MishMash

Bluetooth risks

Ben Edwards on the Bristol Wireless mailing list pointed out this cartoon.

Tibetan prayer hard drives

Right now, your hard drive is serving as a Mani wheel, because there are several copies of the mantra "Om Mani Padme Hum" on this page, and they are all stored on your hard drive in the cache for your browser. [Digital Prayer Wheels, via Cory Doctorow]

Ian Jacobs told me this one-liner: “Did you hear about the jurisprudence fetishist who got off on a technicality?” [Tim Bray]

Thank you, Mr. Wang

The following kind offer from Mr. Wang,

Dear sir :
We fetch you E-Mail address from internet.
We are a very large CNG  4 wheel motorcycle-car manufactory 
in Chongqing of China ,  I am very glad to write the email to 
you , we hope to cooperate with you , at present , our factory 
manufacture  CNG DB175 motorcycle-car stock for supply , thus 
We could send the shipment on the same day of we receive your 
T/T or origin L/C .if you have the interest in this model , Please 
email us only to
 [email protected]  ;
 [email protected] 
 for detail as quickly . the minimum order quantity is one 40'high 
container 16 pcs. 

DB 175cc Engine  4 wheel motorcycle-car FOB Chongqing 
China USD 1290.00 ;  

DB 175cc Engine CNG 4 wheel motorcycle-car FOB Chongqing 
China USD 1490.00 ; 

DB 175cc Engine 4 wheel motorcycle-car C&F Karachi 
( Chittagong, Colombo ) port USD 1490.00

DB 175cc Engine CNG 4 wheel motorcycle-car C&F Karachi 
( Chittagong, Colombo ) port USD 1690.00

2,ZN 200cc 4 wheel motorcycle-car (take 4-6 person) FOB 
CHONGQING CHINA USD 1690.00
 If need CNG , please add USD 200.00

3, ZN 650cc 4 wheel motorcycle-car(take 6-8 person) FOB
CHONGQING CHINA USD 2500.00 
 If need CNG , please add USD 200.00 

4,CNG 200cc tricycle C&F Karachi ( Chittagong, Colombo ) 
port USD 1450.00 

40'high container load 12 pcs, we will supply 1% spare part.

(1),If you have large order, we will help training your engineer
for after service.

(2),If you have factory, we will help you to set up assemble
line or factory, we supply spare part and technology. you will
save cost which may cut some duty and carriage.

We wish to have long term cooperation with preponderant company.
(3),If you meet our term, we will discuss with you for setting 
up joint venture in your country.

Looking forward to your reply!
 
Best regards,
 
Weilin Wang (Director Manager)

The vehicles in question would definitely turn heads. I'm thinking of going into business. I also hope that by posting this here,

• Mr. Wang's email addresses will be collected by address harvesters.
• English language dictionaries which are based on current usage will detect the words manufactory and preponderant so that they might come into daily use

The End Matter

Jon Udell points out Louis Menand's The End Matter in the New Yorker. Essential, in places hilarious, reading for the academics and editors among us.

Security Blunkett

For the record (for the Wayback Machine, perhaps): Pete W came up with this last week. Google does actually suggest that it has been used before (last item in the list), but that headline doesn't appear in a search of the Guardian site.

The latest threat: the Bruichladdich

It seems that those dodgy folks of Islay have been attracting the attention of US spooks. The Bruichladdich distillery received an email from the Defence Threat Reduction Agency asking that he mend one of the webcams at the distillery, according to the Times.

Ursula Strearns, a spokeswoman for the [DTRA], said that such facilities were of interest because the difference between distilling a good whisky and making chemical weapons was "just a small tweak".

Piping leads to hearing loss, RSI, alcoholism, and marital breakdown

From BBC News, the principal of the College of Piping has dismissed the claims.

They were intended to be frightening from the next hill, so it would hardly be surprising if they were dangerous at close range ...

What brings people here?

Whale farts apparently. Most of the traffic coming here is from web searches for "whale fart". At least I can only assume that they're satisfied (hint, if someone finds this post from such a search: follow the link).

Top notch advertising

I thought this was delightful. The two layers of glass make it a bit hard to read, but it's a hair and beauty salon called

what's the point?