October 2010
24 posts
Splinter Cell Conviction for iOS on sale for $0.99 →
I played the demo for this. I’ve played dual-stick shooters and demos for Resident Evils. In both cases, I feel like I’m playing a game that was really designed for another platform and that just happens to have been shoehorned onto iOS; some of these games are really good, they just feel out of place. Splinter Cell Conviction for iOS has an interface that is really more tailored to...
Definitions in Google Dictionary : The New Yorker →
“My favorite Google feature is Google Dictionary. Whenever I need a word defined, I just type it into the search box and the meaning pops right up. It’s really convenient, but sometimes the definitions can be strange. For example, here are some words I looked up recently on Google Dictionary.”
To Starbucks, regarding your coffee cups and...
Hi, Starbucks,
I’m glad you’re my friend and that you brought proper coffee to the masses. I’m proud of you for being environmentally friendly. I have to question, though, the tactic of writing on every cup and sleeve about how the cup and sleeve are environmentally friendly; have you done the cost/benefit analysis on the environmental damage from the extra printing and ink?...
Why do bank websites suck?
I have no idea. Every banking webpage that I’ve used is malevolent to me. The interfaces are bizarre. For my checking account at my credit union, if I want to look at transactions older than 30 days, I can’t click on a “Next” link, I need to manually do a search for transactions 30-60 days old with my checking account, making sure I don’t click the wrong check box...
Dailymotion - It Gets Worse →
A thoughtful and well-reasoned response to the It Gets Better campaign. It gets worse if you’re a homophobic bully.
Hyperbole and a Half: I am NOT a Drug Addict So... →
Allie says she has ADHD. What she describes here sounds a lot like my anxiety problems, pre-Clonazepam:
Step 16: Hear Boyfriend unlocking the door and remember that you were supposed to make him a sandwich. Sprint into the kitchen and put some bacon in the microwave so that you can look like you were caught in the middle of preparing his lunch.
Step 17: Finish making sandwich. Ask...
The slow, costly death of Mrs. K__: An account of... →
I saw this mentioned in Envisioning Information by Edward Tufte. This story is notable in discussing “halfway” treatments in end-of-life care. Tufte mentioned it as an example of thoughtful information design: the article is an annotated medical bill for Mrs. K—, who spent her last month of life in an intensive care unit.
Caught Spying on Student, FBI Demands GPS Tracker... →
“His discovery comes in the wake of a recent ruling by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals saying it’s legal for law enforcement to secretly place a tracking device on a suspect’s car without getting a warrant, even if the car is parked in a private driveway.”
McSweeney's: Open House at Pooh Corner. →
“123 Sesame St. – 1 BD/1BA Eng bsmt. Lifestyle frndly. Pets, bbrds, grchs, snfflpgss, lmos OK w/deposit. Sunny nbrhood. Sweet air. Cloud sweeper avail.”
Kottke sheds light on mechanically separated...
Kottke provides needed correction on the mechanically separated chicken blog post that’s been running around crazy. The picture is not mechanically separated chicken, for one.
Animals are treated very poorly in modern farms, and the meat processing industry—well, you don’t want to know how sausage is made. These problems need to be addressed with good information, though.
Podcast: The Moth, with Steve Burns of Blue's...
I’m currently subscribed to 49 podcasts. I basically don’t listen to music, I listen to stories, science, economics, humor, news, and religion podcasts, while I’m washing dishes, driving, walking to the lab. I really love most of these. When I find a neat webpage, it’s easy for me to just link to it right away. I want to share more highlights of my favorite podcasts.
The...
Paul Krugman on the Tea Party and Fox News
Paul Krugman writes:
As Politico recently pointed out, every major contender for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination who isn’t currently holding office and isn’t named Mitt Romney is now a paid contributor to Fox News. Now, media moguls have often promoted the careers and campaigns of politicians they believe will serve their interests. But directly cutting checks to political...
Friends of Wilford Brimley
Jimmy wrote this up; he and I and three other guys did the conceptualizing. For more fun like this, check out the Secular Student Alliance at UMBC (Facebook).
The symbol of the Friends of Wilford Brimley is the fork. It describes the nature of not only society, but the individual as well. As a society, we tend to divide ourselves, leaving us isolated like the prongs of a fork. As an individual,...
'The Social Network': A Review...
‘The Social Network’: A Review… | The New Republic by Lawrence Lessig
Lessig, on why The Social Network misses the point, and why Facebook is amazing. My favorite bit:
Instead, what’s important here is that Zuckerberg’s genius could be embraced by half-a-billion people within six years of its first being launched, without (and here is the critical bit) asking permission of...
Op-Ed Contributor - How Not to Fight Colds - NYTimes.com:
Colds can suck, I have one right now. That doesn’t mean that the virus itself is the source of your problems:
Here was a new insight in cold science: the symptoms are caused not by the virus but by its host — by the body’s inflammatory response. Chemical agents manufactured by our immune system inflame our cells and tissues,...
Toothpaste For Dinner: Rejected Life Hacks →
Dinosaur Comics - T-Rex teaches you how to Perform... →
Roger Ebert's review of Joe Versus the Volcano,... →
Gradually during the opening scenes of “Joe Versus the Volcano,” my heart began to quicken, until finally I realized a wondrous thing: I had not seen this movie before. Most movies, I have seen before. Most movies, you have seen before. Most movies are constructed out of bits and pieces of other movies, like little engines built from cinematic Erector sets. But not “Joe Versus...
The Nihilist: natural lawl →
The naturalistic fallacy is the confusion of what is natural with what ought to be. Graham talks about a more common sort of naturalistic fallacy, the victims of which have no idea what natural is.
"If Superheroes Were Hipsters" by Caldwell Tanner... →
G.A.Y.S. (Guys Against You Serving) from Thomas... →
Weird Al is in this.
