It's kind of quiet around here...

I am quite surprised that Rob didn't have anything to post during the political season or that George didn't have some amusing story. I've mostly been over on Facbook taunting liberals and making a complete jackass of myself. That's to be expected, I guess.

I don't have a whole lot of time on my hands as I've been working, running, and not much else -- Manuela will affirm that, in fact, I don't really do much anyway. All my vacation days are gone so I will be in the office Black Friday, Christmas Eve, the day after Christmas and every other day the stock market is open. It's ok, it'll be quiet and I have a lot of paperwork to do.

That's all for now.

Something a bid odd about these mascots?

Knife amnesty results

British police conducting a knife amnesty (sic) program were quite surprised at one item. Lacking the cultural sensitivity of us Americans, they overreacted and probably offended a population that you really, really shouldn't.

Geek points to anyone who can name the weapon (and spell it correctly). Extra geek points for cartoon links.

(PS: "Knife amnesty"? WTF? Did the NRA make this up? What's next, baseball-bat -- I mean, cricket-bat -- amnesties?)

The only Red Sox related item you'll ever see me post...

This is one of my co-workers' kids.



Not to mention he's also a recipient of a lot the Jimmy Fund has to offer. If you met this kid in person you'd immediately be taken over by his engaging personality.

--Mike

You thought it was bad that your Tivo was wrong about you...

Now you can see what your browsing history says about you.

--Mike

A picture is worth 1,000 words or pounds or donuts...

Now THIS is pretty cool

Take a look.

--Mike

Oh why is the "I" capitalized in English

NYT Magazine writed waxes poetic as to the derivation of the capitalization of English's first-person-nominative-pronoun. Is it because of some odd sense of self-importance? Is it associated with our collective greed as a culture? Doubtful. I think it's another hook thrown in there to confuse foreigners -- see all of the -nyms and -graphs in our language.

Calvin and Jobs

I found this gem through Digg. What I won't let happen here is my disgust for Digg bleed through into this post. It's not like I actually READ Digg on a regular basis, I just happened to have it in my RSS reader. What I really don't like is that I cannot just go from RSS directly to the topic, I must go through the discussion page first. Why can't they be more like Daring Fireball?

(Yes, DF is off my shitlist as I finally received BOTH of my t-shirts.)

Laughing Gas

Don't ask me why I was looking up nitrous oxide on Wikipedia, but check out what I found about its history.

Gee, remember how easily dented whipped cream cans were at Superfresh, guys?

What if it's blue and fried?

It's tough being a caterer at the Democratic National Convention: you're bound by regulations.

Robo-Pong 2000

It's an automated ping-pong practice partner.

And as far as I can tell, it's for real.

It's the Robo-Pong 2000 (and successors).

Death Rates

5.14 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

8.27 deaths/1,000 population (2008 est.)

Which one of these statistics belongs to the U.S., and which one belongs to the country we invaded five years ago?

Sine Qua Non

I know Styx was never exactly loved by the critics, and sometimes it seems like only Adam Sandler ever sticks up for them, but:

If you don't like "Renegade," you just don't like rock.

Bumper stickers --> Road Rage

Yeah, I don't like the term "Road Rage" (or "Aggressive Driving", either: what's wrong with saying plainly "Don't Speed or Tailgate, Asshole"?), but apparently you can predict it by how much people personalize their cars.

So... Any studies on Mac Rage?

Subway Shots

I don't normally link to such mass-media sites as ABC, but they have some nice photos of subways around the world.

Bristlebot

Take a toothbrush, a battery, and a pager motor, and you've got a Bristlebot.

(Kinda reminds me of Abe Simpson: "A fax machine is nothing but a telephone and a waffle iron!")

One proton torpedo?

Do you really believe the Death Star was destroyed by a single proton torpedo? Or are you ready to ask uncomfortable questions?

Slate on Being Vegetarian

Before los bros. Paci email this to me, here it is.

Though I do wish more restaurants would go to the tremendous hassle of having two meat-free dishes. That way I'd visit them more than once a year.

Quote of the day

"Progress isn't made by early risers. It's made by lazy men trying to find easier ways to do something."

Robert Heinlein, Time Enough For Love -- US science fiction author (1907 - 1988)

CNN Supports Clinton

Ok, well maybe not. But the hatched job they're doing on Michelle Obama makes it seem that way! Evidence? I need evidence?

OK, here's all the evidence you need...


She looks like a freakin Muppet. Is there a better picture of her out there somewhere? Well, she might have been raised by her Muppet Grandmother. Maybe it's not a hatched job after all.

Oh well, I can be sensationalist too, you know.

--Mike

NPR Silliness

The other day on NPR, they were doing a story about a real-estate bubble bursting in a foreign country (probably somehow still Bush's fault), and interviewed a guy named Martinez.

The reporter did the sensitive-worldly-NPR-correspondent thing and Latined up the "t" and rolled the "r", so the name came out "Marrrdtineyz".

The thing is, the foreign country in question is Spain, so the "z" should sound like the "th" in "speech therapy", not like the "z" in "fuzzy-headed liberal": "Marrrdtineth". Dumbass.

Busy next few days

In about an hour I will leave the office and go home. From there I will fly to Chicago for my cousin's wedding and fly back on Sunday morning just in time to pick up my number for the Boston Marathon. (#23238, in case you're interested)

However, I won't be going home from picking up my number. Instead I will take the train out to my buddy's house in Hopkinton so I can stay there the night before the Marathon.

Wish me luck.

It's going to be a decent day.

--Mike

Romney does have a sense of humor...

Romney came up with his all by himself I am told.

Top 10 Reasons Romney Dropped out of the Race
10. There weren't as many Osmonds as I thought.
9. I got tired of corkscrew landings under sniper fire.
8. As a lifelong hunter, I didn't want to miss the start of the varmint season.
7. There wasn’t room for two Christian leaders.
6. I was upset that no one had bothered to search my passport files.
5. I needed an excuse to get fat, grow a beard and win the Nobel prize.
4. I took a bad fall at a campaign rally and broke my hair.
3. I wanted to finally take off that dark suit and tie, and kick back in a light-colored suit and tie.
2. Once my wife Ann realized I couldn't win, my fundraising dried up.
1. There was a miscalculation in our theory: "As Utah goes, so goes the nation.”

A little late for New Year's Resolutions

However, I will make a promise to myself that I will post more often to this blog and it will be more than a simple link aggregation blog. Really, I swear!

The main reason for my not posting is that I simply forgot that I had a blog in the first place. Pretty, bad, eh? The second reason is that when I remembered I had a blog, I was at work and work doesn't really want me posting to my personal blog when I should be maximizing shareholder value or some crap like that. However, now that I am a shareholder at the company I work for, I kind of understand where they're coming from.

Why, do you ask, am I then posting this during normal business hours? I took a much needed day off, thankyouverymuch.

--Mike