So cute

The least we can do is make sure they live the rest of their lives with dignity.

BBC: New Zealand inmates foil own escape

BBC reports today on another example of how teamwork can sometimes be challenging :

CCTV has captured the moment when two handcuffed prisoners' attempt to escape custody came to a crashing end as they ran into a lamppost.

The pair ran away while awaiting their court hearing in Hastings and managed to cross a street towards a car park before they were recaptured.

Sea kittens!

Following the lead of Greg Levonian, here's my very own sea kitten. His name is Kilgore Trout and he's adorable!

Fun facts about Google Checkout

All you people that were recently so excited about Google's launch of their Checkout payment service, I have to disappoint you. A more careful read of their terms of service reveal that they forbid the usage of service for the sale of following goods & services (liberally abridged list from here ):

• Academic paper-writing and test-taking services 
  
• Adult goods and services
  
• Alcohol
  
• Animals and regulated species
  
• Copyright unlocking devices or techniques
  
• Copyright media and software
  
• Counterfeit and unauthorized goods
  
• Drugs and drug paraphernalia
  
• Government IDs, documents, or uniforms
  
• Gaming/gambling
  
• Human parts
  
• Illegal telecommunications equipment
  
• Offensive goods, among them: items that contravene public morality
  
• Prescription drugs and medical devices
  
• Pyrotechnic devices and hazardous materials
  
• Tobacco and cigarettes
  
• Travel packages and offers
  
• Weapons
  

What can I say, they sure have most fun things covered... so if you were planning, in order of appearance, to have your Masters thesis finished up for you by that Ph.D. from Yakutsk, and then head off for an erotically charged vacation in a casino on a fake Venezuelan passport while loaded with Grant's brandy, cuban cigars, Vicodine and crack, clad in cheetah fur coat and chewing whale bladder candy, -- I'm afraid you can't have it all paid for through Google Checkout. 

By the way, sorry Enrico, I guess our deal regarding my left kidney is also off.

Lisp

One more reason to love lisp: it's a language where every function call is actually a funcall.

Mice suspected in deadly cat fire

BBC is reporting on a fire in a Humane Society building in Oshawa:

"It's unfortunate and ironic that mice caused the fire that killed the cats," Toronto Humane Society spokesman Ian McConachie told the BBC News website.
"Unfortunately, the mice probably perished in the fire as well," he added.

Unfortunately? We think the little bastards got what they deserved.