August 2011
11 posts
Is The Web The Ultimate Serendipity Machine? →
I’m a librarian, so Aleks Krotoski’s question yesterday rings a bell for me. Libraries are about arranging things physically to facilitate serendipity. There are some advantages to that, like putting everything by and about William Shakespeare in the same place so you can (barely, in a small library) see all of it at once and browse through it quickly. But there are disadvantages, like...
2 tags
A wild assortment
MPOW is getting ready to replace the carpet in the office I share with two dozen people, so we’re all temporarily packing up our desks. Some of my colleagues have twenty years’ worth of paper records (we’re a library, so for some it’s journal literature and for others it’s order forms and vendor records), but I’ve kept my cubicle fairly minimal because I find...
“And both of these setups would come with a couch, a Lady-Grey-with-milk...”
– Cheryl Klein
3 tags
Sometimes, There's A Man →
I commend to you track three, Go Through Hell, of this rock opera about a podcast host, commissioned by an email marketing vendor, and performed by Merlin Mann, my favorite geek. I just put it up on Facebook to the uncomprehending stares of my non-geeky friends and relations. Track three is the one with the combined literary-Rush reference.
The layers of geekery here are palpable.
July 2011
8 posts
Politician's syllogism →
Oh, this explains much.
bestofwikipedia:
The politician’s syllogism, also known as the politician’s logic or the politician’s fallacy, is a logical fallacy of the form:
We must do something
This is something
Therefore, we must do this.
(via @werttrew)
3 tags
"Plastics"
This morning I dropped off a Netflix DVD in the mailbox on the way to work. I’ve done this a thousand times, but this time was probably the last. I signed up for the streaming-only plan based on my careful analysis of exactly how many physical DVDs I’ve watched in the last year. So, depending on how you’re scoring I’m saving either $2 or $7 by switching away from physical...
Netflix changes (note lack of outrage)
I think I may be the only geek who’s not righteously angry at Netflix right now, but I think any of the new plans are a pretty good deal. My actual DVD watching has apparently been pretty low the last couple of years, so moving to streaming only is probably the right move for me. Netflix continues to be the only pay-TV service I am happy to pay for, because it’s still exactly what I...
WatchThis is a most cheerful and excellent cover. They’re right—it’s a TMBG song.
laughingsquid:
They Might Be Giants Covering Tubthumping by Chumbawamba
June 2011
2 posts
venomous porridge: A Pivotal Moment in the Film... →
Thank you, sir, for pointing out that there must be some trauma at the root of this.
dwineman:
PROFESSOR: Less. J.J.: Like that? PROFESSOR: No, less than that. J.J. (making an adjustment): How about now? PROFESSOR: Less still. J.J.: Gosh. Okay, how’s that? PROFESSOR: Even less. You’ll be amazed how much less you can get away with. J.J.: But it’ll ruin the shot! PROFESSOR: Nah. Have some...
What's a civil war?
I’m not sure what Reuters thinks a civil war is.
Yesterday, President Saleh of Yemen was wounded in an attack on his compound by people trying to get him to leave the country. Here’s the quote that got me started on this:
“Any departure by Saleh could make it extremely difficult to him to return to Yemen where he is fighting a four-month uprising against his rule that has...
May 2011
3 posts
Believeland →
These are my people.
