xsamplex

Earlier this week, Slashdot featured two posts side by side (on the same day, the 25th). There was one about the XBox 360 (its embedded OS running on a PowerPC platform). The other one was about the letterless (blank) keyboard (I love the word letterless).

These two topics were discussed here too, a couple of days before they even appeared on Slashdot! You do the math.

Conspiracy-sensationalists, unite! The earlier linked discussions have both a seven in their URL. As we all know, Slashdot has eight letters! I told you…

Via Kottke, I hyperjumped to Nike’s iD site which is asking bloggers to design Nike shoes (or something to that order). There was a set of pre-designed Nikes there too, and while I mindlessly browsed through all of them I stumbled upon the following words:

I started out as a human beatbox for the rap group Boogie Down Productions

Wait? Isn’t that D-Nice? Has he become a blogger or just another rap-fashion-homie-boy designer? I’m aghast.

Note: today’s the Eurovision songfestival finals, as I promptly announced in my Elsewhere links the other day (Dutch are out, horrors!). Apparently you can follow it online too, but prepare for clogged up Ethernet lines when millions of Europeans and European refugees (excluding me) will try to get a view of this, how can I say this appropriately, grandeur European tradition.

I have no idea why it is so popular. It must be because of the winners, who are always singing the worst songs, wear terrible clothes or are ‘highly’ untalented. And most songs are about peace, peace or unity or a combination of them. Or about nothing particular at all. It slowly starts to appear to me that most of times women have won this festival. Sometimes duos (they were younger then), quartets, or more quartets or even more. That hurts. A lot.

While there may have been talented singers, I doubt that most of the winners could live up to the expectations and the pressure afterwards. (Note: all links have title tags filled, so hover your mouse over the link for artist and year)

Well, maybe only Sandy Shaw was able to make a comeback of sorts, thanks to the geniusses that were The Smiths and Morrissey. For the rest it was definitely not Milk and Honey after winning the Grand Prix of the Eurovision. I can’t wait to hear who the next winner is. Bets are in: it’s going to be a female with an elaborate song about nothing. It’s like watching American Idol, without the Points. I mean with the pu-oints.

Allo, Luxembourg Greece! Can you hear me?

Update: Older videos can be found over at this Dutch site. Includes a brilliant show of language skill from Nicole, singing her winning song in 2, no 3, no 4 different languages!

Attenborough’s ‘Cry Freedom‘ made a lasting impression on me: the movie tells the (true) story of Stephen Biko, a black politician who was brutally murdered by South African security police in the mid Seventies. Despite photographic proof showing that Biko died of serious brain damage caused by severe beating, South African authorities insisted he died while on hungerstrike.

The movie ends with a long (scrolling) list of other black anti-apartheid activists who died under suspicious circumstances, like ‘fell in the tub’, ‘fell out of car’ and ‘hit his head on the table’. It’s a shocking and impressive list and seeing it the first time, it made me literally sick of despair. Unbelievable.

Today several news papers mentioned that US soldiers brutally killed Afghan prisoners, one of them according to official sources an innocent bystander.

Mr. Habibullah’s autopsy, completed on Dec. 8, showed bruises or abrasions on his chest, arms and head. There were deep contusions on his calves, knees and thighs. His left calf was marked by what appeared to have been the sole of a boot.

Another prisoner was beaten up so badly that coroners said that the tissue on the legs was ‘basically pulpified’. Adds another coroner:

“I’ve seen similar injuries in an individual run over by a bus”

However, military spokesmen maintained that ‘both men had died of natural causes’, even after military coroners had ruled the deaths homicides.

I keep thinking about the ‘The Hague Invasion Act’, the Act that was conceived in the summer of 2001 (pre-September 11th) and signed into law way before the Iraqi War. Not to mention the Bush directive regarding the Geneva Treaty and prisoners of war. No wonder the administration (and others) are so upset about Newsweek. American soldiers? “They don’t do this kind of stuff”. After all, the bad guys, you only see them at CSI:NY!

But no matter how you turn it, just like Biko’s death was a crime, so are these.

With he dust settling at Parliament Hill, that is after the crucial voting yesterday, there were plenty of interviews with politicians, analysts, experts and others today.

Before I go over to today’s stuff, there was one weird moment during last night’s televization of the Vote of Confidence 2005 (cue in: tune of Dragnet): when it was the NDP’s turn to start voting on Bill C-38, the camera panned to the corner, to show NDP MPs congratulating each other and mr. Layton. Maybe I was the only one to notice, but did I see mr. Ed Broadbent smile and wink at mr. Layton, or was that just my imagination?

Today: There was a brief interlude with mr. Peter McKay, vice-vice-vice-leader (can’t think of the right word) of the Conservative Party. On being asked what he was going to do over the weekend he told the press: ‘Walk my dog. At least dogs are loyal‘. Ha-ha-ha. The laughter. Such a smart and funny remark!

I noticed that the Dutch “No” Camp is gaining traction in the Netherlands. That’s no against a new European constitution and they (the Dutch) apparently vote on it in a special referendum. However, the referendum itself is purely consultative, which means that politicians will take note of any (any) opposition. Sure.

And then the question that has been sitting on this table for way too long: are video games only for men? Dogs are, apparently.

Via Waxy, I found this magnificent keyboard: Das Keyboard.

It’s a keyboard, yes, without lettering! Brilliant.

Since there is no key to look at when typing, your brain will quickly adapt and memorize the key positions and you will find yourself typing a lot faster with more accuracy in no time.

Now, if only I had this type of keyboard patented: I remember having an overused keyboard where that same paint that made up the lettering literally disappeared on my coding fingertips (uh, I have to thank Alfons for using that same keyboard too). And the hilarity and confusion that keyboard caused when during a late Friday night visit, a friend wanted to write an e-mail to someone, stopped and loudly exclaimed: ‘Hey, where are the letters!’.

I’m so jealous of not being the first to have a business plan ready those days. I’ll tell you what: for a small amount of money, I make your keyboard lettering disappear so you can have your own wanna-be Das Keyboard! Or I mean, an original Art Keyboard ™.

1. Like I said: brilliant concept.

I saw that the Liberals survived a vote of confidence: I decided to follow it live on television. Interesting to watch: I always expected a majority to be at least 60% of the votes. In the Canadian House of Commons, it’s literally that extra vote that makes a bill pass or not. Smile! You’re on camera!

In related news: Scientists say they found a new monkey species in the mountains of Tanzania.