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mrflip's profile

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Name: Flip
User type: Adminestrone
User ID: 6
User since: January 06, 2004
User last visit: 03:15PM on January 08
Homepage: http://alkalineearth.com/
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mrflip has posted 990 links and 2108 comments on Alkaline Earth since January 06, 2004.

Recent Comments: (Select Last [10] [50] [100] [All])

2009 Dec 18 12:28 (#4198.12715):
Maybe you like lowest-common-denominator blooper reels. Maybe you should go to this youtube clip:

2009 Dec 13 10:17 (#4191.12712):
Javelina?

2009 Dec 08 04:25 (#4196.12709):
I was thinking about this the other day -- Perry does deserve some cred for the fact that Texas is coming through the recession far better than almost all states.

If you click to select the top several economies by GDP (CA, TX, FL, NY, IL) in this chart of unemployment over time, you'll see that Texas has well outperformed the other top economic states, staying in the 6-8% range. It's also kept pace against baselines for its region.

Here's a chart of Gross State Product over Perry's duration for the top 8 economies; Texas does the best by far, and with much lower state spending. (yes, this invites the question of what more spending would do -- or spending reallocated from abstinence education -- but still.)

So he may be a social policy douchenozzle, as amply documented in the article -- but to whatever extent the governor acts as steward of the economy, he's done a decent job.

public $ gross st prod population All states combined $2,645.2 $13,715.7 300.8 California $385.3 $1,801.8 36.8 Texas $170.3 $1,148.5 23.5 New York $247.9 $1,105.0 19.3 Florida $147.3 $741.9 18.2 Illinois $107.8 $617.4 12.8 Pennsylvania $108.3 $533.2 12.5 Ohio $99.8 $462.5 11.5 New Jersey $86.4 $461.3 8.9

2009 Nov 28 01:29 (#4191.12702):
*hug*

2009 Nov 21 01:29 (#4191.12700):
Oughtn't it be the putative but singular "Largest Graffito in the World"?

2009 Nov 21 01:28 (#4192.12699):
More neat-o art

translations:

1) Christ: idea; Romans: focus
group.
2) James Dean: idea; Car: deadline for the work's publishing.
3) Little Red Hood: idea; Bad Wolf: new marketing director.
4) Whale: idea; Harpoon men: accounts for idea's presenting.
5) Amy Winehouse: idea; Drugs: brand's international guidelines.
6) Seal: idea; Hunters: changings on the briefing.
7) The Beatles: idea; Yoko Ono: equal idea on archive.
8) Couple: idea; Jason: a client who thinks he's creative.
9) Indian: idea; Colonizers: scouter's association.
10) Iulius Caesar: idea; Brutus and the traitors: inputs from the creative criativo.
11) Titanic: idea; iceberg: client's juridical department
12) Mary Antoinette: idea; Guillotine: budget.

The message below the "Showoff" logo means: "because there are already many ways to kill your idea".

2009 Nov 16 02:01 (#4191.12695):

Our old friend LUECKE is about 2.4 miles long

Nazca Lines -- more here. "The largest are over 200 metres (660 ft) across."

More Giant Figures visible from Google Earth

...plus a Pink Bunny

...and many more in these old AE threads on Google Sightseeing and Google TomPeeping

2009 Nov 16 01:51 (#4189.12693):
Only two thumbs up for stripical? weaksauce.

I've submitted definitions for bargle:

To use a smartphone to resolve the factual matter of a subject under debate while out at a bar with friends. From "bar" and "google" via "bargain".

If bargling shows you are wrong, you have been iPwned.

Barney: "England's greatest Prime Minister was Lord Palmerston!"
Wade: "Pitt the Elder!"
Lenny: "Hold on, let me bargle for which had the more salutary effect on British foreign policy and domestic weal."

and iPwned:

To be proven wrong in a dispute according to factual information retrieved on an iPhone or other internet-connected device.
If one of your friends bargles something you said and disproves your claim, you have been iPwned.

Chico from the Magnificent Seven was played by Horst Buchholz, not James Dean. iPwned! Bam!

but they'll take a day or so to come through. Warning: you won't like the existing alternative definitions.

2009 Nov 16 12:50 (#4190.12690):
More shockers: Obama doesn't personally operate his Twitter account, and Malcom Gladwell isn't an instant expert on everything from the IQ to the "igon value".

2009 Oct 30 01:29 (#4089.12681):
A nice Ricardo Montalban anecdote.

Is there a website where folks like MrBun can record "This star is actually a [really cool person|flaming dickhole waste of skin]"?

2009 Oct 07 12:39 (#4073.12674):
That will always make me laugh.

Especially the 'double ew double ew double ew dot jay oh en e es BIGASSTruckRentalAndStorage dot com'

2009 Oct 07 12:37 (#4184.12673):
Your latter story is completely consistent with the claim that he is a well-regarded mathematician.

2009 Oct 07 12:36 (#3863.12672):
eBay auction: I'm selling my wife's box, my cock won't fit (SFW)

2009 Sep 16 06:20 (#4184.12664):
I have a Greater Bacon Number of 4:

Flip Kromer was on It's Academic with Mac McGarry;
It's Academic (the longest-running Quiz Show program in history) was spun off to a NYC-area network, where it was hosted by Art James.
Art James appeared as a game show host in the film Mallrats, which also featured Michael Rooker, who was in JFK with the Bacon.

Art James ALSO appeared in .... THE STAR WARS MOTHERFUCKING CHRISTMAS SPECIAL!!!! .... with James Earl Jones, magic 7, Bacon

2009 Sep 11 03:23 (#4183.12641):
Do I even need to say how much I like this?

2009 Sep 11 01:58 (#4181.12639):
For more like this: Foodpolitics at the Faster Times, as edited by my cousin Hannah!

2009 Aug 26 08:13 (#4152.12634):
would you like to wash that down with a photo catalog of single soft drink cans spanning more than a century? Soda USA.

2009 Aug 26 07:10 (#4152.12633):
Tab Cola -- I have no idea what fraction of this article is bullshit but it sure was interesting.

2009 Aug 12 10:22 (#4181.12624):
For decent fast food: Can you do potatoes? Wendy's baked potato + broccoli - cheese + barbecue sauce = decent meal for almost nothing.

My biggest concern is the environmental load meat imposes; this is the chief reason I'm a vegetarian.

...

I assume "So the food industry is also to blame for making all yummy, bad for you food so cheap and easily available" is tongue in cheek -- but see this old post for the astonishing figures on how much value modern agriculture has added to our lives. The typical US family spends half as much on a percentage basis -- from 20% in 1950 to under 10% now -- for food, and only 5.6% of its budget on food eaten at home. Against the striking increase in BMI, consider that the mean height has increased by an inch since 1960 and about four inches this century: there are significant but subtle improvements in health to weigh against the increase in obesity. On a national and global scale, hunger and malnutrition are now effectively political, not economic, problems.

-----

In that light, I'm disappointed by this author's failure to distinguish between cooking as a bourgeois leisure pasttime vs. cooking as a survival necessity with socially regressive opportunity costs.

The statement that "food companies [persuade] Americans to let them do the cooking" is silver-spooned bullshit. And worse yet:

"Today the average American spends a mere 27 minutes a day on food preparation (another four minutes cleaning up); that’s less than half the time that we spent cooking and cleaning up when Julia arrived on our television screens."

To this I say thank freaking goodness: in addition to the aforementioned marginal addition to my household budget, that's 30 minutes a day -- 2.7% of my waking day, about $3500/year in opportunity cost for a median earner.

"It’s generally assumed that the entrance of women into the work force is responsible for the collapse of home cooking, but that turns out to be only part of the story."

I assume nothing of the kind -- I think the liberation from food preparation duties is one of many factors that allowed women to enter the work force; or at the very least that the causality runs both ways.

So what are we doing with the time we save by outsourcing our food preparation to corporations and 16-year-old burger flippers? Working, commuting to work, surfing the Internet and, perhaps most curiously of all, watching other people cook on television.

"What are we doing with time formerly spent on [task that people demonstrably exchange money to avoid]? Just [things that people have always done and whose time value is profitably exchanged for the former task, which profit is spent in leisure activity: for example, one that is new and therefore suspect; and another, cherry-picked as ironic straw man]."

2009 Jul 16 09:32 (#3863.12606):
Vague Science. I'm in, where do I send my subscription form?

2009 Jul 12 09:30 (#4170.12595):
I'm on record: I gladly trade 35F and slushy for a 100F and scorchy any time you ask. You have not heard me complain about this weather, only report the facts, since my pissing and moaning budget is reserved for the dozen or so days it dunks below 50F here.

Austin FTW.

(And fellow Austinites: there's no better reason for a phone call to your friend up north than one of those random 75deg mid-January days, amirite? "Oh, hey, I just put on shorts and grilled out today, what are you up to? Oh, digging your car out from 7 inches of snow? Wow, that must suck. OK gotta run, I'm meeting some friends for ice cream.")

2009 Jul 11 01:55 (#4170.12593):
I pulled the NCDC weather for Austin from 1948-present (see infochimps.org link for details) and got my Tufte on.

This temperature cycle is hotter than but comparable to the 1950-1965 era. I've got no idea if it's global warming or the peak of a cycle. The fundamental conclusion -- that this year so far, 2000 and 2008 were damn hot -- stands up well.

The first plot is a year-on-year time series similar to the one in the link. It shows degrees over 100F, for days where the temperature exceeded 100F. Each year's baseline is one grid cell higher than the previous, with bars above 106F allowed to overlap (this results in a darker cell on the few occasions they do):

Check that Indian summer in 2005!

This next one shows a histogram of temperature by four-year group: the vertical scale shows temperature in 2.5 degF blocks, and the inner scale shows #days with that temperature. Gridlines show 100,95,90 (red) and 45,40,35 (blue). The last four years and 1996-2001 were unusually hot, but the intervening four years were mild against the 30-year block. Keep in mind the last (2006-2009) block is incomplete.

Did you know that Austin temperatures are far more likely to be in the 70s -or- 90s than they are to be 83-90 degrees?

Here's that last chart but year-by-year; click to see it in size ginormous:

2009 Jul 09 06:51 (#4163.12591):
Language Log's Rebuttal

2009 Jul 06 01:16 (#4168.12587):
Man, great AE/gooreader outpouring... It's like someone airlifted Ziggy 20 miles offshore and locked him in a metal box where he can only surf the internet but can't rub one out. That's too unlikely a scenario, though...

2009 Jul 04 02:53 (#4165.12584):
If it makes you feel better, for any given person of somewhat similar racial stock either a) you almost certainly share an ancestor or b) one or both of you have incestuous family trees.

Ignoring your West Virginian origins, you have ~8k ancestors at the 13 generation mark (~390 yrs, 30 yr/generation). If on average each couple raises three offspring to reproducing age, those 4,000 couples would have 4.3 billion descendants. This is clearly too high -- the incest assumption can't strictly hold. (A 17-generation tree with no overlap and no generational population growth -- 2 kids per couple -- has 65k ancestors and 8.5B descendants. Requiring no overlap is what makes the tree explode.) Still, accounting for some incest and limited mobility, if you and another person have even one geographic region of ancestry in common you should only have to go back a dozen or so generations for a shared relative.

2009 Jun 28 12:54 (#4163.12582):
Finally finished the DFW essay -- fantastic. Contrapuntal to The Phenomenology of Error, linked to earlier.

2009 Jun 21 11:01 (#4161.12580):
Alternate links to Harper's article (and no, the UT Library doesn't have it, or at least it was not within the ambit of my recent Escheresque deathmarch through its unusable faceted search interfaces):

* http://billtotten.blogspot.com/2009/04/infinite-debt.html
* http://forums.tunk.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=19739

2009 Jun 06 10:54 (#4156.12565):
Via the author's blog, a Grand Unified Theory of Schwartzenegger.

2009 Jun 06 09:49 (#4022.12564):
Someone took up the gauntlet and made Literal Eclipse of the Heart -- and it's certainly the best of the lot, with a killer barrage of pop-culture references starting at the 1/3 mark.

2009 Jun 01 11:11 (#4082.12563):
Another turd in the internet utopia: sites like Facebook, Youtube, etc throttle server traffic to low-income countries because they pay out with low ad revenue.

2009 Jun 01 10:36 (#4151.12562):
Tyson's metro? Should be interesting.

2009 Apr 24 07:53 (#4141.12538):
@jonthegeek -- I gave half-credit on the conspiracy question, for his tepid indictment of the Scientific Establishment (TM) on the crime of Ageism.

2009 Apr 21 05:23 (#4141.12528):
Scoring that comment against the Crackpot Index:
1. A -5 point starting credit. (-5)
2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false. ( 2)
3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous. ( 3)
6. 5 points for using a thought experiment that contradicts the results of a widely accepted real experiment. ( 5)
7. 5 points for each word in all capital letters (except for those with defective keyboards). ( 5)
9. 10 points for each claim that quantum mechanics is fundamentally misguided (without good evidence). (10)
18. 10 points for each favorable comparison of yourself to Einstein, or claim that special or general relativity are fundamentally misguided (without good evidence). ( 5, half credit: Susan Boyle)
24. 20 points for defending yourself by bringing up (real or imagined) ridicule accorded to your past theories. (20)
34. 40 points for claiming that the "scientific establishment" is engaged in a "conspiracy" to prevent your work from gaining its well-deserved fame, or suchlike. (20)
37. 50 points for claiming you have a revolutionary theory but giving no concrete testable predictions. (50)

Total: 115. I tried to err on the side of generosity (lower crackpot index).

I haven't scored the video, someone else want to get on that?

2009 Apr 21 08:40 (#4140.12524):
OK, that's good -- I'd include a few of the efficient recurrences for e, pi, important functions.

But calculating those requires a lot of multiplication, and for that you want an actual log table.

2009 Apr 21 08:17 (#4141.12523):
LENR = low energy nuclear reaction aka Cold Fusion.

2009 Apr 11 09:56 (#4137.12516):
A couple head-scratchers among the other pitches: esp 4th from left on top row, 2nd from right on bottom row -- no, the iPhone does not work like that.

2009 Apr 07 10:45 (#4125.12515):
Congrats GMcD and Javelina!

2009 Apr 01 01:22 (#4134.12503):
last_visited count(*) 2009-04 4 2009-03 15 2009-02 2 2009-01 1 2008-12 3 2008-11 2 2008-10 2 2008-07 2 2008-04 2 2008-03 1 2008-01 1 2007 17 2006 56 2005 36 2004 23 [never] 18

Most of the '05 and '06 users are spam I think.

2009 Mar 31 04:12 (#4125.12493):
Yes, yes, that is why I said "...while I still can".

2009 Mar 31 03:57 (#4134.12492):
I feel 4chan loved.

@pablo -- we did some user stats a while ago, I'm too lazy to look them up but maybe you will.

2009 Mar 31 01:40 (#4125.12485):
Posting this eCard while I still can...

2009 Mar 28 11:44 (#4125.12483):
-- Final 4 -- | -- Semis -- | -Final- | Score Max Remain Max Possible mrflip . MchSt x Pitt . UNC . UConn | MchSt x Pitt | x Pitt | 94 16 110 Sivraj x Wake x Pitt . UNC . UConn | UConn UNC | UNC | 81 64 145 gilliss x Louis x Pitt . UNC . UConn | x Louis UNC | UNC | 85 48 133 saucy x Louis . Vill . Cuse x Memph | x Louis Vill | Vill | 82 48 130 Natedogg . MchSt x Pitt x OK . UConn | UConn x OK | UConn | 81 48 129 --eliminated-- JonTehGeek x Louis x Pitt . UNC x Memph | x Louis UNC | UNC | 75 48 123 BarackObama ND2 x Louis x Pitt . UNC x Memph | x Louis UNC | UNC | 75 48 123 doncarlo x Kans x Xavr . UNC . UConn | x Kans UNC | x Kans | 83 16 99 habcous x Wake x Pitt . UNC . UConn | UConn x Pitt | x Pitt | 75 16 91 WestIsOKIGuess x Louis x Pitt . UNC x Memph | x Memph x Pitt | x Pitt | 72 0 72 javelina x Dayt x Xavr x Mich x CSNor | x Dayt x Mich | x Mich | 37 0 37 beckto x Wake x TX x Cuse x TxA&M | x TxA&M x TX | x TX | 27 0 27 doncarlo x USC x Minn x SFAus x Corn | x Corn x Minn | x Minn | 13 0 13

MchSt Vill MchSt flip MchSt UNC MchSt flip UConn Vill UConn nate UConn UNC UConn nate MchSt Vill Vill soku UConn Vill Vill soku MchSt UNC UNC GMcD UConn UNC UNC ~tom

2009 Mar 28 10:56 (#4125.12482):
Dominated: JonBama (by gilliss), doncarlo (by everyone)

2009 Mar 27 11:23 (#4125.12479):
-- Final 4 -- | -- Semis -- | -Final- | Score Max Remain Max Possible mrflip MchSt Pitt UNC UConn | MchSt Pitt | Pitt | 70 96 166 gilliss Louis Pitt UNC UConn | Louis UNC | UNC | 69 96 165 Natedogg MchSt Pitt OK UConn | UConn OK | UConn | 65 96 161 saucy Louis Vill x Cuse x Memph | Louis Vill | Vill | 74 80 154 Sivraj x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn UNC | UNC | 65 88 153 habcous x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn Pitt | Pitt | 59 88 147 WestIsOKIGuess Louis Pitt UNC x Memph | x Memph Pitt | Pitt | 64 72 136 --eliminated-- JonTehGeek Louis Pitt UNC x Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 67 88 155 BarackObama ND2 Louis Pitt UNC x Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 67 88 155 doncarlo x Kans x Xavr UNC UConn | x Kans UNC | x Kans | 67 32 99 javelina x Dayt x Xavr x Mich x CSNor | x Dayt x Mich | x Mich | 37 0 37 beckto x Wake x TX x Cuse x TxA&M | x TxA&M x TX | x TX | 27 0 27 doncarlo x USC x Minn x SFAus x Corn | x Corn x Minn | x Minn | 13 0 13

Becky: you lost. Ben: You win. Consult the PhD degree on your wall for more details.

2009 Mar 25 03:02 (#4125.12470):
The 2d-to-last prize is Beckto's UNLESS ((Syracuse wins both its next two games) AND (Xavier does not win both its next two games)).

notthomas -- Is it true you can edit brackets? If so you could repair MsC's bracket, if you both cared to.

-- Final 4 -- | -- Semis -- | -Final- | Last 3 pts mrflip MchSt Pitt UNC UConn | MchSt Pitt | Pitt | 96 WestIsOKIGuess Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Memph Pitt | Pitt | 96 BarackObama ND2 Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 JonTehGeek Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 gilliss Louis Pitt UNC UConn | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 Sivraj x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn UNC | UNC | 88 habcous x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn Pitt | Pitt | 88 Natedogg MchSt Pitt OK UConn | UConn OK | UConn | 96 doncarlo Kans Xavr UNC UConn | Kans UNC | Kans | 96 saucy Louis Vill Cuse Memph | Louis Vill | Vill | 96 beckto x Wake x TX Cuse x TxA&M | x TxA&M x TX | x TX | 8 javelina x Dayt Xavr x Mich x CSNor | x Dayt x Mich | x Mich | 8 doncarlo x USC x Minn x SFAus x Corn | x Corn x Minn | x Minn | 0

2009 Mar 21 05:49 (#4125.12457):
Holding a Wake for your bracket?

-- Final 4 -- | -- Semis -- | -Final- | Last 3 pts mrflip MchSt Pitt UNC UConn | MchSt Pitt | Pitt | 96 WestIsOKIGuess Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Memph Pitt | Pitt | 96 BarackObama ND2 Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 JonTehGeek Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 gilliss Louis Pitt UNC UConn | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 Sivraj x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn UNC | UNC | 88 habcous x Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn Pitt | Pitt | 88 Natedogg MchSt Pitt OK UConn | UConn OK | UConn | 96 doncarlo Kans Xavr UNC UConn | Kans UNC | Kans | 96 saucy Louis Vill Cuse Memph | Louis Vill | Vill | 96 beckto x Wake TX Cuse TxA&M | TxA&M TX | TX | 88 javelina Dayt Xavr Mich x CSNor | Dayt Mich | Mich | 88 doncarlo USC x Minn SFAus Corn | Corn x Minn | x Minn | 40

2009 Mar 19 04:05 (#4125.12445):
Here's the final four and beyond matchups. I'm not going to calculate the max-points-remaining until we get to the final four; right now the last column is round-4,5,6-max-points. I went ahead and put it in likely finishing order, with me at the top, beckto, doncarlo and javelina at the bottom, and you also-rans grouped.

-- Final 4 -- | -- Semis -- | -Final- | Last 3 pts mrflip MchSt Pitt UNC UConn | MchSt Pitt | Pitt | 96 habcous Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn Pitt | Pitt | 96 WestIsOKIGuess Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Memph Pitt | Pitt | 96 Barack Obama ND2 Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 JonTehGeek Louis Pitt UNC Memph | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 gilliss Louis Pitt UNC UConn | Louis UNC | UNC | 96 Sivraj Wake Pitt UNC UConn | UConn UNC | UNC | 96 Natedogg MchSt Pitt OK UConn | UConn OK | UConn | 96 doncarlo Kans Xavr UNC UConn | Kans UNC | Kans | 96 saucy Louis Vill Cuse Memph | Louis Vill | Vill | 96 beckto Wake TX Cuse TxA&M | TxA&M TX | TX | 96 javelina Dayt Xavr Mich x CSNor | Dayt Mich | Mich | 88 doncarlo USC x Minn SFAus Corn | Corn x Minn | x Minn | 40

2009 Mar 19 03:52 (#4125.12444):
Oh hey lookit that -- the tiebreaker is ~~final score~~ total score of final, not winner's score. I am the only one who can't read, as I'm assuming Javelina is among those who can't care.

Is one of the doncarlo's a feeneyla?

JonTheGeek -- was your entry made as you, using O's picks? If so I propose that Natedogg's Obama picks get zeroed out and JTG contends on his advisor's merits.

2009 Mar 18 01:50 (#4125.12439):
Maryland will win the tournament, here's how I know.

2009 Mar 18 01:33 (#4125.12438):
Holy crap yay! We'll hold a Westival in honor of your triumphal return.

2009 Mar 07 06:07 (#4122.12434):
Also: In just the brief clip I've seen and of course hearing about bikini girl... was American Idol always "Real World with more singing"?

It seems like you have to have not only a good voice but also a huge flashing "I FIT STEREOTYPE X" hovering over you.

2009 Mar 07 06:01 (#4122.12433):
The horror... the horror...

2009 Mar 04 04:03 (#4119.12429):
Looking through those I ran into this one, for which I thought "Wow, someone decided to give Obama a halfassed Alex Grey treatment"...

Turns out that's cause it's a photo of an unfinished Alex Grey painting. The completed version isn't one of his better ones (a, b) but is certainly much more subtle. He's actually one of my favorite working artists.

2009 Mar 02 01:27 (#3863.12424):
I weirdly can't find any thread about Rev Billy and the Church of Stop Shopping, but XMFCers may recall the somewhat-turgid documentary detailing his culture-jamming campaign against the Disneyfication of Times Square. It's like Improv Everywhere but with a political edge.

Anyway, the Right Rev. is Running for Mayor.

2009 Feb 28 09:12 (#4115.12420):
Q1: Banksy, given that the denominator is zero. (follow link if you're also a fan -- new recent stuff there).

Q2: Jerry West

2009 Feb 13 11:31 (#4106.12405):
Chad after Dentist

2009 Feb 08 06:40 (#4103.12400):
Another perspective: Where Sweatshops are a Dream - and another: End of the Line, a photoessay on the Chittagong ship-breaking yards in Bangladesh.

2009 Feb 06 11:04 (#4107.12396):
So did you get me that gorilla or not?!!?

2009 Feb 06 11:32 (#4106.12395):
Is our childrens stoning? "Why is this HAPPENING to me?"

2009 Feb 02 09:13 (#3784.12388):
Wow, I am loving IHKH

2009 Feb 02 09:13 (#4100.12387):
Wow, apparently Arizonans got dicked over by not only Santonio Holmes but also John Holmes [sfw] Sunday night...

2009 Jan 23 06:38 (#4098.12374):
I have no idea whatsoever what's going on here.

2009 Jan 21 04:18 (#4097.12368):
Satellite photo of the inauguration -- click for GINORMOUS res. Took me a little to figure out why the crowd down the mall had that odd fan-out structure...

If you look really close you can see Beckto and Flanders on the mall, and Ms_c angrily kicking on the door of the purple secion.

2009 Jan 21 03:55 (#2582.12367):
Can I assume that Joyce Zipperer is an artistic alias? Or is that aan aptonym for the ages?

2009 Jan 18 11:18 (#4095.12353):
Yes but as you've also pointed out you're the world's only living heart resection patient.

2009 Jan 17 07:29 (#4041.12350):
Awesome: via Lessig, word that Rick Boucher will be head of the House Telecommunications subcommittee.

Boucher wrote the Digital Media Consumer's Rights Act (DMCRA) and is a good guy when it comes to digital rights issues and internet policy.

2009 Jan 16 02:45 (#4089.12348):
If I ever build a lowrider you best believe it's gonna be a Cordoba. Por que el Chrysler Cordoba es un coche muy macho!

2009 Jan 15 11:05 (#4012.12346):
So, 0.5 to 0.6 Billion dollars, at 125 to 150 M$/mile.

The current light rail is $105M, or $3M/mile.

This route is a factor of 40-50 times as expensive, even accounting for none of the exogenous costs that come from blocking traffic and business in downtown for three years.

--

People will move to where the rail line is. This will fuel growth on the East side, an entirely good thing, and it will densify central-ish Austin development, another good thing.

2009 Jan 15 08:47 (#532.12344):
[I was looking for the right cleverly germane place to drop the following link, but this thread was so retro awesome necroworthy my search stopped here. Anyway]

Via natedogg, check out the Miami Herald's 404 Not Found page. Funny.

2009 Jan 15 01:00 (#2582.12338):
Awesome!

2009 Jan 15 12:49 (#4012.12337):
This guy is off by a factor of 50 at least. Among other things, I know SoCo is fancier than S Lamar, but THERE'S A RAIL RIGHT OF WAY AND A BRIDGE AND EVERYTHING running parallel to lamar from 2nd to Ben White, connecting to an existing spur out to the airport.

Let's see if TTJ can weigh in on this.

John -- within a factor of 10, how much to run light rail straight through an existing street in NIH, across Old Georgetown, down Arlington road, up Bradley and down Wisconsin to Friendship heights. Add in a bridge expansion.

* Downtown Austin
* Downtown Bethesda

2009 Jan 14 05:40 (#4089.12334):
I tried to find the old ¿Quién es más macho? skit online but I could not. Then I thought about it, and we're never going to be able to find things that dance anywhere near the 'hmm, maybe inappropriate' boundary online, are we? Not even "Song of the South" stuff, things that are just iffy: nobody ever go fired for skipping to the next thing in the back catalog for the official colxn and takedowning everything on youtube.

2009 Jan 11 03:19 (#4086.12331):
That's a deep cut. So is the Bea Arthur track.

2009 Jan 11 03:48 (#4069.12328):
Readers React.

2009 Jan 11 03:31 (#4085.12327):
Via MeFi, a non-taked-down version or an annoying download site download.

It'd be fair to say 'gee, go buy it' but... um.... $700 used in unspecified condition.

2009 Jan 08 03:54 (#4081.12323):

Reply from Wesley Stamper on January 7, 2009:
“I like one of the videos connected to this …”
Within *two* clicks of “related videos”, I was watching three teenage girls dancing around in their underwear.
So, THANKS, Bill!

That would be a fun rating system for youtube.

1) How many comments before the first "ur a fag", repurposing to political "debate" or triggering of Godwin's Law.
2) How many clicks away is a naked/underwear girl or a cat doing something adorable.

I conjecture the global maxima to be "100" and "3" respectively.

2009 Jan 08 02:04 (#3863.12322):
You've seen aptonyms, but have you ever seen one that looks like, acts like and misuses his name as badly as this peckerhead? [link and observation via CH]

2009 Jan 08 10:40 (#4036.12319):
The Obama administration has moved quickly to allay two of my concerns. First, they are not averse to the claim that UT is number one, and going forward support a college football playoffs. Second, Obama has pledged to improve his bowling game through a disciplined process of Wii Sports training with coaches Malia and Sasha.

Polls reveal the bowling thing resonates strongly with the coveted Strangers in the Alps demographic, many of whom cite Clinton's early april press conference as a low ebb in their support for Obama.

2009 Jan 04 06:13 (#4041.12315):
The white house sets the record straight on the Bush legacy

2009 Jan 03 10:55 (#4075.12314):
WaPo's IN and OUT list.

Out: Expensive Bicycles. In: Fixies!

2009 Jan 03 10:42 (#3759.12313):
Wax Arenas -- the comments below are pretty enjoyable for a Wizznutzz fan.

2009 Jan 02 11:31 (#4080.12310):
Not to mention your tendency to travel with that padded vest holding maroon-sleeved rolls of quarters, spare wire, boxcutters and a squirt gun. (For laundry, better radio reception, opening boxes and general hilarity, of course)

2009 Jan 02 11:16 (#4055.12308):
OK, this study of priming by just changing the language is fascinating.

When Prof. Laitin's Somali assistants asked Somali-speaking students in the Northeastern Province of Kenya to complete the sentence "My favorite radio station is ___" (or its Somali translation), the answers varied as follows:

Voice of Kenya Somali Radio BBC Asked in English (n=56) 54% 43% 4% Asked in Somali (n=70) 24% 51% 24%

When asked to complete the sentence "Between home and school, I prefer ___", their answers were:

"Home" "School" Asked in English (n=68) 68% 32% Asked in Somali (n=71) 25% 75%

These are obviously pretty large differences.

2008 Dec 31 12:03 (#3863.12307):
From SisterInLawOK -- Maine man faces [DUI] charge atop Zamboni.

2008 Dec 30 10:03 (#4078.12305):
What happens when a Catalonian moves here and sets up with the Caganer? yawn.

I suppose the reason this doesn't blossom into neighbor drama is that the caganer is supposed to be hard to find: it's kindof a "Where's Waldo" game, apparently.

2008 Dec 30 09:51 (#4078.12304):
Don't you think the war on Xmas over here would be so much more fun if there were an active "Creche, Menorah, whatever -- as long as there's a person dropping a deuce" faction?

2008 Dec 20 06:59 (#4075.12289):
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2008/1217081mugyear1.html

2008 Dec 20 02:15 (#4073.12283):
To those who have to sound: Try loading this file; you should just see a halcyon blue screen. Hold shift and hit reload. Then come back here and try again. Maybe that will help? Dunno.

The guy who designed the xmas lights thing did it just right. It's just funny enough to be funny and just annoying enough that I'll be glad to see it go.

2008 Dec 20 01:54 (#4075.12282):
I didn't have any problem with the wrong side of the road, though shifting left-handed was bizarre -- but I do remember my mom pointing out that the fast lane wasn't where I thought it was.

They're entitled to make fun of the Ska-pun band name for being outré, but think fondly on the genre that gifted us with "Janitors Against Apartheid", "Let's Go Bowling", "The Cherry Poppin' Daddies", "Mephiskapheles", "Skif Dank", "Less Than Jake", "Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra" and "Save Ferris"

... and this looks like a somethingawful photoshop job:

2008 Dec 20 01:45 (#4041.12281):
Vanity Fair has leaked copies of the White House formal dinner menus for the remaining portion of Bush's tenure. Brilliant.

2008 Dec 19 02:57 (#3787.12276):
If you enjoy the Doonesbury, his current thread with Toggle and the release of Chinese Democracy is great.

[Backstory: BD, the older vet, has been going through a long physical and emotional struggle to adapt to the loss of his leg in Iraq. Toggle was a young soldier in his deployment, the guy who made killer mixtapes for everyone in the squad. Last year Toggle got blown up by a car bomb and has recovered but still has significant aphasia as a result. He and Axl are healing together.]

2008 Dec 18 05:46 (#4074.12263):
High five and a million thanks to you natedogg, on Getting Wood.

(wood, of course, being the traditional 5th year anniversary gift.)

2008 Dec 18 05:10 (#4075.12262):
Obama is Time's Person of the Year.

2008 Dec 18 04:45 (#4074.12261):
Pink Killers Shirt, Bachelorette fer sure.

2008 Dec 18 04:11 (#3863.12260):
Since the movie Sniper is one of my favorite guilty pleasures, I found this article fascinating. Equally fascinating are its outlinks: to a story on the "White Tights" -- deadly and mythical ~~rodents of unusual size~~ female snipers of Chechnya; and to storied sniper Carlos Hathcock (nicknamed "Lông Trắng" (White Feather) by the Vietnamese).

One of Hathcock's most famous accomplishments was shooting an enemy sniper through his scope, hitting him in the eye and killing him.[2] Hathcock and John Burke, his spotter, were stalking the enemy sniper in the jungle near Hill 55, the firebase Hathcock was operating from. The sniper had already killed several Marines, and was believed to have been sent specifically to kill Hathcock. When Hathcock saw a flash of light (light reflecting off the enemy sniper's scope) in the bushes,[2] he fired at it, shooting through the scope and killing the sniper.[3] Surveying the situation, Hathcock concluded that the only feasible way he could have put the bullet straight down the enemy's scope and through his eye would have been if both snipers were zeroing in on each other at the same time, and Hathcock fired first, which gave him only a few seconds to act. Given the flight time of rounds at long ranges, both snipers could easily have killed one another. The enemy rifle was recovered and the incident is documented by a photograph.

(This incident was written in to the movie Sniper, natch.)

I also feel compelled to link to this on-point classic.

2008 Dec 16 08:44 (#4073.12249):
@natedogg - for some reason I feel compelled to note that I knew that. and find it no less hilarious.

That esquire article is missing Fred and Sharon, which is a grave oversight.

@nano -- you are running Firefox? if not, that is my answer.

2008 Dec 15 10:46 (#3910.12245):
Beaker fronts Dr. Teeth and The Electric Mayhem for a stirring version of Coldplay's "Yellow".

2008 Dec 14 05:49 (#4071.12236):
I appreciate that Avery waited til the playoffs to uncork that move.

Video -- worth noting that he did turn back around and actually score later in the power play.

Besides the desultory punch Brodeur throws, I'm not sure but it looks like one of his teammates scolds him while he's doing it -- see the recap at the very very end.

2008 Dec 11 10:54 (#4068.12232):
*hug*

2008 Dec 11 10:19 (#4068.12228):
Nice tip GMcD!

Here are the other bookmarklex I use:

GoogleSel - Google the currently highlighted text in page.

WikipediaSel - Wikipedia the currently highlighted text in page.

Wayback - Take the current URL and search it in the wayback (internet archive) machine. Perfect when you get 404'ed and the URL has persisted.

POST to GET - You will find this useless or, perhaps, awesome.
HTML forms are either submitted as GET requests: all parameters reside in the URL, like a google search; or as POST requests: parameters are sent in the extended conversation, as when you post a comment here. Often, but not always, the recipient is happy to process the GET request even if its form was set up for POST.
If so, you can bookmark that submission -- really handy when a search you want to bookmark is set up to POST. (It's especially delightful if you're in the habit of systematically exploring or scripting repeated queries against a page, but I've found it frequently useful otherwise; maybe you will, too.)

del.icio.us if you use it. Google reader's got one of those too but you knew that.

bit.ly current URL, y'know, for the twitter... Same as tinyurl but you can enter a custom slug (so, http://bit.ly/infochimps) if you can spare the chars or a shorter one (http://bit.ly/htyl) if you can't. You also get some extra info about the URL.

I have keyword searches on
g = Google -- http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=%s
gl = Google+I Feel Lucky -- http://www.google.com/search?btnI=Lucky&q=%s
wp = Wikipedia -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:Search?fulltext=fulltext&search=%s
gm = Google Maps -- http://maps.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=en&q=%s
wn = WordNet -- http://wordnet.princeton.edu/perl/webwn?s=%s
gd = Google define:word -- http://www.google.com/search?btnG=Google+Search&q=define+%s

If you've never used keyword bookmarks they kick ass: create the bookmark and add the short little mnemonic (the 'g' or 'wp') in the "keyword" field. Then from the URL bar (^L / ⌘L) you can just type "gm New Orleans" to be taken straight to a google maps search on, in this case, New Orleans. (This keyword bookmarks feature may be Firefox Only.)

2008 Dec 10 11:48 (#4066.12225):
Compared the version thru and not thru the UT proxy: They were the same, so even if your tower isn't ivory don't fret.

2008 Dec 09 09:57 (#4059.12220):
They don't seem as pissed about it as I would be.

2008 Dec 09 03:01 (#4013.12219):
My contribution is in! Thanks, Senia and Aylen!

2008 Dec 09 02:02 (#4065.12218):
I've been loving the 1-graf-briefs they've had for the last few weeks: he's been Dragged Behind Presidential Motorcade For 26 Blocks, had his Eyelid Accidentally Nailed To Wall, Passed a Three-Pound Kidney Stone, Tumbled Wildly Down Washington Monument Staircase, and had a Crocodile Bite Off His Arm.

I wonder if the Onion has gotten to chat with the Secret Service yet.

2008 Dec 09 01:20 (#3900.12217):
I just wasted a lot of time enjoying the hell out of the longer collection at N'Importe Qui. Kangourou is discomfitingly hilarious.

2008 Dec 09 12:59 (#4042.12216):
awesome. In my opinion the comments are the best part so I'm psyched they're easier to track now.

2008 Dec 08 09:10 (#4053.12214):
I am so, so disappointed in you for knowing this.

2008 Dec 02 11:01 (#4059.12202):
YAY PRIMERS!

Do this anytime.

2008 Nov 28 10:04 (#4058.12188):
"Meet our new mascot, Combaticus! Whoa, looks like that guy's going to get a 15-yd penalty... for being too awesome". Good stuff.

2008 Nov 27 12:27 (#4048.12186):
Hölldobler and Wilson have a new book out, sounds good. Also sounds like it doesn't cost $100 (as Ants does).

2008 Nov 25 09:16 (#4046.12185):
Another barrier is broken, as two winners of an Indian reality TV show are signed to minor-league contracts:

The contest was sponsored by a California sports management company that believed it could locate major league-worthy arms in a country of more than 1 billion. After working extensively with Southern California pitching coach Tom House since May, the pitchers staged a tryout in Tempe, Ariz., on Nov. 6 that was attended by 30 major league scouts.

Also enjoyed hearing that

Patel and Singh are learning English, most of which they have picked up from watching ESPN's Baseball Tonight and by taking online classes.

2008 Nov 25 09:03 (#4049.12184):
"This is almost as unsatisfying as spending two days of my life being an extra for a webshort viewed by tens, if not hundreds, of people online"

Are you in this? Please provide time codes of maximum javelinization. I scanned through but did not find.

2008 Nov 25 08:19 (#4055.12183):
It wasn't inadvertent: the Categorical Homer purposefully set up the quiz like that. It also isn't a Push Poll. It didn't underhandedly promote new or uncommon (let alone misleading) information. The questions are legitimate, their wording is fairly neutral, and the responses don't lead the user in any direction. A person taking this poll was free to answer that the war in Iraq was not a mistake, that the American economy will recover quickly (or that it will take a while, but might think its downturn was caused by CRA and the liberal Congress), that they will retire at 60, have undiminished pride in their country, and subscribe to the Truman theory.

You'd probably see a similar effect by simply re-ordering the questions in the first poll. Point being, a subtle defect in an otherwise perfectly reasonable series of questions can cause bias well outside the typically-cited margin of error.

OK fine, nobody else thought this was interesting besides me. Please click on the tie-dyed dog trainwreck instead. And let me know how the Donnie Darko CD is. Unrelatedly, zieglerfe pointed to drop.io a little while ago.

2008 Nov 25 05:45 (#3931.12180):
This seems like the right place to put Cindy the Poodle as a Dragon. There's more... including the suprising fact they go to RennFests together.

2008 Nov 25 05:24 (#4055.12179):
If that failed to please I offer this as a refund: Kazoo.

2008 Nov 25 04:08 (#4056.12178):
Hm. Holder, great, Axelrod hellya, but that weenus Waxman? no-talent ass clown and anger management candidate Bolton?

I draw my inspiration from a much more worthy paragon. Do good things and good things'll happen to you.

2008 Nov 25 04:46 (#4055.12177):
The A-L poll leads with a series of questions on the current political crises.
The M-Z poll leads with a series of non-political questions.

Both ask, as their last question, "How do you think historians will ultimately rank the presidency of George W. Bush?" Currently:

= Current Crises = = Non-Political = 1. 188 32.8% 144 27.4% Disastrously. The worst president ever. 2. 347 58.7% 335 63.7% Not the worst, but a failed presidency, in the lowest tier. 3. 41 7 % 31 6 % Not a successful presidency, but not among the lowest of the low. 4. 12 2 % 11 2 % Average. 5. 2 0 % 4 1 % Better than average. 6. 1 0 % 1 0 % Way better than average. 591 526 (Total)

Seeding people with the "How have Bush's failed policies affected you" questions increased the "worst-ever" response by 5% of the total (an almost 20% increase in respondents).

Small sample size, etc., but I think that's a huge swing. By tomorrow the total sample size should be in the few thousands (the neighborhood of most telephone polls), giving a sampling margin of error of ~ 3-4%; but I expect this effect will persist, a bias of 5%+. Now we all knew the cite MOEs are bullshit, but this is a nice clear demonstration, and a bit of a surprise at how large the effect is.

(And I'm pretty sure you meant Eschatological Lemur, javelina)

2008 Nov 22 09:19 (#4052.12170):
Oregon. And yeah.

2008 Nov 20 03:10 (#4052.12162):
In a few of these I'd like to see what the rest of the ballot looked like -- specifically for "Ballot #6: The Checkmark", was the voter doing that on all of them?

-------

While canvassing, one of the voters I talked to was setting his Fantasy Football picks on a laptop when I knocked. He asked me to hang out for a second while he finished, then got his still-blank mail-in ballot from the kitchen table.

He'd never voted before, and I hadn't seen the CO ballot. First of all, it is *huge*, with the same muddled lack of usability as most. You are given pairs of arrows

==>    <==

and have to draw a line connecting them

==>----<==

He's nervous as hell that he'll do it wrong, and I'm nervous as hell even touching his ballot. I joked to him that "I don't want to be on the news tomorrow with Hannity yelling 'Some white dude came in this guy's house and told him what to vote for! Voter intimidation! ACORN!'" (To which he mock-responded, "You're white??!!?").

We went over the instructions and I finally grabbed a spare piece of paper, drew example arrows and demonstrated what to do. He did the line for "Obama-Biden" and and I could tell it was a pretty good moment. The Obama vote was all he cared about, but he asked if there were any of the others he should do (I bet a lot, lot of precincts saw ballots with a vote for Obama-and-that's-it, depressing somewhat the coattail effect). I told him there were a few others worth doing -- the governor race was mildly competitive, and there were a couple toxic initiatives. I briefly explained these, and pointed to where they were on the page, all while stressing repeatedly that he could vote or not vote however he wanted. He did those four initiatives and governor and president, then sealed his ballot back up in the envelope. I gave him one of the cards I'd made (my number, the voter protection number and the local polling place), and he called me on election day to let me know he'd dropped it off.

This guy was if anything smarter than most people, but had just such an overpowering amount of high-stakes investment (hope! change! black president!) and worry (they won't count our votes!) that I could absolutely understand how someone might decide to bubble in, underline, highlight, and draw giant radial pointing arrows indicating their choice. Anyway, you can be smart enough to use the Yahoo fantasy football page (and win a good piece of change on the previous week's games) but still be intimidated by an optical scan ballot.

2008 Nov 20 12:19 (#4051.12161):
Who says exercise machines keep cats from being lolworthy? This one is pretty good.

Also, to natedogg's: "Added: May 25, 2008 Views: 7,204,811 Ratings: 11,478 Comments: 7,161 Favorited: 11,337 times." Oh, internets!

2008 Nov 19 11:16 (#4050.12159):
It's been a while since we've seen a home-run Sports Guy piece; this isn't an upper-deck moon shot, but it's at least a 3-run rope into the outfield bullpen.

2008 Nov 19 06:14 (#3812.12158):
As my mom has remarked, "You don't ever want to get involved in a Libel/Defamation case. Showing that the allegations are true is an affirmative defense."

Specifically, to document in court the many and varied ways in which the claimant is in fact a douchebag.

2008 Nov 19 04:55 (#4047.12155):
Incidentally, doing that with tinyurl is pretty unrewarding (in a small number of trials). If I were in charge I'd mos def seed the first several dozen with YTMND and lemonparties and stuff.

2008 Nov 19 04:43 (#4047.12154):
The suspiciously low hash string should be a tipoff on that last one.

Browse through http://tinysong.com/1z, http://tinysong.com/22, etc to find out what they were listening to while testing. http://tinysong.com/1 thru http://tinysong.com/a are Head over Heels; b-k are Love Me Do.

2008 Nov 19 12:01 (#4048.12151):
I just realized Radiolab ≠ Radiohead.

Not that I thought you were a Creep, more whether I was an Amnesiac.

2008 Nov 18 09:06 (#4047.12150):
"Hey we can grow the market, improve our customers' experience, and see a reasonable constant income stream, all without appreciably cutting into our current business model!" makes sense.

Therefore: it will be shut down/lawsuited/emasculated by this time next year.

From the TOS:

Unless we indicate otherwise, if you do post or link to User Content , you grant EMG and its affiliates a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, and fully sublicensable right to use, display, perform, reproduce, publish, and distribute such User Content throughout the world via the Site and Service. You grant EMG and it affiliates the right to use the name that you submit in connection with such User Content. You are solely responsible for any necessary payments that may become due to any third parties as the result of your posting of or linking to the User Content and EMG's use thereof.

From the (separate) EULA

Indemnification. hold harmless You agree to indemnify, defend and EMG, Affiliates and the EMG Staff harmless from and against any and all liability and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees incurred by said parties, in connection with or arising out of your (a) violation or breach of any term of this Agreement or any applicable law or regulation, whether or not referenced herein, or (b) violation of any rights of any third party, or (c) use or misuse of the SharkByte Client, or (d) files transferred by means of the SharkByte Client.

(bolding mine, extremely worrisome typo theirs).

By the way, their plan (which *maybe* has a slim hope of succeeding): all money they're accruing that /would/ go to (Universal/Sony/other label that is watching and waiting) is put in an escrow account. So the proposition is "we can each spend that much money on lawyers or you can spend it on gold-plated Ferraris, what's it gonna be?"

2008 Nov 17 10:52 (#4036.12140):
As you know, there are no red/blue states, there are urban/rural states: most of our geographical political alignment is explained by population density.

If you browse through either visualization, you'll quickly notice two sets of anomalies -- a blue swath through the red, red heart of deepest south, and bright blue limning the TX-Mexico border and arcing up through the southwest. That's because race is the second most explanatory variable. This remarkable map shows just how strong it is:

It overlays a dot map of cotton production at the close of the civil war with voting returns from the 2008 presidential election.

2008 Nov 17 12:57 (#3812.12137):
apparently it's now available at fine bookstores everywhere. As an actual book, that is.

2008 Nov 16 07:21 (#4045.12136):
awesome -- I just came over here to post that arcticle.

The best part: GWBush had an AOL account (G94B@aol.com)! There were so many, many warning signs...

2008 Nov 14 04:37 (#4041.12135):
You guys have me mostly convinced.

2008 Nov 13 05:10 (#4041.12129):
I really like the idea, BTW, of asking Olympia Snowe to be Secretary of Commerce -- if she accepts, Obama shows a commitment to bipartisanship and a possible 60th senate seat. Snowe is opposed to NAFTA but on the whole palatable.

Also sign me up for the Lieberman compromise I'm hearing -- you keep your chairmanship as long as you join no GOP filibuster attempts. Party treason aside, he actually votes the slate pretty uniformly. Booting him when 60 is within reach is hubristic.

2008 Nov 12 11:01 (#4033.12128):
My skepticism justified: much (?) of the "Africa is a country" thing is false.

Someone "leaked" it to Fox, who reported it; then Eisenstadt (who doesn't exist) claimed to be the source; then Eisenstadt (who doesn't exist) was revealed to not exist. Now nobody seems to know whether Africa is or is not a country or whether Palin ever took a stand on the matter.

----

Also: PalinAsPresident.com put on ice (for now).

2008 Nov 12 03:54 (#4043.12126):
Good grief -- somehow the scale of this thing passed me by. Not 'thousands' but purportedly 1.2 MILLION copies? That's larger by about 100k than the daily paid circulation of the NYTimes itself!

I don't believe the figure, but both Editor&Publisher and the NYTimes cite it uncritically. Strange, by the way: I think "In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, 1.2 million papers were printed..." is more likely to sneak by than "In an elaborate operation six months in the planning, one million papers were printed....".

2008 Nov 11 10:53 (#4039.12125):
OK, I think I can figure out the rest.

2008 Nov 11 09:04 (#4042.12124):
For the feed reader issues -- I think you're seeing a cached copy of an under-construction feed. It's all WORKSFORME now, but I did catch a caching issue earlier while fiddling. Try http://alkalineearth.com/rss.ae?posts=19&comments=0 or something (this will look different and so not be cached). Better yet, wait til tomorrow then do that. Sorry for blowing up your google reader.

Layout issues should be fixed. I still don't know what broke: the site looked fine, of course, on FF and Safari but was a steaming pile of microsoft on IE. Do you use internet explorer? Does anything look different?

2008 Nov 11 01:32 (#4036.12115):
The election inspired many great political cartoons (from link by habcous, above). "Lincoln/Uncle Sam/MLK is proud of us" was the most common theme, no less profound for its ubiquity (and "Obama cleaning up after Bush's debauched rager" no less ubiquitous for its dicey overtones).

The subtle elegance of Bob Staake's New Yorker Cover wins the thread, though:

2008 Nov 10 04:17 (#4039.12109):
Add these to Doonesbury's report that Obama drained 8 of 10 from the line shooting hoops with vets in Iraq: 50 facts you might not know about Obama. I look forward to the Chuck-Norrissesque hyperinflation and follow on backlash of these myths.

2008 Nov 10 01:43 (#2633.12108):
I link to this review not for its intrinsic interest but for introducing me to "Siskel's Litmus Test for Star-studded Movies":

Is the film more interesting than a documentary of its actors having lunch together would be?

2008 Nov 10 01:39 (#4036.12107):
Until I hear something much more damning, I'm going with Wendy Kopp's appraisal of Larry Summers.

2008 Nov 09 09:17 (#4022.12103):
weak. sauce.

None of the others in that YouTube search had the conceit right -- leave the video and music alone, but sing new lyrics rewritten to describe the literal events of the music video -- not "Two people carrying a space heater and wearing 15 layers of clothes" over Mims' This is Why I'm Hot.

2008 Nov 08 04:06 (#4036.12099):
Nov 4th at the Lincoln Memorial -- photo

2008 Nov 06 12:18 (#4036.12095):
Obama Win Causes Obsessive Supporters To Realize How Empty Their Lives Are -- good thing we don't know anyone like this.

Part of the genius 50-state strategy will pay off later, laying a foundation for turning states like Texas blue: recruiting precinct captains (Hi Jon!), registering voters, explaining positions. Another I haven't seen discussed was to galvanize supporters from those areas. Most of the carpetbaggers were from lost causes on the left -- Boston, Seattle, &c -- but Mississippi, Texas (natch) and Nebraska also represented.

I know seeing the Sysiphean efforts of our local office was a big motivator: the Kerry office was sad, small and empty; the Obama office efficient, huge and relentless. A paid field organizer in Texas isn't directly helping to win Ohio, but their ripple effects were non-negligible.

2008 Nov 06 10:25 (#4036.12094):
wow. That's why he's pro.

... one addition: recidivist smoker

2008 Nov 06 12:38 (#4033.12091):
Palintologists report (please take the many anon. sources as grains of salt with this intoxicating schadenfreude margarita):
* Make that 200k
* Africa is a country, and two out of three ain't bad

Expect further updates to this list.

2008 Nov 06 12:21 (#4036.12090):
My brother and I were trying to enumerate a list of Obama's ideologies. In rough chronological order, we've just elected a

Naive / Inexperienced

Effete

Elitist

Celebrity

Messiah / Cult of Personality Leader

Angry Black Man (with an Angry Black Whitey-hating Wife)

simultaneous Secret Muslim and Militant Black Christian

Non-citizen

Terrorist

Liberal

Socialist

Antisemite

TTJ -- can you ask your coworkers to help you fill out the rest of this list? And tell them thanks.

2008 Nov 05 11:45 (#4036.12088):
Apparently whoever is setting the lines over at Newsweek expects 1.03 secretaries of defense during the Obama administration: 0.33 Gates, .25 Hagels, .25 Hamres and 0.2 Danzigs.

2008 Oct 28 07:41 (#3863.12071):
Pepsi: Anteater, not Mushroom. And voting Obama by the looks of it.

2008 Oct 28 05:33 (#4033.12070):
WTF, the Duke of Azeroth lecturing people on wastes of time? I know you figured out how to use the Burning Crusade expansion pack to write your thesis, but unfortunately I lack the self-control to make use of efficiency tools like that.

As it turns out, I know exactly how much time it took:

read email from mom, with
"Anyway, if you total up all my expenditures at Saks and Neimans, lifetime, adding in gift purchases over the years, you will not approach $150,000. I doubt we would get there if we added mom's tally into the mix."

Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 1:02 AM: quick email reply.

realize how many clothes my mom has from Saks, Neiman Marcus, Jaeger, etc, and realize the $150k doesn't make sense.

(then, in roughly equal portions:)

.... scrape, convert, load into spreadsheet

.... explore

.... make summary tables

.... write

.... done: 04:36AM post to AE / Sun, Oct 26, 2008 at 4:47 AM, second reply with writeup

I spent seven hours earlier in the day canvassing and four doing some actual coding for work. For whatever weird reason my brain finds obsessive little quickies like this relaxing, which may partially explain why friends occasionally consult with me for help with programming projects.

==========

If they spent the money on clothes, it's a non-issue, absolutely. The delightful irony is that it's a non-issue that puts a lie to the many non-issues that have clouded this campaign.

It *is* an issue if they didn't spend the money as they claimed, and there's just no way to spend that much money on clothes for 65 days at stores in the Saks-Nieman price range.

@msc -- The suits ranged from $2700 down to $365. The low average price is across all the suits they sell -- necessary as they only have 36 models of suit, another reason the story doesn't hang together. Saks + Neiman's < 65 suits in her style.

2008 Oct 27 03:28 (#4033.12063):
I'd actually like to hear from the distaff crew about this. My takeaway from the figures above is the same as mkromer's:

I actually think it's really likely that this has been embezzled or gone into some slush fund for something else....there is so much that is fishy about it. (1) The stores apparently do not have receipts or combinations of receptions that match the clothing expenditures; (2) the person who actually did the purchases is an all-over the place dirty tricks consultant/operative type; (3) As you point out, the $$ defies belief; (4) Apparently the men's store where todd got his stuff is the most metro-sexual high society east coast elite place around....

As much I dislike palin, I'm pretty sure that she is getting royally shafted by this clothes thing. I think someone basically showed up at her room with a crap-ton of clothes for her that she was not really involved in buying, and I kind of think that the money is off doing something else.

Meanwhile, the major abuse of power that she is involved in and continues to blatantly lie about has barely gotten a mention. I love our electoral process!

My point with the figures above is not that they're spending campaign money like Carrie Bradshaw on Payday -- it's that there's not enough time to wear those clothes if they were really shopping at Saks and Nieman's. Crazily enough, those stores just aren't expensive enough.

2008 Oct 26 12:20 (#4031.12059):
The Art and Science of Choosing Likely Voters -- check out how many people lie about their intent and ability to vote:

And no, that's not a typo. Eight-four percent (84%) of these confirmed non-voters said they planned to vote [but are shown in official records to have not cast a ballot]. Their answers were more accurate after the election, but still, nearly half (44%) of the non-voters claimed inaccurately a few weeks later that they had voted.

The far right column shows the respondents who were confirmed as non-registrants. Nearly a third (30%) told the interviewer that they were registered to vote during their first, pre-election interview, and 45% said they intended to vote. After the election one in five of those with no record of being registered to vote (21%) claimed they had cast a ballot.

2008 Oct 24 02:33 (#4010.12053):
Scrabble Funny (via MsC) -- In case you're wondering, LICTORS, TROC(H)ILS and CO(I)STRIL, and no, I didn't know any of them. OSTRICH is a terrible play: COLT/(OH,LI) or LOCI/(CHI) are much better.

2008 Oct 24 12:38 (#4030.12052):
Ron Howard goes there for Barack.

2008 Oct 23 12:41 (#4030.12045):
That Wes Anderson one is fantastic -- fast forward through the overly long John Woo ad, if you must, but watch the third clip.

2008 Oct 23 09:34 (#1787.12044):
upsidedowndogs.com

2008 Oct 23 02:56 (#4014.12043):
Just watched that vid habcous linkied and it is awesome -- it's part of a whole series, all worth a gander.

2008 Oct 22 04:28 (#4027.12039):
This still smells like one of the worst rent-seeking boondoggles of our time.

2008 Oct 22 04:27 (#4014.12038):
If I read that right she's saying both plans are fucked up. I get the sense that economists a) agree that both plans are fucked up, b) agree that we are in uncharted territory, and c) that plan B (recapitalize banks) is less fucked up than plan A (buy toxic assets at market value & renegotiate the composite mortgages, thereby rewarding the least worthy and giving up hope of ever seeing that money again.)

Agreed that the banks that should fail need to fail -- but buying the assets doesn't solve that problem; we could siphon off all the dreck from the shakiest and then watch weak and strong fail together.

2008 Oct 22 10:37 (#4028.12033):
Oh hey, look -- someone renamed the Robert Lee Moore building:

2008 Oct 22 04:59 (#4022.12032):
WFMU correctly points out that Total Eclipse of the Heart needs to be next on the menu.

I'll confess I didn't make it all the way through Princess_ck84's epic deconstruction of the video, but it's a hermeneutic triumph.

2008 Oct 22 04:57 (#3948.12031):
Cheap Laughs (Yes, the original is real) --

2008 Oct 22 02:31 (#4026.12030):
You get to play with real-life Tonka trucks everyday!

2008 Oct 22 02:25 (#4027.12029):
Via momma k (in a reforwarded email with 2 pages of .sigs and 2 lines of payload, natch):
http://tinyurl.com/SeniorDTV

2008 Oct 21 02:48 (#3948.12024):
These are really good -- McCain's Hillary line in particular is killer (and overall his routing is clearly better). The part at the end (note that each has a part 2) where McCain speaks genuinely and graciously about Obama and the momentousness of the race was particularly moving:

"There was a time when the mere invitation of an African-American citizen to dine at the White House was taken as an outrage and an insult in many quarters. Today, it’s a world away from the cruel and frightful bigotry of that time. And good riddance. I can’t wish my opponent luck, but I do wish him well."

This is the McCain I thought Obama was going to be running against. That would have been, I think, a much harder battle for Obama, and given an outcome (whichever that outcome becomes) less fraught with furious resentment.

===

Speaking of which, go also watch Colin Powell's endorsement (full version; in the press conference after, he condemns the slime campaign).

Its forceful eloquence is unlike anything we've heard in a while this campaign.

This why I still bear a political man-crush on him even in the face of 2003. Well, that and the fact that he speaks Yiddish and fixes old Volvos.

2008 Oct 20 11:28 (#4026.12022):
Temp Hides Fun, Fulfilling Life From Rest Of Office:

"At a job like this, where you're surrounded by angry, perpetually stressed-out lawyers who are working 80 hours a week, it's important to hide the fact that you're enjoying a normal, balanced, happy life," Braxton said Monday. "People get really pissed when they hear stuff like that."

Braxton, who earns roughly one-fourth of what the firm's lowest-seniority full-time employees make, said he has no desire to make his coworkers feel bad about their "boring, shitty lives."

"If somebody complains about how bad it sucks to work overtime five days straight, I just nod and agree," said Braxton, who spends his weeknights at parties, at concerts, and playing basketball in the park. "No point in rubbing in the fact that no matter how busy things are, I leave at exactly 5 p.m. every single day. If anyone asks me to stay later, I just say my agency doesn't let me do overtime."

===

Too many of my friends at college failed to ask themselves the "Do I want a ~40 hr/wk job that I can just leave at the end of the day, or a 55+ hr/wk job that demands a huge amount of passion and energy?" question, and had to orchestrate a switch (some in one direction, some in the other). I am definitely in the second camp, though I hear many people firmly endorse the first one.

2008 Oct 20 11:15 (#4023.12021):
It's alarming how close to a Mad Libs that apology truly is -- his actual offense is a one-sentence regexp.

Your Profession: __________________________________________ Your name: ________________________________________________ The group you are a part of: ______________________________ Name a prominent member of that group: ____________________ Their role: _______________________________________________ Select your religious preference: * Jesus; asked him for forgiveness; God * Moses; asked him for guidance; Yahweh * Yoda; asked him for a lightsaber; The Force * Allah; submitted that there is no God but God, that Allah is his name, and that Mohammad is his messenger; Islam * Kibo; crossposted; Usenet * Bokonon; rejected foma; boku-maru * that attachment leads to suffering; meditated; The Noble Eightfold Path * that religion is a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing; had coffee; Dawkins (Optional) What you did wrong: ____________________________

2008 Oct 20 12:33 (#3863.12017):
Leisureguy's Guide to Gourmet Shaving: Shaving Made Enjoyable

All I've read is the product page, but I'll admit to being a bit intrigued.

Mostly, though, I'm glad that I live in a world so large as to encompass the idea of "Gourmet Shaving".

2008 Oct 20 12:20 (#3918.12016):
Just talking to natedogg about this -- I'm disappointed that I'm not more disappointed. So many injuries and we still took the ALCS to game 7 is still a lot of great baseball I got to watch this year.

I'm on board for making the same bet next year, what say you all? And we have to goad lackadaisical brewcrewer Natedogg into putting some skin in the game.

Anyway, though it would have been more fun to have Valatan buttle with the Sox in the series my excitement at having a butler remains undiminished.

2008 Oct 17 08:06 (#4024.12013):
Shouldn't that last sentence be "In other words, fail ~~will win~~ is made of win."?

2008 Oct 17 08:01 (#4023.12012):
Mrflip Industries Global Amalgamated Solutions, the holding company that employs mrflip, was unavailable for comment but released the following statement:

For most of my life, I've been a computer monkey, not a public speaker, so, you know, I really don't know, you know, how to say what I really want to say.

You know, I understand it's - it's important or not important, you know, as far as what you say but how you say things. So, you know, I take this opportunity just to speak from the heart. I want to apologize, you know, for all the things that - that I've done and that I have allowed to happen.

I want to personally apologize to AE founder natedogg, my Alkaline Earth teammates, you know, for our - for our previous discussions that we had. And I was not thorough, and, you know, I was ashamed and totally disappointed in myself to say the least. I want to apologize to all the young kids out there for my immature acts and, you know, what I did was, what I did was very hasty so that means I need to grow up. I totally ask for forgiveness and understanding as I move forward to bettering mrflip the person, not the blog poster. I take full responsibility for my actions. For one second will I sit right here - not for one second will I sit right here and point the finger and try to blame anybody else for my actions or what I've done. I'm totally responsible, and those things just didn't have to happen. I feel like we all make mistakes. It's just I made a mistake in using bad judgment and making bad decisions. And you know, those things, you know, just can't happen.

Dog fighting is a terrible thing, and I did reject it.

What happened is, neither my editors nor I checked the intro page, and my policy of never watching Leno gave me inadequate zeitgeist inculcation in this comedic trope. With fourteen goddamn pages of these I browsed through them and after a day or two of sitting in an open tab decided they were funny and fuckit nobody's posted in a day or so so just post it so I can restart my machine. I will be taking part in a review of our quality control procedures vis a vis our ISO 9000 certification, and recontextualizing value-added metrics in light of maximizing robust supply-chain synergies.

I'm upset with myself, and, you know, through this situation I found Moses and asked him for forgiveness and turned my life over to Yahweh. And I think that's the right thing to do as of right now. Like I said, for this - for this entire situation I never pointed the finger at anybody else, I accepted responsibility for my actions of what I did and now I have to pay the consequences for it. But in a sense, I think it will help, you know, me as a person. I got a lot to think about in the next year or so.

I offer my deepest apologies to everybody out in there in the world who was affected by this whole situation. And if I'm more disappointed with myself than anything it's because of all the young people, young kids that I've let down, who look at mrflip as a role model. And to have to go through this and put myself in this situation, you know, I hope that every young kid out there in the world watching this interview right now who's been following the case will use me as an example to using better judgment and making better decisions.

Once again, I offer my deepest apologies to everyone. And I will redeem myself. I have to. So I got a lot of down time, a lot of time to think about my actions and what I've done and how to make mrflip a better person.

2008 Oct 15 03:11 (#4013.12009):
Now Senia and Aylen pick a recipient and the rest of us pile on.

2008 Oct 13 08:18 (#4014.12006):
The only good thing to come out of this crisis: Fake HenryPaulson

2008 Oct 13 07:58 (#4020.12005):
Marginal Revolution omnibus post on Krugman's Nobel; their general-audience description of 'New Trade Theory".

"New Trade Theory" sounds like a band that could precede Neutral Milk Hotel on a DrFeeljay mixtape

2008 Oct 13 07:38 (#4020.12004):
This (somewhat, and less so than the Gore peace prize) seems accelerated to give a big valedictory 'fuck you' to GWB.

(ed:) Krugman appeared at moderate odds in one of three prominent Nobel Prize betting venues.

2008 Oct 09 05:48 (#4018.11996):
From the Nobel bio --

* "As I understood clearly only when I taught statistics some years later, the idea that predictions should be less extreme than the information on which they are based is deeply counterintuitive."

* "The most instructive finding was that the interviewers' global evaluation, produced at the end of a structured interview, was by far the most predictive of all the ratings they made. [That is: an overall assessment formed on its own is significantly inferior to the overall assessment that accompanies a structured assessment.] Trying to be reliable had made them valid."

As scientists, part of our training should include explicit confrontation with and statement of findings like these.

====

There have been a few cases where scientists produce almost all their major work in collaboration with a particular colleague -- Hardy and Littlewood the most prominent, there are surely others. I suspect there are too few: if your department has one expert applying behavioral psychology methods to economic questions, you would avoid hiring another with the same program of research. That is, within the scientific community departments often have "neighbors" but too infrequently "roommates".

Also, compare

We did almost all the work on our joint projects while physically together, including the drafting of questionnaires and papers. And we avoided any explicit division of labor. Our principle was to discuss every disagreement until it had been resolved to mutual satisfaction, and we had tie-breaking rules for only two topics: whether or not an item should be included in the list of references (Amos had the casting vote), and who should resolve any issue of English grammar (my dominion). We did not initially have a concept of a senior author. We tossed a coin to determine the order of authorship of our first paper, and alternated from then on until the pattern of our collaboration changed in the 1980s.

to the (AFAIK independently conceived) Hardy-Littlewood axioms of collaboration.

2008 Oct 07 05:57 (#3863.11992):
Please take a second to enjoy the AVClub's Taste Test Labs field trip to National Association Of Convenience Stores' annual convention, a convention "for the nation's convenience and petroleum retailers"?

It opens with the Wonkaesque video for "Purple Stuff" by the preposthumous Big Moe and gets better from there.

2008 Oct 06 04:27 (#4012.11979):
I was only pointing to UMD because I'd heard other people complain. The best solution is to get a craptastic subway bike: a rusty undesirable $40 bike, lock it at the station when you leave and your building when you arrive; use metro to get from work station back to car or other short-haul bike or whatever.

I spent four goddamn years walking up and down libe slope which was uphill only one way but was constantly covered with snow or slush, so in this account you will not hear me rag on anyone. (Dimensions of libe slope from Unc'Ezra. My apartment was another two of those down from there.)

2008 Oct 06 02:02 (#4014.11976):
And I'm calling shenanigans on the first two. The ones I trust -- Krugman, Marginal Revolution, Brad DeLong, Freakonomics' friends -- are all saying nobody knows where the sky is and whether it's falling, rather than that it is falling.

Meanwhile, to head the 700 G$ bailout former Goldman Sachs exec Henry Paulson has just named 35-year old Neel Kashkari. A name disturbingly aptonymical to "Kneel, Cash and Carry" -- Here's hoping he's more Theo Epstein and less Michael "Heckuvajob" Brownie.

2008 Oct 06 12:58 (#4014.11974):
... the latter from here -- can't peg the crank index on this one, though it jibes with other reports.

2008 Oct 06 12:46 (#4012.11973):
Jebus, $2.00 for a Full Leander on the metrorail? That's like unfairly cheap. It's a $4 gallon of gas each way + $1.50(?) toll each way + parking ($2/d permit?) to drive from Leander to downtown.

The people who ride the bus are exactly the people for whom Bus Fare is an expense and not pocket change. Yeah it should be free.

2008 Oct 06 08:49 (#4014.11971):
More technical, broader.

If you want to hear some disturbingly monochromatic dittohead vitriol, google news for 'ACORN CRA'. When I did so a few days ago, it was almost entirely wingnut -- now there are a few reaction pieces diluting the sewage. Disturbing on several, well every, count.

2008 Oct 06 02:40 (#4014.11970):
This is the clearest writeup I've seen: part 1, part 2. Clearly grounds most of the factors involved, though its conclusion is significantly more optimistic than almost every other economist's.

2008 Oct 06 02:24 (#4013.11969):
[Me, as stated.]

Team page: http://kiva.org/team/alkalineearth

Between starting and finishing this note, the last loan was distributed; this has happened at least once in my experience and they restocked fairly soon. Perhaps by the time we get commitments in order there'll be someone to loan to.

2008 Oct 05 01:37 (#3918.11967):
Yeah, I wanted it to be Sox - Cubbies. Sorry Nano. And I love Manny -- but good lord Tim McCarver with the Manny Being Manny and the Curse and the faux drama? When in a just world I could be listening to Vin Scully and homers extraordinaire Rem Dawg and Orsillo trade off?

Go Crew! Go Sox!

(By the way -- you really need to watch that RemDawg clip. Or this recap.)

2008 Oct 05 01:25 (#4012.11966):
No, I was talking about getting from here to points north -- I'd never use the rail from UT to go downtown when I can hop the #7 every 20 mins.

But -- the route is there because the tracks were already there, the land was already there, the land was already graded, and the political will was insufficient for the tens of times more cost that what you're talking about involves. That "insane" swing east is because there was existing track on the old Austin-Northwestern line. How are you going to run rail replacing the #1?

The UT route that looks best is to tear up MLK and run light rail cross town (the green spur). You'd like it to hook a parallel track on the MoPac route -- but lemme know how you're going to cross the literal and figurative hill between Lamar and the highway.

None of the expansion plans talk about rail down Lamar. Rather, you're looking at high-speed buses (unless fuel goes up or real estate in tarrytown goes down). When there's more track built, look for it on the existing MoPac line down south Lamar, connecting to the airport along the existing tracks south of Ben White. And the route for someone from Leander is just fine compared to the morning traffic down loop 1.

2008 Oct 04 10:31 (#4012.11963):
Excellent point, I didn't realize how bad the existing bus routes from there connect to campus, but hey -- the train tracks were already there.

I'm hoping they'll modify or add to the 641 (EC) shuttle and the 21 (Exposition), but right now from Alexander & MLK Jr, your options are the 20 Manor (closest approach to RLM 26th & RR, 1 mi total walking) or 18 (MLK) (captRLM SJ & MLK, TW .8mi).

Connectivity from the convention center to the north edge of campus is better: the #7 Duval and the #100 Airport are straight shots, but you'd have to sit for and pay for two extra stops.

Then again, let's hear from MsC/Pablo/Beckto about the surprisingly annoying connectivity from DC Metro to Univ. of MD.

2008 Oct 03 07:37 (#3948.11961):
... and in fact eminent domain was the correct answer.

Here are the details of the case, and though I can't figure out why I agree with Scalia, I think that eminent domain should be held to the strictest standards of "public use". Incidentally: comma, or smudge?

2008 Oct 03 05:29 (#3948.11960):
Find out why Sen. Obama made Olbermann's 'Worst Person in the World' shortlist...

2008 Oct 02 02:16 (#3948.11958):
(note -- my previous comment was edited after Valatan's response.)

Roe v Wade balances two fundamental rights, privacy and life. *If* a baby is alive, and the mother's life is not at stake, then Griswold or not, life takes primacy over privacy.

What's wrong with that argument?

In fact, that is pretty much my position -- though I place life at "high expectation to be viable outside the womb without extraordinary measures". Mostly I think that the best way to stop abortions and to preserve privacy and choice is to quit counting hairs in Plato's Beard about when life starts, and work to increase adoption, contraception, and fight poverty. I've yet to meet a 'pro-life' activist with adopted children.

2008 Oct 02 01:44 (#3948.11956):
You can consistently believe that there's an inherent right to privacy and also believe that once a fetus is 'alive' it is a child (and therefore that abortion, unless life of the mother is at stake, is abhorrent).

The whole 'Federalism' thing is blowing smoke, sure. Saying she believes there's an inherent right to privacy, though, doesn't undermine the abortion position Gov Palin has espoused.

However! The question was to describe a single other Supreme Court decision she *disagreed with*.

Off the top of my head I can think of.... Brown v Board, Dred Scott, Bush v Gore, Eldred, Roe v Wade, Feist, ~~Marshall(?)~~ Marbury vs Madison by name; the semi-recent eminent domain case, the recent DC gun case, the one with 2 Live Crew vs. Roy Orbison and the one with George Harrison vs the Chiffons; and a couple rounds of overturning pandering Internet filtering laws. I don't recall whether the overturning-Sodomy case was a Supreme court decision.

I disagree with Dred Scott, Bush v Gore, Eldred and the DC gun rulings. Apart from Dred Scott (hardly a bold stance), I bet she's not a big fan of the sodomy and internet laws but I think the case law for them is pretty solid. I don't know enough about the eminent domain one, and I bet she doesn't either, but it looks like easy points to say you're against it.

Anyway, my point is that "name a recent supreme court case you disagree with" is harder than you think for a conservative federalist.

Needless to say, Biden gave a lucid, informed answer that reflected years of experience and a recognition of the complexities involved. He also discussed the issue in terms of what the broad spectrum of the American People believe rather than what *he* believed.

Also: I don't think there's a good basis to assert a 'Constitutional' right to privacy, rather that it's an inherent right -- that such a fundamental right needs no delineation. I see the constitution entering into it not through the 14th but the 9th Amendment: "The enumeration in the Constitution, of certain rights, shall not be construed to deny or disparage others retained by the people." The absence of the word 'privacy' from the constitution is undeniable, though I see the merits of including it under the heading of 'Liberty'. But if you enumerate privacy among the Fundamental Rights of Man (I vote 'yes', and I'm surprised when federalist individualist non-interventionist conservatives argue otherwise) I think the 9th amendment couldn't be any more clear.

2008 Oct 02 01:14 (#4010.11955):
I was saying I'd like to see the same drawing for the rest of the physical variables, that's all.

2008 Sep 30 12:49 (#3863.11947):
Article/Interview with Flickr's Community Manager - a nice little article, which yielded this gem:

"I'm a nice Canadian girl. I'd never even heard of a Dirty Sanchez when I started here, much less seen a photo of one."

2008 Sep 29 01:20 (#4008.11941):
I saw Tito Puente play right after Santana won their Grammy. Santana, of course, famously covered Tito's song "Oye Como Va".

Tito said "When I heard that Santana was on the charts with the song, I was kinda sad. What was wrong with my version? So, I didn't much care for Santana. Then, I got my first royalty check. I LOVE SANTANA!!!"

By the way, one of my life goals is to be going strong as Tito was at 75.

2008 Sep 27 12:42 (#3948.11939):
"horseshit" - "horseshit", or horseshit?

2008 Sep 26 04:34 (#3948.11938):
Whoa! Krugman memes:

More specifically, though, the failure to get a deal reflects the betrayals of the Bush years. Democrats weren’t going to trust Henry Paulson, because behind him they see the ghost of Colin Powell (and Paulson’s “all your bailout are belong to me” proposal, aside from being bad economics, showed an incredible tone-deafness.)

2008 Sep 26 04:33 (#4008.11937):
Ah, thanks -- I was trying to recall "that one Simon and Garfunkel song, y'know, the one with Robt McNamara in it".

From @jonthegeek comes Wombats - "Let's Dance to Joy Division"

2008 Sep 26 04:29 (#4005.11936):
I don't think that kitchen is a good architectural engineering match to my custodial maintenance approach.

2008 Sep 25 11:36 (#3948.11928):
But what if Matt Damon was right?

Coming this fall from Disney - "She was just a Hockey Mom... Until the knock at her door!"

2008 Sep 25 06:08 (#4005.11921):
Yes, and pinball, a black-felt pool table and all my little league trophies.

2008 Sep 23 12:22 (#3636.11907):
One question I have about both -- do they rate limit? What happens if I (with or without the internet unplugged) script a 'make me a playlist' robot and do a 10 million playlist Monte Carlo simulation of a large music collection? Please find out for me and let me know.

2008 Sep 23 08:09 (#3636.11905):
Buy My Shitpile, Henry! "With our economy in crisis, the US Government is scrambling to rescue our banks by purchasing their "distressed assets", i.e., assets that no one else wants to buy from them. We figured that instead of protesting this plan, we'd give regular Americans the same opportunity to sell their bad assets to the government. We need your help and you need the Government's help!"

I think they mean your Zune, natedogg.

2008 Sep 23 04:46 (#3605.11904):
So: what happens to the election if they catch Osama Bin Laden?

Also: what happens if they say they killed him, in an illegal border intrusion, and can produce no body?

What if it comes with evidence that seems ambiguous to a layperson but that impartial intelligence officials agree is compelling?

2008 Sep 23 02:20 (#3998.11902):
I really liked the ProPublica graph -- but I think they buried the lede:

2008 Sep 22 07:40 (#3998.11901):
OK I'm glad to hear Stiglitz endorse what has always seemed common sense to me: while we eventually need to talk about CEO compensation, etc. -- can we do something immediate and easy, which clearly acts to align incentives?

Hold CEO compensation in rolling escrow, dispensing it over a 10-year period, and similarly vest stock options and grants... Similarly the ridiculous end-of-year bonuses given to financial analysts.

2008 Sep 20 07:55 (#3997.11899):
yes, I do...

2008 Sep 15 07:55 (#3996.11889):
Crud¹, and Crud².

At his passing

At Carl making the joke first

2008 Sep 12 10:35 (#3984.11883):
The chart, done right:

2008 Sep 12 07:25 (#3993.11882):
That's good stuff. The discourse looks good too -- haven't plowed thru it yet, but will.

If anyone's got any more lazyweb left in 'em, I'd like to hear more about the truth disconnect too.

2008 Sep 12 07:06 (#3992.11881):
That is the best use of cloud computing I've seen yet. All I know is: fools be exploring other fools' studio space but they never be exploring mine.

Also: Battle Rap, Translated (orig)

2008 Sep 06 04:35 (#3948.11870):
"Give 'em Hell, Joe"
"I'm not gonna give 'em hell, I'm gonna tell 'em the truth and they'll *think* it's hell"

2008 Sep 05 06:19 (#3981.11865):
The Republican Hater's Ball (h/t ze)

2008 Aug 31 07:52 (#3979.11841):
Also: want to dress like Kanye West? Of course you do.

2008 Aug 31 11:25 (#3975.11837):
... and works terrifyingly well as the dual space to the fetish map

2008 Aug 31 10:49 (#3976.11836):
Andrew Bird does this too. It's pretty awesome.

Thomas Dolby (who was once blinded by science, made a mint in ringtones, and is touring again) did a lot of it when I saw him at SxSW '07.

2008 Aug 31 10:47 (#3948.11835):
Superb Sarah Palin-drome from JonTheGeek:
de veep: yen more of know-how, woh, wonk, foe Romney peeved

2008 Aug 29 11:16 (#3948.11831):
Palin-dromes:

No Kay, AK? Kayak on! I hot sarah, as saharas to HI.

(reposted from my Twitter)

2008 Aug 29 09:45 (#3948.11830):
It's the Idiocracy gambit, an amplification of the 'Celebrity' tactic.

Every candidate tries to present themselves as just a regular joe aw shucks. Given a choice between a person who is clearly not at all a regular joe, but has the potential for greatness, and a person whose political narrative is "I'm just a regular hockey mom" and *is*, which will voters choose?

2008 Aug 28 12:36 (#3948.11825):
Believe it or not, Urban Dictionary does: "Verb, Contraction of whack and wail."

2008 Aug 27 11:48 (#3948.11822):
Oh man, after seeing the 2nd one in this reel I have no further questions -- but I'd still like to see what Valatan can call to mind.

2008 Aug 27 11:40 (#3626.11821):
phooey, maybe this belonged more in this bitrotted thread.

2008 Aug 27 11:39 (#3626.11820):
From today's XKCD (natch) comes this superb intersection of sex and mathematics: the taxonomy of sexual fetishes.

(Note -- it's Russell's Paradox, not Godel's illustrated there: the project is to enumerate, not to reason about formal properties of a logic system. The comic still works pedantry notwithstanding.)

2008 Aug 27 11:12 (#3658.11819):
I'm assuming this has to do with the transfer to new ownership Mr Brauch refers to in the comments thread, but Pen and Pixel are not only still around but willing to show their street cred with felonious intent.

Brauch also chimes in at filmoculous -- ain't Google Alerts grand?

2008 Aug 27 10:42 (#3948.11818):
Dammit.

If you didn't watch the speech, BTW, Biden whales on McCain like a speedbag. Awesome.

And via fivethirtyeight, this Biden Moment. pwnd.

correcting my own malaprop here -- out of whale, wail and whail I'd have chosen whail as the spelling for 'beat your ass'

2008 Aug 27 09:44 (#3948.11816):
Well, OK, I just got a "that's what we'll get with four more years of George, ..uh.. John McCain" on the convention broadcast.

His speech so far is superb BTW.

....and at 2135h CDT I can officialy announce that the delegation from Flipistan has done a 180 (well, at least a 90°) and enthusiastically embraces Joe Biden as our Vice Presidential nominee.

2008 Aug 27 09:39 (#3948.11815):
Attn Lazyweb (i.e. Valatan):

So everyone keeps talking about Biden's loose/sharp tongue, like he's the lovechild of Bundini Brown and Gilbert ~~Gottlieb~~ Gottfried gone into politics.

But I don't know what any of these zingers, gaffes and mots justes are -- can anyone run down, or point to, a list of greatest hits?

2008 Aug 24 01:38 (#3971.11810):

Oh, there's honey in the Rock my brother
There is honey in the Rock for you
Leave your sins fur the Blood to cover
There is honey in the Rock for you

...

2008 Aug 23 10:55 (#3961.11808):
Natalie du Toit finishes 16th in open-water marathon swim. She has one leg, making her the first female amputee to compete in an able-bodied Olympics.

2008 Aug 23 10:50 (#3961.11807):
Meet Monkey -- Damon Albarn and Jamie Hewitt (of Blur / Gorillaz / Tank Girl fame) did the spots for BBC's olympics coverage campaign.

2008 Aug 22 12:31 (#3964.11805):
Related to rant above?

"There is no anecdote whose legitimacy is increased by the addition of an emphatic '...true story!'"

and reply, "Likewise, no statement preceded or followed by the phrase 'swear to God' has ever proven to be factual."

See also: literally, by which I mean figuratively.

2008 Aug 22 11:54 (#3972.11804):

In t-shirt form, occasionally seen modeled by the more debonair among the flipperati

Remails from the Mesozoic Era (1990-1996)

Google Meme Observatory

Internet People, the "We Didn't Start the Fire" of Internet memes

2008 Aug 20 04:04 (#3784.11785):
... and with that, I'm done paying money that might go to the RIAA. Given a choice between stealing 80% of the price from me and %20 from (the artist + any reasonable estimate of overhead), it's not surprising that many choose the latter.

2008 Aug 19 09:15 (#3960.11775):
Hayes' Funeral:

In an interview before the program, Mr. Brewer said that even among the outsize characters of the Memphis music world, Mr. Hayes stood out as an original. “You take Elvis Presley, B. B. King, Johnny Cash. After a while, Memphis was like a conveyor belt for these personalities. Boy, did Isaac come along and blindside everyone.”

Mr. Brewer noted Mr. Hayes’s knack for turning the tables.

“In a place that has a history of white artists taking black musical styles and making money off them, here is Hayes taking Glen Campbell songs and Burt Bachrach songs and making them so much his own that you question their origin,” he said.

A good point, and I'd never really looked at his music that way.

2008 Aug 19 08:11 (#3961.11774):
I can't help but notice that 001second.com failed to include a couple photos from the underwater view.

Errol Morris' recent articles in the NYT couldn't be more apt...

2008 Aug 19 08:09 (#3967.11773):
I love that our world is large enough, apparently, as to include Mall Historians.

2008 Aug 18 10:49 (#3784.11770):
Wow. The music industry's greed and myopia continue to astound.

2008 Aug 18 10:11 (#3961.11769):
Frame-by-frame of Phelps' photo phinish. Apparently the smart thing to do is extend, as Cavic did. Phelps knew he'd lose so in the heat of the race took an ungainly half stroke that had him extend exactly right to win. Absolutely amazing.

======

I already bitched about this on twitter, but many of the reporters writing this up don't know how to do the following devilishly complicated mathematical analysis:
0.01s * (100m/50.59s) ~ 2cm
In words, the swimmers took 51s to complete a 100m course, so their average rate was 1.977 m/s. In a hundredth of a second their progress would be in the neighborhood of (one-hundredth of a second)*(2 meters per second) ~= 2cm.

I'm going to pick on Svurluga's article in the Washington Post, but I saw this kind of thing elsewhere too ("Maybe the width of a breath-freshening strip"):

What can happen in a hundredth of a second? The beat of a hummingbird's wing, perhaps, or maybe sound moving across an imperceptible distance. ... Phelps's victory was by such a margin that placing a sheet of paper between two fingers might not describe it.

A hummingbird's wing beats about 50 times a second, so half a wingstroke is a hundredth of a second -- that's fine.

A sheet of paper is about a tenth of a millimeter thick. At 2 m/s, the swimmers cross this in 50 millionths of a second.

Sound travels at about 340m/s, or about 1100 feet per second. In 1/100th of a second sound travels almost as far as Phelps' outstretched frame. If we call 1mm an 'imperceptible' distance, sound takes 3 millionths of a second to cross that distance. More troublingly, the author seems to think that the faster they're moving the shorter the distance a given time interval implies.

The Omega timing system records to 0.001s but reports only to the 0.01s. (Reportedly this is the uncertainty in the length of each lane.) So this isn't a situation where it's possible Phelps touched at 50.05899999 and Cavic at 50.059000001: the distances are in the neighborhood of centimeters, not tenths of millimeters.

2008 Aug 15 05:06 (#3965.11767):
An ex-roommate of a girl I dated (please note: not the girl I dated) kept a porcelain bowl and a pair of lacquered chopsticks next to the can.

I think that's all I'll explain about that story. They weren't roommates for very long.

2008 Aug 13 03:24 (#3964.11757):
I still need a concise coinage for whatever is the opposite of a tautology: statements that by their production demonstrate their falsehood.

The canonical example is "Physics is Phun." A poster announcing this serves only to demonstrate the contrary. No one needs to advertise that Ice Cream, Sex or Bowling are fun.

It's similar to Bullshit in its strict philosophical sense but feels different. For a proposition (P) to be a lie or to be bullshit, I should believe that you could accept (P). Say I went out drinking with Sally from accounting. I only offer the lie "I came home late because I stayed at work" if I have a job, where I might sometimes work late, and myself believe that you didn't see us together at the bar.

Or take Prof Frankfurt's example of bullshit: "Serving heroically in battle makes me fit to be Commander-in-Chief". A candidate would only offer this statement if he believed you will accept it at value, that careful consideration of (courage under fire is a quality required to judiciously exercise our military powers) is unnecessary. The candidate doesn't actually know that much about being CinC, and most of his audience doesn't know that much about either the act of battle or about being CinC. It is perfectly reasonable in other contexts, though, to say "My experience in [doing X] makes me fit to [perform job Y]".

This is also true of a self-falsifying statement. It is reasonable to assert that "Sex is Fun" or that "Eating Ice Cream is Fun", in the sense that "almost everybody who does this activity finds it innately pleasurable".

However, for lies and for bullshit, an assertion of (P) could also be false. It is possible I was not at work, and it is possible I am not qualified to be CinC.

The very production of a self-falsifying statement shows it to be false. If true, it would be tautological, a fatuous statement that would never be produced. The "phun"ness of an activity is intrinsically apparent, and no earnest attempt to persuade me by wall poster can succeed. You will never hear an un-ironic statement simply asserting "Sex is Fun" without additional information explaining why this statement could be false: "Ever since the bandages came off, Sex is Fun".

If I understand the Gricean maxims correctly, both lies and bullshit violate quality 1 and 2 respectively,

II Maxims of Quality: Supermaxim: Try to make your contribution one that is true. 1. Do not say what you believe to be false. 2. Do not say that for which you lack adequate evidence.

while self-falsifying statements are demonstrated false because they violate Manner:

IV Maxims of Manner: Supermaxim: Be perspicuous. 1. Avoid obscurity of expression. 2. Avoid ambiguity. 3. Be brief (avoid unnecessary prolixity). 4. Be orderly

2008 Aug 13 01:55 (#3961.11756):
My faves: . Apparently Handball is Basketball if someone stole your blackboard, and Triathlon is running with a hangover.

Sydney's and Sarajevo's are horrible! Sydney's looks like it should decorate a $3 plus-sized shirt from KMart, Sarajevo like a corrupted .gif file. I think yeah: after Beijing, Lillehammer and Moscow are best. None of the other bauhaus-y ones (LA, Munich, Calgary, ...) can get the line weight balance right between the "person" stroke and the "bike wheel" stroke.

Am I the only one who forced to choose among Kerrigan / Hardy / Dave's Mom would go with a 1992, pre-Monica, pre-Iron Lady II Hillary?

2008 Aug 13 01:49 (#3961.11755):
Oh crap! someone stole Nate's password when they found out he wasn't using the internet until his thesis was done!

2008 Aug 12 03:04 (#3959.11748):
Wow, apparently 2008-08-07 was felicitous too -- cool fairy tale.

2008 Aug 11 03:48 (#3790.11746):
Incidentally: does it think these blurred-out road signs are faces? Can't imagine what's up with that.

2008 Aug 11 03:26 (#3790.11745):
house on fire in Little Rock.

2008 Aug 08 03:44 (#3957.11734):
OK, but will it help keep my bikini line clear? Then never mind.

2008 Aug 08 03:44 (#3955.11733):
There is still the point that an infinitely large loss times an arbitrarily small but finite probability has an infinitely large negative expectation.

2008 Aug 07 05:09 (#3955.11728):
I dunno, I more and more I look at this and see a lot of money that could instead go to fundamental but human-scale projects. Or to, say, computational physics.

The Higgs is interesting and important. But: after this you're cut off, particle physics. If you want to go to any higher energies go talk to the astronomers and find out where nature's already done this.

By the way: anyone have a better plain-english run down of what the big deal is than the above link?

2008 Aug 07 04:59 (#1655.11727):
By the way, there's something like this in the lobby of Natedogg's snazzy new buildings. As it's mostly chem and bio we totally flunked it, or at best scraped by with a gentleman's C.

I think we need to drag nanoc thru there and get schooled.

2008 Aug 06 11:17 (#3951.11724):
a) this Opus comic is funny and worrying.

b) can you spot the error? Only after being told there was an error, and that it was in the third frame, and staring at it for a minute, did I notice the quite-obvious mistake.

2008 Aug 06 02:24 (#3951.11721):
The correct thing to do is to real Cul de sac twice, of course.

2008 Aug 06 02:22 (#3950.11720):
The one-L lama, he's a priest
The two-L llama, he's a beast
And I would bet a silk pyjama
There isn't any three-L lllama
(* see footnote)

* footnote:
The author's attention has been called
to a type of conflagration
known as a three-alarmer.
Pooh.

2008 Aug 03 09:07 (#3950.11700):
Nothing's wrong with Sindee at all.

2008 Aug 03 09:06 (#3948.11699):
That is fantastic. Seeing bloody-mouth vampire uptalk girl's response gives me renewed hope for our country! Or whatever the opposite of that is.

2008 Aug 03 05:19 (#3950.11692):
Perhaps one day we can induct Dow into the Asdrubal Cabrera hall of fame.

I like Indiana and Moxie each as girls' names. Maybe not if your last name is Jones, or paired with the middle name 'CrimeFighter', but in general. I think you have to give your kid one bone-stock normal name and one slightly unusual one -- or at least one with nickname potential -- ordered as you see fit. Of course, if they'll be "Firstname M Lastname 5th" then you do that.

Otherwise though, they'll be stuck trying to find a nickname for "Cynthia", and who would do that to their kid?

Speaking of family matters: been playing with geni.com, which lets you construct your family tree, then invite your family to help build it out form each of their branches. Mine's at 189 and going...

You have full privacy controls, only your family can see the tree, and there's just enough facebook-y features to make it quite interesting.

2008 Aug 03 04:49 (#3863.11691):
Hmm, I 90% believed that before but much less now. There are (in the tape controllers that would run those), but please refile the above under "Pathetic, but kinda deviously funny (if true)"

2008 Aug 03 04:43 (#3948.11690):
Could instead be Roemer, as the comments suggest. As you might guess, I'm for someone quite centrist -- the VP is functionally mostly irrelevant and I just want to win.

2008 Aug 01 12:49 (#3863.11687):
Pathetic, but kinda deviously funny.

2008 Jul 31 11:38 (#3947.11686):
More of "I wish every public servant approached their work thusly": this thoughtful, erudite reply to a library patron's request that they remove the book "Uncle Bobby's wedding"

2008 Jul 31 09:07 (#3938.11684):
The dubbing in this is not as good.

But it's absolute overarching inappropriateness makes it hilarious nonetheless.

THIS IS NOT SAFE FOR WORK.
IT HAS HITLER IN IT.
I'M SERIOUS, YOU DON'T WANT TO BE LOOKING AT IT WHEN YOUR BOSS WALKS BY.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sCJTR3XeiAc

2008 Jul 30 11:11 (#3948.11679):
Assuming he doesn't out-and-out endorse McCain, that sounds like a terrible idea when we could be close to 60 (filibuster-proof). (You can convince me that I'm wrong.)

And looking at the numbers here, I don't think he's as conservative as the blogosphere thinks he is.
* He's nowhere near center in the Liberal-Conservative voting record spectrum
* His party unity score the last 3 congresses have been 91, 92, 88; compare Zell Miller at 6.5, VP possibility Evan Bayh at 79/81/89, NE's Ben Nelson at 56/56/41, and Ted Kennedy at 97/97/99.

2008 Jul 30 10:25 (#3863.11677):
Why are all the best ones taken from us so soon, Lord?
"This posting has been flagged for removal
(The title on the listings page will be removed in just a few minutes.)"

~~Care to summarize the funny, MsC?~~ n/m, found it elsewhere:

washington, DC craigslist > district of columbia > missed connections

To the perv who groped me on my way home - w4m - 30 (Mt. Pleasant)

Reply to: pers-774158390@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-07-29, 12:06AM EDT

Me: caucasian, white yoga capris and tan tank top
you: Latino, 5'8, in your twenties, sports jersey, short hair, mole on your face.

You might have been following me for a while, Mr. Perv, I don't know - I was on the phone with my mother, venting about my roommate situation (we had to find a new one) and my job search (like, I need a job), when you snuck up behind me, and gently squeezed my ass. Not just the top of my ass, but kinda low, kinda close to my you-know-what, if you know what I mean.

You know, even my boyfriend needs permission to get that close, so having a perfect stranger attempt access so suddenly, so completely out of the blue, triggered my fight-or-flight response. And I *fight*. Did it hurt when I grabbed your collar and punched you in the head? I'm a little worried that I didn't get enough momentum in my swing to make you feel it, seeing as I'm kinda short (5'2"). But you must have felt bad when you took off running and I chased you down so easily - it's not that you're slow, dude, it's just that I run fast, as you might have suspected from the well-muscled form of my posterior, had you been viewing it with its athletic potential in mind.

It was all worth it when you realized you couldn't outrun me and so you stopped with your back to me in shame, and I kicked you in your hole. You might not remember, but I said: "Are you sorry? Are you sorry? Say you're sorry!", and you did. That was great. Then I said: "run on home, you asshole! Run home!" and you did that, too!

Ladies, these pervs are cowards who run in fear when confronted with any kind of resistance. They are weak and pathetic.

To the two guys who came out of their houses when they heard me yelling - thank you for being so aware and willing to help out-especially - Chris, was it? - who walked me home. It's great to know the people here care about the safety of others. Thanks so much.

My mom was really worried, because she heard me start swearing and then the phone went dead (I closed it so I could chase the motherf*cker down) and she thought I had been hit by a car. When I told her what happened, she told me not to be so agro, and pointed out that he could of had a knife or something. True. You're right, mom.

But you're unlucky if you're from this neighborhood, Mr. Perv. Cause I'm here ALL THE TIME (no job, remember?) and next time I'll MACE YOUR FACE.

awesome.

2008 Jul 30 10:18 (#3677.11676):
OK -- I'm starting a new election thread here.

...

nanocindy writes:

Hey, does that 85 number in the other thread automatically update if I add comments here? Is your new post already obsolete?

Nope, there's still only 85 posts here :) </flagrant abuse of md powers>

2008 Jul 30 04:47 (#2613.11673):
Boooooo....

2008 Jul 29 06:55 (#3944.11670):
Trust me, TTJ knows all about the earlier version -- I just enjoyed an erudite 10-minute discursus on the subtle genius that encompasses this, David Carradine's finest work. I've only seen it twice, but I'm sure John's seen it at least a half-dozen times.

2008 Jul 27 09:17 (#3942.11664):
Why do you say there's been an exit from socially responsible funds, V? Eyeballing this rundown of SR funds and not accounting for survivorship bias: they underperform index funds (as all managed funds must), but there's nothing that looks to me like an exodus.

This is an honest question -- if there's something showing these have faded I'd like to read it.

2008 Jul 25 05:30 (#2485.11657):
Why use a Merkin when you can use CGI?

2008 Jul 25 05:28 (#3941.11656):
What, he couldn't find a holocaust Torah scroll to wipe with? What a dick move.

If you supposedly stand for rationalism and humanity act like you have a brain and a heart.

2008 Jul 25 01:38 (#3942.11653):
One the one hand:
* this cartoon, and
* this ludicrous press release two days before they release lowered guidance, and of course
* this nocturnal emission of value.

On the other hand:

* The overnight selloff has brought it below its book value of 5.5. If they went and sold everything, from their back stock to their desks and pens, their shareholders would realize a gain over the stock price.
* None of the forward estimates are worth trusting, but if their newly revised guidance is reasonable those figures indicate a buy even at 9. (They usually like to only give bad news once, so estimates accompanying bad news are really conservative. On the other hand, if the ship be sinking any estimate is an overestimate)
* Insiders were selling, selling, selling all through 2007. However, since Dec 07 there have only been option exercises and one direct purchase of 250k. This probably just reflects board discipline, but still says something better about the stock's current value than their actions up to Oct 07 did.
* The short interest ratio of 8.3 indicates undervalue: all those people who sold short will be literally laughing all the way to the bank so they can cover their short positions. In doing so they will bid up the price, though.
* See the big spike in put interest last month? Someone made lots of money on that. Even still, the put to call ratio was at 70%, and near neutral in percentile, before last night's crash. This would indicate optimism among the smart money, except that some of the smart money was selling puts at 12 all last week.
So: that stock price of $70 was pure ass smoke. Why the fuck do you stay in when the owners are cashing out as fast as they can? $5 is too low, though.

On the other other hand, don't buy a ticket on a sinking ship unless you own your own yacht.

2008 Jul 24 11:40 (#3863.11652):
I was going to say what a relief Gonzales wasn't appointed to the Supreme court -- but looking at him in the center of all that maybe there's a reason for the bizarre spectacle that derailed it.

2008 Jul 24 11:31 (#3940.11651):
Yeah, I know. That's one of the reasons I was so taken with juxtaposition of these, which basically bubbled to the top of my rss feed together. Carr's book was written with Frey firmly in mind:

He pitched it as something of an antithesis to James Frey-style fabulism. Instead of offering his view of his life, he will produce a fully journalistic, third-person, reportorial autobiography, one based on the grim paper trail of rehab, police, and foster-care records, and the not-always-comforting recollections of friends, lovers, and colleagues who were once tossed in his wake.

Watch the embedded video in the Times piece (it's quick) for an example of this.

I have no idea if the CL one is true: there are a few too many tropes dancing around together. I hope it is, though.

2008 Jul 24 01:14 (#3936.11646):
That's a really good question HC. The fact that it was 7M x 1M totally passed me by.

It is definitely fractional statistical lives; I just noticed the second (more detailed) paper isn't available to hoi polloi, but the other Viscusi paper covers it. (If you want the one paper just email me).

Also: it's differential lives saved; the number of deaths from asbestos by banning it and removing it vs. the number of deaths if you don't. Sure, people die from poisoning, but tamper-proof seals on cold drinks don't really save lives.

If the chemicals were mostly harmless; and making it onto the list causes all sorts of cumbersome OHSA regulations; then everything with wood preserving chemicals might get a lot more expensive... For instance, the wood to build every house constructed in the US?

The implications of that could be: since we're around wood with those chemicals anyway, IF they're hazardous then sequelae of improper waste disposal is the least of our worries. Just as with the tamper-proof seals, perhaps there's a correlated risk, and a lot of effort targeted to a statistically insignificant contingency.

2008 Jul 23 01:30 (#3936.11643):
This is also good: "The Quixotic Quest for Invulnerability: Assessing the Costs, Benefits, and Probabilities of Protecting the Homeland"

1. The number of potential terrorist targets is essentially infinite.

2. The probability that any individual target will be attacked is essentially zero.

3. If one potential target happens to enjoy a degree of protection, the agile terrorist usually can readily move on to another one.

4. Most targets are "vulnerable" in that it is not very difficult to damage them, but invulnerable in that they can be rebuilt in fairly short order and at tolerable expense.

5. It is essentially impossible to make a very wide variety of potential terrorist targets invulnerable except by completely closing them down.

One thing none of the anti-terrorism planners want to admit is that even if you perfectly harden the Airports then terrorists will go after the Shopping Malls, and mutatis mutandis.

2008 Jul 21 06:54 (#3933.11635):
That logo is one of the best I've seen in a while. It's a bike seat and nothing more, of course.

from link:

"The more I learn about cycling, the happier I am that I own a car."

...someone needs to tell Rick Chandler about drive your bike to work day.

Finally, please enjoy this AskMeFi thread on choad-enclature.

2008 Jul 21 07:07 (#3925.11631):
This pic gives no insight into title IX but goes here because we talked about Dr. Swift (original size):

2008 Jul 21 07:03 (#3881.11630):
Bummer -- "[world-class sprinter and double amputee] Oscar Pistorius will not compete in the Olympic Games next month."

2008 Jul 21 06:53 (#3759.11629):
The grotto, the second-best player blog and my mancrush will all be sticking around a few more years.

On Manila:

Just remember people, if you want to feel like a king and feel like a star, you know where to go: Manila. So, Pauly Shore, after you finish reading this, you head to Manila to jumpstart your career, baby. You’ll be back in the business, baby. You’ll be doing Jury Duty 2 in no time.

On Berlin:

What was funny about Berlin is: 1) It’s a very clean city (that’s not the funny part, but it’s a very clean city) 2) The funny part is, their cabs were Beamers. So, NBA players, if you driver a Beamer, your swag is questionable because if you go to Berlin, that’s just a cab.

2008 Jul 17 10:21 (#3719.11624):
Almost every Cul de Sac makes me laugh until my heart hurts.

A few:
* "A kid who's even weirder than me"
* Flander's Domestic Bliss
* A Children's Garden of Cynicism

2008 Jul 17 08:11 (#3925.11622):
See, maybe what physics needs is ads like this one, but for "adjusting lens optics" and "finding integrals" instead of "pipetting". And since you're wondering: yes, soku, the song is available as a ringtone.

2008 Jul 16 08:05 (#3925.11621):
We still love you Claw.

2008 Jul 16 08:05 (#3863.11620):
The contents probably aren't worth clicking thru for, but I wanted to share my vote for "Best Title for a Blog Post on a Technical Subject" webby award: Automating Rick Rolls with Launchd.

2008 Jul 15 05:24 (#3925.11611):
We've had enough dicey situations just in our own department that I'm sympathetic to unfairness claims.

It is at least anecdotally true that the attrition rate (BS => PhD and PhD => academic track in Physics) is lower among my female acquaintances. Only one comes to mind who jumped ship to be a mom, so I don't think that's a large determiner in my sample group.

I believe the Women in Physics group has made life easier, and alot of that comes from Reichl and DeWitt driving the bus. I know among my undergrad engineering friends the SWE was also a great help.

An imperfect point of perspective is to imagine I were studying abroad; sure, maybe it's only Ireland or India, but I'd be glad to have some American acquaintances to watch the Superbowl with. As a product of American schools I'd naturally be more likely to converse directly with professors, to want to work in groups on homework, and to be aggressive in classroom discussions -- which can come across wrong in a culture accustomed to the opposite. Advice from a fellow expatriate professor who had navigated these mild but disquieting cultural disconnects would be of some significant comfort.

Affirmative action isn't and shouldn't be to replace a qualified XY with an unqualified XX. It is to credit being XX among the many peripheral desiderata that distinguish the final selection from several otherwise equally-qualified candidates. Front-loading some worthy women scientists to the extent that they comprise something more than the current 7% isn't going to bring the edifice tumbling down.

(Incidentally, a question that came up the other day: What professors rank at the top and bottom for "nurturing/sabotaging female physics students"? We know Fink's record, and Heinzen would star except that he sabotages everyone's career. At Swift's FestSchwift I was suprised and impressed by the number of women scientists he'd graduated; Markert, Sitz and McDonald also come to mind as having graduated a fair share of women PhD's.)

2008 Jul 14 11:04 (#3921.11608):
I've got nothing left. (Do you realize that was written in 2004???!? Scary.)

2008 Jul 09 10:58 (#3919.11601):
Did I mention they're playing ACL fest? And that you should pick up tix?

2008 Jul 09 10:55 (#3918.11600):
You can't spell "SUCK BALLS" without C-U-B-S

2008 Jul 09 10:54 (#3577.11590):
Those rascals at improv everywhere assemble a doublemint army to construct a subway "human mirror". Awesome. (typo corrected)

Their Protest of Wendy's by the NAARP (Nat'l Assn for Advancement of Red haired People) (not Red-Headed League?) is also hilarious.

And linked was a version of the top post but with subtitles -- the part at 3:30 (bike messenger) and 3:50-4:50 (woman with glasses) are fantastic. Can you catch the signal they use to move at the same time?

2008 Jul 09 10:47 (#3918.11589):
So we all know that the Cubs' dreams will escalate to unprecedented heights and then be shattered in the cruelest, most abrupt way. That much is certain, and like the 2008 elections, most of the fun will be seeing how it actually comes to pass.

The good news is that it will probably one way or the other rid the world of all the whiny little Cubs fans. But the real benefits will be to theology, which can finally establish an empirical foundation. Is our world is run by fickle caprice, a tale told by an idiot, full of sound and fury, signifying nothing? Is it a dialectical narrative of two manichean forces competing for our mortal souls? Or are we the subjects of some Loki, a wicked trickster who delights in raising high our hopes and dreams just so they're all the sweeter when they come to naught?

You Cubs fans can take heart that by the laughingstock end of your season you'll at least have resolved conclusively that the answer is #3, and that Loki moved to Boston a few years back.

2008 Jul 09 06:58 (#3919.11588):
I'm sorry, I got derailed from being grossed out by roaches by the stellar "As both a lobster and roach lover I can give you a reasonably authoritative answer."

The intent was clearly

A: As both [[a lobster] and [roach]] lover ...
RNR ⇒ As both [a lobster lover] and [(a) roach lover] ...

but I heard:

B: As both a [lobster] and [roach lover] ...

If I've been reading enough Language log, this is right node raising, a coordination of the form [A B C] and [D E C] ⇒ [[[A B] and [D E]] C], as in the zeugma

My daughter and my money go to Cornell University
RNR ⇒ My daughter goes to Cornell University and my money goes to Cornell University

Googling {"as both a * and * lover"}

A: "As both [[[a coffee] and [(a) chocolate]]] lover, I savored the smooth blending of these ingredients with vodka."

B: "And intimacy with his subject -- as both [a fashion photographer] and [Mr. Mizrahi's former lover] -- only heightens Mr. Keeve's acuity rather than compromising his perspective"

Googling {"as both a * and * owner"} gives a lot more B (non-coordinate).

B: "Bobby has also been a great ambassador for Miller Lite, as both a driver and team owner." (one of several 'driver and team|car owner' hits)

So I think the problem here is that the noun "lobster" ends in the same -er as "lover", making me place them in parallel. Was anyone else tripped up?

2008 Jul 08 12:27 (#3912.11580):
That does seem to be the end result... but it's not what's going on. At that end I'm pretty sure it's just about keeping score.

Keep in mind that before he got married, Bill Gates was widely chided (as much as you can chide someone for not giving their money away) for his lack of philanthropy:

Nonetheless, a lot of the rich are procrastinators when it comes to philanthropy. They fully intend to spread their wealth around -- someday. Bill Gates, the Microsoft chairman and the richest man in America with an $11.2 billion fortune, is aiming to do some serious giving when he is 50 or 60 years old. He is now 39. The investor Warren E. Buffett, No. 2 on the Forbes list of the super rich is holding onto the vast bulk of his fortune until he dies.

(more, more)

This is a remarkable turnaround, and I'm pretty sure there's a good reason Melinda Gates' name is at the top.

2008 Jul 07 10:56 (#3905.11579):
U.S.A. / Alkaline Earth Population Breakdown ISTJ ISFJ INFJ INTJ 11.6% 13.8% 1.5% 2.1% Hab 11/12/38/44 nano 11/25/38/11 Ned 33/ 1/75/78 drFJ 56/62/ 1/11 TTJ 44/12/12/22 ISTP ISFP INFP INTP 5.4% 8.8% 4.3% 3.3% beck 33/62/75/33 ESTP ESFP ENFP ENTP 4.3% 8.5% 8.1% 3.2% nate 1/50/62/11 Vtan 67/62/50/100 McD 1/25/12/22 flip 44/62/25/11 soku 44/12/12/33 azra 52/56/62/11 ESTJ ESFJ ENFJ ENTJ 8.7% 12.3% 2.4% 1.8% Zig 33/ 1/12/56 Vlyn 56/62/62/67 MsC 56/25/ 1/44 δosc 33/25/12/33

2008 Jul 07 10:55 (#3905.11578):
So, no representatives from the two most frequent (combined 26%) groups. I forget how to do a Χ² test but I think we may safely assert our population is non-standard.

And I never suspected Richard Dawson to be such an introvert.

2008 Jul 07 10:46 (#3913.11577):
Alan Turing, father of the computer and 2:46 marathoner, invented with his friend David Champernowne the game "Round-the-House Chess" -- after each move, you run around the house, and can make another move each time you return. More (on both) here, where he estimates a strong runner can make up a queen against a grandmaster... [PDF]

I'm not sure what happens in a Zugzwang -- perhaps a variation on the Slowest Horse Race solution/

2008 Jul 07 09:11 (#1703.11568):
Amazing retro-futuristic posters for Wall-E, X-Men, classic Indiana Jones -- see also this interview with the artist

2008 Jul 06 06:56 (#3911.11561):
My picks:
07-08: Architecture in Helsinki: Like It or Not EP [Polyvinyl] [physical release]
07-14: Annie: "I Know UR Girlfriend Hates Me” single [Island] [UK release] + 10-06: Annie: Don’t Stop [Island] [UK release]
07-14: CSS: Donkey [Sub Pop / Warner]
07-28: Simian Mobile Disco: Sample and Hold [Wichita] [UK release]
08-18: Stereolab: Chemical Chords [Duophonic UHF Disks/4AD] [worldwide release]
09-08: Yo Majesty: Futuristically Speaking...Never Be Afraid [Domino] [UK release]
09-23: Girl Talk: Feed the Animals [Illegal Art] [physical release, out now digitally]

Fellow Mac Weenies might enjoy the NewTunes Widget, which lets you know when artists popular in your iTunes release a new album.

I've also been having great success with the similar last.fm feature... With six years of listening data they have a pretty good handle on exactly what shows I will ~~enjoy watching~~ feel bad about not going to. Go to http://www.last.fm/dashboard/events/ and click 'recommended events' on the right -- you can feed it to iCal, Google Calendar or an RSS feed as a constantly-updating calendar.

(If anyone's interested in Tilly & the Wall on 17 July or 1 August lemme know)

Also also -- just looked at the ACL '08 lineup. Either their tastes or mine are converging; I just bought tickets. Hopefully some of you guys will too!

2008 Jul 06 06:50 (#3911.11560):
Really thoughtful 'Random Rules' starring RjD2 -- probably the best one of these I've read. (If you're not familiar with the conceit: take a famous musician and have them put their iPod on 'random', then expound/explain/excuse/extol whatever comes up.)

2008 Jul 05 04:37 (#3156.11558):
The old ones can be easily unlocked to work on any carrier; the new ones will be locked the fuck down, and can't be activated except by an AT&T rep in an AT&T store.

2008 Jul 05 04:36 (#3910.11557):
Wow, that showbiz pizza band thing is awesome -- the guy programs Chuck-E-Cheese castoffs to sync with the music, and has done MGMT, Madonna and others too.

2008 Jul 05 02:45 (#3905.11555):
Dr. Feeljay reports:

INTJ 56 62 1 11
Normally I'm more thinking and perceiving with perceiving and judging being close.

Also: Carrie

2008 Jul 05 01:35 (#3905.11550):
Wow, Timoshenko is a PMILF

2008 Jul 04 03:24 (#3905.11541):
I are part Carrie and part Miranda.

I know what I want out of a relationship and I are not afraid to keep moving until I get it. Also, I are drawn to women who can respect my independence and strength, and engage me intellectually. Wit and charm are my biggest turn-ons, and I like gals who appreciate me for my mind as much as my body. However, I are as hard on potential girlfriends as I are on myself.

It's a tough act to balance the demands of work and dating, but my cynical views on love make it even harder to find someone to take away the loneliness. I have fun playing the dating game, but secretly I just can't wait to find the gal who sweeps I off my feet and I carries into the sunset (after getting back up from the foot sweeping).

2008 Jul 04 03:15 (#3156.11540):
So the first gen ones are selling used for $350 -- which pays for a new iPhone 3G plus either the upgrade to 16GB or the vig on my first year's service contract. Worth it say I.

Watching the prices makes me wonder how to build a futures market or brokerage for some of the commoditized products. There already are for tickets; that's easy (minimal shipping, preexisting distribution structure). It's hard to see how to build one for a tangible product (significant transportation costs) with quality variations (need to proxy the signaling or accountability mechanism).

2008 Jul 04 12:08 (#3156.11537):
GTalk for iPhone -- though I'm sure 7/11 will bring even more starry-eying wonders

2008 Jul 02 12:23 (#3526.11531):
I'm really enjoying the new season of Venture Bros -- and completely agree with ndogg viz. The Dr. Mrs. Monarch's costume.

I'm also psyched that the Onion's TVClub is covering both Venture Bros and Weeds. Incidentally: the AV Club's comments sections are uniformly terrible. Disastrous -- maybe not youtube bad -- but generally unreadable. The threads for Weeds, however, conceal a vicariously thrilling masterclass in drug smuggling, at least as far as this suburban son of Abraham can tell.

2008 Jul 02 12:12 (#3905.11530):
He has extreme expression on everything -- even a 50 is pretty high. Taking the pythagorean sum of his scores, you two are the most expressed at 144 and 123 resp; nanocindy and zig are the most neutral at 48 and 66 resp.

Expect 4+1 axes of histograms once all precincts have reported.

2008 Jul 02 10:54 (#3906.11527):
That's OK, I can pass along the period blood DVD you just burned me.

2008 Jul 02 10:51 (#3905.11526):
Holy crap valatan you are really effin EFNP. 100?
And Vanalynalanylin -- we need you to retake and post #s.

2008 Jul 02 02:11 (#3905.11516):
Guilty, but I did type Valatan right before Vanalyn each time.

2008 Jul 01 11:44 (#3906.11510):
I'm 10ish minutes into the most unwanted and I like it WAY better than the most wanted. WAY WAY better. "Hey Everybody!! It's Labor Day!" I couldn't finish the most wanted song.

By the way, the most unwanted song could be improved by adding a vocoded 'This is the Reeee-mix!!!' and a Kay Slay intro.

2008 Jul 01 11:31 (#3906.11509):
The most un/wanted song was done with the great Komar & Melamid, who first did it with paintings. The US most wanted, based on a survey of 1001 adults, is Blue and green (not maroon or yellow); traditional, American and realist (64% / 49% / 60%); features wild animals (51%) outdoors (81%), of lakes, rivers and oceans (49%), in fall (33%); with soft curves, vibrant, blended colors and visible brush-strokes; and is dishwasher size (65%). It has a famous person (1%!) but that famous person is historical (56%), at leisure (43%), and fully clothed (68%). Most wanted:

Unwanted:

2008 Jul 01 09:49 (#85.11503):
see, now they're just fucking with us.

2008 Jul 01 06:19 (#3904.11497):
My brother in late high school (after I was out, dammit) put together the best man-cave I've yet seen. Amidst the actual Hicksville City Limits sign, Barcaloungers and Full-Sized St. Pauli Girl Cutout was 'The Beastie Boys 365 Ways to Party' (or maybe 356) poster, with things like 'George Clinton born'.

I'd like to see an updated version with 'Talk Like a Pirate Day', 'Fuck wit Dre Day (and everybody's celebratin' and 'Drive Your Bike to Work Day'.

In fact, such a calendar must be out there -- +1 lazyweb pts to whomever finds it for me.

2008 Jul 01 04:14 (#3905.11482):
ENFP (44/62/25/11). Hi Valatan. Quit Judging me Valanyn.

The list of comparables is the best part for sure: "Brenda Vaccaro" stands alone, but "Michael Jordan" is apparently some sort of "NBA basketball player".

And if you wondered too -- head shrinkers spell it extravert.

2008 Jul 01 04:05 (#3751.11479):
there's no such thing as new wave

2008 Jun 30 11:56 (#3580.11475):
Requiem for a Day Off -- Requiem for a Dream gets saved by the remix. (quite good, if a minute thirty too long)

2008 Jun 27 01:06 (#3863.11469):
Meet the new chairman of the fed: Vizzini. Inconceivable!

2008 Jun 27 03:57 (#3863.11467):
xkcd does discovery channel doing campfires.

(I originally wrote 'xkcd does the discovery channel doing girl scouts' but I worried that would be misinterpreted)

2008 Jun 27 02:56 (#3901.11466):
glurge

2008 Jun 25 11:55 (#3863.11465):
A great excuse to call in sick

2008 Jun 25 11:12 (#3899.11464):
yup

2008 Jun 24 03:39 (#3860.11456):
No mention of how much play a disco-dancing Vader gets.

2008 Jun 17 04:36 (#3346.11441):
100 Greatest Movie Posters - good collection, completely insane ordering. [thx kottke]

2008 Jun 12 04:51 (#3884.11430):
Not like it matters -- turns out there's a bigger fire about to hit Texas, a mere 21 months after the last time the world ended (remember that?)

2008 Jun 12 11:11 (#3881.11428):
I'm still taking the 'over'.

Stabilized Video Collages -- entrancing.

2008 Jun 12 10:51 (#3732.11427):
The Bushie Apostasy Matrix.

2008 Jun 12 10:30 (#3664.11425):
Seat Guru helps you choose your seat. Does this one recline? Does that one have more legroom?

Also, starting this week United will charge for *both* checked bags. They already charge $50 for an extra inch or so of legroom, and try to fool you into clicking on the upgrade when you choose your seats:

Want choose seats? Can haz more legroom! Lots of surrounding words. Maybe you not see when we say iz extra $50 for more better. At least we not ask if you wants car wash. Maybe we is just asking coz we iz nice. (regular-type URL (Giant Yellow Form link for no) Btn saying Yes Please that could easily be mistaken for "Continue")

Next time I just pony up a few extra (but deterministic) $$ and fly Continental.

2008 Jun 12 10:16 (#3886.11424):
I got 3/10, which I think is better than chance. If I know it's a geometric distribution and can guess the expected value µ I think the right strategy is to bet the two integers closest to µ in the proportion that they average to µ. That strategy would have scored either 1 or 2 on this test depending on your prior estimate. This is, of course, really the tail of the dist, which would skew things, but not for 10 trials.

Anyway for some reason the Friday the 13th terminus was stuck in my brain but I was surprised (high) by every other entry. Also: Joe McGann -- I think the right analogy would be "Baldwin brothers."

Use your mouse to hilite and play along:

Alec Baldwin - But are there any more Baldwins?

There were more/That was it: (2 total) - Yes, Stephen Baldwin. But are there any more Baldwins?

There were more/That was it: (3 total) - Yes, William Baldwin. But are there any more Baldwins?

There were more/That was it: (4 total) - Yes, Daniel Baldwin. But are there any more Baldwins?

There were more/That was it: (5 total) - No, that was all. Adam Baldwin is not related.

There were more/That was it: (6 total) - No, goddamit, that was all.

There were more/That was it: (7 total) - No, goddamit, that was all.

There were more/That was it: (8 total) - No, goddamit, that was all.

There were more/That was it: (9 total) - No, goddamit, that was all.

There were more/That was it: Look, fuck off, OK?

FTW!

2008 Jun 12 09:46 (#3881.11423):
Classic Photos reinterpreted in Lego

2008 Jun 12 05:10 (#3885.11422):
Awesome -- thank you both.

2008 Jun 09 07:57 (#3885.11413):
Between you and George, I demand a longer list. That rules.

2008 Jun 09 03:20 (#3885.11411):
or better yet the Happy Ending Mazzah Stable

2008 Jun 09 02:21 (#3885.11410):
Oh man, that's awesome. If I ever have a breeding stable it's going to be an endless succession of 'Phil McGroin's and 'Haywood Jablomie's coming out of, I guess, the Hialeah Young Stable.

2008 Jun 08 06:36 (#3881.11406):
It's an amazing story, and I for one can't WAIT for 5,000 vaseline-lensed retrospectives about his career and childhood during the olympics broadcasts to rob it of any poignance or inspiration.

2008 Jun 08 06:31 (#3883.11405):
I know -- what I'm suggesting is that the university provide a central resource to help do this stuff, and that scientists exert some pressure (and divert some money) to make that happen. I think you'd post data at the beginning or middle of the preprint stage -- it's certainly reasonable that data go live with the publishing of any peer-reviewed paper.

We have centralized resources for machining, procurement, IT, public relations, intellectual property, ... But we *don't* have a centralized resource to that helps groups share the knowledge discovered here with the world. The WWW was founded by physicists and science at large is well behind the pack and not gaining ground. [if it's not clear: 50 rated blogs on physics, 1167 on recipes, and 55 on conspiracy theories. An extremely imperfect measure but telling.]

Asking a grad student to set up a webpage, etc is foolish. Hiring a pair of workstudy undergrads for the summer to freshen webpages for a departments' research groups is reasonable.

2008 Jun 08 02:56 (#3882.11401):
I've also noticed the 'God squad' accumulation of physicists in relativity/cosmology/high energy theory.

2008 Jun 06 04:46 (#3881.11395):
I don't know whether these are tweaked for printing or what -- but the photos off the pulitzer.org's site all look really 'crispy' (overly-contrast-adjusted) to me. Maybe sG can weigh in.

2008 Jun 05 10:55 (#3876.11390):
That video, as I, doncarlo or any of its dozens of other viewers will tell you, has *way* less John Larroquette than the box implies.

This is fantastic work btw natedogg.

2008 Jun 05 09:51 (#3867.11389):
Keeley Hazel fans will find more things to immediately click away from over at our friend Tyler Durdin's page [nsfw]

To the broader audience of readers, enjoy 'mortal lock for flip's top 5' Lily Allen showing up to an awards show in pink hair and a Bambi vs Godzilla dress, and leaving in a handcart. [safe]

2008 Jun 02 01:17 (#3866.11379):
Huh, thot that's what the linked article implied. READ FAIL.

2008 May 31 12:01 (#3863.11375):
... then you have plenty of time to wade through the php code that powers this beast and fix the jump-to-comment difficulties :) My expectation is that when it gets unwieldy we can start a new QH thread and spill to the old one by hand.

On a Mac, ⌘↓ and ⌘↑ send you straight to the bottom or top of the page... is it control home/end on a PC? something.

2008 May 31 10:59 (#3408.11373):
* I'd rather A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius never come to screen than that it do so starring the most over-rated actor of our generation.
* That Dreyfus Affair movie looked awesome... but I'd rather see a movie about the Dreyfus Affair.
* [spoiler alert, ish] Did you notice how this film had only two stars listed, and one of them was neither of the people in the title? There's a running theme here: actors won't play gay. (Look what it did to Heath Ledger!)

2008 May 31 10:56 (#3863.11372):
anything you would like to post
not connected to a previous thread
that struck you as funny/interesting/cromulent
but you don't think needs a front page post:
stick it here, as a comment.

2008 May 28 11:22 (#3858.11358):
Where do people stand on the emoticon, while a) emailing, b) IM'ing. I use them in both, even in work emails (tho for work emails more sparingly.) A recent poll of bowling physicists revealed I was one of the few who used them.

Also: how much editing do you do on emails/ims/blog comments? I probably end up changing any given sentence of an email or online comment several times, and even an IM. It's very slow, but that's what it takes to say what I mean. Ndogg was ripping on ebflagg for Using complete capitalization and punctuation in his IMs. Which I also do to a certain extent, with the occasional IIRC or w/e.

2008 May 28 11:05 (#3784.11357):
The dumbest fucking thing the music industry could do is shut down muxtape. God, this makes me so furious I could kick something. The labels are not just wrong from an ethical standpoint, they're even more so wrong from a business standpoint. It's a big part of the business model they've needed, and these things are *still* being invented by 26 year-olds in their garage and not by the studios. If they want to control the direction their industry goes they should start steering their goddamn ship.

There's no ads, only affiliate links. Muxtape makes a penny **only when** the music labels make a dollar -- they understand that, right?

Piracy isn't killing music -- the big label's intransigence is.

2008 May 26 07:23 (#3813.11352):
¡ǝɹǝɥ ˙ooʇ ʞuıl ɐ ǝpnlɔuı plnoɥs ı 'ɥo

2008 May 26 07:22 (#3813.11351):
¡ɐɐʎ-ıɥ ˙ǝpoɔıun ɥǝʇ ɥʇıʍ uʍop ǝpısdn ʇxǝʇ dılɟ uɐɔ noʎ 'ʍoʍ

2008 May 25 12:03 (#3501.11347):
Minnesota Saints minor league team to celebrate Larry Craig's role in tapdance history with the world's first bobblefoot giveaway.

2008 May 25 11:45 (#3841.11346):
The universe just can't reconcile itself to ziggy as pater familias.

2008 May 24 09:35 (#3861.11343):
That game omitted the crucial first step, choosing your urinal. (Correct answers revealed here.)

2008 May 24 09:17 (#3863.11341):
Rule of Thumb: MOON WATCHING: To know whether the moon you see tonight will be bigger or smaller tomorrow night - In the Northern Hemisphere, the moon spells "DOC" each month - first it looks like a "D" (waxing moon), then an "O" (full), then a "C" (waning.) South of the equator, it's just backwards and the word is "COD" - "C" moons will grow and "D" moons will shrink. Kate Gladstone, Brooklyn, NY, USA

2008 May 24 01:12 (#3784.11340):
I don't get it. Please explain the joke to me.

2008 May 23 08:26 (#3862.11338):
not. cool.

2008 May 23 06:24 (#3855.11330):
Best Damn Sprtsmagazine Cover Art (2008) -- from the comments,
* "Me am worst player in baseball. Me play for worst team in baseball. Me come off abled list soon. Me am so in love with Old York, me take salary cut just to stay. Me lead team to last place!" -- Bizza-rrod

* "The artist is Mark Bagley, who recently finished a great run as a Spider-Man artist."

* Home & road jerseys are reversed, and Yanks' jersey has player name on back (all part of the Bizarro Theme!)

2008 May 23 06:05 (#3732.11329):
From the same site: the Round Mound of Rebound on Gay Marriage, Fake Christians, and the 2014 Gubernatorial landscape.

And know this: he'd be willing to put his lack of money where his mouth is: read to the end. Amazing.

2008 May 22 04:49 (#3732.11326):
"As I watch Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton’s continuing campaign for her party’s nomination, I see a self-focused politician who, despite the reality of the situation, continues to stubbornly pour money that the campaign doesn’t have into a battle that it can’t win. And over these last several years, I have learned that these are the specific qualities that I do not want in our nation’s next president. -- J. Maynard, New York, May 21, 2008"

2008 May 22 04:37 (#3859.11325):
that's impressively sucky ttj -- at least three of the clues have their answer in print in the photo :) Did katsa take the quiz? I'm guessing schooled both of us.

V -- I think the Tori fans wear their uniform on the inside.

2008 May 21 08:53 (#3859.11322):
1 or 2 of them are ungettable -- specifically #15 and maybe #12. I bet I misguessed that same as you on the kids.

2008 May 21 06:18 (#3859.11320):
Reading the Klosterman article, I would like to note an omission: the Insane Clown Posse belongs on the top 10 list somewhere between 0 and 1.

2008 May 21 01:28 (#3859.11317):
Yay Quiz! It's been a while.

I got 8/15. I will tell you that
* 1 or 2 are (I think) ungettable,
* there is one repeated artist.
* I can't fucking believe I missed #8
* I could not have been more wrong about #13, and
* I still can't believe #9.

2008 May 21 12:00 (#3677.11316):
The NYT says that the superdelegate count is at 272 to 303.5, 181.5 undecided. If Obama gets 50% of the remaining, he's at 393.5. Putting rough numbers into the Slate delegate calculator, even if the remaining states fall 60-40 and Florida and Michigan are seated at full strength and fall 60-40 Obama will win.

So why are they still reporting this like it's in doubt?

2008 May 20 11:18 (#3858.11315):
That's 15 minutes flip time, with internet time dilation.
To be clear, I don't think snopesing is bad manners unless done with bad manners, and in fact is the right thing to do -- I just wonder if it's really that important.

TWiTB: I have no problem with your text policy, and I think phone call in resp. to text is always acceptable. I think it's obnoxious that receivers pay for texts (and often, can't opt out); I try to keep track of who is (GMcD, Vanalyn, Valatan) and who is not (most everyone else, I think) a texter.

The bowling team has settled that one non-frivolous text is acceptable during normal bedtime hours -- for example a 2am Friday "hey we're drunk want to give us a ride if you're up otherwise we'll take a cab" or a Sunday 9am "come meet us for breakfast tacos".

Probably the worst usability flaw with the iPhone (and this is tellingly minor): since you can't get MMS (photo text msgs), you get instead a text that says "You have an MMS! go to fuckyoucustomer.com/weareuseless and login with username 5asdf234h and password mownrune" (I'm not kidding -- the username is gobbledygook and the password is *slightly* memorable). And you can't click it, you have to *write it down* then open the browser then *type all that shit in*. Can you tell what ONE FEATURE Apple left for AT&T to implement? Why don't they just route it to my email, which has full graphics and media support?

2008 May 20 11:28 (#3858.11312):
More annoyances -- those dhtml 'survey' things that pop up in-page and obscure the whole fucking page you're reading. An in-page popup ad is one thing. All it does is announce "this website is a gutter tramp whore," but hey, someone's gotta feed the kids.

A survey is more like smearing shit on your windshield and then offering to clean it for a dollar. "Tell us how to improve our website. This in-page popup lets us normalize the results against a baseline of the most aggressive anti-usability feature jQuery allows."

This rant brought to you by a microsoft.com MSDN page.

2008 May 20 10:29 (#3858.11311):
What I really need is one of these for facebook. "Gee, I like you, but I FUCKING HATE pyramid schemes and chain letters, and would really rather be ignored than poked."

I also too often send the snopes reply, even with its 15minutes minimum commitment (and that's assuming you can avoid the siren call of surfing snopes for the next hour).

There's also five.sentenc.es. I think the best way to do this with either (5.s.es or nothanks) is to /put it in your sig/ -- makes it a bit easier to bring up when Aunt Judy sends you a re-mail with dancing kitties telling the story of a dying soldier who will get a gift certificate to Outback if you pump your gas early in the morning because Nigerian jenkem-smoking kids have taken "In God We Trust" off of the dollar bill.

Oh, and the Inbox Zero series is supposed to be excellent.

2008 May 19 06:07 (#3832.11308):
This Patron ad -- homage or ripoff of Sid Caeasar/Nanette Fabray?

So -- I pulled this up by hitting search for 'sketch', which pulled up
A) this earlier more idiosyncratic list linked by tha 'dogg, and
B) This bygone teapot tempest over a band playing Dylan's "Masters of War" at a HS talent show.

The 1963 song ends with the lyrics: "You might say that I'm young. You might say I'm unlearned, but there's one thing I know, though I'm younger than you, even Jesus would never forgive what you do ... And I hope that you die and your death'll come soon. I will follow your casket in the pale afternoon. And I'll watch while you're lowered down to your deathbed. And I'll stand o'er your grave 'til I'm sure that you're dead."

..."It's just Bob Dylan's song. We were just singing Bob Dylan's song ... If you think it has to do with Bush that's because you're drawing your own conclusions. We never conveyed that Bush was the person we were talking about,"

Awesome to see Bush's rhetorical bullshit turned against him:

[Bush talked] about the "false comfort of appeasement." This is being seen in some quarters as a slam on Senator Obama. Is this in any way directed at Senator Obama?

MS. PERINO: It is not. ... I understand when you're running for office you sometimes think the world revolves around you -- that is not always true and it is not true in this case.

2008 May 19 04:29 (#3677.11307):
"75,000 people - CNN gave the helpful headline, 'Massive Obama rally draws thousands.' I ignored the article because Obama drawing thousands is hardly news. But 75,000 people is 5% of the total voters in Oregon." [via]

2008 May 19 04:23 (#3857.11306):
pinouts.ru, output connector diagrams for hundreds of personal electronics devices. w00t. (Why is this here? because I found it from "Make your old iPod adapter play nice with iPhone")

2008 May 18 03:51 (#3817.11305):
Ah, the vagaries of Euterpe, that Double Dutch Bus should become a prized perennial, bearing fruit season after season, while Haboglabotribin, finding no purchase, is consigned to sister Clio's dustbin.

2008 May 17 12:09 (#3852.11301):
"How are you going to write it, you can't even read it you troglodyte homunculus?" Pitch-perfect.

2008 May 16 03:17 (#3720.11297):
Haterade bug report. "Logger debug message consisted entirely of "cocksucker." Took it out. Seemed minimally informative, and impolite."

151 switch_to_alt_inheritance_column 152 test_eager_load_belongs_to_something_inherited 153 switch_to_default_inheritance_column 154 - ActiveRecord::Base.logger.debug "cocksucker" 155 end

I thought there was a post when google released a "Search code snippets on line" tool, using it to (of course) find comments with the word "fuck", "kludge", "broken", etc. But I can't find it, so it goes here.

2008 May 14 07:12 (#3677.11295):
Edwards as VP has never made much sense to me, but Edwards as AG I'd be excited about.

2008 May 14 07:09 (#3852.11294):
In other TV news, looks like the head of East Coast Television and Microwave Programming will have to give up half his title

2008 May 13 10:16 (#3825.11291):
The fallout continues...

2008 May 13 10:14 (#92.11289):
Powerpoint Test card.

I love using AE as "del.icio.us with a quirkier interface".

2008 May 13 09:39 (#2696.11288):
Good thing Great tits cope well with warming. Just as Norma, Norma Stitz that is. (Say it out loud...)

2008 May 13 09:13 (#3847.11287):
Also:

Bananas Vince Foster,

Iran-Contrecôte,

Spinach-Artichoke Chappaquiddip,

Abscambrosia,

Melon balls wrapped in Profumo di Parmy-McCarthy & Herrings ,

Chilled Monkey Business brains,

Silvera do-nut shavings & Abalone,

Spiro Agnewtons,

and, of course, Wine Spitzers.

2008 May 13 08:47 (#3847.11286):
I've already invented the MonicaGate celebratory cigar. Want to hear the recipe?

2008 May 12 01:01 (#3846.11277):
Wow, that's way better than Power Rangers.

2008 May 09 06:21 (#2274.11269):
Make English America's Offical Language! So that I might finally learn same, read more, and realize what an asshat racist anti-american unpatriotic douchenozzle move the 'Offical Language' campaign is!

2008 May 09 05:02 (#3840.11267):
A history of concealed carry. And a FAQ

2008 May 09 04:49 (#3841.11266):
Hat tip & applause to the reporter. It's a superb feat to so clearly demonstrate the corporations' duplicity using only their own words and their own actions. The Daily Show in particular excels at this, and yet it seems to require too much legwork and skepticism for the well-funded TV networks to pull off.

Of many, many bald-faced lies told by company reps and demolished by the reporter:

Only 5 of the 455 units were empty at the time of the filing. All but one unit was regulated, with average monthly rent of $752, or 65 percent below market. Once the apartments become vacant, the document said, Vantage will renovate the units and raise rents “to market levels.” That will generate enough cash to service the $70 million in debt that comes due in 2014.

Vantage’s debt service is an estimated $1,098 monthly on each unit, almost 50 percent more than the average rent. Mr. Rubler said that the description of the recapture program was “not our words,” but those of the debt security’s underwriter, Credit Suisse Securities. “I think they overstated significantly the focus on turnover in the business plan,” he said

2008 May 09 04:33 (#3839.11265):
(Hey Ms. Claw!)

It will happen anytime soon, I think -- when the Title IX generation of women start taking over half of the sports medicine literature, which I bet is already well in progress. It'll probably take another decade, but that would still put physics to shame.

Also: funding for 'obesity epidemic' research is/will be ramping up, which will benefit the other part of it -- sports medicine for non-professional athletes.

2008 May 08 02:39 (#3834.11251):
I thought this chart showed total household spending, but yup, it's only things that are in the CPI bucket. My bad.

I still don't know what 'admissions' means.

2008 May 07 05:32 (#3835.11247):
'A 39-year-old bike messenger who told me he made $32,000 last year said...': would not have guessed this.

2008 May 07 05:19 (#2215.11246):
Found while looking for something else... They don't update this anymore, but this guy does. Here's late April 2008:

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Bush]] * 18150 [[Deaths in 2007]] * 17879 [[Adolf Hitler]] * 17320 [[2006 Lebanon War]] * 17279 [[RuneScape]] * 17151 [[Talk:Intelligent design]] * 16527 [[Talk:Global warming]] * 16495 [[Talk:Anarchism]] * 16472 [[Britney Spears]] * 16176 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Professional wrestling]] * 16131 [[PlayStation 3]] * 15802 [[Michael Jackson]] * 15788 [[Hurricane Katrina]] * 15420 [[Talk:Jesus]] * 15036 [[Template:Did you know/Next update]] * 14971 [[Wikipedia talk:Non-free content]] * 14965 [[Islam]] * 14818 [[India]] * 14603 [[Muhammad]] * 14529 [[Global warming]] * 14092 [[Christianity]] * 14024 [[Deaths in 2006]] * 13984 [[Wikipedia talk:Reference desk]] * 13875 [[United Kingdom]] * 13821 [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style]] * 13813 [[Akatsuki (Naruto)]] * 13624 [[Talk:September 11, 2001 attacks]] * 13573 [[Template:In the news]] * 13498 [[Canada]] * 13473 [[Talk:Muhammad]] * 13323 [[Talk:Evolution]] * 13315 [[Ronald Reagan]] * 13298 [[Anarchism]] * 13263 [[Xbox 360]] * 13234 [[The Beatles]] * 13191 [[Talk:Race and intelligence]] * 13137 [[Japan]] * 13117 [[Wikipedia talk:No original research]] * 13097 [[Super Smash Bros. Brawl]] * 12993 [[New York City]] * 12815 [[Eminem]] * 12674 [[Wikipedia talk:Manual of Style (dates and numbers)]] * 12620 [[September 11, 2001 attacks]] * 12611 [[Wikipedia talk:Sandbox/Archive]] * 12554 [[Wikipedia talk:Criteria for speedy deletion]] * 12436 [[Talk:Allegations of state terrorism by the United States]] * 12401 [[John Cena]] * 12400 [[Iran]] * 12238 [[Beyoncé Knowles]] * 12179 [[Bill Clinton]] * 12158 [[Mariah Carey]] * 12150 [[Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]] * 12129 [[User talk:Tony Sidaway]] * 12109 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Military history]] * 12074 [[Scientology]] * 12064 [[Germany]] * 12026 [[2007]] * 12016 [[Talk:Homeopathy]] * 12000 [[User talk:Bishonen]] * 11997 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Spam]] * 11920 [[2006 FIFA World Cup]] * 11892 [[IPod]] * 11857 [[Lost (TV series)]] * 11817 [[Albert Einstein]] * 11792 [[User talk:Raul654]] * 11763 [[Cannabis (drug)]] * 11756 [[The Undertaker]] * 11747 [[Jehovah's Witnesses]] * 11725 [[John Kerry]] * 11698 [[Israel]] * 11675 [[Talk:Prem Rawat]] * 11537 [[User talk:RickK]] * 11449 [[Elvis Presley]] * 11418 [[World War I]] * 11299 [[European Union]] * 11160 [[Organization XIII]] * 11120 [[Evolution]] * 11079 [[List of United States political families]] * 11042 [[World Wrestling Entertainment]] * 11027 [[Harry Potter]] * 10976 [[Talk:Jyllands-Posten Muhammad cartoons controversy]] * 10924 [[Saddam Hussein]] * 10886 [[List of Omnitrix aliens]] * 10871 [[Roman Catholic Church]] * 10868 [[Hinduism]] * 10829 [[Green Day]] * 10794 [[Blackout (Britney Spears album)]] * 10740 [[Virginia Tech massacre]] * 10696 [[Intelligent design]] * 10622 [[List of ethnic slurs]] * 10612 [[Bill Gates]] * 10590 [[Madonna (entertainer)]] * 10586 [[Triple H]] * 10529 [[Star Wars]] * 10461 [[Halo 3]] * 10449 [[Pope Benedict XVI]] * 10382 [[Ann Coulter]] * 10358 [[Led Zeppelin]] * 10343 [[Metallica]] * 10330 [[List of best-selling music artists]] * 10319 [[William Shakespeare]] * 10313 [[Greece]] * 10293 [[User talk:Alison]] * 10282 [[Christina Aguilera]] * 10273 [[Red Hot Chili Peppers]] * 10264 [[Talk:2006 Lebanon War]] * 10261 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Football]] * 10213 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Mathematics]] * 10139 [[The Holocaust]] * 10102 [[South Park]] * 10093 [[England]] * 10075 [[50 Cent]] * 10074 [[Wiki]] * 10054 [[Wikipedia talk:Verifiability]] * 10046 [[Pakistan]] * 10036 [[The Simpsons]] * 10002 [[George Washington]] * 9988 [[Template:Did you know]] * 9975 [[Vietnam War]] * 9955 [[List of experiments from Lilo & Stitch]] * 9950 [[Fidel Castro]] * 9917 [[Joseph Stalin]] * 9896 [[Talk:Christianity]] * 9854 [[Hilary Duff]] * 9851 [[Barack Obama]] * 9776 [[2006]] * 9731 [[Cat]] * 9708 [[Osama bin Laden]] * 9682 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Video games]] * 9662 [[Manchester United F.C.]] * 9647 [[Tony Blair]] * 9639 [[Turkey]] * 9629 [[Australia]] * 9618 [[Heroes (TV series)]] * 9614 [[Buddhism]] * 9604 [[2004 Indian Ocean earthquake]] * 9505 [[America's Next Top Model]] * 9473 [[Paris Hilton]] * 9449 [[God]] * 9412 [[Sonic the Hedgehog (character)]] * 9379 [[Homosexuality]] * 9379 [[Russia]] * 9366 [[United States presidential election, 2008]] * 9362 [[Pope John Paul II]] * 9342 [[Kingdom Hearts II]] * 9337 [[Hillary Rodham Clinton]] * 9318 [[Ireland]] * 9299 [[Brazil]] * 9290 [[Iraq War]] * 9267 [[PlayStation Portable]] * 9261 [[Che Guevara]] * 9251 [[Windows Vista]] * 9190 [[Michael Jordan]] * 9163 [[Real Madrid C.F.]] * 9141 [[Celtic F.C.]] * 9133 [[Cuba]] * 9066 [[Abortion]] * 9062 [[Roger Federer]] * 9033 [[9/11 conspiracy theories]] * 9031 [[John F. 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F.C.]] * 8537 [[Spider-Man]] * 8526 [[Earth]] * 8452 [[Talk:Adolf Hitler]] * 8446 [[Mario]] * 8412 [[User talk:Khoikhoi]] * 8382 [[Bill O'Reilly (commentator)]] * 8366 [[Talk:Neuro-linguistic programming]] * 8347 [[Spain]] * 8337 [[The Suite Life of Zack & Cody]] * 8331 [[Dog]] * 8300 [[Kurt Cobain]] * 8262 [[Toronto]] * 8258 [[Scotland]] * 8253 [[Microsoft]] * 8224 [[Superman]] * 8212 [[Terri Schiavo]] * 8199 [[Talk:2005 Atlantic hurricane season]] * 8186 [[MapleStory]] * 8181 [[Talk:Barack Obama]] * 8181 [[Transformers (film)]] * 8158 [[Tupac Shakur]] * 8156 [[Talk:Transnistria]] * 8137 [[2007 in music]] * 8131 [[Ku Klux Klan]] * 8075 [[Pokémon]] * 8074 [[Wikipedia talk:Biographies of living persons]] * 8069 [[Adam Copeland]] * 8055 [[Kosovo]] * 8054 [[Google]] * 8043 [[Genghis Khan]] * 8039 [[Hezbollah]] * 8005 [[Shawn Michaels]] * 7987 [[Kurt Angle]] * 7983 [[Freddie Mercury]] * 7977 [[The Game (rapper)]] * 7939 [[Neopets]] * 7938 [[Neuro-linguistic programming]] * 7921 [[User talk:JzG/ArchiveCurrent]] * 7915 [[User talk:El C]] * 7915 [[Pink Floyd]] * 7894 [[Naruto Uzumaki]] * 7891 [[New Zealand]] * 7883 [[Randy Orton]] * 7874 [[Wikipedia talk:Featured article candidates]] * 7868 [[American Civil War]] * 7868 [[Darth Vader]] * 7858 [[Dave Bautista]] * 7857 [[American Idol]] * 7851 [[User talk:Betacommand]] * 7847 [[Talk:Abortion]] * 7834 [[Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi]] * 7826 [[Texas]] * 7810 [[Communism]] * 7791 [[David Beckham]] * 7790 [[Home and Away]] * 7780 [[Friends]] * 7767 [[Radiohead]] * 7759 [[Talk:India]] * 7756 [[Tsunami]] * 7741 [[Martin Luther King, Jr.]] * 7715 [[Talk:Armenian Genocide]] * 7711 [[Doctor Who]] * 7709 [[Sweden]] * 7680 [[Template:X1]] * 7677 [[Association football]] * 7665 [[Kelly Clarkson]] * 7664 [[Capitalism]] * 7623 [[Wal-Mart]] * 7620 [[Hulk Hogan]] * 7605 [[Barry Bonds]] * 7598 [[User talk:Dbachmann]] * 7594 [[Naruto]] * 7593 [[Republican Party (United States)]] * 7578 [[Great Depression]] * 7575 [[Solar System]] * 7567 [[Spider-Man 3]] * 7555 [[Los Angeles, California]] * 7553 [[Jennifer Lopez]] * 7520 [[Son Goku (Dragon Ball)]] * 7499 [[Shahrukh Khan]] * 7490 [[Jimi Hendrix]] * 7489 [[The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints]] * 7478 [[People's Republic of China]] * 7468 [[Wikipedia talk:Notability]] * 7463 [[Puerto Rico]] * 7457 [[RMS Titanic]] * 7447 [[2005 Atlantic hurricane season]] * 7441 [[Wikipedia talk:Reliable sources]] * 7431 [[White people]] * 7429 [[Talk:Ann Coulter]] * 7425 [[LeBron James]] * 7423 [[User talk:Blnguyen]] * 7416 [[Jimmy Wales]] * 7414 [[Spice Girls]] * 7406 [[Argentina]] * 7362 [[Singapore]] * 7360 [[Emo]] * 7359 [[Al Gore]] * 7351 [[Democracy]] * 7348 [[Family Guy]] * 7346 [[MySpace]] * 7344 [[High School Musical]] * 7342 [[James Bond]] * 7338 [[Spells in Harry Potter]] * 7317 [[Avril Lavigne]] * 7307 [[Nintendo DS]] * 7306 [[Christopher Columbus]] * 7306 [[SpongeBob SquarePants]] * 7277 [[Freemasonry]] * 7276 [[List of best-selling video games]] * 7254 [[My Chemical Romance]] * 7247 [[Talk:Falun Gong/Archive16]] * 7246 [[The Rock (entertainer)]] * 7241 [[Newcastle United F.C.]] * 7241 [[Asperger syndrome]] * 7241 [[President of the United States]] * 7241 [[Heavy metal music]] * 7237 [[G-Unit]] * 7235 [[Romania]] * 7229 [[Talk:Israel]] * 7228 [[Oscar Gutierrez]] * 7218 [[War of 1812]] * 7200 [[AC/DC]] * 7198 [[Christmas]] * 7196 [[Tottenham Hotspur F.C.]] * 7193 [[U2]] * 7173 [[User talk:Nightstallion]] * 7172 [[Alexander the Great]] * 7166 [[Linux]] * 7151 [[Democratic Party (United States)]] * 7148 [[September 2005]] * 7129 [[User talk:Irishguy]] * 7128 [[Elizabeth I of England]] * 7121 [[Mozilla Firefox]] * 7118 [[Martin Luther]] * 7112 [[San Francisco, California]] * 7110 [[Serbia]] * 7108 [[Glen Jacobs]] * 7096 [[McDonald's]] * 7084 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Cricket]] * 7069 [[Paris]] * 7043 [[Houston, Texas]] * 7035 [[Race and intelligence]] * 7014 [[Homer Simpson]] * 7014 [[Sonic the Hedgehog (2006 video game)]] * 7007 [[Talk:White people]] * 7005 [[Portugal]] * 6998 [[Winston Churchill]] * 6974 [[Dick Cheney]] * 6971 [[Queen (band)]] * 6970 [[Fuck]] * 6955 [[Industrial Revolution]] * 6955 [[User talk:Mel Etitis]] * 6954 [[Talk:New antisemitism]] * 6954 [[Fall Out Boy]] * 6946 [[Hippie]] * 6945 [[Gay]] * 6940 [[North Korea]] * 6931 [[Punk rock]] * 6930 [[Internet]] * 6923 [[User talk:Daniel]] * 6909 [[Julius Caesar]] * 6906 [[System of a Down]] * 6894 [[Leonardo da Vinci]] * 6892 [[Theodore Roosevelt]] * 6891 [[Europe]] * 6875 [[Blink-182]] * 6862 [[AIDS]] * 6861 [[Sasuke Uchiha]] * 6858 [[List of Wii games]] * 6844 [[Korn]] * 6839 [[Solar energy]] * 6836 [[Attack on Pearl Harbor]] * 6819 [[Janet Jackson]] * 6811 [[Wikipedia talk:Ignore all rules]] * 6802 [[Thomas Edison]] * 6800 [[Apple Inc.]] * 6798 [[Arnold Schwarzenegger]] * 6796 [[Arsenal F.C.]] * 6794 [[Elizabeth II of the United Kingdom]] * 6783 [[Coca-Cola]] * 6782 [[Talk:Canada]] * 6780 [[John Howard]] * 6778 [[2003 invasion of Iraq]] * 6774 [[User talk:Blofeld of SPECTRE]] * 6772 [[Jew]] * 6761 [[Borat]] * 6754 [[Afghanistan]] * 6748 [[Deaths in 2008]] * 6738 [[Lebanon]] * 6737 [[Spanish language]] * 6725 [[User talk:White Cat]] * 6712 [[Charles Darwin]] * 6697 [[Warriors (novel series)]] * 6680 [[Facebook]] * 6669 [[Super Smash Bros. Melee]] * 6666 [[Characters of Lost]] * 6655 [[Thomas and Friends video releases]] * 6649 [[Jessica Simpson]] * 6622 [[John Lennon]] * 6621 [[Talk:Chiropractic]] * 6619 [[Poland]] * 6612 [[Chile]] * 6610 [[Football]] * 6600 [[Hong Kong]] * 6585 [[Circumcision]] * 6585 [[South Korea]] * 6582 [[Homeopathy]] * 6574 [[Super Saiyan]] * 6571 [[Slipknot (band)]] * 6566 [[Wikipedia talk:Village pump]] * 6565 [[Amy Dumas]] * 6550 [[Ron Paul]] * 6529 [[Penis]] * 6520 [[Talk:Race of ancient Egyptians]] * 6511 [[Pluto]] * 6500 [[Futurama]] * 6500 [[Talk:Terri Schiavo]] * 6499 [[Mobile phone]] * 6479 [[7 July 2005 London bombings]] * 6461 [[Current Total Nonstop Action Wrestling employees]] * 6450 [[Counter-Strike]] * 6441 [[Ashley Tisdale]] * 6438 [[Wikipedia talk:Citing sources]] * 6435 [[Talk:Circumcision]] * 6427 [[Dominican Republic]] * 6427 [[Talk:Black people]] * 6403 [[Bruce Lee]] * 6402 [[Cheese]] * 6390 [[Jeff Hardy]] * 6383 [[Napoleon I of France]] * 6377 [[South Africa]] * 6377 [[Halo 2]] * 6377 [[Chris Benoit]] * 6369 [[Detroit, Michigan]] * 6365 [[Moon]] * 6356 [[Ed, Edd n Eddy]] * 6354 [[American football]] * 6345 [[Korean War]] * 6344 [[Happy Tree Friends]] * 6344 [[Black Death]] * 6341 [[Hannah Montana]] * 6340 [[Internet slang]] * 6338 [[Ashlee Simpson]] * 6332 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ice Hockey]] * 6330 [[User talk:William M. Connolley]] * 6328 [[Feminism]] * 6326 [[Wikipedia talk:Tambayan Philippines]] * 6324 [[Peru]] * 6322 [[List of social networking websites]] * 6316 [[Black people]] * 6310 [[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince]] * 6306 [[Trish Stratus]] * 6296 [[Korea]] * 6294 [[Isaac Newton]] * 6292 [[Armenian Genocide]] * 6287 [[Rangers F.C.]] * 6287 [[Richard Nixon]] * 6274 [[Jack Thompson (attorney)]] * 6274 [[Opus Dei]] * 6273 [[Talk:British Isles]] * 6272 [[List of recurring characters from The Simpsons]] * 6270 [[User talk:Zscout370]] * 6268 [[Thomas Jefferson]] * 6265 [[Template talk:In the news]] * 6252 [[Kanye West]] * 6251 [[Boston Red Sox]] * 6249 [[Carrie Underwood]] * 6248 [[User talk:Ed Poor]] * 6242 [[List of Naruto characters]] * 6238 [[Johnny Depp]] * 6236 [[Talk:Intelligent design/Archive 23]] * 6234 [[2008]] * 6213 [[Curtis (50 Cent album)]] * 6210 [[Chelsea F.C.]] * 6207 [[Nintendo]] * 6198 [[Rush Limbaugh]] * 6194 [[Iraq]] * 6194 [[Template:Vandalism information]] * 6191 [[List of minor Naruto characters]] * 6188 [[Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] * 6184 [[Ottoman Empire]] * 6182 [[Talk:Jehovah's Witnesses]] * 6178 [[Socialism]] * 6173 [[Bleach (manga)]] * 6169 [[Palpatine]] * 6166 [[Brad Pitt]] * 6166 [[Al-Qaeda]] * 6160 [[Nigger]] * 6159 [[War on Terrorism]] * 6156 [[Montreal]] * 6156 [[The O.C.]] * 6152 [[Talk:World War II]] * 6149 [[Bob Dylan]] * 6142 [[Cocaine]] * 6141 [[Gears of War]] * 6140 [[California]] * 6140 [[Romeo and Juliet]] * 6136 [[User talk:Geogre]] * 6133 [[Rihanna]] * 6130 [[Chav]] * 6125 [[English language]] * 6125 [[List of Doctor Who serials]] * 6124 [[User talk:Luna Santin]] * 6119 [[Ajax (programming)]] * 6102 [[Angels & Airwaves]] * 6101 [[Shakira]] * 6099 [[Bible]] * 6085 [[Pornography]] * 6085 [[Fox News Channel]] * 6076 [[Casino Royale (2006 film)]] * 6072 [[United States Constitution]] * 6071 [[Vegetarianism]] * 6071 [[Cold War]] * 6063 [[Drake & Josh]] * 6063 [[Basketball]] * 6057 [[Grand Theft Auto IV]] * 6057 [[Podcast]] * 6043 [[The Lord of the Rings]] * 6036 [[Rome]] * 6031 [[Jimmy Carter]] * 6030 [[Wikipedia talk:Attribution]] * 6024 [[2006 in music]] * 6020 [[Hamas]] * 6014 [[New York Yankees]] * 6014 [[Star Trek]] * 6012 [[Avenged Sevenfold]] * 6011 [[Aishwarya Rai]] * 6005 [[Harry Potter (character)]] * 6004 [[User talk:MONGO]] * 6001 [[Dragon Ball Z]] * 5986 [[Talk:Apollo Moon Landing hoax theories]] * 5982 [[Club Penguin]] * 5977 [[Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith]] * 5977 [[Wikipedia talk:What Wikipedia is not]] * 5976 [[John McCain]] * 5976 [[Qur'an]] * 5973 [[England national football team]] * 5968 [[Talk:Michael Jackson]] * 5968 [[Shaquille O'Neal]] * 5966 [[Vietnam]] * 5961 [[Talk:Freemasonry]] * 5955 [[George H. W. Bush]] * 5952 [[Benito Mussolini]] * 5943 [[Fergie (singer)]] * 5938 [[Washington, D.C.]] * 5910 [[Iron Maiden]] * 5907 [[The Used]] * 5904 [[Masturbation]] * 5902 [[French Revolution]] * 5900 [[People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals]] * 5898 [[List of Zatch Bell! characters]] * 5898 [[Talk:International reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence]] * 5894 [[Creationism]] * 5888 [[Zinedine Zidane]] * 5888 [[1991]] * 5880 [[Charles Manson]] * 5872 [[Nazi Germany]] * 5867 [[Cars (film)]] * 5862 [[Television]] * 5860 [[Marilyn Monroe]] * 5853 [[Hawaii]] * 5850 [[Thierry Henry]] * 5837 [[List of Internet phenomena]] * 5831 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Albums]] * 5829 [[Antisemitism]] * 5826 [[2005]] * 5826 [[Nirvana (band)]] * 5821 [[Human]] * 5820 [[Jupiter]] * 5814 [[Netherlands]] * 5807 [[X-Men: The Last Stand]] * 5804 [[Oasis (band)]] * 5803 [[Talk:Virginia Tech massacre]] * 5795 [[Xbox]] * 5794 [[Talk:Stephen Barrett]] * 5791 [[Nazism]] * 5790 [[Wikipedia talk:Articles for deletion]] * 5786 [[Jerusalem]] * 5780 [[Golf]] * 5778 [[Talk:Asperger syndrome]] * 5776 [[Seinfeld]] * 5771 [[The Sims 2]] * 5770 [[Pokémon Diamond and Pearl]] * 5769 [[Veganism]] * 5765 [[User talk:Nlu]] * 5762 [[Stephen Colbert]] * 5758 [[Diana, Princess of Wales]] * 5756 [[Big Brother 8 (U.S.)]] * 5754 [[Nikola Tesla]] * 5739 [[Wikipedia talk:Naming conventions (settlements)]] * 5739 [[Lost (season 2)]] * 5738 [[Crusades]] * 5738 [[Berlin]] * 5733 [[Norway]] * 5729 [[J. K. Rowling]] * 5729 [[Finland]] * 5725 [[Wikipedia talk:Spoiler/Archive 13]] * 5725 [[Indonesia]] * 5724 [[Columbine High School massacre]] * 5718 [[Aristotle]] * 5705 [[Autism]] * 5703 [[New Orleans, Louisiana]] * 5702 [[Muhammad Ali]] * 5696 [[Transhumanism]] * 5686 [[SpongeBob SquarePants (character)]] * 5682 [[The Legend of Zelda (series)]] * 5676 [[Paul Wight]] * 5676 [[Blog]] * 5674 [[WWE Raw]] * 5670 [[Tom Cruise]] * 5669 [[Bangladesh]] * 5666 [[British National Party]] * 5661 [[Chiropractic]] * 5654 [[Venezuela]] * 5654 [[Gwen Stefani]] * 5653 [[Gaia Online]] * 5651 [[Anime]] * 5649 [[Baseball]] * 5641 [[John F. Kennedy assassination]] * 5640 [[Henry VIII of England]] * 5639 [[Gulf War]] * 5628 [[Joseph Smith, Jr.]] * 5627 [[Vladimir Putin]] * 5625 [[Airsoft]] * 5624 [[Sydney]] * 5619 [[Talk:Iraq War]] * 5608 [[List of characters from Family Guy]] * 5608 [[Nuclear power]] * 5604 [[The Fairly OddParents]] * 5602 [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart]] * 5598 [[List of major Naruto characters]] * 5593 [[Gerald Ford]] * 5584 [[Central Intelligence Agency]] * 5583 [[Mel Gibson]] * 5582 [[User talk:Piotrus]] * 5582 [[1992]] * 5573 [[1990]] * 5571 [[Eddie Guerrero]] * 5569 [[The Great Khali]] * 5560 [[Talk:Human]] * 5550 [[User talk:Antandrus]] * 5548 [[User talk:Newyorkbrad]] * 5545 [[Franklin D. Roosevelt]] * 5541 [[Talk:Hinduism]] * 5540 [[Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser]] * 5538 [[Terrorism]] * 5534 [[Physics]] * 5530 [[The Rolling Stones]] * 5530 [[Daniel Radcliffe]] * 5525 [[List of comic book superpowers]] * 5521 [[Video game]] * 5520 [[Talk:9/11 conspiracy theories]] * 5517 [[Fascism]] * 5514 [[Nelson Mandela]] * 5508 [[Guitar Hero II]] * 5508 [[Manchester]] * 5493 [[User talk:FisherQueen]] * 5492 [[Cyprus]] * 5488 [[Mars]] * 5485 [[Wikipedia talk:Requests for arbitration]] * 5484 [[Harry S. Truman]] * 5478 [[User talk:Essjay]] * 5478 [[User talk:Mav]] * 5478 [[Slavery]] * 5478 [[Britney Spears discography]] * 5475 [[Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End]] * 5472 [[Automobile]] * 5465 [[Steve Irwin]] * 5459 [[Land of Sound]] * 5459 [[Athens]] * 5458 [[America's Next Top Model, Cycle 9]] * 5456 [[American Revolutionary War]] * 5455 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Anime and manga]] * 5450 [[User talk:Phaedriel]] * 5449 [[United Nations]] * 5446 [[Bone Thugs-n-Harmony]] * 5446 [[Religion]] * 5442 [[List of Puerto Ricans]] * 5441 [[Talk:Akatsuki (Naruto)]] * 5439 [[Talk:The Holocaust]] * 5436 [[Mitt Romney]] * 5434 [[Eric Cartman]] * 5431 [[Republic of Macedonia]] * 5426 [[New York]] * 5426 [[Belgium]] * 5420 [[Chicago Cubs]] * 5420 [[Birmingham]] * 5414 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject LGBT studies]] * 5410 [[Jay-Z]] * 5407 [[User talk:Nishkid64]] * 5405 [[Stephen Harper]] * 5399 [[Egypt]] * 5389 [[PHP]] * 5386 [[Talk:Waterboarding]] * 5384 [[Falun Gong]] * 5381 [[Talk:Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows]] * 5375 [[Halloween]] * 5374 [[Same-sex marriage]] * 5359 [[Love]] * 5357 [[Alexander Hamilton]] * 5353 [[Ethiopia]] * 5351 [[Talk:Creation-evolution controversy]] * 5346 [[Capital punishment]] * 5344 [[Jesse McCartney]] * 5338 [[Wales]] * 5331 [[Prostitution]] * 5325 [[The Colbert Report]] * 5317 [[Zoey 101]] * 5314 [[Desperate Housewives]] * 5314 [[Talk:Ebionites]] * 5312 [[Lance Armstrong]] * 5307 [[IPhone]] * 5307 [[Invasion of Normandy]] * 5305 [[Vanessa Hudgens]] * 5305 [[Margaret Thatcher]] * 5301 [[Colombia]] * 5300 [[Michael Schumacher]] * 5296 [[User talk:ArielGold]] * 5291 [[Nuclear weapon]] * 5284 [[Emma Watson]] * 5277 [[Tropical cyclone]] * 5275 [[Scrubs (TV series)]] * 5273 [[Sakura Haruno]] * 5271 [[Super Smash Bros. (series)]] * 5270 [[Yasser Arafat]] * 5269 [[Chess]] * 5269 [[Philosophy]] * 5268 [[Pearl Jam]] * 5265 [[Melina Perez]] * 5264 [[Albus Dumbledore]] * 5263 [[Macintosh]] * 5262 [[Thomas and Friends - Season 1]] * 5261 [[User talk:Quadell]] * 5258 [[Godzilla]] * 5253 [[Culturally significant words and phrases from The Simpsons]] * 5245 [[Talk:Capitalism]] * 5234 [[Vince McMahon]] * 5227 [[Charmed]] * 5222 [[Phenyltropane]] * 5221 [[Vegeta]] * 5219 [[Power Rangers: Mystic Force]] * 5214 [[Libertarianism]] * 5207 [[Sexual slang]] * 5206 [[Talk:Wikipedia]] * 5202 [[Talk:Scientology]] * 5202 [[Soviet Union]] * 5201 [[User talk:WJBscribe]] * 5195 [[Link (The Legend of Zelda)]] * 5195 [[Halo: Combat Evolved]] * 5193 [[Graffiti]] * 5190 [[Ancient Egypt]] * 5189 [[Steve Nash]] * 5179 [[User talk:DGG]] * 5178 [[Mumbai]] * 5170 [[Lil Wayne]] * 5168 [[Aston Villa F.C.]] * 5164 [[Africa]] * 5164 [[Vancouver]] * 5162 [[Blu-ray Disc]] * 5157 [[High School Musical 2]] * 5156 [[Nicolaus Copernicus]] * 5151 [[Jack Sparrow]] * 5151 [[Water]] * 5150 [[Vincent van Gogh]] * 5150 [[InuYasha]] * 5149 [[Mother Teresa]] * 5149 [[List of sex positions]] * 5148 [[1993]] * 5145 [[National Football League]] * 5140 [[Howard Stern]] * 5139 [[Friedrich Nietzsche]] * 5129 [[Computer]] * 5126 [[Meaning of life]] * 5125 [[Nas]] * 5124 [[Ulysses S. Grant]] * 5122 [[Portal:India/Quiz]] * 5120 [[Down syndrome]] * 5120 [[Wolverine (comics)]] * 5119 [[New Jersey]] * 5118 [[Joan of Arc]] * 5114 [[Johnny Cash]] * 5110 [[Karl Marx]] * 5102 [[African American]] * 5099 [["Weird Al" Yankovic]] * 5095 [[User talk:Ryan Postlethwaite]] * 5094 [[Talk:2006 Atlantic hurricane season]] * 5092 [[Tiger Woods]] * 5082 [[Airbus A380]] * 5077 [[October 2003]] * 5074 [[Judaism]] * 5073 [[Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix (film)]] * 5072 [[The Dark Knight (film)]] * 5066 [[Brokeback Mountain]] * 5065 [[Flying Spaghetti Monster]] * 5062 [[Emo (slang)]] * 5057 [[Billie Joe Armstrong]] * 5057 [[Maria Sharapova]] * 5042 [[Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas]] * 5039 [[Lord Voldemort]] * 5038 [[Ashanti (singer)]] * 5037 [[Anal sex]] * 5035 [[Ciara]] * 5032 [[Celine Dion]] * 5028 [[Beer]] * 5027 [[Robert E. 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Brawl]] * 4920 [[Tibet]] * 4919 [[Benjamin Franklin]] * 4917 [[Final Fantasy VII]] * 4916 [[Rob Van Dam]] * 4914 [[Ukraine]] * 4911 [[Denmark]] * 4911 [[Costa Rica]] * 4910 [[WrestleMania 23]] * 4904 [[Ludwig van Beethoven]] * 4902 [[Coldplay]] * 4902 [[Severus Snape]] * 4901 [[Bangalore]] * 4898 [[User talk:Zoe]] * 4897 [[AdventureQuest]] * 4897 [[Vladimir Lenin]] * 4894 [[Ayumi Hamasaki]] * 4891 [[Viking]] * 4878 [[PlayStation 2]] * 4873 [[Smallville (TV series)]] * 4870 [[Lion]] * 4865 [[One Tree Hill (TV series)]] * 4860 [[Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki]] * 4859 [[Professional wrestling throws]] * 4854 [[Super Mario Galaxy]] * 4853 [[Black hole]] * 4850 [[WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2008]] * 4844 [[Atlanta, Georgia]] * 4841 [[Astrology]] * 4840 [[Yu-Gi-Oh!]] * 4834 [[Richard Dawkins]] * 4833 [[Kakashi Hatake]] * 4831 [[Wikipedia talk:AutoWikiBrowser/CheckPage]] * 4830 [[Condoleezza Rice]] * 4828 [[Anarcho-capitalism]] * 4827 [[User talk:Wiki alf]] * 4823 [[Simple Plan]] * 4823 [[House (TV series)]] * 4820 [[Sun]] * 4819 [[Talk:Mahmoud Ahmadinejad]] * 4816 [[Stone Cold Steve Austin]] * 4813 [[National Basketball Association]] * 4812 [[List of films considered the worst]] * 4811 [[Talk:Elvis Presley]] * 4811 [[Tornado]] * 4807 [[Cindy Sheehan]] * 4802 [[Transnistria]] * 4798 [[Macedonians (ethnic group)]] * 4798 [[Gray Wolf]] * 4797 [[List of Mario series characters]] * 4796 [[Pulp Fiction (film)]] * 4796 [[Sudoku]] * 4794 [[Matt Hardy]] * 4792 [[America's Next Top Model, Cycle 8]] * 4784 [[Andy Warhol]] * 4784 [[Dragon]] * 4780 [[Tool (band)]] * 4776 [[Augusto Pinochet]] * 4776 [[Tiger]] * 4773 [[L. 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R. R. Tolkien]] * 4603 [[List of characters in The Grim Adventures of Billy and Mandy]] * 4601 [[Zac Efron]] * 4600 [[Paintball]] * 4600 [[Galileo Galilei]] * 4596 [[Evanescence]] * 4593 [[List of gangs in the Grand Theft Auto series]] * 4592 [[Pedophilia]] * 4591 [[Chocolate]] * 4586 [[The Who]] * 4582 [[Wikipedia talk:Noticeboard for India-related topics]] * 4581 [[Talk:List of scientists opposing the mainstream scientific assessment of global warming]] * 4572 [[Creation-evolution controversy]] * 4570 [[Byzantine Empire]] * 4569 [[List of ninjutsu in Naruto (S-Z)]] * 4568 [[1989]] * 4566 [[Tennis]] * 4566 [[Pink (singer)]] * 4562 [[User talk:Bhadani]] * 4561 [[List of countries by population]] * 4561 [[Schizophrenia]] * 4561 [[Harvard University]] * 4560 [[Thailand]] * 4559 [[Brett Favre]] * 4556 [[StarCraft]] * 4552 [[Croatia]] * 4551 [[Talk:Transcendental Meditation]] * 4548 [[Windows XP]] * 4542 [[User talk:Ghirlandajo]] * 4537 [[Andrew Jackson]] * 4534 [[Steve Jobs]] * 4534 [[Pussycat Dolls]] * 4530 [[Raven-Symoné]] * 4524 [[Cloverfield]] * 4523 [[User talk:Thatcher]] * 4523 [[Armenia]] * 4521 [[Railway engines (Thomas and Friends)]] * 4519 [[Alcoholics Anonymous]] * 4519 [[Mormon]] * 4519 [[Internet Explorer]] * 4514 [[Bono]] * 4509 [[Talk:United Kingdom]] * 4507 [[Planet]] * 4507 [[Hamlet]] * 4504 [[That's So Raven]] * 4501 [[Glasgow]] * 4495 [[Ashley Massaro]] * 4494 [[University of Michigan]] * 4494 [[User talk:ImageRemovalBot/log]] * 4491 [[Booker Huffman]] * 4489 [[Characters of 8-Bit Theater]] * 4488 [[Truth]] * 4486 [[Cartoon Network (US)]] * 4480 [[Nigeria]] * 4475 [[User talk:Lar]] * 4473 [[Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam]] * 4470 [[List of Avatar: The Last Airbender episodes]] * 4467 [[Dylan and Cole Sprouse]] * 4463 [[Wikipedia talk:Good article nominations]] * 4462 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Ships]] * 4461 [[User talk:Curps]] * 4457 [[User talk:Rlevse]] * 4456 [[Minutes to Midnight (album)]] * 4454 [[Doctor's Advocate]] * 4454 [[New York Mets]] * 4453 [[Global warming controversy]] * 4446 [[Robot]] * 4442 [[List of Disney Channel Original Movies]] * 4440 [[Eiffel Tower]] * 4440 [[Allegations of Israeli apartheid]] * 4440 [[Steven Spielberg]] * 4440 [[Pepsi]] * 4437 [[WWE SmackDown vs. Raw 2007]] * 4437 [[Talk:Martin Luther]] * 4435 [[Dwight D. Eisenhower]] * 4433 [[Underoath]] * 4429 [[Pwn]] * 4429 [[NASCAR]] * 4428 [[List of Harry Potter characters]] * 4428 [[Talk:Philosophy]] * 4427 [[Islamophobia]] * 4424 [[Charlemagne]] * 4424 [[YouTube]] * 4423 [[User talk:Andreasegde]] * 4415 [[Wicca]] * 4414 [[Somalia]] * 4414 [[Kyoto Protocol]] * 4410 [[Haiti]] * 4406 [[Ninja]] * 4406 [[Criss Angel]] * 4404 [[List of Family Guy episodes]] * 4404 [[User talk:Alphachimp]] * 4404 [[Bipolar disorder]] * 4400 [[Kurdish people]] * 4400 [[T.I.]] * 4399 [[Istanbul]] * 4398 [[Starbucks]] * 4396 [[Sean Combs]] * 4394 [[Dungeons & Dragons]] * 4392 [[Portuguese language]] * 4390 [[Joker (comics)]] * 4390 [[Aqua Teen Hunger Force]] * 4390 [[Tokyo]] * 4387 [[Prince (musician)]] * 4387 [[Talk:Fox News Channel]] * 4384 [[Ludacris]] * 4381 [[Guild Wars (series)]] * 4380 [[Obesity]] * 4375 [[CM Punk]] * 4373 [[Heroin]] * 4373 [[Backstreet Boys]] * 4369 [[Elton John]] * 4369 [[Dubai]] * 4368 [[Torrie Wilson]] * 4366 [[Oxygen]] * 4363 [[Bradford Bulls]] * 4361 [[Van Halen]] * 4359 [[Mercury (planet)]] * 4357 [[Cannabis]] * 4353 [[Slayer]] * 4351 [[The CW Television Network]] * 4350 [[Native Americans in the United States]] * 4347 [[Pokémon (anime)]] * 4346 [[Ecuador]] * 4346 [[Premier League]] * 4345 [[Brock Lesnar]] * 4345 [[Jamaica]] * 4343 [[Disney Channel]] * 4343 [[Globalization]] * 4342 [[General Hospital]] * 4342 [[Ottawa Senators]] * 4342 [[Neurofunk]] * 4342 [[Resident Evil 4]] * 4335 [[Hermione Granger]] * 4334 [[Dallas Cowboys]] * 4331 [[Taj Mahal]] * 4329 [[1988]] * 4326 [[Cristiano Ronaldo]] * 4326 [[X-Men]] * 4324 [[Muse (band)]] * 4315 [[Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder]] * 4313 [[Ayn Rand]] * 4313 [[Statue of Liberty]] * 4311 [[Professional wrestling attacks]] * 4306 [[Juventus F.C.]] * 4305 [[List of characters in The Simpsons]] * 4305 [[Jihad]] * 4304 [[Horse]] * 4303 [[Chuck Norris]] * 4301 [[User talk:Dmcdevit]] * 4298 [[Death]] * 4296 [[Holocaust denial]] * 4296 [[List of Hannah Montana episodes]] * 4296 [[Uncyclopedia]] * 4295 [[Lloyd Banks]] * 4294 [[Talk:Nagorno-Karabakh]] * 4294 [[Nerd]] * 4293 [[Nintendo GameCube]] * 4291 [[Big Brother (TV series)]] * 4290 [[Civil War (comic book)]] * 4290 [[Hacker (computing)]] * 4289 [[Foster's Home for Imaginary Friends]] * 4287 [[Hyderabad, India]] * 4285 [[Asia]] * 4285 [[List of programs broadcast by ABS-CBN]] * 4284 [[Jedi]] * 4283 [[Lesbian]] * 4282 [[List of minor One Piece characters]] * 4280 [[Wikipedia talk:No personal attacks]] * 4278 [[JoJo (singer)]] * 4277 [[Wheel of Fortune (US game show)]] * 4277 [[Northern Ireland]] * 4276 [[Miami, Florida]] * 4276 [[List of Death Note characters]] * 4276 [[Iceland]] * 4275 [[Ancient Rome]] * 4274 [[Race of ancient Egyptians]] * 4271 [[Cher]] * 4271 [[Methylenedioxymethamphetamine]] * 4270 [[Godzilla: Unleashed]] * 4268 [[Charles Dickens]] * 4268 [[The Walt Disney Company]] * 4267 [[Florida]] * 4266 [[MediaWiki:Recentchangestext]] * 4260 [[User talk:Centrx]] * 4259 [[International reaction to the 2008 Kosovo declaration of independence]] * 4257 [[David Bowie]] * 4257 [[John Adams]] * 4254 [[Ford Mustang]] * 4253 [[Ozzy Osbourne]] * 4250 [[Taiwan]] * 4249 [[Animal testing]] * 4247 [[Breast]] * 4247 [[Zimbabwe]] * 4247 [[300 (film)]] * 4246 [[Panama]] * 4245 [[Nelly Furtado]] * 4244 [[Talk:Pseudoscience]] * 4243 [[Marriage]] * 4243 [[Kylie Minogue]] * 4239 [[Thomas and Friends - Season 2]] * 4237 [[Minneapolis, Minnesota]] * 4236 [[Cuban Missile Crisis]] * 4235 [[List of webcomics]] * 4234 [[Spore (video game)]] * 4234 [[Talk:Expelled: No Intelligence Allowed]] * 4231 [[Bob Marley]] * 4231 [[Apple]] * 4228 [[Shark]] * 4223 [[Republic of China]] * 4222 [[Neptune]] * 4222 [[Shia Islam]] * 4220 [[Dinosaur]] * 4219 [[Wayne Rooney]] * 4216 [[The Office (U.S. TV series)]] * 4216 [[Battle of Thermopylae]] * 4213 [[User talk:Tom harrison]] * 4212 [[Emoticon]] * 4212 [[C. S. Lewis]] * 4211 [[Kim Jong-il]] * 4208 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject U.S. Roads]] * 4208 [[Eurovision Song Contest 2008]] * 4207 [[Talk:Electronic voice phenomenon]] * 4205 [[Oral sex]] * 4204 [[Chamillionaire]] * 4203 [[User talk:Sam Spade/ - archive/November 2005]] * 4197 [[User talk:Gwernol]] * 4188 [[University of Southern California]] * 4188 [[Minnesota]] * 4185 [[List of characters in Ed, Edd n Eddy]] * 4185 [[Grey's Anatomy]] * 4185 [[Talk:Islam/Archive 16]] * 4184 [[Red hair]] * 4181 [[User talk:Rich Farmbrough]] * 4178 [[Henry Ford]] * 4175 [[Socrates]] * 4175 [[Burma]] * 4175 [[Lightsaber]] * 4173 [[Liverpool]] * 4170 [[Nepal]] * 4168 [[Saturday Night Live]] * 4168 [[List of Saiyans in Dragon Ball]] * 4168 [[Pittsburgh Steelers]] * 4167 [[4chan]] * 4166 [[Toronto Maple Leafs]] * 4164 [[User talk:Jmlk17]] * 4163 [[Ebionites]] * 4161 [[Kiss (band)]] * 4155 [[User talk:FayssalF]] * 4154 [[Troll (Internet)]] * 4151 [[User talk:Acalamari]] * 4151 [[The Price Is Right (U.S. game show)]] * 4151 [[User talk:Redwolf24]] * 4150 [[Dr. Dre]] * 4149 [[Wikipedia talk:Featured picture candidates]] * 4148 [[Seung-Hui Cho]] * 4145 [[Nike, Inc.]] * 4145 [[Gmail]] * 4144 [[Bear]] * 4141 [[The Killers (band)]] * 4139 [[Wikipedia talk:External links/Archive 16]] * 4132 [[Chicken]] * 4129 [[Tyra Banks]] * 4127 [[Nanotechnology]] * 4125 [[The Da Vinci Code]] * 4124 [[NATO]] * 4122 [[Time travel]] * 4121 [[Talk:300 (film)]] * 4120 [[AK-47]] * 4119 [[Hogwarts]] * 4117 [[List of Mario series enemies]] * 4113 [[Wikipedia talk:WikiProject Aircraft]] * 4111 [[Kerala]] * 4109 [[HD DVD]] * 4108 [[Cricket]] * 4106 [[Republic of Ireland]] * 4106 [[List of male performers in gay porn films]] * 4102 [[New England Patriots]] * 4102 [[Sunderland A.F.C.]] * 4102 [[John Steinbeck]] * 4102 [[Emirates Airline]] * 4099 [[Fernando Torres]] * 4097 [[James Blunt]] * 4096 [[Red vs. Blue]] * 4095 [[Wikipedia talk:Neutral point of view]] * 4093 [[Sean Hannity]] * 4089 [[Great Wall of China]] * 4089 [[Ichigo Kurosaki]] * 4088 [[Angelina Jolie]] * 4087 [[John Mayer]] * 4086 [[Karl Rove]] * 4085 [[Energy]] * 4084 [[Alex Rodriguez]] * 4082 [[User talk:Durin]] * 4081 [[Talk:Kosovo]] * 4081 [[EBaum's World]] * 4079 [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] * 4077 [[Second Life]] * 4075 [[Condom]] * 4074 [[El Salvador]] * 4072 [[Atom]] * 4072 [[Half-Life 2]] * 4069 [[List of musical works in unusual time signatures]] * 4067 [[Moscow]] * 4066 [[User talk:Jpgordon]] * 4065 [[Neil Armstrong]] * 4064 [[Virginia]] * 4063 [[Talk:Fidel Castro]] * 4062 [[Ferdinand Magellan]] * 4061 [[Peter Griffin]] * 4061 [[Days of our Lives]] * 4060 [[Stephen King]] * 4058 [[Leeds United A.F.C.]] * 4058 [[Ted Kennedy]] * 4058 [[List of Zoey 101 episodes]] * 4058 [[Greek mythology]] * 4057 [[Diamond]] * 4053 [[Turtle]] * 4046 [[Joe Lieberman]] * 4044 [[Bollywood]] * 4044 [[Manchester City F.C.]] * 4043 [[List of The Simpsons episodes]] * 4042 [[Bill Cosby]] * 4041 [[Hungary]] * 4040 [[University of California, Los Angeles]] * 4040 [[Juelz Santana]] * 4040 [[User talk:Fred Bauder]] * 4038 [[Parkour]] * 4038 [[Mafia]] * 4033 [[Bigfoot]] * 4032 [[Boeing 747]] * 4032 [[Ric Flair]] * 4026 [[Lee Harvey Oswald]] * 4025 [[Pikachu]] * 4023 [[Area 51]] * 4023 [[Goth subculture]] * 4021 [[Snakes on a Plane]] * 4020 [[Talk:Race (classification of human beings)]] * 4019 [[Main Page]] * 4018 [[Kenya]] * 4018 [[BioShock]] * 4017 [[Criticism of Islam]] * 4014 [[Web 2.0]] * 4013 [[Battlefield 2]] * 4013 [[User talk:Jimfbleak]] * 4011 [[Preity Zinta]] * 4009 [[Sparta]] * 4004 [[Justin Timberlake]] * 4004 [[Rosa Parks]] * 4002 [[Ghost]] * 4000 [[Pope]] * 3999 [[Rosie O'Donnell]] * 3997 [[Georgia (country)]] * 3996 [[Silkroad Online]] * 3996 [[Resident Evil: Extinction]] * 3995 [[Brisbane]] * 3995 [[User talk:CambridgeBayWeather]] * 3995 [[Earthquake]] * 3993 [[Tea]] * 3992 [[User talk:Persian Poet Gal]] * 3992 [[Rage Against the Machine]] * 3990 [[Malcolm X]] * 3990 [[Zuko]] * 3989 [[Michael Savage (commentator)]] * 3987 [[Talk:What the Bleep Do We Know!?]] * 3983 [[Bosnia and Herzegovina]] * 3980 [[Talk:Cuba]] * 3980 [[Nickelback]] * 3977 [[Stonehenge]] * 3976 [[List of SpongeBob SquarePants characters]] * 3973 [[Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest]] * 3973 [[Jack the Ripper]] * 3973 [[Alicia Keys]] * 3973 [[List of best-selling albums worldwide]] * 3971 [[WrestleMania 22]] * 3970 [[List of Disney Channel series]]

2008 May 07 04:44 (#3834.11245):
So some things will be blue because they are getting cheaper from the supply side: computers (sim. yellow, more expensive gasoline). Others will be blue because they have elastic demand and households will spend less on them: cosmetics and perfumes, clocks and lamps.

If I understand the agronomics, I think pork is getting cheaper from the supply side. People eat the same amt of it but it costs less relative to other meat, because you can feed a pig anything -- if wheat skyrockets you can feed them corn, etc. Perhaps vanalin will weigh in.

I think you're right about men's clothes being more long-term. But I think another reason spending on women's clothing is dropping is demand-side elasticity from a larger fashion premium. That is, apart from a faster fashion cycle there's also more room to reduce frequency and brand (marketing) spending. Maybe you can get by with Ann Taylor instead of DKNY shot in the dark on relative brand desirability or just not buy one this month. By and large, I think the stereotype is true: men buy clothes because they gotta, women because they can. (Household spending on women's clothing is more than 50% larger than on men's, even before any surface-area adjustment.) So men's clothing will be much less demand-elastic than women's.

I have no HDTV. I think this is one of the more craven outrageous rent-seeking boondoggles to be visited on the American people since, I dunno, that one time when WE GAVE THE NETWORKS PERMANENT LICENSES WITH NO ONGOING FEES.

Funerals: each person only pays for one every 80 years! With a 4-person household and an 72-80yr TTL, you're talking an amortized 3.5-4% fraction of your yearly total household budget. That's a lot.

Elementary tuition: I wondered about this -- how much of that is spent on 'sunday school' (i.e. supplemental religious school)?

And where are "Charitable donations" and "Religious Tithing" (or whatever you call it). Is this not counted in the CPI?

2008 May 06 05:12 (#3834.11237):
While we're on the subject:
* please stop using rainbow color scales (via). Thanks.
* Obama/Clinton Decision Tree. This is such a simple graphic, but it's really powerful: use econometrics to pick off the explanatory variables one by one, and construct the tree to a reasonable depth. I bet if you played with the spatial structure, or adorned each node with an unobtrusive segment chart, you could convey the relative strength of each descriptor. I'd love to see these graphs for each of the Freakonomics studies.

2008 May 05 04:40 (#3832.11232):
That one rocks. Except I always thought it was "Chick Drink Drunk". All my catchphrases are crumbling about me.

2008 May 02 06:26 (#3830.11224):
More javelina bait

2008 May 01 09:47 (#3796.11220):
I really liked it -- the views of downtown were great, we had an enjoyable view of the field, and the neighborhood looks like it's sprouting up nicely. My one complaint was that the food service was *ridiculously* slow. And my mom has had some issues with the customer service on her season tickets -- but I think that stuff will get fixed.

2008 Apr 30 10:57 (#3723.11217):
Autotuners and Professional Ethics. The sound engineer's decision was good, though I think I'd have politely declined (and offered to turn over the masters to another engineer if they sought one out.)

2008 Apr 30 10:42 (#3478.11216):
That Entropy one is fantastic, esp. given the story behind it. (though the kerning on the ΔS is clunky)

2008 Apr 30 10:38 (#3826.11215):
I've had raw mussels, escargot, the (at the time) hottest hot sauce in the world, and a bizarre french dish which was basically a giant bowl of fried minnows. (I'm still not sure the last one wasn't a practical joke). So I have a few bullet points on my resume, but not many.

I don't know why ndogg thinks I'd be irate -- vegetarianism aside I think I'm actually less likely to try (or enjoy trying) some weird assed food than earlier in my life.

2008 Apr 30 10:33 (#3796.11214):
I realized what really got my goat about this poll. You take any census of baseball fans and the list won't deviate too far from ((Fenway, Wrigley, Yankee Stadium)|(PacBell, PNC, Camden Yards, Safeco, New Busch)), depending on how you weigh Modern Ballpark Design vs Historic Tradition. Your judgement tells you which parks are vaguely in the top ten and which are vaguely in the bottom ten. The quantitative analysis is for teasing out the fine structure of where those go, and the design of that analysis also involves judgement (see above).

If your results show that parks traditionally considered among the top three have landed in the low twenties, this *should* clue you in that you're facing either a disastrous error in method or a revolutionary insight.

Now I know this SI poll has not received even the scintilla of expertise put into writing this comment. But though I feel the above is correct, it also invites the clear danger of investigator bias. How do you avoid this? Or is this basically the argument for Peer Review?

2008 Apr 30 10:29 (#3796.11213):
"We weighed all 10 categories equally, which hurt some of the grand old ballparks such as Wrigley Field (15th), Yankee Stadium (20th), Fenway Park (21st) and Dodger Stadium (22nd) but rewarded franchises that offer a better all-around experience"

You lost me at hello. The methodology of this is just crap. Weighting "Promotions" equally with "Team Quality"? That doesn't even pass the laugh test: promotions are what people put in place when their team sucks. I'd bet the Devil Rays could uncork the best promotion of the year -- a loss leader that would cost more than the marginal box office increase -- and it wouldn't boost attendance by more than a small fraction of having the Yankees or Red Sox playing them. And that's the *opposing* team's quality!

Summing ranks to find a score is possibly even more foolish: there's obviously a really tight spread in "Hospitality" vs a huge spread in "tradition" and "traffic". That is, for several teams the tradition is a HUGE draw and for many teams it's not at all -- I'd say 1-10 (Sox through Pirates) are basically tied (major draw), the middle third are basically tied (irrelevant) as are 20-30 (Astros through Marlins), makes a bad team laughable.

But all that is moot -- the poll was taken in March and so almost certainly reflects the dismal RFK and not the new stadium, which (from my visit last week) is B+ at worst.

And hat tip from #2 to #1 Redbird nation for their well-deserved Fan IQ victory. I also liked the tradition ranking.

But seriously? Yankees at #4 behind the Tigers at #1 on Team Quality? Not a knock on the Tigers -- who have a fantastic team this year -- but are our memories really that short?

2008 Apr 26 07:01 (#3820.11205):
If you can move past the Media Lab foofaraw, there's some pretty awesome stuff in this TED talk by Tod Machover -- I especially liked the Hyperscore and Music Visualization stuff.

Some of you may be familiar with this commercial ofshoot developed by a pair of graduates from Machover's group.

2008 Apr 19 11:10 (#3819.11198):
Conversely, a couple major cities (Miami, Houston) don't show up at all on the Human Capital map.

Wish it were easy to flip back and forth from the human capital to the median income maps -- those look like they're structurally similar.

2008 Apr 19 11:05 (#3817.11197):
That double dutch bus song is cited as the inspiration for Sizznoop Dizzle's Sizzlang.

2008 Apr 14 01:53 (#3810.11185):
I'm sure they meant well, but "Physicist Who Coined the Term ‘Black Hole,’" rings leaden, damning with faint praise. Of all the accomplishments in one of the most storied careers in science, the one that achieves headline prominence is a coinage?

I've several times run across books in the UT library with a 'from the library of John Wheeler' stamp. I've been able to resist the temptation to swap with a newer copy so far...

2008 Apr 14 01:46 (#3809.11184):
Not "handy"?

2008 Apr 14 11:25 (#3813.11182):
Wow, way more uncommon orthography here and here.

2008 Apr 14 10:50 (#3812.11181):
Also: Natalie Portman is Jewish?‽‽! Dammit, Adam Sandler needs to be releasing yearly updates to the Chanukkah Song.

(note the use of Interrobang ‽ .)

2008 Apr 14 10:01 (#3810.11180):
See Also Valatan's post.

2008 Apr 14 10:00 (#3811.11179):
We could combine them but they're different and both interesting. So: meh. Let's just leave a note for future visitors: See Also.

2008 Apr 13 12:21 (#3804.11176):
There's been a germane addition to the sidebar. Also, the AE calendar's been turned back on.

2008 Apr 12 05:00 (#3808.11174):
Was he arguing against it happening, or against discussing that it was happening?

2008 Apr 09 04:41 (#3805.11169):
jebus. I can't even watch that video. Holy smokes.

2008 Apr 09 04:40 (#3804.11168):
Yeah, pretty much everything he said is true, certainly at the poll level. It's only a problem, though, if our disgracefully innumerate fourth estate takes it at face value.

But you can make a careful *provisional* judgement based on what we know now. If you look at the failures in common among the bottom ten, you can tick them off one by one as in the quote above. Buchanan and Pierce managed to actually shatter the union, but Bush's damage has global reach. I see that as the only open question here.

(Also: since it's the way of the internet to take something thoughtful and well-crafted, then shit on its lexical veneer: When the next round of word-rage questionnaires goes around, please put me down for "qua". The word itself just sounds terrible (qua. kwAAAA. QUAaaa!), and if you set off a screeching pretentiousness alarm in /my/ head, then brother your word is too pretentious.)

2008 Apr 08 04:53 (#3546.11165):
Soon to be a book. Seriously -- if you haven't watched this, schedule the time and give it a shot.

2008 Apr 08 03:09 (#3294.11164):
Weingarten wins a Pulitzer for this article -- as did the folks at the post who exposed the Walter Reed debacle and the Blackwater scandal. His (Weingarten's) post-prize discussion was pretty good (note the poll). Too bad leroy didn't have a bully pulpit when he won his Pulitzer in physics.

2008 Apr 08 02:40 (#3801.11163):
All these people stole your joke. I say we sue.

2008 Apr 07 05:53 (#3801.11156):
I thought he went shaking his fists at a giant green statue of a torch-holding Orson Welles, shouting "It's people! The ten commandments is made out of people! You've gotta tell them!"

2008 Apr 07 02:45 (#3772.11152):
I think both of them have been watching more NBA games than college games.

2008 Apr 05 07:41 (#2786.11145):
Damian OK Go writes on Net Neutrality -- good essay.

(But if you're going to call your congressperson: the reason this is even an issue is corruption. Fix that and the rest will get much, much easier.)

2008 Apr 04 09:58 (#3800.11139):
Hmm. When it's done well, I guess my enjoyment of an artist's personal interpretation or a reexamination in new cultural context has been previously reported.

Here's a dozen (in no real order) unnecessary remakes or sequels:

Little Shop of Horrors

The Man Who Knew Too Much

Cape Fear

Fistful of Dollars (Yojimbo)

Magnificent Seven (Seven Samurai)

Scarface

Brewster's Millions

High Society (Philadelphia Story)

The Wiz

Aliens

2010

Evil Dead II

Each of those took a highly-regarded movie and either remade or sequelized it, all with worthy results, all celebrating the original and all causing many to revisit the original. In fact, I'm gonna say that all but the Akira Kurosawa remakes, The Wiz and High Society were better than the originals.

(I've left off The Color of Money, because all Tom Cruise movies are overrated turds, but you can add it back if you want. I haven't seen The Departed tho it's apparently also a remake. Payback is a remake of the XMFC-screened Point Blank, but I can't really call the original 'highly-regarded'. Let's also go ahead and throw Battlestar Galactica on the "Unnecessary Remakes better than the original" list.)

2008 Apr 03 09:44 (#1317.11138):
The Bacon Bra.

2008 Apr 03 03:20 (#3800.11131):
Aw, geez, I'm a douche. I just looked at Nate's URL and saw "Hunchback of Notre Dame" and thought "why does Becky think that Hugo is German?"

Also: !!Not!! your meter, which was much better than the onion's. Theirs was oddly sub-par -- they usually get that stuff pitch-perfect.

2008 Apr 03 12:40 (#3796.11129):
The Chernoff Faces thing is neat but has always seemed weird to me. But there's an amazing new Data Mining approach from Lin & Keogh at UCSD called SAX that allows for a (less quirky) Intelligent Icons visualization -- it's a *huge* jump forward in feature extraction and anomaly detection.

2008 Apr 03 12:30 (#3800.11128):
That was fantastic Beckto!

(two points though: 1) i'm a pedantic asshole, and ~~2) hugo is french~~ see point #1.) One of Lessig's points in his Copyright talks is that almost all of Disney's early work adapted other people's creations. Steamboat Willie even was a cartoon vamp on a popular film, the kind of which would not fly today.

And was anyone else disturbed by the aggressive obscenities directed at Mrs. Geisel? If it matters, I believe they donated a huge amount of money to UCSD and Oxford(?), and most of the incoming money goes to their Dr. Seuss foundation philanthropy. (That is, she's way more Melinda Gates and not at all Paris Hilton). I think I wouldn't have minded as much if the meter were better.

2008 Apr 02 09:22 (#3796.11120):
We need to get GMcD into a Menage à trois for this year's world series bet -- the newly Cabrera'ed Tigers are going to be really good. (Lulu's Indians worry me too).

2008 Apr 02 09:10 (#3795.11119):
It's funny -- a lot of the baseball guys seem to not use too much more than this (of course, many of them do use way way more than this). The troubles I had with data extraction and interconnecting the different available datasets is part of what got me started on the infochimps.org project.

2008 Apr 02 08:47 (#3732.11118):
Hilary Clinton to Sarah Silverman: you might be F*cking Matt Damon, but I'm F*ucking Obama.

2008 Apr 02 04:10 (#3732.11117):
Wow, I might have to reconsider: that was a pretty good April Fools joke, and c'mon -- a 37? Really? Not even the Strangers in the Alps will call you in for a sub, Barack.

2008 Apr 01 05:51 (#3438.11114):
Wow, apple finally made an ad giving the real reason to buy an iPhone.

2008 Apr 01 05:20 (#3798.11113):
I really like the use of "Sidd Finch" elementary!

Comics: I'd heard the Perry Bible Fellowship guy was retiring/scaling back, but I'd never read about his bizarre Fox News interview (in which the cartoonist joins with ultraconservative columnist Greg Gutfeld to act out one of his cartoons). Not an April Fools joke, afaik, because it's been up for a while.

Also: I wonder if Mr. XKCD realizes he has the chance to make his serial #'s and the US date match up (#403 came on 4/01).

2008 Apr 01 09:19 (#3798.11102):
Also, Google and Branson go to the Red Planet.

And with that, we begin collecting the April Fools Day jokes that don't suck.

2008 Apr 01 07:05 (#3796.11101):
Wow. Why did they choose to have the new stadium reviewed by someone who hates baseball, doesn't know how to pack a bag lunch, and can't decide from the start of a paragraph to its end whether the stadium is a "colossal symbolic failure with national and international import" or a "C-plus"? And who elides "the ballpark, which has a surprisingly intimate feel, with good sightlines throughout, given its nearly 42,000-seat size" into damp praise about the grass, at least, being green?

I don't know what ridiculous standard this guy is judging the stadium against. "People of normal economic means can buy seats" BECAUSE other people choose to pay 4.50 for hot dogs and 7.00 for beer, Rooney. Nobody's "wringing" money out of you by offering interesting and diverse food choices. Stadiums are places to have fun and watch a ballgame. Any intelligent architect will tell you a stadium's "form or line, balance or symmetry, shape or presence" ranks, yes, below "their amenities, their bathrooms, their cleanliness and their overall convenience."

I'm not against an aesthetic review; in fact, I'd like to read one. There's hardly any criticism of this building in particular, and nothing constructive besides plant more greenery, tear out bathrooms and food stalls that I may gaze upon the fragrant waters of the Anacostia, and a novel suggestion to reduce the price of beer.

I better stop because this thing deserves a full scale fisking.

2008 Mar 31 07:38 (#3796.11096):
Taxes. Money spent on a new stadium offsets Baseball's luxury tax, and some sweetheart deals with the city reduce his municipal tax obligations.

2008 Mar 31 05:55 (#3795.11091):
Yes, and I'd also like to know if it says anything about the shape of the actual distribution (interesting to note the high number of 1890's streaks, as predicted). Baseball stat analyses have an unfortunate tradition of using maxima rather than any kind of sensible centroid to characterize outcomes. Drawing conclusions about bulk based on examination of tails is dodgy.

The best way to look at the psychological effect is to use the incredibly powerful Win Probability Added (WPA) and Leverage tools the community has evolved (replacing the clumsy traditional "Close and Late" proxy). I'd expect a ton of scatter -- it's a necessarily small sample, and WPA is I think often a 0-or-lots thing, and you'd only expect to start seeing an effect late in a streak. (I think a streak reaches news interest about every couple years, and usually premieres with a quote like "Yeah, I didn't even know I had a streak going until Smitty told me during BP the other day." Also of course the MLBPA-mandated "God Willing" and "I don't care about the streak, I'm just here to play the game the right way and help my teammates".)

If you could define a good proxy for "psychological detriment" based on WPA it would be interesting to correlate it with the changes in sports reporting and public attention.

I haven't looked to see what if anything Arbesman/Strogatz have published in the scientific or baseball literature, but I might.

2008 Mar 30 11:07 (#3790.11082):

If It's In Stock, We've Got It!

Blue Genie, set back too far to see

Roadhouse Relics "Greetings From Austin, TX"

Muscleman Arm Sign for Hyde Park Gym

Toy Joy

My Favorite House in Austin. You can't see the Mariachi Men, but they did capture the owner in the act of repainting her lawn!

The Talking Oil Well

UT Tower: Can't make out any alphabets tho.

Zeno's Paradox: Try clicking forward on the map.

2008 Mar 30 09:27 (#3772.11081):
160 rem. | 80ea | 120ea | 160 Ms.C 910 NC Lou Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans [TX] UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA Habcous 900 NC [TN] Kans [Wis] [Pitt] TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans [Pitt] UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA TWiTB 890 NC [TN] Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC Kans [TX] UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA MrBun 880 NC Lou Kans Dav'sn [Pitt] TX UCLA [WVa] | NC Kans [TX] UCLA | NC UCLA | NC GMcD 830 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans [TX] UCLA | Kans UCLA | Kans NDogg 800 NC Lou Kans [Wis] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [Wis] [TX] UCLA | [Wis] [TX] | [TX] Mrflip 780 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [USC] [TX] UCLA | NC UCLA | NC Valatan 780 NC Lou [Kent] [Wis] Memph [Stan] UCLA Xavier | NC [Kent] Mem [Xav] | NC [Xav] | NC NanoC 620 NC [TN] [Clem] [Wis] [Pitt] TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [Wis] [Pitt] [Duke] | NC [Pitt] | NC Soku 550 [Ar] [TN] Kans [Wis] Memph TX UCLA [GA] | [TN] [Wis] [TX] [GA] | [Wis] [TX] | [Wis]

So, relative to the NC-UCLA-UCLA baseline,
MsC wins if UCLA wins title or (NC beats Kansas but Memphis wins title)
GMcD wins if Kans wins title [280] or (Kans beats NC but Memphis wins title) [120]
MrBun Wins if UNC wins title [160]

Beckto has locked up the coveted 2nd-to-last trophy.

2008 Mar 30 04:49 (#3784.11078):
More Web 2.0ishness:

Skitch is like screencast IM

PicLens gives you Coverflow-like browsing of Flickr, etc.

2008 Mar 29 09:24 (#3772.11076):
160 rem. | 320 | 240 | 160 Ms.C 750 NC Lou Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA Habcous 740 NC [TN] Kans [Wis] [Pitt] TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans [Pitt] UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA TWiTB 730 NC [TN] Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA NDogg 720 NC Lou Kans [Wis] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [Wis] TX UCLA | [Wis] TX | TX MrBun 720 NC Lou Kans Dav'sn [Pitt] TX UCLA [WVa] | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | NC Mrflip 700 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [USC] TX UCLA | NC UCLA | NC GMcD 670 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans TX UCLA | Kans UCLA | Kans Valatan 620 NC Lou [Kent] [Wis] Memph [Stan] UCLA Xavier | NC [Kent] Mem [Xav] | NC [Xav] | NC NanoC 540 NC [TN] [Clem] [Wis] [Pitt] TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [Wis] [Pitt] [Duke] | NC [Pitt] | NC Soku 550 [Ar] [TN] Kans [Wis] Memph TX UCLA [GA] | [TN] [Wis] TX [GA] | [Wis] TX | [Wis]

2008 Mar 29 09:13 (#3788.11075):
GK: do you run Matlab in the Windows host or the Linux guest? How much memory do you leave the VM?

My guess is that (apart from memory concerns) the CPU slowdown will be a latency-not-throughput issue: that once Matlab gets down to inverting some giant matrix or Photoshop starts a-filtering it goes mostly as fast, but that for the little interactive crap there's a noticeable difference. With a fast enough base machine (and more importantly, no faster machine to compare it to) it won't be too bad -- but I bet Google Earth &c lose a step in the VM.

Installing linux as the VM with windows as the host does make a lot more sense. The memory footprint will be way more manageable, the people who wrote the guest OS will have replied to bugs on it, the driver situation won't be noticeably crappier than it is anyway.

For the USB thing, you could use Samba if that's a common task, but I bet unplug/replug is the sensible thing.

2008 Mar 29 06:06 (#3788.11071):
Hmmm -- that's a lot of windows programs. (Matlab & Mathematica have linux versions, but you'd have to find those of course.) Are you sure WindowsXP + Cygwin isn't the right thing to answer? What do you need from Linux?

I'm pretty dedicated to the Tao of Unix, but as you know I used windows+cygwin until I Switched: it's a perfectly cromulent option.

Also: do you have a faster computer at work / elsewhere that you use? I don't have too much experience with the virtualized software, so I don't know how much it actually slows your jonx down. I've found, though, that a computer only starts feeling slow when you have access to another, faster one, and a virtualized desktop machine will necessarily be slower, flakier and (most importantly) memory-hoggier than native.

The apps you name seem to all be big, burly apps that will want lots of memory and lots of CPU. A 1.6GHz computer with 1.5G ram certainly has a lot of service left to provide, but isn't particularly fast. XP starts to really suffer with <1GB real memory, so you may have to toss in another stick or two.

I bet you have to reinstall everything: the virtualized machine wants its own copy of windows, with its own set of drivers, I think. If so you'll have to run the installers. You could /possibly/ mount your windows disk in the unix env, and set the installers to use the existing-windows-program-files as their install directory. But like I said, the VM will be ever so flakier, and I'd give it a windows install that was as relentlessly cruft-free and orthodox in its setup as possible. If the VM is perfectly happy to boot from the linux-mounted NTFS windows partition, though, then you shouldn't have to reinstall anything.

My main point: if you're going to do something non-standard (such as, still, a VM OS) you can make it work if you a) are willing to invest the time to debug it, b) have a narrow focus of use cases, and c) get it working, never stray from those use cases, and leave the fucking thing alone. 7-10 major apps stretches this; and if you're going to not only use these apps but also other random fiddlefucking I predict sadness.

I think that all the VM solutions still require sandboxing some part of the disk for the VM's use; getting one logical filesystem (so that you can save a file in linux and immediately open it in the VM) may be non-trivial. You can always have each facet treat the other's as network mounts -- but this is one of the many fiddly little tasks that await if you're going to have this be your main, day-to-day setup.

I don't know how far they've come; maybe all these problems have been solved. You should install one of their trial versions and let us know what you find out. My strong suspicion, though, is that VMs are still for jumping into this or that app every once in a while, and not for providing first-class application services and a fungible OS environment.

2008 Mar 29 02:00 (#3784.11067):
Thanks for the RSS tip, doncarlo... Consider yourselves google read'rd. This makes it like a twitter-y hype machine. (In fact, one could (and has) twitterfeed their muxtape.)

2008 Mar 29 01:49 (#3788.11066):
¿Quién es más macho? El sistema operativo de Macintosh, versión diez! Por que la interfaz de línea de comandos, y la "Exposé" son muy macho!

A more serious response -- jesus jumping jiminy, javelina, if you're going to lazyweb this pathetically, at least give us minimal scraps of information.

What architecture do you have, and what architecture are you looking to virtualize? What are you going to run on the virtualized machine? How carefully have you looked for a non-emulated option? Is your machine fast enough to handle virtualized apps? Have you, y'know, considered installing the 30 day free demos these products offer? And what the fuck do you mean by "What if windows is already installed"? I actually hear the best things about VMWare, with Parallels second. If you're using the machine to game, forget virtualizing and just dual boot (in which case having separate hard drives is certainly the easiest approach). If you have old hardware sitting around (and I know you do), VNC/Windows Terminal Server is another option worth exploring.

2008 Mar 29 01:34 (#3787.11065):
From the tagline I was sure this was a Tom Cruise post.

2008 Mar 28 08:11 (#3772.11061):
Dominated! Damn you mr. bun.

2008 Mar 28 06:25 (#3697.11060):
Make sure to enjoy Mr. Ventakesh's What do Real Sex Workers Think of the Spitzer Case.

Also, for the Scott Templeton fans: Holy pwnage. The LA Times reports that Puff Daddy rolled up on Tupac (the earlier, unsuccessful shooting). The Smoking Gun website shows that with minimal homework they'd have known they were being hoxed.

(BTW: Hate that unreadable yellow background? "View / Page Style / No Style" turns it off; "View / Page Style / Basic Page Style" when you're done.)

2008 Mar 28 02:22 (#3785.11058):
Not bored to death. I very much enjoy the dispatches from the head of our foreign policy desk. As I've lamented several times before, what I really want is a "Wake me when this gets interesting/important" news source: one that identifies only a very few ongoing stories, then clearly and neutrally lays out the story thus far. Most news reporting is all tree no forest, and there's nothing that fills the "Reviews of Modern Physics" niche.

So anyway, even if the Valatan Herald-Dispatch falls somewhat short on the 'neutrality' front it fills an important gap in my understanding of the world.

How does the rest of Europe stand on the issue? Are Germany, France and the UK going to reach for their wallet? Any chance of riding the string out until we have a, y'know, leader in the White House?

On another note, I've wondered for a while -- but don't know how to find out -- how much of Russia's economy is actually based on "grey-market" industry. (Grey-market in the global context -- things like mp3search.ru, or online porn, or hacking for money, or mercenary espionage.) Apart from the nginx webserver, the only Russian commercial goods&services I ever hear about fall into this category. What I don't know is the extent to which tangible exports -- which largely terminate in Europe and Asia, and greatly outweigh their internet presence -- also fit. I know the government has long since devolved into a kleptocratic oligarchy (now firmly cemented, as you said, into single-party rule), but I'm unclear on how much that has extended to Russia becoming the Capt. Jack Sparrow of international trade.

2008 Mar 28 01:25 (#3772.11056):
The only way I can win is if Memphis advances, Kansas loses one of their next two (but not to Davidson), and NC beats UCLA to win the tournament. Go Badgers?

160 rem. | 320 | 240 | 160 Valatan 580 NC Lou [Kent] Wisc Memph Stan UCLA Xavier | NC [Kent] Mem Xav | NC Xav | NC Habcous 580 NC [TN] Kans Wisc [Pitt] TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans [Pitt] UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA Ms.C 550 NC Lou Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA TWiTB 530 NC [TN] Kans [GeoT] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | UCLA NDogg 520 NC Lou Kans Wisc Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC Wisc TX UCLA | Wisc TX | TX MrBun 520 NC Lou Kans Dav'sn [Pitt] TX UCLA [WVa] | NC Kans TX UCLA | NC UCLA | NC Mrflip 500 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA [Duke] | NC [USC] TX UCLA | NC UCLA | NC NanoC 500 NC [TN] [Clem] Wisc [Pitt] TX UCLA [Duke] | NC Wisc [Pitt] [Duke] | NC [Pitt] | NC GMcD 470 NC [TN] Kans [USC] Memph TX UCLA Xavier | NC Kans TX UCLA | Kans UCLA | Kans Soku 430 [A] [TN] Kans Wisc Memph TX UCLA [GA] | [TN] Wisc TX [GA] | Wisc TX | Wisc

2008 Mar 26 04:47 (#3739.11051):
One thing's for certain: we've got better comments than youtube (although probably not better than mefi).

2008 Mar 26 03:29 (#3783.11050):
I was excited to learn a new word "deshydrate" but alas, it's just a mistranslation from French.

2008 Mar 25 10:43 (#3783.11045):
That's awesome. They tried this trick with sperm whales, attempting to film the Architeuthis (giant squid) but the camera got knocked off.

2008 Mar 25 10:35 (#3782.11044):
I am a dope and edited the first (alphabetized) quiz with the contents of the second (term extraction) while proofreading the second... thanks for alerting me!

2008 Mar 25 03:09 (#3782.11040):
Looking at this, I think a better contest would be to feed whole albums into the term extraction API... its implementation using Yahoo!- or Ling-Pipes and the LyricWiki API is left as an exercise for the reader.

2008 Mar 25 02:55 (#3782.11039):
OK, Here are Rap and 80s lyrics fed into the Yahoo Term Extraction API, which identifies Statistically Improbable Phrases from a small corpus.

"shotgun shack", "rocks and stones", "silent water", "bottom of the ocean", "ocean water", "time water", "life time", "automobile", "lifetime", "wheel", "god", "money" - Answer

"brotherhood of man", "top of my lungs", "twenty five years", "lying in bed", "deep breath", "single day" - Answer

"georgetown hoyas", "left and right brain", "total chaos", "shit creek", "dungeon family", "life game", "favorite group", "bat cave", "yawl", "brougham", "record player", "back of the bus", "nigga", "playas", "hoes", "gypsy", "circles", "fuss", "when in doubt", "ya" - Answer

"kind of girl", "tease", "tide", "one number one" - Answer

"linens and things", "nice breasts", "gettin head", "venice beach", "witcha", "mad cause", "sippin", "gunplay", "crist", "niggaz", "biggie", "givin", "house of blues", "roscoe", "hoes", "floss", "squirt", "booze", "sess", "bic" - Answer

"hookah pipes", "sand dance", "party boys", "donut shop", "walk the line", "waitresses", "crocodiles", "buzzer", "kremlin", "bazaar", "bet", "nile", "domino", "yen", "cigarette", "cadillac", "cops", "paintings", "pose", "punk" - Answer

"tight blue jeans", "good vibrations", "new sensation", "stitch in time", "danger zone", "chaperone", "roar", "lion", "worry" - Answer

"bum rush", "funky drummer", "heart cause", "freedom of speech", "rednecks", "john wayne", "rollin", "work of art", "brothers and sisters", "sucker", "rhythm", "elvis", "stamps", "heroes", "hero", "fitness", "game", "music" - Answer

"milk the cow", "birthday suits", "foot patrol", "lil jon", "homies", "hundred thousand", "ludacris", "pinky", "spit", "chill", "rhythm", "toes", "clothes", "jag", "hell", "truth", "game" - Answer

"leper messiah", "spiders from mars", "sweet hands", "beer light", "nazz", "special man", "ziggy", "making love", "snow white", "voodoo", "ego", "bones", "fly", "god", "japan" - Answer

"slam bam", "notorious girls", "judgements", "prophets", "bandit", "disguise", "fools", "monkey", "witness", "compromise", "money" - Answer

"new emotion", "rain", "tragedy", "memory" - Answer

"watusi", "walking down the street", "pony", "trance", "music" - Answer

"sleight of hand and twist of fate", "thorn twist", "sleight of hand", "bed of nails", "twist of fate" - Answer

2008 Mar 25 02:51 (#3782.11035):
I suspect the rap quiz is suprisingly harder than the rock quiz. Don't know if it's cause Mr. Yeti did better cherry picking, or if it's because the rap songs are so much more lyrically sophisticated.

2008 Mar 24 10:50 (#3781.11034):
goddamnit, double post.

That's OK, there's Lots of Room at the Bottom.

2008 Mar 24 03:39 (#3732.11032):
This Bizarro comic made me chuckle.

2008 Mar 23 05:22 (#3727.11029):
Found out about this too late, but: SxSW Sched. bookmarkd!

2008 Mar 22 01:08 (#3772.11027):
Big hat tip to Don Carlo, who has for the second year pulled off a "Full Knutson". A Full Knutson (also known as a "Cassandric Magoo" for its rare combination of doomed foresight and staggering myopia) requires having the highest current points total in your group while simultaneously having the lowest possible points remaining. An inspiration to us all.

2008 Mar 21 03:27 (#3732.11025):
Awesome: the sleeping girl in the "3AM Ad" doesn't support "Hillary Clinton or the Politics of Fear".

2008 Mar 20 07:44 (#3772.11022):
No, one was upgraded to LOL status once I learned a new kittehphrase.

/em mournfully intones "Far above Cayuga's Waters"...

2008 Mar 20 03:22 (#3772.11018):
I count ~~47%~~ 53% of bracketers who caught the lolcats theme, vs 27% who didn't catch the 'naming your bracket is the only reason to enter' theme. NOMENCLATURE FAIL.

2008 Mar 20 03:09 (#3775.11017):
We were actually talking about this last night at bowling dinner. Awesome. I shall enjoy it vicariously through the rest of you.

It brought to mind the old video where some folks had used a physics simulator to make a giant "When Frictionless Planes Attack" montage -- but since no one remembered, including the guy who originally posted it, I give you SomethingAwful Physics... and jkottke's curated colxn of LineRider videos as lagniappe.

2008 Mar 20 01:55 (#3087.11013):
That link is dead; here's a better link.

2008 Mar 19 11:51 (#3765.11010):
I'm glad that the Rev. Dr. Feziegler highlights the "amoral commitment" that is so very important to a successful marriage.

2008 Mar 18 03:51 (#3739.11003):
zOMG my 30 to 1 bet on "pasty-pale dude from Los Angeles with digital media job, hipster beard and glasses" will totally repay the loss of my Bear Stearns stock.

2008 Mar 16 11:59 (#3772.11000):
The pwn shop is now open for business; I look forward to serving all of y'all.

2008 Mar 15 09:58 (#3765.10996):
On the Sports Guy's BS Report is briefly raised the question, "Is this the most entertaining scandal of our times?" I say yes.

They put up Bill Clinton as more entertaining, but like OJ that dragged on way too long -- both to a point where the moral standing of everybody involved wound up together at the bottom of the cesspool. I think Spitzer is just the right size for this to remain entertaining for a while without becoming a media obsession.

Can anything else compete with L'Affaire Client #9?

2008 Mar 14 01:51 (#3697.10992):
YOU'VE GOT TO WATCH THE WIRE.

For five years, I've begged you to watch the best show on television, but you didn't listen. That's why I've kidnapped you, my closest friends and family members, and locked you here inside my apartment. I know how tired you all are of me telling you about The Wire's deliciously complex plotlines, its unflinching sociological commentary, and its note-perfect gallows humor. Well, I'm tired, too.

And so here we are.

Also: White People Like "The Wire"

(If you didn't guess, I've now watched the finale and am available for all manner of rehashing.)

2008 Mar 13 07:17 (#3770.10991):
Hmm... site now charges $1CDN to view. 30%/60%?

Also: Blunted Affect

2008 Mar 13 06:56 (#3770.10990):
They registered the site pretty recently, but I poked around and found him here and there -- I put it at 60% they're f'real, 40% experiment in vernacular filmmaking gone wildly successful.

2008 Mar 13 03:31 (#3766.10986):
I think Vanalyn is referring to the Hollywood movie "The Girl Next Door" which features a sex-ed film as a plot point.

2008 Mar 12 06:25 (#3769.10976):
Speaking of bershon: This is the best thing ever. Wait, did I say best? I meant most painful. My bad.

2008 Mar 12 04:03 (#3766.10975):
Related: the Bush administration's new approach to family planning.

2008 Mar 12 02:55 (#3765.10974):
Is it time to link to the Gold Club Trial guide?

Spitzer case: "[Client #9] would ask you to do things that, like, you might not think were safe..." "Kristen" responded by saying, essentially, that she could handle guys like that.

Yup, it's time to link to the Gold Club Trial guide:

Who did Ziggy refer to as "The Michael Jordan of Sex"?
Aforementioned dancer (and alleged prostitute) Jacklyn "Diva" Bush. Ziggy remembered one time when Rodman -- allegedly a frequent GC patron -- was making out with a waitress in a semi-private room, and Kaplan realized that the poor girl was "out of her league," so he summoned Bush from the Gold Club bullpen to "take care" of Rodman. Why did Rodman need special attention? I don't know and I don't want to know. In fact, let's agree never to discuss this again.
Anyway, according to Ziggy, he and Kaplan brought Rodman, Bush and the aforementioned waitress to a local hotel and let them loose. As Ziggy said, "Diva organized everything, and she just took command of that room."
(I mean, what did he expect? She was the MJ of the GC!)

Until more details come out about "things that, like, you might not think were safe", WWTDD can at least clear up what the ladies in question looked like.

So when are "Client 7 of 9" mashup shirts coming out?

2008 Mar 07 02:49 (#3763.10958):
Good q'n beckto--The site has been scrupulously designed to give credit and encourage sharing, otherwise it won't work. All of the simian photos are from public domain or creative commons- licensed sources, and each page has a photo credit with rights statement and link to the original for that monkey pic

If there's a missing one pls let me know!

Ps pablo -- I also have Infinitemonkeys.info if that's easier for you :)

2008 Mar 05 11:17 (#3700.10951):
Speaking of newspaper bizarrity:

Ruined By Exhibitionist (make sure to look at the name of the elementary school)

Best headline of the year, so good it was plagiarized (clumsily) three weeks later.

2008 Mar 05 10:43 (#3719.10950):
Well lookit that... Post Johnny Hart, the comic BC has become chuckle-worthy again. (I counted three chuckles per last ten days. I am also easily amused. YMMV.)

2008 Mar 05 10:15 (#3762.10949):
Phew!

2008 Mar 02 11:29 (#3759.10939):
Also: Agent Zero has rolled a 277; he owns three balls, one named "Agent Zip", another "The People’s Champ: it’s clear with a boxing glove in the middle". And he sponsors a video game team called the "Final Bosses".

2008 Mar 02 10:40 (#3758.10938):
It's funny about that -- I think most folks have a residual sense of the 'Lazy American', from Japan handing us our asses during the 1970s industrial nadir.

You are of course right: Americans work more weeks, for more hours per week (most among G8, 4th overall), getting by far the most done in those hours (~12% above 2nd place Ireland, and growing), than the other developed nations.

The other structural "advantage" that macroeconomicists recommend but most workers might vote down is our fairly high employment elasticity (our labor market responds promptly to changes in production: we're easy to layoff and rehire, and we'll move around the country if need be).

2008 Mar 02 10:30 (#3756.10934):
More on Lying and Education

Consider how we expect a child to act when he opens a gift he doesn’t like. We instruct him to swallow all his honest reactions and put on a polite smile. Talwar runs an experiment where children play games to win a present, but when they finally receive the present, it’s a lousy bar of soap. After giving the kids a moment to overcome the shock, a researcher asks them how they like it. About a quarter of preschoolers can lie that they like the gift—by elementary school, about half. Telling this lie makes them extremely uncomfortable, especially when pressed to offer a few reasons why they like the bar of soap.

2008 Mar 01 04:12 (#3732.10933):
Also: can foreign-soil-born McCain serve as president?

2008 Mar 01 04:10 (#3747.10932):
How I'd Sink American Vogue

2008 Mar 01 03:54 (#3732.10931):
Hillary Clinton's not-too-subtle take on the Daisy ad asked a question; these guys provide the corect answer.

2008 Feb 29 03:24 (#3626.10930):
He sticks salt shakers up his ass? Weird.

2008 Feb 28 06:42 (#3758.10926):
Wasn't there a sports guy mailbag where he laid out Rollergirl's fame trajectory? Seems like la Lo is driving that bus now.

2008 Feb 27 02:38 (#3757.10920):
Also - For the baseball fan(s): Koufax speaks, Pedro listens, we enjoy

2008 Feb 27 03:40 (#3732.10918):
[From Cynical-C]

2008 Feb 27 03:31 (#3751.10917):
More conceptual art: THINGS FOR SALE THAT I WILL MAIL YOU:

This one is really serious. I'm scared to do this. But I think I have to. If you give me $10 I will think really hard of someone who I need to apologize to. I will write them a letter of apology. I will make two copies of the letter. I will send one to you and one to the person who I am apologizing to.

...

If you give me any amount of money I will cash it, put it in my pocket, grab my camera, and walk out my front door not knowing what I will do. I will then travel somewhere for as cheap as possible. I will keep just enough money so that I can get back. I will send you all the receipts and documentation of this. This is for any amount. If you give me $1 maybe I will walk out my door and buy a chocolate bar and then come home. If you give me $123 maybe I will get on a greyhound bus headed for who knows where. I will go somewhere.

2008 Feb 24 02:41 (#3745.10914):
404 not found on the webspace link for me :(

2008 Feb 24 02:34 (#3747.10913):
"We'll always have Duluth"

2008 Feb 23 09:09 (#3732.10908):
I thought they were bound on the first ballot and free agents thereafter? Guess I gotta go read that wikipedia article then.

2008 Feb 22 11:05 (#3732.10906):
From DC not-an-insider-but-knows-everyone-who-is Momma K:

I have been discounting the stories about John McCain until lunch today with a close friend who worked on his committee staff on Capitol Hill for an extensive period of time. She told nothing that she didn't know from her own knowledge; and began with the fact that she was wondering how long it would be before the press started to report the stories about McCain that they all knew about -- including his relationship with the lobbyist, his sell-outs, and most importantly his incredible and uncontrollable temper. She described scenes where he literally decimated staff and other senators who opposed him; and gave us details on legislation that his close friend (who looks amazingly like his wife) influenced. She felt most of all scared to have him in charge of nuclear responses with the sort of temper that he unleashes.

Also: she worked on a white house committee headed by the first lady during Clinton I, and had all sorts of unhappy things to say about the bitter climate of backbiting and pettiness that prevailed. Worth noting, whether that culture came from HRC or from someone HRC hired.

I don't know how much I care about the infidelity (I fervently hope Barack has kept his Peter at home with Mrs. Obama, since that's how we're choosing Presidents now) or the decimating the opposition. Influencing legislation is pretty fucked up, though, esp. since his appeal to the center rests on integrity... and the point about his temper bears consideration.

A question: what happens if a candidate utterly self-destructs, and ends up resigning? I'm talking Gary Hart-on-Monkey Business or that-Senator-from-Nevada-in-Godfather-II level of inelectability, not just Muskie-on-Ibogaine or Eagleton, Amnesty Abortion and Acid shenanigans -- a Gots to Go situation. If it's before the convention, I guess that person resigns and throws support to #2, but what if it's during the general election campaign?

2008 Feb 22 12:43 (#3677.10905):
Defective Yeti has a helpful Clip n' Save shitlist.

2008 Feb 22 02:04 (#3739.10904):
Yeah, I think you have to wait until someone launches the "Stuff Intellectual Hillbillies Like" site TTJ.

How much injury do side airbags really mitigate, for a seatbelted passenger colliding with an otherwise padded surface? I'll be very surprised if it's a fraction of the risk reduction that would come from regularly checking your tire inflation, taking public transportation, avoiding rush hour traffic, or calling a cab when you're tired or tipsy. Those obviously aren't competing priorities with having side-impact air bags, but they are tradeoffs where most people casually embrace the risky behavior. You don't wear a crash helmet when you drive -- yet that surely would be far more risk reducing than side airbags.

I'm guessing side-impact airbags probably cost about $1000-$1500? You're demographically a dozen times more likely to die from heart disease than from a car accident; get a personal plan + twice-yearly checkups from a physical trainer or nutritionist instead.

2008 Feb 21 12:11 (#3739.10899):
I think side-impact air bags are risk misallocation.

And I've never been on a cruise ship but I'm sure I'd hate hate hate it.

2008 Feb 20 12:56 (#3738.10894):
Putting it during the Caucus is a douchey move. Republican conspiracy?

2008 Feb 20 08:07 (#3739.10888):
Browsing forward from page 8 WFM (you may enjoy the decrement URL bookmarklet).

Thanks to the magic of wget, score yourself against the full list:

Coffee

Religions that their parents don’t belong to

Film Festivals

Assists

Farmers Markets

Organic Food

Diversity

Barack Obama

Making you feel bad about not going outside

Wes Anderson movies

Asian Girls

Non-Profit Organizations

Tea

Having Black Friends

Yoga

“Gifted” Children

Hating their parents

Awareness

Travelling

Being an expert on YOUR culture

Writer’s Workshops

Having Two Last Names

Microbreweries

Wine

David Sedaris

Manhattan (now Brooklyn too!)

Marathons

Not Having a TV

80s Night

Wrigley Field

Snowboarding

Vegan/Vegetarianism

Marijuana

Architecture

The Daily Show/Colbert Report

Breakfast Places

Renovations

Arrested Development

Netflix

Apple Products

Indie Music

Sushi

Plays

Public Radio

Asian Fusion Food

The Sunday New York Times

Arts Degrees

Whole Foods and Grocery Co-ops

Vintage

Irony

Living by the water

Sarah Silverman

Dogs

Kitchen Gadgets

Apologies

Lawyers

Juno

Japan

Natural Medicine

Toyota Prius

Bicycles

Knowing what’s best for poor people

Expensive Sandwiches

Recycling

Co-Ed Sports

Divorce

Standing Still at Concerts

Michel Gondry

Mos Def

Difficult Breakups

I'm 39/70. They're missing: Cheese, Side-Impact Airbags, Cruise Ship Vacations, Independent Bookstores and Seinfeld.

2008 Feb 20 08:03 (#3740.10887):
This looks reasonable -- but is there any supporting evidence? Anyone from one of these cultures who can verify?

2008 Feb 20 07:47 (#3739.10886):
Eddie Murphy: White Like Me (transcript).

2008 Feb 14 03:45 (#3677.10867):
Dr. Feeljay sends his regards, and this analysis of the TX voting:

Hello everybody,

We were talking about the primaries (and caucuses) coming up, and I was
asked to send an email with a short explanation of the Texas Democratic
primaries/caucuses (they also asked me to post it on Alkaline Earth but
that's just crazy talk).

Basically, on March 4th Texas Democrats will have both a primary and a
caucus. The way it works is that you first need to vote in the Democratic
primary, which is open, meaning that anyone who's registered to vote can
(officially this makes you a Democrat). Roughly two thirds of Texas's
pledged delegates are allocated by the primary. Fifteen minutes after
polls close there is a precinct caucus (they're really called conventions,
but this is confusing enough without new terms). You can only participate
in the caucus if you voted in the primary. Based on the caucus, delegates
are allocated for a county caucus. At the county caucus delegates are
selected for the state caucus, and finally at the state caucus the
remaining pledged national delegates (the only ones anyone really cares
about) are chosen.

The short of it is, if you want to have the most impact, you need to vote
in the primary and then show up for the caucus when the polls close.

For more details, the Burnt Orange Report (an Austin based political blog)
has a run down
(http://www.burntorangereport.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=4877).

In case you think "Man the Democrats in Texas are crazy, maybe the
Republicans are more sane.", here's a link the 2006 Republican platform
(http://www.texasgop.org/site/PageServer?pagename=library_platform). Among
the better bits,

"We affirm that the public acknowledgement of God is undeniable in our
history and is vital to our freedom, prosperity and strength as a nation.
We pledge to exert our influence toward a return to the original intent of
the First Amendment and dispel the myth of the separation of church and
state."

"We believe it is in the best interest of the citizens of the United States
that we immediately rescind our membership in, as well as all financial and
military contributions to, the United Nations."

"The Federal Government has no constitutional jurisdiction over education.
We call for the abolition of the U. S. Department of Education and the
prohibition of the transfer of any of its functions to any other federal
agency."

"The Internal Revenue Service is unacceptable to U. S. taxpayers! We urge
that the IRS be abolished and the Sixteenth Amendment to the U.S.
Constitution be repealed."

One last thing, it turns out that it is now legal to by a sex toy in Texas
(http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/02/14/0214sextoys.html).
Somewhere Molly Ivins is smiling
(http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TYXUUsDGxkU).

Happy Valentine's Day.
Phil

2008 Feb 13 11:47 (#3677.10863):
That goddamn spying bill passed.

2008 Feb 12 05:19 (#3732.10859):
In case you haven't seen the original, and have a firm "I only vote for whomever Scarlett Johannson votes for" policy: yes.we.can.

2008 Feb 12 05:09 (#3729.10858):
Another upcoming birthday -- Monday the 18th is Fuck wit' Dre Day, so make sure to get your proper swerve on.

2008 Feb 09 03:07 (#3734.10851):
Let's run down John Baez' Crackpot Index, "A simple method for rating potentially evolutionary contributions to physics":

1. A -5 point starting credit. (-5)
2. 1 point for every statement that is widely agreed on to be false. (3 pts)

Has college dropout done the impossible and created a perpetual motion machine?

"Lenz's law is essentially magnetic friction, which is a form of resistance not unlike the wind resistance your car experiences when driving down the highway"

"What I can say with full confidence is that our system violates the law of conservation of energy"

3. 2 points for every statement that is clearly vacuous. (4 pts)

The steel rotor and driveshaft had conducted the magnetic resistance away from the coil and back into the heart of the electric motor.

Since such motors work on the principle of converting electrical energy into motion by creating rotating magnetic fields, he figured the Back EMF was boosting those fields, causing acceleration.

10. 10 points for pointing out that you have gone to school, as if this were evidence of sanity. (0 pts)

Heins has an even greater uphill battle. He isn't an engineer. He doesn't have a graduate degrees in physics. He never even finished his electronics program at Heritage College in Gatineau, Quebec. "I have mild dyslexia and don't do well in math, so I didn't do very well in school," he says. What he does have is a chef's diploma.

11. 10 points for beginning the description of your theory by saying how long you have been working on it. (10 more for emphasizing that you worked on your own.) (10 pts)

It all began back in 1985, when Thane Heins, having studied electronics at Heritage College in Gatineau, Quebec, started thinking about how magnets could be used to improve power generators.

12. 10 points for mailing your theory to someone you don't know personally and asking them not to tell anyone else about it, for fear that your ideas will be stolen. (3 out of 10 pts * 5 = 15 pts)

Heins has been on a letter-writing campaign...Al Gore, ... Richard Branson, ... Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers,... Elon Musk of Tesla Motors, and ... Google's philanthropic arm.

15. 10 points for each statement along the lines of "I'm not good at math, but my theory is conceptually right, so all I need is for someone to express it in terms of equations". (20 pts)

What's preventing the engineer from grasping it right away, he says, is his education, his scientific training.

"I have mild dyslexia and don't do well in math, so I didn't do very well in school," he says.

17. 10 points for arguing that while a current well-established theory predicts phenomena correctly, it doesn't explain "why" they occur, or fails to provide a "mechanism". (0 pts)

Habash, a backer: "It accelerates, but when it comes to an explanation, there is no backing theory for it."

19. 10 points for claiming that your work is on the cutting edge of a "paradigm shift". (10 pts)

Heins torques up the definition to mean "a sudden reversal of fortune that's a windfall for humanity."

27. 20 points for each use of the phrase "hidebound reactionary". (10 of 20pts)

Such an unbelievable invention would challenge the laws of physics, a no-no in the rigid world of serious science.

32. 30 points for allusions to a delay in your work while you spent time in an asylum, or references to the psychiatrist who tried to talk you out of your theory. (0 of 30pts)

His wife has kicked him out. He doesn't earn an income. He can't pay child support. The certainty would be welcome. "I've tried to quit many times, and thought if I could just be a normal guy I would have a normal life ... But I had this idea and I believe it works."

In 1999, he ran unsuccessfully as a candidate for the Green Party of Ontario, deciding a year later to run as an independent in the federal election.

He's certainly /much/ more reasonable than most, but still comes in at a quite suggestive 67 points. His patent application is one page long and offhandedly mentions its superconducting wire coils.

Here's a video of his invention over here, and here's Feynman's description of an encounter with an earlier version.

2008 Feb 09 02:29 (#1561.10850):
A recent post by my hero Steinski led me to waste some time traipsing thru Google sightseeng. Some highlights:

Beast with two backs spotted in the Netherlands

Continuing the top of the crops post, here's the crop circles category page

Animals (actual, not crop circle) on the African savannah

Animals (adorable crop circle, not actual)

Kemal Ataturk

2008 Feb 08 03:56 (#3732.10849):
I shall begin: Larry Lessig on the most important policy difference between Clinton and Obama. Long but worth it.

(Lessig's presentation style is among the best I've seen. Sometime I'm going to go through and figure out his method.)

2008 Feb 07 06:20 (#3414.10838):
Google News now has local news searches; pretty interesting.

2008 Feb 07 06:18 (#3677.10837):
Limbaugh and Coulter are better businessmen than conservatives, if they really cast their votes for HRC.

Huckabee is worryingly charismatic -- he's just /killed/ all the times I've seen him on Colbert, etc. And we know from Quayle that a loony VP (or, say, one who doesn't believe in evolution and wants us to become a Christian nation) is no real impediment.

2008 Feb 07 01:49 (#3722.10833):
That Superbowl X^IX one is great.

My favorite part is the good Dr. not-so-surreptitiously using his forearm as a teleprompter.

Thanking the neutrions for conserving lepton number was a classy touch, too.

2008 Feb 07 01:36 (#3726.10832):
I'm surprised, actually, at the diversity of what really sets people a'commentin'. A few sports smack-talk threads, a few politics vents, and a few of sG's more successful rant inducements, but nothing really seems to dominate, that I can tell. Topics range from cute fuzzy wittle kittens to cock vipers, hurricanes to cell phones.

2008 Feb 07 01:05 (#3723.10831):
By the way, I've always found it nuts that the only really viable option for linking to a piece of music is to find a video on YouTube. Last.FM will now stream full tracks but it's hit or miss.

2008 Feb 07 12:47 (#3723.10830):
If you never checked out this "Before the Music Dies" clip Javelina posted, go watch it now.

I always assumed that sound was purposeful, at least in things like the T-pain and Cher songs. When it's used on purpose, it can make the sound datable, yes -- but if you can't craft something timeless, isn't creating a distinctive sound for your time and place a worthy goal?

2008 Feb 07 12:22 (#3677.10829):
If I had known you were still on the fence I would have called to bother you and urge that you vote for Obama, soku.

2008 Feb 06 03:32 (#3721.10823):
Good to know the TXDOT design intern still had that ol' reliable MS Brush Script font from the Windows Plus! pack.

2008 Feb 06 03:19 (#3720.10822):
I didn't mean "sorry this is something you already read on slashdot", I meant "this is kindof a slashdot post that I'm putting up here on AE which is not slashdot."

I actually don't read slashdot anymore -- too many, too strident.

2008 Feb 05 09:19 (#3719.10818):
WTF: no RSS feed from Backwards compatible?

2008 Feb 05 08:43 (#3719.10817):
If I haven't evangelized it enough: in what should by all rights be the twilight of his career, cartooning great Garry Trudeau is turning out the best work he's ever done. Start with this one and these two. (Backstory -- Melissa is one of several OIF soldiers fighting post-traumatic stress disorder, in her case from sexual assault by a superior officer. BD, the older one, has been dealing with PTSD and the loss of his leg. Collection of PTSD backstory strips here.) Trudeau has become a champion of injured soldiers and donated the proceeds from his most recent book to Fisher House, which supports families of injured vets. The military community -- who, for the most part, lie outside Doonesbury's traditional demographic -- have embraced the examination of what happens when the helmet comes off.

2008 Feb 01 05:29 (#3677.10808):
Whoooo -- this got testy. Mitt Romney claims that he "doesn't have lobbyists running his campaign". Nearby laptop-jockey is unable to sit on his hands, calls Romney a liar (apparently accurately, to judge by his subsequent tergiversation). Wonder if he'll still have a seat on the reporter's plane?

If you skip ahead, make sure to enjoy the last part, where he gets dressed down by Romney's press secretary and then a bystanding grandma.

2008 Feb 01 10:49 (#3716.10806):
Somehow the Best Gig Ever one was never linked... This American Life's TV-show version did a segment on that prank in their premiere.

And the participants in the yearly No pants prank have gotten /much/ hotter than years past.

2008 Jan 30 05:13 (#3677.10802):
It's interesting, and kinda worrisome, that the GOP nomination -- which initially was so scattershot that balloting at the convention was a real possibility -- now looks like a McCain coronation. (Next Tuesday could prove me wrong.) The Dem's nomination, however, is becoming more fractured and more fractious. If I understand correctly, since the superdelegates are largely party operatives and will support the 'establishment' candidate (HRC), there's a possibility Obama could win more delegates from votes but lose the nomination.

2008 Jan 29 04:08 (#3677.10799):
I gotta say, I love the earmarks thing.

I think that brings the total to "one". And I know it's all politics, and probably has something to do with reducing the power of congress as the dems are about to take it. But still: it's the right thing to do.

2008 Jan 28 07:04 (#3677.10798):
I wish I had a current events for dummies resource -- like Reviews of Modern Physics for world events. Just give me a Neutral Point of View backgrounder on the big things, enough that I can keep tabs or jump in to the affray if I like.

The Economist comes close, I guess, but is $$$^2. Anything else?

2008 Jan 26 07:31 (#3694.10790):
stuffed aminal

2008 Jan 25 04:47 (#3705.10789):
Speaking of great blogs, NYT's Nicholas Kristof has had a team of guest writers running his NYT blog while he's been on book leave. Their work has been extraordinary -- Will Okun especially -- and I'm glad to see they've been held on.

2008 Jan 23 05:04 (#3704.10786):
WHENEVER Richard Cory went down town,
  We people on the pavement looked at him:
He was a gentleman from sole to crown,
  Clean favored, and imperially slim.

And he was always quietly arrayed,
  And he was always human when he talked;
But still he fluttered pulses when he said,
  "Good-morning," and he glittered when he walked.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king,
  And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
  To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
  And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
  Went home and put a bullet through his head.

Or, if you prefer,

They say that Richard Cory owns one half of this whole town,
With political connections to spread his wealth around.
Born into society, a banker's only child,
He had everything a man could want: power, grace, and style.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life Im living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard cory.

The papers print his picture almost everywhere he goes:
Richard Cory at the opera, Richard Cory at a show.
And the rumor of his parties -- and the orgies on his yacht!
Oh, he surely must be happy, with everything hes got.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life I'm living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

He freely gave to charity, he had the common touch,
And they were grateful for his patronage and thanked him very much,
So my mind was filled with wonder when the evening headlines read:
Richard Cory went home last night and put a bullet through his head.

But I work in his factory
And I curse the life Im living
And I curse my poverty
And I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be,
Oh, I wish that I could be
Richard Cory.

2008 Jan 22 09:38 (#3677.10785):
What he said.

2008 Jan 22 05:30 (#3702.10782):
Wow, that is an old joke come to life: A guy in a motorboat is zipping around the lake and pulls up by a sailboat. They get to talking and the motorboater asks "How big is the engine in that thing?" The sailboater patiently explains that it uses 'sails' in place of a motor, to which the motorboat guy says "Wow, what'll they think of next?"

I didn't say it was a good joke.

2008 Jan 20 05:45 (#3677.10774):
Accountability in schools is important, and the teachers unions are largely on the wrong side of this battle. If they would fight for things that are important -- better aligninment of the tests with rational standards, more freedom in curriculum -- and give up on the things they're wrong about (merit pay, accountability, a systems analysis approach) we'd be better off.

Please explain the republican voting thing: who, why and should the rest of us be considering it too?

2008 Jan 20 05:41 (#3693.10773):
He mentioned he takes 20.6 annual report measurements a day.

I assume the rest is metadata. I could get about halfway there myself, and guess at the other half.
- music, books, etc: last.fm, librarything
- restaurants+bars: credit cards + quicken + google maps
- walking, driving, etc: gps, or gps phone.
- use tumblr or PDA or similar to note events, like 'drank 7 pilsners, had 1 hangover'.
- things you can look up after the fact: lowest, highest temperature (once you've established the places you were), digital photos / emails / expenditures etc.

Once you set up some templates for what you want to track, and got in a routine, and yes were a tad OCD, this would become a fairly straightforward endeavor. There's a long tradition of diarists and I think this level of detail has gotten easier rather than harder.

What I really want to know is the font he used. It looks like Warnock -- note the break in the R, the soft tail on the d and the change in weight through the rounded strokes -- but its softer and funner, the serifs and the bell on the g are stronger, and the fancy "in" ligature isn't in there.

2008 Jan 17 12:01 (#3677.10764):
Also: I /don't/ think the democrats have negotiated in good faith on a lot of the issues you cite. Start with Bush v. Gore: if the dems had stood firm on "We must recount every vote, it's what's fair and right" they would have prevailed and Gore would have won. Instead they staked out an adversarial strategy which the Supreme court spit 5-4 between the two evils.

I consistently see Reid and Pelosi trying to score points in a hamfisted and ultimately destructive way -- see, for instance, the fiasco following 'Betray-us'. The dems caught Limbaugh in some similarly irrelevant solecism, and censured him. Limbaugh smiled and put the censure document up on eBay; the thousands of dollars from that auction went to some repugnant "charity." Those guys keep playing checkers while Rove et al play chess. In Obama I see someone who, finally, can not only sit at the same table with them but who will also have the moral standing to expose the ugly cheats that are coaching their team.

2008 Jan 17 11:40 (#3677.10763):
I think most of it comes down to this -- I feel that Obama is the best choice because he plans to (and I, the naif, believe he will) engage the other side in principled negotiation; and that this will recenter the process and move past the failures of imagination that lie within these conflicts. This you see as Neville Chaimberlain pollyannaism (which I understand, and admit as a legitimate concern). I believe that principled negotiation is vastly more powerful than an adversarial strategy; I think that approach has been tried and failed and that it is sabotaging our country. BClinton never pursued it and probably couldn't pick it out of a lineup; HRC will never even have the choice, as she inspires so much spite and rage in the opposition. Hopefully the one of us that is right wins.

Beyond that, I think I'm hearing that you (from that last comment) and drfeeljay (private correspondence) both see Obama implementing dangerously anti-progressive policies that I'm not aware of. As an honest question -- you have invested a lot more research in the matter and I want to take these into account -- are there specific matters in which you feel Obama drifts treacherously rightward?

Set aside the above meta-issue of promoting comity vs. taking back ground: assume he is able to effectively set policy. Also account for the fact that you and even I (who seem to be emerging as the conservative wing of our party) are closer to Kucinich than to any of the current candidates. What do you fear Obama will do along the lines of countenancing Rwanda and tearing down the welfare system?

On another note (but related to campaign stuff: Submitted without comment (thx GMcD).

2008 Jan 17 05:18 (#3654.10762):
On the travel vid you linked to: besides Ashgaban, Turkmenistan as #2 Most Visited site, "Jim Davis' Grave" rates #5. Also, the hotel room cost $24.xx, same as a hot dog.

These are incredible, I fully second natedogg's endorsement. I have already set my army of robot wget monkeys to traverse the site in advance of the inevitable C&D order.

2008 Jan 17 05:12 (#3690.10761):
Turns out one of Donald Knuth's first publications was, no kidding, in Mad Magazine. He proposed a measuring system based on the thickness of a Mad Magazine (1 potrzebie), with corresponding units of mass, volume etc.. (Note the last set of links: some clever fan added them as units to google's 'convert' functionality).

2008 Jan 16 11:57 (#3677.10757):
I think I may agree with what he said. Clinton was a terrible president. So was Reagan. (I haven't given higher than a C since Lyndon Johnson got a B- in my class, on the strength of his final project "Everything good I've done Kennedy will get credit for").

Obama didn't, as the simplistic title suggested, say that he preferred Reagan to Clinton. He said Reagan did something right that Clinton failed to do, and I agree. He didn't say he agreed with the course change that Reagan made, only that Reagan led the country in a direction that the majority of people wanted. Ford, Carter, Bush I, Clinton just kinda drifted. (Bush II has, of course, also set a course and led the country purposefully, in the same way that Hazelwood steered the Valdez and Queeg led the USS Caine.)

Now, was he couching this in terms that would be conciliatory to conservatives, in a way that stirs the conscience? Yes, and yes, but no more than any of the politicians do. (McCain probably engages in the least of this oleagenous equivocation but we've seen him kowtow and toady with the rest.) I feel strongly, though, that the two largest problems facing our country are corruption and discord -- the undue influence of special interests, enabled by the fact that the Limbaughs, Roves, CNNs and Frankens have pushed everyone out of the center and to the extremes.

We're polarized to where any position of compromise -- any effort to understand the other's opinion or to reach out -- is seen as weakness. Every issue becomes a simplistic matter of red and blue, and the regurgitated pablum spewed by flacks from each side replaces principled consideration (I don't mean what the media feeds us -- I mean what all of us, myself included, consume). Then the corporations, lobbyists and pacs buy laws just as easily and just as corruptly as they do in the shadiest of banana republics, except their bagmen act in the wide, unfettered open.

So I'm fine with a little Reaganist toadying if it means that the country can be led back towards the middle, and if it means that the worst examples of our corrupt political system -- Clinton, Romney, Thompson, stand near the top -- don't oil their way in to office.

2008 Jan 16 11:06 (#3654.10756):
That... is... awesome.

2008 Jan 16 04:37 (#3605.10750):
See also: Farid Zakaria on last? night's daily show, talking about our curious insistence on democracy in only strategically unimportant countries. (Iraq being the exception, though of course democracy was the most publically trumpeted and factually least reason we went there.)

2008 Jan 16 04:34 (#3695.10749):
Hey, 4 arms -- especially if those are "shake-stealing" arms -- is a pretty good signature of evil.

2008 Jan 15 12:10 (#3694.10746):
I don't like horror movies, but I can't wait to see this.

2008 Jan 15 12:09 (#3693.10745):
pull. no wait! push! ok, maybe pull.

2008 Jan 14 06:20 (#3690.10741):
Also: I think the 'girl in the pink killers shirt' person should go.

2008 Jan 14 06:14 (#3690.10740):
I hope you will be liveblogging it from your microtop.

2008 Jan 14 06:11 (#3672.10739):
Fiat plus 400 small-block Chevy V8 plus nerd nerd nerd = pure awesome / Hoth ice cruiser.

Via io9 via doncarlo's shared feed.

2008 Jan 14 05:15 (#3692.10738):
So: here would be an idea. Take football box scores &c from online sources, and combine with other rich data sources. Make a quick-cutting video running down things physics tells you about the world, the impact you would expect on a football game, and infographics showing the extent to which it's borne out.

So stuff like:

[Francis the mule kicking a field goal] The longer the field goal,
[Shot of wide left or Norwood] the lower the success rate
[view through a gunsight] Part of the reason is accuracy --
[drawing of angles, maybe using a high-res overhead shot] as you get farther the angle covered by the goalposts gets smaller
[shot of a cannonball] you also of course have to deliver more energy to the ball so it will go farther
[kick falling short] but there's an upper limit on what your legs can do. For a longer kick,
[drawing of flat and peaked parabolas] physics tells us that you have to make the kick shallower
[blocked kick] which means that it's easier for a defender to block.
[graph of (success, blocks, misses) vs. distance of field goals] Diving into the numbers, (tell what that shows)

[nfl guys bloviating] Anyone will tell you that as the weather gets colder throwing a football gets harder. Duh.
[clip of rubber mushing] Part of the reason: as the weather gets colder the football gets harder.
[cool rubber, not mushy] (two sentences on why)
[graph showing pass completion %, passing yards, total score, interception rate vs. temperature for outdoor games]

Basically, something like this baseball video (directorial technique may be familiar to BNAT attendees): take ~three interesting fairly simple things physics could tell you about football + the outcome of a data-mining experiment to test it.

2008 Jan 14 04:37 (#3692.10737):
Hm, if I could get a few decades of game-by-game football data at the box score level I could extend the baseball-weather thing and find out something new... I don't know whether an infographic-powered vid would do well or poorly tho.

Also: I am disappointed this has nothing to do with Bowling.

2008 Jan 13 06:18 (#3438.10733):
Hit Me on my iPhone, my, my iPhone.

And check the trailer immediately following -- especially the chick at the end in front of the Buddha.

2008 Jan 13 05:45 (#3689.10732):
That is a great idea.

It also means that thrift store/estate sale enthusiasts of twenty years from now will occasionally have their day phenomenally bizarrened by finds like 'The Story of my Date Rape' or 'The Day We Killed 20 People in Pitched Battle and I Watched My Best Friend Die In My Arms'.

2008 Jan 13 05:34 (#3583.10731):
THAT WERE A GREAT PERMOTIONAL VEEYICAL. IT WERE NOT ENJOYABLE ON OWN MERITS, ONLY IN MEANS OF CREEYATING INTAREST IN DAILY SHOW. OBVEEOUSLY RITERS AND AKTORS ON DAILY SHOW SHUD BE GLAD TO DO THAT FOR FREE AND NOT NEED GET PAYYED.

2008 Jan 13 07:56 (#3690.10728):
Wow, good backstories here.

2008 Jan 09 10:47 (#3687.10725):
Based on feedback I edited the post at the [*] to remove the clumsy "as harmsplotation".

2008 Jan 09 10:27 (#3688.10724):
More snapbacks from ye internets of yore: turns out a newlywed did answer the question "What was the strangest place you and your spouse made whoopee?" as "That would be in the butt, Bob" -- well, kinda. Read all about it at language log.

A followup link at the bottom talks about the MattLane phenomenon (also familiar to Javelina) -- exclusive use of first name plus last name referring to a given third person ("binomialism").

2008 Jan 09 03:37 (#3688.10723):
Sad found from rob cockerham...

2008 Jan 09 12:57 (#3677.10721):
If by 'dynamic' you mean 'has veered off the tracks in to the kind of petty morning show crap that sickeningly derails the political process', then yup.

I know it's a lot more fun doing journalism when it's a paint-by-numbers: "Kerry is robotic" "Thompson is Old" "Gore is a Munchausen" "Clinton is a harridan -- oh wait sorry, it's Clinton is unstable -- ah if you voted for her that means -- Clinton is a powerful woman who has manic mondays just like me". But it's a terrible way to choose a leader.

2008 Jan 09 12:50 (#3687.10720):
how about "things that are different and have a distinct familiar name" -- so no fair counting potato grouper, chilean sea bass and giant sea bass. And what I meant was let's say using an egg counts as exploitation at least. But you don't get to count chickens and eggs separately.

and you didn't answer the question ;-)

2008 Jan 08 04:53 (#3677.10714):
Also: Can You Count on Voting Machines? - looks like this serious problem may finally be getting some traction. Hopefully it's not too late.

2008 Jan 08 02:32 (#3150.10713):
Dittman still getting it done, albeit at number 10 on the list.

2008 Jan 08 01:42 (#3677.10712):
Defective Yeti thinks so you don't have to, and Five Myths About Our Ballot-Box Behavior

2008 Jan 07 09:37 (#3685.10707):
In a completely different vein (I was trying to figure out what the painter dude from Cracked was named):

Go read the Prince Charles segment -- paragraph #6 in the Alfred E Newman section. WOW. Hilarious.

2008 Jan 07 05:56 (#3680.10705):
You need to get yourself some Bullshit Bingo cards. I think it's a good policy to wait til your options vest to actually announce victory mid-meeting, though.

2008 Jan 07 05:54 (#3683.10704):
Good question -- you should ping DrFeelJay, who is really in to the idea of creating free and open textbooks.

There's a wikipedia textbook thing but it wasn't much when I looked last.

2008 Jan 06 01:13 (#3676.10701):
More and more it seems that they should have left the old contract in place until the actors' guild contract expired as well.

They're still correct on the merits of their argument and so I really, really hope they prevail. But I think the imminent return of The Wire and Battlestar Galactica may quell my Mother-Teacher-Secret-Lover jones, and I'm sure others have their own fix on the way.

I have been watching /much/ less TV since the writers strike dried the pipeline.

2008 Jan 06 12:34 (#3683.10700):
OK, if John Baez is on board, so am I:

What if you're dying to learn physics, but don't know where to start? Start here:

6) Christoph Schiller, Motion Mountain: The Adventure of Physics, available free online at http://www.motionmountain.net/

It's an enormous feast of ideas - romantic, wildly ambitious, and still not finished at 1459 pages. Using a bare minimum of math, it conveys an enormous amount of physics, all focused on the question "what is motion?" This question is very deep. We have made tremendous progress towards answering it, but are nowhere near done.

The curious title is explained near the beginning:

The quest to understand motion in all its details and limitations can be pursued behind a desk, with a book, some paper and a pen. But to make the adventure more vivid, this text uses the metaphor of a mountain ascent. Every step towards the top corresponds to a step towards higher precision in the description of motion. In addition, with each step the scenery will become more delightful. At the top of the mountain we shall arrive in a domain where 'space' and 'time' are words that have lost all meaning and where the sight of the world's beauty is overwhelming and unforgettable.

Inspiring words. But to dig deeper into such mysteries, you'll eventually need to learn a bunch of math. Do you remember what Victor Weisskopf said when a student asked how much math a physicist needs to know?

"More."

2008 Jan 06 03:43 (#3679.10698):
Ooh, I really like their inclusion of 'bacn' - "Impersonal email such as alerts, newsletters, and automated reminders that are nearly as annoying as spam but which one has chosen to receive." I hadn't heard that term before but know /exactly/ what they mean.

The only howler: how does "Make it Rain" not get more votes?

2008 Jan 03 10:23 (#3678.10696):
I'll just file this here for the two? other baseball fans: a pretty innovative way to analyze defensive performance... kinda like looking at a hockey player's plus/minus.

2008 Jan 03 10:14 (#3677.10695):
Am I happy or sad that an evangelical nutball who is patently disrespectful of the founding principles of religious freedom and church-state separation may be the Republican nominee?

2008 Jan 03 07:49 (#3674.10690):
Also: the donation claims are true, if you wondered.

Besides the ad revenue, the success/failure rate on the words would give you an interesting measure of 'familiarity', which would be of research interest at least and might be worth selling to an SAT prep company.

If so, it makes the third neat example of using a service that is given away for free in order to build a business asset dataset. On Philipp Lenssen's coverbrowser.com, there's a hotornotish "tagger game" -- you punch in keywords for an image and then score for every keyword your unseen counterparts also submit. These matching keywords of course become good semantic tags for the covers.

The other is Google 411 -- it's actually a front to get huge amounts of natural speech data for training voice recognition engines.

Sneaky! Clever!

2008 Jan 03 07:42 (#3674.10689):

Gauntlet: thrown.

2007 Dec 28 12:00 (#3672.10687):
Yeah, but that's what was so scary about that car: he put it in a Ford Fiesta, then put *that* in a Pontiac Fiero. Read carefully, TTJ, and you might learn a thing or two about cars. Geez.

2007 Dec 22 12:30 (#3661.10682):
A great article by a so-so pitcher who shared the same trainer as Pettite and Clemens

2007 Dec 21 12:04 (#3672.10680):
test5

2007 Dec 21 12:04 (#3672.10679):
test3

2007 Dec 21 07:31 (#3670.10675):
iClone roundup -- see if any of the knockoffs float your boat.

2007 Dec 20 07:27 (#3664.10671):
Yeah, I'm reacting to other forums where I've seen that idea put /much/ more forcefully.

As for the stylesheet -- I'll try to mess around with it sometime. My console has the "edit this comment" buttons, so I never noticed the need for a visual break. If I recall, I tried a few things and didn't find anything non-garish... I hate CSS so, so, so much. If you feel like it, download the stylesheet and a local copy of one page, ship 'em over, and I'll fix it accordingly.

2007 Dec 20 07:15 (#3670.10670):
@Javelina -- you have to call the cell co to get activated. At some point in that process I'm sure the secret will get out.

@Z - I'd put it this way: for typing experience let's call "10" the best currently available PDA keyboard and "1" a morse code interface. If your personal rating was in the 5-7 or better range I'd take the plunge and expect a 1-2 point improvement from the prediction engine (plus a few nifty little tricks they built in). If it's lower than that I'd shop for a keyboardy PDA phone or try to hold out for a good iphone competitor. (Note, however, that after several years of reverse engineering no one's really managed to make a music player that can carry the iPod's jock as far as usability.)

I'd call my current rating of the keyboard about an 7.5 or 8, up from about an initial 6. (My previous phone was generously a 3 or 4.) Tricks that really help:
- the key isn't entered until you let go. If you're typing in a password, use the letter's little flag to shift around and then let go.
- For the alternate 0-9 !-= etc screen, if you hold the alt button and then slide your finger to the number or symbol you want, it inserts that and then pops back to the qwerty. Makes inserting contrac'ns much easier.
- The autocorrection is very very good -- the other day it (correctly) proposed "munging" as a completion. I don't know if it had the word or if it learned it from me, but either way it's impressive that the likelihood model found that. (The word corpus was /definitely/ garnered from tech geeks tho: it's always eager to suggest 'XML' and 'bidi', moreso than say 'OMG' or 'w/'.
- For the autocorr to work best, just let fly and type through errors, then correct at the end of words if it doesn't guess felicitously. It will fix a lot of them, and it's the best way to train the engine.
- I'm hoping that a later update will rotate the keyboard for email/sms composing; the wide kbd is quite nice. As it is, I can happily compose several paragraph email responses without frustration.

2007 Dec 19 03:01 (#3670.10661):
For all the crazy frog fans out there: 8 remixes of Axel Foley done using sounds from classic 8-bit vid games. Because that song /never/ gets old. (thx Carlo)

2007 Dec 18 07:09 (#3670.10660):
Word on the street is there's a 3G iphone in the pipeline. Who knows when that will be, but you might hold out until Mac Thingy AwesomeCon in January; if it doesn't happen then it probably won't for a while.

I am 100% happy with iPhone. Make sure you like its keyboard before you buy -- txt msgs are so high on your list I think you might be frustrated. Account for the fact that it will adapt to your typing over the first week or so, but this will be a "significant minor improvement" rather than a "zOMg my brain it readz it".

For the near term you can grab a Moto i415 burner, which can be had on eBay for the cost of its included tMobile prepaid minutes. This is a pure Java phone with GPS, and people have made programs to install on the phone that let you not only use it as a GPS pathfinder but also ping the phone remotely to find its location. The prepaid EDGE wireless is something like 20 cents a day unlimited bytes, which makes it a poor man's LoJack/balloon tracker/thingy that OJ stuck under the van in Naked Gun

2007 Dec 18 06:29 (#3670.10655):
I pretty much have always bought my phones solely according to how well it does the top three tasks on my feature list. In order:
- syncs with my address book and calendar
- lets me wikipedia and check my email
- makes, receives calls
=========== LINE OF GIVASHIT ==============
- looks good
- takes pix
- plays crazy frog when javelina calls
- snds txt msgs

I get the feeling most phones are bought and designed by exactly the opposite ranking.

The phone companies kinda try to keep WAP a secret. When I had a WAP phone (so, up to June) it was a $5 addon -- not the $20 or whatever EDGE will cost you -- and I never used the my.cingular.bork.bork.bork. I think most non-"smart"phones bury <Get me to the internet> about three pageloads down in their stupid monetizing interface.

Also: I would charitably characterize as "ill-advised" the buying a phone on the basis of some externally-dependent hack.

2007 Dec 17 11:18 (#3668.10649):
By the way, as far as I can tell the market for you as south park character figurines is wide open. As are a whole sea of lateral-thinking ideas from "simple and fun parametric ways to describe the 3d appearance of a real world object" -- make your own hotwheels (take a base model of a car and apply various paint and customizations to it; return as a free badge and offer to print for a fee)? cartoon figurine of your pet (same, but s/paint and customizations/coat and accessories/)? You on the 18th green of any famous golf course?

I'm just running through the list of "hobbies where people have way more money than sense" but I think there's a big latent demand...

2007 Dec 17 11:10 (#3667.10648):
Honestly, when I read that it's Edwards who comes off as naive. Of course you have to involve the drug and insurance companies; they're stakeholders in any current or future system. They will bitterly fight a lot of reasonable changes, whether or not they're involved in engineering a new system. But refusing to involve them -- and thinking that this is a fair or prudent negotiating strategy, or one that will stand up in court -- is foolish and naive.

2007 Dec 17 10:51 (#3668.10647):
Interestingly, I was looking into how to do this and whether anyone was already. A couple others: Fabjectory will do this for your Mii, GetARealLife, or any Google Sketchup drawing. There's also the OGLE from OpenLabs, which gives you the raw materials to roll your own solution. If you're going that route, or if you just want to give your Mii some Gold Pants, you'll want the full skinny on the MII file format.

Interestingly, it looks like most of them work by capturing the in-game-rendered avatar, rather than by parametrically reconstructing the avatar's structure as from a MII file. (That is, if I understand correctly, they go "hey it looks like you have brownish hair and fuzzy black shoes about 30 pixels high" rather than "oh you have HAIR:=#SIENNA_27 and SHOES:=[#UGGS,#RAVEN,30]".)

Azeroth has Uggs, right?

2007 Dec 16 03:35 (#3660.10640):
Nina Blackburn: But this song is called "Come Pet The P.U.S.S.Y."
Ice Cold: Come Pet The P.U.S.S.Y., Yeah. But I do say P-U-S-S-Y in the song because I set it up like that. Like the letters, like an "analagram."
NB: Anagram?
IC: An anagram, you know what I am saying? So it's like P is political,U-unrest,S-stabilizes,another S-society,Y-yeeeaa-ahh.
NB: No.
IC: Yeah. What we are saying is, if we want to change this madness that's going on in our community and in our world, then we got to step to the pussy. Step to this ideology. We got to embrace the pussy. You understand? Embracing the... Have you ever had your pussy embraced? I mean, has someone came up and just... embraced that motherfucker?

2007 Dec 16 03:03 (#3664.10639):
I fully support the "middle seat gets both armrests" idea.

But I have to disagree with this insidious and wrongheaded opinion, which states the moral ranking of crimes against humanity goes something like:
...
-- dogfighting
-- reclining your seat back during airplane flights
-- being Hitler

Fuck that shit. In the industrial design classic "The Measure of Man and Woman - Human Factors in Design", we read that for vehicular seating "The spine [is positioned] at 100° from the upper leg bone, which the the comfort angle" and that 95 degrees is the minimum desirable thigh-to-spine angle. The seat angles of a chair for "everyday use and travel" have a 105° to 115° thigh-to-spine angle and a 15° seat reference plane -- a total 30° seat back-to-groundplane angle. (Relaxing the seat plane angle slightly gives better thoracic support).

So even for the average person, the seatback-upright is not the designed seating position: the seatback-reclined position is. Seatback-upright is only to reduce the chance that your head will slam into the seat ahead of you (no shoulder restraints) during a crash.

My kneecap-to-back distance is 26 1/4", basically that of a 99th percentile man (the largest person accounted for in traditional industrial design calculations; sorry, Gilliss). With my knees straight ahead, I touch the seat back ahead of me whether it's reclined or upright, so I'm acutely aware of how much leg room is available. Reclining the seat ahead only marginally impacts the amount I must angle my legs in order to fit.

However, my 19 1/2" floor-to-bottom of thigh (popliteal) length is also at 99th percentile; assuming the seat height is designed for a 50th percentile adult with a ~ 17" popliteal length, my thighs are at about +6° to the floor plane. This in turn means that for a 90° seat back position I'm at an 85° spine-to-thigh angle -- 20° less than the comfort angle and 10° less than the minimum prescribed seating angle.

What I'm trying to say is: if you're behind me on a plane, I'm reclining the seat back and that's the way it's gonna be.

2007 Dec 14 10:14 (#3660.10633):
Speaking of kittens, over on the Savage Lovecast (Dan Savage's podcast version of his column; NSFW, duh) there has been a hilarious campaign against using the word 'pussy' to mean someone cowardly, timorous or just plain (ahem) pussillanimous. See, a pussy is a strong, lifegiving complex of muscles that can do amazing things and withstand a lot of punishment. So, the argument goes, we should all *strive* to be pussies. If someone is instead failing to take action just because they're afraid, they should be labelled a scrotum -- a highly sensitive bundle of nerves that does little to protect and retreats at any sign of trouble. We'll see how this goes; it's not the first time Dan Savage has been on the vanguard of a linguistic revolution...

(Side note: I didn't realize that official victory in the Santorum War had been achieved: his actual senate biography has fallen off even the first page of links. Zowie.)

2007 Dec 14 03:15 (#3661.10631):
In cheerier news, these two Cyn-C posts cracked me up.

2007 Dec 12 08:20 (#3658.10629):
The wp article I linked above put me onto their very clever music video for Nth Degree, which I'd never seen before. Keep an eye out for a Devastatin' Dave tribute, a Pen and Pixel confabulation and other longtime AE faves.

[Two things I can't find anywhere in the archives but I'm pretty sure are in there: 1) Natedogg professing his undying Devo-lution, 2) a link to the British documentarian Louis Theroux allows himself to be made over as a Dirty South Rappper video.]

2007 Dec 05 06:28 (#3650.10614):
Yeah, there's some people who say this is an act, like the knob at night guy (if the knob at night guy is indeed made up) or Borat or Charlie Weaver or Minnie Pearl. (This was pointed out in where I got the link from - 7/8ths the way down.) Either way it's sad and hilarious how much it rings true.

2007 Dec 05 02:01 (#3650.10610):
I would like to point out that AE has risen to the #2 search result for "WTF Mate? Kangaroos!."

2007 Dec 04 01:37 (#3644.10607):
The article in question -- proxy link for UT'ers.

2007 Dec 03 08:26 (#3638.10604):
The pix are worth logging in for.
But don't click to the profile unless you're excited to play the "Hunt for what's making noise and then figure out what to click so it stops!" game.

2007 Dec 03 05:52 (#3640.10603):
Also enjoy this Baseball Think Factory post on the subject which devolves into a collection of bawdy baseball-related limericks.

A floozy who just loved to dance
And take off her dress and her pants
In the course of a year
Over many a beer
Went from Tinker to Evers to Chance

2007 Dec 01 01:42 (#3638.10600):
One of the shops linked above has a online interactive "what do I look like in these frames tool -- which lets you make a poll for the ones your considering. (And even attach a moustache -- alert soku).

2007 Nov 29 09:14 (#3636.10595):
Interesting -- they'll give you $107 for your NIB 30GB Zune ($97 for Good w/ box, charger, etc). Woot has been selling these for $80. Hmmm.

If anyone out there has Zuners Regret now is the time to exercise it.

2007 Nov 29 09:05 (#3635.10594):
Hey -- If You Don't smoke Tarrlytons, Fuck You.

2007 Nov 29 08:26 (#3629.10593):
Ya, I mean the non-processed food -- the farm outputs, not the food industry's.

Most of us won't now put in our basket fruit that would've been premiere a few decades ago. Our supermarkets have enormous, unblemished produce that looks nothing like what traditional ag brings to market, as you've seen if you've shopped for produce outside the 1st world. It's my understanding that the gains in meat quality are as or more impressive. The variety is astonishing too -- here is a brief selection of things you can reasonably expect to find in a Whole Foods:

Tomatillo, Pomegranate, Persimmon, Rhubarb, Fennel, Okra

Boysenberries, Loganberries, Marionberries, Ollalieberry, Youngberries

Breadfruit, Cherimoya, Guava, Lychee Nuts, Plantain, Passion Fruit, Star Fruit, Sapodilla, Sugar Apple, Tamarind

Arugula, Beet Greens, Bok Choy, Broccoli Rabe (aka Rapini), Collards, Dandelion Greens, Endive, Escarole, Kale, Mizuna, Mustard, Spinach, Turnip Greens, Swiss Chard

Asian Turnip, Beet, Burdock, Celeriac or Celery Root, Daikon, Parsnip, Rutabaga, Salsify, Sunchokes, Turnip

And that's not counting different kinds of the same fruit. In-season you can get a dozen different kinds of apples at my local non-gourmet grocery store, and possibly double that figure at the gourmet one.

2007 Nov 29 08:20 (#3634.10586):
The "loans for shares" scheme and the rise of the "oligarchs" -- one of many reasons I file Clinton in the bottom half of 20th c. Presidents.

2007 Nov 27 10:31 (#3579.10582):
Gay Outing rocks the Sunday Funnies page

2007 Nov 23 08:48 (#3630.10574):
The stuff three birds /

Slice three birds /

Eat three birds thing is fine for some....

But I'd like to give thanks for the HumBeaGreStuMaPoCar (that's where you take a hummus, and you stuff it next to beans, which you place next to greens, which you adjoin to stuffing, which is then neighbored by mashed potatoes and finally accompanied by carrots):

Happy Thanksgiving, y'all!

2007 Nov 22 05:09 (#3351.10573):
More: Mathematical Analysis of a Gansta's Life.

(They got the Bitches/Hoes/Tricks ontology wrong, though.)

2007 Nov 22 04:47 (#3016.10572):
Trenchant (if clumsy) Response Vid to this Dove Real Beauty ad.

2007 Nov 20 11:50 (#3618.10571):
Thanks for digging that up, for correctness' sake.

By the way, David Letterman is cool. And was "Not the Daily Show, with Some Writer" posted? Well, now it is.

2007 Nov 20 10:15 (#3624.10569):
Wow, Mr T doesn't look like he's aged a bit. I guess drinking milk and avoiding frequent travel is the secret.

2007 Nov 20 10:10 (#3626.10568):
I don't think infinite surface area is OK. It's an immersion in a normal 3-d space, so the basketball has to sit within a finite volume (the embedding manifold is compact). You certainly wouldn't need a fractal surface for the eversion, so no infinite surface area is called for. (Now I have no idea if a Peano-type-space filling-curve-but-a-smooth-one is alllowed -- that is, if it's a 'regular homotopy' -- but it seems like it could be. Maybe the lazyweb will answer.)

As for the gaming the rules, it's a lot like figure skating and a bit like fine art. There's a lot of things you can choose to try, and strict rules imposed by nature about what you'll accomplish. Now how the scoring progresses is a communal construct, but in the special case of mathematics it's been consistently found that mathematical ideas which are elegant and interesting turn out to be scientifically useful.

Wigner wrote an essay called "The Unreasonable Effectiveness of Mathematics in the Natural Sciences" -- it's the most interesting question in the intersection of science and philosophy that I know of.

2007 Nov 19 11:50 (#3625.10563):
Damn, that was funny. Crap.

2007 Nov 19 11:48 (#9.10562):
necro!

2007 Nov 19 12:23 (#251.10558):
Deegan and CNLD still getting the love, this time in XKCD mouseover form.

(BTW, did you notice that the comments feed on the right works for necromancing of ancient posts now? You're welcome!)

2007 Nov 19 12:20 (#3624.10557):
Also, at the moment the three hottest girls are apparently only one girl named iCandace. (A good pun, if that's intentional.)

2007 Nov 15 10:41 (#3622.10554):
Hey Ron! If you agree with that shirt you've been hadron.

2007 Nov 14 03:04 (#3618.10538):
I've thought about exactly that for a while.

1) Hollywood is left-left-left everywhere except their wallets. I think if some people cross the line, there will be a lot of self-righteous indignation against the replacement-level scabs who will always bear a stain of having scabbed and probably never work again. On the other hand, for the ones that are /really/ good everyone will look the other way. So you can roll the dice or you can hope to climb the ladder under the new contract.

2) They can hire scabs, but they can't hire David Chase or Tina Fey or James L. Brooks -- which to some extent will hurt the brand image of those shows and to a different extent will impact quality. Any monkey can turn the "Three Men and a Baby" crank, though.

3) Negative reactions among the general public, especially among those who hold a union card themselves: i.e. "How will that play in Peoria." I think the AFL-CIO may roll out its muscle just because this is a visible union action (and one in which the union is mostly correct).

4) The /main/ thing, though, is that Hollywood still has the ingrained memory of the Red Scare Blacklisting. Remember a few years ago when people protested Elia Kazan's Lifetime Acheivement Oscar because he had cooperated / named names? That sentiment runs deep.

2007 Nov 14 01:19 (#3617.10535):
I dunno, Lulu seemed to wield it well...

2007 Nov 13 10:36 (#3617.10531):
I also enjoyed 'How Much is Inside?: Peanut Butter':

2007 Nov 13 09:39 (#3615.10529):
I think other baseball fans will enjoy this brief article as much as I did.

2007 Nov 11 04:29 (#3614.10527):
Ah -- Mots d’Heures: Gousses, Rames gives the Yatta treatment to "Mother Goose Rhymes".

2007 Nov 07 04:35 (#3608.10519):
Suppose a genie popped up and offered you one-hit-wonder level fame and success. For a brief time, the genie says, you will become wildly successful at something you love -- but after two or three years you'll return to base-level results. You can still do what you love, but you'll never recapture that magic) The genie will also wipe any memory of the encounter or your choice (taking buyer's remorse out of your decision.)

Basically, he's offering you the chance to be the Dell Dude or the Napster kid or Brian Josephson (but without the crazy). Do you take that offer?

And would it change your decision if you also knew that the public would appreciate it positively, but for totally different reasons than you intended: Ronald Jenkees or King Missile (of Detachable Penis fame)?

I think many people pity or deride one-hit-wonders, but the Dell Dude is still doing what he loves, and the fact is that most actors at his career stage /are/ working at Tortilla Flats jobs. I think I'd take the offer.

2007 Nov 07 03:12 (#3607.10518):
There's some other fun (in a lulz bbcode avatar kinda way) stuff in the parent directory, like this awesome (and huge) graffito panorama.

2007 Nov 07 02:54 (#3607.10516):
It does seem perfect for the girls-14-to-18 demographic, doesn't it?

(and yes: Penny Lane.)

2007 Nov 06 09:15 (#3605.10512):
I'm semi-embarrased to admit that I will be getting very little news now that the Daily Show is off the air.

2007 Nov 06 09:14 (#3606.10511):
I am <--------------------------- this ---------------------------------> excited. Kickass!

2007 Nov 05 10:38 (#3605.10504):
Bush's Fecal Midas Touch continues unabated.

I /highly/ recommend War of the Vulcans: The History of Bush's War Cabinet, a balanced account of the careers of the self-named 'Vulcans': Cheney, Rice, Rumsfeld, Wolfowitz, Powell, Armitage. I learned a lot about the inner workings of government and the surprising mixture of both realpolitik and philosophical motivations for our foreign policies over the years. My low opinions of the first four remained unchanged, while I have (mildly grudging) respect for Powell and Armitage -- but more importantly I at least see the motivation and weltanschauung that guides their policy.

Also: Waziristan => Warzistan sounds like a Doonesburyish country.

2007 Nov 05 08:58 (#3604.10502):
Or the tyranny of your remote being THERE while your couch is HERE.
You'd have to find the code for the specific TV to mute -- feasible if you want Nate's and Moe's, infeasible if you want TV-B-Gone facilities.

2007 Nov 04 02:13 (#3592.10499):
On the one hand, I'm sad. On the other hand -- it's good to see the invisible hand punish the feckless.

As opposed to the Brentwood Tavern, I think most of those places did one or two things very well (like tasty food, which you might think was enough) and most everything else horribly wrong.

2007 Nov 02 12:03 (#3602.10488):
Come all you couch potatoes / Good news to you I'll tell, / Of how the good old union / Has come in here to dwell.

Chorus: Which side are you on? / Which side are you on? / Come all you good viewers: / Which side are you on?

They say at Rockefeller / There are no neutrals here. / You'll either be a union man / Or a thug for NBC / [Chorus]

My daddy was a writer / And I'm a writers's son / And I'll stick with the union / Till ev'ry battle's won. / [Chorus]

Oh writers can you stand it? / Oh tell me how you can. / Will you be a lousy scab / Or will you be a man? / [Chorus]

Don't scab for the networks / Don't listen to their lies. / Us poor folks haven't got a chance / Unless we organize.

2007 Nov 02 11:57 (#3602.10487):
What's the thing that makes America great? Isn't it "Any American can grow up to be president?" I know I'm naive, but this is a good principle.

I'm sure their decision was justified within the rules. It shows a lack of common sense about what the story will be now, and a lack of imagination about how to use this for positive chaos.

2007 Nov 02 11:32 (#3602.10485):
No, hitting enter twice is supposed to be just the thing. The

tags appear for my comments but not yours -- hmmmm.

Tech support monkeys are furiously thrashing the AE code to fix this and the stupid quotes issue.

And thanks for this rundown, valatan@lazyweb.tubes -- it's exactly what I was hoping for :-)

2007 Nov 01 11:38 (#3602.10480):
I gotta say, kicking Colbert off the SC ballot is the kind of humorless short-sighted crap that has the Republicans eating our lunch at every turn. The Dems can't find someone with the imagination to turn this into an "electable moment"? A million people linked to his Facebook campaign page in *five days*. Shouldn't there be someone figuring out what caused these people (even in jest) to embrace Colbert's campaign? And using that opportunity to highlight the Democratic party's vision?

Those poll-smoking halfwits will inevitably have my vote and the occasional $20 bill from me, because what the hell else am I going to do. But I despair that they're no better at this game than they were 4 and 8 years ago. Dumbasses.

And while we're at it, a question for the lazyweb. (This means you, Valatan and Ms.C.). As I recall, the last time the primaries finally rolled into TX there was no real point in my vote. The fix was in -- even though this 2nd most populous state hadn't gone to the polls, and what I recall to be like 2/3 the population, we were told that Kerry had sealed the deal and the rest was a formality.

How does this happen? And does the primary date reshuffling affect this? And do I really live in a democracy or not?

2007 Nov 01 10:53 (#3600.10479):
Wow, for a second it looked like he was going to leave the dreaded 92-105 split. (Also: why 100 pins? Did they deviate from triangular at some point? Or is this some Rubik's Cube-marketing style flaunting of Gricean implicature?)

2007 Oct 27 11:16 (#3591.10473):
Cool, mine too. A couple resources: gXFER -- Case studies for GMail migration.

I've used the gXFER tool to move my filters and contacts over; later this weekend I'll try the IMAP to IMAP trick.

2007 Oct 27 02:51 (#3596.10471):
It's just you. Papelbon threw exactly two called strikes, which MLB Gameday showed as just fine.

Oki threw a couple of borderline inside pitches for called strikes (#4 and #5 to Sr. Spilborgho in 7th, #3 to Taveras in 8th), but compare Jimenez' #1 to Lowell in the 2nd, his #2 to Ortiz in the 5th, or Schilling's #1 to Atkins in the 1st. The ump established a slightly wide strike zone but enforced it consistently, from what I can tell.

2007 Oct 26 03:01 (#3596.10468):
Dr. Seuss' Keys to the Game

2007 Oct 26 02:47 (#3596.10467):
I mean at some point to look at the MLB gameday data to get a sense of how good the umpires are and figure out what the hell is up with the Pitch Trax.

MLB umps are actually pretty good I think. There's an operational strike zone, which doesn't match the rulebook, but it's usually consistent.

2007 Oct 26 12:18 (#3596.10463):
Scully calls the 9th inning of Koufax's perfect game: audio / transcript. Keep in mind he composed this live on air.

I love Jon Miller's broadcasts, and Joe Morgan's adventures in Sabermetrics don't kill me the way it seems to do most fans. After that crew quality ESPN announcers are pretty thin on the ground, though.

And I have to toss this in on the subject of Koufax; it's from the retrosheet mailing list:

[... I] was just looking at Koufax's pitch counts from earlier in his career. Take a look at 1961:
-- 35 starts (and 7 relief appearances..a nice touch.)
-- Went 120 pitches or more: 18 times (and 29 of his 42 appearances weremade on 3 or less days of rest)
-- Went 130 pitches or more: 11 times
-- Had a run of 13 starts in a 53 day period where he threw 1624 pitches, averaging 125 pitches per start...basically, 125 pitches every four days, for almost 8 weeks.
-- On September 15th, threw 133 pitches in a complete game win. On September 20th, threw 205 pitches in a 13 inning complete game win, and took his turn 3 days later on September 24th. Oh...I forgot to mention, he was asked to RELIEVE on September 17th, presumably to "get a little work in". Threw 34 pitches, got the win in 2 innings of work. In the space of six days, he made two starts and a relief appearance, got 3 wins, and threw an astounding 372 pitches.

1961 is not an unique year in Sandy's career. In 1960, for example, he had a 5 start, 23 day run where he threw 48 innings and made 785 pitches, an average of 157 pitches per start.

Koufax, at the top of his salary range, made about $25 per pitch. Roger Clemens this year earned about $10,000 PER PITCH. Put another
way, Clemens made more per INNING this year than Koufax ever made in a season.

I wish I knew where I could get my hands on pitch data for 1965-1966. I'll bet it's a hoot.

-- Bob Oefinger

-----------------------------------------

For those of you who might not know, there is a famous story about Koufax pitching the 7th game of the 1965 World Series on two days rest. If you read Koufax' biography by Jane Leavy (_A Lefty's Legacy_) she talks about how he was into some pretty serious pain killers (Butazolidin I think, a drug that has been banned in race horses for years) and capsaicin (a heating agent made from chili peppers) that he slathered on his sweatshirt to keep his arm warm.

Anyway, Koufax had a rough first inning (walked a
couple of guys) and Roseboro came out to talk to him. Koufax said he didn't have his curve ball that day. Roseboro said something to the effect of "F..k it. Go with the fastball." Koufax, who only had two pitches and telegraphed them, then proceeded to get out of that inning and complete a three hit shutout, striking out 10, with one pitch that Twins hitters such as Killebrew, Allison, and Oliva knew was coming. You can get the video of the game at mlb.com for about 4 dollars or so. The most amazing thing I've
ever seen.

-- Jack Solock

2007 Oct 26 11:57 (#3596.10461):
Here's my question: who are the defenders? Is there anyone out there advancing even a tepid defense of their aggressive incompetence?

The overpromotion, missed plays and other manifestations of greed are galling but are not the main problem. My brother and I were trying to hash out exactly what it is that makes Buck/McCarver so unenjoyable. The ones most referred to are McCarver's senile inattention to the details of the game, Buck's sanctimony matched with McCarver's crotchety Old Schoolery, and McCarver's tendency to relentlessly hammer on a single point that is often irrelevant and uninteresting if not completely untrue.

The main thing for me, though, is that McCarver manages to make the game painful for fans of each team by focusing on mistakes and hazards, not on accomplishments and opportunities. One recent example: Coco Crisp made a stellar diving slide to catch, going hard into the wall, for the last out of the ALCS. The cameras are panning around the jubiliant home crowd, the celebrating players, and the emotional face of the valiant but defeated Indians -- and McCarver starts hammering away about Crisp having a potential leg injury and the effect on the Sox going into the World Series. Does this deserve mention? Yes. Right then, and over and over? No. Does it contribute to the experience of a Sox fan, palliate the bitterness of a Tribe fan, or edify the casual listener? Nope, certainly not, and unlikely.

The stunning thing is that people who live in Hollywood / LA surely know better. They get to listen to one of our national treasures -- Vin Scully -- announce every Dodgers game. (Except those broadcast on Saturday, that is).

Here's an article that includes Vin Scully's call of Hank Aaron's #715. Amazing.

2007 Oct 26 10:55 (#3596.10458):
Simmons:

Q: You mentioned the significance of October 16th for Red Sox fans (in a bad way) with the Boone home run in 2003, the 19-6 loss in 2004 and the Game 4 loss to Cleveland in 2007. Guess what else happened on October 16th? In 1941, Tim McCarver was born!!
--Timmy, Groton, Conn.

SG: You couldn't make this stuff up. You really couldn't. At the rate we're going. I'm waiting to see McCarver pop up in a Chevy commercial right as John Cougar Mellancamp is giving out free Taco Bell tacos and "Transformers" DVDs to poor people from the bed of a Chevy Silverado.

"John, here's the thing about our country -- it might be a country that belongs to folks like you and me, but the key to this country is that we fought two major World Wars in the 20th century, and each time, we defeated foes who could have potentially conquered democracy inside our borders. Had we NOT won those wars, this might not be our country right now. (Dramatic pause.) But we DID win those wars. And when you win wars, usually, with very few exceptions, you get to keep your country. That's why ... this is ouuuuuuur country."

2007 Oct 26 10:47 (#3596.10457):
Excuse me, that should have been Tacoby Bellsbury.

I particularly love the irony of their promos: "There's only one October, and every pitch of the World Series will be on FOX"... If there's one thing that I know to be true about the WS on FOX, it's that they'll stretch those already-longer 2:30 commercial breaks well into the first pitch about 3 innings per game.

2007 Oct 26 04:57 (#3596.10454):
Oh, and if you haven't heard: YOU get a taco. YOU get a taco. EVERY-BODY-GETSA-TACO. Thanks Jacoby Ellsbury!

2007 Oct 26 04:32 (#3589.10453):
The Daily Show segment on this was superb. To the youtubes!

2007 Oct 25 03:28 (#3592.10450):
I assume the place that ran out of food is Po' Boys -- it is not only still in business, it is well within our walking radius. Hmmph.

2007 Oct 25 03:28 (#3514.10449):
A peek at the content headers comfirms: that is an unmodified MS Frontpage template.

Thank you, Microsoft, for bringing such subtly engineered beauty to the lives of millions.

2007 Oct 24 02:15 (#3591.10440):
If for some reason you are constrained by even Gmail's generous 4359 MB capacity (I'm looking at you, biggun), this also makes local maintenance a snap: you can sort on size or arrival order and other things the gmail web interface won't otherwise allow.

To free up space, sort by size, snipe the top few, and Zipf's Law says you'll have a ton more room.

2007 Oct 24 12:58 (#3592.10439):
Is this also bad for the Lucky Dog Almighty is My Copilot (or whatever the hot doggery up there is called)?

2007 Oct 24 12:13 (#3591.10437):
Unfortunately, GMail does not yet act as an IMAP /client/ -- which means that transitioning from your @gmail.com to your @thatswhereimaviking.com address with folders and tags intact is (while still possible) not yet trivial.

~~Actually, I think you can, by syncing a local IMAP client with first one and then the other account. I will attempt this daring feat and report back with careful instructions.~~

Hmmm... actually, no IMAP for Google Apps users yet. Sorry, thatswhereimaviking.com clients.

2007 Oct 24 11:52 (#3591.10436):
Oh, hell yeah.

In short: POP offers two actions, "receive" and "delete/archive". If you always read mail from home, you can pull new mail off the server and read it locally. If you have a mobile device you can put duplicate copies of all your mail on the device.

However, deleting the local/mobile copy doesn't reflect back to the server copy, and there's no concept of 'mailboxes' or 'labels' or other such last-century concepts, and it's easy to end up with multiple/missing copies of messages if you do something funny....

IMAP fixes all this.

2007 Oct 23 04:30 (#3590.10433):
The fix I put in the other week changed the escape character treatment in the title and URL description. I have to go back and fix that.

2007 Oct 22 05:16 (#3579.10431):
That was fast

2007 Oct 22 01:32 (#3579.10430):
more here.

2007 Oct 21 11:46 (#3579.10428):
Well, add one more demographic datum to the UK census: listed as elderly, caucasian, non-muggle, homosexual. Start your cafepresses.

2007 Oct 19 12:24 (#3578.10425):
Doncarlo, Lulotoo, J and I are all going tomorrow.

2007 Oct 19 12:09 (#3584.10423):
This map may help you avoid similar embarrassment in the future.

2007 Oct 19 11:57 (#3584.10420):
I think it's safe to say he wasn't too rattled: 11 strikeouts over 8 innings, allowing 8 total bases and one run.

2007 Oct 19 08:40 (#3582.10414):
I did not miss the opportunity to see Dr. Watson say something crackpot-y when he came.

He forthrightly addressed the Franklin controversy (did he and Crick screw Rosalind Franklin out of her place in history by using her crystallographic data, as provided by Wilkins?) and left me with the feeling that he had done nothing ethically wrong but had not done anything particularly ethically right either. He seemed to imply (with no real regret) that if Franklin had been less of a jerk they’d have been more likely to have collaborated and thus co-published.

He frequently referred to women using speech and attitude that is antiquated at best. Several times he rambled about being able to judge a person’s character by looking at them. (He claimed you could discern a psychopath by gauging the asymmetry of their features).

With all that, he was /extremely/ charismatic and an engaging speaker. His talk was filled with good advice (when he stuck to science) supported by long experience.

The lecture ranks as one of the most fascinating I’ve seen, due to Watson’s intellectual stature and his illuminating delivery, but most of due to all the attendant moral ambiguity.

(repost of my Cyn-C comment)

2007 Oct 19 08:35 (#3580.10413):
ehllah ehllah ehllah...

2007 Oct 18 02:44 (#3583.10403):
Can you post or email me the HTML you'd have to enter? We mark exactly what HTML tags/attributes are allowed, so I'd have to add those. Also, if I change this: nothing that autoplays please, and nothing heavyweight: I for one like that the site loads quick.

2007 Oct 18 02:39 (#3581.10402):
That's why houses come with garages, doncarlo. For the nudie cutie calendars.

2007 Oct 18 12:02 (#3570.10397):
Drfeeljay suggested that we not be dumbasses, and add "-costume" to the search. It paid off, damn his eyes.

The head mirror, ubiquitous signifier of the medical profession, is used by otorhinolaryngologists to examine the dark back of the throat. Properly used, you shine a bright direct light from behind the patient onto the reflector. Since the mirror is aligned exactly with your line of sight, the hole is small, and the light hits the reflector at an angle, you get a well-placed beam of light that follows your head without an annoying direct beam from the source.

2007 Oct 17 10:14 (#3572.10396):
Are you saying I have a fat ass?

2007 Oct 17 10:13 (#3571.10395):
In Automotive Engineering we were taught that rolling resistance is negligible once air resistance becomes significant and vice versa. Top end is almost entirely drag limited.

2007 Oct 17 02:04 (#3573.10388):
Why does a facial massager need a super-sexy ad like that? Can't they just promote its superior muscle-relaxing properties?

2007 Oct 17 02:01 (#3574.10387):
Besides Yakko's World, there's Wakko's America and Yakko's Universe.

Also enjoy Tom Lehrer's Elements and Doncarlo's friends' The Bravais Lattices Song. If you need an impromptu rendition of either, you know whom to ask.

2007 Oct 17 01:36 (#3571.10386):
I'm not too surprised a full tank makes a noticeable acceleration difference. 17gal gas = 45-50kg => your full fuel tank weighs as much as your dancer wife.

The issue of fuel economy from extra weight came up the other day, and I don't know an easy way to thumb-rule it: What is the mileage penalty for carrying around an extra 10% mass, say 100kg in a 1000kg car?

The gravitational work evens out; what you lose is the difference in fuel efficiency vs. load going uphill vs. downhill, the air resistance if your speed varies, and the increased rolling resistance of the tires. You also have to decide whether your speed is staying constant or coasting with the hills to some extent. I don't think the extra 10% mass makes enough of a fuel economy hit to cause anything like an extra fuel stop.

As for handling, how much do you need on an interstate, even at 150?

2007 Oct 16 06:04 (#3571.10380):
The speed limit is largely and selectively unenforced -- most highway traffic drives 7-15 mph over the legal limit. You'd be killed if you tried driving the exact speed limit on the I-5 in Cali. Sure, they go after the flagrantly excessive and the black and the careless, but there's nothing like the (easily implemented) level of enforcement that would make it a "Limit".

Lessig:

"My point is instead one that democracies understood for generations, but that we recently have learned to forget. The rule of law depends upon people obeying the law. The more often, and more repeatedly, we as citizens experience violating the law,the less we respect the law. Obviously, in most cases, the important issue is the law, not respect for the law. I don’t care whether the rapist respects the law or not; I want to catch and incarcerate the rapist. But I do care whether my students respect the law. And I do care if the rules of law sow increasing disrespect because of the extreme of regulation they impose. Twenty million Americans have come of age since the Internet introduced this different idea of “sharing.” We need to be able to call these twenty million Americans “citizens,”not “felons.”

As for Captain Tom, some ideas:

At 2800 miles and an achievable 21mpg, you need 130 gallons of gas. Replace the back seat with 20gal fuel cells. A 15gal stock gives 55gal total, good for 2 fillups. You could probably get this down to one with a custom fuel cell and good budgeting. This has to save 30-40 minutes over filling 5 times.

I'm sure the idea of a flash Bimmer with a 10' whip antenna is k-rad... but my old BMW 318i had a 115mph top end with a 3.1L engine, and turned 22mpg@85mph (average, not peak, speed) on my Austin-San Antonio runs. I'd go the other direction, and build a total sleeper Civic with an eye towards fuel efficiency. I'd do all the efficiency-minded improvements (better cam, heads, intake; port&polish, tuned exhaust, turbos) and shoot for a ~150 top end with 25mpg@90mph.

I'd also ding up the exterior and paint it a very dark blue. Then I'd shave all the trim and insignia, or better yet I'd letter it "HONOTA" on the trunk, with rear Nissan and front Mazda logos.

Going the sleeper route means ditching the CB antennas. Continue the trailing airplane idea (genius) and figure out how to get someone on the ground every 200-300 miles (that's 10-14 people) to monitor CB traffic continuously for a day before you come through. Paying each of them $300 for their trouble would be a drop in the bucket for what this guy's invested. You'd probably only need it out to St. Louis and then again in Cali.

Why make the taillight switch knock out the taillights altogether? I'd give it three positions: Normal, Taillights on but Don't Brighten on Stop, and Completely Off -- the second mode for populated areas, the third for submarining. I'd also consider adding a front-rear swaybar (TTJ can fill us in on what this is called), and tell my tuner to maximize the bounce-jounce coupling, so that hitting the brakes hard doesn't cause the car to pitch forward.

2007 Oct 16 05:09 (#3572.10377):
That, or admit I am less talented than a cockatoo. Hmmm.

2007 Oct 16 10:56 (#3570.10371):
1) Where does the light to look in the tonsils come from?

2) Note the mockbusters' lucrative sideline or making eschatological grindhouse fare. Apparently those xtians will watch anything.

more:
'Talking Fashion' explains galoshes (ctrl-F for 'galosh', 2/3 way down the page).

gahh -- I know there was one other big thing to post but can't recall.

2007 Oct 16 10:53 (#3571.10370):
American Lawbreaking

This series explores the black spots in American law: areas in which our laws are routinely and regularly broken and where the law enforcement response is … nothing.

2007 Oct 15 03:42 (#3513.10366):
Check out the ratings this week: somehow the software got even shittier:

1. 0 0 2. Bright Apes 465 3. Convick Gang Bang 3495 4. mac drinkingteam 75 5. Michigan Bloverines -500 6. Suckers -100 7. Team Sweatpants 310 8. The Bad News Bears 950 9. the carrottops 130 10. !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 55 11. !Las_Chupacabras! -525 12. !skcus ybot 50 13. """"""Jon is Gay"""" 200 14. """Rectal Canaries 350 15. """The Ron Mexicos 175 16. ""ungoodliness"" 1645 17. "Aim Low!" 0 18. "clark" 250 19. "da Bears" 2050 20. "MooseKnuckles" 155 4000. giant pen island 3530

2007 Oct 13 02:17 (#3566.10357):
OK -- inspired by something Ned pointed out: I can get it to switch pretty easily by putting my head close to and below monitor level, so I'm looking up at the image (CCW) or close/above so I'm looking down at the image (CW).

Lulu isn't better at math and physics, she's just shorter :)

2007 Oct 13 10:53 (#3564.10350):
Legend of Zelda on the Theremin
Techno Tetris
Super Mario on piano (I thot this had been posted but can't find it)
The others are left as exercises for the reader.

2007 Oct 13 10:21 (#3566.10349):
That's funny -- I just came in to post this. If you're having problems switching direction, try concentrating on a spot right below the dancer.

I see the dancer spinning "clockwise," if by clockwise you mean that her foot spins right to left when it appears to be pointing forward; and the association is very strong (I have a hard time reversing it). Jennifer seems to be able to switch back and forth fairly fluidly.

The list of putative left-brain/right-brain traits on that page has an astrology-level number of multiple endpoints. (What the hell is "can 'get it' (i.e. meaning)"?) With that said, I identified with more of the right-brain traits, consistent with the "right brain = clockwise" assertion. (I also had some tests done which showed that I don't pass information between the two halves of my brain as well as most.)

The Left-brain Right-brain thing is easily exaggerated in terms of being a major determinant of your personality and
abilities. However, people have been found to have dominant eyes and ears just as they have dominant hands, so perhaps that is part of it. Closing either eye doesn't seem to change the rotation for me.

Also: here's a frame-by-frame dissection of the animation to find what visual cues and ambiguities power the illusion.

2007 Oct 11 06:03 (#3563.10345):
(urps. fixed author field to be by me.)

Good points all, thx pablo.

2007 Oct 09 03:07 (#3558.10336):
Also in lexitexmexicographical news: for some annoying reason the scrabble dictionary doesn't include queso -- this, along with "zen" (in the lower-cased sense of "the zen of road bike maintenance") are my top two angry omissions.

2007 Oct 09 03:05 (#3558.10335):
As you might know, they're revising the OED. The etymologists occasionally post about the process; I enjoyed this part-detective part-Bourdain hunt for an antedating of "Nacho".

2007 Oct 03 11:34 (#3532.10330):
Stupid plagiarizing Aussies (lecture|vid).

2007 Oct 02 11:18 (#3556.10329):
Benificient developer just wants to help the city by gifting an acre of waterfront property and building a public access trail through existing buildings. Warms the cockles, it does.

"Extending the Town Lake Trail: For this site, the Parks Department has a signed agreement that developer CWS will: 1) dedicate as parkland the 25-foot strip of land along the shoreline and 2) construct an extension of the trail within that parkland. But while the parkland is shown here, it does not appear in the site plan submitted to the city (site plan B). Nor does it appear in an alternate version (site plan A) being shown by CWS. The developer wants the required 200-foot building setback (A) reduced to an 80-foot setback (B) to make room for a much denser residential complex. CWS has threatened to build A – without the trail or parkland, leaving existing apartments in place – if it doesn't get its variances. "

and

The 100-unit figure [the number of existing units] was contained within a December 2005 subdivision application. ... Staff expressed irritation that the developer failed to provide the correct 486-unit number [the number of proposed units] in extended discussions. ... The developer's apparent underreporting potentially could cheat Austinites out of new waterfront parkland worth millions. ... "It's not a gift; it's what they owe. If they want to get their project approved, they have to dedicate the land as parkland."

2007 Oct 02 02:14 (#3501.10328):
A Ziggy sighting! I knew a poop post was too strong a lure to be ignored for long...

2007 Oct 02 01:45 (#3554.10326):
Answers are in ROT13 if you've not responded yet:

Serqql jnf cngurgvp. Ur pbhyq abg uvg gur Jvssyr onyy cvgpuref ng nyy.

Gur ceb fjnz yncf nebhaq Wbr, rira va n qbt cnqqyr. (Ur'q cenpgvprq, ol gur jnl, jvgu uvf xvqf ba uvf onpx.)

Zb Terrar zvfwhqtrq gung svefg enpr, naq ybfg ol n abfr. Sbe gur frpbaq, ur jrag nyy bhg naq jba unaqvyl.

Fxrr-onyy jnf n gbgny rdhnyvmre. Gur ceb unq ab erny nqinagntr; gur nqinagntr bs fgeratgu naq fcva jrer ahyyvsvrq. Ur jba, ohg whfg oneryl.

Gur zvqtrg'f fvmr cebirq na vafhcrenoyr ceboyrz. Gur cvgpure zvffrq gur fgevxr mbar rira jura, va qrfcrengvba, ur ortna guebjvat HAQREUNAQ.

Zvav-tbys cebirq gur fnzr qlanzvp nf fxv-onyy. Gur ceb unq ab erny nqinagntr ba gubfr yhzcl terraf, jvgu penccl onyyf. Ur jba ol n fgebxr.

Znxvat punatr bss gur onpxobneq? N zlgu. Gbgny zlgu. Gur uvtu whzcre arire tbg pybfre guna gjb vapurf.

Guvf jnf gur ovt fhecevfr gb zr: Gur cbby cynlre, qrcevirq bs uvf frpbaq unaq, jnf rkgerzryl yvzvgrq, cnegvphyneyl va fubgf ur unq gb znxr arne gur zvqqyr bs gur gnoyr. Ur jba guerr tnzrf gb gjb.

Syvc: 1/8, Inyngna 2/8, Orpxgb 2/8, ZpT-Q 2.5/8 (.5 sbe #2), Arqjneq 1/8.

Very surprised at the answers.

2007 Oct 02 01:13 (#3554.10323):
I think maybe I'm wrong about the sprinter question, but it's pretty close.

World class sprinters run the 100m in ~9.8 s, or ~11m/s.
I think a moving walkway goes at a brisk walking pace, which I'll estimate at 2m/s.
I know that <5s is the figure of merit for a 40yd dash (8 m/s) so I figure an "ordinary, reasonably athletic middle-aged guy" can do a ~6s 40yd dash (7 m/s).
At that pace Joe will take (69/2)/7 + (69/2)/9 = 4.93 + 3.83 = 8.8 seconds. If he can flawlessly navigate both the floor-to-walkway transition and the psychology gap, Joe wins. However, at a 6 m/s pace, Maurice Greene wins.

I think I like my chances with 100m at Barton Springs from a standing (not wall) start. Interested?

2007 Oct 01 11:11 (#3549.10318):
Something tells me King Buckwheat LXVI may have peaked early.

Dude, keep holding on to her and don’t let go for the rest of your life. She is about seven miles out of your league and you are never going to have tits like that in your mouth ever again (ever).

2007 Oct 01 10:51 (#3554.10317):
My take:
1: b He bats about .333, his major league best.
2: d Ordinary Joe kills Josh.
3: b The ordinary guy wins the first race by a nose; when they race again, Greene smokes him.
4: a Pete destroys Ordinary Joe, game after game.
5: c They'd almost never score a run.
6: a Mediate kills Joe.
7: b He kept coming thisclose but no cigar.
8: a Paez smokes Joe, 5-0.

2007 Sep 29 10:02 (#3540.10314):
From Cool Tools comes this tip:

Plastic Stretch Wrap Packing

If you are moving yourself, you don't need boxes for most non-fragile items such as books. Just stack the books, wind some stretch wrap around them, and you're done. This is a cheap, quick option and since the wrap is transparent, you can see what you've got -- a very useful feature when you have not yet unpacked but you need to find something. I even use stretch wrap to contain and protect clothes on hangers. When you unpack, you cut off the stretch wrap, and there's virtually nothing to throw away (no empty-box disposal problem).

-- Charles Platt

2007 Sep 29 09:43 (#3550.10313):
Our hero; the book.

2007 Sep 28 09:48 (#3542.10309):

Ooooh, I think I need to take a contour integral around that mighty big pole you're sporting.

[Voiceover Dialogue] I was totally fielding her up: I Gauged she had great Bosons, and I know she felt my Massive Fermion. I'm going to take advantage of our Strong Interaction and see if I can Charm her into letting me enter the Event Horizon of her Black Hole.

You two boys want to help find my dipole moment?

No more solitons, baby -- I'm off my period. Let's do a standing wave of high-frequency harmonic motion.

2007 Sep 28 09:30 (#3532.10308):
Speaking of hyperventilating internet reportage: "Teen Finds Her Flickr Image On Bus Stop Ad". There are several ~~interesting~~ misguided aspects to this -- they've named the photographer and Creative Commons as codefendants -- but my favorite is this:

The family charges in the lawsuit that the experience damaged Alison's reputation and exposed her to ridicule from her peers and scrutiny from people who can now Google her. "It's the tag line; it's derogatory," said Damon Chang, 27. "A lot of her church friends saw it."

Righhht... as opposed to the situation now that you're granting interviews to major media outlets. Not to mention filing a nuisance lawsuit against a camp counselor and the nonprofit that helped draft the copyright protection you're leveraging in your suit. And the fact that she apparently has a large quantity of church friends in the greater Adelaide area. Also: she looks really broken up and angry about it in that photo, don't she?

2007 Sep 28 08:49 (#3547.10306):
Millionaire Playboy and owner of a multinational technology conglomerate?

2007 Sep 27 03:45 (#3516.10301):
"Republican lawmakers, liberal Christians and evangelical talk shows" -- What's that line about Politics making for strange bedfellows?

2007 Sep 27 03:13 (#3544.10300):
You misspelled the word "photos" as "commentary".

2007 Sep 25 09:37 (#3460.10289):
Quicksilver for Meatspace

2007 Sep 23 06:51 (#3513.10286):
Goddamn this piece of shit. I know I locked in 200 points worth of non-starting Tavaris Jackson. It hasn't taken my #2 QB each of the past two weeks. I'm starting to suspect the joke part of this is not the 'pick losers' but something else altogether.

I'd be deleting my account right now except I found out that somehow we're on the front page for search results on Onion Shattered Expectations (no quotes even) -- somehow that makes me want to stick with it and just bitch up and down.

2007 Sep 23 05:04 (#3513.10285):
I seriously can't believe how shitty this site is... It's like the guy lost his HTML reference but found chapters 3-7 of an AJAX book on the street and just decided to wing with that.

Besides the 147 validation errors in the HTML, here's what I got from a quick glance:

Much of the site is done in terrible client-side javascript that would have been best done with <a href=""> and its good buddy <img src="">. For example, <div id="banner-lnk-area" onclick="document.location.href='http://fantasysports.theonion.com/index.htm';"></div>. This says "when I click on the contents of this div, run a javascript that navigates to index.html"; in other words WHAT YOU USE A NORMAL HTML HYPERLINK FOR, except that things like a URL in the status bar and other navigational clues are missing.

<link> tags in the body of the HTML (it goes in the HEAD)

In some commented HTML that was left in the template:

<div id="button7" class="button-<div style="border:1px solid #990000;padding-left:20px;margin:0 0 10px 0;"> <h4>A PHP Error was encountered</h4> <p>Severity: Notice</p> <p>Message: Undefined variable: BENCHID</p> <p>Filename: views/setpicks.php</p> <p>Line Number: 207</p> </div>off" onclick="GoToPosition(<div style="border:1px solid #990000;padding-left:20px;margin:0 0 10px 0;"> <h4>A PHP Error was encountered</h4> <p>Severity: Notice</p> <p>Message: Undefined variable: BENCHID</p> <p>Filename: views/setpicks.php</p> <p>Line Number: 207</p> </div>);">

... that's a PHP error (server side) shat out in the middle of a javascript (client side) statement. Good thing they decided to not use that seventh button.

2007 Sep 22 08:02 (#3528.10283):
Quotes in link text is acting weird. I will fix it when it bugs me or when one of you does.

2007 Sep 21 06:14 (#3537.10276):
[Site didn't like hotlinked imgs so I edited your post -- mgmt]

2007 Sep 20 10:26 (#3535.10275):
Your link to the college football record lookup site didn't come thru... [n/m I am dum]

2007 Sep 19 11:00 (#3534.10272):
I wonder whether the inventor of the crocs is having a Navin R Johnson moment right now... Will "Jodi McDermott, of Vienna, Va." be the Crocs' Carl Reiner?

Carl Reiner - When Opti-grab came out, I thought it was the greatest thing ever, and I bought a pair. And this is the result. (Mr. Reiner removes his pair of dark glasses to reveal...) This little handle is like a magnet, your eyes are constantly drawn to it and you end up cock-eyed. Now as a director I am constantly using my eyes and this Opti-grab device has caused irreparable harm to my career. Let me show you a clip from my latest film where my faulty depth perception kept me from yelling cut at the proper time. (scene of a little red sportscar speeding off a cliff. Reiner yells "Cut!" just after the car goes over the edge) If I had yelled cut on time, those actors would be alive today. That's why I am spearheading the ten million dollar class action suit against Mr. Johnson and his irresponsible selling of a product he didn't even test on prisoners. Thank you.
Partier - Looks like the parties over.
Navin - Hey wait a minute, where are you going?
Partier - I'm going to get in touch with that Reiner guy.

2007 Sep 16 12:32 (#3531.10262):
Be on the lookout later this week or so for a Ty Murray's Celebrity Bull Riding Challenge viewing ... Think "Surreal Life" meets PBR (this, not this).

The gang is lead by Ty Murray ("King of the Cowboys") and features Anthony Quinn's kid, Rocket Ismail, Nitro, Vanilla Ice, a lesser Baldwin, and other (B-) luminaries.

Highlights include one player breaking his scapula almost right away and a near-death experience for another; an impromptu campfire concert with Vanilla Ice opening for Jewel (Ty Murray's wife); and a finale at the big Nashville Rodeo, where the celebs test their mettle in real competition.

2007 Sep 16 12:05 (#3526.10261):
The show starts off being not-too-different from the other police procedurals on the screen (rogue cop, reassigned to backwater, blah blah blah). It picks up *hugely* towards the end of the first season/start of the second.

This is, I know, a big investment -- but it's really hard to find someone who has made that investment and doesn't agree.

Similarly, if you follow Nate's advice and start watching the Venture Brothers, jump right in at the second season (or sample one or two from season one and then skip ahead). Season one I found grating; season two gets better and better, reaching its crescendo when criminal mastermind David Bowie and his henchmen Klaus Nomi and Iggy Pop engage in aerial battle alongside a Puddy-voiced killing machine, a tripping hardy boy, a legion of butterfly-suited red shirts and a basso-profundo bombshell named Dr. Girlfriend.

2007 Sep 14 10:46 (#3514.10252):
Kicking myself for not thinking to cite this specimen in the examples.

2007 Sep 14 09:04 (#3528.10250):
Compare: Before ... After [before/after fixed].

If you don't like the style changes bitch here.

2007 Sep 14 08:35 (#3526.10249):
You had me at 'Zork'

2007 Sep 13 05:45 (#3528.10245):
OK, that looks fixed now.

2007 Sep 13 05:33 (#3527.10242):
The Apollo mission cost $25.4 billion in 1969 dollars. That's an awesome project but the economics may be off.

2007 Sep 13 05:06 (#3528.10241):
Hit shift-reload, and if that doesn't work empty your browser cache (you need to force the browser to fetch the new style sheet).

2007 Sep 12 02:53 (#3519.10235):
I thought TTJ's reply was hilarious. Possibly that has to do with me picturing him saying it.

2007 Sep 12 09:16 (#3512.10228):
I also now have tacit permission to hack my phone to bits.

2007 Sep 12 09:04 (#3522.10227):
Those goddamn Becky Shorts -- and their bas-couture successor Galoshes -- will both make the list. Also: reality shows, the pop-culture influence of pornography, and crunk.

2007 Sep 12 08:55 (#3519.10226):
When are we going to set up an in-jokey 'AE ~~Post~~ Reply hall of fame?'

2007 Sep 11 04:33 (#3520.10220):
Also: The back of some hottie's head.

2007 Sep 11 04:23 (#3519.10218):
Oops, I linked to the '03 model and not today's

2007 Sep 11 04:18 (#3521.10216):
A very well done list of the 50 Worst Cars of All Time from Time Magazine. I'd totally own a Dymaxion, Crosley (saw a hotrodded one of those in a mag once: kickass), Amphicar, Peel (and any of its brethren) or Tatra.

2007 Sep 11 02:27 (#3517.10212):

"In July 1997, he defeated world #32 Andre Agassi.... Following the match, Justin said, 'I feel great to have a win like this on my home court in front of my family, my friends, and every girl who denied me my first two years of college.'"

2007 Sep 10 09:06 (#3513.10206):
For some reason I can't even see the results. The HTML comes in with everything styled display:none. Dunno.

2007 Sep 10 04:26 (#3518.10200):
I think that 85% are linked to from AE.

2007 Sep 10 10:01 (#3514.10192):
Blink tags!@!!!oneoneone! WTG, whoever you are!

2007 Sep 08 04:00 (#3514.10187):
Also: iGnome.

2007 Sep 08 11:01 (#3511.10185):
Wow, I don't so much care for the video games but those are worth watching for the voice/icon/image confectionary alone. Also: he's totally right: 'I can't decide' and 'Under the Sea' would mashup quite well.

2007 Sep 08 10:52 (#3511.10184):
The magazine's name may ring familiar to Michael Chabon fans.

2007 Sep 08 10:50 (#3510.10183):
Bill Simmons figured out a way to link to incendiary political material; he'd never be able to just link to this for the hell of it, but since he's talked about Halberstam a lot, it's fair game:

Donald R. in Boston: As a fan of the late David Halberstam, I thought you would appreciate a link to one of the last pieces he wrote prior to his untimely death. A blistering analysis of the Bush Presidency.
(Note from Simmons: As a former poly sci-major, I LOVED this piece. It almost made me want to break out my old Vietnam books.)

It is in fact well worth checking out.

2007 Sep 07 08:34 (#3512.10182):
Much happier I.

2007 Sep 07 08:31 (#3513.10181):
HACKING MASS - the original, from baseball. You get most points for someone who is sucky AND gets tons of PT.

2007 Sep 06 12:07 (#3507.10173):
I went with their choice on that one, but for being redundant. I parsed "Zeitgeist of the dotcom era" as 'spirit of the time of the dotcom era', which is troubling. If it were offered, I'd have opted for "Starting salaries of over $100,000 a year, part of the dizzy dotcom Zeitgeist, are now but a memory."

The Economist's writing style is forceful but identifiably distinct from traditional -- I think this amateur will not worry too much about falling 25% short of their ideal.

2007 Sep 01 11:19 (#3502.10167):
Nope, that was TTJ for the 'don't send a kid to college who doesn't want or need to go' ad. I just want you to let apes whale on the skins and pay Will Farrel's kid her rent and watch for unfortunate justapositions.

Also: we need to find an obscure but erudite knowledge domain so I can ask a non-sequitur at your defense. One idea is tulip mania; another is structural questions in the work of Italian architect Pier Luigi Nervi.

(The idea, for those who haven't heard us talk about it, is that at the close of her defense Becky will ask the audience for questions -- an occasion on which most polite people close their mouths and sit on their hands. I will instead ask an esoteric question from well outside the field of physics, to which Becky will give a brief but erudite response, complete with pre-prepared slides. Suggestions are welcome, though if they tangentially touch on flowers, membranes, algebraic geometry or buckling in thin films all the better.)

2007 Sep 01 12:07 (#3501.10165):
I got peeped. It sucked. Fucking pervert.

2007 Aug 31 06:20 (#3500.10163):
Leaving it chained to a handicapped ramp or someotherhow in someone's way is the best method. Leaving it on a public bike rack for more than a year also works. Either way, you also have to not go claim it.

2007 Aug 31 03:51 (#3500.10160):
I guess I shouldn't be that surprised that some of these bikes were impounded. If you have your seat pointing right up into your yarbles like

(or this or this or this or this), you'll have a lot less fun than if the front part is flat and level, like this:

2007 Aug 29 11:00 (#3493.10157):
Language Log calls shenanigans on the 20% figure, just as we suspected.

2007 Aug 28 11:12 (#3493.10153):
Miss Teen Texas answers a question about Tribal Sovereignty. (BTW, 'sovereignty' is a *really* hard word to spell).

2007 Aug 27 12:43 (#3493.10149):
wwtdd used this very important movie line to perfect effect here.

2007 Aug 23 03:58 (#3488.10148):
"dusting the fudge," eh? Is that what it was called back then?

2007 Aug 11 04:13 (#3476.10117):
jwz on the fiasco that was the Netscape about: easter egg -- a tale of corporatization and culture clash.

2007 Jul 27 01:00 (#3464.10080):
If she's near enough to large motors, etc the stray magnetic fields can in fact wreak havoc with a CRT. The lab I worked in at Cornell was right behind all the HVAC equipment in the building, which crapped magnetons all over the monitors.

To fix this, the monitor needs to be degaussed: either with the button, or if it's bad enough with a handheld unit.

The best solution is to ask the IT folks which they'd prefer: to replace every year or two the monitor of the person who sits there, or to buy that person an LCD monitor.

2007 Jul 27 08:46 (#3460.10079):
The Hamburger Helper Effect

2007 Jul 27 08:41 (#3461.10078):
My sis-in-law makes those accelerometers!

Also it impresses me that the bluetooth transponder is possibly more important than the quality accelerometers -- you could get by with a modest transducer but getting the signal with no wires eliminates a fair piece of the hassle setting up such an experiment. (Similarly, the free-fall experiment).

2007 Jul 23 04:47 (#3458.10070):
More and even yet still more.

Three excellent ones in the MeFi thread: Kubla Khan, Dulce et Decorum Est and Jabberwock.

Also: the actual Man from Nantucket limerick. The version I know has two different concluding lines, maybe you'll hear it some other day.

2007 Jul 23 04:37 (#3458.10069):
While wandering a desert (the sandiest)
you'll find a statue of old Ozymandias.
Tho riches might find you,
sic transit gloria, he reminds you:
even biggest, or baddest, or fanciest.

2007 Jul 23 04:29 (#3458.10068):
A sailor through hell did descend
(he gave a seabird an untimely end)
Now he is cursed
to wander the earth,
Saying "Be kind to our web-footed friends."

2007 Jul 21 10:53 (#3453.10065):
It struck me that the funniest line in that (quite funny) song is "'Cause Brian Boitano doesn't take shit from a..ny...body"

2007 Jul 21 05:56 (#3425.10064):
101 Greatest Simpsons Quotes. D'oh at #1, Ralph at #2. About right... I guarantee you'll uncover some missed pearls, such as "Homer: Bart, with $10,000 we’d be millionaires! We could buy all kinds of useful things like…love!"

See also: Simpsons Theme on Two Guitars.

2007 Jul 16 12:32 (#3438.10050):
How to Hide your iPod/iPhone in plain sight -- the ultimate in theft protection.

2007 Jul 13 10:37 (#3441.10042):
OK, a question for the ladies: do you feel there is more pressure on or tendency of a female to remain close to home (live near parents, family responsibilities, support system) than on guys (socially/biologically more likely to take risks, ramble, given less share of the family responsibilities, more independent)? Obviously the physics most of you women are way on the independent end of the spectrum given your choice of a male-dominated field, but perhaps you can comment on what you see in general.

Given that the net population change of people over recent years is from the NE towards the W and SW, if the above factors hold then the net internal migration would be slanted towards men, and correspondingly more men would accumulate in the W/SW leaving more women in the N/NE.

I believe that most immigrants -- legal and esp. illegal -- are overwhelmingly men (who go abroad to provide for family, risk hazards of voyage, loneliness, etc, while women stay home to raise family.)

2007 Jul 13 02:51 (#3438.10037):
And habcous -we're putting cover sheets on all our tps reports now. Didn't you get the memo? I'll just forward you another copy, mmkay?

2007 Jul 11 12:52 (#3438.10025):
OK: *That* is how you stress test an iPhone. Also: I watched that vid on my iPhone. Meta!

2007 Jul 10 01:38 (#3431.10021):
Our Doctors:
Dr. Richard (Dick) Chopp is well known in the Austin community for performing Vasectomies. Dr. Hardeman enjoys caring for patient with prostate, kidney, bladder and testicular cancers as well as patients with erectile dysfunction. Appears to be real.

2007 Jul 07 02:32 (#3431.10018):
Well we have at least one user who is a Bradley U alum... does he care to comment on whether that 200-yard stare plays in peoria?

2007 Jul 06 04:31 (#3428.10015):
If I were in the habit of stating my convictions on sensitive matters online, I might respond thusly:
a1: viability outside the womb without extreme measures
a2: yes; before then it's a fetus, after then it's murder.

2007 Jul 06 10:21 (#3428.10009):
Currently most abortions are performed surgically by Vacuum Evacuation, though about 10% are medically aborted using drugs.

It's pretty hard to find balanced information on the subject: see for example www.prochoice.com/abort_how.html (not linking on purpose) which is exactly as anti-abortion as its name implies it isn't; or this site which has some good information but implies that the bygone practice of dilation and curettage (scraping, basically) is still common.

2007 Jun 26 02:02 (#3420.9982):
I r dum.

2007 Jun 22 11:40 (#3415.9976):
"... It was a test that the cathedral chapter used to use to judge ..."

My imagination is failing me. What exactly is being tested and why?

2007 Jun 20 02:05 (#3414.9970):
Turns out its called "Mo PAC Expy" -- RLM to National Instruments (at 11500 N Mo PAC Expy, Austin TX).

2007 Jun 20 02:02 (#3414.9969):
The 5 min transfer wait has to beat the walk to Dobie -- though perhaps the Forty Acres to the Dobie is a more reliable transfer option.

It actually doesn't seem to know about the #29 at all... weird.

2007 Jun 16 08:14 (#3408.9957):
Keanu Reeves is kindof a theme running thru these movies, huh? When I think "Who could replace Russell Crowe here" for any given movie his name springs immediately to mind.

2007 Jun 15 08:36 (#3411.9956):
If you don't have the Image Zoom extension for firefox, I put up the original PDF (or see if these are still around).

2007 Jun 13 11:19 (#3407.9943):
Mostly, you would look foolish trying to talk your way out of a speeding ticket. "No, really officer, I'm a very responsible driver and I never speed, I must have just been carried away this one time."

2007 Jun 05 11:49 (#3401.9919):
Trembling Hand Equilibrium

2007 Jun 05 10:21 (#3390.9915):
OK, updated:

North Americax Canada Greenland x United Statesx MexicoCentral America and the Caribbean Anguilla Antigua and Barbuda Aruba Barbados nc Bahamas tw Belize Bermuda cl British Virgin Islands Cayman Islandstc Costa Rica Cuba Dominica Dominican Republic El Salvador Guadeloupetw Guatemala Grenada Haiti Honduras nc Jamaica Martinique Monserrat Netherlands Antilles Nicaragua Panama Puerto Rico Saint Kitts and Nevis Saint Lucia Saint Vincent & Grenadines Turks and Caicos Islands Trinidad and Tobago cl Virgin IslandsSouth America Argentina Bolivia mc Brazil Chile Colombia Ecuador Falkland Islands French Guiana Guyana Paraguay Peru Suriname Uruguay z VenezuelaAfrica Algeria Angola Benin Botswana Burkina Faso Burundi Cameroon Cape Verde Central African Republic Chad Comoros Congo Brazzaville Congo Kinshasa Djibouti tw Egypt Equatorial Guinea Eritrea mf Ethiopia Gabon Gambia Ghana Guinea-Bissau Guinee Conakry Ivory Coast Kenya Lesotho Liberiakb Libya Madagascar Malawi Mali Mauritania Mauritius Morocco Mozambique Namibia Niger Nigeria Reunionmf Rwanda Sao Tome and Principe Senegal Seychelles Sierra Leone Somalia South Africa Sudan Swaziland Tanzania Togo Tunisia Uganda Western Sahara Zambia ZimbabweEurope Albania Andorra Armeniamf Austria Azerbaijan Belarustw Belgium Bosnia and Herzegovina tw Bulgaria Channel Islands Croatia Czech republicnc Denmark Estonia Faroe Islandsnc Finland mf France Georgiax Germany Gibraltar tw Greecetw Hungary tw Iceland v Irelandmf Italy Latvia Liechtenstein Lithuania mc Luxembourg Macedonia Malta Moldova Monacotw Netherlands dc Norway tw Polandtw Portugal tw Romania nc Russia San Marino Serbia and Montenegro Slovakia Slovenia tw Spain nc Sweden Switzerland Ukraine x United Kingdom Vatican CityThe Middle East Bahrain tw Cyprus Iran Iraq tw Israel tw Jordan Kuwait Lebanon Oman Palestinian Authority Qatar kb Saudi Arabiatw Syria tw Turkey United Arab Emirates YemenAsia Afghanistan Bangladesh Bhutan Brunei Cambodia hc China East Timor tw India mc Indonesiatw Japan Kazakhstan Kyrgyzstan Laos mc Malaysia Maldives Mongolia Myanmar Nepal North Korea Pakistan Philippinesmc Singapore Sri Lanka South Korea Taiwan Tajikistan tw Thailand Turkmenistan Uzbekistan VietnamAustralia and Pacific American Samoa sk Australia Cook Islands Fiji French Polynesia Guam Kiribati Marshall Islands Micronesia, Federated States of Nauru New Caledonia mf New Zealand Niue Norfolk Island Northern Mariana Islands Palau Papua New Guinea Pitcairn Islands Rarotonga & Cook Is Solomon Islands Tonga Tuvalu Vanuatu Western Samoa

2007 Jun 05 01:23 (#3399.9913):
Which reminds me: I saw a guy the other day wearing a shirt that said "Santayana was right." Do you figure this is the 'doomed to repeat it' thing, or something else?

2007 Jun 05 01:16 (#3399.9912):
Perpendicular to the same lines: The completely correct lyrics to Yellow Ledbetter by Pearl Jam.

2007 Jun 04 10:42 (#3393.9906):
In case you're wondering, here's how to protect your privacy if your shades don't go down.

2007 Jun 04 02:50 (#3390.9903):
Group map:

What'd I miss?

2007 Jun 03 05:26 (#2432.9899):
shopdropping

2007 Jun 01 05:39 (#3328.9893):
lolfeed -- AE as brought to you by the kitty mafia and the letter LOL.

2007 Jun 01 12:54 (#3389.9892):
Sloshed Runner Stampede

2007 Jun 01 12:52 (#3390.9891):
Wow, way to go TWitB! Which state was your favorite?

2007 Jun 01 12:20 (#3196.9890):
Platform 9 3/4 on King's Cross Station

2007 May 31 07:16 (#3368.9887):
The Codex Seraphinanus in PDF form. Use normal user/pass.

2007 May 31 07:15 (#3137.9886):
Boogie Nights: Star Wars edition (thx cyn-c)

2007 May 31 05:43 (#3390.9884):

2007 May 30 12:12 (#3328.9871):
lolcode:

ON CATURDAY IM IN YR BED I IZ SLEEPIN!!10 VISIBLE "Z!" IM OUTTA YR BED KTHXBYE

2007 May 27 12:13 (#3384.9860):
Speakin' of: Carl's Jr. has a Beef with Jack.

2007 May 25 11:45 (#3384.9851):
"72-oz. top sirloin steak, a baked potato, salad, dinner roll and shrimp cocktail"

If I challenge you to eat a 56-oz steak, baked potato and salad at the BBQ this sunday, will I never be invited to your house again?

2007 May 25 11:41 (#3383.9850):
another interesting psych article. Also lacks citations (instead including fake links), but at least it describes the double blinding protocols.

ps triple post.

2007 May 25 10:37 (#3383.9848):
Yeah, it doesn't look like it was controlled for. Still, good stuff.

2007 May 25 09:47 (#3383.9847):
This was really interesting, thanks.

I worry a bit about the lack of double-blinding in the Dweck study -- the one where students are praised as either smart or hard-working -- especially because "Dweck had suspected that praise could backfire, but .. was surprised by the magnitude of the effect."

Wouldn't it be nice if science reporters treated us like adults and gave citations/hyperlinks at the end of their articles? Why is this situation OK? Of course, it doesn't help when scientists don't make articles available online. Anyway, I'd try to figure out whether that research is worth a damn but I don't have journal access any more.

2007 May 23 04:58 (#3381.9840):
At the subjects' request, access is restricted. You may

Watch the video at youtube by sending mrflipmrflip a youtube friend request, or

Download it directly -- MPG|QT. (You'll have to supply the standard password, ask me if you don't know it.)

2007 May 22 03:14 (#3380.9835):
Norbert Sporns

2007 May 18 02:40 (#3368.9821):
Apparently Amanda McKittrick Ros was capable of Vogon-esque flights of logorrhea. I'm also intrigued by the The Book of Heroic Failures, especially for its aptonymic author Mr. Pile and the fact that "the American version of the book was misprinted by the publishers, who left out half the introduction. As a consequence, later versions of the book came out with an erratum slip longer than the entire introduction."

2007 May 17 08:12 (#3368.9814):
Wow, Jim Theis would be proud.

2007 May 17 04:59 (#3370.9810):
... and it all comes back to the Voynich Manuscript.

2007 May 17 04:47 (#3370.9807):
Yeah, my guess is a text-scraping spam bot got hold of a page like this one with its lorem ipsum showing.

Making a program that takes a large corpus of text and produces a semi-intelligible derivative text is a standard CS undergrad exercise: you learn about Markov chains and chained hash tables.

2007 May 14 12:26 (#3346.9790):
...and mutatis mutandis.

2007 May 13 08:38 (#3363.9788):
Not the first game company #38 has started... One of my UTeach classmates reportedly gamed with him often in EQ.

Also, it's impossible to understate what a douchetard Dan Shaughnessy is, but FJM's fisking paints a picture.

2007 May 13 08:37 (#3362.9787):
Just to actually check them out or at least know they exist. Also to write "Alaline Earth http dot net k-r4d 43var!!!!" on one.

2007 May 12 12:52 (#3349.9781):
More Humiliation fodder: The greatest foreign films of all time as chosen by you. (Should perhaps be titled "The greatest foreign films of all time as chosen by you, the unwashed philistines who would prefer the seductive cleverness of cloying pablum like Cinema Paradiso to the true greatness of La Règle du Jeu which after all may only be appreciated by a true cinéaste such as I, David Thomson or my colleague Andrew Pulver." Maybe that headline wouldn't fit on the page.)

2007 May 10 10:51 (#3357.9774):
"de-lie-vers"? haha.

2007 May 10 09:54 (#3356.9762):
ruwt.tv?

2007 May 10 08:46 (#3348.9761):
supplementary material to the article.

Also: Ghostface Killah would be proud, TWiTB

2007 May 09 04:06 (#3349.9756):
I'm embarrassed at how few of those I've seen.

2007 May 08 12:03 (#3348.9747):
Passed along from boingboing:

If you hate the NYTIMES "dictionary" feature (where you doubleclick on a word or words and it gives you a dictionary excerpt, instead of just selecting that text for you as would normally occur), and you are using Firefox with Adblock, block

*.nytimes.com/js/common/screen/altClickToSearch.js

Definitions of "and" no more!

2007 May 08 11:40 (#2696.9746):
Wipe that sadface off your emoticon.... as suspected by many the above letter was written with tongue in cheek.

2007 May 04 10:04 (#3334.9739):
All three parts of The Trap are available on google video (for play or download), as well as The Power of Nightmares and an earlier Adam Curtis docu The Century of Self. Or ask me for hi-res.

2007 May 04 08:44 (#3336.9737):
more on this from The Big Picture.

2007 May 04 08:03 (#3341.9736):
More stuff to listen to loudly at work: Thou Shalt Always Kill by Dan Le Sac.

2007 May 03 04:29 (#3326.9735):
I neglected to mention one of the most important security measures you can take: get a carbide tip pen or an engraver and write your name and driver's license number on the bottom bracket of your frame. Also record in a safe place the serial number which appears there. If your bike is stolen, report it widely to pawn shops and bike stores -- it improves your chances of recovery appreciably.

You can register your bike online as well, and the PTS folks will tell you how to get your bike engraved thusly for free. (Or borrow a carbide pen from me or the machine shop).

2007 May 03 12:30 (#3340.9733):
In case you doubt that the colourlovers folks know what they're up to: http://colorlovers.com/ urls transparently redirect to http://colourlovers.com/ urls. Which is not terribly difficult, but not trivial either.

2007 May 03 12:17 (#3338.9732):
Another: there's little question in my mind that the greatest marketing force acting in Apple Computer's direction is the Vista DRM subsystem.

2007 May 03 12:20 (#3338.9730):
I'd say the solution is to let the market effects take over (there's only a limited amount of time the large companies can compete with free) and less government involvement (specifically, the market-restrictive whoring out of fair use). But you know me -- I'm just a Republican that way.

2007 May 02 11:16 (#3338.9727):
I've written letters to my representatives about the DMCA, thanks for asking.

This is hardly a zero sum arms race. The cost of distribution and marketing for media -- which account for most of its price -- has dropped to effectively zero. Yet the large record, TV and movie companies that buy these laws have neither dropped prices or demonstrated any imagination in the face of this new reality.

In doing so, the companies have created a system in which a consumer with means has two choices: 1) pay five to ten times what the product is worth or 2) pay zero times what the product is worth.

More to the point, what you're missing sG is that the media companies are engineering a land grab with laws such as the DMCA. These media keys are essential to have open-source players. There is in fact nothing illegal about posting a dimensioned engineering drawing of my house key on the net, and it would have a negligible effect on my home security. (I hope I'm not giving anything away when I point out that smashing a window is simpler than CNC milling a copy of my home key.) What's illegal (as well as immoral) is to *break in* to my house.

Talking about keys (or, say, posting plans for making a bump key that can class-break pin-cylinder locks) is not wrong and should not be illegal. Using those keys for nefarious purposes is wrong and should be illegal. Trying to put the toothpaste back in the tube, as the AACS is doing here, just illuminates the media companies' generally foolish and retrograde approach to the digital era.

2007 May 02 03:53 (#3335.9722):
Surviving Grady runs down more unworthy competitors, but accidentally gets "worst" mixed up with "best".

2007 May 02 03:33 (#3338.9721):
More on AACS protection and way more than you want to know about AACS

2007 May 01 05:05 (#3335.9717):
The Flivo is at your dispos-all. Also, I think the -spin me round- video would do well recut as a gangsta rap video instead.

2007 May 01 04:01 (#2696.9710):
Actually, it's Congress' fault.

2007 May 01 09:34 (#3334.9704):
(The Power of Nightmares). 100% of Alkaline Earthlings that have seen this series recommend it highly.

2007 May 01 09:17 (#3333.9703):
How can someone who likes rat rods be against fixies? They're the minimal apotheosis of the cycling experience. And, like all bikes, every time you take it out it gets faster, lighter, and handles better.

2007 Apr 27 02:10 (#3326.9686):
There are bike lock brackets that sit between the water bottle and the frame -- the butt of the lock rides next to the seat tube.

2007 Apr 27 09:02 (#3324.9677):

...more here. Goods that in Ethiopia were transported by pack animal were usually transported by human-pushing-bike in Rwanda. Most of these bicycles-as-carts were powered by school-aged kids. You see almost no service animals in Rwanda, a legacy of the genocide's devastation.

2007 Apr 27 08:03 (#3326.9676):
For parking on campus, one U-lock is fine and two is plenty. The lock will come with a bracket to secure it to the frame out of the way while you pedal. If you're always biking from home to work, just get two locks, mount one on the frame and leave the other one locked to the bike rack at work. I replace my seatpost quick releases with a straight hexbolt/nut.

Keep in mind the parable of the bear: on campus, you don't have to make your bike unstealable, you just have to make it more unstealable than the bike next to you.

2007 Apr 20 10:52 (#3311.9660):

2007 Apr 20 10:21 (#3314.9659):
Yeah, that was almost the tagline for this post. Actually, now it is again.

2007 Apr 19 04:33 (#3311.9654):
How does that hell-bound douchelord even dare suggest that many of the victims didn't try exactly that? What the FUCK does he know about it? What an ass.

2007 Apr 18 10:36 (#3313.9648):
sorry, that was me hoping I had it right, not criticizing you.

2007 Apr 18 01:20 (#3313.9641):
Also: unless you crave the excitement of having yet another gmail acct to check, go in to settings, pick Forwarding and POP, and go with Forward a copy of incoming mail to "YOUR EMAIL HERE" and "archive"

2007 Apr 18 01:01 (#3313.9640):
trust me from someone who knows -- don't post things with @ signs in plain text.

Accounts for beryllium (sp), peej, javelina and beckto created.

2007 Apr 17 02:54 (#3313.9626):
I dub thee "beckto"

2007 Apr 17 11:58 (#3308.9624):
For the fellow seamheads: if you haven't heart, Curt Schilling is maintaining a blog and it's FANTASTIC: 'nuf said. For the semi-baseball fans -- Curt Schilling is famous for the way he meticulously prepares for each AB of each game. He contracts with a private company to prepare DVDs before each game with video of each batter he'll face showing what he threw and where they swung on all previous ABs against him, and has a library of personally-compiled binders on each batter (what he's thrown, what they've hit) and umpire (what they call).

Most pitchers do this to some extent but Schilling's scientific approach to the game is exceptional, so reading about how he plans for each AB of each batter of each game -- and what's going through his head as he executes that plan -- is pretty awesome.

I get lucky as Vlad again goes after the first pitch and hits a 2 seam fastball to Mike down the line at third. During the pre-game I had spoken at length with Luis Alicea who is handling our infield positioning and we talked about a few specific guys and our defensive alignment for them. I had wanted to switch some things around and he had the defense in perfect position every time those hitters came into play today. That’s the stuff that you enjoy, when you see the preparation lead to actual outs. No one can see it, and no one usually knows it but 2-3 guys.

or

Q-what pitcher you think throws the best of each pitch being these days. we hear about Santana’s change-up or Rivera’s cutter. who do you think throws the best 2 seam fastball? 4 seamer? changeup? curveball? knuckleball? cutter? splitter? slider? forkball?
...
Cutter? Mo. 7 days a week and twice on Sunday. There are a lot of guys with very good cutters, John Lester has a great one, but no one touches Riveras cutter, literally. Given the praise people have for him I still would argue that he’s incredibly underrated when thinking all time best. This guy has constructed a first ballot HOF career on ONE PITCH. He knows he’s throwing it, the hitter knows he’s throwing it, the fans know he’s throwing it, and you still can’t hit it. He’s pitched the highest leverage innings his ENTIRE career, and dominated, with one pitch. No one else has ever done that, ever.
Splitter? Clemens, period. And I get to speak from experience on this one. Game 7 of the 2001 World Series and he’s throwing 94-95mph. I almost think I can deal with it after I see the first one. Then he breaks out a 92mph split, that drops off the table. 0-3 with 3k’s, no foul balls. It was so intimidating it was humorous. I think the best in the game, active pitcher, right now would be a toss up between Rich Harden and Papelbon. I can’t think of many others I see much but those two guys throw it incredibly hard with a ton of movement.

2007 Apr 17 10:43 (#3311.9623):
- cyn-c has a good index of articles.

2007 Apr 16 02:03 (#3298.9618):
It seems that for promoting your book, click click click slideshow is the new appear-on-letterman.

2007 Apr 16 01:48 (#3310.9617):
Are you fucking kidding me? Naked begins thus:

I'm thinking of asking the servants to wax my change before placing it in the Chinese tank I keep on my dresser. It's important to have clean money--not new, but well maintained. That's one of the tenets of my church. It's not mine personally, but the one I attend with my family: the Cathedral of the Sparkling Nature. It's that immense Gothic building with the towers and bells and statues of common people poised to leap from the spires. They offer tours and there's an open house the first Sunday of every October. You should come! Just don't bring your camera, because the flash tends to spook the horses, which is a terrible threat to me and my parents, seeing as the reverend insists that we occupy the first pew. He rang us up not long ago, tipsy--he's a tippler--saying that our faces brought him closer to God. And it's true, we're terribly good-looking people. They're using my mother's profile on the new monorail token, and as for my father and me, the people at NASA want to design a lunar module based on the shape of our skulls. Our cheekbones are aeronautic and the clefts of our chins can hold up to three dozen BBs at a time. When asked, most people say that my greatest asset is my skin, which glows--it really does! I have to tie a sock over my eyes in order to fall asleep at night. Others like my eyes or my perfect, gleaming teeth, my thick head of hair or my imposing stature, but if you want my opinion, I think my most outstanding feature is my ability to accept a compliment.

The New Republic is so credulous they don't detect any blurring of fact and fiction in this account? There's no wiggle room there?

2007 Apr 14 08:17 (#3279.9611):
I just now checked in with thinkgeek's crop of Afools products -- they're actually going to make a f'reals version of the 8-bit tie.

2007 Apr 13 03:55 (#3306.9609):
(RFI)

John, can you please give us a flavor of what an RFI would look like for "You forgot to put a door into this room, dumbass?"

Also, didn't they forget to put in a staircase to the building you work in? (One designed from scratch to house the construction company he works for, no less.)

2007 Apr 13 10:43 (#3306.9603):
Shh, you'll give away the location of Kitty Pryde's secret headquarters.

2007 Apr 13 12:01 (#3307.9600):
So far:
Whizziness:

Quicksilver

Growl

PCalc 3 widget

Transmission for BitTorrent

Adium for chat

Cyberduck for FTP

Chicken of the VNC

Firefox of course

fink

VLC for video

Remote Desktop and VNC

What else should I be seeking out?

Also: any hints on how to

Make home and end go to beginning/end of line?

Make Mod-Click on a window move/resize it (like in Xwindows)?

Make finder windows always open in columns mode sorted by Kind?

2007 Apr 12 01:29 (#3305.9591):
BTW, his point about reporting -- on the scandals as on almost everything else -- is spot-on.

Here’s the problem with modern political scandals: Many of the journalists and media outlets follow the case for months -- while it’s still under the radar of the American public. Then, when the scandal attracts a great deal of attention, the articles presuppose an audience as versed in the minutiae of the case as its authors. Readers interested in the big picture are left to piece together the backstory themselves.

I feel like I need a "Reviews of Modern Physics" style magazine, which would publish only things like the purgegate primer (though perhaps from an NPOV)... then I can watch the Daily Show in peace and still feel like I deserve my citizenship.

2007 Apr 12 01:12 (#3302.9590):
You want to have even # of teams in each league for schedule making purposes; Milwaukee would be the team to switch back, as it used to be in the AL. I guess I'm arguing that 4 out of 13 is statistically 1 in 3 (insufficient to reject the null hypothesis "teams from any division have equal chances at the wildcard"). How often have the Cubs had a good enough record to win a different division yet failed to make the playoffs?

The current playoff system has produced some of the most exciting outcomes in any major sport. If you made a list of the greatest playoff battles in the history of baseball, the 2004 ALCS, the 2001 WS and the 2002 WS go right into the pantheon; with (off the top of my head) the 2002 WS, 2004 NLCS, 2003 ALCS, 2001 ALDS, 2003 NLCS, 2003 WS, 1999 ALDS the recent era is overrepresented. These were fantastic back-and-forth battles that became instant classics. This system doesn't need fixing -- basketball's interminable and foreordained playoffs do, and hockey's would if they still played that in the US.

2007 Apr 11 11:41 (#3302.9584):
The asymmetric divisions, and especially with the asymmetric schedule, is unfair... but not so unfair as to keep a good team from making the playoffs. In the 13 years of the wildcard system, the NL central has produced 4 wildcard teams, including your Cubs. If they want to make the playoffs, they can win 60% of their games.

What's really unfair is making the Devil Rays and Blue Jays play in the same division as the Yankees, Red Sox and Orioles.

2007 Apr 11 11:32 (#3302.9583):
That Mariners team would be the one of the ones you'd start with if you were going to make a list of "great teams that didn't win it all." However, they folded 4-1 to the 2001 Yankees, who themselves lost to the Diamondbacks -- and if it weren't for the ridiculous drama of the three games won by walkoffs, that series would have been a drubbing of the Yanks by the Diamondbacks. The dbacks won 3 games by scores of 10-3, 5-3, and 15-2, and lost games by 2-1, 4-3 (9th inning comeback and 10th inning walkoff) and 3-2 (9th inning comeback and 12th inning walkoff) -- the deciding game 7 was won 3-2 when Arizona (playing at home) got the tying and winning runs off Mariano Rivera in the bottom of the 9th.

I go into so much detail because it shows why most people wouldn't file the Mariners under "great" teams. The goal of baseball is to win the World Series, and one consistent element of teams that do so is to have one or more dominant pitchers. That year, the Yankees had Mariano Rivera, Mike Mussina, Andy Pettite, Roger Clemens and El Duque: all in the all-star to HOF range, including the best reliever of all time and one of the five best pitchers of all time. When the Yankees needed to win four specific games, they had the weapons to do so. The Mariners had a pitching staff that may look close on paper (compare the ERA+ of each staff), but their staff ace (Garcia) appeared in 7.3 innings during the ALCS; and when the Mariners faced an elimination game they lost 12-3. (Garcia did not appear in that game). Another thing that may not be immediately apparent is that with the exception of Garcia their pitchers were 'finesse' types rather than power types -- baseball lore says finesse eats up weak teams but fares poorly against strong teams. Their relief ace (Kaz Sasaki) appeared in 1 game and lost, earning a 54.00 ERA; Rivera pitched 4.7 innings in 4 games with 1 win, 2 saves and a 1.93 ERA.

As it turns out, to beat the Yankees team all Arizona needed were Curt Schilling and Randy Johnson. They won 22 and 21 games resp during the regular season, which is why the Diamondbacks got /into/ the playoffs. There's an almost laughable differential in W-L of games started by Schilling and Johnson vs. the rest of the staff. In the World Series, however, the two of them started five games, with Johnson famously appearing in relief during game 7; their combined pitching line was 38.6 innings pitched (out of 65), for a combined 21 hits, 5 walks, 45 strikeouts and a 1.40 ERA. Each of these metrics is somewhere between great and mind-blowing -- and it came against a high-quality opponent sparing no effort.

If Arizona, NYY, and SEA went through a 30-game playoffs, spread out over a month -- long enough to necessitate regular pitching rotations and rest schedules -- I think the Yankees would probably have won, but it's possible the Mariners consistent hitting would have prevailed. The Diamondbacks would win precisely 2/5 of their games and come in a clear third.

However, though the playoff system has evolved over time, this simple fact hasn't changed: to win the World Series, you have to have the endurance to make the playoffs and then the concentrated strength to take a high-stakes series against a premier opponent. When I look at the 2001 Mariners, I see a team that excels at the first but is clearly inferior -- in many ways, and in the empirical outcome -- at the second and more difficult test.

2007 Apr 11 05:50 (#3302.9580):
You can also skip that dope and instead read what one of the all-time great baseball writers has to say about baseball's playoff system. (Note that this article was written right *before* two of the best 7-game series the game has ever seen).

Boswell's latest article also touches on the balance between allowing an underdog to rise up and ensuring greatness prevails.

2007 Apr 11 05:29 (#3302.9579):
Actually, I think baseball is the only major sport with a well-designed playoff system. In baseball, only good teams can make the playoffs -- the regular season is incredibly important -- as opposed to basketball, where half the teams make the playoffs, which last for like three months. In football, with necessarily n=1, the error is large.

It's true that 7 games could allow for a lesser team to beat a better team, but I don't think it will let a lesser team beat a great team -- in fact, I challenge you to put forth a better operational definition of greatness.

There are also a couple things that make the picture not as simple as Reid laid out above. In the regular season you pitch your #5 starter once every 5 days, and you rest players, and you beat up on Kansas City, and you don't pull it all out, and players get injured and your team dynamic shifts. For these reasons I think a short playoff series against a strong opponent is a MUCH better indicator of quality than a full season.

I think that playing 162 games against average competition is a reliable test of goodness, while playing 7 high-leverage games against a high-quality opponent is a reliable crucible for determining greatness. It's hard to avoid reasoning circularly, but I don't know of a team that's considered "great" that didn't advance far in the playoffs.

Most people would agree that the last two years' playoffs have been surprising (you may read this as "produced low-quality victors") because none of the teams involved were great. Three years ago, there were four teams that looked like they had legitimate claims to greatness -- one of them won, more of them may have been. You can make an argument that the '05 White Sox were great but there were many flaws, highlighted in their late-season swoon. I think, however, that the Cards won last year because they were good, and lucky, and played well at the right time, and had pitching/defense/managing/Pujols (and for all these reasons deserved to win) but that they were simply the one that prevailed among several good-not-great teams. Therefore, I don't see either of the past two years as any kind of indictment on baseball's playoff system.

2007 Apr 11 01:11 (#3301.9574):
yeah I went back and forth several times on which three-step process to use. Anyway, step 2 is "put your junk in that box."

2007 Apr 09 01:55 (#3300.9566):
Careful clicking on the breedband ladies. Always use protection.

As for horking the file, what loads is a player which requests a file (cipier_dsl.flv) -- but requesting that file directly fails; the player must pass along a token in the referrer.

While playing the file, a 2.288MB file appears in my /temp directory which I assume is the .flv -- however, I can't copy this out of the directory and attempts to unlock/gain permissions to it either fail or disappear the file.

So I'm out of ideas. Try loading it on a linux or mac, figuring out where the downloaded file appears, and then I can help you see if that is in fact a .flv. Or, if you can figure out how to get shared read access to a /temp file that works too.

Do you have any idea what the product/company is pitching?

2007 Apr 09 01:54 (#3294.9565):
also: the full audio, such as it is.

2007 Apr 09 01:45 (#3294.9563):
More:

WaPo Chat with the article's author, including a funny story about bureaucracy and the lyrics to a pertinent Joni Mitchell song.

Bruce Springsteen busks "The River" on a Copenhagen street corner.

U2 plays Where the Streets Have No Name on a rooftop in LA in homage to the Beatles (A markedly different experiment, but good to revisit this one.)

Improv Everywhere spoofs U2 paying homage to the Beatles. I have a few big problems with this prank, but in some ways it's the contrapositive of the article's premise: What happens when we present Not-Art as Art? (See also Banksy)

2007 Apr 08 11:29 (#3285.9558):
from best of CL

2007 Apr 08 09:31 (#3294.9557):
I'd like to think I would have stopped -- I usually do for stuff like this -- but who are we kidding, I would have already been 10 minutes late to work.

Also, I hope that a red-letter day for every street performer in the greater DC metropolitan area followed publication of this article...

2007 Apr 08 12:19 (#3297.9551):
I'm trying to talk myself out of getting a cuecat to scan the rest of my library. If I fail to do so it's available for loan.

2007 Apr 08 04:41 (#3297.9547):
Make sure to check out the unsuggester. People who have "ANSI Common LISP" in their library are unlikely to own "Wuthering Heights" (go figure); the opposite of "The Devil Wears Prada" is "Knowing God."

More from my library: #3 opposite "Now I Can Die in Peace" by Bill Simmons is "The Confessions of St Augustine;" the opposite of "Being Peace" by Thich Nhat Hanh is "Speaker for the Dead" by O.S. Card (both owned by me).

2007 Apr 07 11:03 (#3296.9545):
Also enjoy: Tag sales in Lawngyland.

2007 Apr 06 12:13 (#3290.9541):
Also enjoy Ralphie's Bop City, like an early Dial-A-Song.

2007 Apr 06 03:10 (#3258.9539):
This just in: they're apparently tallying opinions among several available options with a view towards eventually identifying a consensus choice.

2007 Apr 03 05:47 (#3245.9521):
In other basketball news, Judy Conradt's shoes appear to have been admirably filled.

2007 Apr 03 05:34 (#3280.9520):
Buying a car on credit is a terrible idea. Buying a brand-new car is a terrible idea. Replacing your car every few years is a terrible idea.

The right comparison is leasing vs. ownership expenses and the opportunity cost of buying in cash, minus asset replacement after about 8 years. There's little question this will come up significantly to the benefit of buying a car (considering the false comparison above found leasing to be a toss-up).

If you can afford lease payments on a brand-new car, you can afford to buy a comparable slightly used car and a repair plan in cash.

2007 Apr 03 03:10 (#3245.9517):
96th percentile bracket, impressive! Expect prizes at happy hour Friday. Must be present to claim prize.

2007 Apr 03 02:41 (#3281.9512):
Differential gears

2007 Apr 03 02:36 (#3280.9511):
Bubble Bench (from bubblicious). And yes, the opportunity cost parameter is supposed to account for investing in a balanced/index fund at 8% return, and the "Other monthly house expenses" are expected to account for insurance, HOA fees, and upkeep for maintaining 'a wooden box that sits out in the rain and slowly rots.'

2007 Apr 02 03:07 (#3280.9506):
Wikipedia:McMansion

2007 Apr 02 02:40 (#3280.9505):
The article makes the point that you should compare the costs of renting (a house) with the costs of renting (money to buy a house). You then have to account for the benefits (freedom, pride of ownership, tax relief) and liabilities (insurance, asset risk, repair cost risk, maintenance costs; plus costs of commuting and social capital if the house is farther away).

This costs of ownership calculator lets you figure the true costs of renting v. buying. The big variable here, of course, is the home's appreciation rate. For a 200,000 dollar home with 20,000 down at 6.5% 30-yr mortgage; 25% tax rate and $1800 equivalent rent for 5 years with 8% opportunity costs, 7% cost to sell. I don't know about the other variables. At -5% appreciation ownership is better (by $15k) at -10% renting is better (by $16.7k) over the 5 years.

Also: I browsed craigslist and the uber-annoying rent.com for the $1800 figure. There are sweet centrally located houses for about that, and ridiculous condos as well. The rental market is truly soft.

2007 Apr 01 03:24 (#3274.9493):
2007 Edible Book Festival photoset plus festival's photos here. There are more I have to get from flanders.

2007 Mar 31 05:38 (#3277.9489):
Gratz TWitB! (If you change your name I vote for "The West are the Best"; no reason.) And as for spelling differences, haven't you heard that in West Virginia it's all Relative?

2007 Mar 31 05:35 (#3274.9488):
As it turns out, the answer is "Fantastic Idea"! A sweep by Alkaline Earthlings, with "A Havarti-breaking Work of Saga and Cheeses" taking Best in Show, Beckto's gloriously executed "One Brew over the Cocoa's Nest" taking wittiest, and Nanocindy's "Last of the Mojito's" justifiably taking tastiest. Yay us!

2007 Mar 31 03:00 (#3276.9484):
Those were freaking hilarious, esp. the Rita Moreno bit. From the post title I thought it was gonna be something more along the lines of Bea Arthur vs Velociraptor.

2007 Mar 30 03:37 (#3274.9481):
Sadly no monster in the title: it's "Frankenstein; or, The Modern Prometheus"

And Banana Karenina has the IM chatter going nuts

2007 Mar 30 03:16 (#3274.9479):
The A-maize-ing Adventures of Java, Beer and Whey

My entry will be a literary cheese plate entitled "A Havartibreaking Work of Saga and other Cheeses" (many these entries are from heavy collab w/ Natedawgk & Nanocindy):
The Gouda rth by Pearl Buck
Havarti in the Harem by Charef
Two gruYears before the Mostacchioli by Richard Henry Dana
Yeast of Edam by John Steinbeck
Harry Potter and the Cheddar of Sucrets by JK Rowling
Brieve new World (nate) or Brie-dshead Revisited (flip) or A Long Walk to Briedom (nanoc)
The Parmesan Also Rises by Hemingwhey (nate)
I am the Cheese by Cormier (nate)
The Fontinahead by Ayn Rand (nate)
Asiago Like It by Shakespeare (nate)
Emmentaler on the Mountain (nate)
Go Tilsit on the Mountain
Paneeromancer (nate)
Things Fall Aport Salut by Chinua Acheesey

Two other joint nate-flip submissions:
The Ground Round of the Baskerdill pickles
Loli-tamale (a lollipop tamale, obvs)

2007 Mar 30 02:44 (#3274.9477):
The Adventures of Augie Marzapan
American Enchiladas Al Pastor(al)
An American Tragicheese
Are you there, God? It's me, Margarine.
Neuromanwich
Mrs. Dallowhey
Play It As It Lays®
Naked Lunchables

Mo'lysses
The Gouda rth
A Million Little Reese's Pieces (I had the idea second!)

2007 Mar 30 01:11 (#3272.9471):
I swam from the US to mexico once! Does that count?

2007 Mar 30 01:10 (#3263.9470):
Maddog lives! (And very sneakily covers his top-scoring tracks!)

2007 Mar 29 06:24 (#3156.9464):
Christian Marclay's "Telephones" (1995) -- apparently Apple asked him if they could use "Telephones" for their ad; he refused; so they ripped it off. Sucky. more Marclay. (thanks for this and 80% of today's links, kottke)

2007 Mar 29 03:34 (#3266.9457):
The 25 Worst Rapper Names of All Time. Looking down the list, I enjoy the work of more than half the inductees.

2007 Mar 27 09:29 (#3266.9454):
Also: how many back tattoos of Yngwie Malmsteen's "Trilogy" are out there? Hundreds unless I miss my guess.

2007 Mar 27 09:18 (#3266.9453):
I enjoyed the Onion AV Club's well-chosen mixtape/anthology "26 Songs that are just as good as short stories." I submit "The Boiler" by The Special AKA (later The Specials) for inclusion. This blog says exactly what I'd mean to about the song:

The Boiler is a song that everyone really needs to hear at least once. After that, it's your call.
Things to note about the Boiler before you listen. This was released by the Specials at the height of their powers. It received - unsurprisingly - no airplay. It was still a Top 40 hit. I'll repeat the last one, as it floors me almost as much as the record: this was a hit single.

I scraped up most of the songs, and a few notable reader suggestions. (Password is JV's catchphrase. If you have T-Bone Burnett's "The Strange Case Of Frank Cash And The Morning Paper" to share, pray tell.)

2007 Mar 26 12:39 (#3252.9440):
How about super powers... has the cat exhibited super powers yet?

2007 Mar 25 06:08 (#3255.9435):
What are they gonna do with the sign? I hope they keep the old RITZ sign in some form -- it's, well, quite ritzy -- and graft the Alamo brand in a natural way.

2007 Mar 25 05:29 (#3245.9434):
Wow, chris almost has this sewn up before the final four starts. But even more impressive is Carl playing both sides against the middle: competing for the #1 spot early, then deftly pivoting to make what looks like a solid bid for the coveted 2nd-worst prize.

Well played!

2007 Mar 23 12:10 (#3258.9428):
JK, which letter is yours again?

2007 Mar 23 12:09 (#3255.9427):
This is such a good solution for both the Alamo and the Ritz. I look forward to nothing being able to succeed in the old Alamo space (wtf greedy bastid landlord).

2007 Mar 20 08:45 (#3252.9418):
Discarded Chan Marshall as wrong sex.....

2007 Mar 19 04:00 (#3252.9403):
... Not to mention a local vodka and the King of the Timbale.

Other names I suggested that were rejected include Domino, Motherfucker; Reepicheep; and Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus.

Instead I offer scoresby (would be lyra but wrong sex), pogo or parker. Alas mehitabel also doesn't work.

also: Kitty!

2007 Mar 18 02:32 (#3245.9386):

Notice (notice!) that right now I have 180 points. Which is more than some slow clap (drip?) mommas. Nyuh!!!

Good luck with that bracket going forward, javelina. /nelson laugh

2007 Mar 16 05:27 (#3245.9383):
/em slow claps for Javelina and Bitchass. Also: is SG the Sports Gal, or the Sports Guy, or splatnikGanglion? Great idea BTW.

Also also: are there prizes? Do they go to best and second-worst again? I'd be happy to put in some Toy Joy toy joy if you'll handle distribution, natedogg or other organized soul...

2007 Mar 16 05:21 (#3249.9382):
mrflip is a vegetarian. But he also has two thumbs and agrees with thisguy.

2007 Mar 14 09:44 (#3249.9375):
Something to celebrate! Is it better than Talk Like Pirate Day -OR- Pi Day? Hell ya!

2007 Mar 13 06:15 (#3247.9368):
Say hi to Zipper when you're out there...

2007 Mar 13 03:25 (#3245.9367):
Speaking of fantasy sports... you know I'm not a big John Kruk fan, but keep your eyes peeled for the FANTASTIC fantasy baseball ad starring Kruk (renting Danzig's tattoo collection for the week), the guitar stylings of Peter Gammons (renting Sebastian Bach's hair) and Bronson Arroyo (Kid Rock's facial hair on permanent loan), Key-tars, sparklers and dancers. If Flivo® catches it I'll let y'all know.

2007 Mar 13 04:38 (#3245.9365):
Ummm.... I didn't mean to make three. I can't seem to edit or delete an entry. I'll try again in the morning.

There has been an error processing your request.Please either hit the back button on your browser or return to the Men's Tournament Challenge Frontpage.

2007 Mar 06 07:42 (#3239.9342):
Foursquare, dodgeball, kickball; watermelon seed spitting; three-legged race; chicken fighting.

I'd like to have a running of the Tridorkathalon: Dizzy Run, pedal Big Wheel around obstacle course, Slip 'n' Slide as run, bike, swim. This requires getting hold of two big wheels and a slip'n'slide.

Also, Hot Sauce tasting -- with actually potent hot sauce this time. Or just "Danger Foods" as a multipoint event (1 point per danger food).

2007 Mar 03 03:09 (#3226.9325):
Two free dayshows that you can actually get into quite easily, one featuring the Melvins and the other featuring Ghostface Killah and Rakim (of Erik B & fame). Don't sweat the technique, just head over to the link above and give 'em your javelinasmomatgmaildotcom@yahoo.com email addy. I've been to these in past years -- it's a bit odd (and somewhat low-energy) to see hiphop in brigh sunlight midday, but still: Ghostface and Rakim are legends, and the show is free.

2007 Feb 21 10:44 (#3228.9296):
In the past, for students halfway between a B and an A or a C and a B -- usually ones that I couldn't tell how hard they were actually working vs. struggling with material -- I've awarded the lower of the two, figuring that if they came to ask about their grade I'd promptly raise it. Maybe that makes me part of the problem...

(Though in my defense I would only raise the grade for such a student, and only one who came in with a reasoned request to consider -- not one who rode in from bawling league on the whaaambulance carrying a bottle of sour whine.)

2007 Feb 20 03:16 (#3218.9292):
Moved to Auditorium Shores, it seems.

2007 Feb 15 01:53 (#3220.9276):
No one wants that day. Trust Me.

2007 Feb 14 01:50 (#3219.9267):
I have also been having problems and wondering WTF. Good thing we have a ^^^ network engineer on staff.

2007 Feb 13 04:00 (#3217.9256):
There was a hack like this against the UT soda machines a while back. Buncha people got suspended/expelled if I recall, and they had to pay the money back.

2007 Feb 12 05:36 (#3210.9249):
Speaking of advvertising, What are the demographics of Skymall Country? I bet Giant Glasses Lady and Green Fingers-Face are revered as royalty. Giant royalty.

2007 Feb 12 05:33 (#3211.9248):
That's awesome. I'm moving Yojimbo up my list of movies to see.

2007 Feb 12 05:23 (#3213.9247):
I'm excited to see that the first wave of Borat biters is coming to market, and that they are exactly as hamfisted as I predicted. Seems like they got what they came for, and deserved.

/em buckles in, awaits Reid's reaction...

2007 Feb 12 05:22 (#3216.9246):
PS It turns out OK for Wolfgang Vogel -- see here with Times Select:

For 25 years during the cold war, Wolfgang Vogel swapped spies and traded political prisoners from a law office in East Berlin. A confidant of leaders in East and West Germany, Mr. Vogel was trusted by the Central Intelligence Agency as well as the K.G.B., earning a reputation as a humanitarian for enabling 250,000 East Germans to get to freedom in the West and becoming one of the Communist world's few millionaires in the process.

But his world turned upside down after the Berlin wall fell in 1989. A few former clients complained he had swindled them, and after unification in 1990 German prosecutors agreed, asserting that his law practice had been just a Communist secret-police scam to press his fellow citizens to give up their houses and property at fire-sale prices in exchange for permission to leave East Germany.

In January 1996, a state court in Berlin found him guilty on five counts of blackmail. He appealed the convictions, and the same court acquitted him of 32 similar charges later the same year.

Now Mr. Vogel, 73, has his good name back. Germany's highest court found in his favor on two of the appealed cases and announced this week that prosecutors had agreed to drop the others.

He and his lawyers say they expect that next week a Berlin tax court will drop parallel charges of evading $5.6 million in taxes on money the West German authorities paid him for arranging secret prisoner releases.

''I made some mistakes, I admit that,'' Mr. Vogel said in a telephone interview from the Bavarian Alps, where he and his wife and longtime assistant, Helga, have retired. ''But dropping the charges of blackmail removes the stain on my reputation.''

2007 Feb 12 03:35 (#3212.9245):
I loaned $25 each to two people in June 2006; both loans are 50% repaid and on schedule.

The first is Boris Puero Candela in Ecuador, who received a $1200 loan

Boris Puero is a 39 year old computer technician in Guayaquil. At his shop he repairs computers with hardware and software issues and sells computer accessories. He also helps his clients get connected online and shows them how to use the power of the Internet to their advantage. This in itself is a valuable service to the community as he is helping to bridge the technology gap and break paradigms in computer literacy. Currently he counts on the help of two employees who all help him run his shop from 8 AM until 10 PM. He intends to use the loan to add another employee, buy accessories in bulk and buy newer tools for computer repair.

The second is to Jan Gathiru of Kenya, who received a $750 loan:

She started her business with her husband in 2001. The business has grown over the years to be the best in Muranga Town and this has led to the opening of another outlet on another street. On average the butchery sells 100kgs per day and at every end of month the demand is so high and this calls for attention.

Apparently the demand for beef spikes at the end of each month, when people can afford it -- this loan lets her handle the peak demand, when most of the money is to be made.

I will roll over these loans to new businesses when they're paid off. It's a great model for helping people directly, and my experience with it has been excellent.

2007 Feb 12 03:23 (#3204.9244):

I must have seen that movie 4 or 5 times...but I can't look at a doughnut machine and not think about it.

Same here -- why did the movie make such an impression? Probably cause it didn't make sense why the hell we were watching it in school.

The initial plot was the doughnut machine wouldn't turn off and they end up making like 3000 doughnuts.....

Oh yeah, and I think the rich lady ends up pitching in or something. Damn, I'm gonna have to wait til the 16mm films guy comes to the Alamo and see what he knows.

2007 Feb 07 03:24 (#3204.9213):
Does anyone else remember watching a short film in school where this rich lady loses her ring in the donut mix at a donut shop and they have to find it?

I have no idea why that movie was a school movie, but I know it was used as a rainy day/teacher hungover bailout three or four times thru elementary school...

2007 Feb 06 02:03 (#3203.9203):
Also also -- on re-watching, how is a giant penis-stroking silhouette less racy than a blurry transient glimpse of secondary sexual characteristic? I don't understand puritans, I think.

2007 Feb 05 02:54 (#3199.9200):
OK, so comments are working on the new site. Stupid MySQL 5.0 SELECT LIMIT changes! 'yknowaddimean?

Please resume breaking the other site.

2007 Feb 04 12:20 (#3199.9195):
Now is your chance to abuse that site as much as you want. Post pictures of your friends kids' poop. Flame pablo and sG. Try to break the passwords. Make posts without providing a URL! It's like the wild wild west over there, but without mechanical spiders!

2007 Feb 01 01:07 (#3185.9171):
We were asked to show how the signal from a GPS satellite could be used to measure the ionosphere thickness. It's a pretty hard but reasonable problem, and most people I think got the formula showing how to do this.

As one of the few people who actually plugged in numbers and interpreted them -- showing the effect existed but was uselessly small at the GPS signal's wavelength -- I got a very high score.

2007 Feb 01 12:30 (#3191.9170):
1) How do you write that article and not even broach the idea that the officials may have overreacted?

2) How do you not include a photo of the device? or am I not seeing it?

2007 Jan 30 09:16 (#3183.9162):
Wow, good video Nate!

2007 Jan 22 12:18 (#3170.9129):
how big is your spaceship?

2007 Jan 21 11:26 (#3162.9128):
While I for one welcome our new capacitive touch-sensing overlords, it's the prospect of incredibly well-thought out interface design that excites me, more than any high-fashion crossbranding and an overkill camera lens.

2007 Jan 21 11:21 (#3180.9127):
That is an extraordinary piece of graphic design. I'm reminded of the Salyut 6 cyclogram (from Tufte of course):

Handmade by a Russian cosmonaut, Georgi Grechko, this cyclogram shows a 96-day flight of Salyut 6. Some 22 parallel time-series show 1500 sunrises and 1500 sunsets during the flight, a schedule for space walks and baths, and visits of resupply ships bringing equipment, fresh fruit, and gingerbread.

2007 Jan 18 11:35 (#3174.9106):
Also good: Bush Pilot

2007 Jan 18 05:57 (#3171.9105):
It's simple, really -- just watch Stephen Colbert explain the whole thing.

2007 Jan 16 03:54 (#3170.9098):
Star Trekkin'

2007 Jan 10 10:15 (#3158.9061):
Cut it out with the trolling, sG.

2007 Jan 10 02:47 (#3157.9057):
More etymology notes from all over: in Stevenson's previous Dubai article, he mentions "running the gantlet." 'Gantlet' refers to a section of two adjacent parallel railroad tracks. It is also an acceptable alternate spelling of 'gauntlet,' (protective glove) -- the two words share an etymology for this word sense. However, 'running the gauntlet' -- a victim is forced to run between two facing lines of armed tormentors -- should be spelled gauntlet:

But the gauntlet used in to run the gauntlet is an alteration of the earlier English form gantlope, which came from the Swedish word gatlopp, a compound of gata, “lane,” and lopp, “course.” The earliest recorded form of the English word, found in 1646, is gantelope, showing that alteration of the Swedish word had already occurred. The English word was then influenced by the spelling of the word gauntlet, “glove,” and in 1676 we find the first recorded instance of the spelling gauntlet for this word, although gantelope is found as late as 1836. From then on spellings with au and a are both found, but the au seems to have won out.

2007 Jan 10 02:32 (#3157.9056):
Do yourself a solid and check out the George Saunders article "The New Mecca," about Dubai; either in the Nov 2005 GQ (on shelves in the PCL) or in the Best American Non-Required Reading 2006 (ed. Dave Eggers).

Fuck concepts. Don’t be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more until the day you die, world without end, amen.

2007 Jan 10 01:58 (#3156.9055):
So every couple years (as the old one would wear out) I'd go buy my grandmom a boom box so she could listen to Benny Goodman, Bing Crosby, or the weather. I would take the thing home, get it out of the box, and tape off all the buttons except "Play," "Stop," and "Eject." To these I would attach large labels with 1" tall letters; the others were entirely superfluous and would remain ignored. I'd tune the radio to one FM station and one AM station, and leave her totally in business: with a box that did everything she needed, nothing she didm't, and had buttons she could read.

Now you're telling me you couldn't take a Fisher Price Boom Box, change the colors, and make millions marketing them to oldsters?

My mom, meanwhile, has owned three iterations of exactly one cell-phone. She does not text-message or take photos on her camera and would not even if she new how. She does not care about ultra light weight or das blinkenlights. She only cares that it has 10 digits, a phone book (set up by mrflip.com tech support personnel), be build solid and fit in her purse. If they sold a phone with the largest possible buttons and the smallest possible featureset she'd buy that brand and never look back.

2007 Jan 10 01:23 (#3119.9053):
My Box in a Box was played on Olbermann.

"We didn't bleep it, mostly because we couldn't figure out how -- and that's a sign of good satire."

2007 Jan 09 06:41 (#3152.9040):
My brother and I were debating whether clearing downtown was a reasonable response to finding the dead birds. Keep in mind that besides the commercial costs to downtown enterprises and the intangible costs of public anxiety from what seems to be a false alarm, there were real costs of overhead and operations for emergency and municipal workers to shut down all of downtown. This is money that could have been spent investigating drugs, theft, abuse or even real terrorist threats. Was this an overreaction or prudent crisis management?

2007 Jan 09 06:36 (#3153.9039):
PS the previous comment may not be safe for work.

2007 Jan 09 06:36 (#3153.9038):
Fucking check the fuck out this fucking list, you dry-fucking fucks -- this is a fucking interesting shitfucking fucking indexing of motherfucking major fucking films by the tittyfucking number of fucking times the assfucking word "fuck" is fucking fuck fuck used. Fuckin' A.

2007 Jan 08 06:28 (#3150.9025):
Dittman's previous appearance on AE

2007 Jan 08 06:24 (#3151.9024):
I lucked into the unstoppable funk classic MFSB by True Sound of Philadelphia (feat. the Three Degrees). January I never heard of, but I knew Pick up the Pieces by Average White Band -- it's on the Swinger's Soundtrack. Maybe I won't be a total fucking liability in the World Series of Pop Culture.

Would someone please translate Ben's comment re: Sir Duke and being born in Saginaw?

2007 Jan 07 02:04 (#3145.9013):
More on Hedy Lamarr and Frequency-Hopping Spread Spectrum broadcasts.

2007 Jan 04 09:03 (#3110.9001):
More on squean, grawlix, jarn, and quimp:

Written as a satire on the comic devices cartoonists use, the book quickly became a textbook for art students. Walker researched cartoons around the world to collect this international set of cartoon symbols. The names he invented for them now appear in dictionaries.

2007 Jan 04 04:25 (#3138.8994):
Harrison Bergeron (based on a Vonnegut short story, and starring the ubiquitous Goonie Rudy of the Shire) would actually make a cromulent XMFC flick as well. More:

The Affairs of Dobie Gillis (one 's')

Steamer 'Stowell' Running the Narrows (1900) (Filmed, I believe, in Cleveland)

The Schirmer Inheritance (1957) (TV)

Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (1973)

2007 Jan 04 04:23 (#3135.8993):
That's funny -- I had been thinking that Britney forgoing knickers to hang out with Lindsay Lohan and Paris Hilton was a celeb version of going from Babyface to Heel, really her only option at this point. Well, here's K-Fed going heel in an *actual* wrestling match. Good luck to them both!

2007 Jan 04 04:07 (#3141.8992):
About Sacha Baron Cohen's Undergraduate Thesis (titled "The 'Black-Jewish Alliance': A Case of Mistaking Identities.")

2007 Jan 04 04:02 (#3141.8991):
Interestingly, I had just logged in to post this. I don't think I would have done as enthusiastic a job though! Note that this interview is with Cohen, not Borat -- one of the few recent ones where he drops character. Also, I found it interesting, that the interviewer, uptalks? Like she doesn't, form grammmatical question structures? She just forms them with inflection?

2007 Jan 01 05:08 (#3132.8980):
Do any of the patents help you take pictures of your sack at a wedding?

2006 Dec 30 02:01 (#3130.8979):
Google responds to Natedogg in advance

2006 Dec 28 12:58 (#3128.8974):
An excerpt from the wikipedia page on Pachelbel: Pachelbel's music was influenced by south German composers such as Johann Jakob Froberger and Johann Kaspar Kerll. ... During his early youth, Pachelbel received musical training from Georg Caspar Wecker, organist of the Church of Saint Sebald (Sebalduskirche) ... Wecker [was] trained by Johann Erasmus Kindermann, one of the founders of the Nuremberg musical tradition, himself a pupil of Johann Staden.

Johann Mattheson, whose Grundlage einer Ehrenpforte (Hamburg, 1740) is one of the most important sources of information about Pachelbel's life, mentions that the young Pachelbel demonstrated exceptional musical and academic abilities. ... Pachelbel in 1670 became a scholarship student at the Gymnasium poeticum at Regensburg. His teacher was Kaspar Prentz, a student of Johann Kaspar Kerll.

In 1673 Pachelbel moved to Vienna. ... Several renowned cosmopolitan composers worked there, most of them contributing to the exchange of musical traditions in Europe. In particular, Johann Jakob Froberger served as court organist in Vienna until 1657 and was succeeded by Alessandro Poglietti, and most importantly, Johann Kaspar Kerll moved to Vienna in 1673. In 1677 Pachelbel moved to Eisenach, where he found employment as court organist to Johann Georg I, Duke of Saxe-Eisenach. He met the Bach family in Eisenach (which was the home city of Johann Sebastian Bach's father, Johann Ambrosius Bach), becoming a close friend of Johann Ambrosius and tutoring his children.

In June 1678, Pachelbel was employed as organist of the Lutheran Preacher's Church (Predigerkirche) in Erfurt, succeeding Johann Bach, the eldest son of Hans Bach. The Bach family was very well known in Erfurt (where virtually all organists would later be called "Bachs"), so Pachelbel's friendship with them continued here: Pachelbel became godfather to Johann Ambrosius' daughter, Johanna Juditha, and taught Johann Christoph Bach. Pachelbel['s] son, Johann Michael, became an instrument maker.
...
One of the last middle Baroque composers, Pachelbel ... did influence Johann Sebastian Bach (indirectly: the young Johann Sebastian was tutored by Johann Christoph Bach, who studied with Pachelbel), but although JS Bach's early chorales and chorale variations borrow from Pachelbel's music, the style of northern German composers (Georg Böhm, Dieterich Buxtehude, Johann Adam Reincken) played a more important role in the development of Bach's talent. Composer, musicologist and writer Johann Gottfried Walther is probably the most famous of the composers influenced by Pachelbel.

2006 Dec 27 02:02 (#3127.8971):
The correction at the end of the JB article serves as an obituary-in-brief:

Correction: December 27, 2006.
An obituary yesterday about James Brown misidentified the Georgia city where he took part in an annual Christmas toy giveaway on Friday. It was Augusta, not Atlanta. It also misstated the year in which he led the police on a car chase across the Georgia-South Carolina border. It was 1988, not 1987.

2006 Dec 27 01:37 (#3127.8970):
Glad to see Jim Varney cracks the "celebrity" barrier. And yeah -- the "Deaths come in Threes" is classic Multiple Endpoints Fallacy with a little bit of clustering illusion thrown in.

2006 Dec 27 11:39 (#3127.8967):
Spike Lee is no the job

2006 Dec 27 11:33 (#3127.8966):
R.I.P. Accidental President; Tom Brokaw reported this back in 1996 (thx waxy).

2006 Dec 27 11:16 (#2898.8965):
Noah K with celebs backstage at VH1's "We Have an Award Show, Too." Great Interview about the project:

Liz: What is David Hasselhoff doing to you in the photo?
NK: I would like to think that he is calling KITT to come pick us up.

2006 Dec 21 06:54 (#3119.8958):
NBC: you can say 'dick' on the internet. (working uncensored link to vid.)

2006 Dec 21 06:42 (#3074.8957):
More Backstory

2006 Dec 19 08:50 (#3120.8954):
"After the refund program is completed, any unused funds will be disgorged to the U.S. Treasury." I was all set to make fun of the word disgorged, which I only knew in its senses of "spew forth" or "vomit," but the word also has a third sense of "to give up what has been wrongfully appropriated" (OED definition -- UT ID req'd). So there you go.

2006 Dec 14 01:31 (#3112.8935):
I also enjoyed their Movie Poster Oddities and the Movie Posters Before and After. I would *totally* go see "Grumpy Old Men In Black Hawk Down and Out in Beverly Hills Cop Land Before Time Cop", especially if it's on a double bill with "Tron Golden Pond."

2006 Dec 12 07:29 (#3110.8934):
Words I've played or had played on me: aglet, feat, harp, quimp, kick, punt, peen, rowel, tang, zarf.

Which is also the answer to the question "What does Pinky sound like when the adderal wears off."

2006 Dec 04 06:08 (#3095.8891):
Enjoy this completely unrelated article about an amateur cyclist who goes on a full regime of performance-enhancing drugs.

2006 Dec 01 01:33 (#3094.8879):
Wish your smooth had more gay in it? Enjoy ~~Kenny Rogers'~~ BradyFan83's Brady.

2006 Dec 01 12:17 (#3094.8876):
Now I see where the Indigo Girls ripped off "Galileo" [edit--fixed]

2006 Nov 29 11:06 (#3091.8872):
That's a very... flattering photo of Ms. Reiman.

2006 Nov 20 04:42 (#3077.8843):
Ça fait mal, indeed. Also: nice backing track.

2006 Nov 15 01:44 (#3072.8833):
Farther down the page, it says In the US, asking a person out on a date and not offering to pay means you are not romantically interested and sends a mixed message. Especially if you're a dude.

2006 Nov 14 01:31 (#2787.8828):
on youtube

2006 Nov 14 11:43 (#3071.8827):

Some Like it Hot

OC & Stiggs

~~Ferris Bueller's Day Off~~ Dr. Strangelove

The Big Lebowski

~~Top Secret!~~ The Producers

Also: looking at the AFI list it took me until like the fifth row to figure out why they thought "10" was the greatest comedy of all-time.

2006 Nov 13 03:52 (#3071.8823):
That is the best first paragraph of an NYT article I think I've ever seen.

Also: 'Rent' and 'Gates of Heaven' are inspired choices for 'Essential Comedies of all-time'.

2006 Oct 28 04:16 (#3035.8760):
Firefox 2 Tweaks

2006 Oct 28 04:05 (#3039.8759):
Short Stories? Shortest Stories.

2006 Oct 24 05:38 (#3031.8734):
Speaking of things that interest sG, enjoy these photos of the space shuttle launch, taken from the IIS. Nate points out that some skepticism is in order, but if real they're extraordinary.

2006 Oct 17 10:14 (#3019.8700):
I saw this site referenced recently in the context of the fast life and spectacular meltdown of Gizmondo, a hazily-conceived PSP derivative designed mostly for separating rich, foolish investors from their money. Wrecked exotics flogged the story for weeks until all the sordid details spilled out -- it's absolutely MIND BOGGLING what this guy got away with.

2006 Oct 17 10:08 (#3018.8699):
As it turns out, I am terrible at sudoku -- ADD seems to solidly trump puzzle-solving ability for me. So I found the puzzle fairly hard but doable, which means it's a medium.

2006 Oct 17 02:56 (#3014.8695):
Man goes to the doctor and says, "Doctor, I can't stop singing 'What's New, Pussycat' and 'The Green, Green Grass of Home' -- what's wrong with me?"

The doctor frowns and says, "Well, sounds like you might have Tom Jones syndrome." The patient worriedly asks if that disease is common; "Well," the doctor gravely replies, "It's not unusual."

2006 Oct 17 02:35 (#3013.8694):
Apparently that picture really is Scott Spezio, and that tattoo really is his wife. Classy!

Since natedogg is so eager to be a part of the bet I will now sweeten it: if the Cardinals prevail I will wear an airbrushed temporary tatto reproducing that one for a week. Nate and I shall split the cost of same.

2006 Oct 17 01:35 (#3011.8682):
I remember reading Kevin Carter's obit when he passed... crazy.

2006 Oct 17 01:23 (#3013.8681):
In other baseball news, please enjoy this clip which involves two of my favorite things: the Red Sox and the Jewish faith.

2006 Oct 17 01:21 (#3013.8680):
I've always called it a soul patch or flavor saver, though I'm not averse to the neologistic 'taintbrush.'

2006 Oct 16 01:02 (#3005.8673):
By the way, the youtube link above is a parody of PDiddy's not-a-parody announcement that he and Burger King bought a YouTube channel.

2006 Oct 15 03:56 (#2973.8663):
Nice of Amazon to let you search inside the book -- you really get a flavor for the author's style... One may also download directly from RAND both the download the data files and the original introduction [PDF], the latter of which is fascinating from several standpoints (no, really). For example, the authors illustrate the (somewhat dry) randomness-testing details by taking the numbers to be sets of poker hands and tallying how many busts, pairs, ..., full house, fours and fives occurred.

2006 Oct 15 02:57 (#3005.8660):
w00t! Linkspam!!! If you have a more deserving url than the one the linkspammer provided please post below.

2006 Oct 14 10:43 (#3003.8659):
I heard the folks four entries down at Capitol Brasserie have been trying to keep this dessert under wraps.

As for making a Flip Happy Crepe, you just have to catch me in a creppy mood.

2006 Oct 09 10:21 (#2981.8625):
Doh!

2006 Oct 03 04:36 (#2974.8613):
That video was so good I just nuked my furby.

2006 Oct 03 03:43 (#2972.8612):
Also also: this remixed propaganda poster.

2006 Oct 03 02:36 (#2972.8611):
That poorman post was brilliant. See also: the George Allen Insult Generator.

2006 Oct 03 05:21 (#2975.8610):
As a palate cleanser please enjoy Weird Al and Victoria Jackson doing "My Generation."

2006 Oct 03 05:07 (#2975.8609):
Speaking of aethermuck candidates... This Kate Bush version of Wuthering Heights sounds like Sarah Brightman taking a shit down Victoria Jackson's throat with choreography by Sparkle Motion. It somehow makes me hate the book even more than I did -- it's so painfully bad, it's like... like having a wound and you want to probe it and you do and it hurts a lot but it's kind of interesting and then you pass out from the intense, blinding pain. Seriously, go watch it. Every song you ever hear that's not this one will sound a little better and a little brighter.

2006 Sep 29 11:21 (#2944.8601):
If life gives you maggots... make maggot art!

2006 Sep 27 09:09 (#2958.8596):
Well, if you can't be a box-office success at least you can be a box-ingring success... By the way, disappointing effort from the critics -- I think I could have done better than those patsies, and I *know* flanders or beckto would have gone buck wild on a mofo. And how can you write for a movie site, have this happen to you ("He said Boll, 41, had told him it was just a joke, a public relations stunt. 'Then he started beating the crap out of my head,' he said.") and NOT say "He doesn't know it's a damn show! He thinks it's a damn fight!"

2006 Sep 24 04:09 (#2954.8584):
Also, if the propwash is too noisy as you use your helicopter to open beers, maybe you can communicate in drunkard sign language.

2006 Sep 24 04:08 (#2954.8583):
Another reminder, as in this 1980s Sony Ad, that caucasians are just too damn tall.

2006 Sep 20 11:54 (#2949.8568):
Good luck to all of you...

2006 Sep 20 11:54 (#2946.8567):
Let the hateration continue: The 50 Worst Things Ever to Happen to Music.

2006 Sep 17 12:32 (#2939.8553):
What appears in that spectrograph is a gap, with a bunch of yellow notched out but lower wavelengths passing just fine...

I didn't think the atmospheric scattering was concentrated in a single band -- I thought it was preferential to lower wavelengths and tapered off towards red. When the sun is high in the sky the violet and blue are scattered from its basically white color, leaving green yellow and red (we see it as yellow). When the sun is near the horizon more of the lower wavelengths are attenuated by scattering leaving only the yellow and red (we see it as orange).

I Or maybe I'm wrong -- I actually don't know what causes it. Anyone?

2006 Sep 15 06:39 (#2944.8543):
I didn't want to watch... but I couldn't look away...

2006 Sep 15 06:38 (#2944.8542):

2006 Sep 15 12:25 (#2940.8539):
That's trouble I say, and it starts with T and it rhymes with P, and it stands for pool.

2006 Sep 15 02:38 (#2928.8535):
I found it interesting that he often cites Wikipedia as a source... is this OK now in a serious academic paper? Could you reference Wikipedia in a physics journal?

2006 Sep 15 02:31 (#2937.8534):
A coworker of my friend Will's set a goal to use the words 'fuliginous', 'tertium quid', and 'quiddity' in his thesis. If I recall he found a way to sneak the first two in.

CNLD'er Dominic wrote in his thesis that there are 'more papers (tautologically smut-free) on silicon pseudopotentials than on sex.' Then there are the papers by the BONG group that thank D Sanchez among others.

2006 Sep 14 01:48 (#2931.8517):
For those who don't speak C++: in many languages, all text following the symbol "//" (look at the parts of his fingers colored green) are treated as a 'descriptive comment' and ignored by the compiler.

Comments can be helpful notes to other humans who read the code (often that human is yourself several months later). It is also often useful to 'comment out' a block of code by prefacing each line with a // -- these instructions then become invisible to the compiler and are utterly ignored.

Most editors color such comment blocks as solid green text.

The humor of this should now be coursing down your funny bone and straight into the most sensitive humor receptors of your soul.

2006 Sep 12 11:33 (#2926.8510):
That was freaking ingenious. Reminded me of Boy Scout days for some reason...

2006 Sep 11 04:19 (#2924.8496):
It must be Natedogg day on the internets, as besides that "cat doing something cute and stupid" video I have seen several links to this review of the 59 foods on-a-stick at the Minnesota State Fair as well as a collection of 300 versions of Nate's favorite song.

2006 Sep 11 04:03 (#1668.8495):
Let's necro this post by adding more than 300 versions of Popcorn.

2006 Sep 10 11:24 (#2923.8493):
It's not the first time: Lee Corso is a Penis and Corso says I never listen to Bob and Dan (the hosts of the abovementioned radio show).

2006 Sep 09 05:42 (#2908.8491):
White and Nerdy -- one of many new Wierd Al joints lately.

2006 Sep 09 12:38 (#2915.8490):
Apparently pablo lets Ali G log on with his account to post...

2006 Sep 08 12:16 (#2918.8486):
He did link to this enjoyable video; which, like all good ideas, was first done by Spike Jonze.

2006 Sep 08 12:09 (#2918.8485):
?? The link went to a funny but annelid-free comic with clip-art dinosaurs. Did I miss something?

2006 Sep 07 08:50 (#2916.8482):
Hmm, will there be yuppie riots like at the openings of other stores? If so, count me in. And don't on't skimp on the Doodlemünch!

2006 Sep 06 02:05 (#2911.8474):
Well, The Onion liked it OK: "A.V. Club Rating: A-"

2006 Sep 05 10:42 (#2908.8472):
I bet we can talk iheartbeefcake into having an amazing race party...

2006 Sep 05 04:59 (#2812.8465):
Materazzi comes clean -- he dissed on Zidane's sister.

2006 Sep 05 04:29 (#2911.8463):
This is the most brilliant viral marketing scheme ever developed. So subtle! So perfect! How can it fail?

2006 Sep 05 01:39 (#2910.8462):
At first I thought this like Red Apple cigarettes or one of the many other ersatz billboard advertisements that, as Nate pointed out to me, have cropping up across south Austin...

2006 Sep 05 01:30 (#2901.8461):
See also: The Humane Society's Review of SoaP. Did pablo help with this?

2006 Sep 03 02:23 (#2908.8451):
I made a mixtape of stuff I've been listening to lately, download it here (files) or here (zip file). Two thematic strands -- note the number of hiphop songs backed by drumline-style marching band music; the RZA's been there for a while but more of this is called for. More important is the anticipated/already overhyped? ascendence of 60's girl-group inspired music -- but if you want the real thing, the classic Back to Mono (buy it -- 4 CDs for $16!) and the more recent One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds Lost & Found (buy it) are phenomenally rewarding collections of some of the best music ever recorded.

Two of the songs have stand-out music videos, both doing the video-cutup thing: Gnarls Barkley's Smiley Faces (thx nate) and Pull Shapes by The Pipettes. If the Pipettes vid looks familiar, it's a vamp on the party scene from Beyond the Valley of the Dolls by XMFC mainstay Russ Meyers.

2006 Aug 31 06:48 (#2906.8444):
By the way, doesn't this call for an invocation on the government of Godwin's Law? What of the militant radical Muslims bespeaks Fascism --

"a political philosophy, movement, or regime (as that of the Fascisti) that exalts nation and often race above the individual and that stands for a centralized autocratic government headed by a dictatorial leader, severe economic and social regimentation, and forcible suppression of opposition"

apart from the general property of being bad people?

2006 Aug 30 02:10 (#2903.8441):
There's also no Literature, Books, Theater, Fine Art, or Dance category; here on the Alkaline Earth all the muses save Euterpe and their cineastic scion congregate beneath their common cognomen of 'Art.'

2006 Aug 29 10:35 (#2898.8433):
More video fun: a mysterious guitar hero leads some on a quest to find out who he is.

2006 Aug 28 04:27 (#2879.8430):
Speaking of iPods: you can take yours onto the plane, but keep careful track of it or you might become a terrorist.

2006 Aug 25 01:52 (#2892.8418):
Well, it's good to see that whoever's ridiculous job that is, they're quite good at it -- that press release was dorkily brilliant.

2006 Aug 23 11:48 (#2885.8407):
A fascinating article by Sylvia Nasar on some simmering drama which may explain part of Perelman's reticence.

2006 Aug 22 10:29 (#2885.8402):
And Nate -- don't think that we don't realize your whole post was just an excuse to use the phrase "eleventy hojillion."

2006 Aug 22 09:02 (#2885.8399):
Fermat's Theorem is true -- Andrew Wiles show that a couple years ago. From reading the further articles linked to from Christina Sormani's site, it's clear that Perelman's work does provide a major advancement. Poincare's idea was "homotopy provides a simple, local tool for examining manifolds" and basically founded algebraic topology if I understand correctly. Thurston's conjecture shows that "geometry (specifically the curvature of the underlying metric) lets you classify manifolds" -- in two dimensions all compact manifolds are spheres (positive curvature), torus (developable and thus zero curvature) or torus-with-many-holes (saddle-type geometry). That's a major new insight that lets you construct a 'periodic table' of manifolds.

Then Hamilton's idea is to use Ricci flow to do the intuitive thing, which is to 'smooth out' a wrinkly surface into a nice one. This is interesting among other reasons because it's a practical tool -- you could even see applying this idea in say computer graphics or something -- and such a nicely visualizable thing.

The problem is that anomalous points can develop; well, we can cut them out, keep track of them, and paste them back together later -- but only if there are a finite number of them, and only if doing that surgery actually remedies the problem. The danger is that you might get into a loop, where you say cut out a wart in one place and a bottleneck in another, but then found yourself later with a bottleneck in the one place and a wart in the other, and so on for an infinite cycle of surgical sites.

Perelman's idea was to come up with a certain number characterizing the surface (one mathematician suggested we think of it as the 'pitch' of the tone the surface would make if rung like a bell) and showed that that invariant monotonically increased as the flow progressed. This means that there cannot be the pathological cycle we worried about in the previous paragraph, as in a cycle the (ever-increasing) 'pitch' would have to return to the same value at a later time.

I don't know how deep this idea is -- maybe it's only useful for solving Poincare's conjecture, which for me is enough. But I do know that Ricci flow is related to renormalization flow in QFT, and that finding invariants like this can give deep physical and mathematical insight into fundamental processes.

2006 Aug 22 08:40 (#2885.8398):
The NYT chat link, as it is a feature and not an article, doesn't work with the RSS tool (I checked). And I hope it's clear that no disrespect was intended with providing the archive-free link in the first place...

2006 Aug 22 05:01 (#2884.8394):
That comic has some pretty good stuff -- thanks pino. PS make sure you read the mouseover links, they're funny. PPS doncarlo.

2006 Aug 22 04:23 (#2885.8391):
As this slate article and this Science News article point out, this also allows mathematicians to classify manifolds -- an elegant and useful tool. Also interesting is this chat with The NYT article's author.

2006 Aug 21 11:18 (#2885.8386):
For the semi-non-experts in the crowd: two objects are homeomorphic if they can be continuously deformed into each other without ripping or tearing. The classic example is that a donut of clay can be gently reformed into a coffee cup: both have one hole, and only stretching and reshaping is required. A donut is, however, fundamentally different from a ball: no gentle deformation can introduce or remove the hole in the donut. Homeomorphism is in some sense a global property -- you provide a procedure for reshaping the entire object.

There's another way to tell a donut from a ball. On a sphere, every loop drawn on the surface can be continuously deformed to a point. On a donut however, some loops sit on the surface while others connect through the hole. The latter type of loop can't be shrunk to a point. This is a more 'local' property of the object.

Poincare's (and Thurston's) conjecture says that you can classify all the possible homeomorphic shapes by looking at their homotopic behavior (roughly speaking, the second test having to do with loops shrinking to points). This ties a mostly-global property of an object to a mostly-local property of an object, which is a very desirable and aesthetically pleasing thing to be able to do.

(BTW, if you understand this better than I do and I fucked that explanation up please correct me.)

2006 Aug 21 10:47 (#2885.8385):
Non-archive NYT link (and how to make your own).

2006 Aug 21 10:43 (#2884.8384):
Both TTJ and I have had tires come off at highway speeds. Let's just say if you hear a weird knocking sound from the rear of your car and you loaned it to your brother recently you should check that the lug nuts are installed correctly (round side towards rim).

2006 Aug 21 10:36 (#2886.8383):
Fixed the link with a new one c/o this blog.

2006 Aug 17 03:02 (#2879.8358):
Speaking of George Brett, enjoy this paean to the moustaches of baseball. By the way, there's a typo in the article: the #1 and #2 positions must have accidentally been switched.

2006 Aug 10 02:37 (#2870.8324):
Yup. Also of note: new cereal bar now open in Dobie Mall.

2006 Aug 10 02:32 (#2865.8323):
A vacationing penguin is driving through Arizona when he notices that the oil-pressure light is on. He gets out to look and sees oil dripping out of the motor. He drives to the nearest town and stops at the first gas station.

After dropping the car off, the penguin goes for a walk around town. He sees an ice-cream shop and, being a penguin in Arizona, decides that something cold would really hit the spot. He gets a big bowl of vanilla ice cream and sits down to eat. Having no hands, he makes a real mess trying to eat with his little flippers.

After finishing his ice cream, he goes back to the gas station and asks the mechanic if he’s found the problem. The mechanic looks up and says, “It looks like you blew a seal.”

“No, no,” the penguin replies, “it’s just ice cream.“

2006 Aug 10 02:27 (#2868.8322):
Hit shift-reload if your terror alert doesn't show the current tripartite elmo/ernie/bert alert status.

2006 Aug 09 02:49 (#2862.8285):
So in case you forget, his lawyer is there to remind you that "Mr. Francis is reputedly well-endowed."

2006 Aug 09 01:59 (#2866.8283):
Amazing: an Onion article come to life. This ZDNet article has some more profiles.

2006 Jul 14 11:39 (#2822.8171):
Apparently Cornell was once in the same situation -- won on a fifth down -- and gave back the title. Hooray for my alma mater!

2006 Jul 14 04:43 (#2822.8167):
Is there a word for these orwellian self-paradoxical phrases? Like how "right to work" takes away rights from workers, or the "Healthy Forest" act undermines environmental protections? Anyway, this group of designers is against them, and willing to take a stand.

2006 Jul 14 04:40 (#2816.8166):
Wow, I didn't think it could be done -- thanks West. Clearly doing your senior thesis on Weekend at Bernie's wasn't the anathema all those haters said it would be.

2006 Jul 14 01:57 (#2822.8165):
Friday lunch minutes:

Rickey Henderson: "Lou Brock was a great base stealer, but today, I am the greatest!" (see previously: 25 stories about Rickey).

Don Denkinger, Ed Armbrister, and the worst calls in sports history.

Eugene V Debs, Howard Zinn's A Peoples' History of the United States, and what to get Valatan for his birthday (est. cost $1,725).

2006 Jul 06 10:09 (#2805.8124):
No kidding though -- this is a really good picture. Also, did you add the google maps link yourself, or does your camera embed GPS info?

2006 Jul 06 10:06 (#2804.8123):
Man, Detroit just got Pedro Martinez'ed... Also, plan != reality. How good a bike city is Chicago? Will this actually go through? I think of Toronto, Portland and Austin when I think of good cycling cities.

2006 Jul 06 10:03 (#2805.8122):
Who brings the lower half of a mannequin to the lake with them? (link fixed now)

2006 Jun 30 04:48 (#2797.8110):
OK, if a guy is talking to a girl, and a female friend comes over and interdicts the hookup, has that guy been boxblocked or cockblocked? I say boxblocked (a box is doing the blocking) and can't believe that I appear to be the only one to call it that way.

2006 Jun 30 04:45 (#2799.8109):
I think they're two sports that left the problem for too long and are confronting it late, and it certainly robs allure from each sport. None of them -- football, soccer, baseball, basketball, cycling -- are clean of HGH.

2006 Jun 30 12:46 (#2799.8100):
Please note that the link is, surprisingly from Ziggy and the post title, entirely SFW.

2006 Jun 28 10:57 (#2791.8086):
for a CS guy a pixel is a point particle too.

2006 Jun 28 10:54 (#2796.8084):
"PS: hyperlemur dot com is the #6 when searching google for Ronal Bear."
That is the least auspicious claim to fame I've ever seen asserted.

2006 Jun 28 05:13 (#2792.8077):
That ruled -- I remember a lot of those. Also enjoyed the CBG quote: "Richard Dean Anderson, of the four Star franchises: Wars, Trek, Gate and Search; Gate is easily my third favorite."

2006 Jun 28 04:04 (#2796.8074):
On the other hand, this sounds like classic Microsoft:

After reading Bruce Schneier's book on crypto, we learned that TEA was a really bad choice as a hash. The book says that TEA must never be used as a hash, because it is insecure if used this way. ... But why did they make this mistake? Obviously the designers knew nothing about crypto - again! - and just added code without understanding it and without even reading the most basic books on the topic.

It's impossible to overestimate how stupid, arrogant and basic some of their mistakes are: everything runs in kernel mode? Jebus. (This is analogous to having every user an admin -- which is a) well know to be insane and b) true of Windows).

2006 Jun 28 03:52 (#2796.8073):
In other security news, and possibly only of interest to JalapenoTabouli: The Security Failures of the XBox. I only understood like 60% of this (you can skip past the hairy stuff), but found it interesting to see both how hard a problem this is and how fucking dumb the mistakes they made were. Many are actually the opposite of my stereotype of an MS employee: the guys I knew who went to MS wouldn't come up with the brilliant little hack to leverage the exception as the PC wraps from #FFFFFFFF to #00000000 but would never have failed to read the datasheet showing that Intel chips don't in fact throw an exception.

2006 Jun 19 04:24 (#2779.8007):
Also: a new addition has been made to the front page sidebar.

2006 Jun 19 03:42 (#2779.8004):
It's read-only -- or am I not smart enough to add anything?

2006 Jun 19 02:27 (#2753.8003):
It's back up, BTW

2006 Jun 08 07:46 (#2756.7972):
It will, incidentally, be a level of diet coke and mentos explosion that even the most credulous and parochial gorblaxian from Beta Arcturus III can see each day of the week and twice on Thursday.

2006 Jun 05 11:02 (#2760.7959):
You'll be surprised to note that his favorite movie is Back to the Future. Also, WTFBBQ? No Flux Capacitor!

2006 Jun 05 09:21 (#2754.7957):
What was the student thinking, choosing a porntastic name like Bronze Moustache?

2006 Jun 05 09:15 (#2758.7956):
I think Don Carlo should go to hell -- his sister might appreciate the visit.

2006 Jun 03 11:51 (#2756.7952):
That ruled. The music was absoperfect.

2006 Jun 03 02:08 (#2750.7949):
Nelly Furtado cover of Gnarls Barkley's Crazy.

2006 Jun 02 02:09 (#2740.7948):
Here's one take on what would happen if the NSA tried that shit in Europe. You may also be interested to read an excerpt [DOC; HTML] from the book (Privacy and Freedom by Alan Westin) that Bignami references. This section explains the functions privacy serves to free individuals and puts the lie to that fatuous "You've nothing to fear if you've nothing to hide" argument.

See also also Five Questions to ask when evaluating any proposed Security Measure.

2006 Jun 02 01:17 (#2728.7947):
Some American Voices weigh in.

2006 May 29 11:37 (#2742.7933):
Gallery of photos by a WWII serviceman stationed on the Pacific island of Trinian.

2006 May 27 02:21 (#2737.7931):
Apparently pedicures are de rigeur in the construction industry.

2006 May 26 12:56 (#2735.7921):
Similar to how all the children in Lake Wobegon are above average, everyone from where you didn't grow up is a lousy driver. It's the multiple endpoints (selective attention) fallacy: people from the midwest drive badly because they're slow; people from Texas drive badly because they squat in the left lane; people from the Northeast drive badly because they're rude. (A healthy dose of confirmation bias and hedonic asymmetry are usually present as well).

It's great fun to chalk this all up to relative moral turpitude and driving tendencies, but most of the variation in accident rate can be explained by time spent commuting:

Fully 61% of the variation in accident rates is explained by the difference in commute times among cities (R=0.61, R²=0.37). Note that in the two outliers New York (8.4,38) and Chicago (7.5,33) the many regional train commuters may tend to drive up the commuting time without incurring auto accidents.

2006 May 25 01:53 (#2733.7907):
I really hope the democrats don't nominate H Clinton. I don't know if it can be done, but I think the country needs someone less polarizing, who can actually lead from the center. I had once hoped that Dean could do so, but he skewed left, allowed himself to be broadbrushed as a crazy liberal, and then the media assassination in Iowa finished him. Hillary Clinton might be able to win the election, but too many people have visceral distrust and deep animus towards her personally for her to ever to be a successful presidency.

2006 May 24 05:24 (#2732.7904):
Jeez, I'm just assuming he scripted the location of each domino using a game editor. I shudder to think otherwise.

2006 May 22 05:36 (#2730.7897):
Andrew Beyer asks whether today's horses are less durable and whether it's hurting the sport. No old-school rant about the days of yore, he sets out plausible origins for the increased fragility.

2006 May 22 04:00 (#2729.7894):
Speaking of things that are interesting but possibly not click-on-a-pdf-and-launch-acrobat interesting, here is The Pain, The Pain: Modelling Music Information Behavior and the Songs We Hate [PDF].

The paper presents a grounded theory analysis of 395
user responses to the survey question, “What is the worst song ever?” Important factors uncovered include: lyric quality, the “earworm” effect, voice quality, the influence of associated music videos, over-exposure, perceptions of pretentiousness, and associations with unpleasant personal experiences.

Obscure but seminal work by other leading researchers was not credited, although an important early field report of an earworm was.

2006 May 22 03:45 (#2730.7892):
Woot! Thanks Gun! I think the filtering and heating are what I was thinking of when talking about the need for a conversion, as done in the "Off the Grid" episode of 30 Days.

And The Janitor's secret past was outed in Scrubs 3x08, My Friend the Doctor.

2006 May 19 05:06 (#2720.7878):
But it's right on time to fog out.

2006 May 19 08:07 (#2721.7876):
Ah ah ah... en français, sil te plait.

Une de mes mémoires plus affectueuses de lycée est la classe française où quelques seniors ont dû expliquer au professeur français que leurs cheveux ont été souillés rouges du sang faux jetés sur elles d'une exposition de Gwar. En français, naturellement.

Man, google translate speaks French way better than I do. It's gotten better or I've gotten worse.

2006 May 18 11:57 (#2720.7869):
That's cool... do we know this person?

2006 May 17 11:16 (#2719.7868):
Who is that supposed to be at the very end throwing up the double viking from heaven?

2006 May 17 07:17 (#2718.7867):
Count me in.

2006 May 17 02:59 (#2717.7862):
In other hot rod news, read about Von Dutch's Toolbox. I still don't understand how he got to be emblazoned on sorority girl's chests and trucker hats, but I have to imagine the Q rating boost must surely benefit his legacy in some way down the line.

Don't miss the fantastic decorating tips. I'm totally doing this, BTW.

2006 May 17 11:47 (#2716.7861):
Anyone with a doily in their pocket want to explain what a "Tearoom Fetish" is?

2006 May 16 11:10 (#2709.7859):
Tony Snow Learns a New Word.

2006 May 16 09:41 (#2713.7858):
I choose to make a New Zealand-Spain sammich. Which would, I think, be lamb with roasted red peppers, then cut into uselessly small pieces, garnished with kiwi fruit, and served with a headbutt by a struggling actress with a trendy haircut.

2006 May 16 06:00 (#2709.7857):
Scientists Explain How They Attribute Climate-Change Data (from kottke)

2006 May 16 02:46 (#2712.7849):
I think we experienced temporary depleneration of the hemiconducers with the fetzer commutators and knutsen valves.

2006 May 12 07:02 (#2704.7833):
Actually, now I want to start a Danzig cover band and call it Gdansk.

2006 May 12 07:01 (#2704.7832):
Mother, tell your children not to spell it Gdansk....

2006 May 11 03:33 (#2701.7827):
And what did your daughter think of this point? BTW, how come she hasn't signed up for an account?

2006 May 11 01:35 (#2701.7825):
I'm with that guy on all of those -- except pujols is not Nelson. He's Ranier Wolfcastle. Hey Pujols, how do you sleep at night? "On piles of money, surrounded by beautiful women."

2006 May 10 08:46 (#2696.7816):
Arrrr, it be all the carrrbon dioxide.

2006 May 10 04:40 (#2695.7806):
In case you're wondering: that link is the #4 referrer to AE for 2006, with almost all that link's traffic coming in one week.

2006 May 09 10:23 (#2690.7797):
Remains of the Day, I think.

2006 May 09 08:14 (#2689.7795):
Here are More things I hope none of you get. Especially penis panic -- I hear that's catching.

2006 May 09 08:12 (#2688.7794):
I think if you're making 110 mile speed runs the thought should flit through your mind, in passing at least. I've gotten above 50mph coming down from mansfield dam... Maybe javelina can tell me what I should have on the next time I try that.

2006 May 08 10:36 (#2691.7793):
No, silly: it's a sing a long!
"A mass - m one - suspended - from a massless length l string /..."

2006 May 08 01:41 (#2689.7788):
jebus!

Filharzia is ... a mosquito born nematode (worm) that takes up residence in your lymphatic system and that if left untreated the worms proliferate and so clog your lymph system that your extremities swell with undrained lymph to produce elephantiasis. It is in incurable, but can be managed with treatment. I don't think I got it but I won't know until 2007.

My prayer for all of you today: may you never become so sick that keeping your poop in a temperature-controlled aquarium starts to sound like a good idea.

2006 May 07 05:04 (#2684.7777):
If you mess up a post, the best way to get it fixed is to immediately reply with what you meant to put, and that it should be fixed. The post-fixin' genie will then cut&paste and can even delete the repair request.

A description of the repair requested is not as good as an implementation of the repair requested.

2006 May 05 10:53 (#2673.7769):
More two-things-that-don't-go-together: Cryptography Rap by MC-Plus+.

2006 May 05 10:34 (#2684.7768):
Oh man, I was looking forward to hearing your record reviews.

2006 May 03 03:18 (#2671.7757):
Colbert on 60 Minutes

At home, Colbert is a doting father who makes sure his kids do not see the other Colbert -- he only rarely let his kids watch the show."It's just like a pure silly thing. But you know, I truck in insincerity. With a very straight face, I say things I don't believe," Colbert tells Safer.

"Kids can't understand irony or sarcasm, and I don't want them to perceive me as insincere," Colbert says, "Because one night, I'll be putting them to bed and I'll say ... 'I love you, honey.' And they'll say, 'I get it. Very dry, Dad. That's good stuff,'" jokes Colbert.

2006 May 03 02:11 (#2674.7753):
Please note: this is a real product.

2006 May 01 05:20 (#2673.7745):
More science from kottke: Using PageRank to measure a paper's impact.

2006 May 01 04:18 (#2671.7744):
It really is surprising that the AP and other mainstream media fawning found the lame-ass stunt double bit to be the lead. Read Howard Kurtz try to defend his boys.

2006 May 01 11:04 (#2671.7743):
Much better: complete streaming video direct from C-SPAN. Two too many Bushes at 53mins; Colbert at 1:05mins.

2006 Apr 30 10:05 (#2670.7739):
Ethology

2006 Apr 27 11:44 (#2664.7735):
Interesting article... but I don't think he gets her jokes. I'm not that familiar with Larry the Cable Guy , but if he's like the absolutely excrable Carlos Mencia they're just doing stupider, raunchier versions of Seinfeld's dentist's schtick.

I think the best parts of Sarah Silverman's act derive not from racism and sexism but from our discomfort with the subjects of race and sex. Sure, some of her jokes fall into the mold of "it's funny to hear a cute jewish girl say stuff that would make Carlin blush" -- Southpark gets huge mileage out of the same thing but with little cartoon kids. But, like Southpark, a lot of it addresses issues that no one else will touch, and since it's coming from such an unlikely and unthreatening source it seems to work. I haven't seen Jesus is Magic but I'll try to dig up some clips to better illustrate my point.

2006 Apr 25 09:47 (#2659.7707):
Hmmm.... flash blocker. flashblock-er. flashblock.... .... er. Dunno. Maybe a simple google search will help.

2006 Apr 25 09:36 (#2660.7706):
I think his point with the salt is that it's a colligative property of the solution -- it only depends on the fact that something else is there, and not on a chemical interaction between the salt and the water. It hardly seems to stand as one of the central mysteries of the universe, but maybe our resident chem TAs and Drs can weigh in.

I don't know the age of the earth or of the universe, but I bet I can put most of the important events in order. I also don't remember the years of the US Civil War but I have a good grasp of its relative chronology and how those events relate, which I think is more important.

If I get one question to ask a student graduating high school, I want something that demands deep understanding, connects several subjects, and is relevant to the life of a typical person. Here are a few candidates:

How does the structure of the DNA molecule explain the changes over time to existing species when a new type of organism is introduced to an ecosystem?

Starting from the chemicals inside the battery and ending at your eye, how does a flashlight help you see?

Starting from the electrical socket and ending at the tomato, how does your refrigerator keep a BLT sandwich cold?

Starting from the candle wax and ending at your eye, how does a candle help you see?

Describe in rich detail the series of events that occur when a computer is switched on.

Describe in rich (scientific) detail the series of events that occur when a toilet is flushed.

Starting from his breakfast and ending where the rubber meets the road, how in detail does a runner use fried eggs to move himself down the road?

Starting from the fuel in the fuel tank, ending where the rubber meets the road, and covering the chemical, electrical and mechanical processes in between, how does an automobile work?

Give a brief rundown of the scientifically significant events in our planet's history, from its formation to the first human civilization, along with scientific evidence available to any normal person in support of that chronology.

Give a simple picture of the solar system, and briefly explain how it leads to seasons, tides, and days and nights.

What evidence can any normal person gather for herself to show that the earth is round, that it orbits the sun, and that the same laws govern objects in the sky as here on earth?

What evidence can any normal person gather for himself to show that matter is not infinitely divisible, but is composed of atoms?

2006 Apr 25 07:38 (#2659.7703):
Huh -- guess I forgot the link. Thanks for the catch, soku.

2006 Apr 25 05:52 (#2659.7696):
Also awesome: American Express presents Wes Anderson on Moviemaking. (PS I just checked his IMDB page: holy crap! Fantastic Mr. Fox! I love that book! Wow!)

2006 Apr 25 12:08 (#2658.7691):
Make sure to watch the pilot, which circulated southpark-style for some time before the show was picked up.

2006 Apr 25 12:07 (#2657.7690):
Fixed. After composing the post I was out of MP (makings of puns) and couldn't use the "Clever Turtle's Clever Title" skill.

2006 Apr 24 08:00 (#2657.7686):
Topics for this year's Pun-Off.

2006 Apr 22 11:02 (#2654.7677):
R.I.P., Morita-san. R.I.friggin'P.

2006 Apr 21 04:40 (#2652.7668):
I like the movie way better than the book.

2006 Apr 21 12:38 (#2639.7664):
The chess puzzles are not what you'd think -- when they say "sequence of three moves leading to checkmate," they mean (move by white, collaborative move by black, move by white) leading to checkmate. That's important if you're paying attention to hints that have been dropped.

2006 Apr 21 12:21 (#2652.7663):
Having omitted a quotation mark in my link tag, I reposted my comment and then had to go in through the mysql editor to delete the original comment. If you notice, your comment's unique ID does follow mine, but it might reuse the same row in the DB? Anyway, that might have something to do with it.

2006 Apr 21 01:10 (#2652.7654):
See also the 50 best book-to-movie adaptations.

2006 Apr 21 12:46 (#2651.7652):
A recent Supreme Court decision was rendered on just such a law. No info on TX, tho.

PS What do you got planned?

2006 Apr 20 06:06 (#2645.7640):
The old-fashioned way costs money too, of course: $5-8k for normal birth, $12k for cesarian; not all is covered by insurance. I also bet there are points during a pregnancy where the cost differential would seem quite appealing.

2006 Apr 20 03:47 (#2649.7637):
Nice pix... looks like you need a remote trigger, though.

2006 Apr 20 03:02 (#2645.7636):
It makes me a little sad that people go to such lengths to foster pregnancies when the world is becoming overpopulated and there are so many unwanted babies up for adoption. Which brings up another question I've long wondered: are there "so many babies" up for adoption? When I've raised this point, I've sometimes been told that there is actually strong demand for babies to adopt, and that the hurdles and costs are quite significant. Which is true? Or is it only true for white babies?

2006 Apr 20 11:28 (#2645.7634):
IVF; ICSI.

2006 Apr 19 11:39 (#2648.7631):
Remember: you can't spell "procrastinate" without N-A-T-E!

2006 Apr 19 03:13 (#2604.7623):
Caltech got the cannon back -- MIT police made it interesting, though.

2006 Apr 19 02:52 (#2646.7621):
Good call, o Tayassu pecari. More digging uncovered this Detailed Accounting of Division I Athletic Programs (Report). Of UT-Austin's $90M revenue, $1.7M comes from student fees and $1.3M from Direct Institutional support. "Other" (non-basketball or football) sports as a whole incur a $6.6M shortfall, while the program as a whole shows a $7.3M surplus.

2006 Apr 19 12:39 (#2639.7618):
Hooray! The Da Vinci Code expert checks in!
Day 3:

Syrhe-qr-yvf

Ivgehivna Zna

11,881,376 = gjragl fvk gb gur svsgu: svir jurryf

2006 Apr 19 05:57 (#2629.7613):
Tom Wilson, surprisingly non-terrible Pop Artist:

2006 Apr 19 05:42 (#2643.7612):
How to make myspace less horrid (works via CSS, which means it works, as opposed to the make your shitty myspace page shittier tools).

2006 Apr 18 04:51 (#2626.7608):
Emailed to me earlier today:

JMaggard@some.where wrote:
Sir, have you forgotten how much all of America feared the "Reds" in the cold war?? And Indians a "1" for fear?? What, are they going to scalp you at the Whole Foods store?? Does the frightening image of a Blackjack dealer fly through your head as you watch the Cleveland team? Perhaps back in 1906 "Indians" were fear inducing, but in the modern era??

2006 Apr 18 03:02 (#2641.7606):
Speaking of quality relief pitching, how do closers pick their entrance music? Some do it by polling their hometown fans.

2006 Apr 18 02:51 (#2643.7604):
More youtube-via-hater goodness: Picard, reenacted (original) and Jack White buys the world a coke.

2006 Apr 18 02:33 (#2628.7603):
this band was formerly known as Flake: April 18th (on left of main page bkgrd).

2006 Apr 17 02:12 (#2638.7591):
Awesome. But is it really so terrible to point out that Cookie is a Sometimes food?

2006 Apr 14 05:36 (#2620.7581):
I second the nomination for Master and Margarita, and stand Humiliated by the rest of the list. Score!

2006 Apr 14 04:56 (#2630.7580):
Ooh good idea. Thanks to the Outlook 2 iCal converter... ... ... I can find one of the myriad outstanding import bugs with Google Calendar. It will come, but not for a while yet.

Also of note: if you're messing around with GCal, create a new personal calendar and add/import to that. Deleting your main calendar deletes your calendar account, forcing you to sign up again (not hard but annoying). So I would rename your main calendar and add stuff to a second private calendar until things settle down.

2006 Apr 14 03:29 (#2633.7579):
See also: All your Star Wars questions, answered. Although if you actually had any of these questions, you should punch yourself in the nuts to save the rest of us the trouble.

2006 Apr 14 05:23 (#2627.7565):
Con Air (Cusak & Meaney); Gilbert Grape; King Kong; GI Jane (the Demi Moore clip)??. I assume The Beach, Aviator, and Basketball Diaries account for some of the various "Leonardo emoting" scenes.

BTW, the editor's website has a hi-res version.

And with that I officially turn this over to nCindy and MrBun.

2006 Apr 14 05:02 (#2627.7564):
I think I see Titanic, Gattaca, Austin Powers, Talented Mr. Ripley, Catch Me If You Can, Shawshank Redemption, and Fugitive...

2006 Apr 14 04:56 (#2619.7563):
PimpMySnack.com

2006 Apr 14 03:58 (#2618.7562):
From upcoming.org: Jonathan Safran Foer at Barnes and Noble - Mon, Apr 17
Jonathan Safran Foer will be at Barnes and Noble (10000 Research Blvd.) to promote "Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close". Barnes and Noble says he'll be signing any of his books.

2006 Apr 14 03:44 (#2623.7561):
More: Rube Goldberg-San

2006 Apr 13 05:03 (#2626.7557):
The Rangers were a real problem -- we all know that a TX Ranger is nothing to mess with, but WTF is a NY Ranger?

2006 Apr 13 03:29 (#2628.7549):
Rumored lineup; Secret Contest (today's answer).

2006 Apr 13 02:40 (#2626.7547):
Yeah, I do worry that my methodology overly punishes teams for cannon fodder. However, I still think Phoenix (Suns, Diamondbacks, and Coyotes) could defeat Minny (Wild [animals? animus?], Vikings, and Timberwolves).

2006 Apr 13 02:22 (#2626.7545):
Yes, yes: the Cubs, like the Red Sox, are supremely awesome. However, Cubs (1), like Red Sox (0), are not intrinsically fearsome entities, second order reasoning aside. I also analyzed fearsomeness by sport: baseball was last by a large margin.

2006 Apr 13 12:16 (#2625.7539):
Really?

2006 Apr 13 12:14 (#2624.7538):
Ahh, the Summer of Ben has begun.

2006 Apr 13 12:13 (#2623.7537):
AKA The Way Things Go. Good to see it more widely available!

2006 Apr 12 06:37 (#2618.7535):
The Benet's Reader's Encyclopedia, one of my favorite reference books, is pretty much MsC's 'Literary References' book done right. One really interesting thing about the book is that its design presages hypertext: topics that have entries elsewhere in the book are set in a different type, indicating that you may flip to that section to find out more. For example:

Hobbit A Hairy-footed creature, ranging in height from two to four feet, an amiable inhabitant of "Middle Earth," created by J.R.R. Tolkien in The Hobbit (1937). ... The Hobbits feature strongly in The Lord of the Rings

(indicating entries for Tolkien and Lord of the Rings).

2006 Apr 12 06:24 (#2618.7534):
Yeah, I meant it: GEB is a book everyone should read. Try a couple chapters and then pull out your intellectual snob crime division nightstick. The book illluminates connections among art, science, mathematics, typography, genetics, computation, games, consciousness, translation, poetry, literature, and music. Along the way it raises central mysteries of our time: What is consciousness? Identity? Art? Are machines capable of intelligence? Are humans? Is there a connection among the mathematical, artistic, and musical conceptions of beauty and elegance? It does all this with a light touch, infused with a spirit of experimentation and play, that lets you discover the ideas along with the author.

Sure, it's a challenging work, but holding that all educated people should try to tackle it -- that everyone should be familiar with an intellectual resource of this importance -- doesn't strike me as out of touch. Its far-ranging scope means that almost no matter your background, you'll find sections that speak directly to you and sections that are completely foreign.

To show its universality: just today, in the completely arbitrary course of surfing, I ran across this tshirt "...for fans of Godel, Escher, Bach" [BB]. (There is a section of the book about such figures).

2006 Apr 12 12:47 (#2618.7526):
Are we playing the Humiliation game again? I loved GEB, it's on my personal-top-5 list and my books-everyone-should-read list, and I constantly find myself going back to ideas or questions raised in the book. I've read it three times, and each time it took me several months of solid effort to complete. The book is chockablock with connections and conundrums and challenging clevernesses, so it almost demands that kind of timescale. Unlike naydawgk, however, I found that its chapters were self-contained enough to make it nicely episodic - YMMV.

I also rapturously enjoyed Life of Pi and made it my go-to gift for about a year after reading it.

2006 Apr 10 04:09 (#2612.7507):
A pretty illustrative example of science's folly in messing with mankind's gene pools.

2006 Apr 09 04:08 (#2604.7505):
closeup of the ring - check the more pics link above.

2006 Apr 09 04:05 (#2610.7504):
That is Something! Did Jamie lose a bet, or perhaps lose consciousness?

2006 Apr 07 05:13 (#2604.7496):
Yeah, but machining a 4' brass rat out of billet stock to mark your territory is freaking awesome.

Also, as I hope that people at both CIT and HM have figured out: Mudd promised not to steal any more cannons from CalTech. No one said nothing about stealing cannons from MIT.

2006 Apr 06 10:31 (#2604.7486):
Also of note: Harvey Mudd officials sent out an email to the campus asking if anyone had seen the cannon, as there were warnings it would be taken. It was apparently stolen the day before the 20th anniversary of the original theft (precluding its theft by Mudders). Last year Mudders set up an embassy around the cannon, while Caltech pwned the great dome.

2006 Apr 06 10:23 (#2604.7485):
Why all the rivalry? Why can't they just get along?

2006 Apr 05 05:20 (#2602.7475):
Look, it's the best computer box evar! And for only $1200 it can be all yours.

2006 Apr 05 12:03 (#2593.7464):
In other music news... Pitchfork Media reviews the latest Terrell Owens joint. Cultures! Clashing!

2006 Apr 03 02:21 (#2590.7433):
More Seufert

2006 Apr 03 02:04 (#2591.7431):
In other metal news... Klosterman reviews the long, long awaited new GnR album, released 4.1.2006.

2006 Apr 03 12:28 (#2590.7427):
Speaking of the Texan, this opinion piece is actually quite clever.

2006 Apr 03 09:54 (#2591.7422):
I am writing up my SxSW '06 notes and will post them soon. In the meantime, my friend Marcus has sent along something so awesome it almost made my head explode. Here are three things to know about Marcus:

He speaks five languages,

He has worked for a Nobel Prize winner, the founder of Les Houches, and a member of Nicholas Bourbaki,

He loves Heavy Metal music with a spiritual and intellectual fervor that is awesome to behold.

While talking with him recently, I revealed my obdurate ignorance of the 1980s pantheon hair bands. In response, he sent this along:

As promised, I worked on the Iron Maiden and Judas Priest Readers. As you can see, I don't take this lightly... It was a lot of fun to write and I hope you have some fun reading it. Read it on your laptop with the benefit of the (few) links, or print it out and enjoy your favorite reclining chair while the sweet notes of Iron Maiden accompany your reading.
Punk on,
Marcus

There is no way I should be the only one to benefit from his singular expertise, so comb out your mullet and please enjoy: Iron Maiden Reader / Iron Maiden Lyrics / Judas Priest Reader. And if you need to rectify, as I did, a glaring omission in your catalogue, Marcus recommends in particular the collections The Best of Judas Priest: Living After Midnight and Iron Maiden: Edward the Great.

2006 Apr 03 07:41 (#2589.7421):
Relisted

2006 Apr 03 02:32 (#2584.7420):
On the other hand, I think you do have to like sports to find this SportsCenter commercial hilarious. In which case, it is.

2006 Apr 03 02:14 (#2590.7419):
Nope, the ~~perpetrators~~ curators sure didn't.

2006 Apr 02 04:23 (#2580.7415):
Ooh, you're a mean one, Ms. Ceg.

2006 Apr 02 04:22 (#2586.7414):
I like at the end when the little girl hugs the N64 box.

2006 Apr 02 05:14 (#2585.7409):
14th book of Euclid's Element discovered in a cave in Ireland.

2006 Mar 30 02:07 (#2576.7373):
Please note that it's moving to Brooklyn, and has a website (make sure you click on "rules").

2006 Mar 27 11:43 (#2561.7342):
In other architectural news, proposals have been submitted for a 227-foot tall JERSEY ROCKS! triumphal archway.

2006 Mar 27 11:40 (#2564.7341):
Wow, thanks for the mental image Lisa!

2006 Mar 27 03:06 (#2529.7337):
The Plot Thickens

2006 Mar 24 02:58 (#2553.7325):
Yes -- Lionel Ritchie will be one of the first against the wall when the revolution comes.

2006 Mar 23 06:10 (#2553.7310):
Prince is not included in the "Post-Lionel Ritchie R&B sucks" policy. I just didn't know the song.

2006 Mar 23 01:57 (#2553.7306):
I don't get it.

2006 Mar 23 01:56 (#2554.7305):
You can say that -- you have a piece of shit IKEA to disparage. We have to envy yours.

2006 Mar 23 01:54 (#2556.7304):
In order to know when the sidewalks are safe?

2006 Mar 22 10:43 (#2553.7293):
Also from The Smoking Gun, three guys you should NOT fuck with: Paulie Walnuts, who is a stone-cold gangster (really); Fuck You Shaved Eyebrows Dude and Fuck You Even Without Shaved Eyebrows Dude. (Last two links are SFW but rated R for strong language; also thx to Natedogg for the Sopranos link.)

2006 Mar 22 12:09 (#2542.7290):
The Onion AV Blog does Snakes on a Plane Derivatives in Literature.

2006 Mar 17 06:44 (#2541.7262):
Also of note: one trooper (Duane, #Bravo-058) has been recovered already, in Choupique, LA -- about 400 miles from launch!

2006 Mar 17 06:01 (#2525.7259):
The DC Homers are taking over! (Where the hell is habcous?)

2006 Mar 17 06:00 (#2538.7258):
I'm with pablo. It's the Chopper / Rat Rod mentality: put the least, simplest, most elegant thing between you and the road.

2006 Mar 15 08:29 (#2535.7217):
This transmission intercepted from radio free Nashville:
Attention Troopers! You are hereby invited to enlist in the balloon parade and launch phase of
INVASION USA Mission BravoTimecode: 17.30 hrs 16 Mar 2006 (Thursday) Rally point: Troops will rally near Isle of Printing Booth at Flatstock poster show Deployment: Detachments will then deploy to launch site at corner of 3d and San Jacinto, one block west of the Austin Convention Center (across street from PF Chang's). Squadrons may assemble at launch point if desired. Equipment: Each enlistee will be issued all requisite equipment and aerial deployment paraphenalia. Intelligence: Troop sightings will be tracked at http://invasionart.com Troop dispersal radius is expected to exceed 100 klicks. Check back to see invasion progress. THAT IS ALL

(Basically Bryce has made a few hundred art prints of paratroopers that will be launched using helium balloons. The troopers have instructions for whomever recovers it to report its sighting, and we've built a website that will track their progress. Watching several dozen balloons take off at once is worth the trip alone... )

2006 Mar 15 10:31 (#2525.7203):
While you all, like leroy, wait for opening day: stop to consider what shape the ultimate baseball lineup composed of Nintendo characters would take.

2006 Mar 14 07:47 (#2525.7201):
<h1> and <big> mean something completely different. <big> means "display this text bigger." It is a style tag, describing the appearance and not the content of its text. <h1> means "this text is a first level header, a title if you will, that describes the text which follows." It is a semantic tag -- it describes the contents of the text within and not how to render that text, though of course it's traditionally rendered using large, bold type.

2006 Mar 14 08:07 (#2525.7193):
I will put up prizes for the best and for the second-worst brackets. Unless I win one or the other, in which case Sonia will get me a prize. Prizes to be awarded at Friday Lunch or other public gathering. No purchase Necessary. Void in Idaho or where prohibited. Do not fold, spindle or mutilate. Employees of ESPN and Alkaline Earth excluded. For a copy of contest rules please write to yer mom. Do not taunt happy fun ball. Big Jim Slade has satisfied women throughout the world, and the capitol of Nebraska is Lincoln!

2006 Mar 13 01:41 (#2524.7182):
To: adultswim06@thefader.com Subject: Madvillain at Fader/Levi's Hi, I'd like to go to the Madvillain show at the Fader/Levi's Trading Post. I have no company affiliation, so putting me on the guest list will surely come at the expense of someone with better industry connections and better hair, but I really like Madlib so I figured it's worth a shot. flip PS My hair is actually quite impressive -- but probably not as good as some others.

2006 Mar 13 01:30 (#2524.7181):
OK, so I actually don't know how to RSVP to day shows -- do you just say "Hi, I'd like to go drink your free beer and enjoy the music, preferably to the exclusion of people with better industry connections and better hair?" I'm sure there's a correct approach, but I don't know what it is.

2006 Mar 13 04:46 (#2522.7177):
joke

2006 Mar 12 02:55 (#2522.7168):
Glad you asked! Reid brought it up, and Jo wanted to see a picture of a chlamydic penis.

2006 Mar 11 12:17 (#2514.7161):
The only Moral Abortion is My Abortion.

2006 Mar 11 12:11 (#2514.7160):
Republicans disapprove of President Bush's performance

2006 Mar 11 11:28 (#2516.7159):
PS: There's now a "FOOD" category. :)

2006 Mar 10 01:36 (#2514.7151):
Speaking of politics and country music fans: I wouldn't have guessed their political alignment at all.

2006 Mar 09 01:33 (#2511.7144):
Also from Smoking Gun: This judge has seen Billy Madison a bunch of times (SFW) - check the footnote at the bottom of the page.

2006 Mar 09 01:10 (#2506.7143):
I actually have no idea what Ziggy's talking about. However, my mom did point out these photos - Silverback gorilla and Gorilla sitting - credit Philip (Flip) Kromer. Also: Tales of Rwanda (my mom's travel journal).

2006 Mar 07 08:55 (#2506.7131):
zing!

2006 Mar 02 03:53 (#2490.7081):
Ya - the fiction list was previously posted; the poll designers obviously did not design good ballot-stuffing controls. I'm still surprised they didn't chuck the results.

2006 Mar 02 10:59 (#2487.7075):
In other sports news: what if Bronson Pinchot were a Soccer Referee?

2006 Mar 02 10:32 (#2487.7074):
Apparently he doesn't even wait for them to be born.

2006 Mar 02 09:47 (#2490.7073):
Ooh, I have Form and Function (#34 in non-fiction) but was never able to make much headway. Maybe I will give it another shot.

2006 Mar 02 01:11 (#2489.7070):
That was intense. I wonder what direction Grant Stoddard would have taken the article.

2006 Mar 01 04:19 (#2488.7063):
Hooray! For Smartphones/WindowsMobile, there's Lexipedia. There are also many other ways to view Wikipedia on your PDA.

2006 Mar 01 02:18 (#2490.7058):
Track 9 (Handle with Care) is a cover of a Traveling Wilburys song and as such they probably don't have the distribution rights to put it online. Also: they're playing Austin, TX The Parish on March 28th.

2006 Mar 01 02:15 (#2484.7057):
That's a pretty amazing story -- I found more info here and here. Also, it's good to see that Tom Bosley carved out some time to appear in the documentary...

2006 Mar 01 01:36 (#2490.7054):
I enjoy every track on Rabbit Fur Coat (by Jenny Lewis with the Watson Twins), from its gospel-drenched opening track [mp3] to the poignant You Are What You Love [mp3]. Notably, the songs which impressed me most were not those this AV Club review singled out -- this is an extraordinary album. If you like Allison Kraus on O Brother or Loretta Lynn's blockbuster comeback, you should check this out. [buy it]

Remember all those times you wished someone would unite every pop song featuring whistlers into one frenetic mastermix? DJ Riko hears your prayers and answers them [mp3]. And what if history's greatest pop group and history's greatest hip-hop group had collaborated? Meet The Beastles.

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - Run, Devil, Run

Jenny Lewis & The Watson Twins - You Are What You Love

DJ BC - Ladies Do Love Me (Beatles vs. Beastie Boys)

DJ BC - Love You to Check It Out (Beatles vs. Beastie Boys)

DJ Riko - Whistler's Delight

2006 Mar 01 01:25 (#2479.7053):
For any first date, I second In the Company of Men and recommend a double feature with Bad Lieutenant. While listening to Side 1 of Led Zeppelin IV, of course.

2006 Mar 01 11:40 (#2482.7051):
I was immediately disappointed when I heard this story -- it reflects badly on Vince Young and on UT. (Even if he improved his score, it speaks badly of VY and his staff that he was so poorly prepped for the test). In a larger sense, though, football is still debating the black QB vs. white QB, running QB vs. pocket passing QB, all in the context of larger race issues (see TO and Limbaugh on Donovan McNabb / Brett Favre). You can't find two clearer exemplars of this debate than VY and Matt Leinart. I worry that a lot of the gleeful coverage of this I've seen elsewhere draws on or at least plays into racial stereotypes of the black quarterback... or is that only me?

2006 Mar 01 11:31 (#2488.7050):
BTW natedogg -- did you just sneak an impromptu AEthermuck into the links of the first sentence? Way to be.

2006 Mar 01 09:02 (#2488.7046):
This is awesome. I was actually thinking about this a few days ago -- that I'd like some partitioned subset of wikipedia to carry around on my windows smartphone.

2006 Feb 28 09:28 (#2485.7032):
Hey, Habcous is just proud to be a 'merkin, where at least he knows he's free (from jokes about his syphilitic scabs and pustules)

2006 Feb 24 08:28 (#2473.6994):
I saw that ad online a while back and was inspired to track down that version of 'Tiger Rag' -- but couldn't find it. It sounds a bit like Claude King's version but the vocals and scatting are wrong. The Tiger Rag ("The Song that Shakes the Southland) is the Clemson University Fight Song and is used as well by the Auburn, LSU, Memphis, Missouri, Princeton, and Detroit Tigers.

Enjoy these 20 versions of the Tiger Rag, plus 9 random tiger songs. See especially Satchmo's scorching live version, The Original Dixieland Jazz Band's classic rendition (they're credited with the tiger's share of popularizing the song), this insane space-age version by Les Paul & Mary Ford, and Art Tatum's piano version. Think that's most of what's out there? Think again.

2006 Feb 23 05:18 (#2470.6983):
goddamn you ziggy.

2006 Feb 22 11:06 (#2467.6968):
Si Lane 2012!!!!111oneoneoneetothezeroetothezero

2006 Feb 22 04:09 (#2468.6961):
what is garnet.ph.utexas.edu?

2006 Feb 21 11:08 (#2458.6935):
It's true: the Wu-Tang Clan is nothing to fuck with. Neither is Rudy Ray Moore. But if you protect ya neck someday the mysteries of chessboxing will be unravelled.

2006 Feb 21 11:07 (#2458.6934):
Wow -- Tina's article answered another long-standing question: Are Closed Captions of a live broadcast transcribed by a human or a machine? (ans: human.) The Flivo has a little-used (by me) feature to transcribe a program to a webpage by capturing its CC stream along with periodic still shots. I think in the near future DVR users with multiple tuners will be able to set the machine to monitor CC for certain keywords and opportunistically capture programs that hit. Which just goes to show, as anyone who's wheeled their bike up a handicapped ramp knows, that accessibility benefits all users.

2006 Feb 21 10:47 (#2458.6930):
I think Javelina is looking more in the $50-90 range... Besides the $300/30GB iPod you'd need $100 more of dock+remote+cables to get an equivalent setup, and you'd only have access to a 30GB slice of your music collection. Plus the Burr-Brown DAC in the squeezebox is nothing to fuck with.

2006 Feb 21 10:37 (#2465.6929):
I hear that Austin Wing Tsun teach a fighting technique that is unstoppable.

Congratulations! On the promotion to 1st Level Technician at Grandmaster Leung Ting's recent seminar:
Harry Lundell, Colin O'Neal, Ned and Becky Flagg, Justin Calloway, and Vinnie Harris. Great Job!

2006 Feb 21 12:37 (#2462.6921):
Why does the article refer to a black mercedes but the photo display a white rustbucket caprice?

2006 Feb 20 04:34 (#2461.6916):
There are also klingons off the starboard bow, starboard bow, starboard bow.... (Enjoy having that song stuck in your head the rest of the day!!)

2006 Feb 19 09:02 (#2458.6912):
How a gramophone works; their history; how to spot a fake HMV; and how to transfer a 78 RPM record to MP3.

2006 Feb 16 06:38 (#2448.6875):
I'll put in for half, but Ziggy has to a) post a picture of himself wearing it and b) make sure no pubic hair is showing in said picture. Beckto -- do they make a sparkly purple yarn?

2006 Feb 16 06:34 (#2451.6874):
[Gee, what will happen if I point out that he left Judaism off the list?]
Hey sG, Ich dank aych zeyer for not telling us Jews to go fuck ourselves!

2006 Feb 16 02:53 (#2448.6865):
seconded.

2006 Feb 16 02:01 (#2379.6860):
More Stunt Driving.

2006 Feb 16 10:28 (#2442.6856):
crap. my bad.

2006 Feb 15 03:05 (#2449.6848):
More from deadspin: Minor-league hockey team holds 'hariest back' contest.

2006 Feb 14 11:07 (#2442.6837):
Speaking of Fight Club: Bollywood stylee. (note: previews didn't work for me)

2006 Feb 13 09:16 (#2437.6826):
That USC Cheerleader has shown up at the darndest times before.

2006 Feb 13 09:05 (#2438.6825):
How did I not ever post this? "Amazing video (~1.5 Mb) of a ½ million volt switch failing to interrupt the arc when operating." [Links to .5MB MPG]

2006 Feb 11 02:27 (#2431.6807):
By the way, Tori Clarke is a fucking tool -- when I saw that her book concerned 'no-spin' I naively assumed that meant something about extracting truth from PR. Instead, of course, it means she is an dittoheaded OReillyesque douchebag who came on and ran down a pathetic litany of GOP talking points.

2006 Feb 10 05:16 (#2420.6803):
Is this a record for most content-y post?

2006 Feb 10 04:29 (#2432.6802):
ObRepost: Brokeback Jedi.

2006 Feb 10 01:03 (#2431.6801):
It's true: he's still Han Solo cool. You can also tell he knows the movie sucks.

2006 Feb 09 10:44 (#2420.6791):
Before I had my back surgery, I (on my own initiative) did a ton of exercise, mostly focusing on cardio/endurance work. I think that a huge portion of my very rapid and complete recovery from surgery was due to this 'pre-hab.' However, at no point did any of the doctors I saw recommend this. It was just, "OK, let's schedule this for six months from now, check in with us a month before to get blood work", not "... and here's a physical therapist to start training the muscles that will have to take over as your recover from the 2-ft long cut down the middle of your back." It stands to reason that having less body weight and more core/stabilizing muscle strength will help with the recovery and post-op physical therapy. Another unexpected but huge benefit of the exercise was psychological. Cycling 100 miles really gets you in touch with pain, in a way that helps you deal with the intense, low-level discomfort following surgery, and to push your limits during therapy. Anyway, I think surgeons really neglect this aspect of patient care (and as for insurance companies: fuhgeddaboudit).

2006 Feb 06 11:38 (#2409.6746):
Speaking of Harold Pinter, and the Superbowl, here's a poem by Harold Pinter about Football. Now kiss me on the mouth.

2006 Feb 04 11:52 (#2416.6738):
Jeez, did you read the comments on the musical-tube-map article? Sounds like a lot of Guardian readers sip haterade while reading their morning paper.

2006 Feb 04 11:42 (#2416.6737):
Another interesting reimagining of the classic Tube Map is this isochronic version of the London Underground Map -- reorganized to show distances as travel times from central london (Elephant & Castle, to be sure). Also available as huge PDF or interactive Java App.

2006 Feb 02 12:49 (#2412.6716):
What I've been doing while not finishing the AEthermixes:

I've recently been listening to the Stiff Records box set and Hard Days' Night - The History of Stiff Records. Stiff Records was an early-80s new wave label that put out records by Nick Lowe, Elvis Costello, Graham Parker, Kirsty MacColl and The Pogues, Devo and Madness. Not to mention a bunch of minor artists featured to excellent effect. [listen: Nick Lowe's So It Goes from the Stiff box set or Swords of a Thousand Men by Tenpole Tudor from Hard Day's Night; buy.] I've also been enjoying two DJ mastermixes, Nothing to Fear by Steinski and Uneasy Listening, vol 1 by DJ Z-Trip and DJ P. These go beyond the cute, easy synchronicity of most mashups to highlight unsuspected connections running through the whole of modern music. Unfortunately the samples are far too dense and too many to ever sell the album in stores. [listen: Swingset (10 Beautiful Girls mix) by Steinski; Track 17 (Pharcyde vs. Love is a Battlefield) by DJ Z-Trip & DJ P; can't buy.] And TowtruckJohnny put me on to the Demonics, who rock.

I'm currently reading No god but God, a history of Islam by Reza Aslan. Aslan has appeared on the Daily Show, which is how I recognized his book at Book People. He's a balanced and passionate advocate for both Islam and peace. Yes Man by Danny Wallace made me laugh out loud several times and made me reflect several times, although Join Me is still my favorite by him. I'm also 4/7ths of the way through the Chronic'les of Narnia.

For several years, I Luv Video prominently featured the poster for the film La Haine ("Hate") -- I finally saw it, and it's great. It's a hardbitten day-in-the-life of three friends (one arab, one black, one jewish) from the french exurb ghetto. The film and its hip-hop soundtrack foreshadowed the recent banlieux race riots for anyone who'd listen.

2006 Feb 02 06:05 (#2410.6712):
If it makes you feel better, I was sure it was 'shwarma.' And good to know that even such as I can be right about something... Does this mean we're heading there for Friday lunch?

2006 Feb 01 10:14 (#2409.6690):
Also good: this scorecard for the Supremes on when they did or didn't clap.

2006 Feb 01 09:05 (#2407.6688):
We only have $15 of the necessary $35. Cmon ladies, your support is needed now more than ever!

2006 Jan 29 11:50 (#2402.6674):
The pagination system worked for me the same as it did for the guy in the chat -- I was reading along, thinking the article would wind to a close, and then it took that sharp left turn at the jump to page 5. Really made the experience more intense. Was anyone else reminded of the movie Adaptation?

2006 Jan 29 09:48 (#2400.6668):
I guess I should have been nicer. All I said was

'And on and on and on she kept goin
The bitch been around before my mother's born!
I said, "Cheer up!" so I gave her a hit
I said, "You can't have me, I'm too young for you bitch!"'

2006 Jan 28 06:05 (#2376.6666):
Hey, I won't be around next week ... I have to run over to Pittsburgh to take care of a new friend. BTW, Laura -- can I borrow your #7 jersey for a day or two?

2006 Jan 28 05:28 (#2389.6661):
I guess I had always thought of Bangladesh as mountainous, like Nepal or Tibet or Bhutan. Not so -- it actually occupies the largest river delta in the world, at the confluence of the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and Meghna rivers.

2006 Jan 27 05:26 (#2391.6648):
I recall hearing once about a study done on transmission of jokes among english schoolchildren that found not only remarkable speed and dispersion but also universal insulation -- the joke was widespread long before adults heard of it. But the next day -- I don't believe that.

I haven't found that, but I found some interesting info on children's street culture including Junkyard sports and the intro to The Lore and Language of Schoolchildren, a book by the researchers who first investigated children's lore.

2006 Jan 27 03:45 (#2391.6646):
I was 11, in 6th grade. I remember being at recess and coming back in to watch it. Our science teacher cried -- a big deal for us. I think we wanted to make fun of him for it but were also impressed.

Everyone in the world should read Edward Tufte on the engineering failures leading up to the disaster. His new book discusses how information design failures persist at NASA. (He argues that powerpoint is good for salespitches and lousy for information transport.)

2006 Jan 27 02:25 (#2390.6642):
For more fun, see the Supersized Meals blog. Not surprisingly the 100x100 is on the front page of the burger blog as well.

2006 Jan 27 02:18 (#2376.6640):
48 bags for $10! How can you afford not to?!

Actually, I think MsCegenation has been supposed to send me some of these for a while....

2006 Jan 27 10:59 (#2376.6631):
Will Laura be able to find the right snacks to serve on Saturday?

2006 Jan 26 05:46 (#2387.6620):
I love that the little girl has a megajersey accent -- she sounds like an eight-year-old version of Linda Richman.

2006 Jan 26 12:24 (#2384.6614):
Really?

What's next?
We're currently working on adding Northwestern - we already know they're the dumber Chicago school, but are they uglier too? (Probably not, but we can dream.) We're also playing around with the data we already have to come up with some new interpretations. Check back in the coming weeks.

We're just lucky that present company are outliers, I guess.

2006 Jan 26 12:19 (#2388.6613):
That just reminds me of how drug dealers are regarded as local heros in the 'hood, because they're careful to scatter largesse along with their destructive misery.

It's also the mistake that the US consistently has made in places like Vietnam, Colombia, Afghanistan and now Iraq. Conversion via well, schoolhouse and plow is cheaper and more effective than conversion by the sword, yet we consistently spend several times on military presence than on pacification.

2006 Jan 25 12:00 (#2382.6604):
Also of googlemaps note -- they've added two more levels of zoom on the satellite photos in many places.

2006 Jan 24 07:10 (#2381.6597):
Preview, Valatan -- it's your friend.

2006 Jan 24 03:29 (#2377.6596):
second opinions on Safran Foer's book.

2006 Jan 24 02:48 (#2378.6595):
The funniest thing -- too bad you can't tell from that photo -- is that all those guys are wearing Go Go Boots.

2006 Jan 23 10:03 (#2376.6587):
Remember, it's trips to win so you'll have to have everything balls-on dead center to sink an albatross.

2006 Jan 20 04:26 (#2340.6558):
No eye dear yet about wristbands, but last year they went on sale on Feb 21st for the festival on March 11-15. So: about three weeks before?

2006 Jan 20 04:07 (#2359.6557):
Searching through SNLTranscripts, all I can find is a weekend update involving crustaceans hijacking an airplane. Remember any other details?

2006 Jan 18 07:18 (#2368.6545):
Listening to Aziz' delivery, he has definitely listened to a Mitch Hedberg CD or two in his time...

2006 Jan 18 06:49 (#2366.6543):
That Cool Breeze LP cover is truly great:

Looks like my HS shop teacher.

They also give a shout out to The Demonics, a band that TowtruckJohnny put me onto this summer. They're the Tits.

2006 Jan 18 05:38 (#2369.6542):
NBA version here.

2006 Jan 18 04:07 (#2368.6535):
Readers of the Alkaline Earth front page will be evermore apprised of the exact, Sesame Street-conveyed terror alert level and be able to plan accordingly.

2006 Jan 17 10:33 (#2356.6521):
Take Heed, Everyone: Truly I'm the Smartest (THE TITS)
Since Last Month I've Accomplished Much (SLAM I AM)

2006 Jan 17 01:34 (#2362.6513):

"I wasn't sorry to see the back of Suzy after what she did, but it really broke my heart to let Ziggy go," he said. "I love him to bits and I really miss having him around, but it was torture hearing him repeat that name over and over again.

"I still can't believe he's gone. I know I'll get over Suzy, but I don't think I'll ever get over Ziggy."

True Dat.

2006 Jan 17 12:39 (#2361.6510):
Try that out and let us know how it goes, Ziggy.

2006 Jan 17 01:38 (#2356.6502):
How much does David Hasselhoff's Head Weigh? Competitive Eaters NEED to know.

2006 Jan 16 11:29 (#2359.6500):
Snakes on a Blog

My name is Brian and this blog documents my quest to attend the Hollywood premiere of Snakes on a Plane. If I'm really lucky, this blog will do more than just document the quest, it will aid it.

2006 Jan 16 03:59 (#2356.6490):
Ziggy is referring to an exciting new AE feature that will be announced later this week. But has not been announced yet. Is this part of our street team's media strategy, to build buzz? No one can say for sure.

2006 Jan 15 05:37 (#2325.6479):
One-Peat - Shouldn't Dynasties Win More than Once? (Also: Response)

2006 Jan 13 05:54 (#2349.6472):
See also -- this bootleg scan of the 2006 Hooters Calendar. Totally SFW and Totally Wild.

2006 Jan 13 05:24 (#2322.6470):
Hey, those Victoria's secret models aren't "gross fake boobed". Their boobs are all real... real expensive, that is.

2006 Jan 13 06:44 (#2329.6456):
I for one salute our new cyclops kitten masters

2006 Jan 13 12:01 (#2347.6455):
It's true -- you'll get all the J Peterman catalogs that a guy named 'Nutt Hairyson' could want.

2006 Jan 12 03:43 (#2346.6447):
I fixed the link -- does that look right? If not, please comment with the whole text of what you meant to write and I'll edit the post to match.

2006 Jan 12 12:19 (#2340.6441):
HA! I knew you couldn't stay meh for long! Your wet blanketude powers are strong, but not in Dr.FeelJ's league.

2006 Jan 11 08:14 (#2340.6432):
From musicgen@lists.sxsw.com:

2. Band List Expands This Weekend
Stop by the SXSW website (sxsw.com) this weekend for an updated band list, with hundreds of recently confirmed performers. Get your SXSW information straight from the source at our site.

2006 Jan 11 08:07 (#2342.6431):
Another link from the Road Associates: RatBike!

2006 Jan 11 05:30 (#2339.6426):
On windows machines I use ACDSee -- it's cleverly yclept and reads every image format known to man. Unfortunately it's way too expensive and suffers advanced creeping featurism. If I know of a program that was lightweight yet still possessed of the Just Works™ property I'd switch.

2006 Jan 11 05:10 (#2339.6421):
Done. (original .tiff here: do non-macs read this natively?)

2006 Jan 11 04:47 (#2339.6419):
A .tiff Carl? Really. I don't know whose geek cred is hurt more: yours for using an annoying file format or mine because I have to use an external file handler to view it, but if the internet were an elementary school lunchroom you'd be getting a swirly right now.

2006 Jan 11 04:41 (#2338.6417):
That fucking ruled.

2006 Jan 11 04:39 (#2339.6416):
#2!!!!! Woot!

2006 Jan 10 03:48 (#2329.6397):
Geez, her legs barely reach the floor...

2006 Jan 10 03:45 (#2336.6396):
Do you think they make stickers for walkers that read "Being a Curmudgeon is Not a Crime"?

2006 Jan 10 03:16 (#2332.6395):
Hmm, when is ThingsMyFriendZiggySays.com going live?

2006 Jan 06 03:00 (#2325.6374):
Two pieces of post-game commentary I enjoyed: the Sports Guy's Running Diary and Michael Wilbon's Paean to Young. There are no parade plans yet, but the tower will have a '1' all weekend long and you can check out the trophy in person this weekend. Oh, and our other championship team is poised to repeat. Hook 'em!

2006 Jan 05 12:13 (#2218.6363):
Is Chuck Norris the new David Hasselhoff?

When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.

2006 Jan 03 12:32 (#2316.6353):
Apparently Chris Berman helped put him up to it (see p. 2).

2005 Dec 31 01:23 (#2308.6340):
Yeah javelina needs some pussy.

2005 Dec 29 12:17 (#2304.6334):
You need to set up wget to use --loadcookies and a spoofed referer tag. In other news I know that the StreamboxVCR folks have cracked the real streaming protocol; I don't know if this will help you dump the files. Can't you just use winamp to bulk dump them to wav's which you then reencode? I think you can.

2005 Dec 23 01:04 (#2292.6309):
I think the no-helmet isuue is an unencumbrance thing and a manhood thing, kinda like how most NFL players don't wear a jockstrap or a cup while playing.

2005 Dec 23 03:12 (#2294.6305):
I definitely agree with the author -- if you have to choose, choose Ann-Margaret. Are she and Liberace the first one-named celebrities?

2005 Dec 21 11:27 (#2296.6296):
Am I happy or sad about this? I still haven't figured that out. I'm leaning towards "mild disappointment."

2005 Dec 21 09:44 (#2288.6288):
Ars Technica breaks down the new NSA technology which (the admistration felt) necessitated circumventing FISA.

2005 Dec 20 07:19 (#2292.6284):
I put some other cycling vids up a while back and got a nice dressing-down from sG and leroy... it was fun.

2005 Dec 20 07:18 (#2293.6283):
I think the small bumpiness is weekday/weekend seasonality. I wonder if the spike in feb/mar is due to redirecting search traffic to google, as I think they occasionally have done, or the release of the firefox plugin or something.

2005 Dec 20 02:39 (#2288.6278):
I guess I don't see this as another case of criticizing Bush for being Bush. A hallmark of our Fourth amendment (search&seizure) rights is prior judicial oversight. A hallmark of our system of government is respect for the checks and balances that separation of powers imposes. Bush is asserting that for the duration of the open-ended war on terror, neither applies.

Bush's constitutional argument, in the eyes of some legal scholars and previous White House advisers, relies on extraordinary claims of presidential war-making power. Bush said yesterday that the lawfulness of his directives was affirmed by the attorney general and White House counsel, a list that omitted the legislative and judicial branches of government. On occasion the Bush administration has explicitly rejected the authority of courts and Congress to impose boundaries on the power of the commander in chief, describing the president's war-making powers in legal briefs as "plenary" -- a term defined as "full," "complete," and "absolute."

2005 Dec 20 02:14 (#2288.6273):
Security expert Bruce Schneier's take on the NSA affair; GWU Law Professor Daniel Solove's take.

2005 Dec 20 01:52 (#2291.6271):
Speaking of NYers... it's important to visit overheardinnewyork.com every once in a while and eavesdrop.

2005 Dec 19 06:40 (#2280.6265):
Besides an Alkaline Earth shirt, here's how to choose a gift for that special geek in your life.

2005 Dec 19 06:37 (#2286.6263):
In a related conspiracy, did a cabal of powerful figures from entertainment and politics launch a campaign of harrassment against Dave Chappelle to cause his freakout and stop the show?

2005 Dec 19 02:24 (#2281.6258):
Thanks to the Cynical-C archives, you may enjoy as well Album Covers Lego, Greatest that Never Were, Old, Jazz, Sgt. Peppery, Explained, Inexplicable, Unusual, or just plain
Bad.

2005 Dec 19 01:27 (#2277.6257):
Sailing on hope...

2005 Dec 19 01:43 (#2277.6253):
I think the land is warmer than the air during the day, and colder at night. The sea is pretty much the same temp across day&night. So the wind is the resulting convection.

While sailing on small bodies of water I've always found that the wind dies at nightfall...

2005 Dec 19 12:19 (#2278.6250):
I just saw a Miller Lite ad featuring the TSO-Xmas light house.

2005 Dec 17 01:50 (#2276.6243):
A similar investigation went up a while back, and I thought beckto or someone was gonna try to get it... anyone try one of these things out? Where did it go wrong?

2005 Dec 15 06:32 (#2275.6241):
"People who tape and watch bowling from midday ESPN:" P:\TV\Bowling\Bowling (Nov 14).mpg (score!)

2005 Dec 14 11:04 (#2269.6233):
In a similar vein: Will They Fly a Plane Into My House? - How to Talk to Children About Terrorism is redone by the Something Awful Goons.

2005 Dec 14 06:24 (#2255.6232):
If I, so to speak, unexpected go into syndication, I hope that you will honor my memory with a moment of Zen as touching as that the Daily Show found for Bill Clarey, the intern who passed away.

2005 Dec 14 01:44 (#2265.6222):
Welcome aboard, JM! Those are some crazy links. Tho I did enjoy learning about Dita Von Teese, and nobody enjoys Spongebob Slash Fic more than myself... What is up with the search tags that have nothing to do with the target vids?

2005 Dec 13 08:49 (#2264.6217):
Since the author of that blog won't tell you I will: CREM are Classified Removable Electronic Media (Zip drives, removable Hard Disks, etc. with classified contents).

2005 Dec 13 01:51 (#2261.6210):
Honestly -- with the exception of a few standouts like Costco or Ben&Jerry's, is there any difference? Aren't McDonalds, Burger King, Coke, and Pepsico different faces of the same beast?

2005 Dec 13 10:58 (#2260.6206):
Good Stuff! Here's a Kangaroo "ringin' the bell"

2005 Dec 12 02:43 (#2257.6198):
Also on the old-skool science stizz: video of an A-Bomb detonated underwater

2005 Dec 12 05:11 (#2255.6195):
Hey Jenny,
I'll see you this XMas at Osama's Homoabortionpot'n'commiejizzporium!

2005 Dec 12 01:32 (#2254.6194):
Hapa? H a p a.

2005 Dec 09 02:01 (#2243.6178):
The uncomfortably yclept but indispensible GSpot Codec Information tool confirms that the files are XviD AVIs. Install FFDShow as per the Zoom Player Formats Recommendations and Bob will be your uncle.

2005 Dec 08 08:17 (#2239.6167):
I went to Legoland in San Diego -- the coolest part was the automated series of machines that make LEGO bricks on the spot.

2005 Dec 08 08:13 (#2236.6166):
Dammit, link is down. Any backup linx, Valatan? I hear it's pretty neat. Also, how do you feel about BBTN picking the Cards as one of the '3 Down' at the winter meetings? (Not talking trash -- somehow my headless team is hellbent on dealing its whole left side for 50 cents on the dollar.)

2005 Dec 08 05:40 (#2241.6165):
Beckto the Bruiser keeps trying to challenge me to food bets but it's hard when one is not only vegetarian but also has a "no bets that involve diapers" rule.

2005 Dec 07 02:01 (#2235.6145):
So thinking about old-skool anmiation made me look up the music vid for Money For Nothing. Did you know that Sting sang the 'I want my MTV,' and that it stands in parody to 'Don't Stand So Close To Me'? Me neither.

2005 Dec 06 05:36 (#2231.6144):
Can we make a generator generator? It would supply one pop culture phenomenon (Mr. T, Republican, Black Metal, Action Movies, ...) and one attribute (Name, Story Board, Comic Book Hero, ...) -- yielding, for example, the "Black Metal Comic Book Hero Generator" or the "Mr. T Story Board Generator" or the "Action Movie Name Generator." It wouldn't actually make the generators, you see, just the idea for the generator. That would be a job for the Generator Generator Implementor. Now if we had a Generator Implementor Generator we'd be all set.

2005 Dec 06 02:53 (#2234.6143):
More video fun: the trunk monkey ads.

2005 Dec 06 02:31 (#2231.6139):
Q: Did you immediately think of something to try for the Google Images Storytelling Machine?
A: You betcha.
Q: Will the Beckto is Famous thing ever cease to amuse?
A: Probably not.

2005 Dec 04 02:01 (#2228.6132):
In more financial news: The heft of Wired Magazine as a concomitant NASDAQ indicator.

2005 Dec 03 01:32 (#2226.6128):
That was brilliant -- obvs. SEC slanted, but can't argue with any of the parallels. Maybe Jenny Slater will dance with him now.

2005 Dec 03 03:09 (#2223.6127):
El Mariachi should be way higher. And Deep Throat should have made the top 50.

2005 Dec 02 01:58 (#2222.6120):
From a completely different person than whoever posted the link: if you suffer through the urbane comments on the original page you will find this exchange:

translator: For those of you who are interested:
Tatoo 1: Save Me
Tatoo 2: Finish Me
In clip 1, she says that she'd be all his if he'd take her with him.
In clip two, the gay dude says that all he wants is to be a gardener of something like that. Then, the nicely breasted Clémence says that if he leaves her, she would be capable of anything, including killing herself. All this while touching herself.
But hey, what do we care, all I remember from these clips are those magnificient tits

...

Brent: Uh, don't wanna contradict "translator" but in the first clip she's asking him at what price he would "rate" her, as in, how much could she charge if she were a prostitute. She says she's even "signed," like a painting or work of art and shows him the tats: "save me", "kill me."
He responds that she may be disappointed but he's never been a pimp.
In clip 2 he says all he wants now is to be a gardener or open a plant nursery. She says it's ok for a start, so long as it's far away from here. She then goes on about how much she loathes herself and how she could even be capable of offing herself.
He's not into her not because he's gay, but because he can tell she's trouble (no shit, Cap'n Clouseau).
Oh yeah, the part in the post about the French guy was funny, ha ha.

...

Herb Budd: Uh, don't wanna contradict "translator" 2, but in the first clip she's asking him if he'd want to purchase some weed. At what price would he buy it for, etc. etc. She says it depends on what part of her body is turned towards him. Give me weed that would "save me" or "kill me" depending on the mood. He responds by saying he's all out of the "kill me chronic".
In clip 2 he says all he wants now is to be a gardener or open a plant nursery so he can grow more weed. She says it's ok for a start, so long as it's in Jamaica. She then goes on about how much weed turns her on as she begins to grope herself and writhe all over him. However, he only wants to find a gay Jamaican to farm with, but because he can tell she's trouble, she can come along for the ride.

2005 Dec 01 11:52 (#2214.6118):
I use rsync, a standard unix tool and part of the cygwin distribution. I've recently heard good things about the MS Sync Toy, one of the Microsoft Power Toys. If you try it out lemme know how it goes.

2005 Dec 01 06:21 (#2220.6105):
On an ever so slightly more serious note... The first article puts the failure rate of condoms at 12%. That's huge!!! That means one in eight times I (or a hypothetical person who is currently having sex) use a condom they might as well be barebacking it? I'm confused.

2005 Dec 01 06:14 (#2214.6104):
Bookmark Sync extension seems to be highly regarded, though you may need to wait a bit before using it with 1.5.

2005 Dec 01 06:10 (#2220.6103):
Wow, that response went along quite reasonably and then took one heck of a sharp left onto crazy train lane...

2005 Dec 01 02:11 (#2217.6077):
It is necessary that says me that I die to have something with you
Is that you have not realized that no matter how much it costs me to be your friend
No longer I can approach me your mouth
Without decirte of a crazy way
I need to control your life
That kisses to you
Who shelters to you

2005 Nov 30 10:37 (#2212.6076):
Nueces is great. The roads to its west and the roads to its east all have hills and dips and lights -- but Nueces is just a constant gentle incline with almost exclusively stop signs.

2005 Nov 29 09:43 (#2211.6066):
Well, she seems happy in her new career [theonion.com]...

2005 Nov 29 03:10 (#2196.6054):
More Spike Jonez Goodness (thanks, WFMU).

2005 Nov 29 12:20 (#2205.6052):
Is Rex Kramer, Danger Seeker [NSFW] in an earlier installment of that show?

2005 Nov 29 12:07 (#1923.6051):
I really like the Cliff's Notes too.

2005 Nov 28 03:17 (#2204.6047):
He must have taken the unofficial version of "Texas Fight" to heart and had leftovers he wanted to share.

2005 Nov 27 04:21 (#2200.6039):
The face recognizer couldn't handle what I bring -- it failed to find matches on three different photos. People have told me I look like Alfred Molina. Not sure how I feel about that.

2005 Nov 27 03:21 (#2189.6038):
I'm in for $5. Let's make this happen, folks!

2005 Nov 24 12:12 (#2189.6001):
Just to be clear: I sent him the link, not the banana half-mock

2005 Nov 23 02:57 (#2186.5997):
I don't have the patience to look at that site... can you briefly summarize the insanity?

2005 Nov 23 02:56 (#2187.5996):
I also enjoyed this week's lunaticly fractious interview with Sarah Silverman, which contains responses such as "I'm shy. Okay? Stop riding me you weasely queer" and "But, as I always say, 'If you take the 'e' off of rape, you'll see it's got a bad rap!' I don't really always say that. Only just here. That one is for us." Silverman killed in the Aristocrats and has quickly become one of my favorite comics -- an adorable jewish girl cutely reeling off foulmouthed prose that would make Carlin blush.

2005 Nov 21 11:45 (#2182.5993):
The Palm computor was way cool... I'd have to hack it for cadence, tho

2005 Nov 21 05:16 (#2182.5985):
We've been over this. Also interesting to note: that hiccup story isn't on digg.

2005 Nov 20 09:44 (#2179.5974):
I bet their bosses won't stand for any suing. (BTW, note the name of Parker&Stone's new venture: "Trunity, a Mediar company, a division of True Mediar, a Unity Corpbopoly")

2005 Nov 19 06:07 (#2165.5970):
In case you found that video convincing... maybe you're ready to Become a Republican!

2005 Nov 18 01:41 (#2161.5956):
See also: Tape it off the Internet (tagline: we're real even though we started as a joke!)

2005 Nov 18 01:19 (#2170.5955):
Think about it from a CYA standpoint -- suppose they don't take something from him that is obviously a weapon, and he harms himself or someone else. Then there would be an uproar that the police had *left him* with a (gun, hunting knife, bowstaff).

2005 Nov 17 03:59 (#2164.5952):
The peace workers I met who had come from the Congo looked around at Kigali, Rwanda and marveled at its prosperity and advancement. Now keep in mind that I was astonished at the poverty gap between Rwanda and countries such as Mexico or Ethiopia.

2005 Nov 17 03:56 (#2167.5951):
more papercraft

2005 Nov 17 02:54 (#2166.5950):
Man, this processing language seems really cool... I'll have to mess with it sometime. You may remember Thinking Chess or the History of Sampling in Hip-Hop: both were built with the Processing language. Can you digg it?

2005 Nov 15 04:40 (#2154.5931):
You should get in on this, Nate! See if they'll give you $5 to have King Kong climbing the AE globe logo!

2005 Nov 11 11:43 (#2146.5915):
Oh no! 7th Heaven is going off the air!

2005 Nov 11 10:55 (#2145.5914):
I'm, obviously, down with the sickness... as soon as I get the FTP going I'll put up slightly more germaine guidelines.

2005 Nov 11 10:52 (#2143.5913):
Speaking of symbolic gestures of perpetual enmeshment: Metal Council Convenes to Discuss 'Metal Hand Sign' Abuse.

2005 Nov 09 06:28 (#2141.5886):
Movie should be up in a minnit: FLiVo Caps

2005 Nov 09 05:34 (#2141.5884):
I have it... do you actually want the clip, or do you just want to know that it can be had?

2005 Nov 02 11:15 (#2126.5862):
Fuck that... any time anyone wants to make art and use AE as the global HQ for its launch I say go the hell ahead.
+20 Getting out there and making stuff.

2005 Oct 28 05:47 (#2104.5815):
Man, this is what they mean when they say that a poster with a doodiefaced agenda can be vicious!

I don't think this kind of 'attack dog' posting, of bringing scurrilous charges against me for political motives, has any place on this message board.

You're only accusing me because I'm Jewish. Anti Semite!

2005 Oct 28 02:14 (#2100.5812):
Check the BCS FAQ at collegebcs.com for more on the computer rankings.

What do you know about the different computer rankings?
Not a whole lot. Most of the formulas are proprietary. Some are more forthcoming about what goes in than others. All of the systems use the same basic set of data (except where noted): Date of game, location of game, who played and who won. What distinguishes them is what they do with the data, how much they weigh certain factors, and what set of teams they rank.
None of the rating systems consider margin of victory.

Unless otherwise noted, all publish ratings from the beginning of the season and therefore have some prior season bias at least early on. In those systems, at some point, the prior season data is no longer relevant and each season stands on its own.

Jeff Anderson-Chris Hester
Rates D1A teams only. Factors in conference strength, which is based on how conference teams do in non-conference play. It also appears to give weight to how a team performs against better opposition. Does not consider game location or date. Does not publish until after 5th week.
Richard Billingsley
Rates D1A teams only. Carries a team's rank over from previous year and values early part of season more highly. Also gives slight emphasis to recent performance. If a team does not play, its raw rating (as opposed to ranking) does not change that week. If a team wins, it goes up and if it loses, with rare exception, it goes down. Has a detailed explanation on his site, although he does not provide his formula. Game location given "very minor" consideration.
Wes Colley
Rates D1A teams only, plus provisional 1A teams (like Troy St in 2001). His ratings only consider games between I-A opponents. Publishes his formula on his website, but you need to be a math geek to understand it. Publishes ratings at the beginning of the season, but uses no prior season data. Everyone starts at 0.5. Game location and date are not considered.
Kenneth Massey
Rates all NCAA and NAIA teams. Starts everyone at zero and starts publishing at the beginning of the season. The formula does not consider homefield advantage or game date.
Jeff Sagarin
Rates all DI teams, both IA and IAA. The BCS will not be using the ratings Sagarin is famous for, but rather a rating system he calls "Elo Chess," which does not include MOV. Presumably, he named it "Elo Chess" because it is based on the rating system used for chess players developed by Arpad Elo. Home field advantage is considered.
Peter Wolfe
Rates all NCAA and NAIA teams. Does not publish rankings until the week of the first release. Rankings based on actual outcome vs probability of that outcome occurring. Game location is a factor.

2005 Oct 28 02:09 (#2104.5811):
dammit -- the time 100 thread fell off my 'recent comments' radar.

2005 Oct 28 10:52 (#2104.5807):
Speaking of Def Yeti Jam and the Time 100 books, here are selected one-star amazon.com reviews of books from the Time 100 list.

2005 Oct 27 12:20 (#2102.5804):
Apparently AC agrees with Andy Richter -- "Would a bad person encase themselves in puppies like this?"

2005 Oct 25 04:50 (#2098.5787):
I think it's clear there are two events afoot: "Aethermix II: A Time for Zig" and "AEthermuck: The World's Crappiest Mixtape (5 song limit)." Since you can construct your AEthermix any which way you want (but loose), you should be allowed to enter it in both events.

2005 Oct 25 02:52 (#2098.5765):
To be clear: 1500MB total. If there are 20 aethermixes, there will be 75MB/aethermixer. I'll detail this and a few other technical guidelines in a later post.

2005 Oct 25 01:27 (#2095.5762):
Z - did you notice the WTF, Mate? Kangaroos! category? I left out the word 'fucking' because it's too long otherwise.

2005 Oct 25 12:45 (#2098.5761):
A few times I've asked Nate when "AEthermix II: The Ziggy-Generated Tagline" is going down, and every time he shudders and says it'll happen whenever someone steps forward to coordinate the sequential reception and dispatch of twenty-odd mixtapes to and from twenty-odd recipients. Not to mention hounding those who were late (like me).

My proposal: that everyone send their AEthermix in mp3 format. You can hand, mail, or courier a data CD to Nate, or you can FTP the files to a site that I'll set up. (We'll do our best to provide technical help for those who need it.) I'll post some guidelines that will make it easy for us to put all the mixtapes together into one coherent collection -- I'm hoping to keep it to two CDs (1500MB) but that will depend on how many people join up. I'll burn the collection onto CDs using the 7th floor burner farm (aka the math lab) and then Nate will hand/mail/whatever them out.

What you'll get back will also be a data CD -- you can drag all the files from the CD into your iPod, and you can play them on your PC while you're at work. However, you won't be able to slap it in your home stereo or cd changer (unless you have FliVo or a fancy mp3-playin' cd changer).

If you're old school and want to have audio CDs, well, you can burn your own. We'll make sure that each mix can just be drag-n-dropped onto Nero or equivalent for easy mass burnination. All mixes should include at least one piece of album art, which will make both iTunes-users and CD-burning-completists happy.

Post your comments below -- but if you're dead set on getting a stack of audio CDs then you'd better also be stepping up to handle the associated logistics.

2005 Oct 25 12:13 (#2098.5760):
I was surprised that the Aziz mixes went for 'hackneyed' (theme songs, songs from soundtracks) more then purely 'godawful' (Europe's 'Final Countdown,' anything else on this page).

2005 Oct 24 12:40 (#2092.5744):
Speaking of movies... a review of QT Fest '05 including a brief mention of Jenn's favorite movie. (BTW, check out this completely inaccurate review in the NYT movie section... WTF? Did they read this off of an eBay box top?)

2005 Oct 22 10:34 (#2092.5737):
Ooh, actually Without Limits (movie about Oregon Duck Steve Prefontaine) would be a good Oregon choice too.

2005 Oct 22 10:27 (#2092.5736):
As I posted over there, I'd vote Giant for Texas. Also, I still think of Stand by Me as set in Maine, even if it was shot in Oregon. I'd pick Goonies instead.

2005 Oct 22 12:41 (#2089.5734):
The logo is great; subtle at first glance, obvious as a fist to the face upon further consideration:

2005 Oct 21 12:40 (#2076.5721):
Whee! Free points for everyone! Here's my mom's list:

All the King's Men

Animal Farm

Appointment in Samarra

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret

The Berlin Stories

The Big Sleep

Brideshead Revisited

The Bridge of San Luis Rey

Catch-22

The Catcher in the Rye

Deliverance

Falconer

The French Lieutenant's Woman

Gone With the Wind

The Grapes of Wrath

The Great Gatsby

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Lolita

Lord of the Flies

1984

On the Road

A Passage to India

Portnoy's Complaint

The Power and the Glory

Rabbit, Run

Ragtime

Slaughterhouse-Five

The Sound and the Fury

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

The Sun Also Rises

To Kill a Mockingbird

She's read 45 of the American Library's Top 100 Novels, and thinks that it's a stronger list. As for this one, Momma K is sad that Saroyan was left off, and thought that the selections from Faulkner, Hemingway and Steinbeck all missed the target.

Also, I somehow missed that I have read 'Red Harvest' along with everything else written by Dashiell Hammett. +1 for all!

2005 Oct 20 10:52 (#2083.5703):
WS Tix are gone, gone, gone. They sold out in 18 mins -- only a bit shorter than the NLCS tix went for. The trick is to go to the computer lab, set several computers all refreshing the mlb.com page, and then set it to buy 'individual-best available' tickets. Buy the first one you can, and then buy others that are nearby as they come up.

2005 Oct 19 06:10 (#2076.5686):
If you've seen my bedroom then you know I'm losing the 'Humiliation' game, so lemme instead go ahead and put up some ammo for Ferziggy and Ms.C to duke it out with... 'Top 100' books I've read:

Animal Farm

Are You There God? It's Me, Margaret (don't ask)

Beloved (hated it)

The Big Sleep

Catch 22

Catcher in the Rye

Grapes of Wrath

Great Gatsby

The Lion, The Witch and the Wardrobe

Lolita

Lord of the Flies

Lord of the Rings

(halfway through) Midnight's Children

Native Son

1984

On the Road

Slaughterhouse Five

Snow Crash

The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

The Sun also Rises

To Kill a Mockingbird

Watchmen

I have also read

As I Lay Dying (hated it)

Cryptonomicon

Candide

2005 Oct 14 12:37 (#2064.5634):
Hmmm... I won't be searching for that phrase...

2005 Oct 13 08:04 (#2064.5631):
Ziggy outsourced the FP reposting of this link to natedogg.

2005 Oct 12 11:58 (#2062.5623):
And for the brave of heart may I parenthetically recommend: Google Image Search for "Crispin Glover"

2005 Oct 12 05:12 (#2061.5621):
I can show you how to put your laptop in 'numpad' mode...

2005 Oct 07 12:19 (#2052.5606):
Top 5 Non-Doo Wop Di Da Do Songs:

Beatles - Ob La Di, Ob La Da

Suzanne Vega - Tom's Diner (DNA Remix)

Stevie Wonder - You Haven't Done Nothing

Police - De Do Do Do, De Da Da Da

Dido - Thank You

Honorable mention to Johnny Mercer's Mairzy Doats.

Also: otaku defined.

2005 Oct 06 08:35 (#2052.5601):
BTW, what is the song in the title? I'm either not otaku or not musical enough to get it.

2005 Oct 05 12:49 (#2048.5583):
"This sentence must be heard to be believed."

2005 Oct 03 03:12 (#2040.5562):
"Edward Lorenz for his contributions to the theory of chaos and attractors" has my vote, natch.

2005 Oct 03 10:49 (#2039.5557):
Speaking of movies: 40 things that only happen in movies

2005 Oct 03 10:28 (#2036.5556):
Boswell and Chad put the end of the regular season in context, each in their way.

Angels fans. Those who go to Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim games live in Orange County. I live in Los Angeles, and I don't go to Orange County unless it involves a court order, a lap dance or a really, really good bowling coupon.

2005 Oct 02 07:54 (#2036.5551):
I think it's delightful that they let your cute little flyover section of the country have a baseball team, and I have indeed heard that they were pretty good in the 40's and 60's. (BTW, thanks for remembering that they played baseball before 1918... As an easy mnemonic device, keep in mind that Boston won both the first and last world series. This will also keep you from forgetting last year's -- a danger since it was over so quickly and only one team showed up.)

But that was then and this is now.

There's a reason last year's ALCS felt like the World Series: St Louis wouldn't crack .500 in the AL east. Actually, scratch that -- I see that Toronto finished at 80-84, and St Louis is probably a little better than the Jays, so I'll concede .500 and third place. My point is, this NL brand of over-managed 1-run plays leads to boring, deathless 1-run games, and its fundamental flaws are unmasked every time the leagues meet.

Take, as evidence, the consistent shellacking in interleague play. The AL won 30 more games than the NL (136-106, .562); AL playoff teams went 47-25 (.653) interleague, while those in the NL couldn't even go .500 (31-32). The AL has won two-thirds of the world series since 1996 (and hasn't lost an All-Star game in that stretch). While your boys may have taken care of business during the regular season, the fact remains that they did it against flawed, weak competition.

So suggest the stakes, and if the Baseball Gods should smile on our respective fortunes I can only say this:

IT IS ON

PS I notice McGwire got left off your list. Why is that?

2005 Sep 30 11:27 (#2036.5545):
What's that, Leroy? You're scared of a matchup? Cause you oughta be.

2005 Sep 30 04:44 (#2036.5543):
It's almost right. Based on having a better head-to-head record (right now it's 9-7 Yankees), if Boston goes 2-1 and Cleveland is out then NY gets the division and Boston gets the wildcard.

2005 Sep 30 10:49 (#2036.5539):
Baseball Demotivators: set 1, set 2, bonus.

2005 Sep 30 09:33 (#2036.5537):
AKA "Why I can't possibly be expected to pay attention to school at a time like this".

2005 Sep 29 11:09 (#2031.5534):
OK, I actually just finished reading the previous link -- do yourself a favor and check out the 'Barker's Beauties' and 'Bloopers' sections in the Price is Right page: Good Times.

2005 Sep 29 11:07 (#2031.5533):
Remind me never to go on 'The Price is Right' with Nate.

2005 Sep 29 11:03 (#2033.5532):
I love that the more cowbell drummer is barely holding it together, at one point holding up a drumsticks moustache to hide his grin...

2005 Sep 29 08:10 (#2031.5528):
I'm going with a Feb 14th arrival for "Valentine Hieronymus Hugoniot Lane III," who will leave doctors mystified by showing up with a laptop and clad in a purple velvet jumpsuit.

2005 Sep 29 08:04 (#2033.5527):
That Prince thing is the most amazing thing I've seen since I found out he can ball.

2005 Sep 15 03:04 (#2010.5440):
Hey, nate, if you see sG's neighbor give him this CD...

2005 Sep 15 03:02 (#2009.5439):
Does this story help at all?

2005 Sep 13 12:21 (#2000.5409):
That was High-larious.

2005 Sep 12 05:43 (#1996.5401):
The photo in question.

2005 Sep 12 05:40 (#1996.5400):
Would that be "HTSI: Woods Hole" or "HTSI: Harbor Branch"?

2005 Sep 12 05:37 (#1993.5399):
I fixed some typing errors in your post, Valatan -- hope you don't mind.

2005 Sep 12 05:27 (#1995.5397):
What search terms led you to that one? The mind boggles...

2005 Sep 11 07:00 (#1989.5388):
Hey sG: show your parents this article (or wait, lemme guess: the NYTimes is a leftist commie agitprop tool of the pinko agitators?)

2005 Sep 09 03:00 (#1987.5383):
#4: Ziggy has a webpage?

2005 Sep 08 09:49 (#1983.5378):
Yes, and Betsy Ross sewed his Great-Grandfather.

2005 Sep 06 04:41 (#1976.5359):
Awesome! I got there at 5am and also got tickets, so you win by an hour or so of waiting ;)

Submitted to the AE Community: if you could ask the Dalai Lama a question, what would it be? Also, what are the odds that some person at the talk references the Carl Spackler monologue?

2005 Sep 06 01:10 (#1978.5353):
One of the DirectNIC guys posted a huge gallery with amazing pictures of downtown New Orleans from Sept. 4 (1 week post-hurricane). I pulled out some particularly interesting shots:

The water is going down, but slowly

It's still really gross, though.

Emeril's, Quizno's

Outside the Superdome- trash everywhere

This fountain found a tight parking space

Many survivors are sticking around; Others head out.

Outside the convention center: 1 2 3 4

2005 Sep 06 12:49 (#1978.5352):
They've fixed the levee breach. Hooray! But as this open letter to the president shows, the anger may recede more slowly than the water.

2005 Sep 05 11:07 (#1979.5351):
must... find... that... clip...

2005 Sep 04 01:01 (#1972.5347):
The other major levee break -- notice that water is actually running back into the canal.

2005 Sep 03 02:58 (#1966.5344):

FEMA Chief Michael Brown's last job

New Orleans crisis shames Americans

Shots fired at rescue helicopters: Probably a rumor

2005 Sep 03 02:34 (#1972.5343):
The 17th St. Canal Levee Breach (before / after). NYT Interactive Map of the storm damage. Survey of pictures showing storm damage.

2005 Sep 03 01:55 (#1966.5342):
Some interesting news articles & editorials:

The big disconnect on New Orleans (The official version; then there's the in-the-trenches version)

Krugman: A Can't-Do Government

NYT Editorial: Waiting for a Leader.

Kanye West speaks his mind as a disconcerted Mike Myers confronts the growing realization that that's not what's on the teleprompter. [video]

How New Orleans' historic sites have fared.

FEMA's Michael Brown hems and haws.

Regarding the last article -- in which Brown is 'surprised' to find that there were people with guns shooting -- it's astonishing to me that fewer journalists aren't connecting the dots on the lawlessness to the surfeit of drugs and guns in poor communities. I'm sure many of the people shooting at the rescuers and raiding hospitals for drugs are junkies who were able to snatch an armload of guns from their nearest Walmart and are now desperately jonesing for any kind of fix. We're reaping what we've sown with our disregard for the conditions of the poor.

2005 Sep 02 11:17 (#1966.5328):
Is this also AE's contingency plan?

"Our last-ditch plan is to change the forums into a podcast, then send RSS feeds into the blogosphere so our users can further debate the legality of mashups amongst this month's 20 'sexiest' gadgets."

2005 Sep 02 12:07 (#1966.5326):
pix

2005 Sep 01 09:36 (#1966.5325):
Fats Domino is OK. Also, another index of live scanner feeds is available here -- fascinating stuff.

2005 Sep 01 03:52 (#1968.5317):
I like Joe Morgan. He's not much of a writer, but he excels as a color commentator next to the pantheon Jon Miller. His old-school blandishments ring crotchety on ESPN.com but provide a good balance during a game cast.

2005 Sep 01 12:55 (#1966.5311):
Jebus.

In case anyone in national security is reading this, get the word to President Bush that we need the military in here NOW. The Active Duty Armed Forces. Mr. President, we are losing this city. I don't care what you're hearing on the news. The city is being lost. It is the law of the jungle down here. The command and control structure here is barely functioning. I'm not sure it's anyone's fault -- I'm not sure it could be any other way at this point. We need the kind of logistical support and infrastructure only the Active Duty military can provide. The hospitals are in dire straights. The police barely have any capabilities at this point. The National Guard is doing their best, but the situation is not being contained.

2005 Sep 01 12:12 (#1961.5309):
About the redesign. from the redesigner.

2005 Sep 01 11:43 (#1963.5308):
Or maybe one of these minicars do it for you.

2005 Aug 31 10:09 (#1963.5302):
Or perhaps you'd prefer a more continental flair, and lots (I mean LOTS) of options.

2005 Aug 31 03:36 (#1960.5294):
That's a cool site. Those big leggy centipedes are the freakdekiest.

2005 Aug 31 11:10 (#1958.5291):
OK, so $25 a plate is expensive. But did you _really_ think that you got the 'Roman Orgy' for $6 a head? Did you have to fight Buddy Holly and Dennis the Menace once you found out the truth? And did they make you dress up as Lou Diamond Phillips while you washed dishes to pay off your bill? I want to hear the whole story.

2005 Aug 31 11:06 (#1953.5290):
w00t! The immutable "Matthew Lane Alkaline Earth Vibrators Posting Heuristic" (cf. Chap. 4 in his thesis) is once again upheld.

2005 Aug 30 10:08 (#1955.5285):
If I were a delicate songbird reading that post I'd be saying 'shi...' right now.

2005 Aug 29 02:48 (#1949.5272):
OK, so I'm walking home from SxSW, having (so I thought) seen my last band for the evening, when I see this band set up in the Emo's annex -- the converted stage set up in the parking lot across from Emo's.

On stage are your league average rock'n'roll drummer, bassist, and guitarist. Joining them is a salty old dude on the fiddle in jeans and a leather vest who looks like he could be in Willie Nelson's backing band. Next to him is a guy in leiderhosen with an accordion who is probably named 'Gunter' and could have wandered over from some early Oktoberfest celebration. At the front of the stage, two absolutely smoking-hot chicks of indeterminate but exotic ethnicity, dressed as awols from the munchkin army, are shakin' it down. One is playing the tambourine; the other has the kind of bass drum that the drum major in a Sousa band plays, which she is hitting with swooping full-arm strokes.

At the head of the band is a guy who looks like D-Day from Animal House, stripped to the waist and wearing jeans with a chain-mail loin cloth, belting out lyrics into a headset mike. This frees his hands for drumsticks, which he uses to strike the inverted-buckets-on-poles that people in the front row of the crowd are holding. The crowd is going nuts, and at a couple points the lead singer or the drummer climbs on top the bass drum and crowd surfs.

Needless to say, I stopped to check the band out. Their last song was about 12 minutes long, and started well after the 6th street noise curfew. The music -- gypsy-influenced punk rock by way of every country in between -- was great. It's what I imagine klezmer on a really wicked LSD and methamphetamine trip to be like.

Also check out the 'Gogol Bordello Tour Bus Music Collection' -- many good recommendations therein, and how else will you know which Moldovan hardcore band to start your collection with?

2005 Aug 29 02:19 (#1953.5271):
Vibrators!

2005 Aug 24 12:27 (#1945.5248):
On an unrelated note, is this the best headline ever, or is this the best headline ever? I can't make up my mind.

2005 Aug 24 12:16 (#1944.5246):
People Sounds

2005 Aug 23 06:42 (#1934.5240):
Yeah, and I can't tell whether it was intended to be humorous or not...

2005 Aug 23 03:21 (#1934.5236):
"Although one of her co-authors (Pek Van Andel) did attend the Ig Nobel Prize Ceremony, Ida Sabelis was unable to come." Zing!

2005 Aug 23 12:44 (#1934.5227):
That might just be the perfect scientific article because it says things about acrobats, erections, 1.5 Tesla magnetic fields, and cold, clinical sex.

We did not foresee that the men would have more problems with sexual performance (maintaining their erection) than the women in the scanner. All the women had a complete sexual response, but they described their orgasm as superficial. Only the first couple was able to perform coitus adequately without sildenafil (experiments 1 and 2). The reason might be that they were the only participants in the real sense: involved in the research right from the beginning because of their scientific curiosity, knowledge of the body, and artistic commitment. And as amateur street acrobats they are trained and used to performing under stress.

2005 Aug 23 12:23 (#1933.5225):
I thought the cut weiners referred to me & the rest of the tribe.

2005 Aug 23 09:55 (#1928.5211):
Speaking of chicken -- Paul, isn't one of your friends working on synthetic test-tube meat?

2005 Aug 23 09:19 (#1924.5209):
Here is the fanmail resulting from the CL post... Couscous, when you achieve net.stardom just remember you knew us way back when.

RE: RANT: The girl in the pink Killers shirt at the Killers concert
Reply to: anon-92078912@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 10:52AM CDT
I have tears in my eyes, I laughed so hard I tinkled in my briefs.
BRAVO, a well played rant.
Now if I could only be there if the girl in pink reads it.
Thank you, Thank you, Thank you.
* this is in or around Cube city

re: RANT: The girl in the pink Killers shirt at the Killers conce
Reply to: anon-92085061@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 11:15AM CDT
Did she verbally apologize to you after she burned you? And did she sing along at any time during the concert?

Re: Girl in Pink T-shirt at Killers show
Reply to: anon-92086399@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 11:20AM CDT
That totally made my day! Thank you! Flagged for "best of".
I wish I could see the dumb girl reading it and realizing it's herself!

re RANT: The girl in the pink Killers shirt at the Killers concert
Reply to: anon-92089956@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 11:34AM CDT
that made my day :)
thank you!

Rave: Today's Rant & Rave
Reply to: anon-92087454@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 11:24AM CDT
I don't know if last night's Jack & coke binge killed the smart brain & liver cells, but todays R&R has at least two "best ofs". Kudo's to you, you're real men of genius. I stop make sense now.

RE: Girl in Pink
Reply to: anon-92117289@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 1:17PM CDT
Holy Shit! That was good! I was munchin on some PF Chang's and I'l be damned if I didn't somehow shoot a rice up and almost out my nose! What a feeling! That was some funny shit!

Re: Girl at Killers concert
Reply to: anon-92120552@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 1:30PM CDT
Everybody who has seen PCU knows that you don't wear the t-shirt of the band whose concert you're going to see.
Don't be that guy. Or in this case, girl.

pink killer bitch
Reply to: anon-92152961@craigslist.org
Date: 2005-08-19, 3:47PM CDT
hil-fucking-arious....flagged you for a best of....you deserve it after a rant like that....
maybe you didn't get to enjoy your concert, but at least you'll go down in craigslist history.....

Carrie K
Aug 19, 2005 12:18 PM
Love it! Kick ass commentary! Do it again next week! Thank you for a
fun morning read...

Geoff H
Aug 19, 2005 8:06 PM
that is by far the funniest shit i have ever heard.
LOL
that is amazing!! quite the writter my friend.
hahaha

Dallavamp
Aug 21, 2005 10:53 PM
I don’t know who you are, and I wasn’t at the concert unfortunately, but I’m really sorry this happened to you. But you should write comedy because you are fucking hilarious.
Cheers mate,
L

Rebecca F
Aug 22, 2005 2:23 PM
You are amazing.

Jessica J
Aug 22, 2005 2:33 PM
awesome. seriously hilarious.

kenneth h
Aug 22, 2005 4:48 PM
Fucking awsome.

D'Lynne P
Aug 22, 2005 5:24 PM
you are absolutely my fucking hero. This email is making it's way around the world I think by now.

Sarah W
Aug 22, 2005 7:37 PM
you might be my hero.

Stephen B
Aug 23, 2005 5:34 AM
You're a fucking god.

2005 Aug 23 08:45 (#1938.5207):
Yeah, but Larry had help from his dad.

2005 Aug 22 11:51 (#1934.5200):
Apparently to extract these objects they usually have to quench the magnet, remove the object, and then remagnetize, taking the machine off line for some time... in the caption of the last photo they were able to keep the machine online by setting an eye bolt into a concrete wall, getting an industrial winch, and winching the chair out of the magnet. Crazy.

2005 Aug 19 11:56 (#1926.5178):
They also have the Gala Gala Happy song (with translated lyrics, taken from the subtitles) out of City Hunter, which is only my favorite HK Jackie Chan movie ever. Another XMFC nominee.

2005 Aug 19 11:40 (#1926.5175):
OK sorry fixed now. Also, the Moustache database link is fixed. Also also, I realized that the site itself should look familiar -- it hosts the 32 versions of "Ghost Riders in the Sky".

2005 Aug 19 10:06 (#1924.5171):
OK I crossposted the rant. This deserves it. I will post any interesting replies.

2005 Aug 19 09:11 (#1924.5166):
That was seriously LOL OMG BBQ ROFL funny -- you should repost as rant...

2005 Aug 18 03:54 (#1919.5159):
Make sure to also check out the Salon Staff's odes to their imperfect body parts, e.g.

My pot belly
Is not huge and proud
Like a seasoned trucker's.
But it's mounted on a skinny frame
Below narrow shoulders
Upstairs from a tiny butt
With nowhere to hide
After a couple of dogs
And a couple of beers
I am that sorriest of combinations:
The skinny-fat man.
But me and my belly are friends
Even as we grow apart
We grow closer together.
-- Ira Boudway

2005 Aug 16 04:29 (#1912.5136):
Can I also submit the recent Cisco security malfeasance (redux and video) to the PtMPtH'sT contest?

2005 Aug 14 01:13 (#1904.5120):
Nate, I hereby triple-dog throwdown underpants dare you to eat breast milk ice cream.

2005 Aug 03 08:35 (#1871.5033):
Mega congrats to you and Blake. I'm casting a vote as well for super-cute.

2005 Aug 03 08:04 (#1873.5032):
The first day we arrived in Kigali was the 30th July, the last non-Sunday of the month. Our hosts (Laura & Matt) explained that this day is traditionally reserved for Umuganda, or community service -- everyone who is able is expected to join everyone in their neighborhood on a specific local project. My mom and I asked to take part (our hosts, whose lives are basically community service, decided to spend a quiet day at home.)

So at 8:30 on our first morning we were given machetes and met by Gaston, a friend of Laura's, to go help clear overgrown weeds in a local cemetary. (About half the workers cleared weeds while the other half helped prepare the foundation for a new market and village hall in the neighboring lot.) As we walked down the street, I initially carried both tools (mine and my Mom's) but Gaston said, No, we must each carry one, as you cannot really go around outside on umuganda day without police asking why you aren't out working. Carrying the machete shows that you are going to pitch in.

It's an entirely surreal experience to show up in Rwanda and walk down the street carrying a machete -- the tool of so much violence and hardship here -- but for peace and community building and service, not for cruelty and murder. It was very uplifting despite the cognitive dissonance.

After working for a couple hours clearing brush (I got some wicked machete blisters and a few thorn cuts, but was able to work til the end), the Umuganda crew (perhaps 100 or so) wandered over to the local soccer ptich for a not-so-brief community meeting. As noted above, there were several thousand genocidaires released from prison and there was understandable concern from the citizenry. These prisoners still await Gacaca, but the mayor explained that it is better to have these people out working and supporting themselves (with 70% of thier wages garnished for victim compensation) than living in jail on the public dime. After many questions -- includng a few long speeches -- about the release, a man stood up and apologized that his auestion was not about the release but insted he wanted tot ask the mayor why the ,ain road was still unpaved (when money had supposedly been allocated), why there were so few wells, and why the electricity still often went out at night. These questions were greeted by much applause from the gathering, and the mayor didn't seem to have too many answers. Which, in the end, seemed like any community meeting anywhere in the world.

PS Thanks for the linx nate, and for hosting the picture of me playing drums. Please also linkize this as appropriate. Also please forgive any typos, as I am using a goddamned French keyboard which the ex pats can testify is annoying as hell.

2005 Jul 26 08:45 (#1849.4973):
I enjoyed the Top Ten Signs Lance was Getting Cocky. And when we're talking about demi-gods, the order is clearly Eddy Merckx, then Lance, then everyone else. See, for instance, the discussion of the Hour Record, specifically the Eddy making it his bitch part.

2005 Jul 23 01:29 (#1842.4958):
See, now, that is a type of link for which a username/password should be included.

2005 Jul 21 11:51 (#1786.4935):
I miss you too, pinchy. When I get back you have to show me how to take my bike off of sweet jumps. That will help clear room for the thirty six pieces of pizza I'm planning to eat.

2005 Jul 21 03:44 (#1837.4926):
You should name it Carl's Jr.

2005 Jul 21 12:56 (#1837.4919):
Super Cute Puppy!

2005 Jul 18 09:54 (#1786.4864):
"The Tour has left the mountains and is all but over, barring an act of God." MD, the lyrics to all four verses of our national anthem may be found here. I suppose the first stanza will be sufficient.

2005 Jul 12 03:04 (#1786.4804):
Man, looks like I'm gonna have to find an American flag somewhere.

2005 Jul 12 12:01 (#1786.4788):
I'll choose Lance 'Big Tex' Armstrong; MD has to pick one goddamn rider, not a whole team. The rest of the terms seem fine to me. How does this formulation sound:

In one sitting, the loser must drink a beer for every slice of Double Dave's or Moustache Pete's pizza consumed by the winner (also in one sitting).

On a weekend night, the loser shall ride shirtless from campus to sixth street, carrying a flag of the winner's nation. The winner will provide the flag or reasonable substitute.

In the presence of the winner or his appointed delegates, in a prominent but reasonable location chosen by the winner, the loser will sing the national anthem of the winner's country, then yell 'Go [name of winning rider]'.

If reasonably possible this should all happen sequentially (the drinking, the riding, the singing).

If that sounds good, Penis Pump, post your choice of rider below, and we'll consider it ON.
(Otherwise, email me before the climbs start -- I'll be up watching it live).

2005 Jul 08 09:28 (#1798.4756):
¿Quién es más macho? Ricardo Montalban! Por que el Chrysler Cordoba es un coche muy macho!

2005 Jul 05 11:29 (#1786.4736):
By the way, the best race commentary I have found is by William Fotheringham in the Guardian. Sportsline's tour page has easy-to-navigate standings and stage information. Also be sure to read erstwhile yellow jersey wearer David Zabriskie's One-Question Interviews, Conducted on the Bike and his thoughts on Main-Taint-nence.

2005 Jul 05 02:07 (#1793.4725):
My mom grew up in a small town in upstate New York, one in which a section of the town was informally covenanted against Catholics, Jews and Blacks. Somehow or another, Rose Kennedy (who is Catholic) ended up buying a large piece of property in that section of town. On learning that she wasn't welcome, Kennedy designated the land to be used by one of the charities she had started -- a summer camp for mentally handicapped children from Harlem.

2005 Jul 05 02:02 (#1786.4724):
By the way, MD, what are the stakes of the bet this year?

2005 Jul 05 02:02 (#1786.4723):
A person checking the overall standings today will react with mild surprise, as the overall order of things is not where one would expect. Sure, Lance is in first, right where he belongs. Second place, however, has traditionally been reserved for the gallantly quixotic German, Jan "Penultimate" Ullrich. But wait, what's this? Jan "Almost" Ullrich is not in second -- Discovery team domestique George Hincapie is in that spot! Jan isn't 5th, 6th, 8th, 12th or even 13th -- those spots are all taken by other Discovery team domestiques as well! Unfortunately, it's too late for Jan "We May Not be Winners But At Least We're Ull-Rich" to join DSC as the #7 rider, and many Germans still hope he can rise to the occasion and come through with another dazzling second place finish. Beyond that there is, of course, always next year -- since it's Armstrong's final tour, it will be interesting to see who Jan "Deuce" Ullrich finishes second to in 2006.

2005 Jul 02 12:33 (#1775.4690):
I learned that word (fecundity) from a Bad Religion song. Other words I learned from Greg Graffin: trammel, sartory, febrile.

2005 Jul 01 09:42 (#1781.4681):
Shouldn't that be 'repeat 199 to 499 times'?

2005 Jun 30 12:16 (#1755.4664):
Soulless Corporations Ruin More Classic Album Art

2005 Jun 29 05:07 (#1775.4659):
The Christina Ricci tensor has a determinant of hot and a trace of goth.

2005 Jun 28 11:31 (#1774.4645):

2005 Jun 28 11:23 (#1755.4644):
Nike Owns Up

2005 Jun 28 04:14 (#1774.4642):
Tell Andy he's my hero, but that his earlier stuf was way better. Is there any way to revive the original post? It would be fun to read.

2005 Jun 24 01:49 (#1755.4597):
Yeah, Minor Threat s u c k s. No one I know who is at all into punk owns a copy of their discography or considers it essential. And they weren't influential at all. In fact, harDCore music wasn't named for the city Minor Threat came from. Fucking Troll.

2005 Jun 23 01:26 (#1750.4578):
I would like to be known as Hokey Pokeey.

2005 Jun 22 12:19 (#1748.4567):
Thank God America is safe from these infoterrorists: copyright cops have also recently cracked down on pirate birthday cakes and pirate pinatas. (Won't somebody please think of the pinatas?)

2005 Jun 20 11:39 (#1745.4565):
Ziggy, I think you should begin categorizing your posts using the taxonomy of sexual fetishes map. This would, I assume, be the unsuspected link between "Furverts" and "Pregnancy Fetishists"?

2005 Jun 20 12:41 (#1743.4559):
Mozilla's docs agree: you cannot do so programmatically. Ctrl-Click and Middle-Click on a link open in a new tab (if you have your options set right). Ctrl-T opens a new tab. Ctrl-tab and Ctrl-Shift-Tab cycle forwards and backwards within tabs. See also more Mozilla Tips & Tricks and Mozilla Keyboard Shortcuts.

2005 Jun 14 05:09 (#1739.4539):
Lemme make sure I got this right -- you don't own a television?

2005 Jun 14 04:51 (#1738.4538):
See also:

Becky and Ned, kung fu dancing to "Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting"

Becky popping Ned in the nose, kung fu dancing to "Everybody was Kung-Fu Fighting"

Ned's friend Mike celebrating his inner goddess with the Bryn Mawr womyn. (Austinites may remember Mike from such stupors as Stuporbowl 2005)

2005 Jun 08 03:37 (#1724.4501):
Nice movie reference, dude

2005 Jun 08 03:27 (#1725.4500):
#90:

austingirl Posted: 04 May 2005 5:57pm
Dear cyclotouriste,

I am female, healthy, cyclist, with a sense of bold adventure, and the willingness to be compatable on an extended world tour with you.

I am also easy to get along with, most of the time. My therapist says that still have to work on my social skills, but I am getting there.

I hope it will be o.k. if we take my 10 cats along, as they become very depressed when mommy is away.

The doctor does not want me to stop taking the lithium, but it makes me very tired and I'll need energy for all that cycling.

I can't say for sure yet if I can commit to the bike tour, because I have to get permission from my probation officer. He can be a little unreasonable at times; he insists that I must continue going to the anger management classes. I already TOLD that son of a whore I DON'T NEED NO GODDAMN ANGER MANAGEMENT CLASSES.

O.K. I hope to meet you. Please don't wear yellow, I really hate yellow. The bad voices sound yellow.

Jenn?

2005 Jun 02 11:50 (#1716.4480):
Didn't I give you those? I don't have my computer up yet, so make do with wayback's version.

2005 Jun 02 02:57 (#1714.4476):
If you're a superfan of the biggest losers in Washington, you make a website like the wizznutzz, filled with Wizards Separated at Birth, an NBA tribute to Guernica, and Jahidi White thongs and God Shammgod 3:16 hats (celebrating two of the Wizards biggest disappointments). Timothy McSweeney says check it out.

2005 May 25 02:38 (#1703.4461):
Do you like the webdesign of the Art in Science competition? It's by Jonathan Harris of Wordcount and 10x10 fame. (BTW, for best enjoyment of 10x10 click 'history' and browse by full months...)

2005 May 25 01:46 (#1703.4458):
BTW, Nate, if you don't find a way to get that 'Don' poster in your redecoration campaign, well... I guess I don't know you at all.

2005 May 24 05:13 (#1702.4455):
Maybe this data can be combined with recent work by cockeyed.com to determine how many terrorists ~~can dance on the head of a pin~~ are in the US right now, and how they might attack!

2005 May 23 01:51 (#1697.4442):
Hey, there's no 'I' in team but there is 'a point' in procrastinating.

2005 May 20 10:46 (#1691.4437):
Just to be clear: LV is used to make the Star Wars, not to take part in the Star Wars:

2005 May 18 06:02 (#1686.4418):
OK, so PJ posted this link without noticing the extremely disturbing crap, and I thought I could fix the post before anyone saw it -- but I guess Javelina was sitting there with his finger on the ^-R key. Anyways, I've since edited the links in javelina's response as well. So basically everything is fucked up. See why racism is wrong, kids?

2005 May 18 03:20 (#1676.4412):
The transcript of the MMVP routine and of the other Punniest of Show routines are up!

2005 May 17 09:50 (#1684.4409):
That interview with Larry David is hilarious -- it ranks with The Onion's interview of Harlan Ellison to convince me that interviewing someone is harder than it looks.

2005 May 17 07:27 (#1682.4407):
no reason [via WFMU].

2005 May 17 11:38 (#1681.4400):
If you want to sell them goats, perhaps you can hire one of the past World Livestock Auctioneering Champions. (Stenson Clontz and Jon Schaben are particularly good).

2005 May 15 02:29 (#1674.4392):
We're not gloating! We're tempting! Here, I wrote you guys a song:

Please come to Austin for the August trip
I'm going there with some friends
And they've got lots of room
You can see "It came from Outer Space"
In a town that's got visitors from the moon
Please come to Austin
She said no, we're stuck in Germany

And we say, mr. bun and reid why don't you settle down
Berlin ain't your kind of town
There ain't no frisbee, and there ain't no XMFC
We're the number one fans of the gal from Tennessee

2005 May 13 07:25 (#1664.4390):
From the pun-off list:

"This evening's Ch 36 forecast now has our rain chances at 40% on Saturday. Watching these weather forecasts is like buying gasoline. Every time I look it's gone up ten percent.

But seriously folks, we can't afford to postpone even a day or these out-of-towners will have nothing to do and nowhere to not do it on Saturday. Back in the old days when we did the show on Sundays, Shannon Sedwick one time generously suggested that we might be able to take refuge in Esther's Theatre. (They don't do shows on Sundays)

If we're forced to postpone things on Saturday, I feel it'll be only for a day, not for a week. The current forecasts for Sunday do seem a little brighter. Perhaps I'm being opti-misty."

It will probably be postponed in the case of lightning.

2005 May 13 04:53 (#1674.4388):
One proposal: my cousins live in Alamogordo, NM (spittin' distance from Roswell) and would like nothing better than to put up a dozen of my friends. "It Came from Outer Space" (in 3D!) is showing on Sunday, August 21. We could drive out, seeing Big Bend or the Guadalupe Mtns or on the way out; explore Roswell and White Sands; see the movie; and then drive back Monday.

2005 May 12 03:46 (#1670.4377):
A guy is sitting at a bar in a skyscraper restaurant high above the city. He's slamming tequila left and right. He grabs one, drinks it, goes over to a window and jumps out. The guy who was sitting next to him couldn't believe that the guy had just done that. He was more surprised when, ten minutes later, the same guy, unscathed, comes walking back into the bar and sits back down next to him. The astonished guy asks "How did you do that? I just saw you jump out that
window and we're hundreds of feet above the GROUND!". The jumper responds by slurring, "Well, I don't get it either. I slam a shot of tequila and when I jump out the window, the tequila makes me slow down right before I hit the ground. Watch."

He takes a shot, slams it down, goes to the window and jumps out. The other guy runs to the window and watches as the guy falls until right before the ground, slows down and lands softly on his feet. A few minutes later, the guy walks back into the bar. The other guy has to try it too, so he orders a shot of tequila. He drinks it and goes to the window and jumps. As he reaches the bottom, he doesn't slow down at all...SPLAT! The first guy orders another shot of tequila and the bartender says to him, "You're really an asshole when you're drunk, Superman."

2005 May 12 07:04 (#1668.4373):
Another collection, with "Summertime", "Pop Corn", and "Mammy Blue."

2005 May 10 08:16 (#1663.4369):
I have to imagine that almost any google search for his case is going to be swamped with false positives...

2005 May 10 03:25 (#1663.4365):
This presentation [PDF] is also interesting: guy bought about 200 hard drives off eBay and from retailers and examined their contents. He found confidential and proprietary information, credit cards, and email.

2005 May 10 03:22 (#1664.4364):
Traditional Topics For High-Lies & Low Puns Competition

Religion
Biology & Chemistry
Colors / Art & Artists
Radio & Television
Carpentry / Construction
Flowers
Education
Money & Finance
Wheeled Vehicles
Medicine (No Body Parts)
Winged Creatures
Wild Animals
Movies & Theatre
Food & Cooking
Male Names
Clothing
Computers / Electronics
American Cities
Airborne Vehicles
Books & Authors
Oil Business
Waterborne Vehicles
Trees
Astronomy & Astrology
Archeology
Female Names
Sea Creatures
Farming & Ranching
Insects & Bugs
Drinks
Gambling
Politics
Diseases
Internal Body Parts
Popular Music
The Law & Crime
Rock & Roll Music
Jazz & Classical Music
Physical Sports
Child's Play (Toys & Games)
Weather
Shrinks & Psychology
Military
Holidays
Indians And Aboriginals
External Body Parts
Country Music
Fruits & Vegetables
Bodies Of Water (Specific Or General)
Europe, Asia & Australia (Countries Only)
Countries Of The World (No Cities Or States)
Ceramics And Glass & Related Terms
Mathematics & Physics
Furniture & Furnishings
Nuclear Energy
Dogs (Formerly Included In "Pets")
Cats (Formerly Included In "Pets")
Domestic Animals (Other Than Cats And Dogs)

2005 May 09 01:49 (#1658.4352):
Also see: Programming Language Inventor or Serial Killer -- can you tell your Stroustrup from your Gacy?

2005 May 08 08:26 (#1655.4343):
Do these form a progression from 1-6? At least in the order you've placed them, they go
- Pure Math
- Wave Equation
- Atomic physics (C-12)
- ???
- Amino Acid
- ???
- DNA/RNA

Which would be a familiar progression from math to physics to chemistry to biology. If it is a progression, #4 could be absorbtion spectra (the short dashes showing missing [absorbed] lines) and #6 could be a small molecule (what does cholorophyll look like?)

Also, could #7 be RNA transcription from a strand of DNA? Apparently uracil replaces thymine during RNA transcription. (Is RNA a double helix?)

2005 May 06 11:37 (#1644.4331):
"He's not in rehab. He does not have a cocaine addiction." And in other news, he's stopped beating his wife, and Generallissimo Francisco Franco is still dead.

2005 May 04 03:32 (#1641.4307):
Doctor? Doctor. Doctor, Doctor, Doctor...

2005 Apr 29 04:14 (#1634.4293):
<mod: -1 l4me>

2005 Apr 29 04:11 (#1635.4292):
"WARNING: COFFEE IS HOT labels make so much sense to me now."

2005 Apr 27 12:33 (#1628.4245):
No wonder they were so nice -- after all, Jersey City is the third happiest (and the 11th sexiest) city in the Nation. If you're going to visit NJ -- and I know you are, now -- make sure to read up on what's happening in the NJ Guido scene. (BTW, Austin isn't particularly happy but is vary sexy).

2005 Apr 26 11:22 (#1619.4244):
Following on the heels of all that: student athletes weigh in on hazing, whether Notre Dame sucks worse than Duke, and the Lohan-Duff feud.

2005 Apr 25 07:36 (#1625.4243):
See also: Subtly Simpsons.

2005 Apr 25 05:07 (#1625.4240):
I was led there recently by this superb analysis of Linguistic Humor in the Simpsons. It goes beyond embiggens and cromulent to analyze Simpsons jokes in terms of Productive Derivational Morphology (Homer: "The word unblowupable is thrown around a lot these days") and Island Violation (Moe: "You know what I blame this on the breakdown of? Society!")

2005 Apr 23 03:10 (#1617.4230):

2005 Apr 22 05:49 (#1619.4224):
The good part:

The Marlon Perkins Award for "Best glimpse at the natural mating process"
This goes to the NBPA [NBA Player's Association] party, where the groupies, hookers and ho's were practically ovulating on the dance floor on Saturday night. For the first time in my life, I was at a party that was the COMPLETE OPPOSITE of every party I went to in college. I'm telling you, it was Bizarro Holy Cross. I saw breasts falling out of dresses, people dry-shacking on the dance floor, girls having to be separated who were going after the same guy ... next time, I want to attend this thing wearing one of those hidden cameras like the ones they use on "Real Sports."

(Put it this way: If you're a 6-foot-9 guy who could pass for an NBA player, spend two grand on an Armani suit, fly yourself to the NBPA party next February, load up on some Viagra, then tell every girl you meet that you're a reserve forward on the Raptors or Hornets. There's a decent chance you could have sex 35 times in three hours.)

Three more things about the NBPA party that you need to know:
1. Everyone had to pass through a metal detector on the way in.
2. This was my first party with "Courvousier ($12)" on the main drink menu at every bar, right alongside "Beer ($4)," "Wine ($6)" and "Mixed drinks ($8)."
3. In one of the men's bathrooms, at 1:45 in the morning, there were guys throwing dice against the wall and betting on every roll.

2005 Apr 22 12:12 (#1613.4217):
Actually, for me, carrying a purse would be the chief attraction of being a girl. I would have a regular Inspector Gadget array of tools, supplies, and knickknacks always at the ready.

2005 Apr 21 11:18 (#1574.4212):
Anyone interested in these displays of linguistic awesomeness should check out the book Le Ton Beau de Marot by Douglas Hofstadter (of Godel, Escher Bach fame). The book is a long excursus on the nature and viability of translation -- language to language and more generally. DH took a short, sweet poem written in the middle ages by a monk to his neice, and sent it to friends, writers, experts in various languages, computer translation labs. The resulting several dozen translations form the backbone of an uneven but incredibly deep and broad-reaching exploration of language, poetry and mind.

2005 Apr 21 10:58 (#1613.4211):
I like that the next line on the front page is sG saying "I had this same idea like a year ago."

2005 Apr 17 10:28 (#1587.4153):
Ars Technica reviews USB2.0 flash drives

2005 Apr 10 01:42 (#1561.4069):
Hey, isn't one of you guys from eastern Virginia? You might enjoy viewing the Monitor-Merrimac Bridge Tunnel outside of Newport News. More ground-level and aerial photos here.

2005 Apr 10 12:57 (#1565.4068):
That will have to wait for "Type Tour II: North by Northwest."

2005 Apr 08 06:22 (#1561.4062):
Naw, I think you're doing it wrong. On this map, LUECKE is the same size as the size slider, which is the same size as the distance from the congress st bridge to 24th&Lamar, and as the distance from 45th&Airport to Lamar&Airport. (Follow the river NW from LUECKE to find Austin). Google maps reports this as 2.4 miles, which is consistent with 6 letters 600m wide. Since I've smoothly scrolled from LUECKE to Airport Blvd, I'm confident the scale isn't changing.

2005 Apr 08 11:03 (#1561.4054):
More large type -- "LUECKE" is right near us, in Smithville (just past Bastrop). I really want to know what's up with these... there must be a directory of them somewhere, for pilots or something.

2005 Apr 08 10:48 (#1561.4053):
I can't find the supercollider. Can you find it?

2005 Apr 07 11:31 (#1561.4049):
Exactly.

2005 Apr 07 10:56 (#1561.4047):
More good stuff, from the comments at "GMaps Sightseeing" -- Cape Canaveral, annotated; the Pima boneyard from ground level; the SF 49ers driving from the 35-yard line; mygmaps.com.

2005 Apr 07 02:29 (#1559.4043):
That link led to these chalkboard shenanigans, which totally rip off sG's animation from way back (anyone got a link)?

2005 Apr 07 02:25 (#1558.4042):
Aww, man! Disappointing! I wanted to know how to look after Ziggy's balls!

2005 Apr 07 12:56 (#1558.4039):
While you're down there, you might want to attend to that monkey butt problem (SFW).

2005 Apr 07 10:47 (#1549.4036):
There's nothing funny about popes. Popeman will charge your ass.

2005 Apr 07 12:02 (#1551.4030):
Speaking of ~~funny~~ just plain wrong... You've heard of the Lynndie? Now they're doin' the Schiavo.

2005 Apr 06 11:55 (#1555.4029):
hmmm... nice title tho.

2005 Apr 06 11:23 (#1551.4027):
Speaking of funny but wrong: check out the name of the Charlotte 49ers' erstwhile center. (horked from Sports Guy)

2005 Apr 06 04:08 (#1548.4018):
Yeah, well your mom goes to college

2005 Apr 06 12:06 (#1545.4003):
Also interesting - city-data.com, which gives all sorts of demographic information for cities in the US. Click on a ZIP code and you will get a chart showing the age distribution of residents. Compare 78705 (campus area):

with 78704 (South Austin):

2005 Apr 05 11:25 (#1545.4001):
B-CC High School

2005 Apr 04 11:07 (#1533.3989):
Remember that one time when all the cartoonists switched and Scott Adams drew Family Circus? That was awesome! (For best results read Drabble last). Also, see Takeoffs on The Family Circus (hosted on Bil Keanes' site!)

2005 Apr 04 10:49 (#1540.3988):
Can we please hear about the specific torts being abrogated, your respective rights of fief and socage, and some details on collateral estoppel as it applies here?

2005 Apr 01 04:17 (#1533.3978):
Each one funnier than the next: Foxtrot - Pearls Before Swine - Get Fuzzy

2005 Apr 01 04:09 (#1533.3977):
Sites that pulled April Fool's jokes for 2005

2005 Apr 01 12:12 (#1533.3966):
The Curious Case of Sidd Finch - God bless George Plimpton. (Make sure to inspect the subtitle carefully).

[Finch] knew any number of languages. He was so adept at them that he'd be talking in English, which he spoke in this distinctive singsong way, quite Oriental, and he'd use a phrase like "pied-a-terre" and without knowing it he'd sail along in French for a while until he'd drop in a German word like "angst" and he'd shift to that language. For any kind of sustained conversation you had to hope he wasn't going to use a foreign buzz word -- especially out of the Eastern languages he knew, like Sanskrit -- because that was the end of it as far as I was concerned."

2005 Apr 01 11:34 (#1533.3963):
The eFarming solution leveraging eI-eI/O technology is great too.

2005 Apr 01 10:56 (#1530.3960):
I can't believe how fucking wrong I was: I forgot that the perfect video should also have Hamster MIDI-controlled synthesizer tracks, like this one.

2005 Apr 01 10:22 (#1529.3953):
Yeah, I sure hope whoever did it puts it back to normal soon. Navigating like this is fucking annoying, with all the links called "Link by splatnikGanglion".

2005 Apr 01 10:14 (#1530.3950):
Actually I was wrong: those videos do not contain hot keytar action:

Also: WikiPocky and Got Pocky?

2005 Apr 01 08:55 (#1528.3948):
As if that isn't depressing enough, homestarrunner is now subscription-only. "New Annual Fee! Same Content! More Banner Ads!"

2005 Apr 01 07:50 (#1523.3947):
Also: GMail now provides "infinity + 1" of storage, will help you find a ride, or will take you on a thirst-quenching adventure.

2005 Mar 30 07:44 (#1513.3928):
Answers. I think Cindy and I both got 8 out of ten wrong.

2005 Mar 29 05:34 (#1514.3927):
It's actually pretty easy to bust a plastic lever removing a tire with a tight bead.

2005 Mar 29 10:26 (#1514.3921):
What a good idea: steel-core tire levers! If you order anything, pick up a pair and I'll pay you back...

2005 Mar 29 08:56 (#1513.3918):
My Guesses --
Porn: Cherry Treats, Daisy Sweet, Ruby Lips, Misty Rain, Chocolate Delight;
Pony: Lucky Star, Love Melody, Sunshine Blue, Honey Rose, Green Eyes, Heart Throb
Both: Sweetie Pie

2005 Mar 28 07:57 (#1511.3913):
There was a whole stack of tickets available when I went by at 5pm Monday, BTW.

2005 Mar 28 03:47 (#1510.3908):
Hilarious, or should I say risible, in its sending up -- that is to say, its skewering -- of PBS documentaries; or if I may, contemporaneous nonfiction audio-visual reports.

2005 Mar 27 01:26 (#1506.3905):
This is _really_ how to call in late for work. There's no way anyone's going to disbelieve you if your story is this insane.

2005 Mar 25 03:05 (#1503.3898):
Hey, at least you didn't find a finger in your lunch.

2005 Mar 24 01:33 (#1494.3869):
Wait...someone named ~~Mulva~~ ~~Valoris~~ after a part of the woman's anatomy is ripping on other people's names? Just checking.

2005 Mar 19 12:04 (#1477.3824):
This watch is one type of slide rule... it's a pilot's watch, with only one scale for doing distance/rate/time calculations (for velocity, fuel consumption, etc.) A real slide rule has several scales and can do roots, logs, exponents, sin/cos/tan, and much more: practice here/instructions here! I have three, including a pocket slide rule my granddad used to carry everywhere.

2005 Mar 16 11:39 (#1469.3794):
Fark sucks. Something Awful's photoshop contest is way better.

2005 Mar 15 01:15 (#1459.3774):
A framing square is another deceptively useful tool -- it can measure angles & miters (45º); draw circles; and even aid in framing.

2005 Mar 15 12:51 (#1463.3773):
Been there, done that.

2005 Mar 15 12:41 (#1460.3772):
Make sure you read the answered questions (may have to sign in, but it's worth it.) Ex:

Q: Is it possible to get Marty McFly to deliver the time machine to me in person?
A: im sorry, i have never used marty mcfly to deliver anything, im just going to deliver the package with UPS or fedex. thanks

2005 Mar 13 02:43 (#1455.3758):
Also have the DVD of the original version -- it's a German film called "Der Lauf der Dinge" ("The Way Things Go")

2005 Mar 12 01:48 (#1446.3747):
Yup, it's Javelina.

2005 Mar 12 01:45 (#1454.3746):
A Different (better) List of Day Shows [PDF]; even yet still more sortable list of shows.

2005 Mar 10 10:24 (#1441.3739):
That's pretty cool. In the picture gallery they have scuba tanks -- not for diving but to breathe when they're near the CO2-rich geyser.

2005 Mar 10 10:12 (#1447.3738):
fixed, except perhaps for last link.

2005 Mar 09 01:44 (#1431.3718):
A guy in Keto's lab set a goal to use the terms "tertium quid," "fuliginous," and "eupractic" (?) in his dissertation. I think he only got fuliginous through.

2005 Mar 09 12:52 (#1432.3717):
"Minor Fixes by pg"

2005 Mar 09 03:43 (#1431.3711):
The Annals of Improbable Research collected a whole bunch of articles with Alpher,Bethe,Gamow author puns, but it's not online. However, I did find journal articles with authors having the same name; journal articles with various record-setting properties; and more silliness.

2005 Mar 08 04:10 (#1432.3707):
Brilliant:

"You don't see faces much happier than people winning gold medals. And you know why they're so happy? Relief."

2005 Mar 08 12:04 (#1430.3695):
The guys who built this have a webpage showing its construction and evolution.

2005 Mar 06 02:48 (#1422.3678):
Ted's Birthday is also good:

On September 19, 2003 around thirty guests celebrated Ted Hine's birthday at Dempsy's bar on 2nd Avenue in Manhattan. This came as a total shock to NYU student "Chris", who had no idea he was "Ted" and no idea why he was being inundated with gifts from strangers.

2005 Mar 06 02:36 (#1423.3677):
That thing reads like a Smoove B editorial:

Let Smoove take you out tonight or, if you are busy, tomorrow night to show you how I treat a lady as exceptional as you. Allow me to break it down:

First, I will pick you up from your house in a white limousine and take you to the finest dance club in the entire city. The people at this club will be attractive and the beats will be crazy. We will not be in the club for a minute before we get on the dance floor. Even though the other people will be good dancers, we will be the best. When you bump, I will bump. When you grind, I will grind. We will move together like twins who happen to like to freak.

When you have had your fill of dancing, I will take you by the hand and lead you to the most romantic corner of the entire club and sit you down on one of the plush, red-velvet couches. While you rest, Smoove will go the bar and purchase a drink for you. Before I bring it back to you, I will taste it, demanding finer gin should it fall short of my expectations for you. Also, I will ask for less ice so that your gin and tonic is not diluted.

While you sip your drink, I will stroke your hair and tell you such complimentary things as "You are like a fine statue carved out of brown marble," and "Your eyes are like pools of creamy Italian butter," and "You have beautiful shoes." You will know that I mean these things because they come from the heart, and the heart is always true.

At this point, we will go back to my place, where I will prepare a dinner specially suited for one as lovely as you. While I am cooking the meal, we will talk about your life, your hopes, and your dreams. At this point, I will unthaw a deluxe bag of jumbo shrimp for you to sample as the appetizer.

There will also be cocktail sauce.

2005 Mar 06 02:01 (#1421.3675):
Maybe they can embark on some side projects like tasering themselves.

2005 Mar 04 02:30 (#1412.3662):
Wristbands are sold out. Lists of day shows: here, here, here, and here.

2005 Mar 04 01:39 (#1412.3661):
Also: Films!

The Aristocrats

Sinus does Xanadu

Enron: The Smartest Guys in the Room

The Devil and Daniel Johnston

2005 Mar 04 01:30 (#1412.3660):
By the way, now there are three Emo's: Annex, Jr., and Main? Is Emo's:Minneapolis featuring Johnny Drama and Don Johnson opening soon?

2005 Mar 03 11:54 (#1398.3657):
Here's my understanding of this shot, based on what I've read of the Basics of Curling. The Manitoba (red) team is down 6-4, so they have to get 3 points to win. At the beginning of the clip you see there is an Ontario (yellow) rock at the center (button), with three red ones arrayed around it within the house, and another yellow rock sitting to the right and just outside the house.

In curling only the team whose rock is closest to the button scores points, one for each rock between the button and the closest opponent's rock. If nothing changes yellow gets one point and wins, 7-4. If, however, red can bounce the button rock out of the house, they'll score 4 points and win 8-6.

However, at the start of the clip, notice that there are four rocks protecting the rock on the button. The only way to dislodge it is to bank it off the yellow rock at the edge of the house, with the right angle to hit the button. And the right spin. And enough force that it will bounce the button rock out of the house. And have that rock not hit your rocks on the way out.

Respeck'.

2005 Mar 02 10:15 (#1400.3649):

click here, bitches.

2005 Mar 02 12:13 (#1403.3641):
This guy has some other videos I've seen before, including (GI Joe) x (Full Metal Jacket) and (He Man) x (The Big Lebowski). This new one is definitely the best. Why should Batman change his name? He's the one that sucks!

2005 Mar 02 11:55 (#1392.3639):
Did Lincoln Smoke Pole?

2005 Mar 02 11:23 (#1397.3638):

2005 Mar 02 01:48 (#1402.3637):
Other sources include

Defective Yeti

Thighs Wide Shut

Mister Pants

Boing Boing

Romenesko's Obscure Store

Sports Guy

Ars Technica

Bifurcated Rivets

2005 Mar 02 01:44 (#1402.3636):
Yeah, this and the tollbooth were from cynical c -- one of the best blogs I read; yesterday I posted three links pulled from mefi; Ziggy&I both hork extensively from SE. How much attribution does Ms eManners ask when posting a link pulled from another blog? I say, mention a regular source the first time you hork from it, and forget it otherwise.

2005 Mar 02 12:26 (#1401.3634):
Some of the other pranks are really good too. Like when he tries to find out what you really have to do to get store employees to check your credit card signature. Or when he smokes up with ~~Shakes~~ Ooey the Clown.

2005 Mar 01 11:39 (#1400.3632):

2005 Mar 01 12:05 (#1389.3617):
Speaking of CSI and ňŲmß£|2$: How Military Geologists unravelled the Mystery of the Japanese Vengance Balloons. Sounds like a Three Investigators case.

2005 Mar 01 11:39 (#1392.3616):
More sociological research on republicans and democrats: How many Presidents were cheerleaders?

2005 Mar 01 11:31 (#1390.3615):
The Texas Natural Resources Information System webpage gives you free access to DRGs (topographic maps, like you use for camping) and DOQs (1m and 2.5m satellite photos). If you've seen the hallway of my house then you've seen DRGs and DOQs in action. Also, if you want a high-quality seamless printout of a map or digital photo see MyTopo.

2005 Mar 01 11:12 (#1392.3613):
Let me go on record as equating republicans with idiots.

2005 Feb 28 06:19 (#1389.3606):
Did you see the poll?

Do you use mathematics on a day-to-day basis?

Of course. Doesn’t everybody? 80.88% Probably, but don’t ask me how. 13.24% Not daily, but most days. 5.88%

2005 Feb 28 02:28 (#1383.3600):
My new ringtone. That will definitely never get old.

2005 Feb 28 09:58 (#1387.3591):
Yes, my respect for each grew accordingly.

2005 Feb 28 03:57 (#1386.3587):
More Galileo: animations of his sunspot drawings. Compare modern images [MPG; more here]

2005 Feb 28 02:26 (#1382.3586):
Off topic, but interesting: Tufte on Feynman. The whole Ask ET is chock-a-block with mind-expanding content.

2005 Feb 28 02:14 (#1382.3585):
Pekka Parviainen, the woman who runs the first site, took the amazing photos that illustrate Light and Color in the Outdoors by M. G. J. Minnaert. This book is a thorough exploration of deep and beautiful optical phenomena that surround us all. Edward Tufte agrees:

***** A Change-Your-Life Classic, August 27, 2000
Reviewer: Edward Tufte (Cheshire, CT USA)
This deeply perceptive book changes our own perceptions of all kinds of light and color events in the outdoors. You will never see the same way again outdoors. Some examples involve elementary optics (which explain the visual phenomena) but nearly all the 278 short chapters can be appreciated by the visually alert reader. My favorite examples include dappled light, rainbows (there are always two), and differences between relected and transmitted light in seeing leaves and grass. The Dover edition is fine; the Springer-Verlag edition is better with its excellent color photographs.

2005 Feb 28 01:44 (#1384.3584):
Alternate titles:

You're so Monet and you don't even know it.

Do you want more Monet? Sure, we all do!

The Stickering Point

Stickers Really Satisfies

The Color of Monet

The Impressionism that I Get (every year, for XMas)

2005 Feb 26 12:44 (#1379.3573):
It seems familiar... apparently the Numa Numa Kid isn't handling net.fame well, though I hear his version of Hot Shot City is particularly good.

2005 Feb 26 02:29 (#1374.3570):
I think that's "Even yet still faster and more furious".

2005 Feb 26 02:27 (#1378.3569):
Well then, I'd have to say that was the "tots."

2005 Feb 25 11:36 (#1371.3564):
Matt -- can you briefly describe what your special effects technicians did to make the tunnelling picture?

2005 Feb 25 11:35 (#1371.3563):
I wonder if Kathie Lee threatend to start signing her pictures like that after the affair: "This f-'n marriage is OVER - Kathie Lee ~~Gifford~~ R&KL 89-00 - Sorry Frank!"

2005 Feb 24 01:32 (#1375.3555):
Crane Operators take home about $2200 a month -- 30k-45k a year.

Crane/Tower Operator:
Operates electric tower crane equipment. Requires a high school diploma or its equivalent and at least 4 years of experience in the field or in a related area. Familiar with a variety of the field's concepts, practices, and procedures. Relies on experience and judgment to plan and accomplish goals. Performs a variety of complicated tasks. May lead and direct the work of others. May report directly to a supervisor or manager. A wide degree of creativity and latitude is expected.

2005 Feb 24 01:28 (#1375.3554):
World's Tallest Tower Crane

2005 Feb 24 12:34 (#1357.3550):
HST in his own words

2005 Feb 24 12:31 (#1374.3549):
Frankie the Fly wasn't even a grand combination of My Favorite Martian, Species II, The Three Musketeers, and OC & Stiggs.

2005 Feb 24 12:19 (#1374.3548):
I just read part 3 of why-Superman-Lives-was-never-made, starring Nicholas Cage, whom I suspect would have been terrible -- he's had the fecal midas touch ever since his Oscar. Now here's my question -- who would be good as Superman? My list includes Clint Eastwood as an old broken-down Superman, who can't save everyone and is sick of trying to do so; and David Duchovny, because almost anyone can sell the Superman part -- having an appropriately milquetoast Clark Kent is hard.

On a related note, Leroy and I independently agreed that casting anyone but Owen and Luke Wilson as the Duke bros is insane.

2005 Feb 23 11:56 (#1374.3546):
IMDB says that "if you like this title" you might also like The Last Days of Frankie the Fly (1997). Well, I guess if you like that title you'll like almost anything, because THDoFtF is one of the most worthless movies I've ever seen. It stars Dennis Hopper, Daryl Hannah, Michael Madsen, and Kiefer Sutherland -- yet manages to blow chunks in a boring, pointless, mediocre way that isn't even badly funny.

2005 Feb 23 08:11 (#1366.3544):
The third guy was Michael Collins, whose parents were friends with my grandma and who my dad played with as a kid. Not as cool as knowing a cassiopeia millionaire, but hey.

2005 Feb 22 11:24 (#1357.3532):
Here is one of the first and best examples of Gonzo journalism: The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved by Hunter S. Thompson (Scanlan's Monthly, vol. 1, no. 4, June 1970).

2005 Feb 22 11:21 (#1357.3531):
If you haven't read anything by Hunter S Thompson, you're missing out on the most singular voice in American letters since HL Mencken. Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (ably captured on film by Gilliam) is his most famous book, but I recommend starting instead with Hell's Angels. HST rode with the Hell's Angels for a long period, chronicling their seductive anarchism, danger-fueled rejection of society and embrace of raw power and the open road. His brand of gonzo journalism is just coming into full form here -- he's making himself part of the story, which gives his writing a first-hand authority yet blurs the line between reportage, memoir and fiction. For a more immediate sample of the rage and power of his writing, read HST's obituary of Richard Nixon -- compare Mencken's eulogy for William Jennings Bryant, and hold in your mind the raft of conciliatory, don't-speak-badly-of-the-dead obits that those who should know better were spewing. Also see HST's ramblings on ESPN and some memoirs of the psycho bastard.

2005 Feb 22 11:16 (#1357.3522):
"What's the point of a title?" sG finally asks. Actually, they're completely useless -- it's great having a series of identical links in the sidebar that all read "Link from splatnikGanglion."

2005 Feb 22 11:13 (#1358.3521):
I liked Super Mario Flea

2005 Feb 22 11:02 (#1362.3520):
I wish I could go back in time and use this as my yearbook quote: "It doesn't get any more serious than a Rhinoceros about to charge your ass."

2005 Feb 20 11:12 (#1353.3499):
Dibs on Lite-Brite!

2005 Feb 19 06:29 (#1353.3489):
Since this is filed under Nerdliness, I feel I may pick the following nits:

60. ABACUS, 190 A.D.
Nearly 1,800 years before the first electronic calculators, the Abacus let its user multiply, divide, add, subtract, and calculate square and cube roots ... in both decimal and hexadecimal.

This is suprising but true: the top two beads in an abacus let you count from 0 to 15 in each place. Try it out! [java]

59. SEXTANT, 1731
Yar, matey! Whar we be? Fetch me a sextant, get a fix on the North Star, and you'll know your latitude right quick. The sextant's mirrors and precision scales were the state of the art for accurate celestial navigation for more than two centuries. Avast, ye GPS-usin' gobs! Now how about some rum and a lime?

A sextant is typically used to sight the sun, not the north star.

2005 Feb 19 06:08 (#1353.3487):
Also to buy: the Helmet of Certain Death!

2005 Feb 19 03:36 (#1350.3485):
I'm reserving judgement: this could possibly be good. Tiny Toons turned out to be really enjoyable, and had just-as-weak a premise.

2005 Feb 17 04:11 (#1342.3473):
Jerk. Wow, I just like the sound of this word that describes myself so much. It is certainly a much better descriptor than "poor typist" or "Freudian Flip."

2005 Feb 17 11:48 (#1346.3466):
Not retro: Katamari Damacy doll

2005 Feb 17 11:03 (#1344.3464):
Not only was there a high school class, but apparently they started laughing so hard they had to be removed... I hope the judge, at some point, said "Don't make me clear the courtroom! Baliff, have them removed!"

2005 Feb 17 08:56 (#1343.3462):
Speaking of things Homer might like to buy, how much you figure that "Dogs Playing Poker" painting goes for? Guess again.

2005 Feb 17 08:27 (#1341.3461):
Hello to houstonites _______ and ______ and of course my good friend _________!

2005 Feb 16 12:51 (#1337.3438):
Think this lady would mind having a kid named "UFIA brought to you by Fark.com" or "Ronal Bear AlkalineEarth?"

2005 Feb 16 02:22 (#1327.3429):
Speaking of love, sex, and sex: The Durex Global Sex Survey 2004

2005 Feb 15 11:37 (#1327.3427):
Speaking of love, rejection and lies: Fuck Valentines Day.

2005 Feb 15 12:56 (#1333.3422):
"List of more pratical uses Superboy can make of a machine that can see through time:

Betting on the outcomes of sporting events.

Forseeing natural diasters and catastrophhe.

Letting Bruce Wayne know that his parents are going to be gunned down in front of his very eyes in a filthy alley, you dick."

2005 Feb 15 12:53 (#1331.3420):
OK, I just noticed that the linked reviewer called the soundtrack "really annoying." He's seen the movie so I guess he's right. In any case, the RZA thought it worth sampling, and the two songs above are bumpin', no doubt.

2005 Feb 15 12:47 (#1331.3419):
Willie Dynamite is supposed to have one of the best Blaxploitation soundtracks... Wu-Tang's Pinky Ring and Massive Attack's Unfinished Sympathy both sample the same Willie Dynamite song. It's fun to listen to them back-to-back...

2005 Feb 15 12:48 (#1327.3409):
I also enjoyed that fantastic segue: "Instead of answering, the woman turned and ran off the court with her face in her hands. Meanwhile, Steve Francis scored 22 points and handed out 10 assists to lead the Orlando." I can only hope that my obituary flows so gracefully.

2005 Feb 14 02:14 (#1323.3403):
Sacre bleu, il est intéressant quel Google a fait à l'anglais en cette page: "Don't they have terrorists to catch?" --> "Don' T they cut terrorists to wrestling?"

2005 Feb 14 10:49 (#1322.3400):
Hemi - Hemi - Hemi. The 1971 426ci Hemi-powered Barracuda -- aka the "Hemi 'Cuda" -- stands beside the Shelby Cobra as the apotheosis of the American muscle car.

2005 Feb 13 09:34 (#1322.3391):
As a great man once said, "There is something going on now in Mexico that I happen to think is cruelty to animals. What I'm talking about, of course, is cat juggling."

2005 Feb 11 05:23 (#1303.3389):
It's pretty fun to read through the rules and see which ones you've violated or not. "Sec. 11-804. Certain Other Offenses, #11" is my favorite

2005 Feb 11 05:21 (#1303.3388):
No surprise: the Masked Grader is being taken down by the Man.

At the request of UT Austin's Student Judicial Services office, I've taken down the files pending an appointment I have with them next week. I'll have more information sometime next week. I still encourage people to donate to Literacy Austin and Reading is Fundamental via the PayPal link below.

I would guess that they'll try to nail him for Sec. 11-804

"1. conducting himself or herself in a manner that impedes, interferes with, or disrupts any University teaching, research, administrative, disciplinary, public service, learning, or other authorized activity;
3. damaging, defacing, destroying, tampering with, or taking without authorization property of the University or property located on the campus and belonging to any student or employee of the University or visitor on the campus"

and even perhaps

"12. engaging in harassment. Harassment is defined as conduct that is sufficiently severe, pervasive, or persistent to create an objectively hostile environment that interferes with or diminishes the ability of an individual to participate in or benefit from the services, activities, or privileges provided by the University."

2005 Feb 11 02:25 (#1312.3387):
For more products you probably don't want, please see Something Awful's (vaguely NSFW) Collection of Classic Advertisements.

2005 Feb 11 10:50 (#1309.3383):
BTW, I called for info -- you need free passes, whic h are given out at the Union ticket office, 4th floor north side of the Union. We can get them before or after Friday lunch...

2005 Feb 11 10:38 (#1311.3381):
Story 1; Story 2 (Do I even have to point out how very NSFW these are?). Please note that in the second story, the guy takes a moment before joining the two horny lesbians to get "a bottle of beer and a sandwich." Clearly he, like George Costanza, finds pastrami to be the most sensual of all the salted, cured meats.

2005 Feb 11 10:28 (#1281.3379):

2005 Feb 11 09:59 (#1311.3378):
I'm quite disappointed that the site redirects to a generic pr0n front page. I want to hear how the rest of the story turns out...

2005 Feb 10 05:15 (#1309.3373):
Just so you have the shibboleth firmly in hand: A.C. stands for Albert Clifford. "This is A.C.! You know who this is, goddammit!"

2005 Feb 10 02:03 (#1309.3371):
I'm so there.

2005 Feb 10 12:49 (#1308.3369):
Kim Jong Il sounds angry. Maybe some Freezy Freakies would cheer him up.

2005 Feb 10 12:20 (#1299.3368):
An analysis of how Google Maps works -- behind the infinitely-scrolling map and all the other (D)HTML gadgets....

2005 Feb 10 11:33 (#1305.3366):
If you need a place to crash in Austin, I have a spare room expressly for itinerant Germans...

2005 Feb 09 11:49 (#1301.3346):
That was good, but this one is the best point-counterpoint ever. Also this one is pretty good.

2005 Feb 09 11:38 (#1302.3345):
They're going for $750 and up on eBay...

2005 Feb 08 12:13 (#1281.3332):
Answers

2005 Feb 07 05:41 (#1281.3327):
I've found the answers... should I post a link?

2005 Feb 06 03:54 (#1292.3324):
Jack Nicholson's performance was very good, and I'd say it was worth watching. But there are many better movies to watch, and 86% seems high.

2005 Feb 06 12:27 (#1290.3320):
That is insane and awesome.

2005 Feb 06 12:22 (#1281.3319):
These text quizzes are also really fun.

2005 Feb 05 11:50 (#1281.3314):
By the way Ziggy, if you haven't gotten 35 you should just cut your dick off right now.

2005 Feb 05 11:48 (#1281.3313):
I got 6, 21, 25, and 45; the collective of Nate, Sonia, Joe, Becky, Chieza, Jenn, me, and I don't know who else got 12, 14, 20, 23, 24, 26, 39, 40, 41, 44, 49, 50, 56, 64, 69, 62, 63. The only ones nobody knows are 3, 13, 17, and 22. Here are hints:

6 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #32
12 Ubeebe-Pbzrql sebz gur 80f
14 Vg'f n oynpx zna ba n fgbbc qhevat n ubg qnl va Oebbxyla
20 Nppbeqvat gb Ragbhentr, vs lbh cynl tnl be ergneqrq lbh trg na Bfpne
21 Wrfhf Sernx
23 Jvaarontb Nzrevpn Zbivr
24 Onfrq ba n GI fubj
25 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #66
26 Fgnef Wnzrf Pnna
39 Ze Orna cynlf n ivpne
40 Gur fprar vf n pnfvab
41 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #23
44 Vg'f n EBBZ. N onq, ubeevoyr EBBZ gung fubhyq arire unir orra znqr.
45 "Ner lbh tbaan onex nyy qnl, yvggyr qbttvr?"
49 N fpnel zbivr
50 Abgvpr gur cvpgher bs gur sng zna'f jvsr ba gur zbgry qrfx
56 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #33
64 Pnfg vapyhqrf Xbor Gnv naq na npgbe sebz #40
69 Ba Pbzrql Prageny nyy gur sernxva gvzr
62 Vg'f n xvq naq uvf tenaqcneragf, ng gur fgneg bs gur svyz
63 Vg'f n yvggyr xvq jvgu cnvashyyl qbexl tynffrf

2005 Feb 05 11:08 (#1288.3310):
Oh, look at me! I'm making people happy! I'm the Magical Man from Happy-Land, in a gumdrop house on Lollipop Lane! (slams the door, then put his head back round) Oh, by the way, I was being sarcastic. -- Homer Simpson

2005 Feb 04 12:29 (#1281.3300):
Ziggy and Bunny Tied! Who Will Win? Place Bets NOW!!!

2005 Feb 04 08:58 (#1281.3297):

19 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #71
71 Pnfg vapyhqrf Rzcrebe Cnycngvar naq na npgbe sebz #19
37 Funerf na npgbe jvgu #32

2005 Feb 03 11:25 (#1285.3295):
Ching! Pre-ordered. Notice that "people who whatevered this book" also ordered this book, whose awesomeness I can attest to as well.

2005 Feb 03 11:16 (#1282.3293):
Man, check out altoid guy's post about the article and photo shoot. If you've seen The Killing Fields it is an amazing read. And if you haven't seen The Killing Fields then why the hell not? It's an inspiring and lyrical story of human courage and frendship, and it stars Jack McCoy, Spalding Gray, and Haing S. Ngor (another worthy biography).

2005 Feb 03 10:05 (#1283.3288):
That's weird... seems like they'll make $10-50 on some people and lose hundreds to others. I guess the idea is once you've bought that you're locked in to Amazon.

2005 Feb 03 09:38 (#1281.3286):
Discovered while looking up movies: the trivia page for this film (spoiler alert) has a goldmine of interesting facts about Night Court, Gwyneth Paltrow, Leonardo DiCaprio, and Transformers: The Movie.

2005 Feb 03 09:32 (#1281.3285):
Holy shit, good work Mr Bun. I'll definitely be making more badges when we've finished. Here are my rot13'd hints:

7 Fhgureynaq
8 Rzcver Fgngr Ohvyqvat
9 "Lbh unq orfg fdhner lbhe nff njnl naq fgneg fuvggvat zr Gvssnal phssyvaxf be V jvyy qrsvavgryl shpx lbh hc."
10 Fgevxr Onpx
11 Fgnef Bov-jna
16 "Url Qnq... Lbh jnaan unir n pngpu?"
18 Mrq
30 Abgvpr gur arrqyrf va gur snpr
31 Obl ba evtug vf fghpx gb cbyr
32 "Lbh xabj ubj shpxva' rnfl guvf vf gb zr?"
33 Unyrl Wbry Bfzrag
34 Synve
35 Onol Ehgu
38 Navzngrq
42 Pneerl
43 N qvpx jnf rqvgrq bhg
46 "V nva'g tbaan unir ab zbarl gb ohl zl fba gur T.V. Wbr jvgu gur xhat-sh tevc!"
47 Bssvpr Ohvyqvat ybool
51 G-Oveqf naq Cvax Ynqvrf
52 "Vs gurl svaq bhg lbh'ir frra guvf, lbhe yvsr jvyy or jbegu yrff guna n gehpxybnq bs qrnq engf va n gnzcba snpgbel."
54 N onq Ora Nssyrpx zbivr
55 "V pna'g fjvz. / Lbh'er penml, gur snyy jvyy cebonoyl xvyy lbh"
57 "V nz n ovt, oevtug, fuvavat fgne."
58 "V'z tbvat gb junyr ba zl crpf naq gura qb zl onpx"
59 Pnef
60 Wnpx
61 Anmvf
66 Ybhvfvnan
68 "Ohg snpr vg. Lbh'er n arb znkv mbbz qjrrovr."
70 "Lbh znl yvfgra gb Wvzv, ohg lbh pna'g urne Wvzv!"

To see a hint or to encode a hint, highlight that line and paste it into the box at http://rot13.com/ ... I tried to make them specific enough to be google-able but vague enough to not give it totally away.

2005 Feb 03 05:32 (#1281.3278):
Now I have 8, 30, 32, 34, 35, 42, 54, 57, 58, 59, 60, 61 and 70 as well.

2005 Feb 03 12:01 (#1277.3270):
From the website:

During his playing days at UCLA, [Freddie] became friendly with numerous celebrities in the entertainment world. He has developed acquaintances with movie producers such as Steve Bing, Andrew Sheinman (Seinfeld), and Larry Gordon; actors Vincent Young (Beverly Hills 90210) and Mario Lopez (Saved by the Bell and The Other Half); actress Elizabeth Hurley (Austin Powers), and musicians Mick Jagger, Toby Keith, and Neal McCoy. Lists his closest celebrity friend as Jaleel White (a.k.a. Steve Urkel from Family Matters). "We're brothers," said Mitchell.

He must throw the weirdest parties imaginable.

2005 Feb 03 11:58 (#1277.3269):
What kind of responses do you think you'd get with an "I love my hands" tshirt?

2005 Feb 02 11:34 (#1275.3265):
In high school me and a friend helped write the raster-hiding code and debugged some of the fast bitblt animation routines for Scorched Earth. Also, that was a lie.

2005 Jan 31 11:49 (#1267.3247):
In order to get first-person shots -- the interview subject looks straight into the camera -- Errol Morris invented the interrotron, whose name "combines two important concepts -- terror and interview."

2005 Jan 28 06:25 (#1259.3241):
Yes, but have you found a good wiki recipe with Jam on it?

2005 Jan 28 12:00 (#1252.3220):
I have often wondered which research group would win in a rumble. Professors would be tied at the wrist and given knives, the students face off weaponless, and the fight is an anything-goes cage match.

My money says Ditmire and Downer's groups face off in the finals, with Ditmire's group prevailing. Nick M has mad fu, and Bonggu, sG & FDog are insane enough to make good contributions -- but Ditmire's group, who checks in with three guys over 6'4 220# plus Bulldog Aaron E and the Molestor Professor, ultimately wins out due to the mismatch at the head spot.

2005 Jan 27 02:02 (#1248.3207):
Nice title. I bet it's in all these bitches' drawers.

2005 Jan 26 04:50 (#1245.3201):
I know almost as much about ziggy's dick as my own.

2005 Jan 26 05:49 (#1239.3184):
Man, that horse is hung like a ...

2005 Jan 25 04:33 (#1235.3179):
To be fair, two of (what I hear are) the strongest contenders aren't out locally yet -- M$ Baby and Hotel ~~California~~ Rwanda. But then again, how the FUCK did House of Crouching Tigers Flying Dragons not get a best pitcher nomination?

2005 Jan 25 04:27 (#1230.3178):
Yes.
No.
Yesno.
What do you think?

2005 Jan 25 11:37 (#1233.3165):
Since I know you're dying to hear it, here's how to view the Southpark version of the joke: go to http://members.aol.com/turbomicah/ and then click on "southparkjoke.wmv". Not only NSFW, this is absolutely, positively the most inappropriate, disgusting thing I've ever posted. Crank up the speakers and call your thesis adviser into the office.

2005 Jan 25 12:55 (#1219.3164):
Just to be clear: I bet the whole thing works for the most part -- but the author admits the device is occasionally flaky, and I am highly suspicious of the debouncing strategy (which is simply to poll every 10ms). I don't see how that keeps you from sampling during a bounce. Also to note -- the device is an old-school analog cell phone, not a modern digital SprintPCS/Cingular/TMobile/Whatevs.

2005 Jan 24 12:37 (#1223.3158):
More awesome art: Sidewalk Chalk Guy, and the shoe tree. Thanks, Cynical-C!

2005 Jan 24 12:34 (#1221.3157):
Your reasonable comments are well received, sG. I hope you won't hesitate to run me over if I should ride my bike in such a way that drivers are inconvenienced.

2005 Jan 23 02:20 (#1219.3152):
I don't buy that debouncing code for a second.

2005 Jan 23 01:18 (#1218.3151):
That is spooky.

2005 Jan 22 06:03 (#1213.3148):
Backwards Bush countdown timer: available in webpage or pocket form.

2005 Jan 22 06:02 (#1220.3147):
Weird Cat Pictures:

2005 Jan 20 12:15 (#1209.3129):

Also see: his Love Resume.

2005 Jan 19 04:24 (#1194.3117):
The Ethicist weighs in (original article):

Throwing Curves
By Randy Cohen
I am in my month's trial membership at the fitness chain Curves, and I love it. I must decide whether to sign up for a year, and I've learned that the owner of the company financially supports pro-life efforts, whereas I am pro-choice. Do I have a duty to give up my Curves membership?
Louise Dustrude, Friday Harbor, Wash.

It depends: which do you value more, your reproductive rights or your figure? If the former, clean out your locker. You won't be alone. I've received queries from many women who are similarly conflicted. They love that Curves offers a great workout in a woman-friendly setting, and that many owner-operators of individual Curves centers are women, but they don't like seeing their payments used to support abstinence programs and what many regard as pro-life organizations.

Gary Heavin, founder and C.E.O. of Curves, is an explicit supporter of pro-life causes, having pledged more than $5 million to various groups including some unsympathetic to the pro-choice position. The amount is ethically significant.

It would be overly fastidious to shun a pizzeria whose owner annually donates $5 to the Cellphones for Parrots Foundation, for example, but Heavin's hefty contributions have hefty consequences. Similarly, your monthly gym fees add up to indirect support for a cause you disdain.

You might argue that Heavin donates as an individual, not as a corporate official. But he is the founder of Curves and the person who most profits from it, and so the ethical distinction between the man and the company barely exists. To be clear: it is Heavin's actions, not his beliefs, that are pertinent. You'd be wrong to avoid that pizzeria simply because its owner was a Muslim or a Jew, a liberal or a conservative.You may respond, however, to the proprietor's deeds by declining to finance them through your patronage.

Your boycotting Curves might harm a franchisee who does not endorse Heavin's actions. Her franchise fees, however, provide his income and thus implicate her in his efforts. It is incumbent on her to tell Heavin if his actions damage her business or offend her principles, and on you to let her know why you are dropping out.

Among those who also faced the Curves conundrum is the writer Anne Lamott, who e-mailed me to say, ''I quit because I couldn't get my membership to jibe with my politics.'' She did the right thing: there's much to be said for finding a workout routine that helps you grow physically stronger but doesn't leave you feeling morally weaker.

Copyright 2004 The New York Times Company
The New York Times
September 26, 2004 Sunday
SECTION: Section 6; Column 3; Magazine Desk; THE WAY WE LIVE NOW: 09-26-04: THE ETHICIST; Pg. 32

2005 Jan 19 01:07 (#1203.3112):
Turns out the Wayback machine has the full text of the Idiot's Guide to the Gold Club Trial, one of the funniest, weirdest things I've ever read on a mainstream website. Also take note, a "club isn't officially on trial until somebody named 'Ziggy' testifies."

2005 Jan 19 12:40 (#1197.3109):
More Gizmodo - Jenn's dream car:

2005 Jan 19 11:43 (#1199.3107):
By the way, the Spreading Santorum (NSFW) campaign has succeeded: it is now the #1 Google hit for the word "santorum", surpassing that guy from Pennsylvania's site.

2005 Jan 18 09:47 (#1195.3100):
Sometimes I feel like Javelina's brain is Betamax and mine is VHS. Or the other way round.

2005 Jan 18 05:25 (#1197.3098):
I like these Mug Shots even better.

2005 Jan 18 11:27 (#1192.3090):
Also, f l i c k r -- slow but awesome.

2005 Jan 14 02:39 (#1182.3078):
I dunno...

2005 Jan 13 09:53 (#1181.3064):
Nine including Red Hot Chili Peppers' "BloodSugarSexMagick," Public Enemy's "Nation of Millions," Lucinda Williams' "Car Wheels on a Gravel Road," and Red Hot Chili Peppers' "Californication." Also (not in the RSTop500 but worthy) Lil' Jon's "Crunk Juice", the "Cool World" soundtrack, Jay-Z's Black Album, Slayer's "Hell Awaits," and Rage Against the Machine's "Renegades."

2005 Jan 13 01:37 (#1181.3063):
Speaking of "99 Problems," this interview with Rick Rubin (who produced the original song) is amazing. Rick Rubin, if you don't know, is a founder of Def Jam and has (off the top of my head) produced at least 5 albums from the Rolling Stone Top 500 - Beastie Boys' "Licensed To Ill", LL Cool J's "Radio", Run DMC's "Raising Hell", Public Enemy's "Yo! Bum Rush the Show" and Johnny Cash's "American Recordings".

2005 Jan 12 10:39 (#1180.3062):
Hey Zig, do you have newfound riches? Way to go!

2005 Jan 12 10:38 (#1181.3061):
Also, I'm sneaking my doobage in at the bottom of a chapstick. Ha ha suckaz!

2005 Jan 12 10:37 (#1181.3060):
I found a bunch of Freelance Hellraiser, if it survived the recent purge I'll put it up.

2005 Jan 12 03:03 (#1178.3053):
holy crap, 6 AA batteries per 3-5 hrs of game play? Gee, wonder why that never took off.

2005 Jan 11 12:30 (#1176.3038):
Can I just go watch? I *promise* not to laugh.

2005 Jan 10 11:56 (#1174.3037):
Leroy, man, youse is old school, man. Props.

2005 Jan 10 11:27 (#1175.3036):
Diary of a Porn Clerk. Absotively NSFW -- but clever and intriguing, and featured on NPR's "This American Life."

2005 Jan 10 05:52 (#1174.3032):
That is teh w1n, mcD!

2005 Jan 10 01:07 (#1174.3026):
Nerdliest "Nerdliness" link EVAR.

2005 Jan 10 12:32 (#1172.3023):
If your mouse looks like your mouse, perhaps you look like your dog.

2005 Jan 10 12:00 (#1172.3022):
Since I'm sure sG simply forgot to include a link, again, here's one: a ~~Degu~~ Hamster-Powered Night Light with Custom Low-RPM Alternator!

2005 Jan 09 04:56 (#1169.3021):
Something Awful's Revised Guia Del Migrante Mexicano. Quite NSFW.

2005 Jan 09 01:29 (#1169.3020):
translated text from a scary-right-wing site

2005 Jan 06 02:23 (#1165.2994):
Ummm... yeah. Hey sG, when you're done updating our vocabularies to go with your alternate lifestyle, Jesus wants you to be an ex-gay like Harmon Leon

2005 Jan 06 12:43 (#1164.2985):
You slashdotted it, Nate...

2005 Jan 06 12:23 (#1161.2984):
The backfire truck is similar to one of my favorite art cars, the camera van. This guy wanted to capture the moment in which people see a unique object for the first time. So he covered a van in several hundred cheap cameras, many of them operational and able to be triggered from the driver's seat (pinhole video cameras let him set up the shot). The resultant gallery is fantastic. I especially enjoyed before & after.

2005 Jan 06 12:11 (#1161.2983):
Even yet still more photography: "She'll turn her music on you / You won't have to think twice / She's pure as New York snow / She's got those Hamburger Eyes". My subscription is already in.

2005 Jan 06 11:57 (#1162.2982):
Speaking of blaming the dog, don't do this.

2005 Jan 06 11:47 (#1162.2979):
Speaking of massive objects, how'd you like to get back into those smaller-size pants you wore, at your dating weight of 650 lbs? This guy shed 420 lbs to live the dream (SFW).

2005 Jan 06 11:23 (#1162.2978):
Q*Bert agrees. ***+

2005 Jan 06 11:16 (#1161.2977):
More photography experiments: reactions to a backfiring truck

2005 Jan 06 02:27 (#1156.2966):
NSFW: Total Recall

2005 Jan 06 01:47 (#1159.2965):
Also, watch out for coily.

2005 Jan 06 01:36 (#1155.2964):
Also, What?

2005 Jan 06 01:32 (#1152.2963):
But does this mean that Britney will stop teaching about Semiconductor Physics? Say it ain't so!

2005 Jan 04 02:05 (#1144.2938):
Team Zissou Adidas Kicks. Kickass.

2005 Jan 03 11:52 (#1141.2928):
So after a solid week in which the site was pretty much sG and me disgorging crap onto the FP I go without checking it for two days and look what happens... I guess everyone got back in town or something. And Ben: I assume you mean Hot Topic; I own their stock so stock up on all the Vans and noserings your Mom will let you buy. They also have Gryffindor and Hufflepuff teamwear.

2005 Jan 03 11:42 (#1141.2927):
Insurance: treat it like a bet. If you pay $5/mo for a year, you've laid out $60 for insurance. Even if your phone is $300, you win only if there is a better than 1/5 chance that you will wreck (as opposed to lose) one phone a year. If those are honestly your odds of breaking the phone, you should stick with fisher-price as your provider.

Apparently my apartment is a 900MHz slough of despond. I always got reasonable but not fantastic service with my old Sprint service; I get pretty good coverage there with Cingular/AT&T.

My new phone, the Smartest Phone In the World, will sync its phonebook to the internet, which is the best. Some phones will sync their phonebooks with the SIM card (the chip holding your customer data from the cell co. (or store them there altogether). SIM cards are nice because if your phone runs out of juice you can pop it in your friend's (same carrier) and all of a sudden you have your account and your phonebook on your friend's phone.

I've only texted a few times, since getting my new phone, and I'll now admit I can see the appeal. But I could live without it, if I had to, or if it costs money (which it might, I'll have to check my bill).

Oh, and I think that the companies and their customer service are all more or less what you'd expect but that Sprint's is slightly worse than the others. I'm also not a smooth-talking large-living latin lothario like the Zig.

2004 Dec 31 12:10 (#1138.2881):
PJ, this should really be marked "NSFW."

2004 Dec 31 12:32 (#1133.2873):
From the Jargon File: "An important secondary meaning of hack is ‘a creative practical joke’." You're welcome to call them pranks, but calling them hacks is perfectly cromulent. Appealing to nerdity to justify linguistic nitpicking of an MIT site in a blog entry is less so.

2004 Dec 31 12:17 (#1135.2872):
The Defective Yeti posts a semi-frequent Bad Review Revue, with blurbs from pans:

Surviving Christmas: "At less that 90 minutes it's chronologically short, but psychologically eternal." -- Chris Hewitt, ST. PAUL PIONEER PRESS

Birth: "Might have qualified as dumb fun if they hadn't left out the fun." -- Joe Morgenstern, WALL STREET JOURNAL

Alien vs. Predator: "Take a wretched premise. Imagine the worst picture that could be made from it. Then imagine something even worse. That's Alien vs. Predator." -- Mick LaSella, SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE

The Forgotten: "Julianne Moore delivers a performance that has all the emotional commitment of a bored kid playing with a light switch." -- Manohla Dargis, NEW YORK TIMES

Garfield: "You'd have to be a real asshole to hate this movie. Sadly the task falls to me." -- Marrit Ingman, AUSTIN CHRONICLE

Also see the New Yorker's review of Andrew Lloyd Weber's The Phantom of the Opera ("This bellowing beast of a movie looks and sounds like the extended special-edition remix of a Duran Duran video").

2004 Dec 30 03:05 (#1134.2868):

2004 Dec 28 06:02 (#1125.2862):
The waves reached 10m (30 feet) along the Indian coast -- in this picture the water has risen to the second story (compare).

2004 Dec 28 05:48 (#1125.2858):
This Powerpoint file from India's Remote Sensing Agency shows the utter reconstruction of the Indian coastline.

2004 Dec 28 03:04 (#1123.2854):
[They open the door, and both are shocked at what they see]
Cartman: Oh my God!
Shelley: They're having a cat orgy!
Cartman: You are all very bad kitties! That is a bad, bad kitty!

2004 Dec 25 02:27 (#1112.2846):
That was funny. Also see Dubya, the Movie.

2004 Dec 25 01:44 (#1110.2845):
This list of 100 Do's and Don'ts was funny too.

2004 Dec 21 02:10 (#972.2840):
So my mom has this friend, Anne Cahn, over today, and she's talking about an interview she gave for the BBC -- she wrote a book about the politics of intelligence estimates in the late 70s and early 80s. Something in what she's describing rings a bell, and sure enough, she is extensively featured (~31:00 in pt 1, among others). If those who watched this documentary have questions or comments I'd be glad to pass them along!

2004 Dec 20 09:52 (#1097.2836):
As a status quo kind of guy, when you look up to the sky, do you see those eyes - a funny kind of yellow?

2004 Dec 14 10:01 (#1089.2819):
This is one of the best posts all week, just another example of the tried and true comedy formula, Lawyer + Rap Star + Gas Face == Big Time Fun!

2004 Dec 13 04:46 (#1087.2808):
At any point while reading that article, please feel free to mentally insert either "Animals will be bred UND SCHLAUGHTERED!" or "Fish, and plankton. And sea greens, and protein from the sea. It's all here, ready. Fresh as harvest day. Fish and sea greens, plankton and protein from the sea. And then it stopped coming. And they came instead. So I store them here. I'm ready. And your ready. It's my job. To freeze you. Protein, plankton..."

2004 Dec 13 05:49 (#1083.2800):
While you're looking up, watch out for golf balls from Dubai.

2004 Dec 11 06:36 (#1075.2797):
Maybe it's like Alexander the Great's said about beards: "There is not a better handle to take a man by than the [black skater T-shirt]."

2004 Dec 11 06:21 (#1070.2796):
Top 100 Oldest Registered .com Domain Names. My dad's work had Symbolics workstations, which are fascinating machines -- they ran L I S P natively. Your command shell was a LISP interpreter, the whole OS a collection of first-class LISP objects. Way ahead of their time.

2004 Dec 11 12:58 (#1082.2794):
Ziggy's back, everybody!

2004 Dec 11 12:54 (#1078.2793):
Suez who? Suez you!

2004 Dec 11 10:50 (#1070.2792):
Ten Favorite Films by Year, 1921-2003, a fantastic list of 2000 movies compiled by -- and I'm not making this up -- Ken Jennings.

2004 Dec 10 10:27 (#1075.2781):
Speaking of ass whuppin': this Craigslist post.

2004 Dec 10 10:26 (#1076.2779):
Speaking of special effects: Return of the King DVD preview

2004 Dec 10 09:35 (#1075.2778):
Skater Nerd!

2004 Dec 10 02:57 (#1077.2777):
Man, what's going on in Scottsdale?

2004 Dec 09 01:46 (#1060.2761):
~~Simpsons~~ ~~MIT~~ Caltech already did it! Actually, I really like this prank -- though having them say "We Suck" is low rent.

2004 Dec 09 12:32 (#1066.2760):
(Excuse the [Dorkese]) It used to be that if you did not provide a [URL] and [URL description], the [Link title] was placed in bold at the head of your [URL description]. I guess I agree that this behavior is unexpected and unnecessary, so I removed that code from "index.php" (the main page) and "link.php" (the view-link-and-comments page). Now the [Link title] only shows up to the right (recent comments box) and in the browser's title bar. You may see the link title reappear other places: deal with it.

2004 Dec 08 11:37 (#1068.2759):
Browser, Customized

2004 Dec 07 03:15 (#1058.2746):
BONSAI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2004 Dec 07 01:28 (#1058.2740):
LIMECAT!!!!!!!!!

2004 Dec 07 11:28 (#1057.2737):
You're Right, Kid! The Musical!

2004 Dec 07 01:49 (#1036.2735):
Finally!!! video of the "What is a Ho?" exchange, surely a pinnacle of TV history.

2004 Dec 07 12:05 (#1053.2734):
More proposed cycling team names, from my bro's girlfriend (who is having ACL surgery soon as well): "Team Stone Cold Bone Fusion unite! er... Team Surgery You Jest unite!" But I'm sure no pun was in tendoned.

2004 Dec 06 02:07 (#1053.2722):
Good Call sG! Skoliosis Skank [mp3] is from I Think We Need Helicopters, still one of my favorite album titles of all time. You may know the guitar player Jerm Pollet from his other work or perhaps from his side projects.

2004 Dec 06 01:51 (#1052.2721):
How exactly do "gull-wing doors preserve a lady's modesty when getting in and out?" Seems like the conventional door gives you a better chance to prevent mishaps (nsfw)...

2004 Dec 06 01:25 (#1050.2719):
Learn Chinese the Quick and Easy way!

2004 Dec 06 12:00 (#1050.2714):
Why don't you try the search again with safe search on? Then you can find out how much Billy Madison and Madison, NJ suck.

2004 Dec 05 02:18 (#1050.2704):
Speaking of culture clash, here's Anime Popeye!

2004 Dec 03 11:27 (#1033.2701):
A robot would be cool but a Breakdancing Transformer Car[MPG] would be even freakkin coola.

2004 Dec 03 11:18 (#1046.2689):
If you visit Sweden visit the Ice Hotel, where "you sleep in a thermal sleeping bag on a special bed built of snow and ice, covered with reindeer skins. You are awakened in the morning with a cup of hot lingonberry juice at your bedside."

2004 Dec 02 04:12 (#1028.2684):
Forget all that, and fuck American Idol too. I'm gonna quit school and join The Gorillaz. I'm usless, but not for long:
The future... is coming on.

2004 Dec 02 03:19 (#1037.2683):

2004 Dec 02 01:20 (#1041.2680):
Look at the stuff they sell in the store... yeah, it's a joke. No, you're not the only one who wasn't sure for a long, uncomfortable time.

2004 Dec 02 01:19 (#1036.2679):
Here's an article about his Nightline appearance last night.

2004 Dec 02 01:18 (#1042.2678):
Tommy Westphall's Sitcom Multiverse hasn't added it yet...

2004 Dec 02 06:57 (#1041.2671):

2004 Dec 01 05:36 (#1037.2663):
ROT13'd Hints for all but #2 (can't find that one):

1 Ovyy Tngrf 2 3 c Inzcverf 4 c s Qr Aveb & Crfpv 5 Fgnyybar 6 cfn Guvax fnaq 7 c n Ehffry Pebjr 8 c n Wnzrf Obaq 9 Natryvan Wbyvr 10 cf Qr Aveb & Xvyzre 11 c Serrqbz'f whfg nabgure jbeq sbe abguvat yrsg gb ybfr 12 cfn Guvax cnggreaf 13 c Qr Aveb 14 cf Qna Nlxeblq 15 n ZnpThlire 16 c n Orfg EBG13 Rine 17 cfn Ryivf 18 fn Fcnprl 19 Genibygn 20 Pubj Lha-Sng 21 o Xvrsre Fhgureynaq 22 f Genibygn 23 fn Jvyy Fzvgu 24 n Evtug Npgbe, Jebat Zbivr 25 fn Guvax Wncna 26 Oehpr Jvyyvf 27 Yvrhgranag Qna 28 c n Pnzrybg 29 cfn Ner lbh tbaan onex nyy qnl? 30 f Qna Nlxeblq 31 n W-Yb 32 Bcravat Fprar va Rtlcg 33 Zry Tvofba 34 Qr Aveb

Or just go here.

2004 Dec 01 04:05 (#1037.2659):
Here is who's gotten what, and my ROT13'd hints:

1 Ovyy Tngrf 2 3 c Guvax Inzcverf 4 c s Qr Aveb & Crfpv 5 6 cfn Guvax fnaq 7 c n 8 c n 9 10 cf Qr Aveb & Xvyzre 11 c 12 cfn Guvax cnggreaf 13 c 14 cf Qna Nlxeblq 15 n 16 c n 17 cfn Ryivf 18 fn Fcnprl 19 Genibygn 20 21 22 f Genibygn 23 fn Jvyy Fzvgu 24 n 25 fn Guvax Wncna 26 27 28 c n 29 cfn Ner lbh tbaan onex nyy qnl? 30 f Qna Nlxeblq 31 n 32 33 34

2004 Dec 01 11:08 (#1037.2646):
So far I can get 6, 10, 12, 14, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25, 29, 30. If you figure out any others lemme know.

2004 Nov 30 02:42 (#1028.2636):
what one?

2004 Nov 30 01:23 (#1033.2633):
C'mon, Nate... you forgot the most important graphic design element...

2004 Nov 30 10:36 (#1033.2626):
Here's more on hacking the Robo Sapien, including a music video. If you notice, several of the hacks were submitted by the inventor...

2004 Nov 30 10:14 (#1028.2624):
Ever lose a Pie-Eating contest (NSFW!!!) in Albukkerke? It's something like that.

2004 Nov 30 09:11 (#1029.2621):
Q: What's Brown And Sticky?
A: A Stick.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: What's the opposite of Christopher Reeves?
A: Christopher Walken.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Patient: Doctor, I can't stop singing `Delilah' and `The Green Green Grass of Home'. What the hell is wrong with me?
Doctor: I believe you have what is known as Tom Jones Syndrome.
Patient: Tom Jones Syndrome? My God, is that rare?
Doctor: It's not unusual.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tori Spelling walks into a bar and the barmaid says "why the long face?"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Q: How many indie rock snobs does it take to change a lightbulb?
A: Pffft. I have that joke on *vinyl*.

2004 Nov 30 07:35 (#1028.2613):
Hey, maybe you can get a job working fast food with The Descendants: "You want whale sperm with that?"

2004 Nov 29 06:05 (#1022.2600):
Freebird!!! I just queued it up, thanks Hand... (track 20). Ever wonder how that all started? Here's an article tracing the origins of yelling Freebird!!! at a show.

How funny the act of yelling "Freebird" can be is inversely proportional to how much the style of the band resembles Skynyrd's. In other words, if you were to yell it at a Jackyl show it wouldn't be funny at all, because they had it slotted for later in the set anyway. ... But if you yelled it at an Interpol show, instant hilarity.

2004 Nov 29 10:40 (#1024.2597):
/
(Get full Black Lois Lane comic here)

2004 Nov 29 08:59 (#1022.2593):
Oh, I'm a dope. The map zooms in.

2004 Nov 29 08:56 (#1022.2592):
That's really cool... maybe someday AUS will make the list. Also of note: right now ORD is under a ground delay program due to "WEATHER; LOW CIGS." So no planes can land if the controllers are out of smokes?

2004 Nov 29 08:48 (#1018.2589):
Holy hell, a Handwashing Song? "Step 4 -- Don't forget those FINGERNAILS!!!!"

2004 Nov 29 08:45 (#1020.2588):
Maybe he can give Barkley another hand if Sir Charles carries out his promise to run for governor of Alabama

2004 Nov 28 06:41 (#1015.2581):
Whatsa goober?

2004 Nov 28 06:39 (#1021.2580):
Amazon also sells ansu massage.

2004 Nov 27 04:02 (#1014.2563):
It's nice that Matt got past the rivalry and let Virginia Tech name their stadium after him.

2004 Nov 25 01:13 (#1008.2561):
To be fair to some people's boyfriends, they were quite clear: the land may be god-forsaken, but the trip is warranted...

2004 Nov 24 01:13 (#1011.2557):
Here's my favorite essay from english class:

In-class assignment for Wednesday: Today we will experiment with a new form called the tandem story. The process is simple. Each person will pair off with the person sitting to his or her immediate right. One of you will then write the first paragraph of a short story. The partner will read the first paragraph and then add another paragraph to the story. The first person will then add a third paragraph, and so on back and forth. Remember to reread what has been written each time in order to keep the story coherent. The story is over when both agree a conclusion has been reached.
Rebecca and Gary
English 44A SMU
Creative Writing
Professor Miller
At first, Laurie couldn't decide which kind of tea she wanted. The camomile, which used to be her favorite for lazy evenings at home, now reminded her too much of Carl, who once said, in happier times, that he liked camomile. But she felt she must now, at all costs, keep her mind off Carl. His possessiveness was suffocating, and if she thought about him too much her asthma started acting up again. So camomile was out of the question.
Meanwhile, Advance Sergeant Carl Harris, leader of the attack squadron now in orbit over Skylon 4, had more important things to think about than the neuroses of an air-headed asthmatic bimbo named Laurie with whom he had spent one sweaty night over a year ago. "A. S. Harris to Geostation 17", he said into his transgalactic communicator. "Polar orbit established. No sign of resistance so far..."
But before he could sign off a blusish particle beam flashed out of nowhere and blasted a hole through his ships cargo bay. The jolt from the direct hit sent him flying out of his seat and across the cockpit. He bumped his head and died almost immediately, but not before he felt one last pang of regret for psychically brutalizing the one woman who had ever had feelings for him. Soon afterwards, Earth stopped its pointless hostilities towards the peaceful farmers of Sklylon 4. "Congress Passes Law Permanently Abolishing War and Space Travel." Laurie read in her newspaper one morning. The news simultaneously excited her and bored her. She stared out the window, dreaming of her youth - when the days had passed unhurriedly and carefree, with no newspapers to read, no television to distract her from her sense of innocent wonder at all the beutiful things around her. "Why must one lose one's innocence to become a woman?" she pondered wistfully.
Little did she know, but she has less than 10 seconds to live. Thousands of miles above the city, the Anu'udrian mothership launched the first of its lithlum fusion missiles. The dim-witted wimpy peaceniks who pushed the Unilateral Aerospace Disarmament Treaty through Congress had left Earth a defenseless target for the hostile alien empires who were determined to destroy the human race. Within two hours after the passage of the treaty the Anu'udrian ships were on course for Earth, carrying enough firepower to pulverize the entire planet. With no one to stop them, they swiftly initiated their diabolical plan. The lithlum fusion missile entered the atmosphere unimpeded. The President, in his top- secret mobile submarine headquarters on the ocean floor off the coast of Guam, felt the inconceivably massive explosian which vaporized Laurie and 85 million other Americans. The President slammed his fist on the conference table. "We can't allow this! I'm going to veto that treaty! Let's blow'em out of the sky!"
This is absurd. I refuse to continue this mockery of literature. My writing partner is a violent, chauvinistic, semi-literate adolescent.
Yeah? Well, you're a self-centered tedious neurotic whose attempts at writing are the literary equivalent of Valium.
Asshole.
Bitch.

2004 Nov 22 10:10 (#997.2545):
Sports Guy on the National BasketBrawl Assn - also, torrents here , here, and here for video.

2004 Nov 22 09:53 (#1005.2544):
The hats are a nice touch.

2004 Nov 22 05:09 (#997.2543):
Responses for "other"

2004 Nov 22 11:40 (#1001.2539):
More car trouble:

2004 Nov 22 11:34 (#1002.2538):
We'll be able to move the new passwords over to the main site when we upgrade, so you'll only have to fix your password once.

2004 Nov 22 08:30 (#997.2531):
Good call javelina: it's pop at a more than 80% utilization rate.

2004 Nov 21 04:40 (#996.2527):
Any product about which the Question is Frequently Asked "What happens if I have an erection?" is a quality product indeed.

2004 Nov 20 10:41 (#992.2518):
Damn, those petunia-pig-supermodels are gonna haunt my waking dreams for days.

2004 Nov 20 09:33 (#995.2517):
Speakin' of old-skool computer hardware: 8-bit Big Bird's "Word Up" music video and other NES-powered flash movies.

2004 Nov 19 12:51 (#993.2514):
The book Nickel and Dimed is a first-hand expose of the many under-the-radar indignites pressed upon the working class. The Woking Poor: Invisible in America (review here) is a superbly written survey (by Pulitzer prize winner and family friend David Shipler) from micro to macro of the challenges faced by the poor. Both examine the question "Is it possible to realize the American Dream -- to pull yourselves up by your bootstraps and get out of poverty -- in today's America?" and both come to the conclusion "Pretty Much: No."

2004 Nov 19 04:56 (#991.2510):
BTW, I'm sure someone posted a different, shorter "worst album covers evar" link once but I just can't find it -- maybe this one? I even asked the monkeys to help me look. So if this is a repost I apologize.

2004 Nov 18 11:42 (#988.2507):
Aw, damn. How about BANNOCKS, BAWCOCKS, BITTOCKS, BOLLOCKS, BONNOCKS, BULLOCKS, BURDOCKS, BUTTOCKS, CAPROCKS, CASSOCKS, CHARLOCKS, DORNOCKS, DRAMMOCKS, FUTTOCKS, GAVELOCKS, GORCOCKS, HADDOCKS, HAMMOCKS, HASSOCKS, HAVELOCKS, HILLOCKS, HOMMOCKS, HUMMOCKS, KEBBOCKS, KILLOCKS, LAVEROCKS, LAVROCKS, MAMMOCKS, MATTOCKS, MONADNOCKS, MUDROCKS, MULLOCKS, PIDDOCKS, POLLOCKS, RUDDOCKS, SHADDOCKS, SPATTERDOCKS, TROCKS, TUSSOCKS, and WINNOCKS? (You may have to login to UTDirect then follow link from library.)

2004 Nov 18 10:11 (#988.2506):
There's also BANNOCKS, BAWCOCKS, BITTOCKS, BOLLOCKS, BONNOCKS, BULLOCKS, BURDOCKS, BUTTOCKS, CAPROCKS, CASSOCKS, CHARLOCKS, DORNOCKS, DRAMMOCKS, FUTTOCKS, GAVELOCKS, GORCOCKS, HADDOCKS, HAMMOCKS, HASSOCKS, HAVELOCKS, HILLOCKS, HOMMOCKS, HUMMOCKS, KEBBOCKS, KILLOCKS, LAVEROCKS, LAVROCKS, MAMMOCKS, MATTOCKS, MONADNOCKS, MUDROCKS, MULLOCKS, PIDDOCKS, POLLOCKS, RUDDOCKS, SHADDOCKS, SPATTERDOCKS, TROCKS, TUSSOCKS, WINNOCKS, and YAPOCKS
Thanks LexPert!

2004 Nov 18 09:57 (#988.2505):
I think bollocks are testicles. A bullock is a young bull, esp. one without his bollocks any more.

2004 Nov 18 09:53 (#983.2504):
Funniest. Three-letter. Response. EVAR.

2004 Nov 18 03:48 (#987.2491):
The FliVo software works just well enough that I haven't had the need to try any other solutions (such as ShowShifter). There are a few things that drive me crazy, but ultimately it's about 95-98% reliable and I can work around its foibles.

2004 Nov 18 03:43 (#987.2490):
No, but I recently read the Electronic Frontier Foundation's endorsement of MythTV as the best defense against the imminent broadcast flag death knell for PVRs. Basically, equipment sold before mid-next-year will have more capabilities than equipment sold after; might be a good excuse to upgrade the FliVo.

2004 Nov 17 08:13 (#985.2482):
Anther great music video: the Grey Video, a video for one of the songs from the Grey Album.

2004 Nov 16 07:21 (#980.2479):
The artworks supported by Stanley Marsh (no, not that one; he of Cadillac Ranch and Plutonium Circus fame) revolve around the same idea -- that we are surrounded by art, that we are all capable of creating and recognizing great art, and that part of the power of art is to make us appreciate and become aware of our surroundings.

2004 Nov 16 06:47 (#980.2478):
That was big time fun, makes me want to keep my eyes peeled for art that surrounds us all. And make a website out of it, then tour the US with my little brother singing songs about it all. The booty don't stop, y'all (mp3). Also, while browsing the rest of the audio on their site, there is amystery for which I found the answer (ctrl-f for carpenter).

2004 Nov 16 10:37 (#983.2470):
My favs: #1 "Medusa," #8 "Davy Crockett," #9 "Angry Zappa," #32 "The Schneider," and #46 "Bronson" aka "Death Wish." Also note the classic middle name. WATFO?

2004 Nov 16 07:43 (#982.2468):
Sadly, no. My mom did, and it was quite a surprise for everyone -- even, i think, for my aunt.
I also noticed this interesting tidbit from the NYT "How to Submit an Announcement" page: "Couples posing for pictures should arrange themselves with their eyebrows on exactly the same level and with their heads fairly close together." So now you know the secret.

2004 Nov 16 07:16 (#979.2465):
Caltech has a football team?

2004 Nov 16 07:14 (#980.2464):
OK, I just bought my tix. For show&tell, I'm gonna bring that "get out of the dumbseat" painting I found, AKA the worst artwork ever.

2004 Nov 16 07:05 (#981.2463):
What was the title of the skit?

2004 Nov 16 07:04 (#982.2462):
My cousin's wedding was a featured wedding back before the blog started. I'm kinda glad, because re-reading the feature, even though they're a nice couple they're also kindof easy targets.

2004 Nov 15 12:07 (#975.2451):
If you will read j. and n.'s posts you will see we had already moved to Nerdville. All I did was make us Nerdstein, the capital of Nerdalvania.

2004 Nov 15 11:37 (#978.2447):
There's also this suicide at Ground Zero of the 9/11 attack from last week.

2004 Nov 15 11:34 (#976.2445):

...Hokay then.

2004 Nov 15 08:22 (#975.2436):
The store has some pretty good tshirts and a fun mousepad for cat geeks.

2004 Nov 15 08:12 (#975.2435):
BTW, I'm impressed at how quickly and thoroughly we took a link about kitties and mega-nerdlified the discourse.

2004 Nov 15 08:10 (#975.2434):
Well, Netcraft.com tells us that limecat.net is hosted by servercentral.net , who will give you 5GB of transfer for $4.95/mo. The page is 30,452b, allowing for 176,301 hits/mo or 5876 hits/day. Alexa tells us that in its heady debut limecat briefly received 500,000 hits in January ($24.95/40GB) but since then has been well under 50,000 hits/month. So the resident of 350 E. Cermak St, Chicago IL is not bearing an undue burden for ensuring the masses are properly limecatted. Do we care? No -- But I do think it's interesting that you can find stuff like this out.

2004 Nov 15 07:47 (#972.2433):
You should add that post to wikipedia, nate.

2004 Nov 14 01:02 (#966.2414):
Three funny things from the ODB MeFi post:

The headline: "OMG! ODB DOA! WTF?"

Person: Ol' Dirty Bastard died!
Friend: What!? Cheney's dead?

"How about the time that MTV was interviewing him in a limo and ODB was explaining how he used to be on welfare and he still had his card on him, and he took them to the welfare office to show him that when you slid your card if you were eligible a receipt would print out allowing you to claim your check. When Dirty slid his card, it still worked. He got his welfare check and climbed back into the limo to continue the interview. That's the ODB we will all miss."

2004 Nov 13 04:17 (#966.2409):
Why are the great ones taken from us so young?

Ol' Dirty Bastard, live and uncut!
Styles unbreakable, shatterproof
To the young youth, ya wanna get gun? Shoot!
BLAOW! How you like me now?

2004 Nov 13 03:21 (#962.2408):
I've been going by the rule "any two words, in order, on the same screen as your name" -- allowing "Cindy" to be Professor "Lecturing Dialectic" or Internationally Acclaimed Hairdresser "Gustave Tyrone." And "Kinetic Badminton" is truly awesome.

2004 Nov 13 03:16 (#965.2407):
I supposes the ninjas should have their say as well.

2004 Nov 12 10:25 (#962.2395):
Or a different movie could be made starring Ben as "Definitely Johnson."

2004 Nov 12 04:16 (#949.2392):
newline
newline-br/
br/-newline
br-newline
br
fin

2004 Nov 12 03:45 (#959.2391):
If the heads bit the tail it'd be a tortus, like he said.

2004 Nov 12 11:46 (#957.2389):
The monkey is the future. Make yourself ready for the time of reckoning is nigh. The monkey cometh.

2004 Nov 11 06:50 (#955.2375):
I can't believe it's taken a whole year to get our first FP bitch.

2004 Nov 11 09:57 (#950.2358):
Yeah, so the unspoken subtext was "I'm right on my way, right after I finish making this stupid post, crashing my browser, and then resubmitting it cause I don't want to look that shit up again."

2004 Nov 11 09:56 (#950.2357):
Maybe while you're there you can get a burger.

2004 Nov 11 06:22 (#950.2353):
My brother is into photography. As ways of converting dollars into entropy go, it's almost as good as biking, slightly better than Comic Books.

2004 Nov 10 07:32 (#951.2352):
How's it breathe? It seems to have a gasoline engine... Isn't water inhalation a problem?

2004 Nov 10 07:28 (#953.2351):
It knows about AEthermix...

2004 Nov 10 05:42 (#949.2335):
It looks like the bastard offspring of Brandon Walsh's Mustang and a 3-series BMW...

2004 Nov 10 05:29 (#953.2333):
WTF? I get 83 links. Your google is broken.

2004 Nov 10 05:05 (#952.2331):
This breaking news, just in - Yasser Arafat is still dead. Film at 11.

2004 Nov 10 05:39 (#948.2319):
As the daily show put it, Ashcroft is resigning to spend more time "rounding up and investigating his family."

2004 Nov 08 06:12 (#940.2281):
More election stuff: a Usability comparison of the Bush and Kerry campaign newsletters.

2004 Nov 06 07:54 (#933.2269):
That is awesomely ludicraptastic. That's actually one of my favorite songs, though not in that form; I considered putting it on my mixtape. It's a cover of The Shadows' Apache, famously re-covered by Michael Viner's Incredible Bongo Band. This song is crucial to the early history of Hip-Hop and has been endlessly sampled, notably in West Street Mob's "Break Dance Electric Boogie", in Grandmaster Flash's "The Adventures of Grandmaster Flash on the Wheels of Steel," and in Sugarhill Gang's "Apache Rap."
Do you know anything more about the video? (BTW don't go to stileproject.com to find out: it is one of the supremely NSFW sites on the intarnets).

2004 Nov 04 10:37 (#928.2261):
Actually, now that I've seen this campaign ad (somewhat long flash) I want to change my vote. "I'm Cobra Commander, and I approve this message."

2004 Nov 04 10:29 (#928.2260):
Also see these Don't Blame Me, I Voted for Kodos tshirts. Sigh. Anyone remember the good ol' days, when the electoral morass was funny?

Abortions for all. [crowd boos] Very well, no abortions for anyone. [crowd boos] Hmm... Abortions for some, miniature American flags for others. [crowd cheers and waves miniature flags]

2004 Nov 04 05:52 (#925.2256):
Give it time, Claw. Give it time.

2004 Nov 04 03:51 (#924.2251):
This one is my favorite. The greatest physicist project went on a world series and AEthermix hiatus. We hope to finish it RSN.

2004 Nov 03 10:42 (#921.2245):
Wow, I missed the body quote. I meant the near-miss cal-Haim-ity.

2004 Nov 03 10:05 (#919.2242):
... just wanted to point out that jenn has authoritatively seized the AE records for "longest thread" (10 pages and counting), "most followup responses" (23 and counting) and "most responses before Meta" (done at 22).

2004 Nov 03 08:24 (#919.2235):
"Vote or Die" spokespeople Paris Hilton, Curtis Jackson 3rd (aka 50 Cent) and Christopher Bridges (aka Ludacris) aren't even registered to vote. Awesome.

2004 Nov 03 08:17 (#919.2234):
Lulu, if you see this guy coming, run.

2004 Nov 03 03:31 (#919.2214):

2004 Nov 02 09:49 (#914.2205):
Other way round, actually... He makes an excellent case for Lohanism.

2004 Nov 02 04:03 (#914.2194):
Dammit, lemme try again. Missed a bracket.
Some quickie links from blog Thighs Wide Shut:

Sex advice from Role-Players

Dear Straight Dope, Have We Ever Had a Stone Cold Killah in the White House?

Quentin's Next Film

The Life Arafat

I guess I missed my chance to hit on Elisha Cuthbert

The George Bush Remix Project

2004 Nov 01 10:11 (#908.2185):
You can also prognosticate the options in this comic strip

2004 Oct 29 09:57 (#901.2171):
Before & After (NSFW)

2004 Oct 28 12:05 (#891.2162):
This is what it's all about... who they won it for (here's an article about the "Win it For" thread).

2004 Oct 28 09:49 (#891.2159):
Urk -- sorry, the caption wasn't present when I first linked to the pic. Next time I make a local copy... How about these instead:

2004 Oct 27 11:21 (#889.2150):
Dammit -- forgot I posted it already. OK, here's another reason to root for the packers. Hopefully the Packers can find a way to keep up with demand. Go 'Skins.

2004 Oct 27 05:46 (#889.2144):
Even Yet Still Another Reason to root for the Packers... Yet now, I spit in the face of curses and trends. Go Skins!

2004 Oct 26 06:04 (#882.2132):
More video fun -- here's Eminem's latest (I downloaded it from here). Song's only OK but the video is incendiarily rotoscopically awesome.

2004 Oct 25 08:51 (#874.2128):
These people found out what 100,000 pennies looked like. I have to say though -- I love the dickead move.

2004 Oct 25 08:50 (#875.2127):
Yet another opnion piece on Jon Stewart, totally missing the point IMHO; Jon Stewart on 60 Minnits.

2004 Oct 23 05:42 (#864.2108):
Nice Nate. My hand is pastede on yay! Here's the view from Mt. Washington:

2004 Oct 22 09:20 (#864.2100):
It's so on.

2004 Oct 22 06:00 (#864.2091):
Need romantic advice? Dealing with a psychological issue? Want help untangling a tricky conundrum? Manny Ramirez, advice therapist is here to help, man.

2004 Oct 22 04:45 (#864.2087):
Oh, It's already done been broughten. We're going Patriots on your St. Louis ass. We're avenging the ghosts of '67 and '46. We're going at you top to bottom in the order, so I hope your outfielders are rested, 'cause JEd will have to pull some more of that magic shit out his ass to keep the Sox in check. Here's a SportsNation poll on who has the Position-by-position edge. Also, I have last night's game on mpg for you to savor.
Also Also, here's an instructive photo giving new angle on the A-Rod interference play...

2004 Oct 21 06:12 (#859.2060):
Best. Nike. Ad. EVAR.

2004 Oct 21 06:08 (#859.2058):
np Reid!!! As far as I'm concerned every post for the rest of the week should include a reference to the GREATEST COMEBACK IN MODERN SPORTS HISTORY!!!!!

I'm still looking for a photo of Schill, Lowe, & Wakefield, headed out to the 'pen, down for whateva', after the sox tied it in the 9th inning of game 5. Fox showed a wide shot as the three gunslingers clad in red walked with determination across the outfield grass. It was Tombstone, High Noon, and Silverado rolled into one. It was the three musketeers, the three amigos, the three idiots. It was the Ghostbusters climbing back up the ledge to tell Gozer the Gozerian to return forthwith to his place of origin or to the nearest convenient parallel dimension. It was the elvish phalanxes arriving in reinforcement of Helm's Deep. The battle wasn't won but the tide of resolve had shifted in our favor.

And yeah, I'm pretty happy about it all! Can you tell?

2004 Oct 20 07:57 (#857.2055):

2004 Oct 20 07:09 (#853.2053):
That was really cool, leroy.

2004 Oct 20 12:31 (#855.2046):
Here's something similar: a Minny Twins fansite that documents the occasional funky play in LegoVision (TM). And just to be clear, the Bitch Sox have White, not Red stockings.

2004 Oct 19 07:07 (#849.2031):
So strange that an audiophile would post something pretentious. WATFO?

2004 Oct 17 07:15 (#840.2012):
Stunning!

2004 Oct 17 12:00 (#839.2010):
You don't actually have to type a link into the box... just leave it blank and use <a href=""http://site.com/link">. Or, use tinyurl. Also: that bike makes me want to pull the pigtails of and show garbage pail kids or yucky bugs to the owner. NSFB, indeed.

2004 Oct 16 07:21 (#838.2003):
Nicer advice featuring more terrible script ideas, e.g. "It's a buddy dramedy that explores the territory between IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE and THE BIG CHILL."

2004 Oct 16 07:03 (#833.2002):
Bush Like Me -- a gonzo journalist goes undercover in the grass roots of the Republican Party.

2004 Oct 16 07:02 (#837.2001):

2004 Oct 16 07:12 (#836.1998):
Video here, Torrent here.

2004 Oct 16 06:08 (#828.1997):
Good Times! (Selling-Vibrators-in-church edition)

2004 Oct 16 06:00 (#831.1996):
more info

2004 Oct 16 03:46 (#827.1995):
Did you see this guy's lab?

2004 Oct 16 03:28 (#827.1994):
Things to do to reduce EMI: Try shielding all your cables with aluminum foil; tie the shield to the equipment chassis at one end only. Eliminate ground loops by using a star topology (not ring) for grounds. Look for crappy or loose junctions -- high contact resistance can cause problems. Try amplifying and transmitting your signals differentially. Dereference small signals so they float with respect to your primary ground. (But know that floating grounds can make diagnosis with an o-scope difficult).

2004 Oct 15 05:46 (#828.1993):
Good Times! (Little-kid-barfing edition)

2004 Oct 15 10:32 (#833.1989):
From an email message I received; I think I'll do some on Saturday.

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2004 Oct 15 04:55 (#832.1987):
That's a great editorial. For more about the parlous state of American journalism, read the text of this invited lecture by LA Times editor John Carroll.

2004 Oct 14 01:11 (#828.1984):
Good Times! (Airplane-the-Movie edition)... real story here, here, and here.

2004 Oct 14 06:11 (#826.1975):
All that is by way of saying: we should all find out who the best candidates are, and try to learn a bit about them, for each race, not just the big kahuna. If you got any good links post em up!

2004 Oct 14 06:08 (#826.1974):
Sample ballot listing all races in Travis County. Links to websites of Travis Co democratic candidates. I couldn't find endorsements at any of the papers yet... perhaps Monday.

2004 Oct 14 04:52 (#823.1973):
Yet I don't doubt that in some sense it froze... Can the propane get that cold due to the decompression? Or is it moisture from the atmosphere icing up the lines&valves? Maybe this guy would know.

2004 Oct 13 05:23 (#810.1968):
Hey, so when is this thing getting the Royal Ronal Bear treatment?

2004 Oct 13 05:20 (#815.1967):
Nate, maybe Ben can loan you one of his two copies...

2004 Oct 13 09:43 (#823.1959):
Make sure you read the link -- there's so much more good schadenfreude there.

Also packed into "Hannah" was 150 gallons of gasoline and another 60 gallons of propane for cooking and staying warm.

Good Times!

2004 Oct 13 09:21 (#820.1957):
Per NDogg's request, here is the final project my friend Juliet and I made for the graphics class. Each frame (there are several hundred) took a fast HP workstation more than an hour to render. I come in to the lab at 3am or so and start jobs on ~15 machines, then nap and restart processes as they came done or crashed...

2004 Oct 12 08:04 (#807.1951):
Ars Technica's Jade goes to the World Cyber Games. Also see Jade goes to Metreon.

2004 Oct 12 06:54 (#819.1950):
Nice, don c... "I believe that one day, a high speed network of interconnected computers will spring up world-wide, so enriching people that they will lose their interest in idle chit chat and pornography."

2004 Oct 12 06:52 (#819.1949):
I want some Bollywood calling now. Dishoom!

2004 Oct 12 06:51 (#820.1948):
Also, I had to use HP-UX for my undergraduate graphics programming class -- no offense, leroy, but I found you hard to use and lacking many useful pieces of software. Mosaic ran, though.

2004 Oct 12 06:48 (#820.1947):
I be Slackware Linux. I be the brizzightest among my pizzles, but haters be mistakin' me fo insane in the membrane. My eleziggant solizzles to fucked-up shit often be takin' a little longer, but y'all better recognize: that shit requires less effort to complete n' shit.

2004 Oct 12 10:39 (#817.1937):
Sure, c'mon over Wednesday night -- both games start at 7:15 CST. I'll show the Cards-Astros on one TV, and the Red Sox-Yankees on the other; I'm going to pull up the WEEI (Boston radio) audio feed so we don't have to hear Tim McCarver. (I'll switch the audio back and forth between NL and AL as appropriate).
Call me if you need directions. Can someone bring over an extra TV bigger than my 15"?

2004 Oct 12 09:39 (#815.1936):

JON STEWART, HOST, "DAILY SHOW": I tell you, it's a real success story in the war on terror. You know, we finally got the guy that wrote "Peace Train."

2004 Oct 12 06:23 (#809.1933):
Thanks Jenn!

2004 Oct 11 10:26 (#809.1917):
Alright, jerky, I meant "...we'll pass through Elgin at about 8:45-9:30am and again at 12-1:30pm." Just for that, you have to show up.

2004 Oct 11 07:49 (#801.1909):
For le r oy:
$http://www.math.duke.edu/~blake$

2004 Oct 11 05:06 (#799.1905):
See more here... and definitely check out the One Tired Guy trailer.

2004 Oct 11 04:56 (#804.1903):
Can the German contingent comment on which party is mas meshuggah? Are there a lot of Hottes?

2004 Oct 11 04:55 (#804.1902):
Can the German contingent comment on which party is mas meshuggah? Are there a lot of Hottes?

2004 Oct 11 04:11 (#801.1900):
And the capitol of Nebraska is Lincoln!

2004 Oct 10 07:03 (#801.1891):

General Turgidson recommends that we should "catch 'em with their pants down,'' and launch an all-out, disarming first-strike... [destroying] 90 percent of the U.S.S.R.'s nuclear arsenal. "Mr. President," he exclaims, "I'm not saying we wouldn't get our hair mussed, but I do say no more than 10-20 million killed, tops!" ... The choice, he screams, is "between two admittedly regrettable but nevertheless distinguishable postwar environments - one where you get 20 million people killed and the other where you get 150 million people killed!" Mr. Kahn made precisely this point in his book, even producing a chart labeled, "Tragic but Distinguishable Postwar States."

My Dad loved this movie... he stayed in the theater to watch it again at the next showing.

2004 Oct 08 08:11 (#786.1880):
heh heh. You said "theses." heh.

2004 Oct 06 08:07 (#776.1864):
Yeah, I thought that part was a bit weird... but I don't think anyone believes you meant anything by it. Don't sweat it, J.

2004 Oct 06 07:51 (#768.1863):
On a less snarky note, I assume that the software cut off your url -- it does that. When posting a long URL, either use tinyurl.com or just put <a href="http://foo.com/">link text</a> right in your post and leave the link field blank.

2004 Oct 06 07:48 (#768.1861):
So Becky -- is that map supposed to help us find the Red River? Cause the shootout is actually held here... But I think we'll go watch it at your house, instead.

2004 Oct 06 07:12 (#774.1851):
Apparently Lyle Lanley stopped off in Austin a while back... "What about us brain-dead slobs? You'll be given cushy jobs! Were you sent here by the devil? No, good sir, I'm on the level!"

2004 Oct 06 07:04 (#770.1850):
So are we watching Back to School on Monday?

2004 Oct 06 07:02 (#768.1849):
Yeah, good luck with that, Hokieboy.

2004 Oct 06 06:21 (#775.1844):
OK, scratch that. Nursing Advocacy Magazine just made "Extreme Nurses" my new favorite. Not all the acronyms made it: "Among the scrapped ideas were Eskimo Nudists and, sadly, Equestrian Neurosurgeons." (FRR) And does anyone else think the Elegant Naysayer looks like Pedro from Napoleon Dynamite?

2004 Oct 06 05:55 (#769.1843):

Slowly a sound started to build in Lardass' stomach. A strange and scary sound like a log-truck coming at you at a hundred miles an hour. Suddenly, Lardass opened his mouth. And before Bill Travis knew it he was covered with five pies worth of used blueberries. The women in the audience screamed. Bossman Bob Cormier take one look at Bill Travis and barfed on Principal Wiggins. Principal Wiggins barfed on the lumberjack that was sitting next to him. Mayor Grundy barfed on his wife's tits. But when the smell hit the crowd, that's when Lardass' plan really started to work. Girlfriends barfed on boyfriends. Kids barfed on their parents. A fat lady barfed in her purse. The Donelley twins barfed on each other. And the women's auxiliary barfed all over the benevolent order of antelopes. And Lardass just sat back and enjoyed what he created. A complete and total barforama.

2004 Oct 06 05:47 (#773.1842):
Utterly fictional? Yes, it does seem that way sometimes.

2004 Oct 05 05:34 (#771.1836):

Nine times out of ten it's an electric razor, but every once in a while... [whispering] every once in a while it's a dildo. Of course it's company policy never to, imply ownership in the event of a dildo; always use the indefinite article "a dildo", never "your dildo".

2004 Oct 05 09:50 (#763.1830):
[the scene: Gotham at Nighttime]
A radiant column of light pierces the nighttime murk, blazoning the celestial vault with its imploring gonfalon. The penchant hopes of the cities huddled masses ride shotgun on each impinging photon, as only one man can now defeat the evil Dr. Maldacena and his army of brane-eating zombies. "Where are you, when we need you most?" Police Chief Witten ponders.
Then all at once, a grand unifying burst from the cosmos! All 11 dimensions tangling in his effulgent wake, towering several Planck scales above the city, comes their nobel defender: Super String!

2004 Oct 04 07:53 (#760.1825):
In the same vein, here is the 5-minute version of the Republican National Convention.

2004 Oct 04 07:12 (#758.1824):
Also from cockeyed: Bad Things, Rated on an Absolute Scale Calibrated in "Dolors"; the famous Work From Home/Herbalife expose; auction of this awesome Flat Screen (more here); and How Much Porn in a Printer Cartridge? (SFW).

2004 Oct 04 10:03 (#756.1817):
In order to help sG avoid anything Lame, here is the postseason schedule:

Date CST TV Home Team Away TeamTue, Oct 5 7:19 FOX New York (Mussina 12-9) Minnesota (Santana 20-6)Wed, Oct 6 6:09 ESPN New York (Lieber 14-8) Minnesota (Radke 11-8)Fri, Oct 8 7:09 ESPN Minnesota (Silva 14-8) New York (Hernandez 8-2 or Brown 10-6)Sat, Oct 9 Minnesota (Sant. or Lohse 9-13) New York (Vasqez 14-10)Sun, Oct 10 New York MinnesotaTue, Oct 5 3:09 ESPN Anaheim (Washburn 11-8) Boston (Schilling 21-6)Wed, Oct 6 9:09 ESPN Anaheim (Colon 18-12) Boston (Martinez 16-9)Fri, Oct 8 3:09 ESPN Boston (Arr 10-9 or Wake 12-10) Anaheim (Escobar 11-12)Sat, Oct 9 Boston AnaheimSun, Oct 10 Anaheim BostonTue, Oct 5 12:09 ESPN St. Louis (W.Williams 11-8) Los Angeles (Perez 7-6)Thu, Oct 7 7:19 FOX St. Louis (Marquis 15-7) Los Angeles (Weaver 13-13)Sat, Oct 9 Los Angeles (Lima 13-5) St. Louis (Morris 15-10)Sun, Oct 10 Los Angeles (Perez 7-6) St. Louis (Suppan 16-9)Mon, Oct 11 St. Louis Los Angeles (Weaver 13-13)Wed, Oct 6 3:09 ESPN Atlanta (Wright 15-8) Houston (Clemens 18-4)Thu, Oct 7 3:09 ESPN Atlanta (Thomson 14-8) Houston (Oswalt 20-10)Sat, Oct 9 Houston (Backe 5-3) Atlanta (Hampton 13-9)Sun, Oct 10 Houston AtlantaMon, Oct 11 Atlanta HoustonTue, Oct 12 7:15 FOX New York OR Anaheim OR Minn Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR BosWed, Oct 13 7:15 FOX New York OR Anaheim OR Minn Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR BosFri, Oct 15 7:15 FOX Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR Bos New York OR Anaheim OR MinnesotaSat, Oct 16 7:00 FOX Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR Bos New York OR Anaheim OR MinnesotaSun, Oct 17 3:35 FOX Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR Bos New York OR Anaheim OR MinnesotaTue, Oct 19 7:15 FOX New York OR Anaheim OR Minn Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR BosWed, Oct 20 7:15 FOX New York OR Anaheim OR Minn Bos-Ana winner OR Minn OR BosWed, Oct 13 7:15 FOX St. Louis OR Atlanta OR LA Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR HouThu, Oct 14 7:15 FOX St. Louis OR Atlanta OR LA Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR HouSat, Oct 16 3:15 FOX Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR Hou St. Louis OR Atlanta OR Los AngelesSun, Oct 17 7:05 FOX Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR Hou St. Louis OR Atlanta OR Los AngelesMon, Oct 18 7:15 FOX Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR Hou St. Louis OR Atlanta OR Los AngelesWed, Oct 20 3:15 FOX St. Louis OR Atlanta OR LA Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR HouThu, Oct 21 7:15 FOX St. Louis OR Atlanta OR LA Atl-Hou winner OR LA OR HouSat, Oct 23 7:05 FOX American League National LeagueSun, Oct 24 7:00 FOX American League National LeagueTue, Oct 26 7:30 FOX National League American LeagueWed, Oct 27 7:25 FOX National League American LeagueThu, Oct 28 7:25 FOX National League American LeagueSat, Oct 30 6:55 FOX American League National LeagueSun, Oct 31 7:00 FOX American League National League

2004 Oct 04 08:32 (#756.1816):
How to deal with Internet Trolls.

2004 Oct 03 07:13 (#756.1810):
W00t! w3 rul3z teh Intarweb.
Also of note: the playoffs start Tuesday; open invitation to watch playoff games this weekend on the Flivo(tm). AL: Sox vs. Angels, Yankees vs Twins; NL: Cards vs. Dodgers, Astros vs. Braves. Anyone who wants to see our bowling team implode (or wants the best matchup) should root for a Cards-Sox world series.

2004 Oct 03 07:09 (#755.1809):
Wow. That guy's agent must be freaking best in the business. WATFO for that comeback?

2004 Oct 02 10:25 (#755.1806):
Speaking of Beer: Cigarettes. Boobies. Orgies. Insanity.

2004 Oct 02 05:35 (#731.1802):
Speaking of Mix Tapes...

2004 Sep 29 05:17 (#731.1766):
Count me in. Just 'cause it's more fun that way, each of my tracks will connect in some thematic way to the next track... for instance, Fiona Apple's "Across the Universe" could be followed by an Apples in Stereo song ("Apple" in artist name) or by Stevie Wonder's "We Can Work it Out" (both Beatles covers).

2004 Sep 29 09:33 (#734.1752):
Also, that is one of the more patently useless papers I've ever seen. It'd make a good high-school topic report, though.

2004 Sep 29 09:32 (#734.1751):
I for one had trouble following Javy's link. If you did too, try this one, then choose "Previous issues," "Issue 10 (May 15, 2003)," and "Third order nonlinear polymer materials for photonics" (pp. 737-738).

2004 Sep 29 05:33 (#721.1742):
"... let the cats play with it:" I like to think that if Lulu were a ruthless ganster type that this would be her signature way for disposing of enemies:

"What should we do with them, boss?"
"I think, I think we oughter let the cats play with 'em."

2004 Sep 29 05:29 (#730.1741):
And if you run out of ideas: San Antonio and Riverwalk...

2004 Sep 29 05:28 (#730.1740):
See what this guy has to say on the subject of things to do in Austin.

2004 Sep 29 05:25 (#732.1739):
Also see Something Awful's Unlikely Movie Prequels, featuring better photoshopping and such titles as Parker - "With no power, comes limited responsibility" (Spiderman) and "Thirty men in voir dire" (Twelve Angry Men).

2004 Sep 28 06:26 (#724.1718):
...or frenching Buffy in Cruel Intentions...

2004 Sep 27 09:46 (#722.1687):