March 2010
The littlest skepchick →
Duae Quartunciae:
Recently she lost a tooth, and she knows the tooth fairy will give money for a tooth under the pillow. However: she’s a skeptic (at age 5). She was talking to me about the big event recently, and mentioned that she wasn’t sure if there really was a tooth fairy. I was interested to hear more, and asked her what she thought.
I swear to you, people; she then came up with this,...
Debating Polygamy →
inkyeagle:
alexainslie:
“The history of Mormon polygamy shows us that the state and public opinion are very bad judges of what adult men and women may reasonably do. When people are insecure, they cling to the “normal” and vilify those who choose to live differently. Someday down the road, we may recognize that adults are entitled, as John Stuart Mill saw long ago, to conduct such “experiments...
Webinars aren't my thing.
Thing 1: "So was that more fun than a barrel of monkeys?"
Thing 2: "Well, I guess if all the monkeys had rabies, this would be more fun than that."
Josh: So, Toby, it’s election night. What do you say about a government that goes out of its way to protect even those citizens that try to destroy it?
Toby: God bless America.
Goal for the next year:
Less quantity. More quality.
“It is true of dress in even a higher degree than of most other items of...”
– Thorstein Veblen, via Wikipedia.
This appears to be in direct opposition to Oberlin, where people go ill dressed in order to appear properly clad.
“Ask, and it shall be given; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be...”
– Matthew 7:7
Or, as written by a different prophet:
You are never given a dream without also being given the power to make it true. You may have to work for it, however.
marco:
I like getting books more than I like reading them. At least now they fill up my Kindle instead of my bookshelves. Moving has become much easier.
This is especially topical as I am moving this weekend, albeit just down the street. I still have boxes of physical books that are a pain in the ass—or, more accurately, back—to haul around.
Special snowflakes and other myths →
I think I was like most kids of my generation. I always sort of assumed that, when I grew up, I would be something special. Something extraordinary. After all, I was smart and hard-working, attractive and articulate. I had big dreams and wanted something more and according to all of the adults around me, amazing things would happen if I just dreamed big enough and worked hard enough.
My...
“At which point the matter is brought to a conclusion with both parties satisfied...”
– Anya
“And frankly, it’s ludicrous to have these interlocking bodies and not interlock.”
Library book returned 45 years late
→
A paperback first edition copy of “Quatermass and the Pit” by Nigel Kneale which had been borrowed on September 24, 1965.
As it turns out, fines at the library in question are capped at £6.00. The librarians are appealing for the borrower to come forward, since they’re not in any ‘trouble’. Very cool.
Neil Gaiman to write Dr Who episode →
malumelegans:
Neil Gaiman has been picking up literary prizes left, right and centre over the last year, but the fantasy author announced this weekend what could be the biggest honour yet for a long-time fan of Doctor Who: writing an episode of the television series detailing the adventures of the Time Lord.
I seem to be a little bit late to this party, but… 2011. Mark your calendars.
Rock.
“The first translation into English was published in 1905 in Tokyo by Capt. E. F....”
– From the preface to the Project Gutenburg etext of Sunzi’s Art of War.
Amazon announces Kindle for Tablet Computers... →
malumelegans:
Apparently Kindle for TC will be “tailored to the size, look, and feel of your tablet computer”, but it’s not worth differentiating the iPad—which has a fundamentally different software ecosystem—from the dozens of Me Too Windows-based slate computers that will soon see release. No word, also, on how and whether they intend to limit the Windows tablet computer version to just...
“Call me selfish if you will
My life I alone can live.”
– True to Myself by Ziggy Marley
“What you’re feeling, Republicans, is the ghost of Ted Kennedy’s nuts...”
– @CcSteff
Priceless.
“Rep. Emanuel Cleaver (D-Mo.) issued a statement late Saturday saying that he was...”
– Health-Care Protests Bring Out Racists, Homophobes
Sad days indeed.
“This is the first character. He is the God of In-Between Places. He is called...”
– A Moment Of Peace
A Moment of Peace is a webcomic created by a fellow SciFi Hall/Oberlin alum. It shares with xkcd the quality of having both an unusual and simplistic artistic style and deep insights into the way the world works—and how it should. I recommend it.
Oberlin College Colours →
Now on Kuler, just in case there’s anyone else who gets frustrated by not having access to them on all their computers. This set was made using PMS-to-Hex conversion; I’m currently hoping to hear from Communications on whether that’s their preferred method.
Sunk Costs →
malumelegans:
Jason Cohen:
The term comes from economics: “Sunk Cost” is money you’ve already spent and cannot get back no matter what. A “rational actor,” as economists say, will completely ignore sunk costs when making decisions because the money is gone no matter what action is taken next.
If you’re not familiar with the concept of a sunk cost—or if you are—this article is a good read. The...
Things I want to learn on this beautiful day:
Architecture
Law
Coding
Mechanics
Physics
Carpentry
Cooking
Astronomy
Latin
Botany
In no particular order.
Cool breeze →
I just found this by hitting the new Random Post button. I wish I could write like this more often.
“Tiger got to hunt,
Bird got to fly;
Man got to sit and wonder, “Why,...”
– Bokonon
Shrimp Worlds →
One of the more bizarre, random concepts ever bandied around in the Buffyverse.
“I like money better than people. People can so rarely be exchanged for goods...”
– Willow imitating Anya
“Almost everyday I walk into a restroom and get these horrible whispers as people...”
– Those Terrible Bathroom Moments — Genderfork
I think gender is a useful and meaningful construction—just think how much more difficult it is to pick someone with a non-gendered name out of a crowd—but we, as a society, need to figure out a better way of dealing with it.
Common Goods Ohio →
Common Goods will offer a commercial distribution and wholesale facility linking local farmers and food producers to restaurants, institutions, and individual consumers in northern Ohio. Our mission is to make locally-produced foods and environmentally sustainable products more accessible and more affordable to consumers in our region.
Owned by the same man who owns Agave and Black River. Common...
“It seems like I should say, as long as this is love,
But it’s not all...”
– Anna Begins by the Counting Crows
“I walk with earth under my feet,
I walk with visions in my eyes.
I walk with...”
– Calling My Name, by Jim Beer and the River
I’m missing my home landscape rather intensely today. There are no hills or centuries-old stone walls in my part of Ohio.
“The Mingo are an Iroquoian group of Native Americans that migrated west to the...”
– Mingo - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
An Eastern Algonquian name meaning, more or less, “dicks”. The Lenape applied their sometimes sophomoric humour on a pretty epic scale.
TextExpander 3
chrisbowler:
A new version of my favourite text utility is now available.
Built-in Dropbox Synchronization Now you can use Dropbox or MobileMe to keep your snippets synched between your Macs.
You had me at Dropbox.
Why more developers haven’t added this I don’t understand.
“Your friend is your needs answered. He is your field which you sow with love and...”
– Kahlil Gibran (via robot-heart) (via hierology)
Methinks it is time to reread The Prophet.
Bank of America apologises for repossessing parrot →
Let me be quite clear: if anyone ever tries to repossess a pet of mine, they should also be prepared to repossess their own multiply broken legs.
