So… this (original) is a very cool hack. I admire it. But I have to ask what the social utility of it is. Should we assume that the links with multiple incoming links are more important? Less important? We tend to assign importance to numbers, regardless of whether any was intended. I’m sure I sound like an idiot idealist, but the tendency to equate popularity to quality disturbs me a little. Google is the most obvious flagbearer for this concept, by the nature of their algorithm; they do a pretty good job of toning down the effect, but you still find this blog way too high in the results when you search on “Population.” It seems to me that Ben Hammersley’s hack encourages people to think of sites with more incoming links as more important, simply because it makes the information so accessible. ...

Hey, it’s nearly time for a new Neal Stephenson book! (It was nearly time for a Neal Stephenson book a couple of years ago, but since he’s been working on going to space I think the wait is pretty forgivable.) Quicksilver is a historical novel, and is volume one of a … of a cycle. 944 pages. Booyah! The publishing monolith has provided us with an excerpt.

Yep, Richard Thompson really does cover “Kiss” on the bonus CD included in his latest album. It’s actually not that mindbending; it makes me want to hear him play guitar on Prince albums (Prince being a not that bad guitarist himself) but I don’t think he improved on the fundamental riff in any way. Which, come to think of it, speaks to Prince’s guitar skills. Psychedelic Republicans scores far higher on the wrongness meter. I kind of want these, but only kind of. My covetous instincts are sufficiently slaked by looking at the pictures on the Internet. I would, however, pay real cash money for a neocon Tarot deck.

The political commercial I’d like to see: OPEN on a shot of Rick Santorum. Smarmy still shot. Something that makes him look like he’s preaching. VOICEOVER: “This man…” CUT to similar shot of Bush. VOICEOVER: “And this man…” CUT to freezeframe of the infamous Newlywed Game footage. It’s the woman looking embarassed, giggling, caught in the camera’s lens. VOICEOVER: “Want to send this couple to jail.” The freezeframe leaps into life. The woman’s speaking, giggling around the words. “I guess that’d be up the butt, Bob.” ...

The Eater of Meaning is a Web page filter that is somehow so mesmerizing I find it worth linking to. (Via the Redhead (original).) Through its eyes, I discover that this blog is “Populates: Onerous. It’s wheelers I talmudization to mystics. Gaming, polarity, andrea lingo I donner’t wanderings to formulator abolishment.” And how happy am I to know that my blogroll contains such worthies as “Boiling Boiler” and “Officer Winslow Opinion”? Not to mention “Theraputic Volunteer Consternation.” ...

The Neighborhood Diner has opened up their patio and, apparently, closed their inside dining area. Or something, but anyhow they wouldn’t let me in, so I had the patio experience under somewhat more breezy conditions than I was prepared for. Less wordily: it was a little chilly and I had no sweater. But the food was good as always and it’s nice to be outside. Next time I’ll bring my laptop down and check for wireless. ...

Berkeley DB XML is a very intriguing technology.

Palladium Books just announced that Jerry Bruckheimer and Walt Disney Films have optioned the Rifts universe for a live action motion picture. Disney also gets dibs on marketing resulting from the movie. Now, chances are the thing will never get made. Options are just options, and don’t pan out at a high percentage. In fact, it’s kind of goofy of Palladium to announce it — trumpeting your options is sort of a sign of amateur hour. But that’s Palladium for ya, god bless their overpowered little hearts. ...

Hey, Richard Thompson made the front page of CNN.com. Trival little interview, but cool anyhow. “I prefer to work autobiographical elements into the fiction so that you can’t see the join, like a well-made toupee.”

More on inconsistent US opinions about the IAEA: we want an IAEA ruling against Iran. “Maybe if you let us do our job in Iraq…” The thing is, international agencies just don’t have much moral weight if one and only one country has veto power over them. Even if that country is moral and just. Fair? No, but true.