Monday, November 30, 2009

Beware of singing Muppets

Greetings.

Jewish date:  13 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyishlaḥ).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Stay at Home Because You’re Well Day, Computer Security Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Health Care is a Right, Not a Privilege - The Petition Site”.

Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Sunday, November 29, 2009

All the aliens are going to call our planet “Humus” or something worse

Greetings.

Jewish date:  12 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyishlaḥ).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Electronic Greetings Day, International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People (invented to perpetuate the lie that there is a “Palestinian” people and keep Syrians, Egyptians, and Jordanians and their descendants in misery to use them as pawns in a political game), Square Dance Day.

Today’s weird thing is “SF Xenolinguistics”, which deals with common problems and absurdities in alien languages in fiction.  This includes the great passage:
The names of a species, empire, language, homeworld, homestar and so on will all be self-evidently related; Ogrons come from Ogros, Arisians come from Arisia, Arcturans come from Arcturus, and Humans no doubt come from Humus.
Original caption from NASA: "S103-E-5037 ...Image of Luna visible just above the edge of Terra via Wikipedia; Zemata thought this was appropriate somehow
This is related to a problems I have been complaining about for years:  our planet needs a decent name.  The following are a list of real and fictional names for our planet:

  1. Earth (primary:  Sun; satellite:  Moon)
  2. Terra  (primary:  Sol; satellite:  Luna)
  3. Jasoom (Barsoom series)
  4. Midgard (Stargate Universe)
  5. Old Earth (Dune series)
  6. Old Terra (Dune series)
  7. Ravolox (Doctor Who, “The Mysterious Planet”)
  8. Teegeeack (Scientology)
  9. Thulcandra (Space Trilogy by C. S. Lewis)
  10. Urantia (The Urantia Book)
  11. Λ̊ (Stargate Universe)

#1, “Earth”, is a name that is going to get us laughed at by all the other civilizations in the Universe.  #2, “Terra”, is just the Latin version; we will be safe so long as the aliens do not learn Latin.  My Latin dictionary module (WORDS) for Dictionary.app claims it means “1. earth, land, ground / 2. country, region”, which is rather less embarrassing than “dirt”.  Most of the rest are too ugly for us to stick ourselves with.  #5 and #6 are no better than #1 and #2.  #10 is embarrassing.  And #11 is unpronounceable.  Maybe we really ought to officially name our planet, as per my original suggestion, Huma or Blueworld…  Because we do not want to try living down the consequences of giggling aliens calling us “the dirt people”.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron
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Friday, November 27, 2009

To boldly go where they should have gone before...

Greetings.

Jewish date:  10 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Black Friday, Thanksgiving (American-Israeli).

Worthy cause of the day:  “End Water Pollution from Mountaintop Removal Mining - The Petition Site”.

Today’s news and commentary:
  • Is the H1N1 Swine Flu Vaccine Safe?”:  Yes.  The worst thing that is likely to happen to you if get a swine flu shot (unsurprisingly) is your arm feels sore for a while.
Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “Star Trek: Mark Two”, which discusses what is wrong with the way the Star Trek Universe is constructed and how they should be fixed in any revised version—and there are plenty of things wrong.  E.g., back in the mid-1990s jokes were made about it being time for Khan to take over.  (It’s a little late now, with the recent quasi-reboot.)  There is also a “Babylon Five: Mark Two” as well.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Thursday, November 26, 2009

“What would rings around Earth look like?”

Greetings.

Jewish date:  9 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Thanksgiving (USA).

Worthy cause of the day:  “Take Action: Tell President Obama to Save Rainforests and Stop Climate Change”.

Today’s weird (and educational) thing is “What would rings around Earth look like?”, which discusses this cool video:



Enjoy and share the weirdness—but not with anyone looking for a new and original megastructure to build.

Aaron

Wednesday, November 25, 2009

Beware of Pet Rocks

Greetings.

Jewish date:  8 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  International Day for the Elimination of Violence Against Women, Shopping Reminder Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “No more toxic BPA in our food” and “Include Behavior Analysts in Health Care Legislation | Petition2Congress |”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Cover of a Pet Rock box.Image of original Pet Rock box via Wikipedia
Today’s weird thing is the USB Pet Rock.  This differs from the classic Pet Rock, an ordinary rock packaged and meant to be treated as a pet, in that it has an attached USB cable, which can be plugged into a computer.  This makes it an ideal peripheral, since it draws no current, does not require a driver, and is compatible with every computer with a USB port.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron, who keeps a rock from the shores of the Kinnereth as a “pet”
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Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Create your own Star Trek (the Original Series) plot!

Greetings.

Jewish date:  7 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Use Even If Seal Is Broken Day, Celebrate Your Unique Talent Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Support Microfinance in Haiti - The Petition Site” and “action.firedoglake.com | Reconciliation = Majority Rule. Sign our Petition to Harry Reid to pass the public option.

Today’s news and commentary:
Star Trek title card (Seasons 1 and 2).Image via Wikipedia
Today’s weird thing is the ST:TOS Plot Generator (JBR Flowchart).  It provides a formulaic method for producing a faithful Star Trek (the Original Series) plot and claims “All resulting scripts are guaranteed to contain at least 20% authentic-style Roddenberry flavouring and are practically indistinguishable from real episodes of the Original Series, not to mention the Animated Series (ever).”  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and live long and prosper.

Monday, November 23, 2009

Beware of LOLspeak

Greetings.

Jewish date:  6 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Cashews Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “To all US Jewish Organizations: Stand with the Land of Israel! Petition”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is The Definitive Lolcats Glossary, which should prove useful in understanding cute pictures of cats who cannot spell.  Or perhaps just distracting and a waste of time.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Sunday, November 22, 2009

Beware of the pink and blue unicorns

Greetings.

Jewish date:  5 Kislew 5770 (Parasheth Wayyeṣe’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Start Your Own Country Day.

Blue Marble composite images generated by NASA...Image of the Terran Empire via Wikipedia
NOTE:  In celebration of today’s quasi-holiday, I hereby proclaim myself Emperor of the Terran Empire and demand ten million dollars in tribute from George W. Bush, Richard Cheney, and Karl Rove as a start towards their repentance for wrecking the economy.

(And, no, I do not expect anyone to take that seriously.  I do not have anywhere near enough loyal readers to stage a planetary coup.)

Worthy cause of the day:  “Take Action: Ask for renewable energy that keeps wildlands and wildlife safe”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is the Charlie the Unicorn "Hot Topic" Video.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Emperor Aaron I
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Friday, November 20, 2009

Beware of anyone claiming to be River Missy Zariel

Greetings.

Jewish date:  3 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Africa Industrialization Day, Universal Children’s Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Support Early Education - The Petition Site”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is the Character Name Generator.  This may be of some use to writers and people seeking strange aliases, such as “Wood Candie Kellsie” and “Jase Jeneva January”.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Thursday, November 19, 2009

Don’t stand next to stupid

Greetings.

Jewish date:  2 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Have a Bad Day Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Alliance for Climate Protection | Send a message to the EPA: Tell the EPA you support strong fuel efficiency standards” and “Take Action: Will President Obama Attend the Copenhagen Climate Talks?

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “ “I’m With Stupid” Shirts”.

funny graphs and charts

(Yes, I have a dismal view of T-shirts that derogatory.)  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Job application stupidity of the day

Greetings.

The job application site I am working on right now allows for two sorts of résumés:  ones which are uploaded, and ones which are built by painfully filling out forms.  The latter kind is only really useful for those who have no résumé or CV and need to create one.  The former is what everyone else has.  I have updated my résumé/CV since the last time I applied on this site, so I uploaded the latest version of my CV.  Unfortunately, the job I am applying to requires a “built” résumé, so I am painfully reentering information which I have already uploaded to this site.  If they require a “built” résumé, why did they bother accepting an uploaded one in the first place?

Somehow I am getting a paranoid fantasy of job application stupidities being deliberately created so that it is hard to get people to apply or at least apply correctly.  This makes the organization foisting stupidities upon job applicants reluctant to fire anyone, as they will have a difficult time finding a replacement.

Peace, and all of you looking for a job, hang in there.

Aaron

“How to Scare Kids now”

Greetings.

Jewish date:  1 Kislew 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).




Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “How to Scare Kids now”.
song chart memes
Enjoy (or be scared or something), share the weirdness, and happy new month.

Aaron

Tuesday, November 17, 2009

BRAINS!

Greetings.

Jewish date:  30 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  International Students’ Day, Homemade Bread Day.

Today’s news and commentary:

Zombies as portrayed in the movie Night of the...Image of zombies from Night of the Living Dead via Wikipedia

Today’s weird things, courtesy of Brenda, are “Zombie Attack at Hierakonpolis” and “The Top Three Zombie Outbreaks in American History”.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and happy new month.

Aaron
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Monday, November 16, 2009

Beware of Mandelbulb

Greetings.

Jewish date:  29 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  International Day for Tolerance, Button Day.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “Mandelbulb: The Unravelling of the Real 3D Mandelbrot Fractal”, which has a bunch of exquisite three-dimensional fractals.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Sunday, November 15, 2009

Watch out for leprechauns!

Greetings.

Jewish date:  28 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Toledhoth).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  America Recycles Day, National Clean Out Your Refrigerator Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “Support the Breast Cancer EARLY Act! - The Petition Site”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is Leprechaun Watch at irelandseye.com, a Web-cam dedicated to keeping an eye out for leprechauns.  (I do not make stuff like this up.  I only report it.)  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Friday, November 13, 2009

Beware of leprechauns

Greetings.

Jewish date:  26 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Friday the Thirteenth, World Kindness Day




Today’s news and commentary:
  • Cell Size and Scale”:  This is a Flash presentation showing the relative sizes of things from a coffee bean all the way to a carbon atom.  This should be useful for anyone trying to get a sense of perspective on different physical scales.
Today’s weird things, submitted by Barry, are “Leprechaun Traps - Catch a Leprechaun in Your Garden!” and “Mindstorms NXT - Leprechaun Trap”.

Don’t ask me, please, why anyone would build a trap for creatures which do not exist; I have no idea.  This may be related to sending people on “snipe hunts” as a practical joke.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and Shabbath shalom.

Aaron

Thursday, November 12, 2009

Beware of zombies on the Yellow Brick Road

Greetings.

Jewish date:  25 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Take a Model Train to Work Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Restore Coastal Louisiana - The Petition Site”, “End Gender Discrimination in Health Insurance Coverage - The Petition Site”, and “Big Insurance Kills”.

L.Image of L. Frank Baum, who may not be happy with his most famous work being mashed-up, via Wikipedia
Today’s weird thing is The Undead World of Oz: L. Frank Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz Complete with Zombies and Monsters by L. Frank Baum and Ryan C. Thomas.  I discovered the existence of this book yesterday by accident, and it seems to be yet another book of the “any classic + zombies” genre.  I am not clear what the point of adding zombies to The Wonderful Wizard of Oz is.  The original book had its own fair share of monsters, such as kalidahs and hammerheads, and scary action scenes already.  Enjoy or be scared or something and share the weirdness.

Aaron
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Wednesday, November 11, 2009

You may want to make sure your flood insurance is paid up

Greetings.

Jewish date:  24 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Veterans Day, Air Day.

Worthy cause of the day:  “ColorOfChange.org:  Murdoch: Make a choice”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is the screensaver Cubicle Flood, which simulates just what it sounds like and may be symbolic of what one wants to happen at work.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Beware of two-minute videos on evolution

Greetings.

Jewish date:  23 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Sesame Street Anniversary, Marine Corps Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “IBR Message Center | UANI:  Send a United Message:  Sign the petition and urge these companies to stop doing business with the Iranian regime by sending them a message today” and “Take Action | UANI:  Message to the Los Angeles MTA on Light Rail Contract”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “The Winner: Evolution in Two Minutes”.  The winner of a contest for two-minute videos on the fundamentals of evolution is a rock song.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and be surprised how much information can be packed into two minutes.

Aaron

Monday, November 9, 2009

Job application humor of the day

Greetings.

Usually when I write about the job application process, I complain about how utterly dreadful it is.  For a change, I would like to note a bit of humor I encountered in the process today.  Today when trying to go to the URL for a job ad on Simply Hired, it told me “Bummer. That job is no longer available.”  I appreciate the slightly humorous colloquialism in the midst of all the utter dreadfulness.  It makes me feel that at least one person (probably a Web programmer) is trying to make job seekers feel a bit better in the midst of a vast sea of indifference.

Aaron

Beware of political correctness

Greetings.

Jewish date:  22 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  World Orphans Day

Worthy causes of the day:  “Support Innovative Humanitarian Assistance in Ethiopia - The Petition Site” and “End Overfishing -- A Chance to Save 10 Species - The Petition Site”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is a slightly humorous but accurate definition submitted by Malcom NC-17, included below.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron




politically correct |pəˌlɪtək(ə)li kəˌrɛkt|, adj.


Regarding language or ideas, one or more of the following:


1) Specifically designed or chosen to be more accurate, more neutral, or less offensive than previously used terms.  E.g., using “women” instead of “girls” for adult female humans, or “Native American” instead of “Indian” for people inhabiting the Americas before European contact and their descendants.  This usage is rare and probably obsolete.


2) Not liked by the speaker.  This usage is dismissive and typically used in place of a real argument.  E.g., “Why the hell do I have to say ‘African-American’?  That’s just political-correctness!”  This particular example would indicate the speaker would rather use the “n”-word.


3) Popular, especially with regards to thinking.  E.g., “You can’t say terrorism is connected with Islam!  That’s not politically correct!”  An unstated notion often connected with this usage is that there are only two groups of people capable of evil and who are responsible for all the ills of the world:  White Christian heterosexual men and Jews.  One is only allowed to overtly speak badly of the former, but indirect disparagement of the latter is fine.  Cf. Newspeak goodthink.


4) Superficially inclusive.  E.g., It is often considered politically correct to say “Happy holidays!” instead of “Merry Christmas!”  Late December is the “holiday season” for Christians but not necessarily others.  The occurrence of the minor holiday Hanukkah around this time is coincidental, the real “holiday season” for Judaism being earlier in the year at Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur.  In Islam, the holidays follow a lunar calendar with no leap month and thus wander in relation to the solar year.  And so forth.  Thus acknowledging the “holiday season” is at best well intentioned and at worst facetious.


5) Silly.  Such language may be an attempt to be more accurate, more neutral, or less offensive than previously used terms but has suffered a disconnect from reality.  E.g., “I don’t keep houseplants.  That would be indentured servitude of our fellow creatures.  The politically correct term is ‘herbaceous companions’.”  When such usage is not intentionally humorous, it may be a good indication that the speaker should seek the help of a qualified psychologist.

Sunday, November 8, 2009

Drive space: the final frontier

Greetings.

Jewish date:  21 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Ḥayye-Sarah).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Cook Something Bold and Pungent Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Establish Presidential War Powers Commission - The Petition Site” and “MoveOn.org Political Action: No Reward for Blocking Health Care”.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is the Vulcan Flash Drive, which not only allows you to show off your Trekker spirit when transferring files, but also allows you to freak people out by making them think your computer has grown a limb.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, and live long and prosper.

Aaron

Friday, November 6, 2009

Beware of Vulcan sports fans

Greetings.

Jewish date:  19 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Saxophone Day, National Nachos Day, International Day for Preventing the Exploitation of the Environment in War and Armed Conflict.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Take Action: Keep up the heat | Save Darfur”, “We Need Generic Drugs: Ask these Senators to Fight « Public Option Please”, “AARP - Health Action Now!:  Tell the House: Pass the health reform bill!”, “We deserve an up-or-down vote!”, “Joe Lieberman must go.”, and “Take Action: Ask the Obama Administration to save Coal River Mountain”.

Today’s news and commentary:
  • All It Takes
  • When antiscience kills: dowsing edition”:  I cannot make something like this up.  No, people, one cannot detect explosives (or anything else) with a dowsing rod.  The results of relying on dowsing in this case are downright fatal.
Today’s weird thing is the Live Long & Prosper Foam Hand, perfect for any sporting event on Vulcan.  Enjoy, share the weirdness, Shabbath shalom, and live long and prosper.

Aaron

Thursday, November 5, 2009

Beware of plugs

Greetings.

Jewish date:  18 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  National Men Make Dinner Day, Guy Fawkes Day.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is the completely pointless “Plug versus Plug”.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Wednesday, November 4, 2009

Beware of Arctic melting

Greetings.

Jewish date:  17 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  National Chicken Lady Day, Waiting for the Barbarians Day.

NOTE:  In observance of Waiting for the Barbarians Day, I am spending the day waiting for the barbarians.

Today’s news and commentary:
Bering strait, image taken by MISR sattelite.Image of the Bering Straight via Wikipedia
Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry, is “Diomede Crossroads - Saving the North Pole? Thoughts on plausibility”.  The idea of this plan is to dam the Bering Straight in an effort to save Arctic sea ice.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron
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Tuesday, November 3, 2009

Pass this post on to 50 friends!

Greetings.

Jewish date:  16 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  Cliché Day, Election Day (USA), Melbourne Cup Day, Sandwich Day.

Worthy causes of the day:  “Tell Obama: No pesticide lobbyist nominees” and “Demand the Public Option! - The Petition Site”.

Today’s weird thing is “What really happens when you receive a chain mail”:
song chart memes
Enjoy, share the weirdness, and pass it on to 50 friends.  You may not get good luck if you do so, but you may feel good about giving me some publicity.

Aaron

Monday, November 2, 2009

Beware of twelve angry men

Greetings.

Jewish date:  15 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holiday:  Plan Your Epitaph Day.

Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing is “Movie Narrative Charts”, which simply struck me as an odd thing to do, especially the one for Twelve Angry Men.

Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron

Sunday, November 1, 2009

Beware of guitarists

Greetings.

Jewish date:  14 Marḥeshwan 5770 (Parashath Wayyera’).

Today’s quasi-holidays:  World Vegan Day, National Authors’ Day.


Worthy causes of the day:  “ACT for America:   We Call for a Formal Investigation


Today’s news and commentary:
Today’s weird thing, submitted by Barry and Nancy, is “YouTube - BRAZILIAN MUSIC INSTITUTE 2009 - TICO TICO”.

This is the first time I have ever heard of a piece arranged for guitar, four hands, and I am amazed it comes out sounding good without the performers tripping each other up.  Enjoy and share the weirdness.

Aaron