Blog Heap of Links for the day 1 April 2009

reportedly said he was so intoxicated at the party that he didn't remember if he grabbed the victim or not

The U.S. Border Patrol is erecting 16 more video surveillance towers in Michigan and New York as part of its plans to use technology to help secure parts of the United States' 4,000-mile northern border with Canada. The government awarded the $20 million project to Boeing Co., the same company responsible for the so-called virtual fence along the U.S.-Mexico border that has come under criticism for faulty technology. [Oh, it doesn't work? We'll spend more. (Democrat-think)]

[Graphic demonstrating energy release and incidents of different magnitude quakes]

Alaska Earthquake 1964. 210 photos. 3 resolutions are available.

The 1964 Alaska earthquake, also known as the Great Alaskan Earthquake, the Portage Earthquake and the Good Friday Earthquake, was a megathrust earthquake that began at 5:36 P.M. AST on Good Friday, March 27, 1964. Across south-central Alaska, ground fissures, collapsing buildings, and tsunamis resulting from the earthquake caused about 131 deaths. Lasting nearly four minutes, it was the most powerful recorded earthquake in U.S. and North American history, and the second most powerful ever measured by seismograph. It had a magnitude of 9.2, at the time making it the second largest earthquake in recorded history.

Cable industry executives said on Wednesday that putting cable TV shows on the Web was an opportunity for the industry rather than a threat, though technical challenges still need to be addressed. Concerns that cable companies would be by-passed by consumers preferring to watch their favorite shows online rather than on television missed the point that cable companies also provide the broadband pipes for delivery of Internet video, executives said at industry trade event, The Cable Show.

After years of hostility, lawsuits, police raids and heated invective between the two groups, the Pirate Bay has today announced they have settled their differences with US media conglomerate Warner Bros. The largest BitTorrent tracker has sold out to Hollywood and the two have agreed a deal. The deal, worth over $13 billion (10 billion euros)

pizza chain had prepared an internet coupon promotion which would let you get a free medium pizza if you ordered online and typed in the word "bailout". ... promotion never got the green light ... Then Monday night, someone with a lot of time on his or her hands started typing in all kinds of words into the Domino online ordering site, including "bailout". He/she stumbled upon the test promotion, got the free pizza, then spread the word all over the web via CNET.

The Economist Group is delighted to announce the development of a public-entertainment facility that combines the magic of a theme park with the excitement of macroeconomics. [Note date]

These images were taken on Sol 1858, just a few days ago (a Sol is a day on Mars, about a half hour longer than an Earth day). Spirit has been tooling around a high plateau called Home Plate, because it's shaped like, well, a home plate in baseball. There's evidence that water flowed in this area a long time ago, and as I looked over the images it was pretty obvious. [Note date]

The Economist Group is delighted to announce the development of a public-entertainment facility that combines the magic of a theme park with the excitement of macroeconomics. ... Other real-life tech companies are getting into the April Fools' act as well....

I woke up this morning to find an amazing array of head-scratching technological advancements ... seems a little strange to use facial gestures in the latest version of the Opera browser, and for The Guardian to forgo the printed page for an all-Twitter format. ...

Ah, April Fools' Day — you are a cruel lover. Your annual appearance offers us all an opportunity to see how wonderful (or nightmarish) life would be if Warner Bros. and The Pirate Bay actually embraced rather than sued. Or if Google really launched the world's first true AI, and newspapers killed their print versions and converted to Twitter. Or if ex-Soundgarden screamer Chris Cornell made a dance album with pop producer Timbaland and called it Scream. Wait, that wasn't a prank?

According to Bartlesville Public Schools Community Relations Coordinator David Austin, Nora King, 18, was reportedly with school staff members Monday when she fell ill. King, who was a junior at Bartlesville High School, was immediately administered CPR, and 911, as well as her father, were called. According to BHS Principal Terry Brant, the ambulance arrived within approximately four minutes.... [Harsh. Very sad, very harsh.]

Mary Sue Merchant died of natural causes in a tightly locked house on 25 acres in this small community, with only a dog for company. Now her small town is reflecting on why no one noticed for 18 months....