If this isn't a friendly audience, what is? Democratic presidential nominees sway helplessly in the breeze before the combined might of liberal bloggers at the Yearly Kos Convention.
Lookit them wild oats go: One in every 200 men alive today is a relative of Genghis Khan.
So, you're saying men can be librarians?
Do these pants make my butt look big? See for yourself with the dressing room buttcam.
The United Countries of Baseball.
Cinema of the Absurd: Can there ever really be too many films about clowns and gas chambers?
TV Legend Merv Griffin Dead At 82. See also a reminiscence by Mark Evanier for a glimpse of what Griffin was really like. Which is to say, pretty much the person you saw on the air. When being yourself has made you that rich, why bother to pretend?
It's a public library, right? I'm the public, right? Authorities say they have busted a serial book bandit who roamed Front Range libraries checking out thousands of books, tapes and DVDs and then selling many of them online.
Most detailed pictures of Earth ever seen: But, if I go outside with my cel phone and shoot the grass between my feet, won't it be more detailed than this?
Staff wear not enough packaging to protest too much packaging: Male and female staff at Lush in Watford's Harlequin shopping centre [and at Lincolnshire] stripped off to serve the public, wearing nothing but white aprons bearing the slogan "Ask me why I'm naked". The aim of the initiative was to highlight the overuse of packaging in the retail industry and to promote the environment. ("The store's naked campaign was part of a national effort, with similar events happening in 55 cities in the UK." There are stories from Cheltenham, Bristol, Edinburgh, Swindon, Wimbledon (2), Oxford, Bournemouth, and Cambridge.)
How does a Dippy Bird work?
Sunday, August 12, 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
News, Weak
Phone scalpers? A half-million iPhones sold in the first two days, but only 146,000 activations? Awfully pricey for a paperweight. "The difference is going to be what was sold on eBay or activations that didn't happen immediately." What a nice way of saying they were bought by speculators who intended to resell them at a profit, rather than activate them.
14 Numbers Your Cell Phone Can’t Live Without.
Full circle: New cans of Coca-Cola look a lot like old cans of Coca-Cola. No fake condensation droplets; no yellow and green accents; no drop shadows. What a wild, new, innovative idea.
Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.
Attention Red Shirts: Don't beam down with the Captain. But if you can get him laid, your odds of survival improve.
And while I'm at Wikipedia, here are Wikipedia's Lamest Edit Wars.
How much trouble can you get into for goofing up a class picture?
Cheap kids' diversions: Recipes for flubber, goop, oobleck, play-doh and silly putty. Directions for folding paper airplanes. Free children's books to download.
14 Numbers Your Cell Phone Can’t Live Without.
Full circle: New cans of Coca-Cola look a lot like old cans of Coca-Cola. No fake condensation droplets; no yellow and green accents; no drop shadows. What a wild, new, innovative idea.
Only Imperial Stormtroopers are so precise.
Attention Red Shirts: Don't beam down with the Captain. But if you can get him laid, your odds of survival improve.
And while I'm at Wikipedia, here are Wikipedia's Lamest Edit Wars.
How much trouble can you get into for goofing up a class picture?
Cheap kids' diversions: Recipes for flubber, goop, oobleck, play-doh and silly putty. Directions for folding paper airplanes. Free children's books to download.
Sunday, July 22, 2007
News, Weak
Get your game face on: "Checking your luggage through to Venice’s Marco Polo Airport is always a bit of a gamble." I'm thinking all baggage carousels should have numbered panels.
God's Inbox. (Apparently, God uses a Mac.)
Don't make me turn this car around: Now that it's too late for me, Wise Bread offers tips on how to survive a road trip, and Open Travel Info has 29 tips on saving gas.
The Cincinnati Subway.
I can see my house from here: On the other hand, if this had happened to us while we were at the St. Louis Gateway Arch, we would have had a great excuse for calling in sick the next day. "Boss? You'll never guess where I am..."
The Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois.
Another legendary newspaper dies: "American Media has decided to suspend publication of Weekly World News, both the print publication and the web site." Bob Greenberger has more
Everything should taste like bacon.
There's a Way, Said a Wise Old Man: David Wygant of Yahoo Personals offers ten tips to Charm a Woman. (And fifty comments suggest that these tips are, eh, flawed.) The Manchester Evening News reports that women lie, cheat and steal. "The favourite fib told by women was 'Of course you don't look fat'"...but "four out of ten (42%) would lie about contraception in order to get pregnant, in spite of the wishes of their partner".
The State of Sequoyah.
Can't remember where I read this: "According to a survey released Friday, the boom in mobiles and portable devices that store reams of personal information has created a generation incapable of memorizing simple things. A quarter of those polled said they couldn't remember their landline number, while two-thirds couldn't recall the birthdays of more than three friends or family members."
The Foot Mouse (Slipper Mouse) with Programmable Pedal: "It's more than a mouse. It's your stepping-stone to peak performance!"
Oh, and there was some book about a teenage wizard.
God's Inbox. (Apparently, God uses a Mac.)
Don't make me turn this car around: Now that it's too late for me, Wise Bread offers tips on how to survive a road trip, and Open Travel Info has 29 tips on saving gas.
The Cincinnati Subway.
I can see my house from here: On the other hand, if this had happened to us while we were at the St. Louis Gateway Arch, we would have had a great excuse for calling in sick the next day. "Boss? You'll never guess where I am..."
The Superman Celebration in Metropolis, Illinois.
Another legendary newspaper dies: "American Media has decided to suspend publication of Weekly World News, both the print publication and the web site." Bob Greenberger has more
Everything should taste like bacon.
There's a Way, Said a Wise Old Man: David Wygant of Yahoo Personals offers ten tips to Charm a Woman. (And fifty comments suggest that these tips are, eh, flawed.) The Manchester Evening News reports that women lie, cheat and steal. "The favourite fib told by women was 'Of course you don't look fat'"...but "four out of ten (42%) would lie about contraception in order to get pregnant, in spite of the wishes of their partner".
The State of Sequoyah.
Can't remember where I read this: "According to a survey released Friday, the boom in mobiles and portable devices that store reams of personal information has created a generation incapable of memorizing simple things. A quarter of those polled said they couldn't remember their landline number, while two-thirds couldn't recall the birthdays of more than three friends or family members."
The Foot Mouse (Slipper Mouse) with Programmable Pedal: "It's more than a mouse. It's your stepping-stone to peak performance!"
Oh, and there was some book about a teenage wizard.
Sunday, July 15, 2007
A Fortnight of News, Weak
Started, the Clone Wars have: The first test-tube baby created from an egg matured in the laboratory and then frozen has been born in Canada, in a breakthrough offering hope to women with cancer and others unsuited to normal IVF treatment. The baby is doing well and another three women are pregnant by the same method, researchers told a medical meeting in Lyon, France, on Monday.
The Evil Prairie Dog: I cannot tell you why this five-second YouTube video is funny. But I have watched it a dozen times and, to quote BeetleJuice, "It keeps getting funnier every time I see it." (if you can't stand it any more, here is the original source.)
Actually, there's one born every 0.3456 seconds: A half-million iPhones were sold the first weekend.
So who's looking at her lips?: Nina Conti is not just another pretty female ventriloquist. (Her father is Tom Conti, who appeared in, I think, every third movie filmed in the eighties.)
Next they'll be telling us a two-by-four isn't 2" by 4": Large sub sandwiches are the "must have" food of many super bowl parties. It's a no-brainer right, since most party sub sandwiches are sold in 3 foot sections, that's what you'd expect. But, overall, 7 of the 9 subs measured were short and none were exact.
Well, she apologized, so that makes it all right: Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams apologized Thursday for saying she could kill President Bush, remarks that drew scorn from Bush loyalists and shook up the International Women's Peace Conference in Dallas. Questioned about her speech Thursday morning, Ms. Williams initially denied making the comment but reversed course after organizers confirmed the quote. In a speech before 1,000 people Wednesday, Ms. Williams said that violence is a choice and the push for peace takes hard work and commitment. "Right now, I could kill George Bush," she said. "No, I don't mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that." As she made her point, she chuckled and some members of the audience laughed.
Do libraries cost publishers sales? From If Public Libraries Didn’t Exist, Could You Start One Today? "Among writers, there is a very common lament: someone comes up to you at a book signing and says, 'Oh, I loved your book so much, I got it from the library and then told all my friends to go to the library too!' And the writer thinks, 'Gee, thanks, but why didn’t you buy it?'"
The Evil Prairie Dog: I cannot tell you why this five-second YouTube video is funny. But I have watched it a dozen times and, to quote BeetleJuice, "It keeps getting funnier every time I see it." (if you can't stand it any more, here is the original source.)
Actually, there's one born every 0.3456 seconds: A half-million iPhones were sold the first weekend.
So who's looking at her lips?: Nina Conti is not just another pretty female ventriloquist. (Her father is Tom Conti, who appeared in, I think, every third movie filmed in the eighties.)
Next they'll be telling us a two-by-four isn't 2" by 4": Large sub sandwiches are the "must have" food of many super bowl parties. It's a no-brainer right, since most party sub sandwiches are sold in 3 foot sections, that's what you'd expect. But, overall, 7 of the 9 subs measured were short and none were exact.
Well, she apologized, so that makes it all right: Nobel Peace Prize winner Betty Williams apologized Thursday for saying she could kill President Bush, remarks that drew scorn from Bush loyalists and shook up the International Women's Peace Conference in Dallas. Questioned about her speech Thursday morning, Ms. Williams initially denied making the comment but reversed course after organizers confirmed the quote. In a speech before 1,000 people Wednesday, Ms. Williams said that violence is a choice and the push for peace takes hard work and commitment. "Right now, I could kill George Bush," she said. "No, I don't mean that. How could you nonviolently kill somebody? I would love to be able to do that." As she made her point, she chuckled and some members of the audience laughed.
Do libraries cost publishers sales? From If Public Libraries Didn’t Exist, Could You Start One Today? "Among writers, there is a very common lament: someone comes up to you at a book signing and says, 'Oh, I loved your book so much, I got it from the library and then told all my friends to go to the library too!' And the writer thinks, 'Gee, thanks, but why didn’t you buy it?'"
Wednesday, July 11, 2007
Why I haven't been around lately
The better part of ten days of my life were consumed preparing for, en route to and from, or attending the Robert A. Heinlein Centennial celebration in Kansas City. (No, smart@$$, he wasn't there.) This process was made more awkward by being under doctor's orders not to lift anything heavier than ten pounds, due to having recently undergone the implantation of an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator.Oh, fine, thanks. I plan to talk more about this on my LiveJournal page; I just thought you should know.
Sunday, July 01, 2007
Newsweak
WBKO, Bowling Green, KY: "A security camera captured two girls kissing... The dean of students said he saw two girls kissing. He checked the surveillance tape then shared what he saw with the parents of one of the girls. They then pulled her out of school, which then pulled the peninsula school district into a big controversy."
Wired Magazine: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed. "A new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Americans, on average, are less able to correctly answer questions about current events than they were in 1989." I'd have to see the actual study. I mean, this color-coded graphic is pretty, and the overall trends don't speak well of us, granted. But my eye zips straight to the one anomalous datum, which is unmentioned in the article itself: In 1989 only 14% or respondents could name the Speaker of the House, and in 2007 49% could. Given how often the media bludgeon us with the history-making aspects of the current occupant of that position, I guess the surprise really is that, even so, the number should be bigger.
American Chronicle: "Now here's a pickle of a predicament: I was stark naked at 6:15 in the morning with no house key and standing next to a locked rental in the garage of someone who was 2,000 miles away."
American Journalism Review: What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart. "The stock-in-trade of 'The Daily Show' is hypocrisy, exposing hypocrisy. And nobody else has the guts to do it. They really know how to crystallize an issue on all sides, see the silliness everywhere." Of course, there's also the fact that Stewart can have his cake and eat it too: Most current students consider what he does to actually be journalism, but when Stewart does get facts wrong, he need only shrug and smirk, "This is a comedy show, what do you expect?"
Canoe: "The 2 1/2-kilometre barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border was designed to keep cars from illegally crossing into the United States. There's just one problem: It was accidentally built on Mexican soil. ...A routine aerial survey in March revealed that the barrier protrudes into Mexico by as much as two metres." Wow. Two whole meters. And we know how much the strict letter of the law matters to our guest workers from Mexico.
Neomeme: Nine Cool Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Wikipedia.
C|net News: One company has come up with a way for your new printer to lock-out third-party and remanufactured ink cartridges. Of course, it's intended to put a halt to pirated ink-tank technology, and would never be used to interfere with legitimate recycling business.
Wired Magazine: Despite the Web, Americans Remain Woefully Ill-Informed. "A new study from the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press shows that Americans, on average, are less able to correctly answer questions about current events than they were in 1989." I'd have to see the actual study. I mean, this color-coded graphic is pretty, and the overall trends don't speak well of us, granted. But my eye zips straight to the one anomalous datum, which is unmentioned in the article itself: In 1989 only 14% or respondents could name the Speaker of the House, and in 2007 49% could. Given how often the media bludgeon us with the history-making aspects of the current occupant of that position, I guess the surprise really is that, even so, the number should be bigger.
American Chronicle: "Now here's a pickle of a predicament: I was stark naked at 6:15 in the morning with no house key and standing next to a locked rental in the garage of someone who was 2,000 miles away."
American Journalism Review: What the Mainstream Media Can Learn From Jon Stewart. "The stock-in-trade of 'The Daily Show' is hypocrisy, exposing hypocrisy. And nobody else has the guts to do it. They really know how to crystallize an issue on all sides, see the silliness everywhere." Of course, there's also the fact that Stewart can have his cake and eat it too: Most current students consider what he does to actually be journalism, but when Stewart does get facts wrong, he need only shrug and smirk, "This is a comedy show, what do you expect?"
Canoe: "The 2 1/2-kilometre barrier along the U.S.-Mexico border was designed to keep cars from illegally crossing into the United States. There's just one problem: It was accidentally built on Mexican soil. ...A routine aerial survey in March revealed that the barrier protrudes into Mexico by as much as two metres." Wow. Two whole meters. And we know how much the strict letter of the law matters to our guest workers from Mexico.
Neomeme: Nine Cool Things You Didn’t Know You Could Do With Wikipedia.
C|net News: One company has come up with a way for your new printer to lock-out third-party and remanufactured ink cartridges. Of course, it's intended to put a halt to pirated ink-tank technology, and would never be used to interfere with legitimate recycling business.
Sunday, June 24, 2007
Newsweak
There are still a lot of things that you can do with a penny. Here are 83 of them.
If you're looking for another way to stand out from the crowd -- or if you're just indecisive -- here are 31 Different Ways To Lace Shoes.
Can the level of math education sink any lower?
Saturdays in August, on ABC: Four thought-provoking tales of present and future Earth are brought to life in "Masters of Science Fiction", an all-new anthology series featuring a stellar lineup of actors and directors, and narrated by acclaimed physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. (The width and breadth of the body of Robert Heinlein's work to choose from, and they decided to adapt "Jerry Was A Man"?)
You might think it would be safe enough to hike naked on the Appalachian Trail. You'd be wrong.
"Here are some tips for job seekers who meet with recruiters in Second Life...Tailor your avatar to the position you're applying for. It's not necessary to dress up in a suit - but if you are interviewing with an employer that has a conservative workplace culture, you probably don't want to show up as a troll or a mermaid." Here's another tip: Bwah-hah-hah! (See also Valleywag's reaction.)
US News and World Report: "The April release of Behind the Pay Gap by the American Association of University Women Education Foundation reported that one year after college graduation, women working full time earn just 80 percent as much as their male counterparts. The report noted that one potential reason for this difference is that female students are clustered in college majors tied to careers that lead to smaller paychecks."
Admit it, if you had an electronic bubble wrap toy, you'd play with it.
If you're looking for another way to stand out from the crowd -- or if you're just indecisive -- here are 31 Different Ways To Lace Shoes.
Can the level of math education sink any lower?
Saturdays in August, on ABC: Four thought-provoking tales of present and future Earth are brought to life in "Masters of Science Fiction", an all-new anthology series featuring a stellar lineup of actors and directors, and narrated by acclaimed physicist Professor Stephen Hawking. (The width and breadth of the body of Robert Heinlein's work to choose from, and they decided to adapt "Jerry Was A Man"?)
You might think it would be safe enough to hike naked on the Appalachian Trail. You'd be wrong.
"Here are some tips for job seekers who meet with recruiters in Second Life...Tailor your avatar to the position you're applying for. It's not necessary to dress up in a suit - but if you are interviewing with an employer that has a conservative workplace culture, you probably don't want to show up as a troll or a mermaid." Here's another tip: Bwah-hah-hah! (See also Valleywag's reaction.)
US News and World Report: "The April release of Behind the Pay Gap by the American Association of University Women Education Foundation reported that one year after college graduation, women working full time earn just 80 percent as much as their male counterparts. The report noted that one potential reason for this difference is that female students are clustered in college majors tied to careers that lead to smaller paychecks."
Admit it, if you had an electronic bubble wrap toy, you'd play with it.
On my way to being a Cyborg
I don't wish to become one of those people who has nothing to talk about other than his own medical problems, but I thought you might like to know.
I'm scheduled to undergo the implantation of an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) at Crawford Long on Wednesday, June 27. The full story is here.
I'm scheduled to undergo the implantation of an Internal Cardiac Defibrillator (ICD) at Crawford Long on Wednesday, June 27. The full story is here.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
Newsweak
If I told you that a senator called for an ambulance to have himself rushed to a television interview, I'll bet you'd assume it was one of ours. It's OK, though, President Bush was involved, so you can blame him if you want.
Who owns the media?
Mark Evanier said:
Jeff Bezos: We lose money on every unit we sell, but we make it up in volume.
It would appear that this writer can think of only one use for a "female" robot. Shouldn't feminists resent that? The Japanese designers' intent, as best I can determine from this one-note summary, is to create a machine that moves with something that might be called "grace". It's probably another approach at bridging the uncanny valley charted by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. The theory is, the more you humanize an object, the cuter people tend to think it is -- up to a point. But past that point, when something is close to human but clearly not human, we react with revulsion. Stuffed animals are cute, lifelike prosthetics are creepy. Monkeys are cute, zombies are horrific.
The Shatner Show: "Every artist has their muse. Leonardo was inspired by the ceiling in the great chapel. [Huh?] Michelangelo found his art in the Italian marble. Who am I to stand in the way of all these fine artists and artisans who want to use my lumpy, aging face for inspiration?"
Getting rid of noisy kids in one easy step: Lean toward their caregiver and softly say, "According to the terms of my parole, I'm not really supposed to be this close to children." The gentler and more friendly you are, the more dramatic the reaction when the meaning of the phrase sinks in.
"I'd like to smack the idiot who designed this intersection."
Now that USB drives (or flash drives, or thumb drives, or whatever you want to call 'em) are so ubiquitous, inexpensive, and small, we have to face facts: The cost of losing one is not the cost of replacing the drive, but the consequences of losing the data it contains.
Daily Show: 'Don't they know we're all recording this stuff?'
The truth about doctors. "For a new patient, I book it for 40 minutes. Some doctors make it ten. For a second visit, some make it five. If you’re an HMO doctor, the network will tell you to see, on average, a patient every seven minutes. HMOs tell us to see more patients; malpractice insurance tells us to take all the time we need."
Who owns the media?
Mark Evanier said:
Ray Stevens' ... most recent record was a thing called "The New Battle of New Orleans," which I haven't heard. A couple of folks have written me in the last hour to say that they have, and that it's wingnut claptrap with a racist edge. The lyrics to the song, which are posted over here, sure lead one to that viewpoint. It's amazing that someone could be from that area and write a song about Hurricane Katrina with zero sympathy for the victims.It's amazing to me that anyone could read those lyrics and conclude that they are "racist wingnut claptrap." In order to accept that view, one would have to grant that any criticism of Jesse Jackson or Louis Farrakan is inherently racist. And in order to read the song as expressing "zero sympathy for the victims", one would have to believe that Mayor Nagin and Governor Blanco are victims.
Jeff Bezos: We lose money on every unit we sell, but we make it up in volume.
It would appear that this writer can think of only one use for a "female" robot. Shouldn't feminists resent that? The Japanese designers' intent, as best I can determine from this one-note summary, is to create a machine that moves with something that might be called "grace". It's probably another approach at bridging the uncanny valley charted by Japanese roboticist Masahiro Mori in 1970. The theory is, the more you humanize an object, the cuter people tend to think it is -- up to a point. But past that point, when something is close to human but clearly not human, we react with revulsion. Stuffed animals are cute, lifelike prosthetics are creepy. Monkeys are cute, zombies are horrific.
The Shatner Show: "Every artist has their muse. Leonardo was inspired by the ceiling in the great chapel. [Huh?] Michelangelo found his art in the Italian marble. Who am I to stand in the way of all these fine artists and artisans who want to use my lumpy, aging face for inspiration?"
Getting rid of noisy kids in one easy step: Lean toward their caregiver and softly say, "According to the terms of my parole, I'm not really supposed to be this close to children." The gentler and more friendly you are, the more dramatic the reaction when the meaning of the phrase sinks in.
"I'd like to smack the idiot who designed this intersection."
Now that USB drives (or flash drives, or thumb drives, or whatever you want to call 'em) are so ubiquitous, inexpensive, and small, we have to face facts: The cost of losing one is not the cost of replacing the drive, but the consequences of losing the data it contains.
Daily Show: 'Don't they know we're all recording this stuff?'
The truth about doctors. "For a new patient, I book it for 40 minutes. Some doctors make it ten. For a second visit, some make it five. If you’re an HMO doctor, the network will tell you to see, on average, a patient every seven minutes. HMOs tell us to see more patients; malpractice insurance tells us to take all the time we need."
Monday, June 11, 2007
Newsweak
Spa billboard (right) called racy and all wrong. (Chicago Tribune link requires free registration: Consumerist link doesn't.)How I got out of writing an essay on H.G. Well's The Time Machine. "A humanities course should not be required for my B.Sc degree in Physics." (Wells' name and missing period after abbreviation as in original document.)
Origin of deja vu pinpointed.
Britons lose an amazing 885,000 mobile phone handsets each year - by accidentally dropping them into the toilet and flushing them away.
Audio compression is evil. (video)
HP: Digital cameras for fat people. (Remember Friends? Monica excuses her prom-era weight with "Well, you know, the camera adds ten pounds," and Chandler responds "How many did you have on you?")
Winnie Cooper is my hero. (Main page.)
A young clerk with no knowledge of the 1989 Tiananmen Square crackdown allowed a tribute to victims slip into the classified ads page of a newspaper in southwest China.
With Powerpoint comes great responsibility. (video)
A physics teacher begs for his subject back. "I am a physics teacher. Or, at least I used to be. My subject is still called physics. My pupils will sit an exam and earn a GCSE in physics, but that exam doesn’t cover anything I recognize as physics."
Origin of deja vu pinpointed.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Newsweak
But first, some blatant self-promotion: I play the Army Air Force veteran in this week's ARTC Podcast, "Unaccustomed to Fear".
"Thousands of LiveJournal customers are rebelling against the company's recent decision to censor hundreds of sex-themed discussion groups, a broad swath that has led to the removal of literary critiques and fan-written fiction about Harry Potter." Do remember, though, that it's only a First Amendment issue if the government is suppressing it. Any private company has the right to limit how its resources are used. If this bothers you, buy your own domain and server: They're cheap enough. (Why, yes, I do own purplemaster.com.)
The good news is, hybrid automobiles are beginning to sell. The bad news is, they're selling for the "wrong reasons". They aren't replacing those mean old SUVs, they're fashion statements, the third car in "two-car" households.
Turn off the TV and broadband for a week and family life goes completely to hell. (Spoilers: They cheat on days 2 and 6, and mostly sit around glaring at each other the rest of the week.) Perhaps the most amusing part of the article is the closing, Mother's Tips To Cut Screen Addiction, among them: "Take your children on holiday to countries where broadband has yet to make substantial inroads."
From VH1's Best Week Ever: This Video Contains All Of The Reasons Why Our Society Is Doomed. I've nothing to add to it. Try not to read the spoilerrific text in the entry and just click on the two-minute video.
I suppose that with Google Maps now offering street-level photographs, it's inevitable that someone would be creeped out by what they can see. Heck, I was creeped out the first time I saw my own front porch at a9.com. (Gosh, I wish my house were prettier.) One woman was creeped out when she discovered she'd left her curtains open the day the Google van drove by, and the world can see her living room -- and her cat. But within a day or two this phenomenon was topped by 90 West Santa Clara St in San Jose, where you can see dead people. I'm sure you'd rather check out co-eds sunbathing at Stanford.
Speaking of which (sort of), signs of Spencer Tunick were spotted this weekend in Amsterdam.
Egypt: Fatwa allows breast-feeding among adults. This is a couple of weeks old. I've been holding on to it until I could wrap my head around it (so to speak), but the logic still makes me dizzy.
"We have to remember that while more women are showing more cleavage, you really have to use your breast power responsibly." With great hooters come great responsibility, as I'm sure Stan Lee would have said had Peter Parker been bitten by a radioactive Scarlett Johansson. (I think I just stumbled upon the plot for Spider-Man 4.)
"Thousands of LiveJournal customers are rebelling against the company's recent decision to censor hundreds of sex-themed discussion groups, a broad swath that has led to the removal of literary critiques and fan-written fiction about Harry Potter." Do remember, though, that it's only a First Amendment issue if the government is suppressing it. Any private company has the right to limit how its resources are used. If this bothers you, buy your own domain and server: They're cheap enough. (Why, yes, I do own purplemaster.com.)
The good news is, hybrid automobiles are beginning to sell. The bad news is, they're selling for the "wrong reasons". They aren't replacing those mean old SUVs, they're fashion statements, the third car in "two-car" households.
Turn off the TV and broadband for a week and family life goes completely to hell. (Spoilers: They cheat on days 2 and 6, and mostly sit around glaring at each other the rest of the week.) Perhaps the most amusing part of the article is the closing, Mother's Tips To Cut Screen Addiction, among them: "Take your children on holiday to countries where broadband has yet to make substantial inroads."
From VH1's Best Week Ever: This Video Contains All Of The Reasons Why Our Society Is Doomed. I've nothing to add to it. Try not to read the spoilerrific text in the entry and just click on the two-minute video.
I suppose that with Google Maps now offering street-level photographs, it's inevitable that someone would be creeped out by what they can see. Heck, I was creeped out the first time I saw my own front porch at a9.com. (Gosh, I wish my house were prettier.) One woman was creeped out when she discovered she'd left her curtains open the day the Google van drove by, and the world can see her living room -- and her cat. But within a day or two this phenomenon was topped by 90 West Santa Clara St in San Jose, where you can see dead people. I'm sure you'd rather check out co-eds sunbathing at Stanford.
Speaking of which (sort of), signs of Spencer Tunick were spotted this weekend in Amsterdam.Egypt: Fatwa allows breast-feeding among adults. This is a couple of weeks old. I've been holding on to it until I could wrap my head around it (so to speak), but the logic still makes me dizzy.
"We have to remember that while more women are showing more cleavage, you really have to use your breast power responsibly." With great hooters come great responsibility, as I'm sure Stan Lee would have said had Peter Parker been bitten by a radioactive Scarlett Johansson. (I think I just stumbled upon the plot for Spider-Man 4.)
Tuesday, May 29, 2007
Newsweak
(Pictured: A clutch of Slave Leias at Star Wars Celebration IV. There's video, too.)
But wait, there's more...
Recursive link: It was too many years ago today...
Update: You can too order a wopburger.
2,000 people, 3,000 cattle and countless birds, wild animals and insects -- in short, every living thing for miles around -- died because the lake farted.
Washington Redskins players Clinton Portis and Chris Samuels defended Michael Vick on Monday by ridiculing the notion that dog fighting is considered a crime... "I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."
A billboard advertisement for Wesleyan College was removed Monday after officials discovered it had been altered. The billboard, located near the Forsyth Road and Rivoli Drive intersection, was supposed to read, "Picture yourself at Wesleyan." Someone used white and black paint to change the sign to read, "Picture yourself a lesbyan."
"Having [a Visible Panty Line] is unforgivable. It is as bad as picking your nose in public. It is not cute, never has been cute and is a poke in the eye to modern manners."
To promote the upcoming film “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” 20th Century Fox and The Franklin Mint altered 40,000 U.S. quarters to feature the character. The U.S. Mint said in a news release Friday that it learned of the promotional quarter this week and advised the studio and The Franklin Mint they were breaking the law. It is illegal to turn a coin into an advertising vehicle, and violators can face a fine.
Dyslexia 'is just a middle-class way to hide stupidity.'
But wait, there's more...
Recursive link: It was too many years ago today...
Update: You can too order a wopburger.
2,000 people, 3,000 cattle and countless birds, wild animals and insects -- in short, every living thing for miles around -- died because the lake farted.
Washington Redskins players Clinton Portis and Chris Samuels defended Michael Vick on Monday by ridiculing the notion that dog fighting is considered a crime... "I don't know if he was fighting dogs or not," Portis said. "But it's his property; it's his dogs. If that's what he wants to do, do it."
A billboard advertisement for Wesleyan College was removed Monday after officials discovered it had been altered. The billboard, located near the Forsyth Road and Rivoli Drive intersection, was supposed to read, "Picture yourself at Wesleyan." Someone used white and black paint to change the sign to read, "Picture yourself a lesbyan."
"Having [a Visible Panty Line] is unforgivable. It is as bad as picking your nose in public. It is not cute, never has been cute and is a poke in the eye to modern manners."
To promote the upcoming film “Fantastic Four: Rise of the Silver Surfer,” 20th Century Fox and The Franklin Mint altered 40,000 U.S. quarters to feature the character. The U.S. Mint said in a news release Friday that it learned of the promotional quarter this week and advised the studio and The Franklin Mint they were breaking the law. It is illegal to turn a coin into an advertising vehicle, and violators can face a fine.
Dyslexia 'is just a middle-class way to hide stupidity.'
Monday, May 21, 2007
Newsweak
Fox News says Michael Moore's new film, "Sicko", is "brilliant and uplifting". I don't think anyone has argued that he isn't a talented filmmaker.
Trivia question: Which Presidential candidate's wife has a tongue stud?
B'bye, Cingular; So long, BellSouth. One ring(tone) to rule them all.
Samantha Larson, 18, of Long Beach, successfully reached the top of Mount Everest on May 16. Is she the youngest person ever to have done it? Well, no. But she probably is the youngest non-native-Nepalese to do it. And she is definitely the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.
Fresh footage of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center.
Racism goes on trial again in America's Deep South. Speaking as a native of the official scapegoat region for American Racism (something the rest of the country never lets us forget), I have to challenge the word "again". That would imply that it ever stopped being on trial in America's Deep South. I would submit that much more sensitivity to racial issues is found in the South than the region is given credit for. I would further submit that most other regions, and most especially the regions from which most of our mass media originate, are in deep denial that racism even exists there.
What to say to creationists.
The ten most common passwords, according to PC Magazine. "If you recognize yours, you may as well hand over your wallet or purse to the first person you see on the street." No need to do that, just send it to me.
Only in Florida: A drive-in church.
Trivia question: Which Presidential candidate's wife has a tongue stud?
B'bye, Cingular; So long, BellSouth. One ring(tone) to rule them all.
Samantha Larson, 18, of Long Beach, successfully reached the top of Mount Everest on May 16. Is she the youngest person ever to have done it? Well, no. But she probably is the youngest non-native-Nepalese to do it. And she is definitely the youngest person to scale the highest peaks on each of the seven continents.
Fresh footage of the second plane hitting the World Trade Center.
Racism goes on trial again in America's Deep South. Speaking as a native of the official scapegoat region for American Racism (something the rest of the country never lets us forget), I have to challenge the word "again". That would imply that it ever stopped being on trial in America's Deep South. I would submit that much more sensitivity to racial issues is found in the South than the region is given credit for. I would further submit that most other regions, and most especially the regions from which most of our mass media originate, are in deep denial that racism even exists there.
What to say to creationists.
The ten most common passwords, according to PC Magazine. "If you recognize yours, you may as well hand over your wallet or purse to the first person you see on the street." No need to do that, just send it to me.
Only in Florida: A drive-in church.
Monday, May 14, 2007
Newsweak
(Well, I can't call it "Friday Follies" if it isn't Friday.)
Doctors are experimenting with new surgical techniques that allow them to go in through natural openings in the body rather than abdominal incisions. "The idea is part of a broader trend to make surgery less and less invasive. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, surgeons began removing gallbladders with laparoscopic surgery, performed through a few small slits in the belly for a camera and surgical tools instead of the 10-inch incision needed for the original, open operation." (NYTimes story, may require registration.)
"I can't have someone like you here. We might need to part ways," the Christian boss (allegedly) said to the atheist soon-to-be ex-employee.
No good deed goes unpunished: The unintended consequence of increased popularity of fuel-efficient vehicles is that their owners don't pay their "fair share" of gasoline taxes, jeopardizing road maintenance and expansion projects. Oregon has been experimenting with gas pumps that query the vehicle's electronic odometer and calculate taxes based on miles driven instead of gallons purchased.
If the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 passes, I'll be a journalist! The same federal "shield laws" that protect newspaper reporters will also apply to bloggers.
M-I-C-K-E-Y J-I-H-A-D.
Sears.com tells you that the item you've ordered for in-store pickup is in stock, whether it is or isn't.
After 88 years on the menu, you can't buy a wopburger in Louisville, CO any more.
Barack Obama, in Kansas City: "The day that this president steps down, the entire world will breathe a sigh of relief." At least he didn't fly to Syria to say it.
And, at the bottom of the news, presenting Britain's, and perhaps the world's, oldest functioning vacuum cleaner.
Doctors are experimenting with new surgical techniques that allow them to go in through natural openings in the body rather than abdominal incisions. "The idea is part of a broader trend to make surgery less and less invasive. In the late 1980s and early ’90s, surgeons began removing gallbladders with laparoscopic surgery, performed through a few small slits in the belly for a camera and surgical tools instead of the 10-inch incision needed for the original, open operation." (NYTimes story, may require registration.)
"I can't have someone like you here. We might need to part ways," the Christian boss (allegedly) said to the atheist soon-to-be ex-employee.
No good deed goes unpunished: The unintended consequence of increased popularity of fuel-efficient vehicles is that their owners don't pay their "fair share" of gasoline taxes, jeopardizing road maintenance and expansion projects. Oregon has been experimenting with gas pumps that query the vehicle's electronic odometer and calculate taxes based on miles driven instead of gallons purchased.
If the Free Flow of Information Act of 2007 passes, I'll be a journalist! The same federal "shield laws" that protect newspaper reporters will also apply to bloggers.
M-I-C-K-E-Y J-I-H-A-D.
Sears.com tells you that the item you've ordered for in-store pickup is in stock, whether it is or isn't.
After 88 years on the menu, you can't buy a wopburger in Louisville, CO any more.
Barack Obama, in Kansas City: "The day that this president steps down, the entire world will breathe a sigh of relief." At least he didn't fly to Syria to say it.
And, at the bottom of the news, presenting Britain's, and perhaps the world's, oldest functioning vacuum cleaner.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Evil Oil
I can understand why some are upset at the price of gas. After all, we live under a fairly consistent message from Big Media that Big Oil is eeeeevil. The idea that Big Oil always lies while Big Media never does strikes me as amusing.
But what drove me up the wall this time is the following post from Wise Bread, one of several budget-living blogs I enjoy:
What she's upset about is a packet of BP-branded sunflower seeds (for planting, not eating), bearing a drawing of a little girl who wouldn't look out of place in the world of Hello Kitty. What I'm... well, upset is too strong a word, we'll say bemused by, is the fourth tag in her cluster of keywords. It contains a name not otherwise used in the post, nor is the position that person holds referred to at all. The implication is that the current oil prices are so obviously Bush's fault that it requires no explanation at all.
That's a pretty big leap to make from a package of sunflower seeds.
So, of course, I went Googling. Here's what I found:
LATER: Wouldn't want anyone to think I'm ignoring opposing viewpoints. I'm not. Some of the best unintentional comedy is found there. (Same reason I listened to Air America from time to time.) "There is simply no competitive market in this industry." Please, no more, I can't breathe.
But what drove me up the wall this time is the following post from Wise Bread, one of several budget-living blogs I enjoy:
What she's upset about is a packet of BP-branded sunflower seeds (for planting, not eating), bearing a drawing of a little girl who wouldn't look out of place in the world of Hello Kitty. What I'm... well, upset is too strong a word, we'll say bemused by, is the fourth tag in her cluster of keywords. It contains a name not otherwise used in the post, nor is the position that person holds referred to at all. The implication is that the current oil prices are so obviously Bush's fault that it requires no explanation at all.
That's a pretty big leap to make from a package of sunflower seeds.
So, of course, I went Googling. Here's what I found:
- A 2005 brochure from the Energy Information Administration breaking down the components of the cost of a gallon of gasoline
- A chart of the same information, current as of March 2007 (The government, via taxes, makes about twice what the oil companies do on each gallon sold.)
- Conoco-Phillips' attempt to answer the question, Why Are Oil Company Profits So Large? (Answer: Because the industry is large. But if you look at the profit margin, the net profit as a percentage of sales, the oil industry, while profitable, is only slightly more so than industry at large, and significantly less so than, say, computers, beverage/tobacco, or pharmaceuticals.)
- BusinessWeek's cover story from 5-15-06, "Why You Should Worry About Big Oil" (Because the easy pickin's are gone, and satisfying the world's demand for petroleum is only going to get harder -- and more expensive.)
LATER: Wouldn't want anyone to think I'm ignoring opposing viewpoints. I'm not. Some of the best unintentional comedy is found there. (Same reason I listened to Air America from time to time.) "There is simply no competitive market in this industry." Please, no more, I can't breathe.
Friday, May 04, 2007
Friday Follies
China shows its immense respect for Western intellectual property by ripping off Disneyland.
"A Superior Court jury convicted a vegan couple of murder and cruelty to children Wednesday in the death of their 6-week-old, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice."
7 World Trade Center in New York has those elevators I mentioned a few weeks ago.
"Unisex lavatories - with blurred glass walls - could help in the battle against school bullies, government guidelines for England suggest."
Wouldn't you like to be a hooper too?
"All the time I spent in that hellhole [mental institution], people were constantly trying to convince me that I felt sad because there was something wrong with my brain. But do you want to know what I really learned? ...I learned that I wasn’t sad because there was something wrong with my brain. I learned that I was sad because my life sucked."
When one of the world's foremost violinists takes his Stradivarius to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station in downtown Washington, D.C., and plays his heart out for forty-five minutes, with his violin case open before him with a fistful of change in it... will you stop to listen? (Caution: This story may make you cry.) (I'm thinking the results might have been different if they'd tried it in the afternoon rush instead of the morning rush.)
"In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26-year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a "person." "
"A Superior Court jury convicted a vegan couple of murder and cruelty to children Wednesday in the death of their 6-week-old, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice."
7 World Trade Center in New York has those elevators I mentioned a few weeks ago.
"Unisex lavatories - with blurred glass walls - could help in the battle against school bullies, government guidelines for England suggest."
Wouldn't you like to be a hooper too?
"All the time I spent in that hellhole [mental institution], people were constantly trying to convince me that I felt sad because there was something wrong with my brain. But do you want to know what I really learned? ...I learned that I wasn’t sad because there was something wrong with my brain. I learned that I was sad because my life sucked."
When one of the world's foremost violinists takes his Stradivarius to the L'Enfant Plaza Metro station in downtown Washington, D.C., and plays his heart out for forty-five minutes, with his violin case open before him with a fistful of change in it... will you stop to listen? (Caution: This story may make you cry.) (I'm thinking the results might have been different if they'd tried it in the afternoon rush instead of the morning rush.)
"In a case that could set a global legal precedent for granting basic rights to apes, animal rights advocates are seeking to get the 26-year-old male chimpanzee legally declared a "person." "
Friday, April 27, 2007
Friday Follies
Here's a short examination of why DVD players have regions--and how to get rid of them. From Wise Bread.
Back before the invasion of Afghanistan, when the world was telling the U.S. that it wasn't possible, one of the reasons given was the "brutal Afghan winters." And it does get cold there occasionally -- almost as cold as it gets here, at any of our numerous ski resorts. I thought of that when I read about the woman who skinny-dipped in the Trevi fountain in Rome, to "beat the heat". The blistering record heat wave of... 27 Celsius (80 Fahrenheit).
Emotive's flagship product, the patent-pending "Push Ringer", reverses the common ringtone model. It enables a caller to push an outgoing ringtone to the receiving phone allowing the caller, not the called person, to set the tone. Oh, great, just what we need. I've already seen a roomful of people doing the Cellphone Macarena because they can't tell whose phone is ringing, and that's when they know what they set their ringtone to. Want to hear another reason this is a bad idea? You think spam e-mails are frustrating, wait until someone "pushes" a sales pitch onto your phone. Imagine the hilarity when your pocket asks you if your pen!s is really large enough for you. During an important meeting.
Sheryl Crow thinks we can all get by with "only one square [of toilet paper] per restroom visit." Fortunately, Rosie O'Donnell performed a public service by delivering an untoppable answer to Crow's suggestion: "Have you seen my ass?"
Looking for a fast moneymaking scheme? Buy a herd of sheep, take them to Japan, and sell them to the locals. Tell 'em they're poodles. They won't know the difference: They don't have many sheep in Japan. Oops, too late.
John Q. Public really didn't need more reasons to hate Wal-Mart. BusinessWeek suggests that the recent implosion of some of the nation's largest electronics retailers (CompUSA, Tweeter, Rex, Circuit City) is attributable to WallyWorld having broken the $1000 barrier for flat-screen televisions back on Black Friday 2006. Just as their aggressive toy and grocery pricing killed FAO Schwarz and Winn-Dixie, respectively. (Saw it at The New Shelton Wet/Dry.) The Wall Street Journal reports that "In past decades, deejays and music critics helped shape musical trends. Today, many music industry executives agree, the big boxes have become the new tastemakers." And we all know whose box is the biggest. (Saw it at the Consumerist.) And now Forbes has named "the Wal-Mart squeeze", summarized by the Consumerist thusly: "The more stuff you sell at Walmart the more dependant your company is on their various whims. The result? The most stuff you sell, the smaller your profit margin is."
Back before the invasion of Afghanistan, when the world was telling the U.S. that it wasn't possible, one of the reasons given was the "brutal Afghan winters." And it does get cold there occasionally -- almost as cold as it gets here, at any of our numerous ski resorts. I thought of that when I read about the woman who skinny-dipped in the Trevi fountain in Rome, to "beat the heat". The blistering record heat wave of... 27 Celsius (80 Fahrenheit).
Emotive's flagship product, the patent-pending "Push Ringer", reverses the common ringtone model. It enables a caller to push an outgoing ringtone to the receiving phone allowing the caller, not the called person, to set the tone. Oh, great, just what we need. I've already seen a roomful of people doing the Cellphone Macarena because they can't tell whose phone is ringing, and that's when they know what they set their ringtone to. Want to hear another reason this is a bad idea? You think spam e-mails are frustrating, wait until someone "pushes" a sales pitch onto your phone. Imagine the hilarity when your pocket asks you if your pen!s is really large enough for you. During an important meeting.
Sheryl Crow thinks we can all get by with "only one square [of toilet paper] per restroom visit." Fortunately, Rosie O'Donnell performed a public service by delivering an untoppable answer to Crow's suggestion: "Have you seen my ass?"
Looking for a fast moneymaking scheme? Buy a herd of sheep, take them to Japan, and sell them to the locals. Tell 'em they're poodles. They won't know the difference: They don't have many sheep in Japan. Oops, too late.
John Q. Public really didn't need more reasons to hate Wal-Mart. BusinessWeek suggests that the recent implosion of some of the nation's largest electronics retailers (CompUSA, Tweeter, Rex, Circuit City) is attributable to WallyWorld having broken the $1000 barrier for flat-screen televisions back on Black Friday 2006. Just as their aggressive toy and grocery pricing killed FAO Schwarz and Winn-Dixie, respectively. (Saw it at The New Shelton Wet/Dry.) The Wall Street Journal reports that "In past decades, deejays and music critics helped shape musical trends. Today, many music industry executives agree, the big boxes have become the new tastemakers." And we all know whose box is the biggest. (Saw it at the Consumerist.) And now Forbes has named "the Wal-Mart squeeze", summarized by the Consumerist thusly: "The more stuff you sell at Walmart the more dependant your company is on their various whims. The result? The most stuff you sell, the smaller your profit margin is."
The mysterious fifth sense
I was beginning to think no one would ever hear my adaptation of H. G. Wells' "The Country of the Blind". But, much to my surprise, there it is in ARTC's Podcast, part one last week and part two this.I can't judge the performance of the actor playing the lead character, Nunez, but the rest of the cast is delightful, and it was a pleasant surprise to hear my friend Thomas Fuller as the Elder of the little village.
This has always been one of my favorite stories, and I hope we've done it justice.
Thursday, April 26, 2007
Why people hate tech support
There is nothing unusual about this tech support call. Thousands just like it happen every day.
From The Consumerist.
From The Consumerist.
Friday, April 13, 2007
Friday Follies
Robert Heinlein at One Hundred.The ancient mystery surrounding the great acoustics of the theater at Epidaurus in Greece has been solved.
This is the story of a girl named Corey O'Malley, and a boy named Corey O'Malley, who had their credit reports accidentally merged.
Did you know that Don Imus' "nappy-headed ho" remark was actually George Bush's fault? It's on the Internet so it must be true. Just as well he isn't in the furniture business.
Interplanetary war is now reality. First we invaded Mars, then we nuked Jupiter.
ZDNet's list of 10 flagrant grammar mistakes that make you look stupid. "Bare/bear", "poll/pole", "ring/wring" and "reign/rain/rein" mysteriously missing from list.
Saturday, April 07, 2007
Oops
Sincere regrets for any inconvenience this may cause.
Friday, April 06, 2007
Friday Follies
I don't know what's more interesting, the fact that this letter has been lost in the mail since September 1943, or that it's junk mail.
Organ donor? Cremation? Traditional burial? Why not place your loved one in a unique resting place? (He always wanted to be a writer...)
Playboy comes to my alma mater, only thirty-two years late. Go, you Brazilian dawgs.
It may not be green so much as a slightly greener shade of brown.
Is it possible to be on the Billboard list if you don't have an album? Well, yes, now. (NY Times story requires registration.)
Receiving fines and points had no significant impact on the risk of repeat [traffic] citations. Great, now you tell me.
Organ donor? Cremation? Traditional burial? Why not place your loved one in a unique resting place? (He always wanted to be a writer...)
Playboy comes to my alma mater, only thirty-two years late. Go, you Brazilian dawgs.
It may not be green so much as a slightly greener shade of brown.
Is it possible to be on the Billboard list if you don't have an album? Well, yes, now. (NY Times story requires registration.)
Receiving fines and points had no significant impact on the risk of repeat [traffic] citations. Great, now you tell me.
Monday, April 02, 2007
April Fools Day
I don't think I dislike April Fool's Day as much as Sleestak does, but it has lost a lot of its charm for me. On the Internet, it means you can't trust anything you read...but that's different from the other 364 days how, exactly?
Friday, March 30, 2007
Friday Follies
So, if it's so much more efficient for the IRS if I file electronically, why do I have to pay extra to do it? (Another in a series of backroom deals wherein private industry arranges for the government to pick my pocket.)
Hans Island is a frozen bit of rock in the north Atlantic that's been claimed by both Canada and Denmark. Proving that it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, the place has become important as a consequence of... global warming.
Remember that British show called The Good Life (known in the United States as Good Neighbors), where Tom and Barbara Good decide to retool their suburban home for self-sufficiency? Utterly unrealistic, of course. Nobody would actually do that, right? Of course not. Now, if they lived in New York City, that would be realistic. (NY Times story: Registration required. See also Wise Bread and The Compact.)
Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers?
And an oldie but a goodie, the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time, complete with a link to the BBC's report of a booming Swiss spaghetti harvest.
Hans Island is a frozen bit of rock in the north Atlantic that's been claimed by both Canada and Denmark. Proving that it's an ill wind that blows nobody good, the place has become important as a consequence of... global warming.
Remember that British show called The Good Life (known in the United States as Good Neighbors), where Tom and Barbara Good decide to retool their suburban home for self-sufficiency? Utterly unrealistic, of course. Nobody would actually do that, right? Of course not. Now, if they lived in New York City, that would be realistic. (NY Times story: Registration required. See also Wise Bread and The Compact.)
Do you have any opinions that you would be reluctant to express in front of a group of your peers?
And an oldie but a goodie, the Top 100 April Fool's Day Hoaxes of All Time, complete with a link to the BBC's report of a booming Swiss spaghetti harvest.
Thursday, March 29, 2007
You get what you deserve....
...when you ask Google for driving directions from Chicago to London. I especially like the part where Google tells you to swim across the Atlantic Ocean, and actually estimates how long that will take (assuming you can maintain a brisk 6 mph).
Originally observed by Gadling, also reported by Upgrade: Travel Better and The Consumerist, this behavior -- trick? Easter Egg? Computer sarcasm? -- recurs for any two cities separated by the Atlantic. Wisely, Google refuses to attempt driving directions to Tokyo, even if you plan to stop over in Honolulu.
Yes, I tried it. What can I tell you? I was bored.
Originally observed by Gadling, also reported by Upgrade: Travel Better and The Consumerist, this behavior -- trick? Easter Egg? Computer sarcasm? -- recurs for any two cities separated by the Atlantic. Wisely, Google refuses to attempt driving directions to Tokyo, even if you plan to stop over in Honolulu.
Yes, I tried it. What can I tell you? I was bored.
Tuesday, March 27, 2007
Best Buy Acquires Speakeasy
Huh? Did I read that right? The internet service provider with possibly the best reputation of any ISP, better in fact than most computer manufacturers I could name, is being acquired by the retailer with the second most ignorant sales force on the planet? (CompUSA holds the title, but they're closing stores left and right and not likely to spread their seed.)
Friday, March 23, 2007
This week's linkdump
Borders to end its arrangement with Amazon.com? Barnes & Noble and Borders to merge? Dogs and cats living together? ("Farkers everywhere briefly turn away from the comfort of their familiar blue and white columned worlds, and ask 'What's a book?' ")
RIAA asks universities to deliver letter from RIAA to students telling them to pay for downloaded music. Universities say no. RIAA asks universities to rat on students who download music. Universities say no. RIAA asks universities to retain and turn over IP address assignments in order to track students who download music. Universities not only say no, but bill RIAA for the time they've wasted.
Separate beds for married couples not enough? Try separate bedrooms. "The quest for better rest is behind the trend as experts say the lack of decent sleep can cause marital tension. ...Snoring, night-time visits to the bathroom, child-care requirements and shift-working can deprive couples of the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep per night."
"Software developers truly believe, in their heart of hearts, that they are typical users."
And half of teacher's can't see this mistake.
RIAA asks universities to deliver letter from RIAA to students telling them to pay for downloaded music. Universities say no. RIAA asks universities to rat on students who download music. Universities say no. RIAA asks universities to retain and turn over IP address assignments in order to track students who download music. Universities not only say no, but bill RIAA for the time they've wasted.
Separate beds for married couples not enough? Try separate bedrooms. "The quest for better rest is behind the trend as experts say the lack of decent sleep can cause marital tension. ...Snoring, night-time visits to the bathroom, child-care requirements and shift-working can deprive couples of the recommended seven to eight hours of sleep per night."
"Software developers truly believe, in their heart of hearts, that they are typical users."
And half of teacher's can't see this mistake.
Sunday, March 18, 2007
You know, this makes sense
I don't think anyone who knows me would accuse me of being a rabid environmentalist. That said, though, I certainly see the wisdom of minimizing the consumption of resources when practical. Most of the lighting in my house is compact-fluorescent instead of incandescent, which lowers both my electric bill and the average room temperature. I'm sold on the utility of low-power LEDs (which appear to be widely used in traffic lights in the area). Heck, I even find the dark-sky arguments quite reasonable. (I remember when I could lie on the grass at night and watch the stars. I sure can't do it now.)But I didn't think of this:
Treehugger.com | Black Google Would Save 750 Megawatt-Hours a YearOkay, $75,000 a year divided by however many million visitors doesn't amount to enough difference for any one user to notice. I'd certainly grant that. Nonetheless, it would be a strong, conspicuous gesture toward an attitude shift. Why burn what you don't have to?
From the lights out department - did you know that a cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor uses about 74 watts to display an all white web page, but only uses 59 watts to display an all black page? ...
Take at look at Google, for instance, who gets about 200 million queries a day. Let's assume each query is displayed for about 10 seconds; that means Google is running for about 550,000 hours every day on some desktop. Assuming that users run Google in full screen mode, the shift to a black background will save a total of 15 (74-59) watts. Now take into account that about 25 percent of the monitors in the world are CRTs, and at 10 cents a kilowatt-hour, that's about $75,000/year, a goodly amount of energy and dollars for changing a few color codes.
No, you won't find me leading any "Internet Goes Black" movements, but (as Treehugger points out) there are many dark colors that still represent energy savings compared to white. I spent years perfectly content with green-on-black 80x24: The screen resolution and color palettes available now offer a tremendous improvement over that.
I suppose it's possible for me to override any page's default colors, but this isn't the kind of thing that would be effective as a user-by-user grassroots movement. The hosts of the internet's most popular pages would have to buy into it.
Of course, as the world upgrades to LCD monitors, the issue may take care of itself.
Tuesday, March 13, 2007
"Oh, you’re going to defy me when I become president?"
Looking for an alternative for President in 2008? Tired of choosing the lesser of the evils? Have I got a candidate for you.
Columbia Chronicla | Secret Service investigates satanic vampireThe Secret Service agent's reaction is unrecorded.
The 2008 presidential bid just got a little more challenging for the race’s only satanic vampire candidate.
Jonathon “The Impaler” Sharkey, a 42-year-old New Jersey man who is running under the Vampire, Witches and Pagan Party, is currently being investigated by the Secret Service for potential threats toward President George W. Bush.
According to Sharkey, Secret Service agents visited him and his 19-year-old wife, Spree, in Ohio on Feb. 15. The visit concerned Sharkey’s repeated remarks about impaling Bush, an act Sharkey said he would only do if he were elected president.
“They never even asked to see my impaling stick,” Sharkey said.
... “They were telling me, when they were interrogating me, that their job was to protect Bush even after he’s out of office,” Sharkey said. “I’m looking at them like, ‘Oh, you’re going to defy me when I become president?’”
Sunday, March 11, 2007
Time is broken
Did everyone remember that the new, improved Daylight Saving Time begins today?
I did remember, and spent the last half-hour or so before bed last night changing clocks. We have cheap battery-powered wall clocks in almost every room: Those would have to be changed manually. So would the clock on our oven, and the one in the breadmaker (we have a microwave, but it doesn't have a clock), and alarm clocks in my son's room and on my wife's side of the bed. Oh, and the clocks in our answering machine and thermostat, and my analog pocket watch.
I missed the VCRs. I confidently expect I'll have to change them four times this year: Once when DST now is, and once when DST would have been. I'll see if I can disable the auto-settings for that, while I'm in there.
My alarm clock, my daughter's alarm clock, and the wall clock at my wife's desk all get atomic timekeeping signals: They all updated themselves. So did the computers and cel phones. (Exception: My iPaq, an older model, didn't update. I wonder if there's a patch for that version of Windows Mobile. Why, yes, there is.)
Outlook, of course (and those of you who use it should be aware of this), jumped the gun and went wonky a couple of weeks ago. My all-day events spanned two days, because they begin and end at 1am instead of midnight, and my timed events drifted forward an hour. Downloaded Microsoft's Time Zone Data Update Tool: Worked just fine. Although I am amused that Windows itself can update automatically and Outlook can't.
Note to myself: When I replace clocks of any kind, replace them with clocks that receive atomic timekeeping signals. I shouldn't have to do this.
Ah, well, it could be worse. I could live in Indiana.
I did remember, and spent the last half-hour or so before bed last night changing clocks. We have cheap battery-powered wall clocks in almost every room: Those would have to be changed manually. So would the clock on our oven, and the one in the breadmaker (we have a microwave, but it doesn't have a clock), and alarm clocks in my son's room and on my wife's side of the bed. Oh, and the clocks in our answering machine and thermostat, and my analog pocket watch.
I missed the VCRs. I confidently expect I'll have to change them four times this year: Once when DST now is, and once when DST would have been. I'll see if I can disable the auto-settings for that, while I'm in there.
My alarm clock, my daughter's alarm clock, and the wall clock at my wife's desk all get atomic timekeeping signals: They all updated themselves. So did the computers and cel phones. (Exception: My iPaq, an older model, didn't update. I wonder if there's a patch for that version of Windows Mobile. Why, yes, there is.)
Outlook, of course (and those of you who use it should be aware of this), jumped the gun and went wonky a couple of weeks ago. My all-day events spanned two days, because they begin and end at 1am instead of midnight, and my timed events drifted forward an hour. Downloaded Microsoft's Time Zone Data Update Tool: Worked just fine. Although I am amused that Windows itself can update automatically and Outlook can't.
Note to myself: When I replace clocks of any kind, replace them with clocks that receive atomic timekeeping signals. I shouldn't have to do this.
Ah, well, it could be worse. I could live in Indiana.
Tuesday, March 06, 2007
Rational discourse
It would be unfair of me to draw any general conclusions regarding the thinking or reasoning power of the average "progressive" based on one stray posting at Wonkette. I am, however, impressed that those who chose to comment on the "issue" are so determined to hate conservatives that they cannot accept a statement from George F. Will at face value even when they agree with its substance.
If you happen to view the video before you follow the link, you may wonder what the fuss is about. It's 24 seconds into the video, when George Stephanopolous asks Will about Ann Coulter (a reference, one supposes, to her recent remarks pertaining to John Edwards), Will falters, recollects his thoughts, and says "...the less said about whom, the better."
At least, that's what I heard him say. The progressives seem equally sure he said "...the less said about him, the better."
That's it. That's all.
If you happen to view the video before you follow the link, you may wonder what the fuss is about. It's 24 seconds into the video, when George Stephanopolous asks Will about Ann Coulter (a reference, one supposes, to her recent remarks pertaining to John Edwards), Will falters, recollects his thoughts, and says "...the less said about whom, the better."
At least, that's what I heard him say. The progressives seem equally sure he said "...the less said about him, the better."
That's it. That's all.
Friday, February 16, 2007
Coming Soon
Ten days after Valentine's Day the Atlanta Radio Theatre Company will bring you a show about seduction; that fine art, that ability so many aspire to but so few achieve. And what's more seductive than a good vampire story? It's guaranteed to get your blood pumping.Special musical guests: The Radio Ramblers!
Stage Door Players
5539 Chamblee Dunwoody Road
Dunwoody, GA 30338
Box office phone number: 770-396-1726
Tickets are just $10!
Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 8:00pm
Sunday, February 25, 2007 at 2:30pm
(Create custom images at ImageChef.com)
Monday, February 05, 2007
Sunday, January 07, 2007
"Second-class citizen"
Fox News | Toys 'R' Us Reverses Decision on Denied New Year Baby PrizeI can't fault Toys 'R' Us for choosing the solution they did. True, they're giving away three times as much money as they intended to, but it's petty cash for a company of TRU's size. Still, I find myself wishing this case had gone to court. Which it may yet, I suppose. It might then fall to a judge to provide some long-overdue clarification of the legal status of children born to non-citizens who happen to be in this country when they give birth. With the current state of affairs regarding the US / Mexican border, this question is far from merely academic.
After coming under fire for denying a Chinese-American infant a $25,000 prize in a New Year's baby contest because her mother was not a legal U.S. resident, the Toys "R" Us company said Saturday evening that it had reversed its decision.
The Wayne, N.J.-based company said it would award each of the three babies in the grand prize pool of the "First Baby of the Year Sweepstakes" a $25,000 savings bond.
...Chinese-American advocates had complained that the toy company's decision smacks of second-class citizenship.
Because we are the wealthiest, and most generous, nation on the planet, we accept that babies born here are U. S. citizens regardless of the status of their parents. This would not be the first occasion on which parents exploited that generosity for their own benefit, although it might set a record for the tender age of the child being exploited.
But there is one way in which the accusation of "second-class citizen" might be appropriate to this situation, for that is exactly what the child is: Or, to put it another way, a minor. There is a world of things that minors may not do in America (and we consider this right and just), among them enter into contracts--and what is a contest's entry blank if it is not a contract between the entrant and the sponsor? The rules of TRU's contest specify that only a citizen of legal age may claim the prize. The child can't do it: She's not of legal age. The mother can't do it: She's not a citizen. It's not TRU's fault that the mother-to-be didn't read the fine print.
TRU, in short, was right to disqualify the entrant. TRU caved because they didn't want the PR headache this situation would be. It just isn't worth the cost of a $25k savings bond to have mom's lawyer telling the press that Toys 'R' Us hates yellow babies.
Wednesday, January 03, 2007
591 ways to find Britney Spears
If everything is on the web, then that means that some really, really weird stuff is on the web.
This page begs several questions:
Why is Google tracking the number of ways that people misspell "Britney Spears"?
Why are they putting the results on a publicly viewable page?
What does it say about computer users, as a class, that over three months, there were over 600k queries for "Britney Spears"?
What could anyone want to know or see that isn't already public knowledge?
What does it say about computer users, as a class, that nearly one-fourth of the queries were misspelled?
I didn't know there were 592 ways to misspell "Britney Spears". (Okay, I realize that isn't a question.)
This page begs several questions:
Why is Google tracking the number of ways that people misspell "Britney Spears"?
Why are they putting the results on a publicly viewable page?
What does it say about computer users, as a class, that over three months, there were over 600k queries for "Britney Spears"?
What could anyone want to know or see that isn't already public knowledge?
What does it say about computer users, as a class, that nearly one-fourth of the queries were misspelled?
I didn't know there were 592 ways to misspell "Britney Spears". (Okay, I realize that isn't a question.)
Tuesday, December 26, 2006
Tread carefully, Verizon
NY Times | Verizon to Allow Ads on Its Mobile PhonesAh. With the magnanimous generosity of the suggestion that they will probably choose not to make as much money with this as they could, they implicitly admit that they know there might be some customer resistance to this tactic.
VERIZON WIRELESS, among the nation’s most widely advertised brands, is poised to become the advertising medium itself.
Beginning early next year, Verizon Wireless will allow placement of banner advertisements on news, weather, sports and other Internet sites that users visit and display on their mobile phones, company executives said.
...“We know we can make significant dollars in mobile Web advertising in 2007,” said John Harrobin, vice president of marketing and digital media for Verizon Wireless. “That said, we likely will not — we want to take it carefully and methodically, and enable the right experience.” More generally, he added, “Mobile advertising is going to take off in 2007.”
Allow me to spell it out for all those Verizon managers who are doubtless hanging on my every word:
The first ad I see on my mobile phone will be the last ad I see on my mobile phone. I will stop whatever I'm doing and head directly to my local Verizon store to return my phones and cancel my account. If I have calmed down, I will walk into the store to do this. If I haven't, I'll throw it through your front window. But I will be damned if I will pay you to put an ad in my pocket.
Perhaps you, Verizon management, have forgotten that I already pay you handsomely for the privilege of carrying your phone. I do not browse the web on it. I do not take pictures with it. I do not play games with it. All I do is place and receive calls. Apparently this is too high an expectation for a mobile phone. I have it in order to enable fast, convenient communication with my scattered family. Do that job and no more and you have a customer for life.
Wednesday, December 13, 2006
She tickled me with science
MSNBC | Ha ha ha: Did that make you smile?Boy, I'm glad fifty years of canned laughter on situation comedies hasn't been utterly wasted. "Hi, honey, I'm home." Bwah-hah-hah.
If you see two people laughing at a joke you didn’t hear, chances are you will smile anyway — even if you don’t realize it.
According to a new study, laughter truly is contagious: the brain responds to the sound of laughter and preps the muscles in the face to join in the mirth.
Next on MSNBC: The sun rises... in the east!
Tuesday, December 12, 2006
Look how clever I am
boingboing | Species mimicry in corporate logosNo fooling. All these companies that want to be noticed on the roadside have signs dominated by colors with contrast against sky blue. Who'da thunk it.
The logos of the fast-food joints on a stretch of desolate American road reveals a kind of species mimicry, or evolutionary convergence:
"...Notice how all of these companies use shades of red and yellow in their logos?"
(I'd link to the site from which boingboing got this blinding insight, but it's apparently been overwhelmed by the traffic. As an Olde Farte, allow me to be depressed that this is what fascinates the Generation That Will Shape The Future.)
[LATER: Now the original source, Random Connections is available, having, er, dugg out from underneath its bandwidth-alanche.]
Saturday, December 09, 2006
Big Damn Heroes
I'm speechless. I can't top the headline I found on this story on Fark, so here it is:
Not news: Due to unforseen circumstances, exclusive Firefly convention is canceled.(In the world of Fark, this may be news. I can't say it surprises me very much, given the intensity of affection with which a lot of fans regard Firefly. However...)
News: Firefly fans turn up anyway.
Hero tag: And so do the actors.Say what?
Yes. Nathan Fillian (Captain Reynolds), Alan Tudyk (recently deceased pilot "Wash", wasn't even supposed to be there), Mark Sheppard (Badger the, er, "entrepreneur"), Jonathan Woodward (Tracey the organ smuggler), Christina Hendricks ("Our Mrs Reynolds") and Adam Baldwin (Jayne) all showed. Jewel Staite (Kaylee) tried, but she's stuck in Canada.
The stories on the forum at Whedonesque are enough to bring tears to my eyes.
Monday, December 04, 2006
Imagine there's no buttons...
I never thought I would see a blog all about buttons, but then came History of the Button.
In this provocative post, our host asks the question, does the elevator user interface need changing? Those who, like me, have waited an hour or more for an elevator going our way at DragonCon might argue that it does. I find myself longing for the days of a human operator who could (a) enforce load limits or (b) keep people from getting on an down-elevator in order to go up. (Aside from the fundamental unfairness of the tactic, it places unnecessary wear and tear on the elevator itself. Or is it not obvious that an elevator that is moving someone in the wrong direction is wasting energy?)
The original "user interface", as I understand it, was a single handle: Moved in one direction, the elevator ascended: In the other, it descended. It was up to the human operator, specially trained for the job, to bring it to a gentle halt with the elevator floor level with that of the desired story of the building.
The problems began when we got rid of that darned operator, put out on the sidewalk to commiserate with the buggy whip manufacturers. The elevator was now controlled by its riders--and a sophisticated set of relays, sensors, and failsafes that (generally) accomplished the task at hand without a human being's constant attention.
Suddenly the question "Is this elevator going up?" was subject to a vote. Every time the door opened. The operator, the final arbiter of the question, was gone--and the elevator itself didn't care. I hope the poor operator at least derived some amusement from the new problems his absence created.
Elevator brains got more and more complex, resulting in a conveyance that would continue rising until it got to the topmost floor to which it was sent (or from which it was called) before it would turn around.
The problem is, the elevator encourages each rider to think only of himself. There's no way to know how many other people want the same floor you do, and nothing to do about it if you did know. With increasingly rare exceptions, there's no way for the average rider to know where the elevator is if he isn't actually on it. PC Tech Support can tell you how long before your call is answered, but nobody can tell you how long before "your" elevator arrives, or how many intermediate stops it will make before it reaches your floor. The user is "protected" from the information he needs to make any kind of intelligent decision regarding the allocation of elevator resources. He's also "protected" from any clues what the elevator system itself is doing, or why.
I'm sure there must have been a few false starts before the familiar elevator interface came together. The rider approaches the lobby and calls an elevator moving in a particular direction, then when one arrives, he gets on and designates his floor. It's a two-step process (unless one happens to be on the topmost or bottommost floor, and so few buildings have their main entrances on either one).
Why should it be two steps?
Back to Bill at the History of the Button, who talks about “destination elevators”. All of the user controls are in each floor's elevator lobby: On the numeric keypad, you tell the system your intended destination floor: It responds by telling you which elevator will go there. There are no buttons in the elevator itself (except, one presumes, the reassuring Emergency Alarm button).
I would love to see a hotel full of science-fiction fans try to cope with elevators like these.
Sunday, November 26, 2006
Thursday, November 09, 2006
Nobody likes a sore winner
Interesting.
After spending the last month ramping up a challenge to the accuracy of electronic voting, the left now has nothing to say about it.
"A Loud Message for Bush", says the New York Times, a headline paraphrased by every other major news organization. I think I'd be insulted if I'd just campaigned for, and won, a seat in the gorram House of effing Representatives, only to see every analyst in the country dismiss it as "a message for Bush". It wasn't about anything I'd said or didn't say, or did or didn't do: It's about Bush.
I didn't have an opportunity to send a message to anyone, since my congressman, the hon. John Lewis, ran without opposition from either party, a situation he's enjoyed for as long as I can remember.
(What a coincidence, too, that the NYTimes has made its subscription-only web content freely available this week, doubtless in gleeful anticipation of today's headlines.)
I'm getting pretty far off track. That isn't where I'd meant to go.
Congratulations, Democrats. No, really, sincere congratulations. And best wishes: I don't envy the position in which you've put yourselves. Now that you've made it crystal clear that your plan, your only vision for the future, is a nation without Bush, you have to spend the next two years getting along with him and producing visible results. Blocking the President at every turn isn't going to be enough: You're going to have to actually Do Something eventually.
But that's a thought for the future. Just now, less than a hundred hours after the election, you can get away with Doing Nothing. In fact, Nothing is exactly what you should be seen as doing. The last two Presidential elections have been marred by the embarrassing spectacle of a national Democratic Hissy Fit as you demonstrated just what sore losers you were. Sore winners are even worse. One would think, now that you are flush with victory, you could bring yourselves to simply bask in it for a few hours. Accept it gracefully. Don't keep slamming the other guy: That fight is over. Be magnanimous. Recognize the people who actually did the grunt work in your campaigns. Thank the voters, who gave you a chance to prove you aren't the same jokers they turned out twelve years ago. Use the words "worthy" and "opponent" in the same sentence. You can afford to. You won.
Then, when you do start actually taking action, the one thing you can do that will give you the most credibility in my mind is to actually address the concerns you raised a month ago regarding electronic voting machines. Prove that you actually care about such things even when you win. Money can't buy publicity that good.
Oh, and see if you can rein in Bill Maher*. I thought you were too tolerant and enlightened to think that "outing" gay people was inherently slanderous.
Good luck.
* *rolls eyes* Maher and O'Reilly, two sides of the same coin. Shame we can't pull 'em both off the table and raise television's collective IQ by fifty points.
After spending the last month ramping up a challenge to the accuracy of electronic voting, the left now has nothing to say about it.
"A Loud Message for Bush", says the New York Times, a headline paraphrased by every other major news organization. I think I'd be insulted if I'd just campaigned for, and won, a seat in the gorram House of effing Representatives, only to see every analyst in the country dismiss it as "a message for Bush". It wasn't about anything I'd said or didn't say, or did or didn't do: It's about Bush.
I didn't have an opportunity to send a message to anyone, since my congressman, the hon. John Lewis, ran without opposition from either party, a situation he's enjoyed for as long as I can remember.
(What a coincidence, too, that the NYTimes has made its subscription-only web content freely available this week, doubtless in gleeful anticipation of today's headlines.)
I'm getting pretty far off track. That isn't where I'd meant to go.
Congratulations, Democrats. No, really, sincere congratulations. And best wishes: I don't envy the position in which you've put yourselves. Now that you've made it crystal clear that your plan, your only vision for the future, is a nation without Bush, you have to spend the next two years getting along with him and producing visible results. Blocking the President at every turn isn't going to be enough: You're going to have to actually Do Something eventually.
But that's a thought for the future. Just now, less than a hundred hours after the election, you can get away with Doing Nothing. In fact, Nothing is exactly what you should be seen as doing. The last two Presidential elections have been marred by the embarrassing spectacle of a national Democratic Hissy Fit as you demonstrated just what sore losers you were. Sore winners are even worse. One would think, now that you are flush with victory, you could bring yourselves to simply bask in it for a few hours. Accept it gracefully. Don't keep slamming the other guy: That fight is over. Be magnanimous. Recognize the people who actually did the grunt work in your campaigns. Thank the voters, who gave you a chance to prove you aren't the same jokers they turned out twelve years ago. Use the words "worthy" and "opponent" in the same sentence. You can afford to. You won.
Then, when you do start actually taking action, the one thing you can do that will give you the most credibility in my mind is to actually address the concerns you raised a month ago regarding electronic voting machines. Prove that you actually care about such things even when you win. Money can't buy publicity that good.
Oh, and see if you can rein in Bill Maher*. I thought you were too tolerant and enlightened to think that "outing" gay people was inherently slanderous.
Good luck.
* *rolls eyes* Maher and O'Reilly, two sides of the same coin. Shame we can't pull 'em both off the table and raise television's collective IQ by fifty points.
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