gregladen | November 29, 2010... like clockwork. Orange that is.
Or perhaps 1984 is a better analogy, and that would be rather poignant, considering that Apple is said to have made a huge initial impact years ago with its anti-1984 ad.
We should have known then that a company using 1984 as a means of selling itself would eventually develop into its own Orwellian nightmare.
The latest?
... a representative from developer relations informed the CEO of Mediaprovider, a small magazine publisher based in Denmark, that he couldn't put a magazine about Google's (GOOG) Android on the App Store.
According to Mediaprovider'…
gregladen | November 29, 2010The Berry Go Round Plant Carnival is up and it's an especially good one. Don't miss it!
Hillary Clinton on Wikileaks
The first day of the Minnesota Recount is going badly, following my expectations perfectly. Story here.
Speaking Out on International Gay Rights.
gregladen | November 29, 2010A frail elderly woman would have a hard time walking a few blocks, from her apartment to the subway, then from the subway to the MET, with winds gusting to near hurricane strength. So, the patron of the arts and of archaeology, who happened to be a cousin of my first wife, called around to find a worthy pair to use her tickets to the private opening (for major patrons) of The Treasures of Tutankhamun, the exhibit of King Tut's tomb. The public opening at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City would be several days later. When it was found that the two only archaeologists in the…
gregladen | November 29, 2010
"I want people in Minnesota armed and dangerous on this issue of the energy tax because we need to fight back. Thomas Jefferson told us 'having a revolution every now and then is a good thing,' and the people -- we the people -- are going to have to fight back hard if we're not going to lose our country."
gregladen | November 28, 2010And I don't refer here to his humor, his lifestyle, or even his hair.
Leslie Nielsen never produced an original piece of humor in his life. All of his jokes were stolen from my friend Karl and me, from stuff we did back in middle school. But, I do have to give Nielsen credit for getting that garbage produced so others could enjoy it.
Nielsen, of course, is famous for his Naked Gun series, starring OJ. Simpson. Which just goes to show you that his casting director was not named Claire Voyant. But I have to say one of my favorite productions of his was Wrongfully Accused, written and/or…
gregladen | November 28, 2010The following is an accurate account of a recent conversation in which illegal, and possibly dangerous acts against the Federal and State governments were planned.
"I'm glad you guys could come over for dinner," said our host, as we shared the task of moving dishes and serving plates, silverware and glasses from the dining room table to the kitchen.
"Get out of here, no need to help cleaning up," he continued, shooing the three of us away from the kitchen and into the living room, where we distributed ourselves on various pieces of furniture.
I had known Bill years ago in school, and we…
gregladen | November 27, 2010Have you ever noticed that everyone else's house or apartment is cleaner than yours?
That's because your arrival is usually expected, and a certain amount of cleaning up happens before you get there. So, you experience everyone else's home cleaned up but your own crib just the way it is.
Like China. Before everybody came over to China for the Olympics, they cleaned up their air and some other stuff. I'm not sure how they managed it. When the Olympics were in Greece, about a month or so before people started to arrive, the Greek Army showed up in Athens and surrounding communities and…
gregladen | November 27, 2010The videos are below the fold to avoid flash freakout on your computer.
The question: Is Religion a Force for Good in the World?
The Pre Debate poll of the audience said no, it is not:
PRO: 22% CON:57%
UNDECIDED:21%
And 75% of those polled said they'd be willing to change their mind.
After the debate, the results of a second poll were:
POST-DEBATE
PRO: 32% CON: 68%
So, Blair: 0 Hitchens: 1
gregladen | November 26, 2010Americans and citizens of some of the most Islamic countries tend to agree that it is a force acting on the side of good. Many Europeans say the opposite. There is a rough correlation between the religiosity of a country and how much religion is revered (duh) as a primarily good thing.
This poll was conducted in connection with the upcoming debate between Christopher Hitchens and Tony Blaire. The overall results, combining answers across countries, indicates that a slim majority of humans are rather suspicious of religion's value as an ethical or moral compass.
gregladen | November 26, 2010I was just glancing through the blog of Katheryn Schulz, author of Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error, a book about people who were wrong about stuff, often big stuff (for example, she talks about individuals who spent decades in jail owing to false convictions). Meantime, I'm working on posts related to the falsehoods and "Everything you know is wrong" series. And, as I do this, I'm thinking about a way in which people get things wrong that is often overlooked or, perhaps, not recognized as a specific category of irrational thinking.
This has to do with the idea of a fetish.…
gregladen | November 25, 2010The enemy has arrived, in force, outside your village. The men are armed and wearing the symbols of war, which is appropriate because your group and the group milling about outside your walled settlement are at war. One of the men, wearing war garb but adorned also with white flagging to indicate a peaceful intent attempts to enter your village but is stopped by guards. They converse briefly and the guards allow the man to crawl into your village through the only opening in the surrounding wall left following preparations for possible attack. The man walks into the center of the plaza and…
gregladen | November 25, 2010Tom Hackbarth is from Cedar, Minnesota and is a veteran member of the Minnesota House of Representatives. The district he represents is just north of where I live (I'm near 113th and the southern border of Hackbarth's district is 181st) and overlaps with Michele Bachmann's congressional district. Hackbarth is a Republican and has been re-elected to represent this district a number of times. With the Republicans taking over the Minnesota house this year, he is the new chair of the Environment and Natural resources Committee. And, when asked by reporters from our local TV station what he was…
gregladen | November 24, 2010Thanksgiving is in some ways the best holiday because it is all about ... gravy. But when you dig a little you find racism and religiosity and other icky stuff. Here's an example of what can go wrong: