How’s this for a couple of Kitten sentences? “Green Lantern! His ring run out of power! And those things coming straight at him!” Okay, a couple of grammatical bits could…
How’s this for a couple of Kitten sentences?
“Green Lantern! His ring run out of power! And those things coming straight at him!”
Okay, a couple of grammatical bits could use work. But those are pretty sophisticated sentences nonetheless, not to mention understanding at 3-1/2 that Green Lantern’s ring runs out of power, and that’s what’s happening during the JL episode.
Well, I’m impressed. If a bit biased.
A cautionary tale of natural selection at work: JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) — A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck…
A cautionary tale of natural selection at work:
JOHNSON CITY, Tennessee (AP) — A bullet fired in the air during a Ku Klux Klan initiation ceremony came down and struck a participant in the head, critically injuring him, authorities said.
I mean, right there, you’ve got a Darwin Award sewn up.
Gregory Allen Freeman, 45, was charged with aggravated assault and reckless endangerment in the Saturday night incident that wounded Jeffery S. Murr, 24.
And, no, the shooter was not the injured guy. Could it be we have two idiots? Wait — it’s a KKK initiation.
About 10 people, including two children, had gathered for the ceremony. The man who was being initiated was blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns as Freeman fired a pistol in the air to provide the sound of real gunfire, Sheriff Fred Phillips said.
Alas, it seems that some of them did manage to pass on their genes. On the other hand, they’re doing a great job of endangering their kids, too, so I guess there’s hope.
I leave as an exercise for the reader commentary on the whole idea of initiation via being blindfolded, tied with a noose to a tree and shot with paintball guns. Not to mention the apparent need for sound effects.
A bullet struck Murr on the top of the head and exited at the bottom of his skull, authorities said.
I suspect here was not much to slow it down in-between.
Freeman fled the ceremony but was arrested near his home, authorities said. He was released on $7,500 bail.
He fled. Then he went back home. Yup. Definitely a winner.
(via Amanda)
Campbell’s is donating up to 5,000,000 cans of soup various charitable organizations. All you have to do is go to their web site and vote for your favorite NFL team…
Campbell’s is donating up to 5,000,000 cans of soup various charitable organizations. All you have to do is go to their web site and vote for your favorite NFL team each day. They’ve gathered up 1.3 million votes/cans so far.
Keen.
(via my folks)
The new 20′ By 20′ Room gaming blog has a suggestion for a very fun-sounding collaborative world-building exercise, “Lexicon.” The basic idea is that each player takes on the role…
The new 20′ By 20′ Room gaming blog has a suggestion for a very fun-sounding collaborative world-building exercise, “Lexicon.”
The basic idea is that each player takes on the role of a scholar, from before scholarly pursuits became professionalized (or possibly after they ceased to be). You are cranky, opinionated, prejudiced and eccentric. You are also collaborating with a number of your peers — the other players — on the construction of an encyclopedia describing some historical period (possibly of a fantastic world).
The game is played in 26 turns, one for each letter of the alphabet.
You then, through individual entries and cross-citations (some of them on later letters, which entries you are, in turn, not allowed to write yourself), develop an encyclopedia for the world/era in question. The encyclopedia ends up with (players * 26) entries, all fully cross-cited.
Damn. Sounds like a fine way to build an interesting world that they players would then get to play in. More work for the GM, perhaps, but also less.
Or just a fun exercise in and of itself.
Hmmmm.
(via Random Encounters)
Huzzah! Portability of cell phone numbers from one carrier to another is now a reality. Except for the little glitch that the carriers spent all their efforts dragging their feet,…
Huzzah! Portability of cell phone numbers from one carrier to another is now a reality.
Except for the little glitch that the carriers spent all their efforts dragging their feet, not testing it to make sure it works. I’d hold off making the change for a few months.
(Of course, if everyone holds off, then the carriers will argue to the FCC that they are being forced to spend zillions of dollars on a service nobody wants. Whereas if everyone goes for it, they can argue that the system needs more tweaking, and can they have another six months, please?)
Today also (though it’s a different regulation), local telcos are supposed to let you transfer your home phone number to your cell phone, if you want, at least in major metropolitan areas. You can do it the other way around, too, though with more limitations.
(via Doyce)
Doyce points this amazing article: Matt Savage launched his jazz career by attempting to improve a Schubert sonata. His piano teacher told him that the G-sharp he just played was…
Doyce points this amazing article:
Matt Savage launched his jazz career by attempting to improve a Schubert sonata. His piano teacher told him that the G-sharp he just played was supposed to be a G-natural. “It sounds better my way,” he protested. She replied that only when he wrote his own music could he take liberties with a score. Keen on taking liberties, he became a jazz composer. He released his fifth album this year, making guest appearances on the Today show, 20/20, and NPR. Recently, his trio booked two shows at the Blue Note in New York City.
The kicker is, Matt Savage is eleven years old. Matt’s a “perseverative hyperlexic with pervasive developmental disorder,” and a musical savant.
Aside from lots of interesting bits in the article, there’s this:
As we finish lunch, Matt asks me in his distinctively high-pitched voice, “Did you know that numbers can be friendly and amicable?” He means friendly and amicable in the math-geek sense – numbers that can be factored into one another – but I also felt he was using those words in their ordinary sense. Matt is intimate with numbers. They come to him in dreams and inspire him to write songs. One of his tunes on the album Groovin’ on Mount Everest is called “Forty-Seven” – a number he feels is “lonely” because when he asks people to think up a random number, no one ever chooses it.
Now for the synchronicity. Not only is 47 the non-random random number of my alma mater, but this morning I got an e-mail from my boss that he was down to 47 unanswered messages in his inbox, and I sent back to him a link to this article.
I’m not sure what it all means, but …
On a couple of occasions I’ve had the opportunity to look at church supply catalogs. Which is sort of a shock each time, since I’ve always had this primative sense…
On a couple of occasions I’ve had the opportunity to look at church supply catalogs. Which is sort of a shock each time, since I’ve always had this primative sense that vestments and altars and various periphernalia simply magically appear, or are passed on since the dawn of time, or the work of altar guild ladies sewing and forging and carving, or something like that. Seeing it all spelled out on the page for sale like it was — well, like one of the other eleventy-dozen catalogs I get in the mail this time of year, is always disconcerting.
The Real Live Preacher offers his own fashion assessments on the latest vestments he’s seeing advertised.
Vivendi is selling the MP3.com domain to CNet. Okay. But they’re not selling the 250k songs in the respository. Instead, they’re simply deleting them. Musicians with music there received the…
Vivendi is selling the MP3.com domain to CNet. Okay. But they’re not selling the 250k songs in the respository. Instead, they’re simply deleting them. Musicians with music there received the following e-mail:
Your personal information, music, images, related content or other information will not be transferred to CNET Networks, Inc. or any other third party… Please note, however, that promptly following the removal of the MP3.com website, all content will be deleted from our servers and all previously submitted tapes, CD-ROMs and other media in our possession will be destroyed. We recommend that you make alternative content hosting arrangements as soon as practicable.
It has been a privilege to host one of the largest and most diverse collections of music in the world. MP3.com wishes to express its sincere thanks to each of you for making our website an important part of your musical journey. We wish you continued success.
“… but don’t try coming home again, because on 2 December we’re changing the locks, selling the house, and dumping the stuff you left in your room at the local Salvation Army. Have a nice day.”
At least it takes an effort to burn books. Servers can be wiped with a couple of simple commands.
Another reason to always keep backups. And to not trust free repositories beyond what you pay for them.
(via BoingBoing)
It was a busy, busy, busy weekend, in many ways just what the doctor ordered … Friday Raked leaves into flower beds. Put 45 cubic feet of red cedar mulch…
It was a busy, busy, busy weekend, in many ways just what the doctor ordered …
Friday
Saturday
Sunday
This morning’s commute wasn’t bad. Cold, and a few slippery spots, but the Subaru continues to earn its pay. Huzzah.
Now to make up for taking most of Thursday and Friday off …
On the bright side, there was this little subject line treasure today: Prized Davehill !!! Truly Free admittance and 60 $ reachable in the present day dear friend and associate!…
On the bright side, there was this little subject line treasure today:
Prized Davehill !!! Truly Free admittance and 60 $ reachable in the present day dear friend and associate! !!!
I mean, is that cool, or what?
On the other hand, there was an e-mail from “EarthLink Mail Watch” with the subject Important information about your email account. But if you look at the properties for the mail, the underlying mail address is MailWatch@extra.hu.
Somehow I suspect that Earthlink’s legitimate mailings do not come from Hungarian mail addresses.
The address gives a warning that your e-mail account is getting close to 10Mb (and is phrased very plausibly). It ends with: For instructions on how to do this, as well as on how to avoid exceeding the 10MB limit in the future, please visit: and the inevitable link turns into a fascinating little program that I choose not to try out.
So … careful what you open. Or click on.
O’Leary showed up at Mass one Sunday and the priest almost fell down when he saw him. O’Leary had never been seen in church in his life. After Mass, the…
O’Leary showed up at Mass one Sunday and the priest almost fell down when he saw him. O’Leary had never been seen in church in his life.
After Mass, the priest caught O’Leary and said “O’Leary, I am so glad you decided to come to Mass, what made you come?”
O’Leary said, “I got to be honest with you Father, a while back, I misplaced my hat and I really, really love that hat. I know that Shaunassy had one just like mine and I knew that Shaunassy came to church every Sunday. I also knew that Shaunassy had to take off his hat during Mass and I figured he would leave it in the back of church. So, I was going to leave after Communion and steal Shaunassy’s hat.”
The priest said, “Well, O’Leary, I notice that you didn’t steal Shaunassy’s hat. What changed your mind?”
O’Leary said “Well, after I heard your sermon on the Ten Commandments, well, I decided that I didn’t need to steal Shaunassy’s hat.”
AT&T has a patent on e-commerce. That seems to be the gist of its law suit yesterday against PayPal and eBay. AT&T alleges that, through the use of their online…
AT&T has a patent on e-commerce. That seems to be the gist of its law suit yesterday against PayPal and eBay.
AT&T alleges that, through the use of their online payment systems, PayPal and eBay have infringed AT&T’s U.S. patent that covers transactions in which a trusted intermediary securely processes payments over a communications system such as the Internet. The use of a trusted intermediary ensures that one party will not have to disclose sensitive information, such as a credit card number or bank account number, to the other party to the transaction. AT&T’s lawsuit seeks compensation for PayPal’s and eBay’s unauthorized use of the patented technology.
The patent, if you read down the conclusions, claims that it also therefore covers an “essentially unlimited” number of electronic intermediary/transaction types through “communications,” including voting, wish lists, gift registries, professional referral services, and auctions.
Next up — Micro$oft claims to have a patent on using money, and IBM claims to have a patent on the use of all “computerized thinking machines.”
(via InstaPundit)
Some people are so rude, bringing their still-on cell phones to the theater, to restaurants, to concerts, to church. Some people even bring them to funerals, fergoshsakes, disturbing with a…
Some people are so rude, bringing their still-on cell phones to the theater, to restaurants, to concerts, to church. Some people even bring them to funerals, fergoshsakes, disturbing with a shrill ringtone the mood and meaning of what’s going on, breaking people’s concentration, contemplation, prayerful sorrow, and demonstrating they have absolutely no feelings for others.
It’s particularly unfeeling when it’s the guest of honor.
The night before the funeral, the family gathered at the undertakers for a final private farewell, when they heard the sound of his cellphone ringing from within the sealed coffin. Several distressed members of the family had to leave the funeral home whilst staff rushed to remove the cell phone.
(via BoingBoing)
During these days of tight travel budgets, companies, more than ever, are depending on conference calls to keep in touch. Alas, that approach has some serious drawbacks, since folks may…
During these days of tight travel budgets, companies, more than ever, are depending on conference calls to keep in touch.
Alas, that approach has some serious drawbacks, since folks may not be listening.
The RoperASW/Tandberg poll looked at workers in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Norway and Hong Kong, and found in all countries except America and Norway, less than half of workers pay full attention during audio conferences.
So what are they doing instead? Twenty-nine percent of British workers say they doodle, while 22 percent of Germans surf the web. Twenty percent of Americans say they have side conversations with someone else during conference calls.
It gets weirder: 22 percent of Hong Kong workers admit they weren’t fully dressed during their last teleconference, while 14 percent of them were doing their makeup or hair.
Finally, seven percent of Americans admit they’ve left a call early — the highest percentage out of all the countries surveyed.
So reach out and touch someone — but make sure they’re dressed, first.
(via BoingBoing)
After Katherine’s teachers suggested some screening of her language skills, we set up an appointment with the program (“Child Finders,” which seems an odd name) in our school district. Yesterday…
After Katherine’s teachers suggested some screening of her language skills, we set up an appointment with the program (“Child Finders,” which seems an odd name) in our school district. Yesterday afternoon, she had her appointment.
Beforehand we filled out the forms as to what sorts of problems she’s having and what concerns we havfe. Fact was, we felt slightly guilty checking off the one box about her not speaking clearly, given the litany of behavioral, cognitive, and physiological problem boxes there were to check.
It’s probably my own bias, but she seemed to do brilliantly on all the testing she did — following instructions, physical coordination, vocabulary, grouping and sorting. She employed some clever tricks — she showed she could build a simple bridge out of blocks, and then wanted to build a bigger one; she noticed that the teacher was skipping over one set of pictures in the little testing kit she had, and wanted to do those, too; when she couldn’t remember the name of one letter, she ran through the alphabet song until she found it. The three specialists all noted that (a) she was really very bright, (b) she did a lot better on various tests than her grade level, (c) she was a real charmer, and (d) she had a lot to say.
They also agreed that she could use some more screening on her “artic and disfluency” problems, which is pretty much what we went in there for, so we’ll be going back again next week. Still, all told, it was a very successful visit. And if we can get some work done on her “artic and disfluency” before she gets frustrated, or kids start teasing her about it, it’ll be all good.
Just in case anyone wasn’t already clear on the subject, I love my wife with all my heart. ‘Nuff said….
Just in case anyone wasn’t already clear on the subject, I love my wife with all my heart.
‘Nuff said.
Hmmm. This doesn’t bode well. From an employee and management perspective, the cost increases for our program cannot continue. Insurance programs are there to help us when we really need…
Hmmm. This doesn’t bode well.
From an employee and management perspective, the cost increases for our program cannot continue. Insurance programs are there to help us when we really need them for things such as catastrophic illnesses. Our program has had many benefit changes over the years which switched the focus; some were mandated and others were a choice to expand coverage. The time has come to go back to the original focus. Management has authorized a study to review our medical program to determine a new path forward. This study will begin in January and hopefully create a new program that provides for our basic needs at a more reasonable price. We cannot keep doing what we have done for the past few years.
That’s an official employee memo from our corporate HR manager. If I read it correctly, it sounds like the already-narrow coverage we have through the company will be getting still more narrow (catastrophic coverage only, perhaps, with high deductables/co-pays).
The memo does note how costs have been increasing for company coverage of insurance (around 60% of the cost, with costs increasing 18%/year, and the company plowing in an amount almost half of our annual margin to make up for higher-than-expected costs this year).
We’ve personally managed to duck this bullet for a while, getting coverage through Margie’s very generous benefits (and, as I’ve said before, for all that my salary is more than hers, if one of us had to quit to stay at home, I’m not sure it would make most sense for it to be Margie). But it’s obviously a large and growing and ongoing problem.
And, as much as I wish the government could wave its hands and make it all go away, I’m not sure I’ve seen a plan that doesn’t simply shift cost increases up the food chain, and turn “you have to pay higher premiums and do with lower service” from private insurance into “you have to pay higher taxes and do with lower service” from the government.
Hrm.
Some church business venting … I don’t know if it’s pent-up anger about the General Convention, worries about the cost of the building expansion, or angst about the rector departing…
Some church business venting …
I don’t know if it’s pent-up anger about the General Convention, worries about the cost of the building expansion, or angst about the rector departing (or other combinations of those emotions with those events), but, jeez, I’ve never met such a group of Gloomy Gusses, Cynical Cindies, and Pessimistic Pauls as on our Stewardship Committee (the folks who organize fund-raisers and pledge giving), at least tonight. It’s enough to make me want to bail on the group.
I like to think of myself as relatively level-headed, and Margie confirms that I am not a giddy optimist who lets myself get swept away by waves of irrational exuberence. (I think she meant that as a complement.) But I felt like I was the most gung-ho guy at the meeting, apologizing for the parish continuing to move forward with confidence and, well, faith.
I mean, when it comes to financial matters, you have to be realistic. But there’s a difference between being realistic, and fearfully catastrophizing about massive defections from the congregation, massive cost overruns on the building, and utter disaster at every turn. There’s a difference between good stewardship and trying to turn the clock back, pulling back from growth opportunites, and trying to pretend that if only we were in the Good Old Days of several years ago (and a much smaller congregation) then all would be well.
Stagnation is death. And we are, after all, in the faith business. It seems to me that there’s a parable about burying your wealth to keep it safe, vs. investing it — wisely — to increase it. I’ll have to look that one up.
Okay. I feel better now.
Woo-hoo! Walked in today with 22 due or overdue Task List items, and am leavnig with only 7. Wow. Of course, some of them simply got arbitrarily pushed back, but…
Woo-hoo! Walked in today with 22 due or overdue Task List items, and am leavnig with only 7. Wow.
Of course, some of them simply got arbitrarily pushed back, but that does make me feel like I got something accomplished today.
No, really. It’s simply a matter of hashing out the classic question with Strouhal numbers and simplified flight waveforms, you see? (via SfAD)…
No, really. It’s simply a matter of hashing out the classic question with Strouhal numbers and simplified flight waveforms, you see?
(via SfAD)