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Comments of djedi (390)
Comment on post Windows 8 and Windows Phone: what next?:
This is ALWAYS my problem. I suck at being creative...seeing niches...etc. I love programming but hate coming up with ideas of what to program.
Comment on post long post on Paul Ryan's tax plan:
Dropping taxes on any income that a rich person would get sounds pretty indefensible.
Making a deceptive graph about tax rates to justify lowering taxes is ridiculous (as the rich paid less in taxes, the middle class had to pay more to cover the budget); it's like saying oh look if I do less work, my company still does fine (even though that's because others have to cover my work) so I can be as lazy as I want.
I'm all for closing loopholes and reducing deductions that don't make sense. But I totally agree that a)closing loopholes/deductions isn't going to pay for this huge drop in tax rates for the rich, and b)I agree that changing the formula the IRS uses to make the tax tables doesn't make taxes any simpler.
Also, the argument of double taxation is ridiculous as well. Boiling it down to its essence, it becomes the argument that *I* didn't do any work to earn that income therefore it shouldn't be taxed like income that people actually work for.
Comment on post Flagrant Conduct: The Story of Lawrence V. Texas review:
W00t! Can't wait to read it.
Comment on post What Money Can't Buy review:
This sounds like an awesome book. I'm already convinced.
Comment on post FlightPredictor gets love as an "airport survival app"!:
ooo, exciting!
Comment on post links: same-sex union ceremonies in the Episcopal church!:
Woa, the episcopal church is awesome!
Comment on post playing with Windows 8, 80k steps last week!, cold fusion:
Well, perhaps true, but still, one doesn't usually hold a press conference after a scientific experiment. Usually you write a paper, it gets reviewed. Other people try to replicate, then they try to explain theoretical reason, etc...
Although in modern times, it does seem like we hold a press conference every time someone discovers something new in their attic.
Comment on post playing with Windows 8, 80k steps last week!, cold fusion:
Also holding a press conference in which you claim you did something no one else has ever done, and you have no theoretical explanation, and that it solves the world's energy problems and therefore brings about world peace.
Comment on post More irritations with developing for Android:
See. Android seems to be an OS designed without anyone actually trying it out. I mean, no efficient way to do resources? That's just ridiculous.
Comment on post Willpower review:
Interesting. I've been using the "delaying" tactic since I was a kid and didn't really realize it. I'll often set "later rewards" for work done now and then often not really "redeem" my rewards. I think that's how I trained myself out of procrastination in school.
Comment on post Lying (Kindle single) review:
That is interesting. My take with my family is often also DADT as well. Honestly, for real questions, I know more often than not, I'd prefer diplomatic constructive criticism than pity lies. Especially at work and such I usually prefer feedback.
I wouldn't mind some liberation in my life. I feel like I overly avoid conflict less by lying and more by working hard to find common ground and/or eliminating that topic of conversation from my interaction with that person...mostly family.
I think the problems with eliminating white lies is that most of the time it's really not worth being blunt. Being diplomatic might be better than out-right lying, but still. If someone gets me a bedspread that I end up not liking, do I need to advertise that to them? What are the odds that they are going to think I love it and thus constantly buy me MORE bedspreads with the same design???
Comment on post following through on a promise: links!:
I think I somewhat disagree with the "Why most people don't finish video games" article...perhaps a fair bit. I think they are right in that the main issues are time, age and number of games out there.
There are tons of games including many that aren't truly "passable" games, games without story lines and plots, etc. I don't see going through every level in an expansion of Angry Birds as "passing that game" and neither do most people. Dead Red Redemption is an example they use; it's not really a story heavy game but rather is a sandbox game that happens to have a story line to get you started...not a fair comparison to say Zelda.
The main issue I think is age & time. I do think people have fewer hours to play games as they grow older but I think the majority of that comes out through lack of patience. I remember as a kid being willing to play through the most boring, plotless grind until I had a level memorized enough to do it perfectly (as many NES games required). As a 30something year old, I would never do that. If a game sucks, I don't finish it. It's not worth my time. I think adults value their time (especially free time) more and that' why fewer games get finished. We have more money to buy games to try them and then feel less motivated to waste our time on finishing bad ones.
Comment on post rant: debt ceiling, auto theft:
I'm don't like being extremely partisan but this is one area that fucking pisses me off. The deficit is ENTIRELY Bush tax cuts, Bush's wars and the recession (partly caused by Bush's & republicans' policies)...in 10 years if we do NOTHING, the deficit will pretty much disappear.
Why the craziness now? Because a democrat is in the white house again and the republican base has a lot of frothin nuts.
Comment on post Some good #longreads:
Can you explain to me why their numbers don't add up to 100% of households? Single male: 12%
Single female: 15%
Married straight: 21%
Unmarried straight: 2%
Gay male: 1%
Gay female: 1%
Sum total: apparently only 52% of all households are households. (And you can't say they are "more complicated situations" because the preface to the survey implies that you are narrowing down to who owns/rents the house/apt and who is their primary partner)
Comment on post monday is for linking: financial geekery, NY same-sex marriage, DVR sports:
I think geeks are often drawn to finances. I dunno if it's the finding (numerical) order in chaos or what...
Comment on post monday is for linking: financial geekery, NY same-sex marriage, DVR sports:
Ok, so maybe I'm not the best person to wax about sports watching but I think the article about sports and dvrs is almost total bullshit. The only good point he states is his irrational one: I think a lot of what people find exciting is the fact they they are watching something whose outcome is unknown by ANYONE and maybe if they watch and wish hard enough the team they do desperately want to win will do so.
For me, old sports games are less interesting for the same reason old newspapers are less interesting. The info and highlights are already known, probably even by me, and with the virtually unlimited possibilities on which to spend my very limited time, I'd rather do something new.
Comment on post it's-been-a-little-while links:
The article equates frugal with cheap. Now, I think many of what he says still apply to being "overly frugal" but I also think that some of what he talks about is just bashing the "fish-in-a-barrel" cheap.
Comment on post "It Gets Better" and Republicans:
although they both are still in the pocket of corporate interests.
Comment on post Happy @TheAtlantic day! and more links:
Yeah I would love living in high-density housing except for one big problem. I like some privacy. Until we start building high density housing that actually has privacy for the tenants, I'll sadly stay with homeowning.
Comment on post stock market returns project:
True, but also, almost everyone invests using "dollar cost averaging". I don't save my money up for 5 years and then invest in one big lump sum. I invest some money every year. I think your updating of the chart to include how most people actually invest makes it more useful and realistic.
Comment on post Don't Ask Don't Tell update, and some fun links to make up for wall-to-wall DADT coverage:
There's good stuff in that income inequality article but it's cluttered up by some pretentious crap as well. Income inequality is a macro measure; it shows huge waste in economic activity, you can't compare to micro measures like individuals' well-being.
That said, if you're going to compare to micro measures...when people worry about income inequality, they don't worry about comparing rich people to pretentious 6-figure earning middle-class. They worry about people who work 60 hours at two jobs at minimum wage (where they only get THAT much because it's gov't mandated).
Comment on post tax cuts, Don't Ask Don't Tell:
Yeah, given everything democrats got out of it, I'd say it was an acceptable compromise.
Comment on post just some links: movies, money, voting:
Yeah, I did'nt mean to contradict you, more go into finer details. I also can geek out on this stuff. It's fun!
I wonder if you can make an index fund that invests in....index funds! and their weight is based on their expense ratio!
Comment on post just some links: movies, money, voting:
I think there's some "beating the market" to be done using a "values-investing" approach. That's where you aren't trying to "market-time" but rather using an index fund with a more interesting index. For example, for decades you could use a capitalization measure as your index and only invest in ones over a certain threshold and make a better return than the market as a whole, although over time, as this index because better known, it slowly ebbed in efficacy. :) Share values do eventually correct themselves.
But yeah, unless you're a professional economist studying different methods of company evaluation, index funds are the way to go.
Comment on post productivity techniques (or: remembering stuff):
I almost like my system. I have on my iGoogle homepage (which keeps things synced between home and work) a todo list. On there, I make a strong distinction between near future (1-2 weeks supposedly) todos and longterm todo's. However, anything schedule or time based, I put on my google calendar (which also shows up on my homepage). I think it's a system very similar to Britton's.
I do occasionally keep very short term reminder emails in my inbox at home or work, but I usually prefer to just archive them and use my calendar or todo list and search for them later.
Comment on post What webOS app to work on next?:
Uhm, bridge sounds really hard but pretty fun. It's hard to turn down mystery though.
Comment on post link bankruptcy:
I agree. As a student, I always disliked how much I was judged not on what I knew but how I performed relative to others.
Comment on post Last Call:
Yay! I love stories with mostly happy endings. :) Ah, history. It makes me wonder if we'll look back at marijuana and have a similar story.
I hate laws whose sole purpose to push one group's ideas of morality onto everyone.
Comment on post FlightPredictor wins! and a new life rule:
Aww, I thought the sushi rule was going to be a bit harsher.
W00t! Grats!
Comment on post happier when busy, sorta:
I hate to be idle...but I love getting to pick my own busyness and taking frequent breaks. :)
Comment on post happier when busy, sorta:
Sounds like World of Warcraft or other MMO grinding to me.
Comment on post quick linkies:
True, but when's the last time you saw the quarterback pretend to get sacked or the batter in baseball pretend to get hit by the pitch?
Comment on post For Better:
Sounds like a very good book.
I think I really agree with her prescription. Always working on the marriage, having outside interests and friends, and have lots of sex sound like great advice. =)
Comment on post How We Decide:
Can't wait to read the book. I've seen a few studies supporting this stuff before; it sounds like an interesting book. I bet your experience was colored emotionally though by the ice cream on the cover :P
Comment on post Accountability:
Item 1 is referred to as Tobin's Tax right now, I think, and was very popular but did not make it into neither the house nor the senate versions of the current bill. =(
Having the Fed handle bubbles has been one of their jobs for a couple of decades now, and they really suck at it. Of course, a lot of that is Greenspan's fault, but still.
Comment on post naps!:
My experience with napping is almost "textbook". If my nap is longer than 20 minutes, then I wake up incredibly groggy and take an hour to be able to function well. If I nap for less than 20 minutes, then after the 10 minute wakeup time, I feel much better.
I really should just give in and do what Gary does.
Comment on post birthday links!:
Yeah, that whole taking pictures of kids at home is soo indefensible it's not even funny. I would bet some child porn was made that way.
Comment on post clearing out some tabs:
It seems incredible to me that that was part of their standard advice! Wow, I wish Texas hadn't changed that law. :( It was mostly a protection.
Comment on post don't mess with my machine!:
On the note of bad dreams. I had a really bad dream last night where I was taking this foreign language test (I was in the class and did know the material decently), but so was Andrew and Greg. They were however taking turns distracting me so that I couldn't finish my test (that wasn't their intention, they were just being rude) in the time alloted. It was really frustrating.
Comment on post don't mess with my machine!:
Aww, you really are stressed. =(
Comment on post Rich Dad Poor Dad review:
Yeah, I will graciously interpret the author's point as being that your priorities should be:
2)Pay off debt
3)Buy essential bills like food
4)Anything else
with the idea that you usually have enough for 1 and 2 and then you are "belt tightening" 3 and 4 to fit into your income.
If you instead do this...
1)Pay off debt
2)Buy food
3)Anything else
I bet you'll find that 3 uses up the rest of your income for most people and suddenly 4 gets nothing.
Comment on post More snow pics:
Actually, I explicitly commented as we walked outside how sad it was that we didnt' all have hats!
Comment on post LOST and links:
It also seems clear that Jacob was somewhat a jailor for fake Locke or at least fake Locke can't leave the island without someone else taking him...I'm wondering if he's an anti-vampire, he can't leave without someone inviting him off the island.
Comment on post LOST thoughts:
Time Travel Theory #1 is the Back to the Future, changes to the past instantly affect the future and everyone from the future. This theory is the one that leads to paradoxes that irritate the hell out of people.
Comment on post LOST thoughts:
Well, it's still different than Back to the Future. They are clearly still there and didn't fade away. I guess people were assuming that the show was using Time Travel Theory #2 (the past is not changeable, everything you do, well it was already done). Instead, they appear to be using Time Travel Theory #3: Changes to the past create an alternate timeline, or at least some variant on this.
Comment on post LOST thoughts:
Yeah, I was entirely confused...because it seemed established that the smoke monster was some sort of island/temple security system, and Ben calls it once for defense and once to judge himself. Clearly, not only was Ben confused, but so were a lot of other people who should have known something.
Comment on post solar panels on the roof:
And if not, Austin city council has done such in the past (outlawing restrictions on satellite tv) and will likely do so again for solar panels.
Comment on post daily weight tracking - one year later:
I agree with cifarelli. And, it's not surprising that you stall out around Oct-Dec. That's winter and holidays. Lots of travel, holiday food, too cold to exercise outside, etc. I bet come spring you'll be back on the lb a month train.
Comment on post links so I can upgrade to Firefox 3.6 and don't want to lose my open tabs!:
I don't know what it is about Texans/Texas but we just cannot set up a decent mass transit system.
Comment on post NY same-sex marriage bill defeated, life goes on:
Civil unions are a more possible, but more complicated strategy. Not only do we need state by state support but you still need federal support to pull it off.
It's like solving poverty in the US by distributing to poor people monopoly money. And then you have to go to each state and get them to say that at state agencies, poor people can use monopoly money like real money. Of course, most companies still wouldn't accept it and of course neither would the US gov't. The real success hinges on getting the US gov't to force recognition of monopoly money to be on teh same legal level as real money.
And even if you do that, and all companies and agencies are forced to recognize monopoly money to be the same as real money...how long do you think it will take to get rid of the social stigma on the poor people having to use fake money because they "can't afford real money"?
Comment on post NY same-sex marriage bill defeated, life goes on:
I'll mostly agree with this except that there are some differences. First, a lot of rights won't be extended until there's federal support.
Second, civil unions aren't marriages and despite what people say won't carry exactly the same weight. Imagine a national company that has a branch/office in say Iowa (gay marriage) and Nevada (civil unions). Even without federal support, Iowa law probably forces the company to treat gay marriages like straight marriages because of equal protection under the law. Thus the company would extend all of its marriage benefits to gays, like health insurance. But history has shown that that is not true for civil unions/domestic partners. Many companies, some as a rule, do not recognize civil unions, esp since they vary on a state by state basis. Until we have a federal law that states civil unions are EQUIVALENT to marriages for all legal "intents and purposes", then the differences are more than just the word.
Comment on post health care optimism?:
I agree. =) Private markets don't perform well in something like this...high barrier to entry, essential service, difficult to compare services.
Comment on post origami dreams:
Well, he's not really learning, more refreshing and going a bit deeper. He's done origami and unit origami many "times" before.
Comment on post early voting happening now:
I think I agree with you, Seaweed.
Comment on post All's well that ends well:
Of course, I don't think the gutter guy has actually done the gutter work yet. So, who knows.
Comment on post reviews of stuff I generally like:
Yeah the "tap to do absolutely everything" mentality actually makes it feel like you're playing the game through a really narrow interface...like playing the game whiel wearing a full radiation suit or space suit and you can barely move any appendages, etc., i.e. very frustrating.
Comment on post another day, another dollar:
I don't understand. So there are a bunch of women in the East that want to have sex...and not enough men to satisfy them. Why are men not moving there in droves??
Comment on post Palm Pre review:
I think the comparisons I've gathered so far go like this:
Pre Advantages: multitasking, (real) notifications, more open app store, contacts sync.
IPhone Advantages: older tech (so smoother experience, better battery life, more apps, etc.), apple ui
I'm vaguely tempted by the Pre once another version/some OS updates come out and my iPhone dies...
Comment on post post-honeymoon link friday:
To be fair, the cookies are supposed to be at least somewhat more expensive because they are a fund raiser for the girl scouts. So it's a way of instead of donating $2 to the girl scouts, you donate $5 and get some tasty cookies. I have found sometimes that I'd rather just donate some cash than get some crappy product in return that is also lining some crappy company's coffers...but I'm sure having an actual product probably generates more donations for the fundraising group.
Comment on post post-honeymoon link friday:
Yes, we did. It was not coincidence, Justin recommended him. Actually, we had like 5 photographers recommended to us and we did some research and picked him. He seemed fairly good and professional. We'll see in a week or two, how the pictures turned out.
Other than the actual food, he was the next single most expensive part of the wedding.
Comment on post just this guy, you know?:
Yeah, a lot of namby-pampby's talk about how we should wait for equal rights until the straight population is ready to give it to us. However, we have more support now than when African-Americans were "given" their rights.
Also, C&H is probably the best multi-frame comic strip ever. Farside would get the 1-frame award. :)
Comment on post Yeah, yeah, my heart's in a whirl:
Aww. Don't worry. June is here and will be better as the month goes on. I still am holding out hope that the wedding stuff won't make the first half of July horrible.
Comment on post days go by and still I think of you:
Didn't you get like 5 pairs of gloves yourself?
Comment on post days go by and still I think of you:
Wow, some great links that week. I feel like I need to hire you to do all my web browsing for me and then just summarize it into the best links for me to read. :)
Comment on post hurried links:
Yay! So many states! I can't keep track of it anymore!!
Comment on post rumsfeld flashbacks:
You forgot the other excellent prescriptive quote:
Vaillant's other main interest is the power of relationships. "It is social aptitude," he writes, "not intellectual brilliance or parental social class, that leads to successful aging." Warm connections are necessary—and if not found in a mother or father, they can come from siblings, uncles, friends, mentors. The men's relationships at age 47, he found, predicted late-life adjustment better than any other variable, except defenses...In an interview in the March 2008 newsletter to the Grant Study subjects, Vaillant was asked, "What have you learned from the Grant Study men?" Vaillant's response: "That the only thing that really matters in life are your relationships to other people."
So apparently social connections, family and friends, is the other key way to grow old and happy. =) We should be all set then. ;)
Comment on post Seriously, Texas?:
Comment on post post-birthday blues:
Aww, I'm sorry. At least everything should be better by Memorial Day when we get a 3 day weekend in like 5 weeks. That's what I'm looking forward to.
As, we are almost entirely done with our April wedding list and we still have a week left in April, we should have a sweet week and weekend.
Comment on post Email to Time Warner re bandwidth caps:
Yeah, and honestly, I'm not hopeful about stopping it. Let's say they lose a record 10% of their users through this...well, they are hiking up prices probably more than 10% on average, so it's still a win for them. AND the users leaving are probably the heavier users, so TWC gains back some bandwidth then to sell to lighter users.
Comment on post Email to Time Warner re bandwidth caps:
Yeah, I think the average user probably only gets 5 GB...but under TWC's new plan, these people would see little decrease in their bill. And, everyone else who uses their computer for Hulu, etc. will see their bill go up.
They are using the excuse of adding caps to sneak in an increase in rates in general.
Comment on post Email to Time Warner re bandwidth caps:
And netflix on demand, and Amazon unbox, and Hulu, PS3 downloads, Wii ware downloads, etc.
Comment on post Email to Time Warner re bandwidth caps:
Actually, they first tried it out in big city Beaumont, Texas I believe.
Comment on post Email to Time Warner re bandwidth caps:
Yeah, I believe most contracts with companies includes a clause that they can change anything at anytime...and this allows you to get out of the contract with no penalties.
So they could just break all their contracts, no problem.
Comment on post fun times at the bank!:
The direction of the stigma I've seen is on the birth mom for giving up a kid, i.e. that the only reason you'd do it is if you were too poor or young.
Comment on post fun times at the bank!:
I might be willing to take this as a first order approximation for myself as well.
It's too bad that society looks down on adoption so much as well.
Comment on post linksamillion:
Yeah, I know "driving is a privilege" but still. Checkpoints bother me a lot.
Comment on post looking for a tree place:
My grandparents, who lived like 50 miles southeast of here had a whole pasture full of pecan trees...so I know they'll grow here. They just aren't popular because they are deciduous I believe.
Comment on post we got rings!:
We're NOT married yet!
I gotta start keeping a closer eye on you :P
Comment on post the advantages of living in a medium-sized city:
And the capital...something someone on Jeopardy missed. "San Antonio"?... come on!
Comment on post we got rings!:
Comment on post we got rings!:
Probably worth doing research on but I heard that was mostly an urban legend these days; I believe most hospitals have ways of getting the ring off.
Comment on post I miss music:
Hehe, that is an awesome 30 rock episode. You should consider joining the choir. I assume after the wedding, life will be wonderful. We've virtually caught up on the big todos for the house, by the wedding we'll be out of big todos in life. :)
I was thinking on the weight graph that perhaps you should increase the number of data points in the rolling average..I bet 5 would be a better number that would lead to less jumpiness.
Comment on post links for everyone!:
Wow, $62 billion in 3 months. I don't think I could spend that much money in 3 months. It's just unpossible.
Comment on post obama's speech and an embarrassing memory from my past:
So you're outside your house waiting for a person to drive up at approximately a given time. Someone else drives up to/near your house and you mistake them for this person? Completely understandable.
Comment on post anti-gay monday!:
Actually, many of these people do not consider these other countries to be civilized.
It's incredible that people have such a short view of history. I'm constantly amazed that most people just assume things have always been as they are now. The idea of romantic, heterosexual, 2-people marriage is about a century old. Diamonds as a girl's best friend/engagement ring necessities are less than a century old.
Comment on post book review: First, Break All The Rules:
I liked the book as well. I thought it was an educational read. You have to be careful about extremes, but I agree with his basic premise that one should keep in mind and play more to one's strengths than one's weaknesses. The extremes comment is that obviously if you have a weakness that seriously limits your performance at any job or limits the use of your strengths (like really poor communication or incredible disorganization) then clearly that should be worked on though.
Comment on post riddle me this:
Hehe, I also had some weird dreams last night. We were at a school, but we weren't supposed to be there...it was like I knew we had already graduated and left. But we were there to fight this evil teacher. Then we escaped out the window and drove off in our Prius...apparently that was our Batmobile...and then there was a car chase and that's all I remember.
Comment on post 25 things about me:
We need to eat more salads then so you can smell the cucumbers from far far away.
Comment on post ok, guys:
I wish they had a sneakemail for phone numbers, but of course phone numbers are typically openly available.
Comment on post ok, guys:
Yeah, Greg's is on his cell as well. Oddly, I very very rarely get spam on my phone.
Comment on post attention world:
True except for a bit of Greg's family lives out of state and needs some advance notice...but else, like 90% of the invite list is within 4 hours drive.
Comment on post attention world:
We're cranky, lazy people who hate wedding planning. I think we should either A)do it in mid May and just find place still available for then and be our not picky selves OR B)do it in like late August/September to avoid the peak season and give ourselves time to be lazy and indecisive.
Comment on post hello married people/people who know about weddings:
Hmm, the wedding ceremony itself would probably be pretty darn far south anyways, so the Driskill wouldn't be too far. Was the buffet through the hotel itself? How big was your wedding (# of people wise)?
Comment on post happy 2009!:
Favorite quotes from the irrational book:
"Participants worked harder under non-monetary social norms than for payment!...Companies that try to market based on social norms ("like a good neighbor...") but fail to follow through (e.g. imposing nuisance fees) end up in a worse position. Consumers take personal offense when a relationship framed as a social exchange turns out to be a market one."
"...although almost everyone has problems with procrastination, those who recognize and admit their weakness are in a better position to utilize available tools for precommitment and by doing so, help themselves overcome it."
I need to learn this:
"When we focus on the similarities and minor differences between two things, we fail to take into account the consequences of not deciding. Flip a coin and move on."
"Those who signed [the honor code] didn't cheat. Those who didn't see the statement showed 84% cheating."
Comment on post just so I feel caught up:
I love World of Goo, but disgusted by the lack of knowledge of statistics and inaccuracies in their "propaganda". They got their 90% estimate by assuming every person who plays has a unique, static ip address per copy of game purchased then counting those (versus number of copies bought). That's a bunch of crap. Most people have dynamic ip addresses. Ours actually changes fairly often because the router gets reset a lot. They actually mention this but figure it's balanced by all the people who would be behind the same router, like at work. Yes, so everyone having a new ip address let's say every month is exactly the same as the number of people who play at work.
Summary, never trust pirate numbers from software companies - or in general, only put more than 10% of trust in statistics that are from the affected parties.
Comment on post $1 coins!:
This is why I keep my wallet in a front pocket. It's in general more comfortable I feel.
Comment on post my problem with "Fringe":
I'm watching :P, and I agree. The last couple of episodes in themselves have actually been surprisingly uninteresting despite their trying to shock the audience with their crazy science. The overarching plot has made no progress at all. It's almost like those really sucky seasons/time periods in Lost and BSG.
I think they haven't decided yet whether this will just be an episodic show or a serial.
Comment on post tv stuff:
To be more specific, if watching an action tv show changes your opinion about torture and your approach to terrorism, I think it's fair to call you an idiot.
Comment on post tv stuff:
I mostly agree but I also think it's ok to call propaganda what it is, propaganda. I've read that a lot of the minds behind 24 are Republicans who are specifically concerned about our approach to terrorism and that the show is somewhat their attempt to advertise their side of the story and "win the hearts and minds of America".
It is unfortunate that so many people are easily swayed by emotionalism and well fiction and lies.
Comment on post links in th' morning:
Yeah, I'm touched by the outrage as well. I mean, I'm outraged by the idea that a majority could vote away a minority's civil rights, but that people not affected by it are also outraged is good. :)
Comment on post what's on my mind:
Yay for having an intelligent, sane, Democratic prez.
Comment on post still up watching results:
I was optimistic because it's CA. According to Palin and gang, it's the most liberal place in the UNIVERSE. Damn Hollywood liberals couldn't even deliver.
Comment on post Election Predictions!:
I've seen a fair bit of support from people and even though it doesn't directly affect me personally, I'm really touched by it. P. Clinton came out against 8; the Daily Show did a very supportive segment on it, etc.
Comment on post politics, whereslunch, magazines: an entry in three parts:
Heh, that sleazy politics link is awesome! It's just the food I need for my cynical attitude. I LOVE the Harrison v Van Buren competition. Sounds like the 2004 election among others.
Comment on post more early voting info:
I agree. It seems like we need stricter controls on how the council gets to hand businesses our money, but this is way too blunt of an instrument.
Comment on post seriously, is it election day yet?:
Yeah, that was sorta my thought. Most messages left on your home machine have got to be junk.
Comment on post seriously, is it election day yet?:
Do you listen to all the messages on your machine? Seems like you're bound to get a fair number. We got tired of all the phone calls a while ago and ditched our landline.
Comment on post deep thought:
As long as these mucus banks are set far enough apart! We don't need another domino effect problem.
Comment on post finally, FINALLY, McCain scales back the ugliness:
I give him a bit of respect for this. It's too late for the election but maybe it means he's not too far sold out himself.
Comment on post two quick politics articles:
The idea of what's outrageous varies by time period and circumstances though.
Originally, I believe, usury meant any interest, but these days it just refers to outrageous interest since we've come to accept interest as acceptable due to inflation and other factors. I think dictionary.com discusses the now obsolete definition in its entry.
Comment on post two quick politics articles:
This is what pisses me off the most, using religion/God as a political tool.
Comment on post two quick politics articles:
Actually, the biblical stance against usury is pretty strong although you're right...I think that ship has sailed off into fantasy land.
Comment on post nope, incoming boring debate:
I mostly agree on your two points. To play devil's advocate for a sec:
a)is sometimes a valid point if you have enough data. Yes, correlation isn't causation but chances are if two events are correlated enough times two events you can get some info out of it, i.e. he voted no on 100 bills that had this rider, then clearly he didn't feel very strongly about the rider.
b)While this was an off-the-cuff joke, 1)it's a terrible thing to joke about, 2)it IS a joke precisely because it summarizes some of his Iran policies - before the campaign got so serious he was more open about supporting the bomb Iran idea, and 3)the Rachel Maddow thing. If Obama wants to dispute this policy point with McCain just say "He's been in favor of taking a hard line stance with Iran and bombing them in X circumstances," instead of using the joke reference.
Comment on post colbert report!:
I think he was high on caffeine or amphetamines.
Comment on post mildly interesting politics quiz:
I didn't find the economically permissible questions to be very well done.
Asking things like "Do you prefer shopping at big companies or small companies?" isn't the same as "The government should intervene to make all companies small." Maybe I like the feel of local or smaller stores or maybe I prefer them but don't believe the gov't should regulate such things.
Comment on post palin-tology:
Gah! She bothers me sooo much. Those videos scare me!!!
Comment on post palin-tology:
In the past, abortions were rare and when they occurred usually they were by a doctor "in the backroom". Typically, they weren't prosecuted except in the rare cases where a doctor became notorious for performing many of them.
Comment on post Congratulations John McCain!:
Given the similarity of his campaign to Bush's last campaign, my guess will be his plan was to claim a win in the debate no matter what happens. He and lots of other republicans will use the same quotes and repeat over and over that he won the debates, hoping that repetition in the press (who will of course broadcast all of these lies) will sway a lot of people...and it will.
Comment on post seriously, guys, $700 billion is a lot of money:
Actually, that's not bad. Some republicans are for the plan because they want to give money to businesses and other rich people, while others are against the plan because they don't want to give away "their" money.
Democrats seem wary about giving the money to businesses but most think this will help people.
Comment on post "heroes" but not about "heroes":
KXAN has a decent argument: Time Warner is making money off of including their programming (broadcast channels form the majority of channel-time people watch I would bet). I think they should get a nominal fee since TWC is benefitting from reselling their goods.
Comment on post interesting things:
The plug-in sounds pretty cool (except for the price tag)! But yeah, hopefully we aren't replacing the Prius anytime soon, so perhaps by the time we do, the price will and battery size will come down!
"The Black Swan" is a good book if you can wade through the stupid parts. His basic gist is that if the cost of something goes to infinity fast enough, then the fact that the probability of it is decreasing doesn't mean the "expected value" is decreasing/zero. In other words, many things in life are not actually Gaussian despite the fact that everybody and their dog is in love with the curve.
Comment on post the usual:
Lol, that's awesome!
Comment on post I would like to marry The Daily Show:
Wait, wait, you can't channel Rick Santorum without throwing in a bestiality reference. The guy really seems to get off on that stuff.
Comment on post I would like to marry The Daily Show:
Yes, it is awesome stuff. The Daily Show is the best news show ever...or so I hear.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
This is actually sorta what fartingmonkey was saying above. If you mystify something, it's impossible to make informed decisions.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
True, but teenagers don't pay attention to those typically. And if you minimize the risks, you increase the chances that teens will have sex.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
true, but by consequence-free I mean one with minimal (or reasonable) fear of "horrible" std's and pregnancy.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
Yeah, anything that reinforces archaic gender roles really really really grinds my gears.
I'm fine with a woman choosing to quit her job and stay at home with the kids if it was TRULY entirely her decision and not forced upon her by her upbringing, societal pressure, family pressure, the workforce, her husband, guilt, religion, etc.
I really this really angering article by this guide who did an interview study where he interviewed gay couples that have been together for 25 years or longer (these must be rare and exceptional couples because 25 years ago things were way freakin different). He "determined" that the way gay couples should work optimally is if one acts like a woman and one acts like a man and even gave a 4 point test so you can ask your potential partner to find out if they are a "man" or a "woman". The questions were "Are you a top or bottom", "Would you prefer to be in charge of the financial or emotional aspects of the relationship?", "Do you like to talk about something or do something?", and something else stupid. Greg and I turned out to be about half man/half woman each according to this test.
Comment on post things that, upon further reflection, really piss me off and have come up recently:
Like you said, those opposed to teaching any sort of contraception want are divided into two main camps. The first is those who think it's immoral (contraception) and such don't want it taught in schools. This I have some sympathy for, but knowledge of immoral things isn't the same as teaching someone to DO it (for example, we teach people about the Holocaust so genocide WON'T happen again, not to give them ideas).
Second are those who think that if we take away ANY impediment to kids having sex then they'll have more sex. It's better for them to be too scared of aids, stds, pregnancy, myths. Then, perhaps they won't have sex. Telling them "This is how you have consequences-free sex" even if it's attached with the controversial phrase "once you are in a situation where it's moral to have sex" still gives them tools to have consequence-free sex.
Comment on post computer miscellany:
yay, crash free! Our next step should be to install wow and see if that crashes on the windows side.
Comment on post Obama's speech, McCain picks Sarah Palin:
Actually, that was my question too! I think it's because Canada doesn't count.
Comment on post back from beach, more Palin:
It looks like we have many more interesting things to learn about Palin.
Comment on post back from beach, more Palin:
yeah, but FLYING while the baby is being born is just crazy.
Comment on post back from beach, more Palin:
/agree to all that. This VP nominee scares me more than McCain does...which is the point, she is supposed to be more conservative than him, but it's more than just conservative.
Comment on post Obama's speech, McCain picks Sarah Palin:
and the first runner-up Miss Alaska to be nominated.
And I hear she has some foreign policy experience because Alaska's so close to Russia.
Comment on post panhandling:
Yeah, various cities have been found guilty of dumping their homeless on other cities. It's despicable but some people will do anything to get rid of a problem.
Comment on post why is my laptop crashing?:
Ooo, good point. Perhaps driver updates would make a difference...or driver rollbacks.
Comment on post why is my laptop crashing?:
I'm still suspicious that it's something graphics card or memory related.
Comment on post why is my laptop crashing?:
He has the whole applecare warranty thing; the problem is just that it's hard to walk into an apple store and say "My WoW crashes when I'm in the Outlands". I'd like to find another program, like a test program or another game (that doesn't have login accounts) where we can get it ot crash, and THEN take it in.
Comment on post history of marriage:
Yeah, ideas on marriage and love have varied considerably even just over the last 2 thousand years or so. I personally like the ancient Greek's system; Guy/guy love is definitely the best. :P
When you really analyse how early Christians felt about marriage it really sucks all the fun out of it.
Comment on post Batman in IMAX?:
Aww, I'm fine with it happening on the 11th even if that's my birthday, if that'd work out better for people (in which case I would definitely go then rather than sit at home alone on my bday :P)
Comment on post Batman in IMAX?:
True, and we'll be used to coming in early so we can leave early. :)
Comment on post Batman in IMAX?:
Wait, I thought we were busy on Wed...Mon and Tues is when we're free I think.
Comment on post (no subject):
Ok, that whole purity thing is indeed creepy and very demeaning to women.
Comment on post Dr. Horrible's Sing-Along Blog soundtrack!:
Yeah, that would be awesome. =)
What a good little show so far! So catchy too. I just might put on the music right now.
Comment on post new poll on gay marriage:
Hi!!! This is David. :)
Yeah, I think that's a workable, decent solution. But trying selling semantic distinctions and avoiding a "separate but equal" marriage for straights, civil unions for gays situation. =(
Comment on post new poll on gay marriage:
True. It's harder for objectors to gain traction objecting to little things like extending insurance to domestic partners, allowing same-sex visitation in hospitals, etc.
But of course, like you said, it's impractical to really decentralize it so much. Everyone and their dog doesn't want to have to bear the burden of coming up with their own forms and designation. So someone "has to say" who's family...and that varies wildly. Breeders, even open-minded ones, tend to say family is blood relation + single, committed partner, while us minority (and some other cultures) take a broader view.
Comment on post new poll on gay marriage:
Right, the problem is that there are something like 1000 niceties that come with a recognize committed coupling. You can't have each individual one have a form you have to fill out, so instead we have gov't marriage licenses. Perhaps we just need another word for the gov't to use.
Also, I understand that a lot of people would love to decouple gov't marriage from religious marriage but I don't think that necessarily solves the problem. Religious and conservative people will still have an issue with gov't "marriages" recognizing gays! It's a societal approval of what they see as immoral that bothers them.
Comment on post new poll on gay marriage:
Yeah, that's exactly my thought. The government provides soooo many incredibly useful benefits (from taxes to legal rights) to those who are encoupled in some way, so we do need the legal system and the gov't to recognize our relationships on some level.
Trust me, I've seen ALL the legal shit that has to be done in order to make a mock up of only the 50% of this that's possible for a gay relationship...straight people just sign a marriage license...gay people have to hire lawyers and sign tons of forms to get only half of what straight peopel get.
Comment on post not the ideal situation for starting 3 solid weeks of rehearsals:
Wow, I knew you were up too, but I guess I feel asleep after an hour or so and you got up.
Comment on post Just so we're clear:
It's so odd, and bad/sad, that in *this* country, it's the gay population that got the most hit by AIDS. This is mostly bad luck and the fact that it's a smaller, mostly closed population.
I saw a funny funny interview (can't remember if it was Daily Show or Colbert Report) where the interviewer was asking this anti-gay nut exactly how have gay marriages hurt his marriage, his heterosexuality, etc.
Comment on post habeas corpus is alive and well, barely:
These right wing judges that make decisions solely on politics (esp Mr. Thomas) scare the bejesus out of me.
I really hope we have a dem president next and they all retire and we can put on some more reasonable judges. After reading the Earl Warren book which describes the court from 40's-60's, I understand now the anger of right wing people against the court. Basically from the 40's til the 90's, the court was solidly on the side of equal treatment, civil rights and freedom, esp individuals over those of corporations. The right wing is tired of those sorts of decisions and has been trying to stack the court since Reagan. Unf, over time, they are slowly succeeding. If we lose one more respectable jurist and instead get a right-wing political hack, and kiss a lot of your protections and rights goodbye. They'll slow be eaten away.
Comment on post habeas corpus is alive and well, barely:
No, you want it because the word 'parents' is plural.
Comment on post mathing it up after dark:
Yeah, we need to stop by Fry's and get a nice headset.
Comment on post gay marriage in california!:
Update: I just read an article in the statesman that doesn't look so good. A US-wide poll from 2007 showed 55 against versus 36 for. Now, this is CA and I'm not sure about how many would vote for a constitutional ammendment against gay marriage, but still. It looks like a majority are against it =(
Comment on post gay marriage in california!:
Ok, so we got MA and CA, next we need PA, VA, and WA. Then we move on to the *B's.
Actually, I'm mildly worried about pushback from this. Successes too early can energize a large minority, and I esp. hope this doesn't overshadow this year's election any. :/
Comment on post Chrstina Aguilera: gay icon?:
I think she is, but just a bit. I kinda wonder why Pink isn't more of a gay icon. She's also a strong woman, etc.
We gays are oddly supportive of strong women.
Comment on post scenes that made me look twice:
Maybe the problem is you don't quite have the personality of a diva. I hear they are pretty self-centered, loud, obnoxious, demanding, etc. maybe you should try that. :P
Comment on post short post:
Why are you so stressed, sweetie?
Comment on post the weekend, non-summarizingly:
Well, if speaking of organized things, then I totally understand. But typically in organized things, my best friends weren't included and organized activities were fun but really couldn't top hanging out, video games, late night escapades, etc. with my best friends.
Comment on post the weekend, non-summarizingly:
I enjoy listening to music if it's a cool environment/there is a visual component. I've found that I get bored just listening to a cd or tape, but if I SEE the performance I find it much more interesting. Also, it has to be pretty rockin music to JUST sit there and listen.
Performing in a choir is the thing you miss most about college? Wow, I would have listed quite a few things above singing. College was the ultimate time period for quite a few activities that are hard to duplicate outside of it.
Comment on post Theorycrafting: upgrades from Zul'Aman:
It's so hard to judge healing gear to see what's best. You have the huge tradeoff of mana versus healing/time, plus in the mana discussion you have intellect versus mp5 which is a tradeoff and fight in and of itself.
Comment on post weekend shenanigans:
It is a bit ghetto but it was a good place. We got a good bed at a good price and didn't look too stupid for not knowing anythign about beds. Thanks for the advice!
Comment on post I still dislike moving:
Yeah, we're anxious to be moved too, although the unpacking will have to be pushed back over several weeks because of the carpet. :(
Comment on post this is the beginning of the end (of moving):
We won't be totally incommunicado hopefully. Our electronics will stay hooked up until Sat morning and hopefully by the end of the day they'll be hooked back up.
And if we finish packing tonight, then we can play some smash bros. :)
Comment on post merrily I roll along:
Yeah, we were doing stuff in the middle too, like laundry that needed attention fairly often. We still have a lot to do tonight like "packing" for the next week or so.
Ooo, we'll definitely have to come over and work on it!
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
Yeah, but I still doubt his electability. Burned once, twice shy? I think he would be an excellent president and he has truly redeemed himself with the Democratic party and perhaps the press. But the press was so over-the-top vicious and biased against him, that I'm not sure a Gore v McCain match up would necessarily go the way we want.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
I absolutely agree...the question is still out there though "Who is the more energizing to the base?" A)The policy wonk, partisan Hillary or the B)Inspirational, poverty-fighter Obama
Obama has (barely) more delegates and seems to have a rep for more inspirational speeches and better motivation among volunteers and getting more first-time voters out to the primaries, which is why I think he's possibly more electable.
(Lest someone say I listed all negative things for Hillary, I love policy wonks cause I think they know HOW to run a government effectively...and partisan-ness can really energize a base enough to overcome the more negative press from the other side.)
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
True, but polls of the general populace are at least attempting to measure how the election goes (polling only likely voters, etc.).
Again, I have trouble generalizing from a primary. Better turnout for a primary doesn't necesssarily mean better turnout for the real vote (because the primaries usually get really really really shitty turnout). My guess is still that all these extra women who voted in the primary were the sort of people who were definitely going to vote in teh general election anyways and clearly were voting democratic. There are very few non-Dems who vote in primaries, so this primary makes it hard to predict the future. It could be that her popularity with females will give her more extra votes among undecideds come November or it could be that Obama's inspiration and support among the poor and African-American communities could cause more of them to come out in November and vote (who wouldn't have or wouldn't have for Dems).
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
Ooo, all three good options. I'd say mostly c) with a fair bit of b) (esp. the parenthetical part), but a) has a bit of ring too. Negative advertising works unfortunately...and it's one thing to point out the differences between you and another candidate (esp when they are mostly minor policy differences) but quite another to attack them, esp in ways that can hurt in the general election, and to fearmonger (like that damn 3am phone call ad).
Actually, it's not Clinton's political nature, it's her partisan, beltway insider nature that gets me. Her health care plan originally failed due to her overly partisan, political nature. And for the record, unless you count her eight years of First Lady, Obama has more public gov't political experience.
Actually past elections have taught us that to win you should to go with someone whom the populace trusts. Bush and Reagan were both marketed beautifully as someone you can really identify with and trust. That's why Kerry lost; he was shown as indecisive and out-of-touch with the average guy. It scares me that Hillary is seen as exactly the same way but with more partisan-ness from her time as First Lady. Polls show her having huge negative numbers and coming off as beltway insider, untrustable "cause she changes her mind based on polls", and mean. Now Obama has been under more negative press and attacks lately (specifically in Texas and Ohio), so people have that fresh in their mind, but I have yet to see a poll showing that more of the general populace has a more negative view of him than her.
It seems like every chance we get, we pick a policy wonk. This generally appeals to me; it's why I'm a Dem. But it doesn't win elections, it loses elections. It's fine to pick a policy wonk but you have to pick an appealing, inspiring one. Bill C. fit that category. Kerry did not. This is how I feel about Clinton v Obama. They are both policy wonks; he more about domestic policy and issues related to poverty; she maybe a bit more overall esp in foreign policy. But he is the more inspiring, less offputting candidate, the one who'll better appeal to moderates and undecideds and better motivate the base to be inspired and GOTV.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
As long as we can find another, better candidate with just as good hair, I'm in.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
Well, it's hard to generalize from party primary voters. Almost anyone (people stepping over party lines for partisan reasons) who voted in the Dem. primary is going to vote for whoever the Dem candidate is. The question is which one appeals to NON party people, the undecideds and moderates. Polls have shown that at least up until this recent glut of negative advertising by clinton against Obama (I haven't seen polls in the last few weeks), Obama was favored by non-Dems.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
Thinking about your post overall; I think I will be obscenely depressed and quite possibly may quit this whole voting thing if Hillary wins the nomination and then (as polls predict) loses to McCain.
Really, the Dem party has a horrible history of picking poor candidates and I'm really not sure why. We either pick people who lose horribly or win by being half-Republican. Why do Dems have to move RIGHT of the population in order to win elections? It's not like people aren't really liberal but have been taught to hate the label by fearmongers and racists.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
Yeah, the election of the convention chair was definitely shady on several levels. That said, I think things were handled quickly and fairly after that and the convention chair really has little power when people know the rules and just want to take care of business and go home.
I'm still torn about being an alternate/delegate. Not having to get up early might have pushed me over to the other side, but I'm also fine with staying home that day and unpacking more.
Comment on post why yes, I am a little depressed:
17 delegates for Clinton, not 19.
Comment on post Vote and caucus tomorrow!:
I think this goes to show us that it's difficult to generalize from small samples. :)
Comment on post number of Blokus games?:
The rules are so simple (each player plays a piece one at a time and they must touch your own pieces precisely diagonally), that I'd be seriously surprised if there was a legal end game board that wasn't reachable by play. In fact, I'm pretty sure every end game board is reachable. At the end, every player's pieces have room and touch diagonally and you cuold pick them all up and then play them all down again, "legally" (except you are taking all your turns at once instead of alternating, but it doesn't matter if you already have an assigned place to play...you KNOW you aren't interfering with anyone else's play).
The issue is that any given end game board configuration technically WILL have many ways to reach it. Essentially, your plays are a graph with a root node on the corner of the board. I was going to say you have a tree (the graph of the connections between the pieces), but you could have cycles so it's a ....cycle containing tree, which is just a regular group with a "special" node. Going from a GIVEN board configuration, you could count the number of different games that end that way, but it's highly dependent on the actual connections of the pieces for each player.
I agree Medryn, my thought was just quickly toss out a crude bound and go home happy. :)
Comment on post I won't mess up your game, dear reader:
Well, first dems actually are being looked to here in Texas...you know when the last time was that we were courted in any way???
Second, I read that something like 10% of Republicans were voting in the Dem side (against Hillary) rather than vote for McCain since he's gonna win anyways.
Comment on post obama v. clinton:
It was a mostly interesting debate that reinforced my earlier observations about each candidate. Essentially, it just confirmed all my thoughts so far.
Only side thoughts: I was disappointed that Clinton was very "politician" several times including the plagiarism charge. I was a little disappointed that Obama wasn't more articulate (not that he doesn't talk circles around our current commander-in-chief, but he wasn't quite as inspirational as I had seen previous evidence of...and Clinton's articulateness stood out.)
Comment on post I'm living in my own private Idaho:
And Vinick is awfully similar to McCain. Hmmm, this doesn't bode well. As I recall, they originally were gonna have Vinick win. :(
Comment on post happy v-day!:
Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. At some point, the question is when is a sex toy not a sex toy and this is just bullshit.
Comment on post happy v-day!:
Comment on post happy v-day!:
Even when only using them for "novelty purposes only", you were (and until March) are still only allowed to legally own up to 5 or 6 of them. After that, it's intent to sell without a license (unless you happen to have a license).
So come March we can all go on a shopping spree!
Comment on post *twitch*:
Maybe you should change your name now to fartingWario.
Comment on post *twitch*:
Muscle twitches in eyelids aren't uncommon and can be brought on by stress. I wouldn't worry bout it too much. Dryness in the eye can irritate it though, so maybe you should use some eyedrops or blink more often. :)
Now if this was a House episode, I'm sure this would be a harbinger of a deeper malady.
Comment on post smash bros.:
Yeah, playing it all in Japanese took away a bit from the comprehension...esp in a few parts where apparently the text is important. Overall though, it's pretty good, and I"m really itching to play more and unlock stuff. I can't wait til it comes out for real here in the states.
Comment on post <a forced smile upon my face>:
If you want to add to the list so we have one somewhere. We also need to do our MD state taxes and setup initial utilities and get a cashier's check. Hmmm, that's the worst of it so far. I'm looking into mooovers. =)
Comment on post laptop debate:
It seems possible to contact almost anyone provided you know some information about them, because it doesn't have separate servers like WoW, but that also leads to information overload.
Comment on post laptop debate:
It would be totally awesome for my vote to perhaps make some sort of difference! I'm getting pretty excited about the primary.
Comment on post laptop debate:
Maybe we can try to clean it ourselves!
Also, Wong is somewhat political, so perhaps you can just ask him to load it up on his computer.
Comment on post Super Smash Bros. Brawl:
Comment on post MacBook Pro: October 17, 2007 - ?:
=( I'm sorry. No matter what, we'll get it fixed or replaced. If we really do need to completely replace it, then we'll have to watch our house expenses, but it's doable.
Definitely shoudl keep the drinks further from the laptop...stupid crowded desk.
Comment on post The Steeping Room:
Wow, that'd be awesome!
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
Ooo, I saw this Boston Legal episode where William Shatner fired a lawyer for being too fat. He was just trying to raise a ruckus, but it was an interesting case. He quoted, in his defense, the recent study that shows that having overweight friends raises your risk of obesity by a fair bit.
Comment on post check, check, check:
You also forgot gained 3 levels on my warlock; cleaned the apartment and put away all holiday decorations; watched our 3 netflix...and that's mostly it I guess.
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
I heard that too. It's TRUE! A lot of people look for a leader who is a "strong father", never wrong, etc. I understand it's good to have one that will stick up for his principles and stick at an important task even if it's difficult, but that's so NOT the same.
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
Actually, speciesism is a big deal to some people, especially many vegetarians. They feel that those of us who think it's not ok to eat people but ok to eat cows are suffering from speciesism.
Of course, since they are ok eating plants, I think they suffer from kingdom-ism.
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
That's what he wants. The republican party is now actually more controlled by the fundies than the fiscal (real) conservatives. I'm not sure where neo-cons fit anymore. People (republicans) have been bemoaning the lack of a "real" republican candidate meaning mostly that there hasn't been a religious-right candidate until Huckabee. I bet he either wins the primary or comes really close.
People LOVE talk about values even if it's always nothing but hot air unenforceable with laws. It's sad that people actually prefer meaningless babble and pandering to real discussions of issues. *sigh*
Comment on post I do not heart huckabee:
Heh. Common political trick. Equate or group one thing you want to demonize with other (despicable) things.
And we really don't want religious marriage to be redefined. We just want the government's recognition of relationships to be more equitable.
Comment on post the previous two weeks:
Sigh. We could have a small ceremony if we just had fewer family and friends or ditched a lot of them. We still could have the ceremony in Hawaii but then almost no one could come...too many people would get left out that I want to come.
Comment on post big day:
I think a lot of people are realizing that HOA's really suck. The problem is that all new neighborhoods these days are built by developers that seem to love HOA. I guess back in the day, it appealed to middle class people that wanted an exclusive, country-club feel.
Comment on post big day:
Actually, yeah, we probably don't own the back fence because it's part of the boundary of the neighborhood and is really part of the whole neighborhood fence.
Comment on post big day:
Yeah, these next 3 or 4 days are crazy. You have a big meeting, we're putting an offer in on a house, we have to travel for my brother's wedding where I'm best man...and then we come back to probably have lots to do (negotiations, inspection, etc.)
Comment on post oh well:
Yeah, given that the highest water bill we've ever had from any other apartment has been like $20. This is rather high. I'm guessing we're getting charged for the complex's water use too (rather than just paying that thru rent).
Comment on post caucus night:
Yeah, the Dean thing was very sad. It was like Gore and the media distortions and lies, but in fast forward and in the primary season.
Comment on post caucus night:
I gained a lot of respect for him with the whole flag-pin thing.
Comment on post happy caucus day!:
Hehe. Yeah, political ads are right about 0% excitement.
I did miss Texas truck commercials when we were up in Maryland. None of the vehicle commercials up there talked about Maryland pride or anything like that. Hell, they don't even brag about their Picante sauce.
Comment on post happy caucus day!:
Yeah, caucuses in particular are confusing. Also, it's kinda weird how different Dem. and Rep. primaries are. Rep. ones are all about who's the most conservative and who's the best guy you'd love to have a beer with. Dem. ones are all about who's the most electable in the eyes of the caucusers.
I have very little respect for political journalists given things like how Gore was treated in his last election, Kerry last time and Dean. I remember mainstream journalists basically failing to do research and just spreading the popular propaganda of the day.
Comment on post mortgage-hunting around done:
Lol, with how the mortgage market is going right now, I'm not surprised they're beating down our door given that we are good mortgage candidates.
BoA's offer is actually competitive, from the few details we have. They have a higher rate, but claim that no PMI is required....which is really odd. Over the long run, since we plan on buying a house "to keep" for a while, the offer only breaks even with our current top choice (esp since PMI is tax-deductible like interest). Even if all things were exactly even, I think I'd prefer the local mortgage guy we're looking at.
Comment on post A brief moment of panic...:
And the kitchen is now redone...
Comment on post The next two weeks:
Comment on post home again, home again jiggety-jig:
Good summary. I agree with these.
NT2 - soo many plot holes and things that just don't make sense. The problem was that the movie itself was decent but the motivations make no sense as Greg pointed out.
UD - I used to kinda like the short cartoons but turning this into a live action movie was just...well, exactly as you might guess.
LFoDH - awesome!
SD - I liked it more than you did. I thought it was sweet and unusual. It was nice to watch a somewhat silly fantasy movie aimed at adults. Not quite as funny or silly as Princess Bride, but good.
Comment on post houses houses houses...I made you out of clay...:
Honestly, the more I think about this house, the more I like it. I'd like to view the other house, but I'm getting more excited about this one.
Negatives: The three he listed above plus
a)Behind the backyard fence is a creek which seems to be mostly standing water. I'm tempted to knock on a random neighbor's door and ask about mosquitos in the summer.
b)they have dogs so the place smells a bit right now, but I'm sure that'll go after a while.
Positives: Good location except it is a little far from a freeway/major road.
Good size
Pretty good layout, pretty open
Nice bathrooms and bedrooms
looks nice out front
We may want to take someone critical to criticize it for us sometime right after xmas.
Comment on post houses houses houses...I made you out of clay...:
Comment on post whoops, false alarm:
True. Her story is more dramatic!
Comment on post Gore coverage in 2000:
Yeah, I remember that election well. I was positively floored by the media representations. Across the board, they really just made up stuff about Gore and loved and tolerated Bush and his ignorance.
Honestly, I never understand why the media positively loves frat playboys. Being rich and lazy makes them good presidential candidates somehow or even interesting? Really, I grew up in Texas and remember his campaigns for governor. The man always struck me as a smug, lazy, rich prick more than "the sorta guy whom you'd love to have a beer with". Gore seemed infinitely more mature and the sort of person who'd be friendly and personable. I think the media (and many people) just love the spunk of youth and disdain the more mature candidates.
Sigh, this really drives home the cynical idea that the modern media is definitely after the interesting story and upping sales rather than even-handedly and factually reporting the news.
Comment on post Christmas is nigh:
It's a good idea. I vary from year to year based on what I'm getting. Some years are 90% online and other years are only 10%.
Comment on post Happiness (two kinds of ice cream!):
And yeah, several events have made me happier. You moving to Austin, us moving back to Austin, etc. But the extra happiness is seldom about stuff or events, it's about people for me I've found.
Comment on post Happiness (two kinds of ice cream!):
I totally agree with this and am prone to that myself...maybe we all are.
But this is why even though we thought we'd look for a house pretty quickly, we moved into a nice apartment instead of a ghetto cheap one and why we unboxed everything and moved in completely, even decorating the place up. Even if we're only there 6 months, we are living there now. I find that "once X happens, then I"ll Y" to be very dangerous if it isn't for very specific reasons...and even then it can make you accept unhappiness now as a tradeoff for unhappiness later. This isn't always bad (putting time in as a low-level employee to rise to management some day), but is dangerous.
Comment on post random WTF:
Comment on post weekend update:
Yeah, I think the biggest letdown after the fact that the ones we liked on paper sucked in real life is the fact that we get to shop and shop and shop until we find a really good one.
Comment on post weird dreams:
aww, I love you too. And hitting that jerk boy scout was ok. :)
Comment on post Dear router,:
Is it the router? I'm wondering if it's the internet flaking in and out or the cable modem resetting or the router. This is just the sort of internet flakiness we used to have last time we lived in Austin. As long as I've had road runner here in Austin (like 4 years), it's been flaky.
Comment on post united way iPhone giveaway - bleck:
Perhaps (Greg's answer notwithstanding), but it sure comes off crass. Then again, people do "fundraisers" all the time that involve raffles or prizes. I have to admit though, often in such situations, I would really just rather donate money and not get some piece of crap in return. I'm not even 30 and I have plenty of knick-knacks I've gotten from various charities, etc.
Comment on post oww, my neck!:
Yeah. I seriously doubt it is meningitis. His only symptom is a stiff neck and he's had that for days now. I believe meningitis is pretty fast working. I think he pulled a muscle in his neck somehow. He also tends to sleep on two pillows which is bad for one's neck.
I threw out the fact that neck problems can signal the onset of meningitis so he went to the web like he always does. :P
Comment on post house-hunting: part 2 of 5000:
Really? I admit I do like their house in general, but I"m not sure I'd say specifically for the verticalness. Although from a "the world is overpopulated, cities overcrowded and sprawl sucks" perspective, then such a smaller footprint is nice.
Comment on post house-hunting: part 2 of 5000:
lol...as good of a criterion as we've come up with.
Comment on post iTunes rating analysis! Portal, TexRenFest.:
Apparently the official wedding package is very expensive, so they make a lot of money off them now.
Comment on post charts and tables and stuff:
Hehe...that Nerd Handbook is pretty good. I also recognize some of myself in that. I also see areas that I had to work on to change myself from the nerd stereotype.
Comment on post fun with cell phones:
That's a problem with the current throwaway, "need fancy gadgets", "don't research any other features" culture surrounding cellphones...it leaves the rest of us with only crappy choices.
Comment on post I am incapable of finding colors that look nice together:
I like it. They are muted and not distracting.
Comment on post schizowhatever:
Comment on post things are already better!:
I need to bring music and headphones. I could use some caffeine now too. :)
I'm glad you're feeling a little more in the flow and I'm jealous of the root beer!
Comment on post clue solver done!:
I think it is you who is inconsistent. Nice job though!!
Comment on post more washer fun:
Aww, thanks! :) We have such thoughtful friends.
Comment on post house-buying tips:
Thanks for all the info. I can see one or both of us getting...emotionally manipulated by the whole process.
Comment on post washing machine follies:
Aww, that's very thoughtful of you! Had we had time to stop by our place on the way down south, we might have taken you up on the offer...but I think we have the absolute essentials done.
Comment on post moving on:
Neat! I'm so behind. Glad to have you back in Texas! (said I guess from the perspective of being back myself soon.) Congrats though!
Comment on post nukes, outing:
Which is why I disagree with Greg here.
Comment on post nukes, outing:
Well, I disagree some with Greg. I think politicians have a bit less of a right to a private life than the average joe. That said, I tend to think they have more of a right than what the average person THINKS politicians should have.
The difference is that the hypocrisy is over something pretty private, their sex life. It's not about who they have mow their yards or hwo they make their money.
Comment on post two weeks to yuma...i mean austin:
Ooo, we might take you up on that! We'll probably not get our stuff until AFTER the weekend even though we are arriving on Monday. So that'll give us a week to paper shelves, go grocery shopping, get stuff set up and I guess play the wii. :)
Comment on post Sen. Larry Craig:
yeah, agreed. His sexuality, to me, is totally unimportant, it's his behavior that's kinda disgusting.
Comment on post Sen. Larry Craig:
I agree with #1 and the way you worded it, but I also think tons of other things are wrong, too. I don't like that our society holds sexuality to be the worst sin in the world.
Recent news story: This FATHER was arrested for showing *his* son porn (who then showed it to his friends, stupid father should have prevented that issue) but I'm thinking WTF right do we have to tell this guy how to raise his son. I certainly don't think he was endangering his own child in a way that the state has any right to interfere with. And I can tell you right now, I don't believe in shielding minors from sex in quite the same way as the fasco-religists. My kids, if I have any, will know about sex and how to protect themselves and won't have hangups about normal sexuality.
Comment on post wallet:
The dot matrix one is ok. It looks cheap and the opposite of durable.
Comment on post clue solver!:
Ooo, I think you just volunteered for some clue games once we're back in Austin.
Comment on post Haskell wearing me down:
Have you considered some sort of game? Those are fun and challenging, or as challenging as you want to make them!
Comment on post beckham's back, all right!:
My brief additions:
First, the game was pretty cool; I had never seen a soccer game in person. The crowd was a more immature than the average baseball crowd and definitely drunker.
Second, the ball-handling skills were pretty impressive, even given that the last soccer I'd really paid attention too was the World Cup.
Third, lol, the fake falls were getting irritating but the ref wasn't falling for it *all the time*, so they let up some in the second half. There was this one time where a guy (flying) TACKLED another guy and thus ended up on the ground and then tried to get a foul called on the guy he tackled!
Fourth, I was disappointed in the amount of time we saw Beckham, but it was still neat and fun.
Fifth, Greg, I heard the secret is to park at New Carolton and take the orange line in and out. It's MUCH less used and much shorter than to and from Greenbelt and only involves a bit more driving in the car.
Rachel and Lynn want to coordinate if we go to another game.
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
No, I totally see where you're coming from. But there is a distinction between shopping and buying, and I assume we're not talking a situation where you go out and buy me one gift and 4 things for yourself. So yeah, relax. :)
Comment on post beckham doubtful tonight:
Only 3 more years...
Yeah, I'll be disappointed if he doesn't play but either way we'll hopefully get to see some good soccer. Then we can go home and play Mario Strikers!
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
Right, definitely a distinction.
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
True. The best presents are things that someone would like but they haven't bought for themselves yet. This could be because they didnt' know about it, weren't sure they'd like it, don't buy a lot of things for themselves in general/don't go shopping often, costs too much, etc.
I know a lot of people who say "that'd be nice" to an object but don't ever get over the activation energy to get it. Gifts work well for these people.
Also, giving someone something that you think they'll like but they had never really thought about, like a good CD or book...is another great gift idea.
I also loved to be surprised by things like Animaniacs or Scooby Doo on DVD that I had no idea existed.
Comment on post starcraft, buying stuff:
It depends. I think it is in the direction of tacky, but it depends more on the person than this one particular action. The point of the trip and buying (birthday) gifts is to be thinking about someone else and what they would like. Extreme version: In the middle of that to be thinking about yourself can give the impression that you can't take 5 minutes from thinking about yourself to do something for someone else.
However, this is you and if you're shopping for something for my birthday and happen upon something that appeals to you, the only issue is that you may give away what sorta thing you were thinking about for my gift. :P
Besides, most of the gifts we buy each other are things we end up doing together, like Starcraft. :)
Comment on post for a monday, things are pretty good:
Yeah, it was tons of fun but I"m still worn out.
Wow on Maiev is quiet; WoW on Alleria is a bunch of strangers; and in neither place can we raid Kara yet! Grr.
Yeah, yesterday having someone(s) over to hang would have been perfect, I agree. Esp since we've been so busy lately, it'd have been a nice way to socialize/keep in touch with people.
Comment on post "entreprenurial" is hard to spell:
Like Portland is weird...I mean, come-on!
Comment on post weekend, wow, project:
But we have daily quests do to do every day! :)
I want my netherdrake! I get honored tonight!! Then I get a boot-arang.
Oh and last night was our second heroic instance and we cleared ALL of our first.
Comment on post Mothers, lock up your hard drives:
Comment on post Cheney series at Washington Post:
Comment on post fun with go:
Hehe. I should play some more go too. It's neat and fun, just too much thinking...although Jonathan got me addicted a bit to this cool grow cube game that's very weird and involved lots of thinking.
Comment on post epic flying mount!!:
w00t! Flying mount. It's SOOOO fast it's sick. Sick, man!!
Comment on post heroic mechanar, and facebook:
Well, let's run some shattered halls and try the heroic hellfirez!!
Comment on post what if money were no object?:
yeah, I have similar thoughts to you.
Comment on post what if money were no object?:
Hey, didn't I technically ask for you to pick up the Muse one for me? That's *my* cd. :P
Yeah, man would it be nice to get to retire in 20 years and just work for the fun of it. I think I'd still do work, but I"d make sure it was fun and productive and NOT taking up 50 hours of my life each week. I think it'd be cool to like teach school for half-day or volunteer or work on open-source stuff. That is a great idea there, Greg.
Comment on post travel notes:
We really would like to get together with yall. *sigh* flying in without a car makes things more difficult. Luckily, 4 months til we're back in Texas.
Comment on post A Tale of Two Stories:
To be fair, I didn't have to stick my head out the door to know it was a flat tire. The sound is very distinctive. I was just surprised at the fact that it was neither really slow nor a blowout, but sort of a slow blowout.
Comment on post vi, ngrams, hats:
Yeah, it's a neat game that's got a neat relation to Hamming codes.
Here's my thing with vi. First, I always stupidly use vi instead of vim, big difference. Second, I spend 50% of my time thinking, 45% of my time typing and 5% editing. But it's not in that order necessarily. The editing is done in little bits as I type. Thus, I've found when I try to use vi, I'm hitting escape approximately every fifth key. This vastly outweighs any savings this particular editor could offer over other powerful editors. I would constantly be back and forth so much that I'd often end up in the wrong mode and do things I didn't want.
Plus, the vi version we have here doesn't allow arrow usage, the delete key, nor the backspace key in typing mode.
Comment on post a personal confession:
Hmm, maybe I"ll return to Slate then. I just read one too many articles that rubbed me the wrong way, so I moved over to Salon...but Salon is pretty liberal, so it'd be nice to have some balance.
Comment on post obsession #12358: bsg:
I think they were going for a more suspenseful setting than would work for a tv show typically. Also, I think we're more programmed that an action movie has to be nonstop bangs and flashes or we realize that the plot is really weak. Since this one had a plot and char development (a lot of char development actually), the slowness was ok. On a second viewing, knowing the characters and the plot and that we're just setting up the tv show, would definitely make it less interesting.
Comment on post ngrams away!:
gah, what a stooopid book.
Comment on post happy birthday to meeee:
Haha! I SO used to do that all the time as a kid. I'd also spend boring sermons doing all the math I could think of to the numbers of the hymns.
Comment on post congressvotes moves forward:
You know, I have a laptop with IE installed as well. Glad your project is going well. I'm still working the kinks out of my UI for mine. UI is hard. I need to do more web-based stuff so I can just use a browser's UI for free.
Comment on post stuff ending:
Comment on post weird week:
I forgot how many "people" they killed off in the movie. It's like watching 10 Bambi's in a row.
Comment on post Life imitating xkcd:
First, I'm the sort of person who thinks about this a lot in social situations...t the lunch table at work every day, at the movies, etc.
Second, that would be a really cool programming project. :) Seems like something you could do with discrete hill climbing maybe.
Comment on post Snickers ad pulled:
As far as pressure from people who find the ad offensive, I think that falls under their right to free speech (within reason of course).
I do think activists can take it too far, and someone will always be offended by something and I am not often personally offended (I make a distinction between finding somethign stupidly unfunny or appealing to the worst in people and being offended.), but it's their right to speak their mind as well.
Comment on post Snickers ad pulled:
I disagree. You forget that the marginalized members of society aren't evaluating it solely on a rational basis. Take someone who was raped traumatically and then show her videos of girls getting raped while a guy stands in a corner saying "bad rapist! bad! bad rapist!". Yes this sends the message that rape is bad, but it can be very unpleasant for the person to watch - and it's very insensitive for someone to put that on the air.
And yes, it has been shown that in general JUST the act of being insensitive, violent, or socially unacceptable is technically funny. That doesn't make it fair game for television necessarily. Just cause something's funny doesn't make it fair game for broadcast. Network tv can get away with a lot more, but it doesn't mean we have to like it or appreciate it. I rarely think somethign shoudl actually be pulled from network tv - it's part of freedom of speech, but I"ll also not shy away from making my disapproval of something insensitive or of something that's using deeply held beliefs, fears or issues to make money.
Comment on post Snickers ad pulled:
Comment on post homophobic Super Bowl ad:
I totally agree. Even stuff that subtly makes fun of homophobia can strongly reinforce homophobic attitudes adn be uncomfortable for gays to watch. Read the recent studies on anti-drug campaigns for more info. It turns out that advertising drugs with a short message of "don't do drugs" actually just reinforces the idea that lots of people do drugs and it's a common place thing, and actually encourages kids to try it (not joking). Same thing with these subtle commericials or jokes of that sort - they reinforce and perpetuate the stereotype.
Comment on post Is the weekend here yet?:
Hey, babies and the house are pretty major! :P And moving isn't all it's cracked up to be.
Comment on post My subconscious hates Macs:
Hmm, I'm not sure. You keep reading windows books lately though so maybe you're being brainwashed.
As far as the meme thing goes, I'm actually startign to loosen my definition of meme...perhaps to the more correct one. According to Miriam&Webster, "an idea, behavior, style, or usage that spreads from person to person within a culture". Livejournalers definition constitutes a subculture, and posting about dreams is indeed a behavior, as is taking quizzes. Even the fad of doing quizzes is sort of a meme. Not sure I entirely like fad being interchangeable with meme though. There's more of an ideation rather than action connotation to meme.
Comment on post Public service announcements:
Good advice.
Comment on post Microresolutions:
I know it's harder, but you could just limit yourself to like 1 caffeine a day or something...and tea doesn't count. :)
Comment on post The wonderful game called Tsuro:
I dunno if I'd say argued...more like a spirited academic discussion or debate. :)
Comment on post back home:
Welcome back!! Don't be frantic, sweetie!
Comment on post almost Christmas!:
I'm sure we can meet up at some point in time. We don't have no transportation, so maybe we could arrange somewhere in austin sometime Sat-Mon to meet up for food or chat. We'll be staying at Jonathan's so that's a possibility.
Comment on post almost Christmas!:
We'll be there Sat through Tuesday morning, with like Sun/Mon being the 2 day new years extravaganza. Will yall be coming to part of the party? Were yall on the initial details email?
Comment on post almost Christmas!:
Yeah, authors, like other celebrities, can be pretty nutty when they decide that their celebrity status gives them special powers to know things.
Comment on post just a day, just an ordinary day...:
Yeah, kinda weird though.
Comment on post just a day, just an ordinary day...:
What's funny is that his argument was really that that lost .5% of growth would cause us to be even with China sooner. That's it. Not that it would never happen but that it would cause it to happen sooner. He also didn't support the .5% number nor did he discuss what other (positive) effects it could have on the economy. Growth is not the only important number, nor the most important.
Comment on post Wii impressions:
The Miis are something I didn't know about beforehand. It's sorta like a way, for many games, to store all your data in a portable, cute format. You can send a copy of these miis over to other people's systems so you can play when you're visiting them and so "they" can be on your baseball team and such. :) You can even store a copy in a wii-mote and take it with you when you go visit someone. I wonder if you will be able to always carry around your stats for the new Smash Bros this way and such.
Comment on post Wii story:
Comment on post back in the cold:
True, interactive stuff is fun. Raids in wow are much more fun when we have lots of votes. :)
Comment on post Pictures:
That does sound sorta Katamari-y.
Comment on post between projects:
Yeah, such a thing woudl be pretty useful and interesting. I guess when I picture "the future", I already sorta had in mind that we'll have computer calendars that can do stuff like this and make socializing much easier.
Comment on post progress on the netflix front:
Sounds interesting and tough. Stuff liek that is totally not my area. Maybe we should try to find some time to talk about it though. Man, it's sad that we might have to sort of schedule in time to talk about it. :P
Comment on post newspaper irritations:
I agree a fair bit. I think the "conservative" policy that all of societies issues need to be addressed entirely by the capitalist system through jobs and such is just bunk. It makes so much more sense to have society as a whole (which the gov't represents - a body for governing society) take care of things that deal with universal welfare (it's even in the preamble to our gov't's constitution). Issues like maternity leave, retirement, health care, sick leave, etc.
Comment on post feelin' breezy:
You did'nt say much about the Aquarium. :) We saw dolphins which were really cool and they talked a lot about how they train them and such (rather than just showing the usual tricks). We also saw some really neat fish, electric eels, colorful frogs, cute puffins, actual coral and sea anenomes (they look SO cool and fake) and a few other noteworthy things that I can't remember any more. We spent 3.5 hours there without really getting bored, so it was fun.
Comment on post (no subject):
I always wonder how much of it is really all about the fact that you're high high up in the air. I mean, peopel don't get quite the same fear about riding in a car with someone else driving (even though you're out of control AND in a much more dangerous situation than flying) or riding in a bus or train. Being miles about ground is a rather untenable, unnatural position for a human being.
Comment on post (no subject):
Nice pics. Brody appears to be another Jonathan. He looks pretty different in pics than in real life. The camera totally doesn't capture his mischievous, charming spirit.
Comment on post last weekend at NI:
I just met him and I already love zefrank! Good stuff.
Comment on post look what we can do!:
I'm confused. Can he not turn off comments in LJ? Also, if every post ends with a direct hyperlink to your real journal, maybe it'll be just as easy for people to comment the right way.
Comment on post minimum wage shenanigans:
Yeah, the sad thing is that it's a slightly complicated issue and most news outlets aren't doing a good summary of it. Headlines include crap like "Min wage bill fails" or "Dems sink min wage hike".
Comment on post Apparently, left to my own devices...:
I do similar things when I have time to myself. :) In fact, I have a tendency to watch everything on the tivo while reading or playing a game. Thank goodness we only tivo stuff we really like or I'd watch all sorts of crap.
BTW the video is now off of YouTube due to copyright issues.
Comment on post a few links:
Yeah, this was exactly what we Wiessmen feared, and I think overall the outcome is more acquaintances and fewer friends.
Comment on post shows done! palm to google calendar done!:
Sounds like a really busy day yesterday for you, cutie. We should play some Go sometime then. I promise not to be hurt if you kick my butt.
Also I should mention the gala performance is a fundraiser, so it costs a bit to get in, but it's for a good cause. We put on this musical every summer for free for these children. The cast and crew are all volunteers.
Comment on post rehearsal me tired:
We can maybe drag in a couple of friends, Andrew and Sarah, to usher some again. Jonathan may be available the second weekend of shows.
Comment on post rehearsal me tired:
What a weird dream. :) You're cute.
w00t! Glad to see our new city isn't too shabby.
I can never bring myself to do much military stuff in Civ. It's just not my personality
Comment on post Great. Just great.:
You're so cute!
Comment on post Great. Just great.:
Hehe. Make sure ot pass it along to me too!
Comment on post fun with juries!:
Court appointed wise, at least in Texas, people "don't care". Typically, it's not given high priority and the representation is not very good. It's a commonly bemoaned problem.
Comment on post Viva Italia!:
It was totally totally shocking to me when I was watching the game. I was totally like "WTF?".
Comment on post baseball series probabilities:
Good analysis! The thing to consider unsimplifying though is the definition of "better" team. How often is a team better by 1%? Maybe a better definition would include a larger spread in abilities (i.e. significantly better rather than within margin of error).
Comment on post driving quiz! and character encodings:
Actually, it's rather funny but this exactly car driving issue was in the paper today. They discussed that you aren't supposed to you your car horn to express impatience, only to help avoid dangerous situations. That said, i think someone taking a really long to turn left could turn into a dangerous situation.
Comment on post more world cupiness:
Edit: Rice won! They are on their way!
Comment on post wheeee:
How do you fix the avacado?
Comment on post wheeee:
Yes, I know you love guacamole. :) I'll have to learn how to make some at home.
Comment on post wheeee:
Nachos are pretty good already, so I'm sure Suuuper nachos are even better!
Comment on post recent happenings-on:
Neat. Inquisitive kids can be fun sometimes. They do get more fun as they gain the ability to talk and such.
Comment on post adrift:
Oh and nice mood. :)
Comment on post adrift:
Cool. Have fun tonight, sweetie.
Comment on post a few random things:
Wow to both.
Comment on post "burn baby burn" - poll:
The phrase itself is actually racially tinged, something that "whites" often aren't aware of, especially our group of friends I expect. It does originally reference the racially charged 1965 Watts Riots in Los Angeles. However, since then, the phrase has been somewhat appropriated by white supremacists in a "KKK cross burning" sort of way.
Most people wouldn't get, out of context, the inherent racial flavor that it can carry and so most of the outrage was simply over mostly white officers glorifying in the burning of a mostly black hangout.
Comment on post trippy game:
I love the music!
Comment on post trippy game:
The original is on sale for only $18 at EB Games and the sequel which we played last night for like $27. I am tempted to get.
Comment on post brain dump:
I wanted to post a comment I read from someone else in another blog on the issue of polls on domestic spying:
"The whole point of having civil liberties is that they are not supposed to
be subject to a majority veto. Hobbes may not have believed in natural
rights, but our founders did. And their opponents, the anti-Federalists,
were even more zealous about restraining the powers of the federal
superstate, which is why they forced the Federalists to write the Bill of
Rights directly into the Constitution.
It defeats the purpose of having a 4th Amendment if its validity is entirely dependent on breaking 50% in the latest poll. It would be nice to have "the people" on our side in this debate, and obviously a lot of them are, even if Doherty's plurality still prefers Leviathan's crushing embrace. But some things are wrong just because they're wrong -- not because a temporary majority (or even a permanent one) thinks they're wrong...
What the government is doing is illegal and unamerican, and that would still be true if the polls showed 99% support..."
Comment on post just a few links:
He's not jaw dropping; I agree. But I prefer hot guys that aren't so hot that you'd be intimidated by them (and they are probably all stuck up anyways from being hit on by everyone)...so to me he's hot.
Comment on post Happy Easter!:
Haha. That's pretty funny. How old were yall?
Comment on post 1099Q? WTF??:
Even if you don't want to do taxes or go through training, they can always use translators!!!
Comment on post Feingold for president!:
A man can't dream can't he? A man can dream...
Comment on post Feingold for president!:
I think part of the reason for that is their own horniness. They figure if it's just two guys they must have sex all the time (no woman to say no) or something.
Comment on post I really don't understand:
Yeah, it does seriously take away from other much more important race issues and problems.
Comment on post I really don't understand:
Yeah, I think the first officer was cleared of any wrongdoing but that the second one was "reprimanded".
Comment on post I really don't understand:
Perhaps this situation really is similar to the capitol police one (minus the student getting somewhat violent). I dunno how enforced the procedures are for getting in to the capitol. If only the occasional minority representative is actually "carded" out of all the representatives going in and out...
Comment on post I really don't understand:
The other situation was a bit more egregious. Student are allowed to "put up" chalk advertisements on the ground to meetings and events in the "UT student mall" provided they get permission first. A black student was chalking the ground around 7 or 8pm one evening (this was winter so it was already pretty dark but the area is lit and he was in the center of a sidewalk, not "skulking") having gotten permission to do so when an officer snuck up behind him and tackled him "to the ground"...doing so in such a violent way that it "cracked his head open" on the a nearby bench. The poor student had to be taken to the hospital to get stitches (and xrays to make sure it wasn't a concussion). The officer claimed that he was afraid the student would run if he just walked up and asked for identification. The student claims he was accosted in such a violent way because he was black.
For note, while it is permissible to do a chalk advertisement not many do. You'll see a few each month.
Comment on post I really don't understand:
As another note, we had 2 similar situations here at UT since I've been here.
One was an african-american male college student, call him Bob (since I don't remember the name). Bob was in the student center (in the upper floors which are students only) and just playing the piano waiting for a meeting. He was approached by an officer who demanded 2 forms of id (slightly unusual to ask for 2 forms) and that he justify why he was there. Now this area is open to all students (but only students). He was and looked like a young male college student. He objected to what he saw as unequal treatment especially since there were other white and asian students milling around but he was the only black one. There was some hoopla about it. The officer claimed that he was behaving suspiciously, although the only suspicious things she could point out was that he moved away from the piano away from her towards one of the exit doors (to a hallway to the meeting rooms) as she approached his direction. (He said he was going to his meeting as it was meeting time.) Why she demanded 2 forms of ID was because she thought the first was "suspicious".
Comment on post I really don't understand:
I mostly agree with y'all's comments here. To try to better understand her arguments, I think part of what she is saying is that she feels that she was stopped for 2 reasons: 1)Being a black woman, the cops assumed she didn't belong in the capitol. 2)The cops didn't recognize her because they don't pay attention to black people/all black people look alike.
I think the reason she objected to the showing identification is that perhaps many (most?) of the white, male representatives get special treatment and are recognized (at least in her perspective).
Comment on post cute math song and "V for Vendetta":
I didn't find it that violent to be honest. Yes there were a handful of scenes where i closed my eyes (I don't like watching violence), but that was about it and they were mostly short.
Comment on post Bits and piece o' my weekend:
First, the movie was ok. Im' not saying it was terrible - I just don't think it deserved an Oscar. Sadly, upon watching it however, my first impulse was "Someone really wanted an Oscar so they sat down and tried to write something that woudl win" and it did.
I didn't really find it made me introspective (not in a good way). The cases were too stereotypical. The little bit of background they tried to give wasn't enough (and was too stereotypical itself). In fact, for a movie about racism, I found the stereotypes and movie itself rather racist.
I agree with you a lot fanboi. It just showed some complex examples of racism without showing any charater advancement or resolvement. I didn't identify with or attach myself to any character. I didnt feel like any of them were real people and I had little sympathy for them (which is saying a lot for me - I always identify with movie characters).
Comment on post Bits and piece o' my weekend:
I found Crash pretentious and artificial. Let's not even go into the Go-like, awfully convenient plot. I think the after-school "lessons" it teaches are pretty demeaning: It's ok to be racist against black people provided you would risk your life to save a black person's life. Everyone's a little bit racist. Some thieves won't stoop to murder or slavery. Even horrible people can love someone.
I think the fact that everything in the entire movie was all about race and how we are all racist in some form or fashion really bothered me. I think the movie just tried too hard to be "nuanced" and show the grey areas of life.
I can see it scoring really well at the Oscars. It avoids the unpleasant gay-factor but still seems 'different', 'edgy' and 'race-conscious'.
Comment on post 1,440 minutes:
the second destroyerj link is misspelled.
Comment on post of video cards and wanting to kill computers:
Hey! I resent any implications. Haven't you learned by now to trust me?
Comment on post I have a bad feeling about this...:
Hehe! Clever plan.
Comment on post Hook 'em Horns!:
What about something very low key on Friday night?
Comment on post Hook 'em Horns!:
We're both pretty under the weather, so i think we're planning on staying home tonite and being antisocial. We made the "mistake" of going out last night and neither of us feel any better today.
Comment on post pictures are up:
Since when does soap taste good?
Comment on post I've got to admit it's getting better...:
Wow, sprinkles make everything better! Maybe I should try them on stew.
Comment on post it's cooooold!:
Yeah, they really cheap out on pipes and such around here, which is stupid because given that some pipes still freeze and burst and it costs a lot of money to fix, much more money than just burying them a little deeper, they just are being short-sighted.
Maybe they figure global warming will soon eliminate winter freezes down here.
Gah, short-sightedness is so stupid. Saving 10cents now at a cost of $1 later is just idiotic. For example, think how much money (and lives but I'm just making a monetary argument) could have been saved if they just woudl have improved the leeves in New Orleans.
Comment on post almost thanksgiving!:
I LOVE the celebrity recasting. Debra Messing could do a decent Hermy. I also love anything with Angela Lansbury in it!
Comment on post good wicked weekend:
Well, it's not that Boq was evil...he was just insincere and actually sort of cowardly. We originally thought from the "We deserve each other" part of a song that he actually liked Nessa.
Comment on post vote next tuesday!:
Yeah, I'm pretty sure judges could interpret it as including common law marriages of any sort - something that I think was somewhat intended by the "religious right" people involved. It would be sweet if some activist judge actually did look at the bill and say "ok, no more marriages then" just to teach congress a lesson about how to write decent bills (decent being clear and concise rather than right versus wrong).
Comment on post good day!:
Yeah, we just saw that one. It's Vera. :)
Comment on post good day!:
Yeah, but the shepherd scared River with it...do you want to scare River?
Comment on post Long week. Also, long next week.:
Yes, I can make it!
Comment on post busy week, fun weekend:
I assume you're thinking of the sound matching as being done by comparison of wav files but have you considered thinking of it as matching more midi files/sheet music? Wav files can be converted to sheet music somewhat and such matching could more easily done there especially as you can easily account for key differences and speed differences (by ignoring the length of notes) to get good probable matches.
Comment on post I'm addicted to WoW...:
Yeah,I was wondering, because you've also had a few other random errors since yo uput in that "cheap" memory stick. Have you tried takin out the memory stick and installing just on your old memory? Also, are you sure it's not older sticks in your computer that were somewhat unseated when you added the new?
Comment on post I'm addicted to WoW...:
Ah, the old motivation question, do you help people mostly because it makes them like you more and you feel better?
Comment on post Phone Post::
I can't believe you were in the airport for like 6 hours on Tuesday. That sucks man. Being put up in a hotel is kinda fun though!
Comment on post happy birthday!:
Thanks. Didn't know you were still alive. Glanced at your livejournal but there's not much there.
Comment on post happy birthday!:
Awww thanks. The sad thing is that I'm almost out of cell phone mins and I've already had 5 people call me to wish me a happy birthday and more to go. I don't like rushing people who are being nice and calling me off the phone :/ Luckily my new plan with more minutes kicks in tomorrow...wait that's not really lucky, it's more ironic. I won't need extra mins tmw, I need them today.
Comment on post over!:
"Maggie killed Mr. Burns!? I thought Smithers did it."
"That would have made a lot more sense."
Comment on post long time no see...:
Breakfast tacos are sort of a south Texas thing. They were "everywhere" growing up in south-ish Texas.
Comment on post non-weekend post:
I don't specifically or rather consciously pick the 'good' side. I tend to prefer to play (or watch) something I identify with or empathize with. This usually ends up being the good guys more than the bad guys. In the case of a complex situation like in star wars galaxies, whichever is fine by me. In weird situations like Starcraft, I tended to be pretty flexible. In gangsta movies, I just get disgusted and walk out.
Comment on post weekend post:
Oh, you ran errands Tuesday morning? Where'd you go?
Comment on post quick poll:
Yeah, "they" in that sentence was various reporters, editors and authors. Many prisoners do a moderate amount of work and prison maintenance costs aren't incredibly high. Lawyer fees and judge salaries involved in various appeals (all death penalty cases get at least one appeal if not more) can really add up fast. Plus, usually it takes a good decade or more before they are executed anyway - so we are already feeding them and taking care of them. Add to that the fact that people on death row have to be kept in an incredibly maximum security prison "since they have nothing to lose" which costs more than the usual high security prison.
Comment on post quick poll:
Actually that's the official Catholic position. If guilt is virtually certain and there is uncertainty about the ability to restrain such a person from carrying out such acts again, then it's acceptable. However, in modern society we can pretty effectively restrain such people indefinitely (and at lower cost, surprisingly, I've read than the death penalty involves) and since we have reasonable doubts about the lack of racism in the system and quality of defense many of these suspects receive that the death penalty isn't needed and is in fact morally questionable.
Comment on post weekend, credit card, stuff:
I do like having tags like "toread" or "readweekly", etc.
Comment on post meaning to post for a while - here it comes!:
I dunno if that reallycounts as public service. I certainly wouldn't think it woudl count in place of jail time or anything. :)
Comment on post last days of trip:
Yeah, good point. We saw a few straight people wearing red, obviously. But when a whole group of guys is wearing red... :)
Comment on post <your subject here>:
On Sunday.
Comment on post <your subject here>:
How much extra does it cost for the new tickets? And are they for the weekend after my birthday as discussed?
Comment on post howdy!:
Man, it took me 2 minutes. I'm so anal that I can't do it without an exhaustive search in a nice pattern. Maybe I need some tea.
Comment on post Yes, I'm still around...:
comment comment comment
Comment on post iTunes and SQL:
Michael Jackson? Just teasing.
I need one of these magical scripts that can tell me what sort of music I like. On second thought to quote a great mouse "I don't care what it does so long as it folds and fits under a bed."
Comment on post Quick random update!:
Oh and Atlanta is more than just a delta hub, or so I hear.
Comment on post Quick random update!:
Greg forgot to say that Round Rock won in the bottom of the 9th even after giving up 3 runs in a really stupid error earlier. Pretty exciting stuff! See, Greg! I told you we should move to Hawaii. :)
Comment on post weekend update!:
Neat, why didn't we try that saturday? So much to finish in the game. :) I love games with unlockables.
Comment on post weekend update!:
"Controlling" Yoda gives me a headache and having a partner (who can hurt you) swinging wildly isn't a picnic either. The game is pretty darn cool though. :) Everyone should try/see it. "The Force" plays a big role.
Comment on post Birthday post!:
Oh and I watched (during lunch) the Evita episode of the Simpsons...pretty good stuff.
Comment on post Birthday post!:
Presents? I was supposed to get presents?
Comment on post I'm in a happy place!:
First, you don't want to start _another_ project. :) Second, you don't want to start a pissing contest...or do you?
Comment on post I'm in a happy place!:
Ah, thoughts like I'm growing old and I'm so old and Im' so old things don't work as well as they used to and such? If you throw in a few "Get off my lawn" and "Get a job, you hippie", it'll be a great birthday rant.
Comment on post I'm in a happy place!:
Wow, so apparently we hang around only with people who have lj tags. :) So what are these birthday thoughts? Whatcha want to do for your birthday? I can cook or we can hit a restaurant. If I was less lazy and we needed junk food, I would get a cookie cake. :) Now I'm just teasing you.
Comment on post gays in sports:
I've seen some stats that say gay men coaching underage girls is much more acceptable, leading me to think that a lot of it is pedophilia fear OR the irrational fear that seeing a gay guy in authority will turn their boys gay.
Comment on post I am moody, hear me roar!:
I keep telling you kidses, I'm not a p-sychiatrist.
Comment on post I am moody, hear me roar!:
Ack, not sure I like your color scheme. Since your moods often follow events, I'd say you're more moody than bipolar. Or maybe you're just pretty emotional. And being tired at 11something at night, isn't necessarily a mood. :)
Comment on post weekend, pictures, etc.:
Sure, put me down. We actually taught someone new how to play this weekend. She was learning on Peach. :) I thought of you.
Comment on post weekend, pictures, etc.:
Of course he has a copy. :) Who could own a gamecube without one???
Comment on post Help sunset provisions of the Patriot Act!:
I dunno who we know that lives in yours same complex???
Comment on post busy busy busy!:
That's a freakin' great pic!! You know I never noticed the sluggy/Donnie darko connection...
Comment on post busy busy busy!:
Cool, thanks! Sounds like some cute themes. :) I miss the days of Britney Beers :P
Comment on post this is awesome!:
wow, at least from the pics, they really do look see-through. I'm impressed.
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