In the computer world, we are constantly reminded of the need for good documentation. This is an extreme case from the non-computer (military) world.
Could there be a more embarrassing lapse?
Monday, March 16, 2009
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Previous lives...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
New Rochester blog...
Let's see how it goes, only one blog post so far - but it is informative:
Sisters of Murphy
I love the name - apparently an Irish play on the name of the Leonard Cohen song (and the band) "Sisters of Mercy". Playing, appropriately enough, at Murphy's Law (I've seen them at the Krown)
Sisters of Murphy
I love the name - apparently an Irish play on the name of the Leonard Cohen song (and the band) "Sisters of Mercy". Playing, appropriately enough, at Murphy's Law (I've seen them at the Krown)
Quote of the day
I’ll get the speech about how wonderful I am. Basic rule, isn’t it? More wonderful you are at the start of the speech, the more dumped you are at the end.
-- Coupling
-- Coupling
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Quote of the Day
"Wind power has no future on the Moon."
Randall Parker, FuturePundit, in an article on lunar applications of solar power
Randall Parker, FuturePundit, in an article on lunar applications of solar power
Making our own romantic night-time sky
According to Slashdot, Venus is no longer going to be the brightest object in our night sky - the International Space Station is going to beat it with the newest set of solar wings.
This will give lovers something a bit more frisky than the typical planet to gaze at (I wonder if this will affect birthrates?) while lying on darkened lawns, but it might peeve astronomers that are already upset at "light pollution".
This will give lovers something a bit more frisky than the typical planet to gaze at (I wonder if this will affect birthrates?) while lying on darkened lawns, but it might peeve astronomers that are already upset at "light pollution".
Monday, March 09, 2009
Quote of the day
"I really quite like being single. Except for the bit about not having a man."
- from the BBC series "Coupling"
- from the BBC series "Coupling"
Sunday, March 08, 2009
Jet city....
Some people view corporate jets as being in the same category as champagne and expensive cigars. Much has been made of the executives flying to their begging session in these jets, but here is a good defense of that "perq", especially the Cessnas that can land in 3250 feet:
Of course, only the last part of that applies to landing in Washington to beg, and I'm still not very sympathetic to taxpayer handouts to ANY corporations....but I don't like thoughtless sneering either.
HT MR.
That figure — 3,250 feet — means business aircraft can alight on any of the 5,000 or so public-use airports scattered throughout the nation’s suburbs, small towns and back country, as well as land at small city airports abandoned by airlines decades ago. By contrast, the airlines fly to only about 500 airports, and of those, fewer than 70 get about three-quarters of all traffic.
If two companies are competing for business, the one using a business aircraft can fly directly to one of those smaller airports and get to lunch with the client before the other guys taking the commercial airlines show up.
And the business people with the corporate jet won’t just arrive faster; they’ll also show up better prepared. After all, most companies send teams of people, and in their own airplane they’re free to discuss confidential information or polish up that PowerPoint presentation. What’s more, they can use the phones, their BlackBerrys and the Internet en route. In other words, these jets are offices that move.
Of course, only the last part of that applies to landing in Washington to beg, and I'm still not very sympathetic to taxpayer handouts to ANY corporations....but I don't like thoughtless sneering either.
HT MR.
Friday, March 06, 2009
Thursday, March 05, 2009
Quote of the day
"My mother never saw the irony in calling me a son-of-a-bitch."--Jack Nicholson
Sunday, March 01, 2009
Saturday, February 28, 2009
Quote of the day
"There are a number of mechanical devices which increase sexual arousal, particularly in women. Chief among these is the Mercedes-Benz 380SL."
--Lynn Lavner
--Lynn Lavner
Phrasebooks for time travelers
This news report seemed quite interesting:
Interesting, but a bit dubious. Mark Liberman (HT, by the way!) is inspired to provide a precise distinction between lies and "bullshit" (see original post) and comments:
What the researchers found was that the frequency with which a word is used relates to how slowly it changes through time, so that the most common words tend to be the oldest ones.
For example, the words "I" and "who" are among the oldest, along with the words "two", "three", and "five". The word "one" is only slightly younger.
Interesting, but a bit dubious. Mark Liberman (HT, by the way!) is inspired to provide a precise distinction between lies and "bullshit" (see original post) and comments:
Though I still hold out some hope that Prof. Pagel is being systematically misquoted, I'm afraid that I'm now reluctantly coming to believe what a colleague of his told me in confidence: "He knows better, but he just doesn't care".
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Sense of humor not applicable in this one
Sometimes it is argued that gay marriage is a rather frivolous cause - that pretty much all the important things are available without it. This story emphasizes why it can be important.
The gist?
The gist?
As her partner of 17 years slipped into a coma, Janice Langbehn pleaded with doctors and anyone who would listen to let her into the woman's hospital room.
Eight anguishing hours passed before Langbehn would be allowed into Jackson Memorial Hospital's Ryder Trauma Center. By then, she could only say her final farewell as a priest performed the last rites on 39-year-old Lisa Marie Pond.
I admire his sense of humor...
The guy in this story might have been a loser, but talk about a good loser!
The prank resulted in him becoming a national laughingstock, an indecent picture of him becoming widely available, and the end of his marriage.
His reaction?
Perhaps he is merely trying to lull them into a false sense of security while he thinks up a revenge prank that will top it.
HT The Agitator
The prank resulted in him becoming a national laughingstock, an indecent picture of him becoming widely available, and the end of his marriage.
His reaction?
“There’s no doubt I’ve been done good and proper by the lads from Liverpool.
“It was cruel, but I’ll hold my hands up and say they really wound me up.”
Perhaps he is merely trying to lull them into a false sense of security while he thinks up a revenge prank that will top it.
HT The Agitator
Quote of the day
If you suffer from paranoid schizophrenia, i know who you are and what you want. Stay online so i can trace where you live.
- Sharnna Harris
- Sharnna Harris
Monday, February 23, 2009
Quote of the day
I’m delighted Kate Winslet finally got a Best Actress Oscar, because she deserves it for being so good for so long but also because now that means, pace Halle Berry and Charlize Theron, that she will now immediately make a God-awful action film in which she wears very tight black latex, and I’m all for that.
- John Scalzi, stolen shamelessly from Coyote's blog. What can you add to THAT?
- John Scalzi, stolen shamelessly from Coyote's blog. What can you add to THAT?
Friday, February 20, 2009
Moral of the day
Don’t ever take the joy of death away from the public. Because if you don’t see losers in pain, you begin to think the game is rigged.
(as explained by Venkatesh of Freakonomics fame, who offers the services of experienced drug dealers to help out with our financial difficulties)
(as explained by Venkatesh of Freakonomics fame, who offers the services of experienced drug dealers to help out with our financial difficulties)
Thursday, February 19, 2009
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Tough job - and I can't even order that SOMEBODY'S got to do it!
For some unexplained reason, the death penalty was not invoked:
Nobody had any beef with the way the translation was done....translating at all was the crime. After all, if god had meant it to be in anything but Arabic, he could have translated it himself.
HT Language Log, which comments "Lucky for Zalmai and Ahmad that Afghanistan now has a democratic government controlled by moderate Muslims rather than the Taliban and other members of the tiny minority of intolerant extremists, hunh?"
Associated Press Writer= KABUL (AP) An appeals court in Afghanistan upheld 20-year prison sentences Sunday for two men who published a translation of the Quran that drove religious leaders to call for their execution.
Nobody had any beef with the way the translation was done....translating at all was the crime. After all, if god had meant it to be in anything but Arabic, he could have translated it himself.
HT Language Log, which comments "Lucky for Zalmai and Ahmad that Afghanistan now has a democratic government controlled by moderate Muslims rather than the Taliban and other members of the tiny minority of intolerant extremists, hunh?"
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
Word of the week - synecdoche
When a part is used to represent the whole.
For example, "This rancher can raise 50 hands for the cattle drive", when the rancher can actually raise 50 men that have hands.
"This baron can raise 50 swords for the king" might also be called synecdoche, although some would consider it more properly "metonomy".
For example, "This rancher can raise 50 hands for the cattle drive", when the rancher can actually raise 50 men that have hands.
"This baron can raise 50 swords for the king" might also be called synecdoche, although some would consider it more properly "metonomy".
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
Here's Lucy!
Lucy, "the oldest and most complete skeleton of any adult, erect-walking human fossil" (although I am not so sure about the "human" part, her brain wasn't much larger than that of a chimp), is on tour to the United States, according to Physorg. If you are an admirer of ancient fossils, you should be able to see her at the Houston Museum of Natural Science. Or you could just buy me a drink.
HT to ArchaeoBlog, which also pointed me to this cool National Geographic article on why the Great Flood might not have been all that great.
HT to ArchaeoBlog, which also pointed me to this cool National Geographic article on why the Great Flood might not have been all that great.
Monday, February 09, 2009
Quote of the day
Their rumpled clothes, their unwashed and unshaven faces, and their uncombed hair all testify that they are oblivious to their bodies and to the world in which they move. These are computer bums, compulsive programmers.
Joseph Weizenbaum 1976
Joseph Weizenbaum 1976
Sunday, February 08, 2009
"Yesterday in a naked way"
The best part of this Language Log post about words and phrases that are spelled the same (but mean different things) in different languages are the examples in the comments.
(The title happens to be what the Dutch "hier en nu" (here and now) would mean interpreted as French)
Another example was a Danish freight elevator titled "Godsfart"
(The title happens to be what the Dutch "hier en nu" (here and now) would mean interpreted as French)
Another example was a Danish freight elevator titled "Godsfart"
Stimulate me, Uncle Sam!
Not that we don't get enough ads for "Get YOUR share of the stimulus" on Facebook, but this transparent bid (or, to be fair, parody of such) for loot is actually funny.
Yes, all of the economic stimulus should go to bloggers.
Especially me.
HT MR.
Yes, all of the economic stimulus should go to bloggers.
Especially me.
HT MR.
Thursday, February 05, 2009
Say it, sister!
Megan McArdle points out a class action suit settlement that could have been made by Solomon.
Instead of the "plaintiffs" of the suit getting some coupons, and the attorneys collecting huge wads of cash - the judge had the attorneys paid in gift cards as well!
Instead of the "plaintiffs" of the suit getting some coupons, and the attorneys collecting huge wads of cash - the judge had the attorneys paid in gift cards as well!
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Quote of the day
Executives are generally happy to take risks but only with other people’s money (people who take risks with their own money are called entrepreneurs).
- Coyote
- Coyote
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Keeping it real....
Fantasy has always been a tempting escape....sometimes healing, sometimes soothing, sometimes addicting, sometimes obsessive.
I enjoy it quite a bit myself...not only traveling through worlds described in books and movies, but interacting with worlds built with human rules and with computer programming. My first experience with virtual worlds involved no computers at all: Dungeons and Dragons with other members of my college dorm. The adventures are in the imagination, but these are social games, and the bonding that occurs can be very real.
In a later game, The Fantasy Trip, I actually developed a romantic interest in the girl who was running a campaign (we both played in each other's fantasy world)...had things worked out differently it could have affected my life in a major way. Another person who played in these worlds would later be the best man at my wedding.
For people who are disabled, the computer versions of such games can do a lot to bring elements into their lives they might otherwise have given up on: romance, struggles, travel.... I have played many of these games myself.... Everquest (affectionately known as "Evercrack" for its addictive nature), World of Warcraft, Maplestory, silly Facebook games, and Second Life. Second Life, in particular, gives me a chance to use my programming skills to craft things in the virtual world that make the game more fun. Some people actually make a "real life" (or, in gamer-speak, RL) living doing things in the virtual world.
On the balance, I am very pro-gaming but here are some examples of people who take their fantasies too far: computer fraud, attempted kidnapping, even murder. People to whom gaming seems odd will blame the games, just as people who've never fired a gun will blame the guns. People with some experience realize that there are individuals who will make a mess wherever they go, however they do it.
I enjoy it quite a bit myself...not only traveling through worlds described in books and movies, but interacting with worlds built with human rules and with computer programming. My first experience with virtual worlds involved no computers at all: Dungeons and Dragons with other members of my college dorm. The adventures are in the imagination, but these are social games, and the bonding that occurs can be very real.
In a later game, The Fantasy Trip, I actually developed a romantic interest in the girl who was running a campaign (we both played in each other's fantasy world)...had things worked out differently it could have affected my life in a major way. Another person who played in these worlds would later be the best man at my wedding.
For people who are disabled, the computer versions of such games can do a lot to bring elements into their lives they might otherwise have given up on: romance, struggles, travel.... I have played many of these games myself.... Everquest (affectionately known as "Evercrack" for its addictive nature), World of Warcraft, Maplestory, silly Facebook games, and Second Life. Second Life, in particular, gives me a chance to use my programming skills to craft things in the virtual world that make the game more fun. Some people actually make a "real life" (or, in gamer-speak, RL) living doing things in the virtual world.
On the balance, I am very pro-gaming but here are some examples of people who take their fantasies too far: computer fraud, attempted kidnapping, even murder. People to whom gaming seems odd will blame the games, just as people who've never fired a gun will blame the guns. People with some experience realize that there are individuals who will make a mess wherever they go, however they do it.
Saturday, January 31, 2009
Quote of the day
Programming today is a race between software engineers striving to build bigger and better idiot-proof programs, and the Universe trying to produce bigger and better idiots. So far, the Universe is winning.
- Rich Cook
- Rich Cook
Thursday, January 29, 2009
The bowels of goofy translations....
Apparently, the Russians have a word like our "bowels of the earth" that sounds odd in translation:
The original post has a link to a sort of top ten list of hideous translation errors.
The main task of the public energy policy in this sphere is the reproduction of the mineral-raw base of hydrocarbon and other fuel-energy resources and rational use of Russian bowels for providing the stable economic development of the country.
The original post has a link to a sort of top ten list of hideous translation errors.
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Where does she find this stuff?
McArdle points out a site for "Dating A Banker Anonymous", which has posts like God, You are so 24.
A heartbreaking story, beginning with the ominous:
A heartbreaking story, beginning with the ominous:
Charles treats me just as well as, if not better than, many of the unmarried bankers I’ve dated in the past. I would call myself his “girlfriend” in the sense that I receive constant attention via text messages, emails and phone calls, fabulous vacations while he is on “business trips” and a never ending supply of gifts, gourmet meals and affection. I get all this AND I get to leisurely continue to date in search of my own Mr. Right. Win-win, don’t you think? I certainly did… until the mortgage meltdown.
Quote of the day
You know "that look" women get when they want sex? Me neither.
--Steve Martin
My best man once discussed the song Woman, Woman (as performed by Gary Puckett) with me, and pointed out he didn't quite agree "A woman gets a certain look when she is on the move, and a man can always tell what's on her mind." Or maybe he was COULD tell what's on her mind, but hadn't been around women on the move. Yup...me, neither!
--Steve Martin
My best man once discussed the song Woman, Woman (as performed by Gary Puckett) with me, and pointed out he didn't quite agree "A woman gets a certain look when she is on the move, and a man can always tell what's on her mind." Or maybe he was COULD tell what's on her mind, but hadn't been around women on the move. Yup...me, neither!
Monday, January 26, 2009
Quote of the day
A hacker on a roll may be able to produce, in a period of a few months, something that a small development group (say, 7-8 people) would have a hard time getting together over a year. IBM used to report that certain programmers might be as much as 100 times as productive as other workers, or more.
- Peter Seebach
- Peter Seebach
Sunday, January 25, 2009
Just in case you think it's only the right wing....
...that goes off the deep end, here is an example where a liberal would approve of an act of war against the UK.
OK, my friends in those British Isles, I really don't think that just because a country relies "on the Royal Navy for protection" that means it is OK to invade it.
OK, my friends in those British Isles, I really don't think that just because a country relies "on the Royal Navy for protection" that means it is OK to invade it.
Saturday, January 24, 2009
Quote of the day
"I suppose counsel have a penumbral constitutional right to regard each other as schmucks, but I know of no principle that justifies litigation pollution. … This case makes me lament the demise of dueling. I cannot order a duel, and thus achieve a salubrious reduction in the number of counsel to put up with."
- U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley
- U.S. District Judge Wayne Alley
Rules to blog by....
I'm not sure whether this guy is from the right or from the left (no hat tip because I forgot how I got there), but these rules would make anybody's political writing more palatable.
Thursday, January 22, 2009
Is that rape included in the price?
OK, this question does not rank high in the annals of good taste, but I really did wonder about it while reading the article "Alien World" in Reason magazine, about a theme park that let you try out the experience of being a Mexican immigrant trying to make it across the US border.
Reassuringly (I suppose), actual rape does not take place in the theme park as part of the regularly scheduled entertainment. A couple of pages later, the article explains how it is done:
Note that "coyotes" refer to the "businessmen" whose job it is to smuggle immigrants across the border. I guess you've got to really want to be an American!
Women and children are tossed into Border Patrol vehicles and driven off into the night. M-80s stand in for shotgun fire. Then there are the female screams in the distance, a soundtrack of rape.
Reassuringly (I suppose), actual rape does not take place in the theme park as part of the regularly scheduled entertainment. A couple of pages later, the article explains how it is done:
Then there are the screams that come from behind the bushes. During quiet lulls in the walk, female park employees periodically issue blood-curdling cries that echo through the mountains. It is not an overly histrionic touch. Rape has become so endemic to the border crossing experience that women often start taking birth control before making the trip, expecting abuse from coyotes or the bandits that travel with them.
Note that "coyotes" refer to the "businessmen" whose job it is to smuggle immigrants across the border. I guess you've got to really want to be an American!
Wednesday, January 21, 2009
Quote of the day
Women need a reason to have sex. Men just need a place.
--Billy Crystal
--Billy Crystal
Education and Tea Leaves....
Megan McArdle chimes in with her thoughts on wasted education dollars and hours...in this case her own. This one focuses on Sallie Mae, which makes education loans that in many cases are never paid off, for an education that never benefits those who work to get it.
Who benefits? Unscrupulous schools, especially those taking advantage of dreamers:
Who benefits? Unscrupulous schools, especially those taking advantage of dreamers:
I don't know how I ended up at Career Blazers (yes, I cringe myself at the name). It was like one of those plucky, poor-but-honest people you read about in Victorian novels--everything clean, freshly painted, and nonetheless falling apart. But I was too desperate to get out of that secretary's chair to be picky. I gave them something like $5,000, in 1995, to teach me to be a Certified Netware Engineer--an administrator of Novell's corporate networking software.
The technies in the audience are wincing, and believe me, I am too. As I found out after I'd wasted thousands of dollars and three months, a CNE was a necessary, but not sufficient, credential to get a job in IT. The minute anyone tells you that he has one (or an MCSE, the Microsoft equivalent), any seasoned professional will bar that person from touching his equipment. Anyone who would actually mention his CNE is definitionally too ignorant to be useful, and just knowledgeable enough to be dangerous. Of course anyone competent usually had the credentials--but all the credentials proved, by themselves, was that you could breathe and answer a multiple choice test.
Tuesday, January 20, 2009
Bad Boyfriend Bonus
Professor Drezner comments that Obama will be benefiting from a phenomenon apparently oft witnessed on Sex & the City (never seen the show myself): the boyfriend after a really bad one gets an extra dose of benefit of doubt.
Sunday, January 18, 2009
Never trust a live Jedi
It always amuses me when something as frivolous as Star Wars is treated with mock seriousness. This item does a marvelous job of that.
So much for that newspaper theory. In "Another Roadside Attraction", Marx Marvelous chooses his name to be the most loathsome possible, and
Since I am the epitome of the red-blooded he-man, don't trust syndicated newspaper columns any more than you would trust a Jedi!
So much for that newspaper theory. In "Another Roadside Attraction", Marx Marvelous chooses his name to be the most loathsome possible, and
What do they most loathe? The answer I arrived at was Communism and homosexuality. Communists and homosexuals are the targets of the majority of the normal male's fear-honed barbs. Thus you can see how I in my rebellion selected the given name of 'Marx'. The surname was more difficult. Obviously, I couldn't ccall myself Marx Homosexual or Marx Queer or even Marx Fag. But I remembered having read in a syndicated newspaper column that the one word no red-blooded he-man would ever ever utter was 'marvelous.'
Since I am the epitome of the red-blooded he-man, don't trust syndicated newspaper columns any more than you would trust a Jedi!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Most repulsive gift ever?
About a week after Christmas, I came home, and there was a package on the front step, in the snow.....marked "Open immediately - live". My wife thought maybe somebody sent you lobster. I thought, maybe poisonous snakes! There was no indication of origin on it, other than the name of the company that sent it, so I opened up VERY carefully.
It was filled with mostly moist straw, and some paperwork. About 5 gallons of moist straw, which was, according to the manual, impregnated with fungal spores. It was a "grow your own mushrooms" kit, mushrooms of the kind you find growing on dead, decaying logs. The manual showed pictures of what, with proper moisture and care, I could hope for.....the bag of straw, with holes in the plastic, would grow tumor-like bulges......
Possibly the most repulsive present I have ever received, but kind of fascinating nevertheless. I still have no idea who sent it...to the best of my knowledge, I have no serious enemies.
Believe it or not, I made the required "humidity tent" from clothes hangers and the enclosed plastic sheeting.....it is in my basement, only about 10 feet from where I blog. The bottom of the straw is in a bowl of water I boiled and cooled for the purpose (to remove any chlorine that might be in the tap water)....I have been using a spray bottle of the same stuff to periodically "mist" it inside the moisture tent.
Less than a week after I started the process, I had this (moisture bag removed to make picture):

By today, I had this:

With the moisture bag removed, and the wife giving the shroomie a kiss (for scale), this is what it looked like:

(Note: this was the wife making a sacrifice to please her husband. Don't get the idea she has some kind of mushroom smooching fetish)
To sample the goods, and to be able to get the moisture tent back on, I harvested the largest of my mushrooms and boiled it up. Subtle flavor, a bit like crab. Believe it or not, it looks beautiful to me now. My family, however, still finds it repulsive (although they did sample the simple soup).
It was filled with mostly moist straw, and some paperwork. About 5 gallons of moist straw, which was, according to the manual, impregnated with fungal spores. It was a "grow your own mushrooms" kit, mushrooms of the kind you find growing on dead, decaying logs. The manual showed pictures of what, with proper moisture and care, I could hope for.....the bag of straw, with holes in the plastic, would grow tumor-like bulges......
Possibly the most repulsive present I have ever received, but kind of fascinating nevertheless. I still have no idea who sent it...to the best of my knowledge, I have no serious enemies.
Believe it or not, I made the required "humidity tent" from clothes hangers and the enclosed plastic sheeting.....it is in my basement, only about 10 feet from where I blog. The bottom of the straw is in a bowl of water I boiled and cooled for the purpose (to remove any chlorine that might be in the tap water)....I have been using a spray bottle of the same stuff to periodically "mist" it inside the moisture tent.
Less than a week after I started the process, I had this (moisture bag removed to make picture):
By today, I had this:
With the moisture bag removed, and the wife giving the shroomie a kiss (for scale), this is what it looked like:
(Note: this was the wife making a sacrifice to please her husband. Don't get the idea she has some kind of mushroom smooching fetish)
To sample the goods, and to be able to get the moisture tent back on, I harvested the largest of my mushrooms and boiled it up. Subtle flavor, a bit like crab. Believe it or not, it looks beautiful to me now. My family, however, still finds it repulsive (although they did sample the simple soup).
Thinking of calling in sick?
Perhaps nobody at your work place has called in with the hockogrockles before!
Friday, January 16, 2009
Health care costs...
Coyote has a blog post which discusses health care plans and prices.
One interesting item I had not known is that price increases have been smallest (lower than inflation) in cosmetic surgery - which is generally not covered by insurance.
One interesting item I had not known is that price increases have been smallest (lower than inflation) in cosmetic surgery - which is generally not covered by insurance.
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Style and Condoms
I don't know whether this really is the "best condom commercial ever", but it has got to be the most stylish
Stupid human tricks
Trying to see what you can get past airport security.
I'll stick with amusements less likely to lead to an enthusiastic cavity search. Not that there's anything wrong with you if you like that sort of thing.
I'll stick with amusements less likely to lead to an enthusiastic cavity search. Not that there's anything wrong with you if you like that sort of thing.
Form vs. Function
Language Log has an inspirational post about politics, presidential phrasing, and "prescriptivist poppycock".
I won't have to pee again for a week now.
I won't have to pee again for a week now.
Quote of the day
In other words, older women are discriminating, which is why so few films are made for them.
New Yorker
New Yorker
Wednesday, January 14, 2009
I'm guessing this subsidizes the padded bra manufacturers....
This is actually supposed to be a safety measure.
"Klingon Urethra Gutting Device"
Actually, it's a spaghetti fork.
The next crisis....
It's probably not a good idea to take your financial advice from a cartoonist, but here Dilbert's Scott Adams speculates about the next big ripoff.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
I freaked out and cried when my mom went shopping for a cute pink skirt....
Yup, that's what my titles would probably look like if I were a woman blogger, at least according to this table of word frequencies by sex. You know, actually it DOESN'T read like my typical title.
On the other hand, I've never blogged about "gb", whatever the hell that is.
On the other hand, I've never blogged about "gb", whatever the hell that is.
Constructive Criticism....
"Stimulus" spending has been in the news lately (seems to me like the crisis has yet to appear that can't be simply solved by the politicians spending more of our money!), but I did not realize the Japanese have been outdoing us all along: apparently Japan spends "three to four times more than what the United States, with twenty times the land area and more than double the population" spends on construction.
Lasered fighting woman ...
Nope, this is not a B movie. We've known that those lovely white statues from antiquity were originally painted, and we have just found an actual example (head of an Amazon warrior) in Herculaneum.
The video here shows how it is laser scanned to capture the geometry.
HT Archaeoblog
The video here shows how it is laser scanned to capture the geometry.
HT Archaeoblog
Monday, January 12, 2009
Common Writing mistakes...
Sunday, January 11, 2009
OK, Pumpkinhead!
This is too weird NOT to point out.
We all want our kids to go to college....
...but Coyote makes a good argument that this is not always wise.
Back when I was still in Germany, there were 3 tracks in education: Volksschule, Realschule, and Gymnasium. You were routed to one of these tracks based on a test you took in 4th grade. Maybe this is a bit early to decide the rest of your life (actually, this was not final, there ARE ways of switching tracks), and Germany has abandoned this system, but it did have its advantages.
Volksschule was for the worker bees. School was only mandatory until you were 14 years old (plenty of time to get a grounding in literacy, math, and civics), and then you were expected to move on. This didn't mean your education was OVER - typically you moved into an apprenticeship that prepared you for a trade.
Gymnasium was a college preparatory school, and the track you took if you wanted to be a teacher, a college professor, a doctor, various highly respected professions.
Realschule I don't really understand that well, but apparently it was a middle ground between the two.
This satisfied both an egalitarian ideology (everybody had the same fundamental first four years of schooling, everybody had a chance at ANY of the tracks) without forcing everybody to sacrifice a large part of their life on preparation they did not want - in the American system there is no way these days to opt out before you are 22 without being labeled in some way a failure.
In Germany, a kid who attended Volksschule and went on to become a Master at his trade was STILL a highly respected person (qualified to lead and teach others - my own father was a Master in 2 different trades (metalworking/plumbing and heating/cooling) and an advanced Journeyman in one other (electrician) although he never finished Volksschule) with no history of failure behind him, even though the respect was of a different flavor from that accorded an intellectual.
In retrospect, I mourn the demise of that system. It should have been improved rather than abandoned.
Back when I was still in Germany, there were 3 tracks in education: Volksschule, Realschule, and Gymnasium. You were routed to one of these tracks based on a test you took in 4th grade. Maybe this is a bit early to decide the rest of your life (actually, this was not final, there ARE ways of switching tracks), and Germany has abandoned this system, but it did have its advantages.
Volksschule was for the worker bees. School was only mandatory until you were 14 years old (plenty of time to get a grounding in literacy, math, and civics), and then you were expected to move on. This didn't mean your education was OVER - typically you moved into an apprenticeship that prepared you for a trade.
Gymnasium was a college preparatory school, and the track you took if you wanted to be a teacher, a college professor, a doctor, various highly respected professions.
Realschule I don't really understand that well, but apparently it was a middle ground between the two.
This satisfied both an egalitarian ideology (everybody had the same fundamental first four years of schooling, everybody had a chance at ANY of the tracks) without forcing everybody to sacrifice a large part of their life on preparation they did not want - in the American system there is no way these days to opt out before you are 22 without being labeled in some way a failure.
In Germany, a kid who attended Volksschule and went on to become a Master at his trade was STILL a highly respected person (qualified to lead and teach others - my own father was a Master in 2 different trades (metalworking/plumbing and heating/cooling) and an advanced Journeyman in one other (electrician) although he never finished Volksschule) with no history of failure behind him, even though the respect was of a different flavor from that accorded an intellectual.
In retrospect, I mourn the demise of that system. It should have been improved rather than abandoned.
Saturday, January 10, 2009
Finding out you are fired....
This post has some amusing horror stories. My personal favorite:
More here. Fortunately, all my horror stories are about the actual work, not the firing.
I walked into the employee's entrance of my building and the security guard said: "Visitors must use the main entrance."
So I had to walk around to the front, trade my (deactivated) employee badge for a visitor's badge, and then walk up to my office to clear out my personal effects - for which the cleaning guy had thoughtfully left a couple black plastic trash bags.
More here. Fortunately, all my horror stories are about the actual work, not the firing.
Kissing rules....
I didn't realize it was that formal, but apparently every social group has rules for greeting kisses (as opposed to actual smooching), and sometimes these change. Some of the comments to that post were funny, such as the one speculating on where exactly in a "3 cheek kiss" the third cheek would be.
Careful study of these customs might inform you of where to travel for the maximum number of kisses.
Careful study of these customs might inform you of where to travel for the maximum number of kisses.
Friday, January 09, 2009
Quote of the day
What about that guy who set up the phony investment company? Can the Treasury make a new one of those, only bigger? He took money away from people and gave it to charities and the needy and the arts and higher education. That sounds like stimulus so why are we sending him to jail? Wasn't he ahead of the curve?
"Tyrone"
"Tyrone"
Thursday, January 08, 2009
Now that it's too late for anybody to get this for ME....
...I can point you to this example of how gift giving can be a form of performance art.
Hat tip: McArdle
Hat tip: McArdle
Eternal Burning Questions
Such as "Can a Jedi lightsaber cut through Superman?"
(The answer, by the way, appears to be "No" - or at least a convincing argument can be made to support that view.)
Hat Tip? The appropriately named Geek Press.
(The answer, by the way, appears to be "No" - or at least a convincing argument can be made to support that view.)
Hat Tip? The appropriately named Geek Press.
Wednesday, January 07, 2009
They need to find a way to plug my fat STRAIGHT into the car....
....instead of only getting it through liposuction. Yes, liposuction fat has been used as fuel for vehicles.
I guess the low tech version of this is called the bicycle.
I guess the low tech version of this is called the bicycle.
Statistical Innumeracy
Megan McArdle points out another example of journalists' incompetence with statistics. They reported "Holiday jewelry sales drop 80 percent" when actually 80% of jewelry stores reported some drop in sales.
The Language Log has quite a few examples of the way journalists misreport and distort statistics and science. I guess if they understood this sort of thing, they'd find other jobs.
The Language Log has quite a few examples of the way journalists misreport and distort statistics and science. I guess if they understood this sort of thing, they'd find other jobs.
Thursday, January 01, 2009
The Truth Shall Set You Free
...and if you don't want to be faced with the wrong kind of truth, have I got the source for you! Conservapedia is prepared to summarize the facts as well as Wikipedia, while warning you about dangerous myths.
For example, who knew about the dangerous association between liberalism and evolution?
Or how evolution might affect your views on homosexuality?
For example, who knew about the dangerous association between liberalism and evolution?
In regards to the theory of evolution and liberalism, in the United States, CBS News reported in October of 2005 that the Americans most likely to believe only in the theory of evolution are liberals.[212]
“ The CBS News reported the following:
Americans most likely to believe in only evolution are liberals (36 percent), those who rarely or never attend religious services (25 percent), and those with a college degree or higher (24 percent).
White evangelicals (77 percent), weekly churchgoers (74 percent) and conservatives (64 percent), are mostly likely to say God created humans in their present form.[213]
”
Given that liberalism is so prevalent in academia, it is not entirely surprising that college graduates are indoctrinated into the evolutionary paradigm via evolutionary propaganda.
Or how evolution might affect your views on homosexuality?
Also, according to atheist philosopher David Stove the theory of evolution was influential in regards to the sexual revolution.[205] An individual's view regarding the theory of evolution may also affect one's view regarding homosexuality. For example, Creation Ministries International states:
“ Homosexual acts go against God’s original design of a man and a woman becoming one flesh — see Genesis 1 and 2, endorsed by Jesus Himself in Matthew 19:3–6.[206]
Saturday, December 27, 2008
The Death of Romance
I was just looking through Time's top 10 lists, and was shattered by an event I had not heard reported. I suppose to some people it's not news, but Hugh Hefner and Holly Madison broke up.
To be fair, I'd never heard of Holly Madison before - my guess is she must be Dolly Madison's sister? - but you've got to figure if even Hef can't hold onto a girl (or three, apparently the poor icon was also abandoned by Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt) what hope do the rest of us have?
Jocelyn....do not forsake me, oh my darling!
To be fair, I'd never heard of Holly Madison before - my guess is she must be Dolly Madison's sister? - but you've got to figure if even Hef can't hold onto a girl (or three, apparently the poor icon was also abandoned by Kendra Wilkinson and Bridget Marquardt) what hope do the rest of us have?
Jocelyn....do not forsake me, oh my darling!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Quote of the day
Pessimists, we're told, look at a glass containing 50% air and 50% water and see it as half empty. Optimists, in contrast, see it as half full. Engineers, of course, understand the glass is twice as big as it needs to be.
-Bob Lewis
-Bob Lewis
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Advice from the Vamp
In the unlikely case that anybody has been reading me for a long time, they might remember my post on Trudie, economics professor Tyler Cowen's take-off on the advice columnist Prudie (here "she" is on dating multiple men).
But Cowen wasn't the first professor doing advice columns, not even the first that I have read. That honor would go to Camille Paglia (just happened to be glancing through her book "Vamps and Tramps" in my basement) of "Sexual Personae". She did an advice column in "Spy" magazine, and published some examples in "Vamps and Tramps".
Excerpts:
But Cowen wasn't the first professor doing advice columns, not even the first that I have read. That honor would go to Camille Paglia (just happened to be glancing through her book "Vamps and Tramps" in my basement) of "Sexual Personae". She did an advice column in "Spy" magazine, and published some examples in "Vamps and Tramps".
Excerpts:
Dear Camille:
I've been severely disappointed in my lady friends, who come across as intelligent women with common sense but end up making bad choices when it comes to men.
Jolted Joe from Brooklyn
Dear Joe:
You are puzzled by the irrational perversity of sexual attraction. Dionysus is a maelstrom. Love will never be tidy or safe. Jump in the boat and row for your life.
Dear Camille:
I'm a female who has rape fantasies featuring ex-convicts, aliens, postapocolyptic mutant gang leaders, etc. While I invent dialogue for both sexes, I feel more "inside" the male character, even after the female has gained the upper hand, which always happens. Am I bisexual, sadomasochistic, or just strange?
Is This Hell? No, This Is Iowa
Dear Hell-In-Iowa:
Make movies as soon as possible. Surf's up in your sharkish libido. It's the cyberpunk 1990's, so take us for a ride on the wild side.
Tuesday, December 09, 2008
Quote of the day
"A man has the right to defend himself…even against his own leg."
- — AaronS ( regarding Burress )
- — AaronS ( regarding Burress )
Monday, December 08, 2008
Sunday, December 07, 2008
Quote of the day
"We are missing one of the mice. I'm upset!"
- Jocelyn Fiederer (my wife, at Nutcracker rehearsal)
- Jocelyn Fiederer (my wife, at Nutcracker rehearsal)
Saturday, December 06, 2008
My favorite fictional body part....
Unfortunately, there are no news about the crockus, that part of the brain that makes females more verbally skilled than males.
Even though it doesn't exist, the name is just so damn funny this item should be kept in the news as much as possible.
Even though it doesn't exist, the name is just so damn funny this item should be kept in the news as much as possible.
Kelo in retrospect....
The Kelo decision thoroughly established the principle that a municipality can force you to sell your home for only the flimsiest of excuses (i.e., that the person they want to transfer it to is likely to stimulate the local economy in some nebulous way).
The principle is somewhat at odds with the facts, though.... in reality, for all the money they spent on legal fees, the town achieved only a huge vacant lot and a lot of outrage.
I don't know where Susette Kelo currently lives.
The principle is somewhat at odds with the facts, though.... in reality, for all the money they spent on legal fees, the town achieved only a huge vacant lot and a lot of outrage.
I don't know where Susette Kelo currently lives.
Quote of the Day
Speed, velocity, simultaneity, acceleration, and other mathematical abstractions having to do with the patterns of eternity were part of Martian mathematics, but not of Martian emotion. Contrariwise, the unceasing rush and turmoil of human existence came not from mathematical necessities of time but from the frantic urgency implicit in human sexual bipolarity.
Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Heinlein, "Stranger in a Strange Land"
Friday, December 05, 2008
Quote of the day
For what we will spend on the Farm, Nutrition and Bioenergy Act of 2008 we could have avoided the war in Iraq and simply bought a controlling interest in Saddam Hussein's country.
P.J.O'Rourke
P.J.O'Rourke
My clean mind
Anybody who reads this and has seen my "study" in my basement will appreciate my inner purity.
Thursday, December 04, 2008
"Young housewives having figures that will turn you on"
A serious scientific journal learns the dangers of meddling in things they do not understand.
Monday, December 01, 2008
Quote of the day
We have lingered in the chambers of the sea
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
T.S.Eliot (ending The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock)
By sea-girls wreathed with seaweed red and brown
Till human voices wake us, and we drown.
T.S.Eliot (ending The Love Song of J Alfred Prufrock)
Wednesday, November 19, 2008
Quote of the day
I'm sick of the insipid bourgeois neuroticism in current, careerist American poetry. Bring back the psychotics!
--Camille Paglia, via Language Log
--Camille Paglia, via Language Log
4.0!
That was the text my son sent me just now.
I had to text back to confirm that was for the whole semester.
Wow. It's not easy to impress a dad, but if you can't impress him with perfection, it would be a pretty lost cause!
Life is good.
I had to text back to confirm that was for the whole semester.
Wow. It's not easy to impress a dad, but if you can't impress him with perfection, it would be a pretty lost cause!
Life is good.
Monday, November 17, 2008
Quote of the day
I used to think the brain was my most important organ. But then I thought: Wait a minute, who's telling me that? ~Emo Philips. (via McArdle)
Sunday, November 16, 2008
Quote of the day
When one linguist says to another "Was that good for you?", at least in a professional context, the phrase usually means "was that sentence consistent with your personal grammatical norms?"
Language Log
Language Log
What I see when I wake up in the morning before I can leave my bedroom....

And in case you were wondering....no, since Sam has been coming over I am sure she has never seen me without my pants on.
Friday, November 14, 2008
Quote of the Day
"He smokes like a fish!"
-- an InDUHvidual from Dilbert.
-- an InDUHvidual from Dilbert.
Thursday, November 13, 2008
Quote of the Day
That's right....I might not have one every single day, but if I try to keep it to one a week they just keep piling up!
On the other hand, "Lyric of the Week" is pretty much a dead feature....sure, there are songs I haven't posted yet, but almost all of them are by Leonard Cohen. OK, here goes:
"When Dad agrees to something with a smile on his face, we have learned to reconsider our request."
- some 12year old
On the other hand, "Lyric of the Week" is pretty much a dead feature....sure, there are songs I haven't posted yet, but almost all of them are by Leonard Cohen. OK, here goes:
"When Dad agrees to something with a smile on his face, we have learned to reconsider our request."
- some 12year old
Wednesday, November 12, 2008
My favorite spam....
This is unlikely to be a weekly feature, or even a yearly one. Spam rarely makes me smile. Sometimes, maybe, in a grim way....like when my mother-in-law died and they had me clean out her email (99% spam) in case there was something in there, and one of her spams promised to "increase the distance of ejaculation" as though this were some kind of Olympic event.
Today one got caught by the google mail spam filter, but as I was hitting delete it still caught my eye "we think you deserve more than simple spam".
I'm gathering it must have been rather complicated spam. I didn't read it, but the subject line still made me smirk.
Today one got caught by the google mail spam filter, but as I was hitting delete it still caught my eye "we think you deserve more than simple spam".
I'm gathering it must have been rather complicated spam. I didn't read it, but the subject line still made me smirk.
Tuesday, November 11, 2008
Definition of the week
Maverick: somebody who makes decisions independently of peers.
Said to be an eponym based on a rancher that refused to brand his cattle - since everybody else did brand their cattle, this let him claim any unbranded cattle in the area.
Said to be an eponym based on a rancher that refused to brand his cattle - since everybody else did brand their cattle, this let him claim any unbranded cattle in the area.
Our two-party system
This article points out some of the difficulty of competing with the major parties. If you've had the feeling that the United States must have some people that would make more inspiring choices for leader than the ones we actually get to vote here, Balko points out:
The system we have now selects for the sorts of people who want to make a career of politics. If, in order to successfully run for high office, you have to spend years culling favors and working your way up through one of the two major parties, the winners in this game are going to be the party loyalists and power-hungry climbers who couldn't hack it in the private sector — frankly, the last personality type we want governing.
Bailing Out Republicans
This item struck me as amusing, in a grim way.
Actually, there is something to be said for it, or going even further. If they could only get enough Republicans into one of the houses so that Obama would have a reason for not being able to get things done, this might stop him from having to do anything harmful.
Hey, it worked for Clinton!
Actually, there is something to be said for it, or going even further. If they could only get enough Republicans into one of the houses so that Obama would have a reason for not being able to get things done, this might stop him from having to do anything harmful.
Hey, it worked for Clinton!
Monday, November 10, 2008
What a lousy job!
I tend to agree with the Onion here, via Reason.
I regret that I am not eligible for the job, but I am glad I don't have to deal with it!
I regret that I am not eligible for the job, but I am glad I don't have to deal with it!
Sunday, November 09, 2008
Elections, how to do it right....
Coyote is pretty happy with the way his district runs the polls.
I agree a paper trail is a plus, but I'm not so sure the LED is that meaningful a feedback. Here is my dream setup:
When you vote, by whatever means, you get a paper receipt of your ballot (which might have been printed out for you if you use a machine for input). There is also a paper kept as backup. Your copy has on it an automatically generated random id number, which is electronically stored with your vote. The printed backup does not need this number (to keep votes anonymous).
Later, all the votes are published, with the random id numbers, in a random order. You can type in any id number (but only your own is meaningful to you) and get the votes. They'd better match your receipt, or there has been fraud or error. The total number of votes also better match the number of actual votes (these can be independently tracked).
I agree a paper trail is a plus, but I'm not so sure the LED is that meaningful a feedback. Here is my dream setup:
When you vote, by whatever means, you get a paper receipt of your ballot (which might have been printed out for you if you use a machine for input). There is also a paper kept as backup. Your copy has on it an automatically generated random id number, which is electronically stored with your vote. The printed backup does not need this number (to keep votes anonymous).
Later, all the votes are published, with the random id numbers, in a random order. You can type in any id number (but only your own is meaningful to you) and get the votes. They'd better match your receipt, or there has been fraud or error. The total number of votes also better match the number of actual votes (these can be independently tracked).
Why can't they ALL be that dumb?
Probably because of how much I paid for the cellphone that was stolen from me a few weeks ago, this story gave me an unusually strong jolt of epicaricacy (yes, as per the definition of the week about a month ago, that's another word for schadenfreude).
This guy steals a phone from a deaf old woman, and then uses it to take a picture of himself on the phone network. Nice way to get a positive ID!
This guy steals a phone from a deaf old woman, and then uses it to take a picture of himself on the phone network. Nice way to get a positive ID!
Quote of the Week
"I am truly saddened for all of you who have allowed sex to be the foundation of your marriages. (And just in case you don’t think that means you, here’s a test: if your spouse having sex with someone else would cause you to end your marriage, sex is the foundation of your relationship.)"
Chris Strom
Chris Strom
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