Wanted: A bash utility that sends the contents of a file to standard output. It would be named spew. It would be like cat but with the problems oft’ complained about in cat fixed. There would be a few options. One option would be to chomp the final newline if there is one. Other options would change the character encoding. Another option would be to specify several commands to which the data could be sent simultaneously. But otherwise it would be pretty simple. Spew.

See the whole “WANTED” list here.

So, do you think there is any connection between this:

9 months, 23 days

Mark your calendars! The end of the world is nigh, and we’ve got a specific date: the Rapture will occur on 21 May, 2011, and the world ends on 21 October 2011. How do we know this? As near as I can tell, it’s pure numerology…

and this:

That Killer Asteroid You Heard About Yesterday? We Knew About It Last Year

… there’s a giant asteroid out there called 1999 RQ36, and there’s a small chance it might hit us …

Certainly not, but both are interesting reads.

For a new project to fund progressive candidates, with the intention of countering the 200 million or so that Republican-aligned special interests have raised for the 2010 election. Click here.

Hat Tip: Highly Allochthonous

Tan Le’s astonishing new computer interface reads its user’s brainwaves, making it possible to control virtual objects, and even physical electronics, with mere thoughts (and a little concentration). She demos the headset, and talks about its far-reaching applications.

Continue reading A headset that reads your brainwaves? →

From Al Franken:

The Comcast-NBC merger is the first domino. If it falls, the rest will soon follow. If no one stops them, how long do you think it will take before 4 or 5 megacorporations effectively control the flow of information in America not only on television, but online? How long do you think it will take before the Fox News website loads 5 times faster than DailyKos?

It’s almost too late to stop this from happening, but not quite. The government can stop them. . . but first the government has to be MADE to act.

Net Neutrality is THE First Amendment issue of our time. If you want to protect the free flow of information in the country and all that depends on it, you have to help me fight this.

Click here to sign petition

Al Franken at Netroots Nation

Arthritis and injury grind down millions of joints, but few get the best remedy — real biological tissue. Kevin Stone shows a treatment that could sidestep the high costs and donor shortfall of human-to-human transplants with a novel use of animal tissue.

Continue reading The bio-future of joint replacement →

Without looking, can you name five major cities that still exist and have changed their names? Miss Cellania can.

What is a pleurodiran? Second in a series at Tetrapod Zoology.

This is interesting: “For the first time the number of [animal research] procedures involving genetically altered animals (which includes GM and naturally occurring mutants) exceeded the number of procedures using normal animals.” source Hat Tip: Skepchicks

Minnesota Atheists Talk Radio is BACK!!!

Whooping cough appears to be back, with a vengeance. It is now an epidemic in California. You need to know that it is serious business.

Is the future of the science blogging blogosphere gong to look like the Early Triassic (which followed a mass extinction event)? Bora seems to think so: Science Blogging Networks: What, Why and How

Reversal of hyperglycemia in diabetic mouse models using induced-pluripotent stem (iPS)-derived pancreatic β-like cells … say no more. Just read all about it here.

Dengue fever in florida: What’s the story?

It was already stifling at 9 o’clock in the morning as I frantically took notes on what I was witnessing through my field glasses. Without warning a black, hairy arm reached out to smack an unsuspecting victim, immediately giving way to a frantic chase that roused the entire troop. With teeth bared, the large, muscular ape bared down on his assailant amidst high-pitched screams of excitement before a resounding smack reverberated beneath the canopy and signaled …

… that it is time for you to CLICK HERE to read this fascinating post that bears on issues of Primate Psychology, Animal Rights, and Human Evolution, by Eric Michael Johnson, guest blogging at Neuron Culture.

Sheena Iyengar studies how we make choices — and how we feel about the choices we make. At TEDGlobal, she talks about both trivial choices (Coke v. Pepsi) and profound ones, and shares her groundbreaking research that has uncovered some surprising attitudes about our decisions.

Continue reading Sheena Iyengar on the art of choosing →