Some random web applications

This is kind of neat if you aren't the kind of person who does this at home: Convert files from one type to another.

Track Terms of Services changes with TOSBack.org. Not surprisingly, this was made by the EFF.

The cry of the Poly end of the non-monogamy crowd is "Scheduling is hard!" - not without reason. I know there has been much discussion of someone programming the perfect calendar since Google Calendar doesn't cut it. Well, here's a list of some other tools out there. Anyone look like it might make your dating life easier?

Compulsive music people, are you using Grooveshark? Should I? (Seems to have a Facecrack option and a Wordpress option.)

The BitTorrent of search? Wowd seems like a neat idea. (I've been enjoying the weird flood of new search engines.)

On the Wheel of Consciousness

This book looks interesting.

The Head Trip: Adventures on the Wheel of Consciousness

Warren, a Canadian science journalist, combines the rigorous self-experimentation of Steven Johnson's Mind Wide Open with the wacky self-experimentation of A.J. Jacobs's The Know-It-All in this entertaining field guide to the varying levels of mental awareness.

Robin D. Laws has an interesting comment on it.

Also intriguing were Warren’s thoughts on dreams and their relation to our assumptions of narrative. I always figured that our dreams have been imprinted with cinematic devices since movies and TV became an omnipresent part of the modern sensory diet. Warren raises the possibility that dreams have always used these editing devices, leading one to speculate that the power of movies derives from their ability to mimic dream.

I can't decide if this newsy thing is a good idea.

Tintin, Nazis, Zombies and the Moon

Sadly, not all at once.

Two of those things.

The other two of those things.

Health Care

Here's a bunch of posts on the costs of the various plans in Congress concerning health care reform. Lots of nice graphs. Most interestingly, this analysis - done much earlier this year - is by the Commonwealth Fund, which is against single payer. They didn't include the one single payer plan in the analysis. The thing closest to a single payer plan still saves the most money and covers the most people, though.

Two Lists: Scary Time Covers and Little Known Civil War Stories

First, a list of 10 classic "moral panic" Time magazine covers courtesy of Reason magazine.

My favourite is probably the "Occult Revival" one. Mind you, moral panic about Pokeman is also pretty good.

Second, CNN gives us seven little known stories from the American Civil War.

My favourite is the hardly-surprising fact that so many women signed up as men in order to fight in the war.

Reputation

Sent to me:

[...] as I cut through the cafe I glanced at someone's laptop. All I registered was "hmm, man reading something with the title FEMINISTE," and I vaguely wondered if it was you, solely based on that info.

And since that was me, it seems this reputation is actually a decent predictor of my behaviour, as opposed to others I have had.

Clues

A mystery trail today while walking through Downtown Boston.

-- An explanation of art, with no art to be seen.

-- Art, with no explanation to be seen.

-- A comforter hidden in the fork of a tree.

-- Multicoloured squirrels stalking those with no food.

-- Abandoned music, "Nr 10. Herr Jesu Christ, dich zu uns wend" Scrawled beneath the underlined part, (Jesus C. wants a dick)