A better article questioning preparedness and the Bush administration’s priorities with regard to natural disaster planning (via Kevin)

Poseidon computer system detects drowning girl and alerts pool lifeguards, probably saving her life – Watch the video footage to see how cool and useful this is. It is hard to have any kind of job where you are forced to sit and watch something all day. But not only do computers not have the problem of boredom and split attention, they also have the ability to see things people can’t. A fine supplement to the human lifeguard presence at public swimming pools.

Maybe, just maybe, the Republicans will get us out of this Iraq mess – Well, Frank Rich is right inasmuch as the Democrats continue to be completely useless.

The future of television distribution – In a presentation to the Australian Film, Television, and Radio School, Mark Pesce proposes moving back to the 1950s model of television sponsorship, where one advertiser sponsors the entire show. The new twist? The advertiser also provides the distribution — internet bandwidth, millions of free DVDs, etc. — and networks simply aren’t relevent anymore. I love this. I absolutely love this. I think he is right on target here, this model makes more sense than anything I’ve heard of so far.

And The Bandwidth Played On – A 1996 rant about how faster internet connections would be the death of the web. Still an interesting read today. The web certainly is nothing like what it used to be.

The story of Suck.com, possibly the internet’s first blog (among other things) – Unfortunately this article is really, really, really long.

Bush’s proposed new car mileage regulations are rife with loopholes and far less stringent than those already put forth by California – Not only will SUVs still get a free ride, so to speak, the savings estimates are based on gas prices of $1.50 per gallon and thus drastically understate the potential of regulations like those in California to decrease US oil consumption and cut down on the emission of greenhouse gases that cause global warming.

Evangelical Scientists Refute Gravity With New ‘Intelligent Falling’ Theory – They insist they are not asking that the theory of gravity be banned from schools, but only that students be offered both sides of the issue “so they can make an informed decision.” (via Kevin)

The trailer is out for 10mph, a documentary about two guys who decided to quit their jobs and travel across America on a Segway

Google Maps Pedometer – This awesome little tool uses the power of Google Maps to let you plot your running course and determine mileage, not to mention calories burned. Awesome!

Aaron Swartz interviews Maciej Ceglowski – He’s the author of the wonderful NASA shuttle program rant I linked to earlier.

A month inside the house of horrors that is Congress – A fascinating, but not very unexpected, in my mind, picture of how Congress operates on a day-to-day basis, and how bills really become laws. Hint: its not because a majority agrees with them.

Four-star general sacked over allegations of an extramarital affair – Note that he and his wife are already seperated and he is only 3 months away from retirement.

Why vitamin D deficiency may be a hidden epidemic – Solution: get more sunlight exposure! (Hint: that means exposure without sublock for ten minutes a day, a few days a week, not three hours of “tanning,” which, of course, greatly increasing your risk for skin cancer.)

Perhaps a little late for summer, Slate‘s comparison of popular sunblocks – Apparently the one I use is high on the list. So…yay?

The cruelest thing you’ve ever done (idea)

Can we still be friends? (idea) – I said very simply, “I’m sorry, but I can’t, I’ll never be able to let you go.”

Is it just my imagination or do the minutes pass faster? (idea) – The longest moment must be the moment you’re born, because that single moment is the only life you’ve ever known. I add seconds to my life now and each one must therefore be shorter than the last, and time will accelerate.

Joi Ito’s op-ed on atomic bombs and modern Japanese culture – [A]t bottom, the bombings don’t really matter to me or, for that matter, to most Japanese of my generation. I remember reading An Artist of the Floating World senior year of high school and being fascinated by the radical cultural shift that occured in Japan immediately after the war, as old ways were plowed over with malice and a new culture was created from the ashes.

A rocket to nowhere: the complete failure of NASA’s manned space flight program – Now can we take this and publish it in the New York Times? I’m sick of the NASA bureaucracy and I’m sick of the NASA shuttle program.