Wednesday, November 29, 2006

I liked the old Technorati better. Why do we have to "improve" everything?

The easiest way to handle the money thing is to change the sizes.

Ummm YEAH!

This stuff makes me want to check out Second Life, but I don't think I have the hours to spend in a game right now.

The real Gay Agenda

Yay!

Loving your work is awesome. RIP.

Random thought: It's scary how much the Saved by the Bell/Good Morning, Miss Bliss (anyone else remember when SbtB: The Early Years was on The Disney Channel as GMMB, back when Disney was a pay channel?) kids looked the same at 24 as at 12. (OK, maybe not Dustin Diamond, but definitely the other two who were on the first and last episodes).

Um, dude? FCC-enforced codes of conduct are not voluntary.

Australia to pay for the HPV vaccine. The ages are a little older than for the recommendations here. Is that a cultural difference in the children, or the government and researching doctors?

DUH.

Saturday, November 25, 2006


You scored as Character Player. The Character Player enjoys creating in-depth characters with distinct and rich personalities. He identifies closely with his characters, feeling detached from the game if he doesn't. He takes creative pride in exploring different characters, often making each new one radically different than others he's played. The Character Player bases his decisions on his character's psychology first and foremost. He may view rules as a necessary evil at best, preferring sessions in which the dice never come out of their bags. For the Character Player, the greatest reward comes from experiencing the game from the emotional perspective of an interesting character.

Character Player


100%

Storyteller


75%

Casual Gamer


40%

Power Gamer


40%

Weekend Warrior


20%

Tactician


20%

Specialist


5%

What RPG Player (Not Character) Type Are You?
created with QuizFarm.com

Tuesday, November 21, 2006

Re: Wil Wheaton, Less than you think

I wanted to respond to this, well, anywhere; I'm sure page hits tell Mr. Wheaton how many people are reading the blog, but I would like to point out that going by the number of people who comment, at least on his blog at its current location, is a false indication as to his readership. The blog is set so that only Typepad members can post comments--and Typepad memberships are only free for a 30-day trial. I haven't been able to find an option to register as a reader/user but not as a blogger. And there's not even a clear email address on the site--many times I'd like to comment, then realize again that I can't and hope that he'll move the site back sometime. Whether it ever happens or no, though, WWdN or WWdNiE will stay in my homepage list. Thanks, guy!

P.S. had a nice birthday present... Spirit got the day right... that's it, that's the present... but what you have to understand is he doesn't know when it's his own birthday most years if not told.

Friday, November 17, 2006

I wanted to write a proper parody of this, but to write the way I want right now, I'd have to quit my job. I just almost fell asleep doing web surveys... So, just a headline for you.

Breaking News: Feds Ban Human Saliva
Spit Contains a Drug "Six Times More Powerful Than Morphine," say Scientists

Tuesday, November 14, 2006

Short one

An update on the connections in the Borat-AskMeFi issue (the plot thickens)

Voyeurism for the literate
in the 21st century

I'm watching Heroes, so not going to stay on here. I wish I had a treadmill to walk on while watching. It's too goddamned cold to walk outside.

Monday, November 13, 2006

A food post

It's late at night, and I've had a snack, which is contrary to my usual habit, but a couple pieces of sausage that were in the fridge allow me to surf without fear of getting hungry when I run into a bunch of food news.

By the bye, if the weather forecast says it's going down to -15F, just go ahead and plug in the damn car, or it'll just go down to -30 and let you panic about the fact that your car isn't plugged in. It's fine, thank you for asking. But still.

Now, on to news of the comestible...

Well... umm... thanks for clearing that up.

Is it REALLY double the Stuf? (from)

While we're at Tasting Menu, this was too funny

Not food but service-related: Waiter, as usual, serves up an awesome story; I can't wait for his book.

(The above is crossposted to my other blog, there followed by some chatter about my job)

Not food related, still cool: This shirt rocks

This, oddly, is food/service related. It's a theme today. And also the first time I can remember getting really annoyed at a PVP storyline. I am sure Mr. Kurtz is going to have Jade punished for what she and Sam are about to do here, but skipping out on your check is (1) probably a theft of goods and services worse on a dollar level than a regular shoplift (yet people see it as a prank and not on the same level as stealing) and (2) likely to really screw a server as well as the restaurant. I've had a friend fired because of a table skipping out on the check and known servers at some places who had to cover the cost of the meal--you're going to skip out and possibly have someone who in most states is making $2.13/hr plus tips have to spend her entire day's tips paying for your lunch? There's a special place in hell for you, then. (Where "you" is anyone who purposely skips out on a check, not anyone in particular).

Well, bedtime again. I'm trying hard to keep positive. There are a lot of thoughts. I don't always know how. I'm happy and grateful for Spirit. But I really don't want to live in this area and I knew moving away from the doctor I had would be hell, and I've had some very upsetting thoughts rattling around in my head. But I'll get through.

Sunday, November 12, 2006

Owwwwwwwwwwww. (heh.)

This is nice of them. And a belated Happy Veteran's Day to my favorite vets (you know who you are. If you're a vet who's stumbled by, then I wish you the same).

Here's a nice debate. I wouldn't want my polling place in a church, synagogue, mosque, or any other inherently-religious place. Legally, I'm sure the sign is the bigger issue. There were some campaigners a legal distance from the poll here on the street corner, and I was annoyed and uncomfortable that they started hassling me post-vote about who I'd voted for; even had I voted for their candidate, my response ("I'd prefer not to discuss who I voted for") would have been the same, though of course they assumed from the response that I had voted for The Other Guy.

Sometimes, the internet is a small world. This article immediately reminded me of this AskMeFi (I'm sure not coincidentally--the back stories are too similar--but read them both and then draw conclusions if you're going to). (The link to the article on this weekend's edition of Clicked refers to blaming racism on drunkenness, reminding me of the song "Your Racist Friend"--"He let the contents of the bottle do the thinking/can't shake the devil's hand and say you're only kidding").

Bwahahahaha

Wednesday, November 08, 2006

An addendum

Read this.

This is why I have trouble with the Republican Party, and generally would vote independently rather than vote Republican unless I am very convinced of an individual.

Many, many Republicans--even those in power--do not believe this way, or at least not in political terms. I have had deep conversations with several, even in the heart of the Bible Belt, who were Libertarian at heart and would have welcomed a return to the Republican ideals of old, of small government socially as well as economically, and I respect that.

But these same people always ended those deep and respectable conversations with a comment that they cannot be seen on the record as having the beliefs they do, because their party no longer believes in the freedom of the individual rather than the rule of the word of God, to be enforced by law where individuals do not choose to live a life according to a certain brand of Christianity's interpretation of proper moral living.

And half the country believes that way.

I don't think the sort of mood I've been in should have been leading up to an important midterm election. I've taken 3 pepcid already tonight and my throat is still burning with acid.

Reason #432 I don't want to deal with anyone any more

"I voted."

So, how'd you vote?

"Republican."

Wha-- um, don't you hate the current administration? Why are you voting to give them power and votes?

"Well, I didn't know anything about the candidates, so I voted for the party I signed up as."

Why. Would you. Sign up. For a party. That's running on supposedly moral stances you disagree with completely and who puts people in power that you loathe and who do things you disagree with personally, morally, and politically?

"Well, because I was signed up as a Republican in Florida. My aunt [who per previous conversations told her who and what to vote for in every election she's voted in] told me I was."

!

I'm avowedly independent, people. I try to research candidate by candidate and issue by issue to the best of my ability and I freakin' refuse to sign up for a party. I think that people should be willing to vote third party, because if they were willing to vote what they really believed, it wouldn't be throwing a vote away and might exact real change in this country. Washington warned us about a two-party system over two hundred years ago. And we let it happen.

But if you're going to vote:
Along a party line regardless of platform because it's "the party you are"
What someone else tells you to vote without having any idea who the candidates are or what the issues are
or
Just because you think you should,

Stay. The. Hell. Home.

Also--single-issue voters suck almost as much as single-issue candidates. But that's another year's rant.

Saturday, November 04, 2006

I have a serious problem with this test. Namely--how does knowing about an individual and his policies have anything whatsoever to do with being able to recognize them by look? I read up on the issues, and I could match the names with the jobs correctly with over a 95% success rating--but would lose twice by not being able to match the portrait to a name and job (if I had one I'd have both), so barely squeaked by with a 70%. Are you really going to tell me that being informed about our political leaders means being able to judge them in a beauty contest? If we all voted blind--on policy and fact and ignorant of what these people looked like--we'd be a much more informed electorate. And don't get me started on what this means for blind voters--they'd all score zero on that test, and I'd be willing to bet that some, at least, are far more informed than the average voter (some in almost any group, after all, are far more informed than the average voter).

Friday, November 03, 2006

Books

Wisdom from the office.

Too tired for a real post. I've been reading a lot. Right now I'm reading Frank McCourt's Teacher Man. I love his books. He's so down-to-earth and surprised by his own success. I used to hate most nonfiction, but now probably close to a quarter of my reading (actually, counting magazines, over half, and counting newspapers--online or paper--even more than that--for argument's sake, I'd include the magazines but not the news articles--thoughts?) is nonfiction--usually biographies or science-related materials, but sometimes just interesting subjects from the new-release display (I grabbed The Emperors of Chocolate a few years back from the new release rack in my library. It's a must-read for all chocoholics and people who are interested in candy, history, or the history of candy).

Well, that's almost a real post. After Teacher Man, Bob Newhart's new book! This week's pile is a little headier than last's. The two biographies, The Thrall's Tale, and an older novel called The Gospel of Judas (I emphasize that it's an older novel, because I found it when looking for the new translation of the actual gospel).

Happy reading, everyone.

Wednesday, November 01, 2006

Belief-o-Matic!

The top score on the list below represents the faith that Belief-O-Matic, in its less than infinite wisdom, thinks most closely matches your beliefs. However, even a score of 100% does not mean that your views are all shared by this faith, or vice versa.

Belief-O-Matic then lists another 26 faiths in order of how much they have in common with your professed beliefs. The higher a faith appears on this list, the more closely it aligns with your thinking.

How did the Belief-O-Matic do? Discuss your results on our message boards.





1. Neo-Pagan (100%)
2. Unitarian Universalism (95%)
3. New Age (88%)
4. Liberal Quakers (86%)
5. Reform Judaism (80%)
6. Mahayana Buddhism (73%)
7. Mainline to Liberal Christian Protestants (73%)
8. Secular Humanism (70%)
9. Sikhism (66%)
10. New Thought (62%)
11. Theravada Buddhism (61%)
12. Bah�'� Faith (57%)
13. Jainism (56%)
14. Scientology (52%)
15. Hinduism (51%)
16. Nontheist (51%)
17. Taoism (47%)
18. Orthodox Judaism (47%)
19. Islam (38%)
20. Orthodox Quaker (36%)
21. Christian Science (Church of Christ, Scientist) (29%)
22. Mainline to Conservative Christian/Protestant (21%)
23. Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (Mormons) (18%)
24. Eastern Orthodox (14%)
25. Roman Catholic (14%)
26. Seventh Day Adventist (13%)
27. Jehovah's Witness (2%)


Also something from Quiz Farm:
You scored as Buddhism. Your beliefs most closely resemble those of Buddhism. Do more research on Buddhism and possibly consider becoming Buddhist, if you are not already.

In Buddhism, there are Four Noble Truths: (1) Life is suffering. (2) All suffering is caused by ignorance of the nature of reality and the craving, attachment, and grasping that result from such ignorance. (3) Suffering can be ended by overcoming ignorance and attachment. (4) The path to the suppression of suffering is the Noble Eightfold Path, which consists of right views, right intention, right speech, right action, right livelihood, right effort, right-mindedness, and right contemplation. These eight are usually divided into three categories that base the Buddhist faith: morality, wisdom, and samadhi, or concentration. In Buddhism, there is no hierarchy, nor caste system; the Buddha taught that one's spiritual worth is not based on birth.

Buddhism


83%

Satanism


75%

Paganism


67%

agnosticism


63%

Islam


54%

Hinduism


54%

Christianity


46%

atheism


25%

Judaism


13%

Which religion is the right one for you? (new version)

created with QuizFarm.com



The Beliefnet one's been the most accurate I've found. I'm doing this because I found this on AskMeFi. I think my real religion is an overarching quest for knowledge of self and the world (both the physical world and the metaphysical) in all its subjects/aspects, though I am officially neopagan in my approach to the gods and the world of spirit.