Fri 04 Jan 2008

So, Iowa is over. Romney came in second to Huckabee -- I know I didn't see that coming. The interesting thing, I think, is the dominance of Obama. I've seen references to both Huckabee and Edwards as being HueyLongish, but really Obama seems more like that to me. The whole, speaking truth to power, all while milking the powers that be for all they're worth, pretty much sums up Long. But what do I know?

Anyway, this just makes me think of Greenspun's take on Obama. Of course, Greenspun later on went on to predict an Obama victory and some effects following it. And it wouldn't surprise me a bit if it all happens exactly like he says.
Posted in the morning [ /politics ]

Tue 11 Dec 2007

Interesting interview with some guy who wrote a Lincoln book. The part that I liked is about 3/4 of the way down:

I decided I would try and piece together this Lincoln Heritage Trail that my parents had taken me on when I was a kid. I tried to find a map. I looked on the Internet, asked everyone I could. Couldn't find anything about the Lincoln Heritage Trail.

Finally, I got a call from the director of tourism in Illinois. She said, I've got your guy—the man who invented the Lincoln Heritage Trail in 1961. He's still alive. I called the guy up. Waxing eloquent, I said, It's such an honor to speak with you, because the trail is really from a time when people cared enough about Lincoln and our history to try to honor the places he'd been, to touch the places he'd touched. . . .

And there was a long pause. He finally said, Uh, thanks. But, you know, don't you, this whole thing was cooked up by the marketing guys at the American Petroleum Institute? They wanted to get people in their cars buying gasoline.

The thing had been a marketing scam. They had done it out here in the East, a George Washington Heritage Trail. There was a Hiawatha Heritage Trail. And the Petroleum Institute had put together this one for Lincoln. All to sell gasoline. When you scratch anything in America, there's a profit motive not too far underneath.

Still I ended up going to these places and dragging my poor kids along.

via Arts & Letters Daily, which if you are an unrepentant web surfer like me, and you like to read more than the latest Fark headline ("Guess the plot. Article contains the words 'Bowling,' 'Drunk,' 'Trailer,' 'Grandkids,' 'Shooting,' 'Leroy' and 'Dreads.' Difficulty: West Virginia") you really should be checking regularly.
Posted when I probably should have been in bed an hour ago [ /society ]

Fri 07 Dec 2007

So, in New York they caught a cop perjuring himself. Big shocker, I know...
Posted a little later in the morning. [ /law ]

Check it out -- they found the bones of a sea monster even bigger than a pliosaur. Too cool.
Posted in the morning. [ /society ]

Wed 31 Oct 2007

So, Fark tells me that there was a triple murder in Reno last weekend. One of the primary suspects turns out to be a former McQueen High School football player.

<sarcasm> Yes, Ken Dalton is my hero.</sarcasm>
Posted in the morning [ /society ]

Thu 25 Oct 2007

Why, oh why, must web companies force us into their latest and greatest crap? This morning I fire up my computer, and as usual iceweasel opens automatically to my home page of my.yahoo.com. What do I get?

Hmm... your browser is not officially supported.

We recommend that you download a supported browser.

Download a supported browser for free by clicking one of the links below:

* Internet Explorer 6.0 or higher (Windows)
* Firefox 1.5 or higher (Windows and Mac)
* Safari 2.0+ (Mac)

Of course, if you're a regular reader of this blog (hah, poor you) then you know that list of "supported browsers" is likely to throw me into conniptions, anyway; I'm sure you've noticed that there are no browsers supported in Linux. "Firefox 1.5 or higher (Windows and Mac)"

Anyway, just want to vent some irritation. I like the last caveat, too:

You can proceed to the My Yahoo! Beta. However, please note that we cannot provide technical support for your browser.

Sat 13 Oct 2007

I remember thinking in the past that I might not appreciate the song "Water" by The Who if I had my own little girl. Well, now I do, and I listened to the song again. It's impossible for me to consider the song as anything but silly -- so it is still cool.

On another note, how is it possible that I have been a Monty Python fan for so long, but had never seen The Crimson Permanent Assurance?
Posted on a nice, slow Saturday afternoon. [ /home ]

Wed 03 Oct 2007

My oldest son is now in Cub Scouts. He is there right now, in fact. My wife told me that earlier today, she took him around the block (which in itself is just sad -- when was it that an 8-year-old had to be accompanied around the block?) to sell the popcorn for his fundraiser. No one would buy any. Sure, we're not in the richest neighborhood, but still -- no one would buy any. Here I sit at the computer, and on the desk in front of me sit a half-dozen door hangers for the fundraiser, on each of which my son has written his name, and that he will be back on Friday to pick them up. They are all still sitting here.

And I am overcome by a profound sadness -- my boy is trying to help and do something, and all he got today was rejection.
Posted in the evening [ /home ]

Tue 11 Sep 2007

OK, itunes just notified me that "an updated version" is available. So I go ahead and click on the upgrade button. I just upgraded a few weeks ago, but no big deal. But it brings up a blasted click-through license agreement. Every time I upgrade I gotta read all this crap? That's it, I'm through. Are there any good itunes alternatives out there? Any thing as feature-rich as, say, amarok? I am stuck with Windows on this computer, I'm afraid... And no, Windows Media Player is not an option I will agree to, and I don't think Winamp has progressed that much in the last few years.
Posted in the evening [ /computers ]

Thu 09 Aug 2007

So, Slate deems it necessary to explain to bloggers how to name their blogs, huh? Boy, I sure feel special, since I hit on Rule #1.

However, I'm not sure I particularly want to "enhance my online charisma" -- sheesh, it's funny how seriously some people take things.
Posted at lunchtime [ /computers ]