Doesn't this guy on the right look like MathGamp?! He's from an Article about the flying spaghetti monster
Friday, November 16, 2007
Math Gimp Look Alike!
Quick note: XKCD Profiled in Wired
And the author is just as awesomely sentimental as you'd expect: here.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Neat Book Sites
The holidays are a'comin, and books are the best presents ever. My friend Peter sent me this link a while ago, and I just got around to playing with it. You enter books you like, and it tells you what you should read next. It's pretty awesome. I tried a few different searches, and not only did books I had read and enjoyed come up based on what I put in, but also books and authors I've never heard of. For example, I put in The Time Traveler's Wife (which I love) and it recommended The Kite Runner, which I also loved, and a bunch of other books as well.
In other book related news, Powells has a neat service where they email you a bunch of different reviews as often as you want, and you can add books automatically to your wishlist. My wishlist is located here if you want to take a look =) For, you know, whatever reason =)
Saturday, November 10, 2007
Blogs heap love on my boyfriend
These floozy blogs can flatter Pete as much as they want, but they better keep their damn hands off him. These blog posts all relate to Pete's recent story on ABC news.
- This guy says, "It's an interesting article; well worth your time."
- This guy comments on Pete's really interesting bathroom wall pictures.
- This guy is a friend of Peter's, and I really like the entry about Pete's photography because he posted some bathroom wall pictures that weren't in the ABC story.
- This prestigious photojournalism blog gave Pete a shout out.
Hilary Clinton's campaign = FEMA??
It's probably a problem that every time I read the US political news I throw up a little bit in my mouth. Deceitfulness is not confined to repugnant Republicans, sadly.
Thursday, November 8, 2007
Australia--Leader of Democracy
I just came across this today in the middle of some other work, but it's by far the coolest thing I've ever seen in politics. It could actually get me inspired to vote on a regular basis--like every five minutes. Australia has a fringe party called Senator Online. A human senator is run on the ticket, but then each of his or her votes is determined by Internet polling of every eligible voter in Australia. If something like this was launched in the US--and I mean explicitly, not just like Arnold following the polls in California--I think I'd quit everything else I was doing and donate all my money and time. If it incorporated text messaging for votes, I'd work a night job to donate more money.
Wednesday, November 7, 2007
working link to previous post
this link should work: http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/columnists/20071107_Jill_Porter___Hooker_Judge_is_not_denied__but_justice_is______.html let your outrage soar.
Type rest of the post here
Wow. Just, Wow.
So, I recognize I haven't posted in a while. Shame on me. But this particular news story was so shocking that I felt the need to expose it. More than shocking, it's reprehensible.
The link:
http://www.philly.com/dailynews/local/columnists/20071107_Jill_Porter___Hooker_Judge_is_not_denied__but_justice_is______.html
I know I go to law school, and by this point, I should be desensitized to courts denying relief to people who clearly deserve it, and granting it to those who clearly don't. But it seems to me that our level of moral bankruptcy reaches new depths every damn day.
But instead of ranting about a country spinning out of control, I wanted to make an observation. The political and social pundits in 2000 and 2004 cited apathy as the reason that most young people fail to get involved. I agree. To a point. For those of us who follow the news obsessively (ahem, my co-authors), is it fair to characterize us as apathetic? Or are we just overwhelmed? On the other hand, is it fair for us to become so jaded, so quickly?
I started thinking about this after my glorious summer in DC. Mathgimp and Nuraido's porch was indeed a fabulous venue to spew our "pinko-commie-bleeding-heart-liberal" ravings. And at times, we need that. I know I couldn't survive without such spaces. But in the past few years, I realized that I can't do much more than complain about...well, everything.
I don't know where to start. Is there a place to start? I am so proud of all of you that do the work that you do -- it's clearly a testament to good works. I only wish that I could be that constructive. But in the end, is there any way that small chinks in the armor are going to become anything more than just that?
My apologies for absconding for a couple months and then dropping a post like this. But a ruling like this, from the "hallowed" halls of our courts just triggered something major.
The world is a strange place
Another edition of weird shit that winds up online.... I'm not even sure what to think or how to feel about most of it. There are cows. There's sex. There's dead folk. It's kinda crazy.
First, a cow fell out of the sky in Washington State and crushed a mini van. People lived. Cow, not so much.
In Spain, there's a 95-year-old granny blogger. She sounds awesome. We now link to her blog here. Her header is: "My friends in Internet, today I am 95 years old. My name is Amelia and I was born in Muxía (A Coruña - Spain) on December the 23rd of 1911. Today it's my birthday and my grandson, who is very stingy, gave me a blog." I love it.
Also, most of you have probably heard about this, but there's an 8-limbed little girl in India who's about to be 4-limbed. Her village thinks she's a goddess. The doctors say her body ate her twin in the womb. (I thought of My Big Fat Greek Wedding...I'm a horrible, horrible person). Who knows? Maybe they're both right.
This is a little weird, but more ponderous. Short story: kids switched at birth, one is Saudi, one is Turkish. After four years, hospital realizes mistake. The parents are now going to trade kids so they get their birth child back. Once you have a four-year-old, who is a real little person with opinions and values and who can form sentences, wouldn't you want to keep the one you got? Unless your kid sucks. Then you just got a new lease on life.
In much stranger paternity news, an Israeli corpse is going to inseminate a stranger because a dead soldier's parents want grand kids.
My DC Rape Crisis Center coordinator sent out the final two articles, which just kinda piss me off. First, the stupid one, then the outrageous one. So, clearly HON is a sex-positive blog (look at Monday's posts to see just how sex-positive some of your authors are). For the most part, we're also self-proclaimed, say it loud and proud, feminists. The gist of this article: men want to have sex, women don't, women now feel empowered to say no, it's their fault relationships are being ruined.
Now, parts of the article make sense to me. People should have healthy sex lives in relationships. If both parties aren't GGG - Savage Love's "good, giving, and game" - Dan Savage you should get to look elsewhere. Maybe, maybe not. But the point is that Dan Savage, unlike the article above, puts the responsibility on both people to make - and keep - things interesting. Dr. Pam Spurr blames the feminists. Remember, feminism is what got most folks out of the missionary position, so maybe it hasn't been all bad for sex.
That being said, this article pisses me the fuck off. The ENTIRE POINT of feminism (well, feminism-as-I-see-it) is that sex can be a fun, creative act of negotiation, rather than a submissive act of procreation. Some folks (both men and women) very much like the candlelight blah blah blah thing, all the time. Some folks (both men and women) very much like the rip my clothes off blah blah blah thing, all the time. Most folks (both men and women) like a little of both. The notion that every woman is secretly waiting to be raped, and will be unsatisfied until that's fulfilled, is idiotic, dangerous, and misleading.
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