Cryptomundo is reporting on some new footage of something big, dark, and moving against the wind in Loch Ness. View the video here.

Due to the orientation and nature of the lake- long and skinny- Loch Ness can develop a current that runs counter to the wind. Often, semi-submerged logs can be seen moving against the breeze, just below the surface. That could be what’s going on here. However, the object does appear to be moving rather quickly. This could be because of an optical illusion generated by the wave action. Or, it could actually be a living animal. Even so, it’s probably a known species, such as a sturgeon or porpoise that has travelled up the River Ness from the ocean. Loch Ness simply doesn’t have enough fish to support a large predator.

But you never know…

BigCityLib is also blogging on this. Or if you like, you can check out my CBC radio doc on Nessie.

Hubpages runs probably the most ludicrous computer comparison ever, between a 1986 Mac Plus and a 2007 AMD Dual Core PC. And the Mac beats the new machine!

The Mac won 53 per cent of the tests, measuring performance on basic tasks (read: the things you actually use your computer for). Says the article:

When we compare strictly common, everyday, basic user tasks between the Mac Plus and the AMD we find remarkable similarities in overall speed, thus it can be stated that for the majority of simple office uses, the massive advances in technology in the past two decades have brought zero advance in productivity.

I guess the sprawling beast that is Windows Vista, while awful pretty, is more or less useless.

District Attorney Arthur Branch…uh, I mean Fred Thompson has formed one of those mythical exploratory committee on a possible presidential bid. Which means he will almost certainly run, since I can’t remember an exploratory committee that ever said, “sorry boss, you suck.”

Did you know Thompson was a Senator before turning to acting? Wacky. Law & Order must not be paying very well these days.

If Thompson gets the nod, I hope he chooses Sam Waterston as his VP. I would love to see their grim eyebrow-raising and scenery-chewing during foreign policy briefings.

UPDATE: Thompson isn’t the only one throwing his hat into the ring. Michael Moriarty, aka ‘the first guy’, plans to enter the race as a third-party candidate. Thompson may have the distinction of being a current member of the L&O cast, but Moriarty seems to have the disenfranchised lunatic vote pretty much locked up. Thanks to RS for this one.

Here’s a great idea: take a 10 ft long tiger that’s sharp on five ends and teach it to swim.

That way, there’s no place to hide when it decides to eat me.

On the upside, these pictures are pretty freakin’ cool. Thanks to AF for this one.

The Guardian’s excellent Comment is Free blog features an op-ed by none other than the great big bearded perennial thorn-in-the-side of America, Fidel Castro.

It’s a peculiar affair, where Castro chastizes Bush for spending so much on the military while neglecting the medical care of his citizens. He also thumbs his nose at Bush’s fervent wish that Castro just up and die already:

When [Bush] was recently asked by an important personality about his Cuba policy, his answer was this: “I am a hard-line president and I am just waiting for Castro’s demise.” The wishes of such a powerful gentleman are no privilege. I am not the first nor will I be the last that Bush has ordered to be killed; nor one of those people who he intends to go on killing individually or en masse.

Spicy.  

Chavez is on a roll. And quite happy to turn up the heat on the media controversey in Venezuela.

Despite his apparently shaky grasp of the subtleties of international law (last time I checked, ‘bias’ was not a tort), I might have to agree with Chavez on this one. According to Venezuelan gov’t sources, CNN has not been playing above board:

Minister of Communications William Lara has cited two segments aired by CNN, one depicting crowds of protesters and another placing a photo of Chavez alongside that of a late Al Qaeda leader and of some demonstrations in China. Lara claims latter images were meant to “associate the image of Chavez with that of violence and death” while footage of a demonstration was in fact taken in Acapulco when people took to the streets after the killing of a journalist and was not, as CNN claimed, of protests against the closure of RCTV (Radio Caracas Television).

If these accusations are true, CNN has some explaining to do. So far, CNN has vehemently denied the claims. As I say, this is not something that CNN could be sued for. Nor should it be used as an excuse to shut down more stations or turf CNN out of the country. Stations need to be accountable, particularly if they’re distorting the truth. But strong-arm tactics like closures cannot be reconciled with a supposedly democratic society.

A super-expensive, corporate clients only, touch-sensitive coffee-table shaped computer.

Users operate the machine using their fingers, eliminating the need for a keyboard and mouse. I’m sure any resemblance to any products recently launched by competitors  is purely coincidence (*cough* ripoff!).

I’m also pleased there’s now something cripplingly expensive for me to spill coffee on.

UPDATE: My endlessly knowledgeable visitors have pointed out that both Apple and Microsoft are ripping-off the work of Jeff Han.