A picture of our economic straits

lsanderson linked to this fascinating, ugly interactive map at the New York Times. The map shows geographic locations of December 2008 unemployment in the U.S. Roll over a county to see how bad it is.

In California, one county shows more than 20% unemployment.

And this is from December. Things, as we know, have gotten worse.

A picture of our economic straits

lsanderson linked to this fascinating, ugly interactive map at the New York Times. The map shows geographic locations of December 2008 unemployment in the U.S. Roll over a county to see how bad it is.

In California, one county shows more than 20% unemployment.

And this is from December. Things, as we know, have gotten worse.

Pop star suddenly becomes computer security expert

UK performer Sting has decided to weigh in on the Gary McKinnon contretemps. McKinnon is the UK hacker who hacked into several non-classified Pentagon computer systems several years ago, crashing some of them, in what he claims was a ham-handed search for UFO documentation. He is awaiting extradition to the United States, and faces up to 70 years in federal prison.

Sting is claiming there's a horrible travesty of human rights here. Wired puts it best:

"The U.S. response in relation to the true nature of Gary's crime is disproportionate in the extreme," Sting said, referring to the extremely disproportionate response of charging a 42-year-old man with computer intrusion, when all he did was intrude into some computers.

[...]

Sting worries that the hacker might take his own life rather than go to jail "as a terrorist." He also complains: "The British Government is prepared to hand over this vulnerable man without reviewing the evidence."

That last bit is especially puzzling, because McKinnon gave the British government a signed confession in January.

McKinnon shifts around from "I didn't really mean any harm" to this Q&A response:

What were you doing prior to the most recent arrest?
McKinnon: I wanted to get the trailing documentation to screw the Americans. I looked at things and I didn't like what I was seeing.

It started with his UFO search, he claims, then he got upset at the US about terrorism and suppression of antigravity technology.

Pop star suddenly becomes computer security expert

UK performer Sting has decided to weigh in on the Gary McKinnon contretemps. McKinnon is the UK hacker who hacked into several non-classified Pentagon computer systems several years ago, crashing some of them, in what he claims was a ham-handed search for UFO documentation. He is awaiting extradition to the United States, and faces up to 70 years in federal prison.

Sting is claiming there's a horrible travesty of human rights here. Wired puts it best:

"The U.S. response in relation to the true nature of Gary's crime is disproportionate in the extreme," Sting said, referring to the extremely disproportionate response of charging a 42-year-old man with computer intrusion, when all he did was intrude into some computers.

[...]

Sting worries that the hacker might take his own life rather than go to jail "as a terrorist." He also complains: "The British Government is prepared to hand over this vulnerable man without reviewing the evidence."

That last bit is especially puzzling, because McKinnon gave the British government a signed confession in January.

McKinnon shifts around from "I didn't really mean any harm" to this Q&A response:

What were you doing prior to the most recent arrest?
McKinnon: I wanted to get the trailing documentation to screw the Americans. I looked at things and I didn't like what I was seeing.

It started with his UFO search, he claims, then he got upset at the US about terrorism and suppression of antigravity technology.

Is it all Greek to you?

When an English speaker finds some phrasing incomprehensible, the most common expression of frustration is that it is "all Greek to me." But what do speakers of other languages find the most incomprehensible tongues? Here is a lovely map of mutual incomprehension.

My favorite? "Older Taiwanese refer to youthspeak, internet slang etc. as sounding 'Martian' to them." Unintelligible and not even human?

Via Waxy.

Is it all Greek to you?

When an English speaker finds some phrasing incomprehensible, the most common expression of frustration is that it is "all Greek to me." But what do speakers of other languages find the most incomprehensible tongues? Here is a lovely map of mutual incomprehension.

My favorite? "Older Taiwanese refer to youthspeak, internet slang etc. as sounding 'Martian' to them." Unintelligible and not even human?

Via Waxy.

Piffles. There goes my summer fun.

One of the amusing parts of working on Beacon Hill is the tourists. Tourists from everywhere flock to our part of Boston, with their guidebooks and maps and cameras and confusion. Even if they have a handy little map of the city and maps of the surrounding towns, this often does them no good.

We don't label streets.

Well, we label some streets. But not others. In the 'burbs (especially up here on the North Shore), you'll be lucky to find one of the streets at an intersection with a sign. Or there may be a sign that lazily points in a middle direction...leaving you to guess which street goes by that name.

All summer, people stop us on Beacon Hill and ask how to find thus-and-so street. My fave?

Tourist, standing outside my office on Cambridge Street. Could you tell me how to get to Cambridge Street?
Me: You're standing on it.
Tourist: Oh. Well, I'm actually trying to get to Tremont Street. [Tourists will pronounce this as Tree-mont. Locals know better.]
Me: Walk down Cambridge Street, past the building labeled Center Plaza, to the Omni Parker House. That's Tremont Street.
Tourist: Is Tremont on the right or the left?
Me: No. Cambridge *becomes* Tremont Street.
Tourist: So I look for the sign?
Me: No. There is no sign. Welcome to Boston.

Now some legislators on Beacon Hill want to spoil our fun by requiring cities and towns to label their streets, including all streets at intersections. I wonder if they know how many street signs that's going to be...or how much that's going to cost?

It's just wrong, too. You have to give directions by landmarks (especially ones that burned down two years ago), rather than streets. That's the Massachusetts way.

Via Universal Hub.

Piffles. There goes my summer fun.

One of the amusing parts of working on Beacon Hill is the tourists. Tourists from everywhere flock to our part of Boston, with their guidebooks and maps and cameras and confusion. Even if they have a handy little map of the city and maps of the surrounding towns, this often does them no good.

We don't label streets.

Well, we label some streets. But not others. In the 'burbs (especially up here on the North Shore), you'll be lucky to find one of the streets at an intersection with a sign. Or there may be a sign that lazily points in a middle direction...leaving you to guess which street goes by that name.

All summer, people stop us on Beacon Hill and ask how to find thus-and-so street. My fave?

Tourist, standing outside my office on Cambridge Street. Could you tell me how to get to Cambridge Street?
Me: You're standing on it.
Tourist: Oh. Well, I'm actually trying to get to Tremont Street. [Tourists will pronounce this as Tree-mont. Locals know better.]
Me: Walk down Cambridge Street, past the building labeled Center Plaza, to the Omni Parker House. That's Tremont Street.
Tourist: Is Tremont on the right or the left?
Me: No. Cambridge *becomes* Tremont Street.
Tourist: So I look for the sign?
Me: No. There is no sign. Welcome to Boston.

Now some legislators on Beacon Hill want to spoil our fun by requiring cities and towns to label their streets, including all streets at intersections. I wonder if they know how many street signs that's going to be...or how much that's going to cost?

It's just wrong, too. You have to give directions by landmarks (especially ones that burned down two years ago), rather than streets. That's the Massachusetts way.

Via Universal Hub.

Ewwwwwww!

The Consumerist reports on an unpleasant surprise for a shopper down the Cape:

According to the Cape Cod Times an unidentified shopper was browsing through the wallets at a Falmouth, MA Walmart, when he unzipped one of the compartments and found a surprise — ten human teeth. One of them even had a filling.

The shopper turned in the teeth and the wallet to Walmart store management. A Walmart representative said they believe this was "an isolated incident."

Ghu, I hope so!

Ewwwwwww!

The Consumerist reports on an unpleasant surprise for a shopper down the Cape:

According to the Cape Cod Times an unidentified shopper was browsing through the wallets at a Falmouth, MA Walmart, when he unzipped one of the compartments and found a surprise — ten human teeth. One of them even had a filling.

The shopper turned in the teeth and the wallet to Walmart store management. A Walmart representative said they believe this was "an isolated incident."

Ghu, I hope so!

Gender and the wage gap

This New York Times graphic looks at the wage gap between women and men in the same professions.

Pretty impressive. And depressing, if you're a woman.

Gender and the wage gap

This New York Times graphic looks at the wage gap between women and men in the same professions.

Pretty impressive. And depressing, if you're a woman.