D.H. Lawrence by about two weeks. He was a prolific author who wrote about the effects of modernity and is best known for his sensual novels. He died of tuberculosis on March 2, 1930. (Oddly enough, I’m rereading my D.H. Lawrence collection on Kindle right now.)

You’ve outlived Nicholas Rowe by three weeks. He was a playwright, translator, editor of William Shakespeare and Poet Laureate of 1715

Anton Chekhov was more than a month younger than you when he died of a heart attack on July 2, 1904. He was a Russian doctor whose short stories and plays influenced generations of later authors.

Well, goodness. I suppose I should finish my novels instead of having a midlife crisis then, hmmm?

Texas Dept. of Transportation officials confirm a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street in Austin was hacked into last week.

Transportation officials in Texas are scrambling to prevent hackers from changing messages on digital road signs after one sign in Austin was altered to read, “Zombies Ahead.”

Chris Lippincott, director of media relations for the Texas Department of Transportation, confirmed that a portable traffic sign at Lamar Boulevard and West 15th Street, near the University of Texas at Austin, was hacked into during the early hours of Jan. 19.

“It was clever, kind of cute, but not what it was intended for,” said Lippincott, who saw the sign during his morning commute. “Those signs are deployed for a reason — to improve traffic conditions, let folks know there’s a road closure.”

“It’s sort of amusing, but not at all helpful,” he said.  Via my friend az2tx.

Video behind the cut:

HuffP has MSNBC video without ads and adds: “In Iraqi culture, throwing shoes at someone is a sign of contempt. Iraqis whacked a statue of Saddam Hussein with their shoes after U.S. marines toppled it to the ground after the 2003 invasion.” This is a “gross insult in the Arab world.”

Value added video.

Animated GIF:

via Metafilter

Yeah, I know it’s fake. It’s still funny.

Hysterical!

target=_blank>Flocks of sperm turning to the left indicates possible memory.
Does this mean every sperm really is href="http://www.wilken.freeserve.co.uk/Montypython/Songs/song15.htm"
target=_blank> sacred?

Speaking of sperm, didja know that few researchers study ejaculation control in rats?

The Bush administration announces the slogan for the campaign to combat
adolescent obesity: “Verb: It’s what you do.” Next week from the Bushies, Noun: It’s what you be.

href="http://www.news.wisc.edu/releases/view.html?id=7719&month=Aug&year=2002"
target=_blank>Odd, counter-intuitive finding regarding radiation