck couldn't be contemplated. It'd be impossible for the bad guys to hit 50,000 farms, eh? But 5? That's gotta be tempting some wacko somewhere...

Keeping Cows Safe From Terrorism. The Department of Homeland Security gives researchers $33 million to study ways to fend off a potential terrorist attack on America's livestock and food supply. By Noah Schachtman. [Wired News]
9:10:38 AM     comment []

Bastards! I've spec'd my last IBM box for a client...

IBM mulls sending engineer jobs to India. White collar crimes [The Register]
9:05:56 AM     comment []