2011 archive
Land of the Midnight Eclipse (Updated) 0
There will be a solar eclipse tonight, midnight, June 1, Norway daylight savings time, which is 6 p. m. US EDT. Norway is UMT +1.
You can watch it on line here.
H/T Susan for the link.
Addendum, Later That Same Day:
Screen captures tomorrow.
UK Birds Go All Hitchcock 0
One student at Icknield Community College in Watlington is said to have been scratched by one of the birds as he ate lunch in the market town.
A farm worker said the increasingly bold kites were “sweeping up” chickens. Witnesses have also described seeing the birds perching on prams.
It sounds as if they have been taking lessons from the sea gulls at Wildwood.
The Surveillance Economy 0
In the Boston Globe, Alex Poulos foresees the growth of surveillance, not by the government, but by business, not for “security,” but for “marketing purposes, to enhance your shopping experience” (not his words; my paraphrase of marketese).
He predicts a presence that is increasingly intrusive, invasive, horizontally integrated (so there’s no escaping it), and interactive (in the computer sense).
Here’s a snippet from his comments. Follow the link for the rest.
Soon 3-D ads will be common. But later, we’ll have 4-D advertising — smell will be produced, to stimulate appetite.
I Think They’re All Bozos on This Bus 0
In which Palin drones:
The Rude One comments. A snippet (the rest is NSFW):
It’ll be like Motley Crue back in the day, except with more oxygen tanks . . . .
(With apologies to the Firesign Theatre.)
Stray Thought, DQ Dept. 0
“Plain vanilla” is not a perjorative.
It’s a compliment.
Powerpoint Is Evil . . . 0
. . . because it rewards dumb.
Presenters let Powerpoint use them; they don’t use it.
And like kudzu, PowerPoint continues to proliferate beyond the boardroom, medical meeting and conference room. It has become a preferred method of presentation for the US Military and Pentagon. The linear, concise format makes it easily adaptable for the standard military briefing, even at the expense of clarity and content. Reportedly, when a critical briefing is required, some senior officers unfamiliar with PowerPoint seek out subordinates who have technical mastery of the software’s nuances, dubbed “PowerPoint Rangers”.
Aside:
I get a kick out of the title segment for the mystery show, Numb3rs, in which the college professor protagonist is shown walking in the glow of a projector between the audience and the screen.
Competent presenters do not do that.
Ever. In one act, it belittles both the image on the screen and the presenter.
TSA Security Theatre 0
Bordering on the absurd bordering.
Twits on Twitter 0
Special wingnut edition.
Dooming the Minds of Tomorrow 0
Words fail me.
Medford appears to be the first school district in the state to take such a policy.
The Wedding Industrial Complex . . . 0
. . . is clearly out of control.
Final Memorials 0
Some uncomfortable thoughts on being inured to war and the death it brings, from Balloon Juice.
Commemoration 0
The media, even the funny pages, have Memorial Day tributes to those who have served and, perhaps, fallen for this country. The radio is playing patriotic music. Flags are everywhere, outnumbered only by the “Big Sale” signs.
Sad thoughts interspersed with beach-goers and shoppers and jingoism.
Now consider those (or their sons or daughters or brothers or sisters or fathers or mothers) who were sent into harm’s way and perhaps did not return for unjust or fabricated cause.
Is their sacrifice greater or lesser?
I would argue that it is greater, for they have served with honor those who betrayed their honor.
Persons like to prattle about speaking truth to power.
Mark Memorial Day by resolving to demand truth from power.
We Need Single Payer 0
At Bloomberg, Paul Ryan has an article claiming that competition will lower health care costs, a favorite claim of righties.
Missing is reality. Obtaining medical care is not like buying an MP3 player.
- In much of the country, there is no competition. In my part of the world, one hospital company controls almost all the hospitals. If the EMTs have to transport me, they get to choose among Sentara, Sentara, Sentara, and Sentara.
- If someone has, say a heart attack, he or she doesn’t get estimates for the cost of treatment. He or she likely isn’t even conscious so as to be able to shop around.
- If a woman is having a baby (something that gives more notice), she doesn’t shop around for a delivery room; she goes to the hospital her doctor uses.
- If I need an EKG, I’m not going to shop for a new lab; I’m going to where my doctor sends me.
Republican paeans to market competition are no more than empty propaganda to perpetuate oligarchy, promote monopoly, and placate the most significant Republican constituency: Wall Street bonus babies.
Or maybe they’re just all smoking dope.
Driving Miss Crazy 0
El Reg:
(snip)
A Norfolk Police spokesman said: “Driving while using a mobile phone means you are not concentrating fully on the road. Using one mobile phone is silly but two mobile phones is amazingly silly.” ®
In the early days of cell phones, I was crossing 29th Street to get to 30th Street Station, Philadelphia, for my homeward commute when some bozo turned from Market to 29th to get on the Schuykill Depressway. He was eating a hamburger with one hand and holding a cellphone with another.
I hate to think what he was driving with.