Sunday, July 31, 2011

Sunday Funnies

-Schlock Mercenary Sorry, the surrender line is busy. Please leave a message at the BOOM.
-TwoLumps Super Poop.
-Girl Genius Gil and Tarvek are getting squished.
-No Need For Bushido Ken has a whole new Wataro army to play with.
-Delta Bravo Sierra Lucky tries to quit carrots.
-xkcd
-Amya Felix wants to talk.
- Banished Something there is that does not love a wiretapping system.
- Ratfist Ricky makes a choice.
-Commander Kitty A healthy snack for energy!

Not Updated, fie!

-Lackadaisy
-Dresden Codak
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts has nightmares about gummy kiwis.

Labels:

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Random Snark

- Did someone replace the brains of everyone in Washington DC with Folger's Crystals?  Because outside of a massive leak in a nitrous oxide factory, I've never seen so much concentrated stupidity in action.  The Democrats seem to think the Constitution doesn't apply to them, and the Republicans keep flopping like gaffed fish.  Someone needs to hire a skywriter to send the message WE HAVE NO MORE MONEY.  How old are these people, and can they actually dress themselves without Velcro?
-Alternate Take: Snarkatron freely admits to having rolled low when generating the Charisma and Diplomacy stats.  Could it be that Speaker Boehner is actually orchestrating the delays on the vote (that he has already been assured by Reid ( the Corpse that Walks Like a Man) and the current occupant of the White House is dead, no go this station, not going to happen bill) to run out the clock on any other option than his?  No idea.  Personally, I think there should be a law allowing every citizen one free smack with a rolled up newspaper, per Representative/Senator, per year.  And I've got a lot of follow-through, just so you know.
-Questions Nobody is Asking about the Norwegian Nut:  So whats-his-face, the guy who thought it would be a good idea for him to slaughter a bunch of kids in the name of European Nationalism, is pretty much a textbook sociopath.  Few friends, inability to get with a female who hasn't been paid LOTS of money, grandiose schemes, fancy uniforms (this last seems to be a European fixation...), and a curious lack of emotional affect that makes him look like a wax dummy.  Can't even be bothered to come up with a completely original manifesto and plagiarizes huge gobs of the UNABOM screed, suitably altered with search and replace.  At first I marveled at modern technology and how quickly the news services had managed to translate the original Norwegian.  Turns out the loon wrote everything in English.  Doesn't that strike *anyone* as a trifle odd?  He's a purported nationalist, after all.  Europe first.  England (don't hit me, Limeys!) is usually not considered Europe by Europeans, and I will not sully the shell-like ears (eyes?) of my precious few readers by what Europeans think of Americans.  So, why?  And it is too cute that his Facebook page got altered *while he was in police custody* to indicate he was a fervent Christian.  I'm not religious myself but I have plenty of friends who are, and all the Christians I know would throw themselves in front of a gunman to save any child, even a Muslim one.  The newsies, however, don't even bother to do the most minimal logic check when it matches their rancid stereotypes.
- Literature:  To take your mind off your troubles (by giving you more) the Bulwer-Lytton 2011 contest winners have been announced!

Labels:

Sunday, July 24, 2011

Sunday Funnies

-Schlock Mercenary When taken prisoner, don't forget to tell your friends.
-TwoLumps Funding the relaxing game.
-Girl Genius How to take out a deranged Jaegermonster.
-No Need For Bushido It's time to play KADOOOSH!
-Delta Bravo Sierra The best coonskin hat is fresh.
-xkcd
-Amya The desk clerk was warned.
- Banished Rak has woken an ancient wiggly evil thing.
- Ratfist Losing Milt.
-Commander Kitty Ace is fired up.

Not Updated, fie!

-Lackadaisy
-Dresden Codak
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts is inventing an ejection seat for helicopters.

Labels:

Friday, July 22, 2011

Bye-Bye Borders

The mighty Borders Bookstore is no more.  I remember thinking how wonderful they were when I first encountered one.  Lots and lots of books, all different topics, and comfy chairs to browse from.  The staff was friendly and knowledgeable.  Some of the stores even had the same wide range of eclectic music.

The years passed, and I started noticing little things.  A few books I wanted weren't there--they were happy to order them for me, but it would take days and then I'd have to drive *back* and park and all the attendant hassle.  When instead, I could just look it up on Amazon and have it *mailed* to my house in the same amount of time.

Then I noticed there were fewer books on the bookshelves and more plastic toys, mini-Zen-garden kits, and sparkly cards.  Fewer nifty CDs in the music store, and the DVDs were expensive compilations of TV shows I had no interest in.  The staff was less amazing, more pierced, and more political.  Amazon got more and more of my business.

It's sad, like a favorite aunt fading into awkward senility.  The things you loved are gone, and you realize the true death happened long ago.

Thursday, July 21, 2011

Here, let me draw you a picture

The cosmic ray kerfuffle made me think of this:























From the highly funny and accurate PHD Comics. If anything, the writer has toned it down.

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

CERN, Cosmic Rays, and You

So the Director of CERN has made the news by making a ham-fisted announcement prohibiting scientists there from "interpreting" some interesting cosmic ray results.  I say ham-fisted because the most likely explanation is not scientific suppression but a well-meaning attempt to stay out of the shark pool of the Global Warming debate.  Instead, he just stabbed himself repeatedly in the face with a fork and *then* jumped in the shark tank.  Now everyone, including the global warming aficionados, think the data will make AGW supporters look bad.

I'm not even sure why this is news, since the mechanism behind the cloud chamber has been known for almost 100 years and speculation that cosmic ray interaction with the upper atmosphere seeded clouds has been around for some time.  But any day you get a reporter to sit still for five minutes and listen about science is a golden opportunity to get some information in their thick skulls and we shouldn't refuse the opportunity.

Basically the way it works is like this.  The Earth has a magnetic field which, in addition to powering Boy Scout compasses, protects us scampering carbon-based life-forms from solar radiation and other high-energy particles.  The Sun also has a very powerful magnetic field, and when the Sun is magnetically active (read: lots of sunspots) the outermost edges of the field actually blend and cover the magnetic field of the Earth and give extra protection.  When solar magnetic activity is low (like right now) we get less protection from energetic particles.  Cosmic rays are highly energetic particles usually from other stars, which gives you an idea of how powerful they are to have gotten here in the first place.  What Svensmark and other researchers speculate is that in times of high cosmic ray exposure, cloud cover on Earth is increased and the surface cools.  When fewer cosmic rays seed clouds the surface warms up.  This is the long-anticipated mechanism that explains the observed connection between sunspots and Earth temperature, so of course the global warming folks want to smother it in its crib.  Humans are not involved at any step in the process, you see.

Labels:

Sunday, July 10, 2011

Sunday Funnies

-Schlock Mercenary When in doubt, use the big-ass gun.
-TwoLumps Bowtie!
-Girl Genius Ticktoffen has betrayed so many people he needs a list to keep them straight.
-No Need For Bushido Lord Maru is not in a good situation
-Delta Bravo Sierra Annoying Specialist is now a grease spot on the sidewalk of history.
-xkcd
-Amya Faye finds a book sale.
- Banished Rak is a target.
- Ratfist Kill the rich! Even if it is us!

Not Updated, fie!

-Lackadaisy
-Commander Kitty
-Dresden Codak
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts is looking for cheesy bean burritos to remind him of home.

Thursday, July 07, 2011

The Dark Side of Electronic Publishing

The great thing about electronic self-publishing is the ease with which authors can make their works available for sale in giant marketplaces such as Amazon. The bad thing is it is also very easy for spammers to put up utter junk and thieves to steal an author's book and attempt to publish it as their own. This happened to author Ruth Ann Nordin and despite multiple attempts to get Amazon to take the infringing book down, all they do is tell her to email their copyright division.

Now the book did get removed (by the thief) because Ruth sent up the emergency flare to all her friends and readers via Twitter and Facebook.  Other authors got involved.  Net result, a whole bunch of one-star reviews titled THIS BOOK IS STOLEN and no further profit for the slimy bastard.

This is going to happen again, and Amazon needs to be proactive about it.  We're talking text files here, and there already exist handy programs to check for plagiarism.  Checking every submitted book might overwhelm the servers, but there should certainly be random spot checks -- and ANY report of a stolen book should be immediately investigated.  If the claim is proven, then the infringer should be banned and all monies refunded.  There has to be a better way to keep things clean.  I'm hoping Amazon doesn't just jump to a fee to upload -- although if that were refunded after a year it might not be so bad.  Spammers aren't that patient.

Sunday, July 03, 2011

Sunday Funnies

-Schlock Mercenary A potential marketing problem.
-TwoLumps Reindeer are colorblind.
-Girl Genius The Baron is dead? And Vole is on the rampage with a machinegun.
-No Need For Bushido Maru down for the count. Where is Ken?
-Delta Bravo Sierra The Annoying Specialist thinks he's dehydrated.
-xkcd
-Amya Faye is to be dumped off at the inn. Everyone has errands.
- Banished Rak is really tired of the escalating threat situation.
- Ratfist Mr. Black is running out of lives.
-Commander Kitty The Perfect Mate doesn't need to talk.

Not Updated, fie!

-Lackadaisy
-Dresden Codak
-Gone with the Blastwave Waiting patiently for the December January February March ah hell with it, he'll update whenever Iron Sky releases, I guess.
-My Ninja Family
-Argghhh-onauts has the liquid oxygen for the grill.