Category Archives: random
ASCII Star Wars
Episode 4 rendered as ASCII art:
telnet://towel.blinkenlights.nl/
Only watched a couple minutes’ so far, to the bit where C3PO and R2D2 land on Tattoine, but it’s all sorts of clever so far.
Shut off the idiot box
Most of us watch way too much of it. It’s turning us into the world of Idiocracy:
Kill Your TV and Save Your Life
We all know what the expanded version of the problem is: The problem is that we live in, as Andrew Breitbart called it, a “Matrix” of leftist assumptions and propaganda, all being delivered to us 24/7 by a wireless intravenous drip system called television.
I’ve been thinking a lot about this. I’ve been thinking it’s time to actually do something.
Just an idea, but I would like to start thinking seriously about delivering a truly grievous wound to the Political-Entertainment Complex.
I’m thinking about, firstly, stopping watching almost TV entirely and shedding cable stations. (Some cut the cable entirely.)
I say “almost entirely” because people are so addicted to TV at this point that I think it seems as hard to quit TV as it is to quit smoking. (By the way: It’s easy to quit smoking.)
So let’s throw in the “almost” caveat there and think about it like this: If I write down all the shows I watch, I think I’ll be embarrassed and sad to see how many hours I sit as a voluntary, unmoving, passive spectator, watching other people perform Shows and other people perform in Sports and other people doing things.
I ditched cable about a year and a half ago. I don’t miss it. What little bit of TV I still watch is all downloadable or streamable, and there’s not much of it. In the past month, I’ve watched Top Gear (probably in its final season), Archer, and Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives. What do I do with the rest of my time? Any number of things: reading (books or blogs…take your pick), hashing, tinkering with electronics, shooting, reloading ammo, going to beerfests…probably more stuff I can’t remember offhand. There is life beyond TV. You don’t necessarily need to do the things I do; do the things you find interesting. Whatever it is, it’ll more than likely be better for your mind than spending hour on hour glued to the idiot box.
This explains more than a few things
Dopeler Effect: the phenomenon in which stupid ideas seem smarter the faster they come at you.
Would it be wrong to lead this off with “WTF?”
Possibly more funny than that Austrian village (sign on the right):
Meet the gentleman with what is widely considered the world’s most unfortunate name – Guilherme Carabagiale F**k.
The Brazilian student has the unusual last name – which he insists is actually pronounced ‘Foo-kee’ – thanks to his German heritage.
The talented sportsman insists he isn’t ashamed of his name – but admits that he find it easier to be identified by his other surname of Carabagiale when playing college basketball in Canada.
On Friday the 13th
This is the second month in a row we’ve had a Friday the 13th. That occurrence doesn’t roll around all that often, as it can only occur in March on a year that isn’t a leap year. Some quick calculations indicate that the next one won’t roll around until 2026. Looking further ahead through the rest of the century, the remaining occurrences are in 2037, 2043, 2054, 2065, 2071, 2082, 2093, and 2099.
Major Museums Start Banning Selfie Sticks
Could this mark the beginning of a return to sanity?
Major Museums Start Banning Selfie Sticks
Selfie sticks, the logical ‘extension’ of an already irksome activity, were recently banned in Premier League soccer stadiums. Now museums around the world are starting to do the same over worries of accidental damage to artwork. The Smithsonian barred their use effective last week as a ‘preventative measure to protect visitors and museum objects,’ especially on crowded days. Meanwhile, a formal ban is pending at Versailles palace and Centre Pompidou in France, and visitors are now being told to stow their sticks by guards at the Louvre. Both Pompidou and the Louvre will continue to allow regular photography and selfies.
Overcriminalization Is a Problem in America
Using Sarbanes-Oxley against a fisherman who threw back some of his undersized catch? The Supreme Court smacked down that ridiculous notion:
Overcriminalization Is a Problem in America
It’s not the first time such a miscarriage of justice has been attempted (the article also describes a jilted wife charged with violation of a chemical-weapons treaty when she tried to get back at the homewrecker), but until the size and scope of the government is drastically rolled back, it’s unlikely to be the last time.
Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg Wasn’t ‘100 Percent Sober’ During State of the Union
Given who was giving this particular speech, I can’t say I’d blame her for trying to drown out the pain:
Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg Wasn’t ‘100 Percent Sober’ During State of the Union
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg admits to sharing some wine with her colleagues and not being “100 percent sober” for President Obama’s State of the Union address in January.
During Obama’s speech, which lasted just under an hour, many viewers on social media pointed out that the 81-year-old liberal justice appeared to be snoozing.
“The audience for the most part is awake, because they’re bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we’re not, at least I wasn’t, 100 percent sober,” Ginsburg said during a talk at George Washington University on Thursday night, according to a report by The Blaze.
Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg Wasn’t ‘100 Percent Sober’ During State of the Union
Given who was giving this particular speech, I can’t say I’d blame her for trying to drown out the pain:
Ruth Buzzi Ginsburg Wasn’t ‘100 Percent Sober’ During State of the Union
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg admits to sharing some wine with her colleagues and not being “100 percent sober” for President Obama’s State of the Union address in January.
During Obama’s speech, which lasted just under an hour, many viewers on social media pointed out that the 81-year-old liberal justice appeared to be snoozing.
“The audience for the most part is awake, because they’re bobbing up and down, and we sit there, stone-faced, sober judges. But we’re not, at least I wasn’t, 100 percent sober,” Ginsburg said during a talk at George Washington University on Thursday night, according to a report by The Blaze.