taint.org: Justin Mason’s Weblog

Net: Great NYTimes article interviewing Bram Cohen about BitTorrent (u: sitescooper p: sitescooper). Good to see that it landed him a job with Valve, but let’s hope that’s not the last piece of free software from Bram…

One of the best things about the article, BTW, is that it does take notice that BT isn’t a tool for piracy. Refreshing, given how these things are often covered.

Tags: article, bittorrent, great, hope, job, net, nytimes, piece, sitescooper, software, valve

Funny: Getting Even With Nicorettes (NYTimes): a very funny article about giving up smoking by taking up a full-time nicotine gum habit.

‘I’ll be at a party,’ he said, ‘and someone will say, `Oh, is that Nicorette?’ and I’ll say, `Yes, do you want some?’ They’ll say, `Oh, I don’t smoke,’ and I’ll say, `Try it anyway.’ There’s this excitement and curiosity, and then on about the fourth chew, this look comes over their face that says, `Oh God, why are you giving me lead?’

‘It’s like prank gum. It’s like going to kiss your grandmother and finding her tongue in your mouth.’

Tags: article, funny, gum, habit, nicorette, nicorettes, nicotine, nytimes, party, smoking, someone

NYTimes via jwz: dude, you can’t build a wind farm where it would mess up the view from the Kennedy Compound!

Cape Wind Associates hopes to build America’s first offshore wind farm: 130 windmills, spaced a third to a half of a mile apart, across a shoal seven miles off the coast of Hyannis. Embedded in the ocean floor, each turbine would tower higher than the top of the Statue of Liberty’s torch, its three 161-foot blades churning at 16 RPM. The wind forest promises to provide Cape Codders, on average, with 75% of their electricity, 1.8% of the total electrical needs of New England. (…)

Soon, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound was filing lawsuits, mounting political pressure in Boston and Washington and, to bolster its legal case and maximize public anxiety, generating volumes of doomsaying critiques: (…) The yacht-club set opened its checkbooks, donating money and stock to cover the 100,000-a-month bills for rent, three full-time salaries, television and radio time, two lobbyists and three law firms. (…)

I think I may be one of a small number here, but I’m a huge fan of how wind farms look. It’s a similar thing to seeing pictures of the space shuttle; gigantic technological structures are cool! Maybe that’s just me though. ;)

Tags: compound, dude, farm, half, jwz, kennedy, mile, nytimes, view, wind