{"id":13694,"date":"2008-10-20T20:18:45","date_gmt":"2008-10-21T03:18:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/2008\/10\/20\/potpourri-on-a-rainy-monday-evening.html"},"modified":"2014-11-10T08:24:08","modified_gmt":"2014-11-10T15:24:08","slug":"potpourri_on_a_rainy_mond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/10\/20\/potpourri_on_a_rainy_mond.html","title":{"rendered":"Potpourri on a Rainy (!) Monday Evening"},"content":{"rendered":"

I DON’T LIKE THIS<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Running Out The Clock<\/a>: Ah, unitary executive power — is there any law you cannot simply ignore. See, also, We Have One Week to Save the Grand Canyon<\/a>. Freaking idjits. Expect more last-second-orgy-of-executive-self-indulgence over the next few months. You thought Clinton’s flurry of pardons was bad?<\/li>\n
  2. Bush administration okays religious discrimination…<\/a>: See above. “Law, shmaw … who’s gonna prosecute us?”<\/li>\n
  3. Financial Crisis: Who is going to bail out the euro?<\/a>: A very dark schadenfreude <\/em>courses through me. <\/li>\n
  4. AFA Declares Victory Over McDonald’s<\/a>: Great, another reason not to eat at McDonald’s.<\/li>\n
  5. Homosexuals should carry warning tattoos, says London…<\/a>: Not My Anglican Church.<\/li>\n
  6. Best Buy’s New Tag<\/a>: How … uninspiring.<\/li>\n
  7. David Sirota: Treasury Blacks Out Key Parts of Private…<\/a>: Transparency through obscurity?<\/li>\n
  8. WalMart now says they’ll keep the DRM servers on forever<\/a>: Or at least until there are fewer people to bitch about it.<\/li>\n
  9. Nonviolent Activists Are Now Terrorists<\/a>: Absolute power corrupts absolutely.<\/li>\n
  10. TSA Agent Ripped Off Electronics, Sold Them On eBay<\/a>: Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Now, where have I heard that before?<\/li>\n
  11. Artist Detained<\/a>: Absolute power corrupts … hey …<\/li>\n
  12. NSA enjoys eavesdropping on US soldiers’ phone sex…<\/a>: Absolute … oh, never mind. <\/li>\n
  13. EA boss on DRM protesters: Half are pirates and the…<\/a>: Come watch the game industry self-destruct!<\/li>\n
  14. American Culture Derails Girl Math Whizzes, Study Finds<\/a>: Actually it finds we don’t do well with Math Whizzes of either gender, but particularly with girls. Rrg.<\/li>\n
  15. Stupid QA tricks: Colossal testing oversights<\/a>: Okay, no matter how smug I get, I always have to remember my own testing oversights.<\/li>\n
  16. The New Pepsi Challenge: Guess the Smile<\/a>: Pepsi’s changing its logo and all its branding and labeling stuff so as to combat a loss of market share. As opposed to, um, improving their product?<\/li>\n
  17. GPS ‘Spoofing’ Could Threaten National Security :<\/a> Yet another miracle technology ruined by black hats. <\/li>\n
  18. Firefox extension blocks dangerous Web attack<\/a>:  It also block all sorts of other useful things, like the Note in Reader <\/em>linklette for Google Reader. <\/li>\n
  19. Airport security theater<\/a>: I feel more secure, yes indeedy!<\/li>\n
  20. Grenades in your luggage? TSA says that\u2019s A-OK!<\/a>: Absolutely more secure than ever! You betcha!<\/li>\n
  21. Airport shoe-scanner device could prevent stupid shoe-removal…<\/a>: Except we shouldn’t be doing it in the first place.<\/li>\n
  22. Won’t Somebody Please Think of the Children!<\/a>: People terrified by the “bride and bride” license in California. Yumpin’ Yimminy, give me a break.<\/li>\n
  23. Christian Morality and Hell<\/a>: I confess that I am a Universalist in this instance — which would label me, ironically, as heading straight to the Fiery Furnace in some folks’ account.<\/li>\n
  24. How’s that novel coming along?<\/a>: *SIGH*<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    I DON’T CARE ABOUT THIS ONE WAY OR THE OTHER, BUT IT IS KIND OF INTERESTING<\/p>\n

      \n
    1. Fringe <\/em>cancelled downunder after only 5 episodes<\/a>: I’ve taken Fringe off my DVR rotation. I just wasn’t looking forward to the next episode.<\/li>\n
    2. ABC Develops New V<\/em><\/a>: I was only a bit into the original. I suppose there’s room for improvement, though I suspect it will simply be grimmer and grittier.<\/li>\n
    3. Newly released British UFO files debunk some sightings,…<\/a>: Of course, the real Torchwood <\/em>kind of stuff wouldn’t be in files they’d release, would they?<\/li>\n
    4. Goodbye Little Penguin: Berke Breathed Retires Opus<\/a>: Honestly, I haven’t cared much about Breathed or Opus since, oh, about two years into Bloom County.<\/li>\n
    5. ‘Fingerprinting’ Method Tracks<\/a> Mercury Emissions From…<\/a>: … particular coal mines. Interesting.<\/li>\n
    6. Turbine to launch a LotRO-focused social networking…<\/a>: I can see cases where this would be of value to some, though I am post-MMO-social-networking.<\/li>\n
    7. *HP classic calculator fans* might like the following…<\/a>: Not that I’m an HP calculator fan, but I recognize a fellow geek tribe.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

      I DO LIKE THIS<\/p>\n

        \n
      1. RTD Sets New Ridership Record<\/a>: That’s me! That’s me!<\/li>\n
      2. Full Terminator <\/em>Season Ordered<\/a>: Cool. <\/li>\n
      3. Watchmen <\/em>Footage Sneaked<\/a>: Sounds very cool, though Will America Watch Watchmen<\/em>?<\/a> makes one dubious about its success. <\/li>\n
      4. Associate Email Links With Gmail in Firefox (Natively)<\/a>: Excellent.<\/li>\n
      5. Gettyland<\/a>: I so need to plan a trip to the “old” Getty Museum while out in SoCal over the holidays.<\/li>\n
      6. \n

        The Seven Habits of Highly Ineffective Terrorists<\/a>: Look! Sane analysis of the terrorist threat! No wonder nobody’s listening to it.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      7. \n

        The official name for Windows 7 will be: \u201cWindows 7″…<\/a>: Excellent. It’s about time.<\/p>\n<\/li>\n

      8. Pirates, the Best Target Audience<\/a>: Some very nice stuff here. I have at least one of these shirts on my wish list. <\/li>\n
      9. Star Wars A to Z<\/a>: Way too cool.<\/li>\n
      10. Tim Burton could direct Johnny Depp in Pirates <\/em>4<\/a>: Which might be the only thing that would make me go out of my way to see it.<\/li>\n
      11. Survival of the fittest Playboy Playmate<\/a>: No, really, I read it for the scientific implications!<\/li>\n
      12. London tube map video<\/a>: Haven’t watched the video yet, but I’ve read enough about the London Tube Map to know it’s a fascinating tale of design, informatics, and politics. <\/li>\n
      13. What are the Japanese up to right now?<\/a>: It would be extremely cool to have something like this for the US.<\/li>\n
      14. Google Says Their Results Will Be RSS-Enabled<\/a>: Everything is better in RSS.<\/li>\n
      15. Death by kisses, an unusual tombstone<\/a>: And let that be a lesson to you!<\/li>\n
      16. Connecticut Supreme Court rules in favor of gay marriage<\/a>: Huzzah!<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

        I DON’T LIKE THIS Running Out The Clock: Ah, unitary executive power — is there any law you cannot simply ignore. See, also, We Have One Week to Save the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[35,11,263,63,22,20,17,21,25,718,28,41,47,9,16,27,46,372,71,26,40,24],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13694","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-big-business","category-media-comics","category-disney","category-environment","category-gaming","category-hi-tech","category-homeland-security","category-job-jollies","category-gay-stuff","category-marriage-equality","category-media-moguls","category-media-movies","category-my-computer","category-politics-law","category-potpourri","category-religion","category-school-daze","category-star-wars-media-movies","category-religion-me","category-travel","category-media-tv","category-writing-and-language"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":13419,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2008\/12\/20\/the_public_record_is_what.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":0},"title":"“The public record is whatever I say the public record is”","author":"***Dave","date":"Sat 20-Dec-08 9:39pm","format":false,"excerpt":"It's nice when you can decide what level of accountability you will be held to, isn't it? After all, that's the hallmark of the \"unitary executive.\" Dick Cheney's lawyers are...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8902,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/03\/27\/i_promise_to_do.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":1},"title":"I promise to do it unless I think I don’t have to","author":"***Dave","date":"Mon 27-Mar-06 1:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"The new PATRIOT Act renewal included a smattering of new oversight and reporting provisions to make sure that the government doesn't overstep its bounds in ensuring our national security. Except,...","rel":"","context":"In "Elections 2008"","block_context":{"text":"Elections 2008","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law\/elections-2008"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":10898,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2007\/05\/23\/potpourri_for_the_feast_o.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":2},"title":"Potpourri for the Feast of St Ivo","author":"***Dave","date":"Wed 23-May-07 8:45pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Who was St Ivo? Should you buy the new \"forever\" stamps?\u00a0 Nope.\u00a0 Stamp prices rise slower than inflation.\u00a0 In fact, by law, they now cannot rise faster than inflation...","rel":"","context":"In "Food & Drink"","block_context":{"text":"Food & Drink","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/food-drink"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9725,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/05\/02\/the_exceptional.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":3},"title":"The Exceptional President","author":"***Dave","date":"Tue 2-May-06 2:59pm","format":false,"excerpt":"I.e., the president who believes his job is to uphold the law, except when he thinks he doesn't need to because it's not (in his opinion) constitutionally sound. Now, some...","rel":"","context":"In "Politics & Law"","block_context":{"text":"Politics & Law","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/politics-law"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9945,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2006\/10\/08\/bush_asserts_right_to_ove.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":4},"title":"Bush asserts right to override oversight","author":"***Dave","date":"Sun 8-Oct-06 1:12pm","format":false,"excerpt":"Even if Congress says it gets to have unexpurgated reports from the Administration, Bush asserts that he can purge them all he sees fit President Bush, again defying Congress, says...","rel":"","context":"In "Home Improvement"","block_context":{"text":"Home Improvement","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/home-improvement"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":135572,"url":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/2017\/12\/08\/potpourri-500-alex.html","url_meta":{"origin":13694,"position":5},"title":"Potpourri for $500, Alex!","author":"***Dave","date":"Fri 8-Dec-17 6:15am","format":false,"excerpt":"[Originally posted last Friday.] 1. I was a bit irked when I discovered the offspring had not set the alarm properly and was still asleep when I headed downstairs. I provided a poke, only to be informed fifteen seconds later (and quickly validated) that apparently either my alarm clock was\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "~PlusPosts"","block_context":{"text":"~PlusPosts","link":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/category\/blogging\/plusposts"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/12\/Addams%2Bfester%2Blight%2Bbulb.gifimgmax%3D660.gif?resize=350%2C200&ssl=1","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13694","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=13694"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13694\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":46681,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13694\/revisions\/46681"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=13694"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=13694"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hill-kleerup.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=13694"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}