June 29, 2007

Knowing When A Politician Is Wrong

Leisure guys tells us :

One clear sign a politician is wrong if the arguments the politician advances keep changing.
It is easier than that.

All you need to know to tell whether a politician is wrong is that, well, she or he is a politician.

Posted by Steve on June 29, 2007 | Comments (1)

That Notion Just Crossed My Mind

Scott has a nice clip of Railroad Earth performing Casey Jones.

Go listen!

Posted by Steve on June 29, 2007

Friday Ark #145

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.

Cats

Other Vertebrates

Invertebrates

Birds

Dogs

In Memoriam

  • x

Didn't Make It

  • x

Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings. Also, there are more doggies at Weekend Dog Blogging hosted this weekend by Sweetnicks.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 170th edition, 6/24, is up at This, That & The Other Thing. The 171th edition will be hosted on 7/1 by TBD. There are more weekly cats at Weekend Cat Blogging #107 hosted on 6/30-7/1 by Pet's Garden Blog . Do go shout out at The Catbloggers Frappr Map.

Bird folks: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks. The 51st edition is up and hosted by The Birdchaser. The 52nd edition will be hosted on 6/28 by The Wandering Tattler.

For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The 21st edition is up and hosted by 10,000 Birds. The 22nd edition will be hosted by Burning Silo .

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page, The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users:

Over the past month or so Haloscan started (the end of July) handling of trackbacks has improved though it is still pretty broken for carnival type posts. Now, instead of rejecting every attempt to ping it accepts single pings for a while and then will start rejecting them. I will keep trying to track back to Haloscan boarders but can make no guarantees for any particular week.

Note for Typepad Users:

Typepad continues to behave similar to Haloscan for trackbacks. I been able to get trackbacks to most, if not all, Typepad based boarders. I have to do it one at a time and wait a while in between pings but Typepad does not go into semi-permanent rejection mode like Haloscan.

Posted by Steve on June 29, 2007 | Comments (5)

June 28, 2007

Why Expand A Failed War?

Some of the folks who make their living off the immoral and failed war on drugs want to add yet another to the list of illegal substances:

The DEA is monitoring salvia to decide whether it should be regulated or banned outright, and a California assemblyman introduced legislation to outlaw it after law enforcement agencies in Southern California reported increased use. The legislation was voted down in committee in March, but Assemblyman Anthony Adams, R-Hesperia (San Bernardino County), has pledged to bring it up again next year.

"It's kind of terrifying that we are actively allowing commerce of a drug that has LSD-like qualities," Adams said. "Use of it is only going to get worse. There is no way this drug is going to get less popular."

What is terrifying is that this guy wants to expand the government's terroristic war against its own citizens, the people it is supposed to serve.

Posted by Steve on June 28, 2007 | Comments (1)

June 27, 2007

Cool Water Shape

Not always so smooth:

Seattle%20Medium%20475270221_90a23d2174.jpg

Via Optical Illusions.

Posted by Steve on June 27, 2007

June 22, 2007

Friday Ark #144

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.

Cats

Other Vertebrates

Birds

Dogs

Invertebrates

In Memoriam

Didn't Make It

  • x

Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings. Also, there are more doggies at Weekend Dog Blogging hosted this weekend by Sweetnicks.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 169th edition, 6/17, is up at Strange Ranger. The 170th edition will be hosted on 6/24 by TBD. There are more weekly cats at Weekend Cat Blogging #106 hosted on 6/23-24 by ScamperDude . Do go shout out at The Catbloggers Frappr Map.

Bird folks: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks. The 51st edition is up and hosted by The Birdchaser. The 52nd edition will be hosted on 6/28 by The Wandering Tattler.

For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The 21st edition is up and hosted by 10,000 Birds. The 22nd edition will be hosted by TBD.

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page, The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users:

Over the past month or so Haloscan started (the end of July) handling of trackbacks has improved though it is still pretty broken for carnival type posts. Now, instead of rejecting every attempt to ping it accepts single pings for a while and then will start rejecting them. I will keep trying to track back to Haloscan boarders but can make no guarantees for any particular week.

Note for Typepad Users:

Typepad continues to behave similar to Haloscan for trackbacks. I been able to get trackbacks to most, if not all, Typepad based boarders. I have to do it one at a time and wait a while in between pings but Typepad does not go into semi-permanent rejection mode like Haloscan.

Posted by Steve on June 22, 2007 | Comments (8)

June 20, 2007

Photosynth: Wow!

When I last checked Technorati showed 4250 posts about Photosynth so I expect this to be old news to all you well read folks.

Photosynth is the first Microsoft product (maybe someday) that really makes me sit up, take notice, and want more time to play with. Hell, I want it on my desktop now!

It is one of those things that you will not fully appreciate until you've taken it for a test drive. Nevertheless here are a few words from the developers:

Our software takes a large collection of photos of a place or an object, analyzes them for similarities, and then displays the photos in a reconstructed three-dimensional space, showing you how each one relates to the next.
For best results start with this brief presentation on Photosynth.

Now, if you have a capable machine (sorry MAC users, not yet) give it a try. I have it open in a Firefox tab on a relataively new Dell Optiplex GX 280 and it is mind blowing. However, it doesn't perform on an older Dell D600 Latitude laptop.

Now that you have watched the video and, hopefully, checked out their demo collections your mind is running wild with the possibilities this brings to the way we view and live in the world.

Here is a review and links to some related products that are targeting a parallel space; some thoughts on the implications of a Photosynth/Facebook combination and if you think there has been a lot of discussion regarding pricacy issues and Google's Street View read this and then start thinking about the pricacy implications of Photosynth.

To make it even more interesting put a product like photosynth together with terabyte flash drives in everyone's pocket, micro cameras and audio feeds wired into their clothing and link each of these life logs into the net. Robert Sawyer in his Neanderthal Parallax trilogy makes the case that life logs might be better kept private except under extraordinary circumstances. In the Neanderthal culture of this alternate universe life logging devices are mandatory and most real crime has disappeared as a result.

Posted by Steve on June 20, 2007

June 19, 2007

The tsa: A government Full Employment Program

Apparently airport security is a job for those unable to get work elsewhere:

I took my Mother to the airport this morning so she could visit her newest great grandchild and the brain trust that is TSA apparently confiscated her jello and chocolate pudding. They were the individual-sized containers in her lunch bag, and they took them.

Bryan has the full story.

Posted by Steve on June 19, 2007 | Comments (1)

June 18, 2007

Inspiration & Perspiration

inspiration%20poster.jpg
Click on the image for a larger version.

If anyone knows the original source for this I'd like to provide attribution.

Update: Thanks to Zombyboy for the link to this image's source site which has many more in the same vein.

Posted by Steve on June 18, 2007 | Comments (1)

June 15, 2007

Friday Ark #143

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.

Cats

Other Vertebrates

Dogs

Birds

Invertebrates

In Memoriam

Didn't Make It

  • x

Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings. Also, there are more doggies at Weekend Dog Blogging hosted this weekend by Sweetnicks.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 168th edition, 6/10, is up at The Scratching Post. The 169th edition will be hosted on 6/17 by TBD. There are more weekly cats at Weekend Cat Blogging #106 hosted on 6/16-17 by A Byootaful Life . Do go shout out at The Catbloggers Frappr Map.

Bird folks: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks. The 51st edition is up and hosted by The Birdchaser. The 52nd edition will be hosted on 6/28 by The Wandering Tattler.

For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The 21st edition is up and hosted by 10,000 Birds. The 22nd edition will be hosted by TBD.

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page, The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users:

Over the past month or so Haloscan started (the end of July) handling of trackbacks has improved though it is still pretty broken for carnival type posts. Now, instead of rejecting every attempt to ping it accepts single pings for a while and then will start rejecting them. I will keep trying to track back to Haloscan boarders but can make no guarantees for any particular week.

Note for Typepad Users:

Typepad continues to behave similar to Haloscan for trackbacks. I been able to get trackbacks to most, if not all, Typepad based boarders. I have to do it one at a time and wait a while in between pings but Typepad does not go into semi-permanent rejection mode like Haloscan.

Posted by Steve on June 15, 2007 | Comments (5)

June 14, 2007

Liberal Warmongering

Scott Lemieux gets this mostly right:

It's very simple. When it comes to Iran, "liberal hawks" need to either 1)explain in concrete terms what the threat to American interests is and -- this is important! -- what kind of military action can advance American interests and why, or 2)enjoy a delicious frosty mug of shut the fuck up. (And given their recent record of assessing American security interests and the efficacy of military force, perhaps some slinking away in shame would also be in order.)
Sorry, a threat to American interests, or anyone's interests, is quite a stretch as a legitimate casus belli and reeks of pre-Iraq bushism.

If there is not a blatant act of violence or at least a force headed your way that is going to wreak destruction take option 2 above.

Posted by Steve on June 14, 2007

Attract Some Birds

Fly over to The Birdchaser for I and the Bird #51.

Answer the questions for a chance to win a copy of The Audobon Society Guide to Attracting Birds.

Posted by Steve on June 14, 2007

June 11, 2007

Apple, Where's the Beef?

Last Tuesday Apple announced their new line of MacBook Pro laptops. An announcement I have been eagerly awaiting for months: the time would be right to make the case for a migration both at work and at home.

I was ready to buy but needed to touch one of the new beauties. The specifications were about what I expected. Now to touch one; see one; take it through its paces.

Wednesday at lunchtime, with great nervous anticipation, I headed over to the nearest Apple dealer, the local University Bookstore. Hmmm, the Apple stock seems a bit sparse compared to what I usually see there. Not a full compliment of laptops. I check in with customer service: "We have them on order and expect them in 10 days or so."

Disappointed to say the least.

I give them a couple more days and on Friday I stop by a real Apple Store. They appear to have a full compliment of laptops; even some new literature but their preprinted spec sheets still describe the old versions of the MacBook Pro. There is a 17" Pro open so I move in and start checking it out: cursor response sucks, iPhoto is really slow bringing up pictures. Hell, I'd never buy this machine. A 15" opens up. Ahh, this is better. Something must have been broken on the 17" machine. Why, though, would they leave a machine in that state out where customers would touch it?

Yet, something seems not quite right. The monitors look the same as the old models, there just isn't the sense of pizazz that I expected. There was one young clerk there. I asked him if they had the new MacBook Pro yet. "No, we should have them in about a week."

As I walked out even more disappointed I mentioned to the guy who was eagerly telling his girlfriend how much he wanted the new 15" model that, well, that's not one of them. Another disappointed potential customer.

I suspect this story has been repeated 100s, no, thousands of times since last Tuesday.

How hard would it have been for the Apple marketing folks to have shipped, prior to announcing the new machines, a set of the laptops to each of their stores for folks to come in and see. A birght marketeer would have made sure that each of their retail stores had a sign up sheet to place orders for the new machines for delivery in x days. A bright marketeer would have made sure that each of their clerks was trained to extract that order from everyone who walked through the door.

I'm not so sure Apple have bright marketeers on staff anymore. As for their retail stores, they could learn a thing or two about customer service from Radio Shack. Or, for that matter, from the University Bookstore I mentioned above. Their retail clerks pop out to help you almost as you are walking through their front door.

Posted by Steve on June 11, 2007

June 8, 2007

Friday Ark #142

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.

Cats

Other Vertebrates

Invertebrates

Dogs

Birds

In Memoriam

  • x

Didn't Make It

  • x

Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings. Also, there are more doggies at Weekend Dog Blogging hosted this weekend by Sweetnicks.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 167th edition, 6/3, is up at Justin's Random Thoughts. The 168th edition will be hosted on 6/10 by The Scratching Post . There are more weekly cats at Weekend Cat Blogging #105 hosted on 6/9-10 by What Did You Eat?. Do go shout out at The Catbloggers Frappr Map.

Bird folks: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks. The 50th edition is up and hosted by A Blog Around the Clock. The 51st edition will be hosted on 6/14 by The Birdchaser.

For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The 21st edition is up and hosted by 10,000 Birds. The 22nd edition will be hosted by TBD.

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page, The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users:

Over the past month or so Haloscan started (the end of July) handling of trackbacks has improved though it is still pretty broken for carnival type posts. Now, instead of rejecting every attempt to ping it accepts single pings for a while and then will start rejecting them. I will keep trying to track back to Haloscan boarders but can make no guarantees for any particular week.

Note for Typepad Users:

Typepad continues to behave similar to Haloscan for trackbacks. I been able to get trackbacks to most, if not all, Typepad based boarders. I have to do it one at a time and wait a while in between pings but Typepad does not go into semi-permanent rejection mode like Haloscan.

Posted by Steve on June 8, 2007 | Comments (5)

June 7, 2007

Big Stuff

I am frequently brought to pause thinking about the size of the earth: it's mass is around 5.9736 X1024 kilograms. This is minuscule compared to the sun which has a mass equal to 332,830 earths.

So, when I read about a star with 114 solar masses, well, let's just say I'm a bit awestruck!

Oh, it is part of a binary system. The other star is a paltry 84 solar masses and their period of rotation is 3.77 days.

I'll stay off that dance floor, thank you!

Posted by Steve on June 7, 2007

Will Novartis Knock Out Pfizer's Viagra

Novartis' Boost Plus is being given credit for an extreme case of priapism:

A man has sued the maker of the health drink Boost Plus, claiming the vitamin-enriched beverage gave him an erection that would not subside and caused him to be hospitalized.
Is there any way to tell if Boost Plus sales are rising since this hit the press?

What I don't see in the article is how much of this stuff he drank and whether he took any initiative to, uhhh, work it off.

If Boost Plus really has this effect a lot more folks would have found out by now. Nevertheless, we can expect this to become a junior high urban legend explanation for more than a few morning woodys.

Perhaps Novartis should follow Pfizer's lead and warn its consumers that if it stays hard longer than 4 hours they should get medical assistance.

Via Notes from Dr. RW.

Posted by Steve on June 7, 2007

June 6, 2007

Don't Screw With Our Kids

Simply mind blowing. Watch this all the way through:

An amazing display of social skills. Put them in black and white hats and suddenly you are watching an old western movie.

Via Unfogged.

Posted by Steve on June 6, 2007 | Comments (1)

June 5, 2007

Food for Your iPOD

Download a lecture or two on your favorite subject from iTunes U:

Designed to be completely intuitive, iTunes U is based on the iTunes Store, where millions of people already get their music, movies, and TV shows. Now there’s an area of the iTunes Store devoted entirely to education, where it’s easy to search thousands of audio and video files from schools across the country.

Colleges and universities build their own iTunes U sites. Faculty post content they create for their classes. Students download what they need, and go. Learning isn’t just for the classroom anymore. It’s for anytime and anyplace you’ve got a Mac, a PC, or an iPod.

Via Christopher Dawson at Education IT who notes:

While most universities have been podcasting for some time, this is certainly an innovative way for Apple to facilitate the sharing of this content and give us all one more reason to become pod people. Most of the content is free for the taking…I can almost feel the earbuds now.

A good place to start might be Geography of World Cultures from Stanford.

Posted by Steve on June 5, 2007

So You're Going to New York to Make the Bigtime

You might want to check out the New York Profit Calculator first:

The wild risks, unexpected niches, and day-in-day-out grind behind making a dollar in New York for everyone... from a drug dealer to Goldman Sachs.
Thanks to the war on drugs it looks like the meth dealer made out pretty well. No wonder there is always someone to fill the void when a dealer gets carted off to jail.

Via Henley.

Posted by Steve on June 5, 2007

iPhone Adds

The new iPhone adds are kind of cool and, gosh, manipulating stuff on the screen with your fingers looks pretty nifty.

Perhaps that explains why Microsoft was eager to show off Surface.

The prices, the prices. I won't be buying a $500 iPhone or a $xthousand Surface anytime soon.

Via Pharyngula.

Posted by Steve on June 5, 2007

June 4, 2007

Snails, Bees, Butterflies, Sea Squirts,...

There are plenty of squishy, beautiful, spineless things at the 21st Circus of the Spineless hosted by 10,000 Birds.

I wonder if those 10,000 birds are hosting in order to track down some delectable morsels?

Posted by Steve on June 4, 2007

The Way It Should Be

You should be able to make voluntary exchanges at retail without interference:

Customer: I'll have a large espresso.
Barista: Coffee?
Customer: No, black tar heroin!
Barista: Right away, sir.

--Starbucks, Staten Island

Via Overheard in New York.

Posted by Steve on June 4, 2007

June 3, 2007

Windows Live Writer: Test 1

This is a bit of a test of Windows Live Writer.  Well, a beta of this product.

 

First, it took longer to install than most programs.  Probably a Microsoft thing. 

Second, I don't really like the related privacy policy.  But, it is probably not all that much worse than Google's.

Third, the "Insert Hyperlink" window takes too much time to pop up. Then some of the other tools also seemed to take too long.  However, after the first use they popped up crisply.

The table generator worked fine:

Table Table
Table Table

 And here is a picture:

EasternYellowJacket  

I'll have to figure out how to get images to automatically upload.  When I have time I'll test the upload to FTP server function.

It will take some experimentation to determine whether this program will provide powerful picture placement capability.  Though it was reasonable straight forward to place this text.

 

 

Most of my posts are done within the blogging application, e.g., Movable Type or WordPress. Once in a while I've wanted a tool to use when offline and for this purpose I've been pretty happy with BlogDesk for the past 6-8 months.

I'll probably give this a go for a while and see if it can move me away from BlogDesk.

Posted by Steve on June 3, 2007 | Comments (1)

June 2, 2007

The Real Purpose of Censorship

...it is not to prevent our enemies (real or imagined) from acquiring certain information, since they very often manage to do so anyway, but it is to keep the domestic population under control and in line. It is to prevent any sort of widespread challenge to or disbelief in the endless propaganda that governments always spew, but never more so than during a time of war. It is to ensure that the government's version of the "truth" -- that is, the government's neverending propaganda campaign -- maintains a monolithic grip over the majority of information that reaches the public.

As Arthur says, The Truth Is Still Out There.

Posted by Steve on June 2, 2007

June 1, 2007

Friday Ark #141

We'll post links to sites that have Friday (plus or minus a few days) photos of their chosen animals (photoshops at our discretion and humans only in supporting roles). Watch the Exception category for rocks, beer, coffee cups, and....?

Visit all the boarders, Link to the Ark and check back for updates through Sunday afternoon!

You can find out how to board the Friday Ark at the Arkive page.

Cats

Dogs

Invertebrates

Birds

Other Vertebrates

In Memoriam

  • Random Thoughts: Rest In Peace - Shelley

Didn't Make It

  • x

Exceptions (inclusion not guaranteed)

Extra, Extra: All Ark boarders are invited to shout out at the Friday Ark Frapper Map.

Dog folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Dogs hosted by Mickey's Musings. Also, there are more doggies at Weekend Dog Blogging hosted this weekend by Sweetnicks.

Cat folks: remember to submit your links to the Carnival of the Cats which goes up every Sunday and the 166th edition , 5/28, is up at Fire Phil Garner. The 167th edition will be hosted on 6/3 by Justin's Random Thoughts . There are more weekly cats at Weekend Cat Blogging #104 hosted on 6/2-3 at CatSynth . Do go shout out at The Catbloggers Frappr Map.

Bird folks: I and the Bird: A Blog Carnival for Bird Lovers is published every 2 weeks. The 50th edition is up and hosted by A Blog Around the Clock. The 51st edition will be hosted on 6/14 by The Birdchaser.

For the spineless: Circus of the Spineless. A monthly celebration of Insects, Arachnids, Molluscs, Crustaceans, Worms and most anything else that wiggles. The 20th edition is up and hosted by xxxxxx. The 21st edition will be hosted by 10000 Birds.

For other current carnivals check out The Conservative Cat's Carnival Page, The Blog Carnival and The TTLB Uber Carnival

Note for Haloscan Users:

Over the past month or so Haloscan started (the end of July) handling of trackbacks has improved though it is still pretty broken for carnival type posts. Now, instead of rejecting every attempt to ping it accepts single pings for a while and then will start rejecting them. I will keep trying to track back to Haloscan boarders but can make no guarantees for any particular week.

Note for Typepad Users:

Typepad continues to behave similar to Haloscan for trackbacks. I been able to get trackbacks to most, if not all, Typepad based boarders. I have to do it one at a time and wait a while in between pings but Typepad does not go into semi-permanent rejection mode like Haloscan.

Posted by Steve on June 1, 2007 | Comments (9)