This article comes courtesy of gridskipper. I am SO SO SO into this kind of stuff.I don't care what brings me to Tokyo, I am definitely doing this. I understand that Paris has a similar tour of the catacombs -- if only New York smartened up to something like this. -Ian

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Where the Japanese Morlocks Hang Out

Only the pseudonymous genius behind the semi-frequent web dispatch Sake-Drenched Postcards could come up with a tourist attraction like this: A journey to the bowels of Tokyo, courtesy of the nation’s Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport. If you thought Shinjuku gave off a serious Blade Runner vibe, wait ‘til you check out the various shafts and tunnels that house the cities utility lines. Yes, they give tours, though apparently only in Japanese—if you can’t speak the lingo, best to just nod your head and marvel at mankind’s engineering prowess. And maybe pretend like you’re on the hunt for Akira through the underbelly of Neo-Tokyo.

(By the way, you’re strongly encouraged to mull about the Sake-Drenched Postcard archives. Just be forewarned that the entry titled “The Art of Ninjashot Photography” may be NSFW—at least if your office mates can’t easily shrug off snapshots of large female posteriors.)

Tokyo Underground [Sake-Drenched Postcards]

The UK's register has the following article about Steve Fossett planning on a first-ever circumnavigation of the globe in a jet propelled aircraft, without refueling:

http://www.theregister.com/2005/02/28/jet_adventure/

Sounds pretty cool except when you realize that the maximum he's allowed to sleep at any given moment during the 3+ daty trip is 5 minutes!

-Ian

PS. Big snow storm on its way....

This is really cool stuff. Connectotel has created a SMS gateway interface for Skype that allows your to bypass having to peck the message on your mobile. Instead you're able to send text messages from your skype window. For those of you who don't know what Skype is, you're probably living in the United States, for this Instant Messaging/VoIP client has got to be the one of the best ways to take full advantage of that $40/month broadband connection you've got piping into your home. Our friends in Europe have been saving cash for months now! Just download this bit of software onto your computer (mac support available too) and you're off and running making free phone calls, albeit speaking through your computer, to other Skype users. Purchase a few euro worth of talk credits, and you're able to place phone calls to land line users at very attractive rates (1.7 euro cents a minute to the US and Europe)! This service also lets you instant message with other users and now, using Connectotel, send SMS to mobile phones around the world..

Once you install Skype, check out this link!
http://www.connectotel.com/sms/skypetosmsfaq.html

Here's a little known trick for your mobile (gasp! cell) phone. So,
remember when you didn't mind using 411 on your mobile because the
company would pay the bill? Well neither do I. I do remember seeing
the charges on my monthly statement and kicking myself for the ten $1.50
per call directory assistance inquiries. Google has reduced the cost of
this to just $0.10 -- the cost of a text message.

Send an SMS (or text message - same thing) to "GOOGL" (which translates
to "46645"

The body of the text message should look like any of these:

# first name, last name, city and state
# first name, last name, state
# first name, last name, area code
# first name, last name, zip code
# phone number, including area code
# last name, city, state
# last name, zip code

Google will immediately send you a text message back with the search
results.



-Ian

Buy Your Diamonds at Costco

Because selling Picassos wasn’t enough, Costco has entered into the luxury jewelry market. They have a fancy yellow diamond ring for $180,000 on its website. It’s Costco’s most expensive jewelry item. They also recently sold a 1.44 carat pink diamond ring for $98,000. The ring has a 10.61 carat fancy intense yellow stone, with yellow and white pave diamonds set in a platinum and yellow gold band. In keeping with Costo tradition, it’s a discount. The ring is actually valued at over $264,000. Of course there is no little blue box but if where it comes from isn’t important to you and prices are Costco may be the place to go for jewels.

Thanks to luxist for this posting.

-ian

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20050212/NEWS01/502120405/1077/news01

Posted by Kate.......

Especially in a city like NY it's extremely simple to get free internet access.  Slate has an article that walks you through the steps.

http://slate.msn.com/id/2109941/fr/rss

-Ian

So check out what those crazy cats in Dubai are up to. The Burj al Arab hotel has laid down turf on their heli pad, yes the same one Tiger hit golf balls off of. This is the tallest hotel of the world. I'm not sure what you're able to see from these photos, but the baseline of the court marking seems precariously close to the edge of the pad and I don't see no nets!

http://www.burj-al-arab.com/tennis/

Check out these Photos of an ice storm:
http://www.bilder.leantik.de/

Since the web site is that of a German one, I'm assuming it's somewhere in Germany. I'll try to find out more.

Happy Tuesday folks.

-Ian

Here is an excerpt from the article:

Other common leet words:

•	"kewl": A common derivation of "cool."
•	"m4d sk1llz" or "mad skills": Refers to one's own talent. "m4d" itself is often used for emphasis.
•	"n00b," "noob," "newbie," or "newb": Combinations synonymous with new user. Some leetspeekers view "n00b" as an insult and "newbie" as an affectionate term for new users.
•	"w00t" or the smiley character \o/: A common interjection, analogous to "woohoo!"
•	"rox0rs" Used in place of "rocks," typically to describe something impressive.
•	"d00d": Replaces the greeting or addressing someone as a "dude."
•	"joo" and "u": Used instead of "you." This is also commonly written as "j00" or "_|00."
•	"ph": often replaces "f," as in "phear" for "fear" (as in "ph34r my l33t skillz") and vice versa, such as spelling "phonetic" as "f0|\|371(."

Thank you to Stephen for providing this link to one very weird person.

http://www.i-am-bored.com/bored_link.cfm?link_id=6570

Some of you may already have seen this but it's worth a post. This java
applet shows the popularity of names throughout the 20th century. Too
bad the name Herb has all but died off.

http://babynamewizard.com/namevoyager

Too bad that they're decommissioning this...
http://www.space.com/bestimg/index.php?url=besthubble_jupiter_03.jpg&cat=hst

NYTimes reporters must either testify or go to Jail!

Here is the Appeals Court's 83 page opinion that says Judith Miller (who Kate and I saw give a talk) must reveal her confidential sources as to the identity of a CIA agent. Raises some interesting freedom of the press questions. Expect this one to take its sweet time in the appeals process....

First Supreme Court Brief filed in Grokster Argues:

John Mitchell writes "The first brief on the merits before the Supreme Court in MGM Studios v. Grokster was filed Friday, January 21, by the Video Software Dealers Association. The brief suggests that while p2p systems may be used for infringing and noninfringing uses, courts should consider whether technologies may be used to reduce infringing uses without over-burdening the system provider, the freedom of speech for non-infringing uses (including by copyright owners who want p2p systems to be used to reach their audiences) or the freedom of competition (including first sale doctrine principles) of retailers and all intermediate software and services (OS, media players, codecs)that make downloading and playback possible. Bringing a retailer perspective, it strikes a balance of respect for copyright and respect for the limits the law places on those copyrights. The brief is available (in PDF) at http://interactionlaw.com/id5.html and at http://www.vsda.org/Resource.phx/vsda/government/p ositionstatements/grokster.htx."

COLLEGE STUDENTS DROPPING LANDLINES

It may not seem like a big deal that many American colleges are considering scrapping landline phone service into student housing — after all, research shows that at least 90% of students in most colleges now have cellphones — but it actually presents a financial problem for the schools. American University in Washington, D.C., for example, used to take in hundreds of thousands of dollars in phone fees; last year, it brought in just over $1,000. According to the Washington Post, schools like AU are finding that it’s now more cost-effective to either ditch their student landlines altogether, or just put a few phones in hallways, rather than maintaining their aging systems. For the handful of students still without cellphones, it looks like it’s time to start saving those quarters.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6955990/