Javabeans!

New Disney hand-animated film coming in 2009!

The Frog Princess is to be an "American fairy tale" set in New Orleans.

What the heck is going on with gas prices? Gas is around 2.50 per gallon (87 octane), which is about 55 cents higher than a month ago (according to this WTOP article. Is crude higher? not really. Refineries down? down that I've heard. Hurricanes? Ummmm....not this year. What's the deal?

It's even worse in parts of California, where prices are topping 3 per.

For your amusement (or horror), two articles about the recent Windows Vista:

Vista activation code cracked.

Is Vista a trap?

When buying a coffee maker, don't just buy for price, size, or name-brand (though they can all influence your decision). Make sure it turns itself off automatically, and make sure it's easy to clean. The pot I have at work will stay on until doomsday if I forget about it, and on two occasions I've driven all the way back to work to turn it off. The pot I have at home has lots of nooks and crannies where the hot water drips down into the grinds, making it difficult to clean thoroughly. If you're the impatient sort, you also need to have the no-dribble stopper thingy when you remove the carafe while the dripping is still happening.

A water level on the outside of the pot is nice, but not required, as is a clock (though most with auto-turn-off have a clock anyway).

Of course, there are many better ways to make coffee. Some people really adore the French press, and I know that I prefer percolated coffee. I wonder, can you sun-brew coffee like you can tea? And it's better to have your drip coffee go into a thermos rather than a carafe on a hot-plate. And always grind your own beans just before use!

You may have heard of "go," a popular game from the Orient, widely played in Japan, China, and Korea. To the casual observer it looks like Pente (basically "connect 5") but is really as complex as (perhaps more complex than) chess.

With chess, a typical computer program can defeat most people, and the best computer programs play as well as the best professionals. With go, this is not the case. Even the best computer algorithms for go have trouble beating novices. I know that there was a contest paying a million dollars for a while (don't know if that's still going on) for a decent go program. Well, a major breakthrough has occurred that may lead to a good program. Here's a Reuters article about the new program.

EDIT: here's a 1997 article describing more about the game.

Got a question about Internet Explorer.

Most of the time, I'll have multiple windows open so I can read L.J. while my e-mail loads, etc. Maybe I'm in the middle of reading an LJ entry when my e-mail finishes loading, and the e-mail window pops to the forground, interrupting my enjoyment of LJ. Very annoying!

I know that I can avoid this by opening new instances of I.E., but that uses additional 'puter resources, and isn't always a viable option (sometimes I want both windows to maintain the same "back" list, for example.) Is there any way to keep the windows from interrupting each other?

I found a reference to the 1992 Abortion Act when looking for information on premature infants (which I was doing after Acroyear posted a link to an article on using Viagra to save a 24-week old). From what little I've found about the Act (which I think is British, not American), it modifies the age of viability to 24 weeks from 28 weeks. Prior to its passing, a premature infant of less than 28 weeks gestation was not considered viable. Improvements in premature birth health care have greatly increased the chances of 24-week gestation "premies" and even a very rare 22-week gestation has survived.

This brings to mind the question of what is meant by a legally non-viable infant. I suspect the idea that if an infant is below the legal threshold of 24 weeks, then there is no legal reason to employ emotionally and financially expensive means to try to save the child. Maybe it is even legal to euthanize the child to avoid hours or days of suffering.

Unfortunately, I can find no solid information on this. I cannot even confirm that there was such an Act anywhere, including Britain. Parliament passed an Abortion Act in 1967, and amended it in 1990, and that might be what's meant.

New dollar coin available today. Sacagawea has been replaced by George Washington as the face of the golden-collered dollar coin. It's a new attempt at getting dollar coins into circulation, with not only George, but each president in turn for three months at a time. (side note: only presidents dead for at least two years can appear on currency)

Also, as with state quarters, serious and novice collectors will snap up a bunch, effectively buying money, which is profit for the government.

WTOP's article

Well, Pan's Labyrinth was not what I expected.

( cut for potential spoilers )

Don't get me wrong, it's a fantastic movie. But it's full of realistic horror, and realistic violence, and it's really not for kids. And it deserves every nomination it got (best foreign language film, art direction, makeup, cinematography, original score, original screenplay).

This video is hysterical! A must for fans of Super Mario and World of Warcraft!