August, 2012 archive
Republican Science 0
Put your fingers in your ears and, all together repeat,
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LaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLaLa
Light Bloggery 0
Break time.
Dustbiters 0
Oh, look! No Georgia bank failed this week!
Only one, and it was in Illinois.
Fear of Flying 3
Dick Polman considers Congressman Mike Kelly’s (R—Kraft-Ebbing) recent statement that having birth control covered by insurance is analogous to 9/11 and wonders why Republicans are so scared of lady bits.
A snippet:
Livin’ the Dream 0
Mel Schwartz and Jesse Schwartz try to probe the origins of gunnuttery. A gunnugget:
The violent “Wild West” of gunslingers and shootouts was a myth nurtured by dime novels, then by Hollywood.
It would appear that the writers of the above have bought into that myth as fully as have the gun nuts who fantasize of being the Man with No Name or his latter-day counterpart, Dirty Harry, packing heat and spraying lead when the mood strikes.
That indicates the power of the myth over the reality.
The dream: every city, Dodge City; every hill, Boot Hill.
Facebook Frolics, Fakebook Dept. 1
Emphasis added:
In a return published this week, the company said 8.7% of its 955 million global users are not real.
There were 83.09 million fake users in total, which Facebook classifies into three groups. The largest is made up of almost 46 million duplicate profiles, accounting for 4.8% of all accounts. The company defined that category as “an account that a user maintains in addition to his or her principal account”.
What were deemed “user-misclassified” profiles amounted to 2.4%, almost 23 million, where Facebook says “users have created personal profiles for a business, organisation or non-human entity such as a pet”.
Finally, “undesirable” profiles accounted for the remainder, about 14 million, which are deemed to be in breach of Facebook’s terms and conditions. The company said this typically means accounts that have been set up to send spam messages or content to other Facebook users.
As much as I deride Facebook, I find the characterization “fake,” except as applied to the “undesirable” accounts, a little strange.
If someone stumbles over a Facebook profile for Cuddles Cat and can’t realize that Cuddles didn’t actually create the profile itself, that someone has no business using a computer.
More to the point, if someone maintains two Facebook accounts, a public one for customers, publicity, and professional networking,* and a private just for family and friends, I would consider neither inherently “fake,” though it is certainly likely that such accounts may also be created with fraudulent intent.
Facebook, though, does consider them inherently fraudulent, I suspect because they pose an inconvenience to Facebook’s task of assembling, sorting, and selling your data to the highest bidder.
There is much less here than meets the eye.
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*Facebook wants such accounts to be moved to “Facebook Pages,” which have different privacy settings and capabilities from “Profiles,” hence the label of “misclassified.”
Fiscal Cliff Notes 0
This is all you need to know about Republican tax policy.
Merchants of Hate 0
About four minutes in, Mike discusses the formula for fomenting hate. If you listen to nothing else, listen to minutes four to six and ask yourself who it calls to mind.
Romneyus Panderus 0
I seldom read Thomas Friedman.
His are generally substance-less, but important-sounding multi-syllabic fulminations which make the reader glow with a sense up superior knowldege while contributing little to public discourse and much to carbon dioxide build-up (except perhaps for his inadvertently contributing to time management the concept of the Friedman Unit).
He is the David Brooks of the vaguely slightly to the left of David Brooks crowd.
Nevertheless, as my old boss used to say, even a blind pig finds an acorn sometimes.
Ump Grump 0
Can you say, “Asking for trouble?”
(snip)
“It was the first time we’ve ever played it,” he said, “and within about three or four seconds, the home plate umpire looks at me, points directly at me and yells, ‘You’re gone,’ as loud as he can.
It is one thing for fans to question the umpire.
It’s quite another for a team employee in the press box to do so.
(The story goes on to point out this has happened before in the Bigs, to the Phillies organist in the old Vet, almost 30 years ago.)
QOTD 0
Stephen Colbert, from the Quotemaster (subscribe here):
Researchers from Britain’s Keele University have found that swearing after an injury may help alleviate pain. Evidently, the pain that you feel is inversely proportional to the number of middle names you give Jesus.
Reg Henry Reads His Mail 4
And he wonders about the writers:
Judging by my correspondence, I conclude that the worst of the email swappers resent that life as they knew it has changed — a president born in Kenya, can you imagine? Why, yes, these folks can imagine. They are susceptible to any implausible suggestion that lobs into their inbox.
They are prepared to swallow anything that echoes their prejudices, no matter how foolish. They are a Fifth Column sending the equivalent of political pornography to each other.
Make TWUUG Your LUG 0
Join us for the special super-duper summer meeting.
Learn about the wonderful world of free and open source. Bring your old hardware to swap or to find it a new home.
What: Special Summer TWUUG Meeting.
Who: Everyone in TideWater/Hampton Roads with interest in any/all flavors of Unix/Linux. There are no dues or signup requirements. All are welcome.
Where: Lake Taylor Transitional Care Hospital in Norfolk Cafeteria. See directions below. (Wireless and wired internet connection available
When: Noon till 2:00 p on Saturday, August 4.
Directions:
Lake Taylor Hospital
1309 Kempsville Road
Norfolk, Va. 23502 (Map)
Decline and Fall 2
The other day I went to the doctor for a routine checkup.
As I got on the scale, the nurse, who looked late-twentyish-early-thirtyish, said something like, “You’re awfully spry for such an old geezer.” (Not her exact words, but you catch my meaning, you get my drift.)
I said,
Yes, but I have this picture in my attic . . . .
She had no idea to what I alluded.