Standing at the Shell station coming home from work, the muzak was playing the Police “King of Pain”: “There’s a little black spot on the sun today …” Flipping the…
Standing at the Shell station coming home from work, the muzak was playing the Police “King of Pain”: “There’s a little black spot on the sun today …”
Flipping the radio, I turned on a talk show where the bumper music was … “There’s a little black spot on the sun today …”
And then the Justice League episode I’m playing from tape has an someone plonk an anti-matter whosiwhatsis in the sun to make a permanent eclipse, starting with … a little … black … spot …
When we got home Saturday, we noticed a little pink flag with a bag and a piece of paper out by the big tree in front. When I checked it…
When we got home Saturday, we noticed a little pink flag with a bag and a piece of paper out by the big tree in front. When I checked it out, it was a utility map sketch of the neighbors, showing various things criss-crossing their back yard.
Now Margie notes that there are a plenitude of little paint marks and such all over the back garden beds, along the perimeter of the property. Some extend out into the lawn. Upon closer examination, they’re mapping both phone and electrical lines.
So … what gives, we wonder. Some upcoming utility work? Some of the perimeter (but not all of it by any means) of our back yard is a utility easement, so I hope that doesn’t imply there’s digging in our future. But that wouldn’t explain the marks where there isn’t an easement.
The neighbors did get a new phone line in last year some time, and we noted that it was (as Qwest has done with us in the past) lying open on the ground along our side of the fence. But that area’s not easement, either, and if that line’s going to be buried, it should be buried on their side of the fence (which is mostly grass) not our side (which is all plantings).
Stay tuned …
UPDATE: Margie contacted the electric co., which, after digging around, determined it’s the cable co. Question remains, after we determine the easement, what’s the sitch?
When the weather reports note that it will barely crack 20°F, if that, then, no matter how sunny and pleasant it look from your nice warm office and its window,…
When the weather reports note that it will barely crack 20°F, if that, then, no matter how sunny and pleasant it look from your nice warm office and its window, it is quite likely that you will be very, very, very cold if you walk to lunch. Particularly if you eschew your jacket in favor of just wearing your wool-but-thin sweater.
A hat and gloves would probably be handy, too.
You will, of course, not really realize this until you are half-way to lunch.
I’m just sayin’, y’know?
Working on the NASA Spirit Rover team makes for some strange chronological sacrifices in order to stay coordinated with Spirit’s reports and with planning its daily operations. [NASA scientist Matt]…
Working on the NASA Spirit Rover team makes for some strange chronological sacrifices in order to stay coordinated with Spirit’s reports and with planning its daily operations.
[NASA scientist Matt] Golombek and others on the rover team have adopted a Mars schedule, coordinating their waking and sleeping patterns with Martian days, which are nearly 40 minutes longer than those on Earth. They have blacked out their windows to prevent sunlight from coming in. Some even sport watches that measure Mars time.
“My cats are staying with my husband, so they get to stay on Earth time,” quipped mission scientist Wendy Calvin.
A nice article here on how not only has D&D (etc.) evolved into something that grown-ups play, but successful adults play, too. Who’d’a thunk it? Role-playing games aren’t just for…
A nice article here on how not only has D&D (etc.) evolved into something that grown-ups play, but successful adults play, too.
Who’d’a thunk it?
Role-playing games aren’t just for teenage misfits anymore. D&D, with its medieval fantasy world of swords and sorcery, is shedding its geeky image, emerging from family recreation rooms and middle school study halls into the cultural mainstream. These days, you’ll find adult gamers playing enthusiastically in shops such as Danger Planet or, more often, gathered in the living room of a city condo or suburban Colonial owned by one of the players — not his parents.
The article notes that one thing that has legitimated D&D and other RPGs among grups are … just what some thought would kill the RPG industry:
But gaming experts say the biggest factor behind the destigmatization of D&D and other role-playing games has been the proliferation of home video game systems.
“Computer games have allowed people to think that playing games is a socially acceptable thing to do as an adult,” said Anthony Gallela, 34, operations director for the Game Manufacturers Association, a Colorado-based trade association for game companies. “If I can sit and play a game on a console in my 20s with my friends, why can’t I play a role-playing game? It’s a reasonable next step.”
That’s made RPGs — and other social games — a lot more popular in recent years, certainly something I’ve noticed.
And it may extend into the next generation, too.
Adult D&D enthusiasts say they encourage their children to embrace role playing, hoping it will spur creativity and accomplishment.
Dean Hollembaek, 46, of Needham and his brother Earl, 43, play Legend of the Five Rings, a samurai fantasy game, and 7th Sea, a pirate-themed role-playing game. Sunday is game night at the Hollembaek house, and Dean says he encourages his teenage children to join in. “I like the mental challenge of pretending to be somebody you are not,” he said. The kids “have learned that they can be anything they want to be.”
Certainly Kitten will grow up with gaming going on around her, and Justin is (when his grades and behavior permit) a semi-regular at the table.
All in all, a nice, if the slightest bit patronizing and surprisingly male-oriented, article, and certainly one you could pass on to your parents if they’re still confused about the whole thing. 🙂
(via 20×20)
[N.B. For some reason, this post was not published when it was written.] There’s absolutely nothing like having your 3-year-old call you up to sing you a “Happy Birthday.” [Insert…
[N.B. For some reason, this post was not published when it was written.]
There’s absolutely nothing like having your 3-year-old call you up to sing you a “Happy Birthday.” [Insert huge sentimental paternal grin here.]
(Having your wife in the chorus ain’t half-bad, either.)
On the other hand, getting birthday greetings from my parents and in-laws via Instant Messaging is just plain weird.
While prophecy and prayer are certainly not something I’m going to dismiss out of hand, whenever Pat Robertson says something that includes the words “God told me,” my Skepticism Meter…
While prophecy and prayer are certainly not something I’m going to dismiss out of hand, whenever Pat Robertson says something that includes the words “God told me,” my Skepticism Meter pegs out.
And while I think it pretty likely — barring an economic collapse or real quagmire in Iraq — that George Bush is going to win, and probably big, in 2004, it doesn’t have anything to do with divine revelation.
Pat Robertson said Friday that God told him President Bush will be re-elected in a landslide.
“I think George Bush is going to win in a walk,” the religious broadcaster said on his “700 Club” program on the Virginia Beach-based Christian Broadcasting Network, which he founded.
“I really believe I’m hearing from the Lord it’s going to be like a blowout election in 2004. It’s shaping up that way,” Robertson said.
Of course, two years ago, Pat was saying that God was telling him about terrorist attacks on San Francisco and Detroit …
(via Defective Yeti)
And sometimes things work out unexpectedly well. Dorothy Fletcher, 67, was flying to her daughter’s wedding in Florida when she collapsed with chest pains. A stewardess asked “Is there a…
And sometimes things work out unexpectedly well.
Dorothy Fletcher, 67, was flying to her daughter’s wedding in Florida when she collapsed with chest pains.
A stewardess asked “Is there a doctor on board?” and 15 heart specialists stood up to offer help. The doctors were en route to a cardiology conference in Orlando.
(via GoaF, yet again)
A thought-provoking lecture by Michael Crichton last year at Caltech on consensus science and its pernicious role in debates over everything from nuclear winters to second-hand smoke to global warming….
A thought-provoking lecture by Michael Crichton last year at Caltech on consensus science and its pernicious role in debates over everything from nuclear winters to second-hand smoke to global warming.
I regard consensus science as an extremely pernicious development that ought to be stopped cold in its tracks. Historically, the claim of consensus has been the first refuge of scoundrels; it is a way to avoid debate by claiming that the matter is already settled. Whenever you hear the consensus of scientists agrees on something or other, reach for your wallet, because you’re being had.
Let’s be clear: the work of science has nothing whatever to do with consensus. Consensus is the business of politics. Science, on the contrary, requires only one investigator who happens to be right, which means that he or she has results that are verifiable by reference to the real world. In science consensus is irrelevant. What is relevant is reproducible results. The greatest scientists in history are great precisely because they broke with the consensus.
There is no such thing as consensus science. If it’s consensus, it isn’t science. If it’s science, it isn’t consensus. Period.
(via GoaF)
Andrea Harris is in new quarters, and she’s got a nice not-yet-a-review set of comments on RotK (natch). UPDATE: And, catching up with her, I find a reference to some…
Andrea Harris is in new quarters, and she’s got a nice not-yet-a-review set of comments on RotK (natch).
UPDATE: And, catching up with her, I find a reference to some sweet Theoden Extended Edition news, more good “Tolkien/LotR is racist” debunking, and an utterly, totally, and coffee-spewing hilarious Source-Criticism Analysis of LotR. Good stuff, all.
There are 2,617 people in the UK named “David Hill.” Or at least that many on the 2001 Election Rolls. Add another 8 “Dave Hill” entries, and, well, I guess…
There are 2,617 people in the UK named “David Hill.” Or at least that many on the 2001 Election Rolls. Add another 8 “Dave Hill” entries, and, well, I guess that’s vaguely interesting.
(via GoaF)
The King Arthur flick coming out this summer looks like it could be mildly entertaining. It takes a refreshing Romano-Celtic spin on the Arthur legend, which is certainly closer to…
The King Arthur flick coming out this summer looks like it could be mildly entertaining. It takes a refreshing Romano-Celtic spin on the Arthur legend, which is certainly closer to the rhistorical eality of whomever Arthur was (or were) than films like Excalibur.
On the other hand, I don’t think the trailer’s repeatedly-touted “truth” of the Arthur legend involved Guenevere as Boudicca, Merlin, or, of course, the French Romantic insertion to the tale, Lancelot.
Still, possibly a fun DVD to borrow in the Fall.
(via GoaF)
Our flight home on a new Frontier Airbus exposed us to a new … thing on airlines. Every seat on the plane was equipped with a small TV and a…
Our flight home on a new Frontier Airbus exposed us to a new … thing on airlines.
Every seat on the plane was equipped with a small TV and a credit card reader. For $5 (per segment), you could watch any number of live TV channels via DirecTV. And there were, in fact, some decent channels listed.
Headphones were provided free at the entrance to the flight, and folks were encouraged to bring them with them on subsequent flights. (Some airlines, I know, have started charging for headphones, with a similar exhortation.)
If you didn’t buy any TV, your screen cycled between a nice map of the flight path (similar to what United has been doing for some time), and various commercials. Some were for the TV offer, some where for products (Pepsi, vacations). They were all still commercials, no video.
I was not nearly as offended at yet another advertising intrusion both because the images were relatively benign, and there was that useful map (which Katherine enjoyed watching). Unlike some other TV monitors, there did not seem to be an obvious way to shut it off (I didn’t try ratcheting the picture brightness down all the way.) Oddly, Frontier didn’t make use of it for the safety drill.
I don’t know if it’s a good thing or a bad thing. A mixed thing, perhaps. The $5 price point felt a bit high, but I always resent paying for “free” TV (e.g., PPV of popular series in hotel rooms) — except, of course, for DVDs of TV series I want to collect. But that’s different, right?
Anyway, something new to natter about.
An interesting article on product crimping and price discrimination, detailing ways that vendors (computer manufacturers, airlines, etc.) artificially reduce “feature sets” when marketing lower cost versions of their product. For…
An interesting article on product crimping and price discrimination, detailing ways that vendors (computer manufacturers, airlines, etc.) artificially reduce “feature sets” when marketing lower cost versions of their product. For example …
In May 1990 IBM introduced the LaserPrinter E, an inexpensive alternative to its very popular and successful LaserPrinter. The LaserPrinter E was virtually identical to the original LaserPrinter, except that the E model printed text at 5 pages per minute (ppm), while the LaserPrinter could reach 10ppm. The slower performance of the LaserPrinter E was accomplished by adding five chips to the E model. According to Mitt Jones (PC Magazine): “… IBM has gone to some expense to slow the LaserPrinter in firmware so that it can market it at a lower price.” The LaserPrinter E sold for about 60% of the price of the original LaserPrinter… IBM has reduced the incentive of high-end customers to buy the low-end device by slowing down the low-end device.
This isn’t necessarily evil — the customer gets what they pay for — but it does seem wasteful (which, some would argue, is evil). It depends, I suppose, on whether you see the higher value version as a benefit to those who choose to pay for it, or the “crippled” version as an injury to those who can (or will) only pay for that.
(via BoingBoing)
You don’t mean to tell me that companies that pander to spammers — most of whom redolent frauds — might themselves be frauds? Say it ain’t so, Joe! This site…
You don’t mean to tell me that companies that pander to spammers — most of whom redolent frauds — might themselves be frauds? Say it ain’t so, Joe!
This site purchased a couple of those CDs you get spam for, the ones that say they have zillions of legit e-mail addresses that you can then use for your own spamming operation. The result of the analysis:
You get what you pay for. Or what you deserve, in this case.
(via BoingBoing)
The NASA Spirit rover is on Mars and transmitting back pictures. Engineers believed Spirit landed smack in the middle of Gusev Crater, a Connecticut-sized basin just south of the martian…
The NASA Spirit rover is on Mars and transmitting back pictures.
Engineers believed Spirit landed smack in the middle of Gusev Crater, a Connecticut-sized basin just south of the martian equator. It should take scientists three or four days to pinpoint exactly where it alighted, said Steve Squyres, the mission’s main scientist.
After landing, Spirit took about 90 minutes to set up and go to work, retracting its air bags and deploying its solar arrays.
The first photographs showed a flat, wind-swept plain peppered with rocks. Also visible were portions of the rover itself, including a tiny sundial it carried to Mars.
The new images were the first from the surface of Mars since NASA’s Mars Pathfinder mission in 1997. The first color images were expected late Sunday.
Excellent.
Here’s the image gallery for the mission.
So someone help me here. A gift to a child about 9 or so was returned to me. it was a copy of the first two TPs of Jeff Smith’s…
So someone help me here.
A gift to a child about 9 or so was returned to me. it was a copy of the first two TPs of Jeff Smith’s Bone. The reasons?
1. Too much use of contractions in the dialog.
Okay, I can see, as a tool teaching reading, there might be some problems with that. I wouldn’t necessarily use Bone as a formal reading text — though as something that kids would find joy in reading, that I can see, and I’ll bet those contractions would be easily enough figured out. Still, if you want to be strict about the material you’d give to your child, sure.
2. It relies on racial humor.
Huh? Huh?
Alas, the circumstances in which this was told me did not allow for further inquiry. I was, frankly, so taken aback that, even if I had been at the top of my form, I probably would have just babbled some incoherent apology-no-problem-sure-thing-sorry-’bout-that, as I sort of think I did.
I was aghast for a while, then bewildered, then furious, then back to bewildered.
I really cannot figure it out.
I mean, this is an award-winning, nigh-on-universally acclaimed comic book. The back covers of the two issues show it as an American Library Association Book Choice, and include kudos from Will Eisner, Neil Gaiman, and Matt Groening. The Amazon reviews are 5-star. I’ve Googled the appropriate search strings, and have come up dry. I can’t find anyone who’s had that impression before.
I’m really stumped.
Is the individual involved somehow misconstruing the cartoony Bone cousins as some sort of odd racist stereotype drawing? Is it racist to call Rat Creatures “stupid, stupid?” Is it the dragons? What?
Frankly, I’ve no real desire to pursue it further with the individual involved, since such debates seem largely fruitless, and imply that I’m either clueless, or calling the other person that, or, indeed, that I’m some sort of crypto-racist. Which prospect just sends me back to aghast-bewildered-furious-bewildered again.
If any of my gentle readers have any clue where this is coming from, I welcome any input.
Whilst some folks were engaging in holiday seasons of drunken debauchery, I was reestablishing my internal “Yes, I am a Technical Dude” certification. For Jim and Ginger I set up…
Whilst some folks were engaging in holiday seasons of drunken debauchery, I was reestablishing my internal “Yes, I am a Technical Dude” certification.
For Jim and Ginger I set up a personal domain, set up an e-mail account (through our host) for that, convinced them to order DSL and then got it installed and configured. I also set up a cheat sheet for them to access their account when away from home, and on how to back up their documents to their CD-R drive. We also were involved in getting Jim a digital camera and photo printer, and I got it all configured and wired together and a process written up so they download the photos and e-mail them and print them and other good stuff.
For my folks, I got them set up with a domain e-mail of their own, and configured their e-mail system to use it.
I also got a domain e-mail set up for Mary, and just talked her through some DSL questions.
I feel very technically adept. Just in time to get a rude awakening at the office tomorrow … 🙂
Which Firefly Character are You? (Not the best test in the world — too “leading” — and, indeed, one that inspires me to do the same (unless Doyce beats…
(Not the best test in the world — too “leading” — and, indeed, one that inspires me to do the same (unless Doyce beats me to it), but, damn, who could pass it up. And, heck, there isn’t a character there I wouldn’t want to “be” …)
(via Amanda)