After a couple of very busy weeks and weekends and not having time to make any posts, I'll make a quick drive-by post just to mention both Fiona and I are working on the second entry in our top five favorite authors list. Hopefully that will be ready some time this week.
Last weekend we went to TotalCon 25, or as Fiona calls it, "Geekfest" or "The Clan of the Unwashed". To me it's more of a reunion of a few friends than a game convention, although i do play a lot of Battletech while I'm there. This week it's three Worcester Sharks games in 48ish hours, and next weekend we're going to see Elton John at the DCU center.
This is one of those stretches of time where going to work is the most relaxing thing we do.
So, just to make sure this post is more than just a handful of lines, here's a few articles I found interesting over the past few weeks.
Sportsscientists.com takes a quick look at critical thinking.
Jeff Pearlman of CNN takes on an online hater in a great story about internet civility.
Slate usually has some good stuff, and if you're a grammar freak you'll love their look at the use of double spaces after periods in sentences. You'll note this blog uses single spaces. Or, maybe you won't.
If you're a Dr Who fan, and I am, this cheat sheet is pretty cool. If you're not into Dr Who, you should be. Just sayin'...
And finally, for those that like pictures of odd subjects, here's a look at some very cool staircases.
Showing posts with label New Links. Show all posts
Showing posts with label New Links. Show all posts
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Sunday, January 30, 2011
[Shrek] A Not So Positive Post
I think all the snow is starting to irk me a little, so while I'm in a bad mood allow me to mention a few people that have raised my ire the last few days.
The douchebag driving the Pontiac Aztek who pulled out in front of Fiona and I Tuesday morning on the snow covered roads. Good thing you fishtailed in front of us because if you hadn't we would have plowed right into the back of you. I'm sure the Honda Accord in the oncoming lane that nearly drove into that snowbank was happy to see you too.
And speaking of Tuesday morning, the meteorologists who called for "a dusting to an inch" that morning that turned into 3" to 5" made me wish I could screw up as often as they do and still keep my job.
Continuing on the subject of snow, I'd like give a shout out to how well the city of Worcester has cleared the roads after all this snow we had in the last 30 days or so. And by "how well" I mean "could you possibly have done a worse job?". A word of warning to people heading to the city, if you park at a meter and can't get to it to put money in the "parking enforcement officers" will still ticket you.
Even more on snow, why does the city of Worcester demand people shovel the sidewalks that abut their property (and for folks that live on Meadow Lane, sidewalks that used to abut their property) but the city doesn't clear crosswalks and handicap ramps from snow? There's also miles of unshoveled sidewalk abutted by city property.
I'd also like to mention that one of the biggest morons in morning talk radio, whose name I refuse to mention because he's such a jerk, got one of the nicest guys I have ever met fired and replaced him with someone that is nothing more than a parrot. I guess I should be a little happy for SW (full name withheld, but most will know who he is) because he no longer has to work for that train wreck of a station in WTAG, but being out of work in this economy does suck so I wish him well.
Here are a few things I've been reading the past week or so...
The new Governor of California Jerry Brown is cracking down on workers who have a state paid cell phone. Not exactly a huge cost savings, but every penny counts.
Speaking of debt, ever wonder how they come up with credit card numbers? It's a quick, interesting read.
As a music fan I found this very funny. No mention of greatest hits or live records, though.
The bowling alley here in Worcester has a rotary phone, so I found this an amusing little tale.
Regis Philbin, the King of morning TV, has announced his retirement. I can't recall the last time I watched his show, but whenever it was I recall thinking he was a little out of it and looked like he was being led around like a small child.
And to make sure I end on a positive note, here's an uplifting story about a Southwest Airlines pilot doing a good turn for folks that suffered a huge tragedy in their lives.
The douchebag driving the Pontiac Aztek who pulled out in front of Fiona and I Tuesday morning on the snow covered roads. Good thing you fishtailed in front of us because if you hadn't we would have plowed right into the back of you. I'm sure the Honda Accord in the oncoming lane that nearly drove into that snowbank was happy to see you too.
And speaking of Tuesday morning, the meteorologists who called for "a dusting to an inch" that morning that turned into 3" to 5" made me wish I could screw up as often as they do and still keep my job.
Continuing on the subject of snow, I'd like give a shout out to how well the city of Worcester has cleared the roads after all this snow we had in the last 30 days or so. And by "how well" I mean "could you possibly have done a worse job?". A word of warning to people heading to the city, if you park at a meter and can't get to it to put money in the "parking enforcement officers" will still ticket you.
Even more on snow, why does the city of Worcester demand people shovel the sidewalks that abut their property (and for folks that live on Meadow Lane, sidewalks that used to abut their property) but the city doesn't clear crosswalks and handicap ramps from snow? There's also miles of unshoveled sidewalk abutted by city property.
I'd also like to mention that one of the biggest morons in morning talk radio, whose name I refuse to mention because he's such a jerk, got one of the nicest guys I have ever met fired and replaced him with someone that is nothing more than a parrot. I guess I should be a little happy for SW (full name withheld, but most will know who he is) because he no longer has to work for that train wreck of a station in WTAG, but being out of work in this economy does suck so I wish him well.
Here are a few things I've been reading the past week or so...
The new Governor of California Jerry Brown is cracking down on workers who have a state paid cell phone. Not exactly a huge cost savings, but every penny counts.
Speaking of debt, ever wonder how they come up with credit card numbers? It's a quick, interesting read.
As a music fan I found this very funny. No mention of greatest hits or live records, though.
The bowling alley here in Worcester has a rotary phone, so I found this an amusing little tale.
Regis Philbin, the King of morning TV, has announced his retirement. I can't recall the last time I watched his show, but whenever it was I recall thinking he was a little out of it and looked like he was being led around like a small child.
And to make sure I end on a positive note, here's an uplifting story about a Southwest Airlines pilot doing a good turn for folks that suffered a huge tragedy in their lives.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
[Shrek] A Little More On Plagiarism
Folks I've talked to the last few days will laugh (or cringe) that I'm still talking about this, but I'm still a bit peeved about the Union Leader ripping off a blogger. Our friend Josie pointed out something last Wednesday that really put things in perspective. She reminded me that not so long ago newspapers looked down their noses at bloggers as "inferior" and "without integrity" because there were no checks and balances that are involved in "real journalism". And now in a practice not limited to just this latest incident it's newspaper reporters stealing from bloggers and calling the content they steal their own.
So much for "integrity" and those checks and balances.
On a more positive note, here's some of the things I've been reading the past few days...
If you think you don't like taxes check out these angry witches casting spells to protest taxation in Romania. If that turns out to be successful their next spells should be to make the fast food we buy look like the pictures in the ads.
Those of you with kids or grand-kids (or maybe knowing some will be in your future) should check out the tape trick. An ingenious idea if you ask me. Also of interest is definitive proof that the study that linked vaccines with autism is totally fake.
I was sent this link by some friends from down under of pictures of massive flooding in Australia.
And lastly, if you're a hockey fan you need to check out this Puck Daddy post for something I'll bet none of us have ever seen before.
So much for "integrity" and those checks and balances.
On a more positive note, here's some of the things I've been reading the past few days...
If you think you don't like taxes check out these angry witches casting spells to protest taxation in Romania. If that turns out to be successful their next spells should be to make the fast food we buy look like the pictures in the ads.
Those of you with kids or grand-kids (or maybe knowing some will be in your future) should check out the tape trick. An ingenious idea if you ask me. Also of interest is definitive proof that the study that linked vaccines with autism is totally fake.
I was sent this link by some friends from down under of pictures of massive flooding in Australia.
And lastly, if you're a hockey fan you need to check out this Puck Daddy post for something I'll bet none of us have ever seen before.
Monday, January 3, 2011
[Shrek] What's interesting this week? (1/3)
On the promise of posting more even if I have very little to say, here's some stuff I've read over the past few days folks might find interesting.
From Discovery.com there's an interesting posting about active black holes and how they were at least 100 times more common 10 billion years ago. So what happened to these once ravenous monsters? Click the link and find out.
Triplepundit.com asks "Does “100% Recycled” Mean Anything?", and their "Yes. Sort of." answer was pretty informative.
After the huge blizzard last weekend dumped huge amounts of snow here in the northeast this story from Tywkiwdbi has some great pictures of a REALLY deep snowfall.
Speaking of the blizzard, Newsday has a great look at the journey of sportscaster Kenny Albert from St. Louis where he was calling the NFL game for FOX to the Big Apple where he did the play by play of the New York Rangers game for MSG.
And one final note, Fiona and I are working up a series of posts where we'll reveal our top five favorite authors. Watch in the next few days for our posts about our #5 choices, and the future installments as we count down to our top favorites.
From Discovery.com there's an interesting posting about active black holes and how they were at least 100 times more common 10 billion years ago. So what happened to these once ravenous monsters? Click the link and find out.
Triplepundit.com asks "Does “100% Recycled” Mean Anything?", and their "Yes. Sort of." answer was pretty informative.
After the huge blizzard last weekend dumped huge amounts of snow here in the northeast this story from Tywkiwdbi has some great pictures of a REALLY deep snowfall.
Speaking of the blizzard, Newsday has a great look at the journey of sportscaster Kenny Albert from St. Louis where he was calling the NFL game for FOX to the Big Apple where he did the play by play of the New York Rangers game for MSG.
And one final note, Fiona and I are working up a series of posts where we'll reveal our top five favorite authors. Watch in the next few days for our posts about our #5 choices, and the future installments as we count down to our top favorites.
Friday, March 20, 2009
[Shrek] One Year; Ten Thousand Pages
I have recently accepted a wager that I could read 10,000 pages worth of novels, biographies, etc. It's not a significant amount of money, and it all goes to charity, but seeing as I was planning on reading at least a little this year it seemed like a pretty easy bet to make. The person I'm wagering says it's not possible considering the schedule I keep. He should have taken a closer look at the math:
10,000 pages / 365 days = 28 pages per day.
I read more than that now.
The rules are simple, I can only read books that I would have read if I weren't involved in a bet, and magazines and newspapers don't count; it's only about books. So everyone can follow along, I've listed the books I've already read and the total number of pages. Check back fairly often for updates.
Since I was adding stuff to the layout, I finally got around to adding a couple more links the the list. The first is a list of book reviews The Outlaw Josie is doing as part of a project called "Cannonball Read", which is an attempt to read 100 books in a year and write reviews for each one. The second is a blog based on David Lynch's fiction.
10,000 pages / 365 days = 28 pages per day.
I read more than that now.
The rules are simple, I can only read books that I would have read if I weren't involved in a bet, and magazines and newspapers don't count; it's only about books. So everyone can follow along, I've listed the books I've already read and the total number of pages. Check back fairly often for updates.
Since I was adding stuff to the layout, I finally got around to adding a couple more links the the list. The first is a list of book reviews The Outlaw Josie is doing as part of a project called "Cannonball Read", which is an attempt to read 100 books in a year and write reviews for each one. The second is a blog based on David Lynch's fiction.
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