The following is a chain of thought from this morning
Headline:Did They FindNoah's Ark?
Archaeologists Are 'Amazed'
Mark: There's no such thing as Noah's ark. Why would this be news? No sane archaeologist would claim such a stupid thing.
[clicks on article] (June 29) - Texas archaeologists ...
Mark: Oh! *Texas* archaelogists! That explains it.
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Spiderman 3
The trailer is out, looks pretty good. For those of you who are comicy, it seems like they are doing the excellent Venom story.
For those of you who are not, the Venom story is about ... well...
Maybe you should just see the movie, it should be good. :)
For those of you who are not, the Venom story is about ... well...
Maybe you should just see the movie, it should be good. :)
Logorrhea
A kind of amusing take down of bloggers who take themselves way too seriously. In this case, InstaPundit
But what would we-dia actually look like? This is a question that can be easily answered by InstaPundit. Reynolds's blog consists largely of links to news or opinion articles and other blogs followed by comments consisting of such profound observations as "Heh," or "Read the whole thing," or "Indeed." (These are recurring tropes whose centrality can't be exaggerated.) What Reynolds lacks in analysis, he makes up for in abundance of content. On any given day, he'll provide his readers nearly 20 entries--or, if you can stomach it, more.
The blogosphere doesn't universally suffer from this extreme case of logorrhea or vacuity. (Nor are newspaper columnists immune from the latter syndrome.) It contains plenty of experts and thoughtful analysts who excel at precisely the analysis that is hardly the forte of newspaper reporters and eludes old-fashioned pundits. But Reynolds exposes how the blogosphere, at its worst, values timeliness over thought. After linking to an article on congressional earmarks, he'll add, "Well, that's encouraging. Sheesh." Quod erat demonstrandum. Or he'll carp, "Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, is just dumb"--a point that may be perfectly true but probably requires some explanation or proof beyond the simple assertion. In the end, this method provides the intellectual horsepower of, say, an Andy Rooney commentary. To wit, he wrote in December, "A battery recall on the XM portables. Is it just me, or are we seeing more battery recalls lately." Well, no need for The New York Times, then.
But what would we-dia actually look like? This is a question that can be easily answered by InstaPundit. Reynolds's blog consists largely of links to news or opinion articles and other blogs followed by comments consisting of such profound observations as "Heh," or "Read the whole thing," or "Indeed." (These are recurring tropes whose centrality can't be exaggerated.) What Reynolds lacks in analysis, he makes up for in abundance of content. On any given day, he'll provide his readers nearly 20 entries--or, if you can stomach it, more.
The blogosphere doesn't universally suffer from this extreme case of logorrhea or vacuity. (Nor are newspaper columnists immune from the latter syndrome.) It contains plenty of experts and thoughtful analysts who excel at precisely the analysis that is hardly the forte of newspaper reporters and eludes old-fashioned pundits. But Reynolds exposes how the blogosphere, at its worst, values timeliness over thought. After linking to an article on congressional earmarks, he'll add, "Well, that's encouraging. Sheesh." Quod erat demonstrandum. Or he'll carp, "Nancy Pelosi, on the other hand, is just dumb"--a point that may be perfectly true but probably requires some explanation or proof beyond the simple assertion. In the end, this method provides the intellectual horsepower of, say, an Andy Rooney commentary. To wit, he wrote in December, "A battery recall on the XM portables. Is it just me, or are we seeing more battery recalls lately." Well, no need for The New York Times, then.
A Terrifying Message from Al Gore
"Yes, I play a streetwise pimp. With a hybrid pimpmobile"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BjrOi4vF24
(kudos to Geoff for this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5BjrOi4vF24
(kudos to Geoff for this)
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
A Masterpiece of Sloppy Thinking
[This is my once every few week non-humorous posts]
From Pharyngula:
What else can I think, when reading Echidne of the Snakes, I run across this astonishing gem of self-loathing femininity.
If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt and politics, what would you do? Hoo-boy, this is where I get in trouble, and that starts with "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for "pool." I'd like to jump in a pool right now. Some may tell me to jump in a river for this one: I would remove women's suffrage, and I might even consider making voting rights tied to property ownership.
Well, actually, she doesn't get in trouble: read the comments and everyone is quite supportive, and think that disenfranchising the majority of Americans is simply a wonderful idea. It would clear the roles of all those worthless welfare queens who always vote for Democrats, dontcha know. Women aren't supposed to vote or run for office or do anything other than serve their families.
And they're very, very happy about it all.
Happy indeed. Positively jubulent.
A sample:
I completely agree with both removing women’s suffrage and coupling voting rights with property ownership. I am always hesitant to admit my views on the suffrage movement, but I strongly feel that our nation made a grievous error when we allowed women many of the same “rights” as men. First off, I think that voting should be a family affair with the wife putting in her input, but the man ultimately deciding on which candidate he votes for. I think women are too emotional and often vote for the “bleeding heart liberal” cause because it feels right to them. When I tell folks my view on this they always ask if I vote. Yes, I do because my husband wants me to.
My solution is the same as the solution to the abortion question: if you don't think women should vote, and you are a woman, don't vote.
I'm a little shocked that almost a century after woman's sufferage anyone, anyone at all, can still think like this.
From Pharyngula:
What else can I think, when reading Echidne of the Snakes, I run across this astonishing gem of self-loathing femininity.
If you could change one thing about the world, regardless of guilt and politics, what would you do? Hoo-boy, this is where I get in trouble, and that starts with "T" and that rhymes with "P" and that stands for "pool." I'd like to jump in a pool right now. Some may tell me to jump in a river for this one: I would remove women's suffrage, and I might even consider making voting rights tied to property ownership.
Well, actually, she doesn't get in trouble: read the comments and everyone is quite supportive, and think that disenfranchising the majority of Americans is simply a wonderful idea. It would clear the roles of all those worthless welfare queens who always vote for Democrats, dontcha know. Women aren't supposed to vote or run for office or do anything other than serve their families.
And they're very, very happy about it all.
Happy indeed. Positively jubulent.
A sample:
I completely agree with both removing women’s suffrage and coupling voting rights with property ownership. I am always hesitant to admit my views on the suffrage movement, but I strongly feel that our nation made a grievous error when we allowed women many of the same “rights” as men. First off, I think that voting should be a family affair with the wife putting in her input, but the man ultimately deciding on which candidate he votes for. I think women are too emotional and often vote for the “bleeding heart liberal” cause because it feels right to them. When I tell folks my view on this they always ask if I vote. Yes, I do because my husband wants me to.
My solution is the same as the solution to the abortion question: if you don't think women should vote, and you are a woman, don't vote.
I'm a little shocked that almost a century after woman's sufferage anyone, anyone at all, can still think like this.
Quote of the Day
"There is nothing that has a greater hold on the minds of people than ignorance fraught with technicalities."
Trying to find who said this, but it's great.
From here
Trying to find who said this, but it's great.
From here
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Up Your Funk and Wagnalls
A new word dawns:
: What is “blogofascism”?
A: Blogofascism is a violent online political philosophy and movement. It is characterized by:
A cult of personality built around dangerously charismatic 2002 US Spelling Bee quaterfinalist and apple-cheek’ed nerd despot Markos “Kos” Moulitsas;
A reactionary rejection of all standards of human decency and/or invitations to subscribe to The New Republic;
Many other terrible qualities, TBD.
Q: Is blogofascism real?
A: Realer than anything you could possibly imagine.
Q: Is there any evidence for this?
A: The evidence is right there on your home computer. Open up Miscrosoft Word, and type “blogofascism”. Note that “blogofascism” - the most dangerous political movement in America, bar none - is not even in the Word dictionary! An oversight? Recall now that Bill Gates announced his intention to step down as head of Microsoft - the world’s most powerful computer company - just as blogofascism - the world’s most dangerous computer cult - has come into its own. Is Gates planning on turning Miscrosoft over to “Khairman Kos”, as part of a dastardly scheme to bundle “Halloween III”-style exploding novelty masks with every install of the long-anticipated “Longhorn” operating system? Connect the dots, people! We went through the looking glass a long time ago. We went through the looking glass, walked around the looking glass world for a while, and then went through a couple of looking glass looking glasses we found in there, and we’ve all been flipped inside out and upside down so many times we don’t know if we can believe anything anymore. What does it all mean? Fucked if we know, but if a chronically tardy bunny in a gold-button’ed waistcoat starts waving weird pills at you, for God’s sake, just say no!
Also, we are in the process of forging some really incriminating emails.
: What is “blogofascism”?
A: Blogofascism is a violent online political philosophy and movement. It is characterized by:
A cult of personality built around dangerously charismatic 2002 US Spelling Bee quaterfinalist and apple-cheek’ed nerd despot Markos “Kos” Moulitsas;
A reactionary rejection of all standards of human decency and/or invitations to subscribe to The New Republic;
Many other terrible qualities, TBD.
Q: Is blogofascism real?
A: Realer than anything you could possibly imagine.
Q: Is there any evidence for this?
A: The evidence is right there on your home computer. Open up Miscrosoft Word, and type “blogofascism”. Note that “blogofascism” - the most dangerous political movement in America, bar none - is not even in the Word dictionary! An oversight? Recall now that Bill Gates announced his intention to step down as head of Microsoft - the world’s most powerful computer company - just as blogofascism - the world’s most dangerous computer cult - has come into its own. Is Gates planning on turning Miscrosoft over to “Khairman Kos”, as part of a dastardly scheme to bundle “Halloween III”-style exploding novelty masks with every install of the long-anticipated “Longhorn” operating system? Connect the dots, people! We went through the looking glass a long time ago. We went through the looking glass, walked around the looking glass world for a while, and then went through a couple of looking glass looking glasses we found in there, and we’ve all been flipped inside out and upside down so many times we don’t know if we can believe anything anymore. What does it all mean? Fucked if we know, but if a chronically tardy bunny in a gold-button’ed waistcoat starts waving weird pills at you, for God’s sake, just say no!
Also, we are in the process of forging some really incriminating emails.
Monday, June 26, 2006
The Kind of Thing You'll Like if You Like That Kinda Thing
New episodes of Original Series Star Trek, made by fans with digital rendering.
(here)
I downloaded the first teaser and the first episode. It's not all that bad. Certainly watchable. I was quietly impressed.
One interesting thing (at least for me) is that all the scenes with the ship are rendered digitally with models that are publically available and fan made.
(Update: Fixed link)
(here)
I downloaded the first teaser and the first episode. It's not all that bad. Certainly watchable. I was quietly impressed.
One interesting thing (at least for me) is that all the scenes with the ship are rendered digitally with models that are publically available and fan made.
(Update: Fixed link)
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