December, 2010 archive
Facebook Frolics 0
Oh My Gov! reviews twelve ways in which students have used Facebook to get into–and cause–trouble.
Net Neutrality 0
On the Media takes a look at the recent FCC rule-making on net neutrality. It is a balanced, dispassionate account. From the website:
Follow the link to listen or read the transcript (to be posted this afternoon or listen here:
Bereft of the Magi 0
Andy Borowitz reports that the Teabagger Christmas pageant was a wash-out:
“We couldn’t find three wise men,” Tea Party holiday coordinator Carol Foyler told reporters.
Follow the link for the full report.
“Pay No Attention to the Sponsor behind the Curtain” 0
Brad West, writing in the Wilmington News-Journal, rips the NCAA, which he refers to as the National Cash Acquisition Association.
He’s got a point, indeed, several points. A nugget:
The NCAA ruled that Terrelle Pryor, Daniel “Boom” Herron, DeVier Posey, Mike Adams and Solomon Thomas did some really bad things. They sold things — that belonged to them.
(snip)
But wait — it gets worse. A couple of these guys sold … gasp! … jerseys.
This is the most horrendous of crimes. When I Googled “Ohio State jerseys,” 641,000 listings popped up. For $59.99, just about any sports retailer will sell you an Ohio State jersey.
That’s OK. Because when a retailer sells an Ohio State jersey, the retailer, Ohio State and the NCAA make money.
But when an Ohio State player sells you a jersey, the retailer, Ohio State and the NCAA don’t make money.
With all the money floating around big-time college sports, most of it going to everyone except the persons who put their bodies and their brain concussions on the line on the field, the fiction that NCAA competitions are amateur enterprises founded in snowy pure love of competition and immaculate striving for excellence is becoming somewhat tattered.
TSA Security Theatre: Shoot the Messenger Security Inc. 0
If bad news falls in a forest and no one is able to hear it, is it still bad news?
Pilot reveals security failures at San Francisco International, so the pilot is being investigated.
Lawyer Don Werno said the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) was checking whether his client had revealed sensitive information.
The videos on YouTube allegedly showed ground crew members swiping security cards and then entering the airport’s secure areas without any screening.
The TSA said it had “taken action”.
Mr Werno said the 50-year-old pilot, who has not been identified, remained employed with a major airline, but had been withdrawn from a programme that trained flight crew to help prevent hijackings. The pilot’s federally issued firearm had been confiscated, he said.
If the government wonders why some are sympathetic to Wikileaks, here is a good example.
Gift Goofs . . . 0
. . . can be disastrous. Science 2.0 reports:
Examples of gifts which were deemed inadequate included cooking utensils, cleaning products, and a sticky tape dispenser.
(snip)
Just 17% of men would end a relationship over their partner’s choice of Christmas present. Which means that, once again, men are the less materialistic gender – and we mostly care about sex.
On this day, I wish you many happy returns.
Gift Busters 0
Ellen Warren rounds up horror stories in the Chicago Trib. A nugget:
“As I was ooohing and ahhhing over the gift,” Vessey recalls, “I opened it up and found she had stored her dirty underwear and socks from the trip in my new bag.”
A White Boxing Day 2
Snow started last night in the Bayside area of Virginia Beach at about 8:13 p. m. We were driving home from dinner touring the neighborhood looking at lights when we saw the first flakes.
The prediction of one inch had already morphed into a one of 5-8 inches, (It was resoundingly derided by one of our fellow guests at dinner. Now he has a shovel-ready project.)
It looks as if there’s already five inches on the railing and it’s still snowing heavily.
Same view, five hours later:
QOTD 0
Samuel Smiles, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
When typhus or cholera breaks out, they tell us that Nobody is to blame. That terrible Nobody! How much he has to answer for. More mischief is done by Nobody than by all the world besides.
Worship 0
Two golfers just went by on the course next door.
I could tell that for them golf is a religious experience by the fervor with which they invoked the deity.
Still Shopping? Desperate? 0
Science 2.0 has some suggestions from the world of science. My favorite:
Markered for Life 0
Zero Tolerance and Maximum Stupid, a match made in heaven.
According to an Oklahoma City Police Department report, the boy was spotted “in possession of a permanent marker” by Roosevelt Middle School teacher DeLynn Woodside. The 50-year-old educator told cop Miguel Campos that the student was “writing on a piece of paper, which caused it to bleed over onto the desk.”
The kid was thrown into juvie and the cops impounded the marker.
Twits on Twitter 0
Lord love a duck!
There’s more, if you can bear it.
Afterthought:
I first got into online communication back in the BBS days. When my younger son was about three, the sysop of my favorite BBS installed a door to a chat with Santa. The user would type in something and the program would respond with a more-or-less relevant reply.
Younger son and I had great fun with it. But here’s the thing: Butch (the all-powerful BBS ruler) wasn’t looking to make money or gain publicity. He was looking to spread a little joy and fun.
Intentions sometimes matter.
