RE: Facebook censorship and internet porn
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Bostwick Sent: Saturday, December 11, 2010 8:56 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Facebook censorship and internet porn On Dec 11, 2010, at 7:42 PM, Jon Louis Mann wrote: >> ..."net nanny" software block and report any search for any string >> containing the word "breast" >> ...that may prevent a woman from learning how to examine herself for >> cancer or her options if she is diagnosed... >> ...policy of removing pictures of breastfeeding. I know of a few >> images that disappeared even though they were privacy-restricted in >> such a way that the only possible audience was >> clothing-optional-aware and I doubt there were any complaints to >> speak of, so I may very well be wrong. The rules seem to be somewhat >> variable, and the only consistent cases seem to be ones with one or >> both nipples visible. >> one friend who pushed that about as close to the limit as they seem >> to tolerate -- the one of her in *only* a skirt and pasties is still >> up... >> Charlie > > thanks for the link, charlie all is explained: > http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/01/02/breastfeeding-facebook- > photos/ > > i found this on facebook: > http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=39521488436 > evidently there are a lot of riled up women about this. evidently, > some few were using breastfeeding as a way around the facebook > restriction on frontal nudity. i still think this is a tempest in a > teapot. > personally, i think free speech is being abused on the internet. i do > not want my eight year old to accidentally access porn when clicking > on some spam site, or by googling white house. > i don't want to censor the internet, but perhaps there should be a > separate internet isolating any porn related material? > jon This would be an excellent idea if the porn industry could be persuaded to go along with it. As perverse and counterproductive as this sounds, said industry, as a whole, seems bent on the exact opposite, and in fact, in many cases the less scrupulous players in the industry go to great lengths to invade inboxes and hijack web searches specifically to avoid being confined to the target market that would be happy to go find them wherever they are. This was made abundantly clear by the somewhat paradoxical maneuvering surrounding the proposed .xxx TLD for porn domains. The idea of a porn-specific TLD made perfect sense, as it would have provided a place where interested adults could easily have gone looking for whatever they wanted, and would have made the process of blocking porn from underage computer users (or any others whom society feels the need to protect from porn) relatively trivial and straightforward. * * * * * * * * * * Really? When I was first aware of an attempt to create the top-level domain .xxx, the porn industry was on board at the time, it was a bunch of religious leaders that were so vocal that it was blocked it then. At least, this was what I heard from someone who was in close communication with folks members of the ICANN board Said individual expressed disbelief and couldn't figure out why the *hell* any religious folks would get involved in trying to *block* something like that. Julia ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Lots of people are having problems with loan modifications
Video & transcript at http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec10/mortgage_10-25.html One quote: SARAH PORTER-BRAUN: There's been countless numbers of time, which he has well-documented, where we have been told you're denied because you have not provided the documents requested, when in fact we have never received a request. Julia ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Down with the government
"The old people" don't equate to "the old culture". There's a fairly large intersection of the two, but neither is a subset (proper or improper) of the other. "Old people", or more to the point, their lobbies (think AARP) wield a fair amount of political power right now. That's where the Social Security/Medicare untouchability comes from. The "old culture" is losing cultural ground and trying to make up for it by seizing whatever political ground it can. Julia -Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of John Williams Sent: Monday, October 18, 2010 11:42 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Down with the government I'm curious, if the old culture is in such decline, why are Social Security and Medicare still untouchable? There is no way, with the current system, that today's young and middle-aged are going to get as much out of the system as they put in. It is a giant Ponzi scheme. So if the old are so powerless, why doesn't the system get reformed to be more age-equitable? ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Is anybody home?
The list did NOT drop you. I'm home, but will need to leave in less than 90 minutes to pick up a friend at the dentist. Then I get to friend-sit for the rest of today. Whee! (I get to read and watch as many episodes of "The Shield" as we both feel like watching.) Julia -Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Trent Shipley Sent: Monday, October 04, 2010 10:02 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Is anybody home? Maybe the list dropped me again. ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: First Pluto is not a planet, and now . . . .
_ From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Nick Arnett Sent: Tuesday, August 03, 2010 10:34 AM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: First Pluto is not a planet, and now . . . . It is bad luck to be superstitious! Yes, it is. I get extremely annoyed at myself for giving in to superstitious thinking on certain things, and whenever I start beating myself up, I'm usually doing it in front of someone who can see exactly *why* my brain is doing what it's doing, and just has sympathy and reassurance. Julia ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: replacing fossil fuels
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Dan Minette Sent: Saturday, July 03, 2010 10:01 AM To: 'Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion' Subject: RE: replacing fossil fuels That's not the plan. _Right now_ a pilot plant is either in operation or about to start up near Austin TX. - Leander. Whoda thunk? Julia who would *not* have believed it 20 years ago, not *Leander* ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: replacing fossil fuels
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Keith Henson Sent: Sunday, July 04, 2010 8:40 AM To: brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: RE: replacing fossil fuels On Sat, Jul 3, 2010 at 11:00 AM, "Dan Minette" wrote: > -Original Message- > From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] > On Behalf Of Keith Henson > Sent: Tuesday, June 15, 2010 3:09 PM Wonder where this hung out for over two weeks before making it into a posting? Keith --- Short version: It was in a moderation queue. Long version: There are 3 moderators, for some reason I seem to be the only one who checks for posts awaiting moderation (or it's that way most of the time), this computer has been having issues (and needing replacement, and there is a machine to replace it, but getting it set up will take time I haven't had yet for 2 months now), and things even more hectic than usual for those 2 weeks. Also, the software has changed since I first started doing moderation on a Nick-run system, and it's not as easy to automatically clear someone's "moderate" flag, plus it used to be they'd clear themselves after a certain period of time or a certain number of posts, which hasn't been happening for more than a year, so the system is creating more work for the moderator(s) than it did 3 years ago. Keith's moderation flag has been cleared now. If at any point, you're aware of a post you've made and it hasn't shown up for a couple of days, if you send me e-mail at fractalf...@gmail.com, I'll know I ought to be logging on from whatever system I have access to ASAP to check on that. (I can *usually* manage 5 minutes a day at that address to look at anything extremely critical. I think there were 2 days in the past 3 weeks I wasn't even able to do *that*, though.) (The short version of what happened during that time, that I gave to various people for various reasons, was "I fell off the internet." And a point at which I expected to do some catch-up, it turned out that I didn't have the internet access I'd anticipated I would.) Julia ___ http://box535.bluehost.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Is this thing on?
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of John Williams Sent: Thursday, January 21, 2010 6:44 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Is this thing on? On Thu, Jan 21, 2010 at 4:25 PM, Dave Land wrote: > _It_ is on, but nobody is on _it_. How's _it_ hangin' ? ___ I love wearing a Workman model Utilikilt and sticking a hammer in the tool loop, just so *I* can answer the question, "How's the hammer hanging?" (Of course, it doesn't happen often, and is more likely to be a rubber mallet, the sort that's useful for pounding tent stakes into the ground.) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Getting ballpoint pen off laptop screen?
-Original Message-
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Charlie Bell
Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 6:56 PM
To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
Subject: Re: Getting ballpoint pen off laptop screen?
On 08/01/2010, at 11:38 AM, Julia wrote:
>
> Would a very soft cloth moistened do in place of the moist tissue?
Yep! Microfibre or spectacle-cleaning cloths are good!
C.
___
That took care of over 90% of it, and would have probably taken care of more
had I not been tired and given up when I did. Thanks!
Julia
___
http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Getting ballpoint pen off laptop screen?
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Charlie Bell Sent: Thursday, January 07, 2010 6:12 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Getting ballpoint pen off laptop screen? On 08/01/2010, at 9:52 AM, Julia wrote: > What's the best thing to do for that? And, just as importantly, what > should be avoided at all costs? Start with a moist tissue, and follow with a pencil eraser and rub GENTLY. That'll often get minor scrapes and blemishes off. Depending on the screen type, an isopropyl wipe may help, but some screens have a coating that'll be removed by that... Charlie. ___ Would a very soft cloth moistened do in place of the moist tissue? Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Getting ballpoint pen off laptop screen?
What's the best thing to do for that? And, just as importantly, what should
be avoided at all costs?
Julia
___
http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: The worst
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Nick Arnett Sent: Monday, January 04, 2010 3:48 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: The worst My friends I hate to write this. Been putting it off for a while. My younger sister, Lesley, the youngest of the four of us, mother of my five-year-old niece, Sarah, could not fight off the sepsis that attacked her body. Lesley died this morning. I have never hurt so much. Nick My most heartfelt condolences to you, Nick. Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: The wikipedia trolls may win again (III) :-/
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of David Hobby Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 2:42 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: The wikipedia trolls may win again (III) :-/ ... >> It seems like they are running a seek-and-destroy against every Brin >> stuff in wikipedia. After Alvin, the trolls will delete Streaker. >> > The Troll is targeting for deletion: Gubru, G'Kek, EarthClan, > Tymbrimi, Streaker (David Brin), Jophur, and Alvin Hph-wayuo. > > It must be a Brin-hater. > http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? > title=Special:Contributions&limit=50&target=Abductive So the user is "Abductive", and he seems to spend a lot of time proposing articles for deletion. All except Streaker now just have "notability" tags, which seem mild enough to leave. But it could well be the first step in a campaign. He seems to not have status much higher than the rest of us editors, so the articles won't be deleted without due process. If we want the articles to stay up on Wikipedia, the best defense is references to them in books not written by David Brin. Does anybody know any? ---David ___ Jumping in here without reading the whole thread (bad form, I know, but I have no time to even be reading what I've read and replying *now*), but an amazon.com search might turn something up. It's given me stupid references to things inside books when I've been looking for just one thing in particular, so, at least in theory, that should work now. Julia and no, I don't have time to do the searches myself any time this week ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: The wikipedia trolls may win again (III) :-/
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Alberto Monteiro Sent: Tuesday, December 29, 2009 6:35 AM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: The wikipedia trolls may win again (III) :-/ > It seems like they are running a seek-and-destroy against every Brin > stuff in wikipedia. After Alvin, the trolls will delete Streaker. > The Troll is targeting for deletion: Gubru, G'Kek, EarthClan, Tymbrimi, Streaker (David Brin), Jophur, and Alvin Hph-wayuo. It must be a Brin-hater. http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php? title=Special:Contributions&limit=50&target=Abductive Alberto Monteiro ___ Any clue to the identity of the troll? Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Avatar
I saw Avatar last night in the Imax/3D format. It was by far the most awesome audio/visual experience I've ever had. The story was fair to good, but the eye candy was spectacular. I wouldn't have thought I could get vertigo while sitting in a comfortable arm chair. Cool; see it and pay the extra for Imax. Doug ___ When I've seen the preview, I've had "uncanny valley" issues. I don't think I could sit through the whole thing without having a brain-ache. :( Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Fake religion
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Bostwick Sent: Thursday, December 03, 2009 9:28 AM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Fake religion "Sorry, the page you were looking for in the blog Infinite Complacency does not exist." On Dec 1, 2009, at 7:40 PM, William T Goodall wrote: > http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/2009/11/16-john-lindsteins-law > suit.html The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed and hence clamorous to be led to safety by menacing it with an endless series of hobgoblins, all of them imaginary. - H.L. MENCKEN ___ If you go back to his original post, the link doesn't break there. And, well, geez, Bruce, *you* should know what to do with a broken link! Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Fake religion
-Original Message-
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On
Behalf Of William T Goodall
Sent: Tuesday, December 01, 2009 7:40 PM
To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
Subject: Fake religion
Remind me which one of these is supposed to be the evil phoney religion?
http://scienceblogs.com/dispatches/2009/12/irish_govt_report_on_catholic.php
http://infinitecomplacency.blogspot.com/2009/11/16-john-lindsteins-lawsuit.h
tml
Evil is as Evil does Maru
--
I have to say, I'm with Ed Brayton in regards to where he said Cardinal Law
should be.
Julia
___
http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Again, The Future
-Original Message-
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Ronn! Blankenship
Sent: Tuesday, November 24, 2009 5:32 PM
To: Recipient list suppressed:
Subject: Again, The Future
1. http://i39.tinypic.com/24w7ed0.jpg
2. http://comics.com/the_buckets/2009-11-24/
And one response: http://comics.com/brevity/2009-11-24/
. . . ronn! :)
___
I IM'ed those links to my friend who is in another room in my house. The
IM'ing in the same house was freaky for her. :) Still waiting for her
reaction to the last one
Julia
___
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RE: How to tell if a star has planets?
> > Julia >who declined to take part in what she perceived was the torturing of the >rattlesnakes from Taylor during the premiere weekend of "Snakes on a Plane" >at the Alamo Drafthouse (this was at the Village location), and did *not* >reach out to touch the one being brought up the aisle on her side (and I >think that one was only about 5' long) The Alamo Drafthouse is a church? . . . ronn! :) Nope. http://www.drafthouse.com/ Opening weekends of some things, they go all-out. Oh, and Harry Knowles' Butt-Numb-A-Thon is held at one. And, well, that's where I found out that cheese & grapes is *not* as good for my digestion as cheese & apples. (I'm inclined *not* to order the cheese & fruit plate after that one.) One of the featured menu items for about a month was "Snakes on a Plate". And I hear tell that rattler (which was the snake they were using) tastes like chicken. I declined to explore that. Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: How to tell if a star has planets?
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Ronn! Blankenship Sent: Friday, November 13, 2009 8:03 AM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: RE: How to tell if a star has planets? At 12:35 PM Thursday 11/12/2009, Julia Thompson wrote: > > >-Original Message- >From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] >On Behalf Of Ronn! Blankenship >Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:55 AM >To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion >Subject: Re: How to tell if a star has planets? > >At 04:39 AM Thursday 11/12/2009, Alberto Monteiro wrote: > > >David Hobby asked: > > > > > > Whatever happened to good old snake oil? > > > > >Became biodiesel. > > > >Alberto Monteiro > > > >How many snakes do you have to squeeze to get a gallon? > > >. . . ronn! :) > >_ > >Depends on the snakes. A little grass snake isn't going to yield much. >A 9' rattler, on the other hand, if you can squeeze it hard enough >without getting bit, will give you more. > > Julia I'm surprised no one tried to make something out of "snakes" = "oil company executives" . . . (And I've heard of rattlers that size who survived to crawl away after being run over, backed over, then run over again . . . ) I've witnessed that. Also, dropping rocks on the thing is just going to prolong its misery. Get a hoe! Just get a hoe! (We should probably buy a couple of extras for just in case we see that sort of thing again, so we can give the clueless neighbor one without depriving ourselves. That, or make sure the next-door neighbor has ammo for his small-caliber gun.) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: How to tell if a star has planets?
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Ronn! Blankenship Sent: Thursday, November 12, 2009 8:55 AM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: How to tell if a star has planets? At 04:39 AM Thursday 11/12/2009, Alberto Monteiro wrote: >David Hobby asked: > > > > Whatever happened to good old snake oil? > > >Became biodiesel. > >Alberto Monteiro How many snakes do you have to squeeze to get a gallon? . . . ronn! :) _ Depends on the snakes. A little grass snake isn't going to yield much. A 9' rattler, on the other hand, if you can squeeze it hard enough without getting bit, will give you more. Julia who declined to take part in what she perceived was the torturing of the rattlesnakes from Taylor during the premiere weekend of "Snakes on a Plane" at the Alamo Drafthouse (this was at the Village location), and did *not* reach out to touch the one being brought up the aisle on her side (and I think that one was only about 5' long) ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Flags?
I'm wondering how many people in the US are seeing flags at half-mast. We've been seeing an awful lot around here, in the wake of the Ft. Hood shootings, but Ft. Hood is practically in our back yard. I'm wondering how aware other folks are, and if they've been flying flags at half-mast in other states. Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Not now-
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Deborah Harrell Sent: Thursday, November 05, 2009 8:39 PM To: brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: Not now- I was going to mention the book I've just read for the bookclub I belong too, but having learned now of today's mass shooting, I really don't feel like it. Guess I won't snarl about the hunters who were too close to the horses I caretake today either. Debbi Sorrowful Day Maru I read something about it on a local mailing list (and "local" in that case goes from around San Antonio up to around Ft. Hood and that area), and this, and I'm almost afraid to go look at the news now. (Someone on that list is close enough to the base that a couple of people expressed worried anxiety about her, she came on, said she was OK, and all the folks in an overlapping group were OK (and that's a very specific relief to many, and just a general bit of relief to me. Someone else reported a family member (sibling?) was at Ft. Hood and OK, but everything was on lockdown when she heard from (him?).) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of David Hobby Sent: Sunday, October 25, 2009 7:48 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform I think in both cases, it's sort of a deferred maintenance problem. When you finally have time, there's a BIG backlog to deal with. ---David ___ Yes. And in our case, it was compounded by our daughter refusing to sleep in the room she shared with her twin brother, starting about 5 weeks before school started. The project to get the "spare" room fixed up to be a bedroom for a 6-year-old took a big chunk of time, and that wasn't quite finished until about 4 weeks later, partly because there were some hard deadlines for 2 other projects in the meantime. :P I'm thinking about what has to be done in the breakfast nook at this point, and figuring that maybe I'll work on it for an hour tomorrow, or maybe I won't. (I think that 2-3 hours will have it *done*, but the first hour is going to be a bear.) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Jo Anne Sent: Wednesday, September 09, 2009 11:32 PM To: brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: The thread about the thread Re: DeLong on health insurance reform David wrote: > Hi. There I was, doing my bit to produce list traffic. > Sorry... No apologies needed. I just remember so well person after person taking on JDG trying to talk about different stuff (abortion, death penalty, politics). While I think Dan talked the longest and the hardest, I came to feel the guy just got off on fanning flames of dissention. Sort of like what's going on now, IMO. And Yeah, the women probably are hiding. Just for the record, I wasn't hiding, I was buried in Things That Had To Be Done. Very seriously buried. And am now just reading this. (And there's another 3 or 4 Things That Have To Be Done in the next week or so that I'm neglecting right now in favor of trying to get somewhat caught up on this and one other mailing list that I'm usually totally on top of, to the point where my first post *there* in about 10 days got me a "welcome back!" from someone who'd apparently missed my posting.) It's amazing what you find needs doing when you finally have all your kids in school for a full day for the first time ever. I might have most of it done by the time school gets out in early June! Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: "Cloud Computing" Smears (Was: Google Wave)
Er. In that sort of a situation, I myself would set up a RAID for storing the data, *much* less chance for losing it. I'd just do that anyway. In fact, the computer that's still in a box and is destined to replace the one I'm using right now has a RAID, because I seem to have a knack for catastrophically losing hard drives that baffles my husband entirely. (He has more problems with his PDAs than I do, so I guess there's *some* sort of balance) I think I've lost 2 or 3 in the past 6 years, and any data that wasn't backed up, which is kind of rough for an information junkie. For *that* sort of application, I'd go with a decent number of disks in the array for any one set of data. My own problem with cloud computing is, if the magical set of wires between me and my data has a glitch, I can't get to my data, and we end up with Grumpy Julia, which is not pleasant for anyone directly involved. (Jo Anne -- a RAID is a Redundant Array of Independent Disks, where the data is stored on multiple disks and checked for accuracy on some regular basis. If one drive goes down, either the data should be duplicated somewhere, or there should be enough information stored on another disk or disks to reconstruct what was lost. Off-site backup is still recommended for things like fire, floods and tornadoes, and don't anyone laugh about the tornadoes, m'kay?) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Brin: On 'Incomprehesibility'
_ From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of medieva...@aol.com Sent: Saturday, August 01, 2009 8:31 PM To: brin-l@mccmedia.com Subject: Re: Brin: On 'Incomprehesibility' 7- It is much easier to read the back of a video box than the pages of that tiny booklet--if there even is one. Vilyehm _ Yes! And, most VHS tapes had the runtime in quite readable letters *on the casing of the tape*. Good luck reading runtime on the back of a DVD case. (I do it regularly, to figure out what is and is not too long to try to watch before bedtime, and I really need to sit down with some sticky notes, pull out each paper information sleeve, put a sticky note with runtime in minutes and hours:minutes -- and that's a ridiculous amount of work there!) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Posted in a workcube
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Rceeberger Sent: Sunday, August 30, 2009 8:16 PM To: Brin-L Subject: Posted in a workcube I will not brew Decaf. Decaf is the mind-killer. Decaf brings the little sleep that leads to total oblivion. I will embrace my caffeine. I will brew my beverages and let them... flow through me, and when they are gone, I will remain...alert Reply: You can get that on a t-shirt. I gave such a t-shirt to my brother-in-law. (His caffeine addiction is legendary. In fact, the first time I met him, the biggest impression he made on me was with the concoction he was using to stay awake for an all-nighter -- double-strength coffee with some instant thrown in for good measure, with 2 or 3 teabags soaking in the mess, in an insulated mug that was at least 20 oz., might have been more like 32, even. And the caffeine addiction was mentioned by a number of people who stood up to say things about him and my sister at their wedding reception.) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Ben Bernanke, fearless leader
Rob, we're having some talk of medical school in Austin. I haven't seen new construction on that, though. If there is new construction, I could be totally clueless right now, though. No new hospital construction *now* that I know of in Austin. They put up 2 in Round Rock east of IH-35 -- a Scott & White near the outlet mall (my directions there to anyone coming from my direction include "turn left just after you pass the hospital entrance on the right") and a Seton east of there. (And there was supposed to be massive road improvement right around the Seton one, but that particular bond package was voted down for some reason or another.) And there's likely something happening in other areas outside of Austin, but again, I'm out of the loop, big-time, for anything that's not close to Pflugerville. (Those Round Rock hospitals are pushing it, but between the outlet mall and knowing someone who was on bedrest during a pregnancy in that area, I drive around there often enough to have some clue as to just how many cows are being displaced.) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: More Pluto Goofyness . . .
-Original Message- From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Bruce Bostwick Sent: Tuesday, August 25, 2009 10:56 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: More Pluto Goofyness . . . On Aug 25, 2009, at 6:03 PM, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > What's a planet? Debate over Pluto rages on - CNN.com > > http://www.cnn.com/2009/TECH/space/08/24/pluto.dwarf.planet/index.html http://www.thinkgeek.com/tshirts-apparel/unisex/sciencemath/8964/ Response: If that were in a babydoll tee, I'd be all over it. Or it would be all over me Julia P.s. I'm seriously contemplating the Totoro babydoll tee, although I could use a couple more brown shirts, which looks a lot like maybe the "Chocolate Molecule" one, or the "Hypnotoad" one ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Gord
-Original Message-
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On
Behalf Of Charlie Bell
Sent: Tuesday, July 14, 2009 7:32 AM
To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
Subject: Re: Gord
On 14/07/2009, at 2:51 PM, Matt Grimaldi wrote:
> That name's a blast from the past,
Was fortunate enough he came to my wedding. :-)
C.
Reply:
You are *quite* fortunate, Charlie -- he was in Austin once, and I got to
have lunch with him, but that was it. (He stayed with Marvin and his
wonderful wife.) I consider myself lucky that I got just that much time
with him.
Julia
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RE: Google Operating System
_ From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On Behalf Of Doug Pensinger Sent: Monday, July 13, 2009 10:38 PM To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion Subject: Re: Google Operating System Julia wrote: Reply: I get no more than 1 in 500 false positives. I get no more than 1 in 1000 false negatives. It was more than that early on in my use of Gmail, I got one account in 2004, IIRC, and another in 2007. The more recent one, most of the false positives were from one mailing list which is now defunct (as it has been replaced with a system that works better for most of the people involved than that mailing list ever did). Hi Julia, good to hear from you. Do you use labels (filters) extensively? I've got about 13 labels some of which use a dozen or more filters. I skip the in box on labeled mail. Reply: I use labels & filters extensively; there's two things at the moment, I think, that I ought to create filters/labels for but haven't gotten around to yet. :) (When I stopped being able to access 3jane.net, I switched a bunch of Yahoo subscriptions over to Gmail, and at least one of the relatively low-traffic lists isn't labeled/filtered yet, and I don't know if that list is going to exist in 3 weeks, even, so I'm not bothering at the moment.) I keep stuff in the inbox until I've read it, then archive. I've had problems on 1 list with the spam filter grabbing about 1 out of every 2000 messages and throwing it into the spambox. (I *think* that's about right -- Bruce, this is -chat, and it happens once every other month or so. Am I lowballing the number of messages the 1 is coming out of too badly?) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
RE: Google Operating System
-Original Message-
From: brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com [mailto:brin-l-boun...@mccmedia.com] On
Behalf Of John Williams
Sent: Thursday, July 09, 2009 11:48 PM
To: Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion
Subject: Re: Google Operating System
On Thu, Jul 9, 2009 at 9:11 PM, Doug Pensinger wrote:
> I'd estimate the efficiency of my gmail filter is 99% or better.
That is a particularly uninformative statistic.
Much more interesting would be two figures: probability of false positives (
number of real marked as spam / number of real), and probability of false
negatives (number spam passed as real / number of spam).
Reply:
I get no more than 1 in 500 false positives.
I get no more than 1 in 1000 false negatives.
It was more than that early on in my use of Gmail, I got one account in
2004, IIRC, and another in 2007. The more recent one, most of the false
positives were from one mailing list which is now defunct (as it has been
replaced with a system that works better for most of the people involved
than that mailing list ever did).
YMMV.
Julia
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Re: Uplift Universe question....
On Fri, 8 May 2009, medieva...@aol.com wrote:
In a message dated 5/8/2009 11:12:20 A.M. US Mountain Standard Time,
dml...@gmail.com writes:
On May 8, 2009, at 8:22 AM, Nick Arnett wrote:
According to Wikipedia (a reliable source for over 200 years,
according to Wikipedia):
I have been trying to find the origin of that particular piece of
Wikipedia-mockery (that, according to Wikipedia itself, Wikipedia has
been around for X00 years) for some time -- does anybody know where it
came from?
Dave
Macbeth.
Something Wikipedia this way comes.
Vilyehm
So, it wasn't actually *reliable* for some of the *first* 200 years?
Julia
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Re: Ohhhhh!
On Thu, 7 May 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote:
http://comics.com/eric_allie/2009-05-07/
I like Sidney Harris's original a lot better I think he would have
done a better job of drawing Obama, as well.
Julia
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Re: Death Note [was: Weekly Chat Reminder]
On Thu, 23 Apr 2009, Alberto Vieira Ferreira Monteiro wrote: But here it's not broadcast on "normal" channels, but on the cable-channel "Animax" (aka The Hentai Channel :-) ) "The Hentai Channel"? I have a friend who would be *extremely* interested in that Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Cool dolphin behavior
Dolphins blowing bubble rings and playing with them: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuVgXJ55G6Y Video from SeaWorld in Orlando. 3:25 Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: Quiet
On Wed, 18 Mar 2009, William T Goodall wrote: since the Taliban imposed censorship on the list. Stone me Maru I think it's more likely that folks just haven't had much to say, or the opportunity to say it. I've had my ass kicked by allergies. Then I started taking Zyrtec, and as long as I get enough tea early enough in the day, I'm fine. I haven't been getting enough tea early enough in the day since Monday. (Maybe I ought to do something about that now, instead of writing e-mails) Julia ___ http://mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l_mccmedia.com
Re: [Brin-l] Admin page for Brin-L
On Thu, 19 Feb 2009, Charlie Bell wrote:
On 18/02/2009, at 11:18 AM, Nick Arnett wrote:
I found that the admin page for Brin-L, where you can make changes to your
subscription(s), customize, etc., is not where I thought it was.
Also, posting to the br...@nickarnett.net thing doesnae work yet.
So, make it work. Or I start a rebellion. Ner. :-p
Charlie.
Bug Notice Maru
So, that's really bugging you, eh?
Julia
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Re: SCOUTED: XKCD on Space Elevators
On Tue, 3 Feb 2009, Dave Land wrote: > Folks, > > You know it's been too long since you've wasted an hour at XKCD, so > get on over there and see his take on Space Elevators (and the state > of humor in America today). > > http://www.xkcd.com/536/ > > Dave Yes, it has been a few days. And, congratulations on being the first non-Bruce Brineller to poke me to catch up on xkcd in a long time! :D Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: My robot is more popular than I am
On Fri, 30 Jan 2009, Charlie Bell wrote: > > On 30/01/2009, at 8:08 AM, Dave Land wrote: > >> On Jan 29, 2009, at 10:01 AM, Nick Arnett wrote: >> >>> Tweetsnet now has more Twitter followers than I do. >>> Competition between people writing robots and people detecting >>> robots is >>> leading to smarter software, I hope. >> >> As long as it's not more interesting than you are. > > I have a rock that's more interesting than Nick is. > > Charlie. > It Does Happen To Be A Fossil Ammonite, If That Counts For Anything Maru I think Nick is more interesting than *my* fossil ammonites. Then again, mine are wrapped with a bit of wire and stuck on loops to be earrings. (They're too heavy for my ears to be happy about them, though, so I don't wear them.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Zombies in Austin
On Thu, 29 Jan 2009, Mauro Diotallevi wrote:
> http://www.kxan.com/dpp/news/Road_signs_warn_of_zombies
http://austinist.com/2009/01/25/snapshots_zombie_defense_league_co-.php
Picture and a video
Video that may start itself:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/dustinc/3227981714/
The videos don't show the upper right corner of the sign very well, but at
the first link, they tell you just what the sign says.
Julia
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Re: DDP (was Re: Scouted: Would you like some mercury with your Coke?)
On Tue, 27 Jan 2009, Jim Sharkey wrote: >> Bruce wrote: >>> Julia wrote: >>>> Jim >>>> Dublin Dr. Pepper rules Maru >> >> Damn straight it does! >> I became a convert to DDP some years ago > > Fun fact: For our anniversary a couple of years ago I made my wife get > me a couple of cases of DDP. They cost more to ship than to buy. :-p > > Jim > Worth it Maru Well, if I'm going to Jim's neck of the woods, I know what to try to pack to bring him! Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: Would you like some mercury with your Coke?
On Tue, 27 Jan 2009, Jim Sharkey wrote: > http://www.ehjournal.net/content/8/1/2 > > According to this recent study, the process used to create some high > fructose corn syrups adds at least trace amounts of mercury to the end > product. As if there weren't already enough reasons to avoid it. > > Jim > Dublin Dr. Pepper rules Maru Damn straight it does! (And I can get Coca-cola bottled in Mexico, also made with cane sugar. I'm preferring the Dublin Dr. Pepper more each month, though, and the case of Mexican Coke I bought early in December may very well last me into March or April. Just need to get to Central Market more often for the DDP) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Tweetsnet beta
On Sat, 24 Jan 2009, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Sat, Jan 24, 2009 at 6:36 AM, Rceeberger wrote: >> >> >> Good work Nick! >> That is the kind of site that could get a surprising amount of traffic. > > > Thanks! We'll see... not a huge number of visitors yet, but I thought > Friday evening would be a good time to get an announcement out, since it > shouldn't gain traffic too fast. It's on a hosted server and I want to be > able to keep an eye on the resources it consumes, since the hosting company > limits bandwidth and CPU cycles. > > I guess I'm most curious to see what people end up using it for. "What are > people talking about on Twitter" is not something I imagine will have any > staying power - too broad. It might be a way for people to discover people > they want to follow on Twitter. > > I'm aiming at identifying communities of shared interest and perhaps > creating feeds for each of them. Do you want me to put the word out? I could do that in 3 different places, at least. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Hunt For Goldilocks
On Fri, 23 Jan 2009, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > On Jan 23, 2009, at 10:33 AM, Julia Thompson wrote: > >> On Thu, 22 Jan 2009, xponentrob wrote: >> >>> - Original Message - >>> From: "Charlie Bell" >>> To: "Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion" >>> Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:53 PM >>> Subject: Re: The Hunt For Goldilocks >>> >>> >>>> Hey Rob - if you're going to post links to articles, can you at >>>> least >>>> include a paragraph or so of each linked article to show what's >>>> interesting about it and maybe explain why I'd bother clicking it. >>>> I'm >>>> sure I'm not alone in being very reluctant to click naked links. >>>> Likewise, it's normally not necessary to post an entire article from >>>> elsewhere here... >>>> >>> >>> A little nudity never hurt anybody. >> >> Well, if you're not an albino and out during daylight hours, maybe >> >> (I've never been hurt by nudity as long as there have been appropriate >> amounts of sunscreen involved. The last thing I want to do is burn my >> nipples.) >> >> Julia > > I have it on reliable authority that that is a *bad* place for a > sunburn, for a number of reasons. :S I'm just glad not to be in the position of "reliable authority" for that. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: The Hunt For Goldilocks
On Thu, 22 Jan 2009, xponentrob wrote: > - Original Message - > From: "Charlie Bell" > To: "Killer Bs (David Brin et al) Discussion" > Sent: Thursday, January 22, 2009 6:53 PM > Subject: Re: The Hunt For Goldilocks > > >> Hey Rob - if you're going to post links to articles, can you at least >> include a paragraph or so of each linked article to show what's >> interesting about it and maybe explain why I'd bother clicking it. I'm >> sure I'm not alone in being very reluctant to click naked links. >> Likewise, it's normally not necessary to post an entire article from >> elsewhere here... >> > > A little nudity never hurt anybody. Well, if you're not an albino and out during daylight hours, maybe (I've never been hurt by nudity as long as there have been appropriate amounts of sunscreen involved. The last thing I want to do is burn my nipples.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
RE: Br!n: Congratulations! Today you get rid of... of... what's hisname?
On Wed, 21 Jan 2009, Pat Mathews wrote: > > I wrote a filk song entitled "The Eagles picked up the ring" about the > real end of LOTR. "They flew it back to the Pentagon" will publish > here on request. Consider this to be a request. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Twitter user for Brin-L
On Mon, 19 Jan 2009, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Mon, Jan 19, 2009 at 5:29 PM, Alberto Vieira Ferreira Monteiro < > albm...@centroin.com.br> wrote: > >> Nick Arnett wrote: >>> >>> I've created a Twitter user, KillerBs, associated with the list. (...) >>> >> I have no fidea of what is a Twitter. I guess it's a kind of robot, and, >> in my wish list, a robot that I would like to see is one that grabs >> the messages in Brin's blog and reposts here. > > > Hmmm... That wouldn't be very hard to whip up, but I think I'd want to > ask his permission, since that could easily be a copyright infringement > otherwise. Anybody else want that? How about summaries, with links > back to his blog? Well, what comes through on the atom.xml feed for his blog is the whole post -- can you just grab that? It's already out there for the grabbing. It's out there on LiveJournal, for example. http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default or http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/atom.xml Just set up something to grab the feed and post it automatically. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Metric Conversions
On Sat, 10 Jan 2009, David Hobby wrote:
> Back to what I was saying about Wikipedia, the
> article there at
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_number
> starts like this:
>
>> In mathematics, a natural number (also called counting number) can
>> mean either an element of the set {1, 2, 3, ...} (the positive
>> integers) or an element of the set {0, 1, 2, 3, ...} (the
>> non-negative integers). The latter is especially preferred in
>> mathematical logic, set theory, and computer science.
>
> I often teach upper division college Math courses that
> are just at the cusp between the two definitions, and
> make a point of stating the definition of the natural
> numbers. (Whatever it says in the text, of course!)
>
> ---David
>
> Positive integers, Maru
Positive, or nonnegative? That is the question
Julia
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Re: Metric Conversions
On Thu, 8 Jan 2009, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > On Jan 8, 2009, at 5:34 PM, Rceeberger wrote: > >> http://xkcd.com/526/ >> >> >> xponent >> Spit Goes Cunk Maru >> rob > > "Related: I've invented the worst mixed drink ever." Randall usually doesn't squick me out. Usually. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Metric Conversions
On Thu, 8 Jan 2009, Rceeberger wrote: > http://xkcd.com/526/ > > > xponent > Spit Goes Cunk Maru > rob Is that "cunk" or "clink"? Looks like "clink" to me. http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e57/davemathew76/megaflicks.jpg for a similar situation. (Or just go to Google Images and type in, "they should have used a different font".) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Cleaning flat screens, wuz Re: Physicists offer foundation for uprooting a hallowed principle of physics
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote:
> At 03:14 PM Tuesday 1/6/2009, Euan Ritchie wrote:
>
>>> Lint-free cloth, NOT paper towels; spray one cloth with water or
>>> isopropyl alcohol,
>
>
>
> 70% ("rubbing alcohol") or 91% (sold for sterilizing needles, etc.)
> 2-PrOH? Or custom strength (more dilute??)?
More dilute.
>> use that to clean, and follow with a dry cloth.
>>
>> For simple things like finger smudges and dust a clean micro-fibre cloth
>> does well.
>
>
>
> That's what I've been using. For worse I got a pack of wipes that
> are supposed to be for the purpose, but those are too expensive to
> keep using long-term. ($5-something for a pack of 20, iirc.)
>
> Especially If I Keep Reading This List Maru
Get a couple of washable micro-fiber cloths. Wash very carefully, I'd do
it by hand and hang dry, just to not pick up lint from anything else.
Julia
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Re: Cleaning flat screens, wuz Re: Physicists offer foundation for uprooting a hallowed principle of physics
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > Thx! > > When reading this list one must always be prepared for major spewage . . . > > Guess I Could Just Drape A Plastic Bag Over It Maru Dude. Just don't drink anything at the computer. That's what I've been doing for years. Between this list and a certain other one, I probably would have fried 3 monitors by now if I hadn't set that policy. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Physicists offer foundation for uprooting a hallowed principle of physics
On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: I keep worrying about what a good spew would do to this new flat-screen monitor: I'm not sure having a spray bottle of Windex and a roll of paper towels by the screen is the best thing anymore . . . or am I being unnecessarily paranoid? Lint-free cloth, NOT paper towels; spray one cloth with water or isopropyl alcohol, use that to clean, and follow with a dry cloth. No, you're not being paranoid; I was specifically told *not* to use paper towels when I asked. (And it sounds like Windex isn't quite the thing, either.) A dilute vinegar solution will also work. Don't ever spray anything directly onto the screen of a flatscreen monitor. And don't press or try to scrub, because you can damage pixels or scratch the surface of the monitor that way. IME, there are a *lot* of things that will come clean with sufficient gentle rubbing with something damp, but you need to be patient with everything. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: U.S. to collapse in next two years?
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > At 12:09 AM Tuesday 1/6/2009, xponentrob wrote: > >> xponent >> Watt?The Current News Is Shocking Mr Volta! Maru >> rob > > > Ohm, that's revolting. Sigh. You just can't resist jumping into these pun threads, can you? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Physicists offer foundation for uprooting a hallowed principle of physics
On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, Ronn! Blankenship wrote:
At 10:45 PM Monday 1/5/2009, Julia Thompson wrote:
On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, Rceeberger wrote:
http://www.physorg.com/news150388964.html
An apple and an anti-apple might not fall at the same rate.
xponent
But A Mac And An Anti-Apple 2E Do Maru
rob
Wow, it's almost 11PM, and I was almost despairing of encountering a good
reason not to have liquids at the computer today! Congratulations, Rob!
Julia
I keep worrying about what a good spew would do
to this new flat-screen monitor: I'm not sure
having a spray bottle of Windex and a roll of
paper towels by the screen is the best thing
anymore . . . or am I being unnecessarily paranoid?
I don't think Windex is the way to go with a flat-screen monitor. I asked
in May about that and got some good answers, I can go back and try to find
those for you, if you'd like me to.
Julia
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Re: Physicists offer foundation for uprooting a hallowed principle of physics
On Mon, 5 Jan 2009, Rceeberger wrote: > http://www.physorg.com/news150388964.html > > An apple and an anti-apple might not fall at the same rate. > > > > xponent > But A Mac And An Anti-Apple 2E Do Maru > rob Wow, it's almost 11PM, and I was almost despairing of encountering a good reason not to have liquids at the computer today! Congratulations, Rob! Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Scouted: U.S. to collapse in next two years?
On Tue, 6 Jan 2009, Charlie Bell wrote: > > On 06/01/2009, at 2:37 PM, Dan M wrote: >> >> You have now forced me into the following response by this action sir: >> >> I agree with you. > > Woohoo. Woo hoo? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Who's on Twitter?
On Sat, 3 Jan 2009, David Land wrote: > Julia, > >> OK, that one looks somewhat more interesting than some of the Tweets I see >> dumped to LiveJournal. > > Thank you (if you're referring to my twitter feed). I try to remember > that the people who are following me (there are a little under a > hundred, with some falling off and new ones replacing them over time) > are an audience, so I write with them in mind. > >> Then again, the less interesting things are in response to other Tweets, >> and the person Tweeting the most is engaged in discussions with other >> folks. > > In my experience, the least interesting tweeple are the ones who use > twitter as a kind of public instant message with their friends. Every > message is a reply to someone else, and they often look something > like: > > @boogerbrain *Yawn* > @mesopotamia That's what she said! > @fooboo Was that thing actually _on_ your plate? > @noobee If you say so, but actually, I like em crunchy. That's what the most prolific feed I see is, mostly. Except a little more interesting than that. It lends a cheerful surreality to my day, so I don't complain. And I get information about the guy's life that I wouldn't otherwise. > I wonder if these people have anything at all to say on their own... That one does, actually. His LJ is about half LoudTwitter and half actual posts with real information, and it's usually information I'm glad to have. (Even if it's bad stuff, I like to know what's going on with folks.) > There is a hierarchy of engagement on Twitter in which following is > worth one "point", replying is worth more -- maybe two to five > "points", and retweeting is maybe double that again. I don't think > I've been retweeted. Not bleeding edge enough, I guess. I know someone who has a Twitter account just so's he can send stuff to his to-do list, which is on a website which won't take text messages, but will accept Tweets and convert them into to-do items. He has several people following him, and the fact of that creeps him out just a little. (I think they just need the clue that he's not intending to interact with anyone there.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Who's on Twitter?
On Sat, 3 Jan 2009, David Land wrote:
> I'm no twitter as http://twitter.com/dland Nick has been kind enough
> to mention me several times in his musings on Twitter.
OK, that one looks somewhat more interesting than some of the Tweets I see
dumped to LiveJournal.
Then again, the less interesting things are in response to other Tweets,
and the person Tweeting the most is engaged in discussions with other
folks.
Julia
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Why?
Why does moister air carry odors better?
(This question occurred to me as I was driving through the fairly thin but
thicker-in-spots fog we have at the moment and in a thicker part of it,
got the unmistakable odor of Cowfield. And when you've had gym class
downwind of a dairy farm, you can't mistake the odor of Cowfield for at
least the next 25 years)
Julia
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RE: Incoming!
On Mon, 22 Dec 2008, Gary Nunn wrote: > > Julia wrote... > >> seriously, there are rabbits in the area, and I'm vaguely >> phobic about rabbits > > > Have you ever seen the B movie "Night of the Lepus"? Quite possibly the > worst movie of all-time. No, and I think I'll skip that one. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Mon, 22 Dec 2008, Doug Pensinger wrote: > Julia wrote: > >> (I live on a ridge. There seems to be no such thing as "no wind" at my >> house. If I went to the ravine on our property, I might find "no wind", >> but I'm a little nervous about critters. If there's a vorpal bunny >> anywhere in the area, it's going to be there.) > > What, you don't have a holy hand grenade? Well, if I knew for sure it was there, or not there, I'd be better about it. And no, we don't have a holy hand grenade. :( Julia seriously, there are rabbits in the area, and I'm vaguely phobic about rabbits ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Sun, 21 Dec 2008, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > My favorite, though, is the suspended fog layer a couple of feet or so > off the ground and only a few inches thick. Those only form when > there is *no* wind, at all, and usually aren't visible unless you see > them almost edge-on. They don't ever form on highways because the air > movement from a passing car will stir them up too much, but they form > in the fields beside the road here and there. It's just a rather > visually striking phenomenon, for me at least .. :) You mean, you get "no wind" at times there? ::boggle:: (I live on a ridge. There seems to be no such thing as "no wind" at my house. If I went to the ravine on our property, I might find "no wind", but I'm a little nervous about critters. If there's a vorpal bunny anywhere in the area, it's going to be there.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Sun, 21 Dec 2008, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Sat, Dec 20, 2008 at 8:11 PM, Ronn! Blankenship < > ronn_blankens...@bellsouth.net> wrote: > >> >> The worst fog I have ever seen was one night >> between Windsor and Toronto, where literally all >> that was visible was a few feet of the road right >> in front of the car. And all the natives were flying by at 70 or 75 mph . >> . . > > > Did you know that studies have shown that people unconsciously speed up in > fog? People who can't see a speedometer will consistently think they are > going slower -- significantly slower -- than they really are. Yes. Which makes for more spectacular car crashes when they happen. > We hit Tule fog (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tule_fog) in the Central > Valley a couple of years ago and I did what I know I should have done > many times before -- immediately got off the road and stayed the night > in a motel. That motel was close to empty when we checked in; it was > full an hour later. Actually, it's not quite right to say we hit that > fog. More like it formed around us. We get ground fog on a regular basis, but it's usually nowhere near that dense. The neatest thing about it is that if the moon is up, you can't see all that far in front of you, but you can see something almost a quarter of a million miles away from you. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: At 10:13 AM Saturday 12/20/2008, Bruce Bostwick wrote: On Dec 20, 2008, at 10:07 AM, Julia Thompson wrote: If the forecasts are correct by this time tomorrow I will need to dig out the winter gear again . . . though at least the week of almost-constant rain will be ending . . . And -- according to my local forecast, a cold front is coming through sometime between this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I wish it would just make up its mind what temperature it's going to be Julia Still in the 60s here, though I've already closed the windows. Expected to be in the upper 30s by morning, and maybe as low as 20 (°F, for Alberto, et. al.) Monday or Tuesday morning . . . In the 30s today. And the day or two of fog we get after each cold front is only entertaining up to a point. Fog? Yep, we've been having that, too . . . Most of the driving I do first thing in the morning is on rural roads, just 1 block on anything you could call a "highway" and a little more than a mile on something that's neither highway nor rural in character. People are relatively sane with their driving, but it's kind of weird to see the "Highway Intersection 1000'", have the road curve so the actual distance to the closest bit of highway is significantly less than that, and being *barely* able to see the rise of the main part of the highway to go *over* the road. Then the next morning, there was comparable but not identical fog. I had fun comparing the two mornings in the same spots as I went along. (Stuff south of the highway was denser, in general, on the second morning, while the stuff north of it was less dense the second morning.) The effect an actual "dense fog" has on people's driving behavior in Texas has to be seen to be believed. On the roads you're on, Bruce, yes. On the roads I was on, people mostly just moderated their speed and didn't do anything stupid. :) The worst fog I have ever seen was one night between Windsor and Toronto, where literally all that was visible was a few feet of the road right in front of the car. And all the natives were flying by at 70 or 75 mph . . . (They can mostly deal with rain, up to a point. Snow or ice, forget it. :) I suspect that it's worse in Utah the first time it snows. Apparently over the summer everyone forgets how to drive in snow. At least here it's rare enough that people treat it as unusual and take more care. Also, when snow is likely schools cancel class and other things shut down so there are fewer people trying to get through it (though for the women who go into labor during the storm and need to get to the hospital on the top of the hill . . . ) And to tie-in to another thread: that is one of the times people around here rely on their TV-band radios . . . We don't get ice or snow very often at all, but when we do, it tends to shut stuff down rather badly. If I thought I'd be able to stop at the end of my street when it ices, I could manage to get around -- but it's partly that I know you need to be extra, extra cautious for that, and I'm good at skid recovery, as long as I manage to stay on the road. (Hence the potential problem at the end of my street.) I also found out on Friday that I still remember how to walk on ice -- I was walking down a hallway with enough water on the floor to make it slick in spots, and I just automatically went into "ice-walking" mode to reduce the chances of my slipping. That was weird. Then again, a lot about Friday was weird. (I may reconsider the "hit all 3 kids' holiday parties at school" thing next year, for one thing.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Sat, 20 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > At 10:41 PM Friday 12/19/2008, Julia Thompson wrote: > > >> On Fri, 19 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >> >>> At 08:08 AM Thursday 12/18/2008, Julia Thompson wrote: >>> >>> >>>> On Wed, 17 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >>>> >>>>> At 09:02 PM Wednesday 12/17/2008, Warren Ockrassa wrote: >>>>>> On Dec 17, 2008, at 3:05 PM, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >>>>>> >>>>>>> Shoe-fly pie. >>>>>> >>>>>> Your fly is open. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> No it's not. I'm not even wearing pants. >>>>> >>>>> >>>>> Possibly TMI Maru >>>> >>>> Oh. That reminds me, I need to get a couple of kilts out of the washer >>>> and hang them up to dry >>>> >>>> Julia >>> >>> >>> >>> Not exactly. I was wearing sports-type shorts with an elastic >>> waistband rather than a fly . . . >> >> Well, I was in Whole Foods in Austin on No Pants Day and a certain >> individual I know spotted me there and said, "Way to celebrate No Pants >> Day!" And I looked at him funny, and asked him when he'd last seen me in >> something other than a kilt. >> >> (Only one of the two kilts in question was mine. We have matching black >> Workman model kilts. Probably disgustingly cute or something like that.) >> >> Julia > > > > If the forecasts are correct by this time tomorrow I will need to dig > out the winter gear again . . . though at least the week of > almost-constant rain will be ending . . . And -- according to my local forecast, a cold front is coming through sometime between this afternoon and tomorrow morning. I wish it would just make up its mind what temperature it's going to be Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Fri, 19 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > At 08:08 AM Thursday 12/18/2008, Julia Thompson wrote: > > >> On Wed, 17 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >> >>> At 09:02 PM Wednesday 12/17/2008, Warren Ockrassa wrote: >>>> On Dec 17, 2008, at 3:05 PM, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >>>> >>>>> Shoe-fly pie. >>>> >>>> Your fly is open. >>> >>> >>> >>> No it's not. I'm not even wearing pants. >>> >>> >>> Possibly TMI Maru >> >> Oh. That reminds me, I need to get a couple of kilts out of the washer >> and hang them up to dry >> >> Julia > > > > Not exactly. I was wearing sports-type shorts with an elastic > waistband rather than a fly . . . Well, I was in Whole Foods in Austin on No Pants Day and a certain individual I know spotted me there and said, "Way to celebrate No Pants Day!" And I looked at him funny, and asked him when he'd last seen me in something other than a kilt. (Only one of the two kilts in question was mine. We have matching black Workman model kilts. Probably disgustingly cute or something like that.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Incoming!
On Wed, 17 Dec 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > At 09:02 PM Wednesday 12/17/2008, Warren Ockrassa wrote: >> On Dec 17, 2008, at 3:05 PM, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: >> >>> Shoe-fly pie. >> >> Your fly is open. > > > > No it's not. I'm not even wearing pants. > > > Possibly TMI Maru Oh. That reminds me, I need to get a couple of kilts out of the washer and hang them up to dry Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Anathem
On Sun, 7 Dec 2008, John Williams wrote: > On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 6:50 AM, Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> Oh, and all those different words & terms? One of them is *much* better >> than our term, IMO. (But I think that's around page 620 or so.) >> >> And my favorite quote of the book is on page 320. :) > > I've already given away my copy. So what is the term and the quote you > are referring to? You can add spoiler space if necessary... Sent offlist for now. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Anathem
On Sun, 7 Dec 2008, Martin Lewis wrote: > On Sun, Dec 7, 2008 at 2:50 PM, Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >>> So has any one finished? >>> >>> I'm about 250 in and so far; very good. >> >> It takes a few turns, but when you get to the end, you realize that's >> where it was headed all along. > > Yes, lots of big stuff still to happen. Lots. And the last turn is *very* close to the end. >> And my favorite quote of the book is on page 320. :) > > Obviously, I had to look this up. Protractor? Yep. :) That's right up there with the Zulus in _The Diamond Age_, IMO. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Anathem
I'm not Doug, but I think treating yourself to a copy is an excellent
idea!
Julia
On Sun, 7 Dec 2008, Danny O'Dare wrote:
> Hi Doug,
>
> So what are your impressions of the book? I'm a big NS fan, but haven't got
> "Anathem" yet. However, I'm thinking of treating myself for Xmas - a good
> idea, yes?
>
> Cheers,
>
> DANNY
>
> 2008/12/7 Doug Pensinger <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
>
>> So has any one finished?
>>
>> I'm about 250 in and so far; very good.
>>
>> Doug
>> ___
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>>
>
>
>
> --
> "It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a
> parachute" -- Tom Robbins ('Villa Incognito').
> ___
> http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
>
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Re: Anathem
On Sat, 6 Dec 2008, Doug Pensinger wrote: > So has any one finished? > > I'm about 250 in and so far; very good. > > Doug Yes. It totally rocks. It takes a few turns, but when you get to the end, you realize that's where it was headed all along. Oh, and all those different words & terms? One of them is *much* better than our term, IMO. (But I think that's around page 620 or so.) And my favorite quote of the book is on page 320. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Epochal media: 200 years ago and next week!
On Wed, 3 Dec 2008, d.brin wrote: > As for the Violin Concerto...? > > Matters of art are subjective, of course. But I deem Beethoven's > Violin Concerto to be the greatest work of music ever conceived by > Man. Can someone with good knowledge of this piece recommend a particular recording of it? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wal-Mart is evil, why it must be eradicated
On Tue, 2 Dec 2008, Alberto Monteiro wrote: > > Doug Pensinger wrote: >> >> Not by climate. Not by access to a diverse environment (beach in >> Austin? Mountians?) And by the way, I hate LA and I'd consider >> Austin before I would LA. Well, maybe... >> > The only place in the USA I know is LA. I think I could live there. See Austin first before you make up your mind. :) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Wal-Mart is evil, why it must be eradicated
On Sat, 29 Nov 2008, William T Goodall wrote: > > On 28 Nov 2008, at 23:46, Dave Land wrote: > >> >> Some on this list have opined that religion is a great poison that >> kills. I believe that a good deal of the damage done in the _name_ of >> religion is, in fact, done in the name of greed. >> > > Worshippers of Mammon? > > Another false religion Maru Yeah. With some of the religious figures in the US, I think they've forgotten what Jesus said about not being able to serve two masters, and they're actually serving mammon. And fleecing their followers to do so, and telling them that if they only believe, they'll have great riches on Earth. Kinda contradicts the whole "lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven" thing, all around. (Matthew chapter 6 contradicts a lot of things that people are doing *supposedly* in the name of Jesus.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Quantum physics
On Sat, 29 Nov 2008, Euan Ritchie wrote:
> Ooops, that non-sequitor was meant for another list.
It was fine here, as far as I'm concerned.
Julia
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Re: [Humor] I'm Not One Of Those 'Love Thy Neighbor' Christians
On Thu, 20 Nov 2008, William T Goodall wrote: > http://www.theonion.com/content/opinion/im_not_one_of_those_love_thy > > Satire Maru The thing about effective satire is that it hits very *close* to the truth. Thank you for reminding me of my desire to bitch-slap people who claim to be Christians and are a lot more hung up on Leviticus than Matthew chapters 5-7. :) (Problem is, bitch-slapping is more in keeping with Leviticus than that section of Matthew.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Metaphors for Financial Reform
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008, John Williams wrote:
> I think David Brin would have called these "memes" instead of
> metaphors. Maybe Brin follows meme #2 ("uplift those rambunctious
> chimpanzees !") ?
If you want to repost with "Brin:" in the subject line, he'll see it.
I found it interesting, but have no time to reply in-depth today. (I
shouldn't even be on the computer right now, but, well, I am.)
Julia
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Re: Rude and insulting
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Sun, Nov 16, 2008 at 6:52 PM, David Hobby <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > >> >> That's too bad, and sounds like an extreme >> response. May I suggest simply killfiling >> the source of your irritation as an intermediate >> option? > > > I'd agree, or just consider asking yourself this question before hitting > Send: "Am I trying to change somebody other than myself?" If the answer is > yes, discard it or re-write until you're satisfied that you are just > discussing the issue, not trying to change the other person. > > I am very, very slow to respond to requests to remove people from the list. > It is appalling how lethargic I become. I'm just contrary. And slow to do for others what, in theory, they should be able to do for themselves. (At least, that's where I am this month.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Bush was far more clueless and incompetent.
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008, Jon Louis Mann wrote: >> Politicians were clueless as usual. >> Here are some quotes about Fannie >> and Freddie by clueless politicians >> and regulators. > > F&F had very little impact as far as causing the economic crisis, > compared to other factors. What are the other factors? It looked to me from that article that Rob linked to that there was a fair amount of cause wrapped up in F & F. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: How Government Stoked the Mania
On Sun, 16 Nov 2008, John Williams wrote: > In case you missed it, hear is an article from last month. > > http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122298982558700341.html > > How Government Stoked the Mania > Housing prices would never have risen so high without multiple > Washington mistakes. > by Russell Roberts I think I had missed it (I click on only about 15% of the links sent in the e-mail I get every day from WSJ). I'm guessing you've already looked at the WSJ column I just sent a link to. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Nouriel Roubini on, among other things, the Baltic Dry Index
http://www.rgemonitor.com/financemarkets-monitor/254399/systemic_risk_contagion_and_trade_finance_-_back_to_the_bad_old_days http://tinyurl.com/5dge9z The collapse of letters of credit for financing exports as a result of the current financial crisis will have negative impacts on everyone employed in the supply chain. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nouriel_Roubini if you want to know who he is. Very short version: a financial Cassandra who is starting to be believed by many due to his accuracy in predicting recent financial crises.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Credit Default Swaps
It seems perhaps that credit default swaps aren't the boogeyman that they've been painted by some. The Meltdown That Wasn't http://online.wsj.com/article/SB122670411909729683.html Excerpt: Credit default swaps are contracts that insure against a borrower defaulting on its bonds. The buyer of a CDS contract essentially pays annual premiums and the seller agrees to pay back the principal if the issuer of the bonds doesn't. It's different from insurance in that an investor doesn't actually have to own the underlying bonds -- he can simply buy a CDS as a way to make a bearish bet on a company or to offset other risks. Shattering Beltway illusions, the unregulated CDS market is holding up better than the regulated bond market. Here we are more than a year into the credit meltdown and the CDS market is offering more liquidity than the actual cash market. Eraj Shirvani at Credit Suisse notes that "over the last 18 months, the CDS market -- not the bond market -- has been the only functioning market that has consistently allowed market participants to hedge or express a credit view." * * * * * * * * The column goes on to talk about Lehman's failure - that had little to do with CDS, but a lot to do with "toxic mortgages". Anyway, I'd like to hear what other people interested in the economic debate here have to say about it. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: rude and insulting
On Sat, 15 Nov 2008, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Sat, Nov 15, 2008 at 5:43 PM, Jon Louis Mann <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > >> >> any theories why this person has such a mean streak. > > > I don't think that's my business. He is what he is. > > I find greater peace when I manage to accept people as they are, rather than > as I think they should be. I would invite others to do the same, but I''m > not saying they should. Good, because if you *were* saying they should, that would violate the acceptance of people as they *are*. I've found it to be a helpful sort of attitude for myself, personally, except I have very little toleration for some characteristics and someone displaying those characteristics more prominently than the ones I consider to be more positive will likely get a "Oh, man, why can't he be less ---" in my head. That's something I need to work on more. (I think I figured out this week just why I, and a certain group I belong to, have little tolerance for one of those characteristics I perceive as negative. That may be a step in the right direction for me, at least to be able to step back and understand why I react badly to it.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Polarization
On Thu, 13 Nov 2008, John Williams wrote: > Your two previous links did not give an example of how Bush > deregulated anything that may have lead to the "subprime mortgage > crisis". The youtube video you listed does not give any examples of > deregulation either. I don't think that word means what you think it > means. OK, *there's* the proof of the sense of humor, quoting Princess Bride. (Any old fool can dump links from The Onion.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Why the Great Depression Lasted So Long and Why Prosperity Resumed after the War
On Mon, 10 Nov 2008, Nick Arnett wrote: > On Mon, Nov 10, 2008 at 12:01 PM, John Williams <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>wrote: > >> >> Actually, I don't. But the relevant fact is, what do you consider it? >> Why did you not post a similar background note on, for example, James >> Hamilton? > > > Who? > > Nick http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Hamilton One of them, probably. My guess is James Douglas Hamilton, the econometrician. Unfortunately, his article doesn't say a whole lot. There *is* a link to a blog he contributes to. The entry about the touchdown was pretty cool! Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Who is John W?
On Sun, 9 Nov 2008, Jon Louis Mann wrote: >>> I have to ask .. is anyone really learning anything or gaining >>> anything from continuing this conversation at this point, other than >>> focusing attention on someone who clearly is thriving on it? > >> I don't see the point of it. >> If there is one Maru > > >> I agree with William. >> Julia > > you're all right. i guesss enquiring minds should review the story of > the cat... > jm I wasn't thinking so much of the cat, but the horse. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Who is John W?
On Sun, 9 Nov 2008, William T Goodall wrote: > > On 9 Nov 2008, at 18:19, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > >> >> I have to ask .. is anyone really learning anything or gaining >> anything from continuing this conversation at this point, other than >> focusing attention on someone who clearly is thriving on it? >> > > > I don't see the point of it. > > If there is one Maru I agree with William. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Getting decent news without cable or satellite TV...
On Tue, 4 Nov 2008, Ronn! Blankenship wrote: > Smart-Aleck response #1 would be something about whether the news one > gets anytime (not just election day) with or without cable or > satellite TV could ever be described as "decent" . . . Are the newscasters wearing enough clothing? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: When Atheists Attack (another in our endless series of cut-n-paste screeds)
On Mon, 3 Nov 2008, Dave Land wrote: Man threatens two Christians, may lose an eye (http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_10464829) COLORADO SPRINGS — A man who came to the home of two women whom he had threatened to decapitate with a knife received a blow to the head that could cost him an eye, according to Colorado Springs police. Russell Bowman, who claims to be an atheist, threatened the women because they are Christian on Sept. 8. On Friday, he arrived at their apartment and stood in a hallway, according to a police report. "Another resident of the apartment retrieved a shotgun and approached Bowman, who was by then walking away. The resident ordered Bowman to put the knife down," according to the report. Bowman refused and approached the resident, who hit him with the butt of the shotgun, injuring his eye. "Bowman was treated at Memorial Hospital where it was determined the injury to the eye was so severe, the eye would need to be surgically removed," the report said. There's a huge difference between atheists, even militant ones, and psychos who go around attacking other people on the basis of what religion the other people subscribe to. And psychos who attack other people for whatever reason are asking for whatever the intended victims dish out in self-defense. (FWIW, this is not the first time I've heard of someone losing an eye due to an injury bestowed by a woman he was trying to harm. In that case, the intent was rape of someone he thought would be an easy target. She turned out not to be.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Early voting
On Sun, 2 Nov 2008, Bryon Daly wrote: > I did the early voting thing on Friday down here in Orlando. Some of the > locations were reporting 2+ hour waits, but it was about 45 minutes wait for > me. I had the day off, so the wait wasn't bad, but I'm quite puzzled about > the people waiting 2+ hours around here, or as long as 10+ hours in the > Atlanta area, from the reports I've seen. > Can there really be THAT many people unable to vote on election day, that > they need to get on a line to wait 10 hours (or even 2+ hours) to vote? > There's a ton more voting locations open on election day, and I've never > had to wait more that 20 minutes or so to vote then. Even with the > increased turnout this year, I can't imagine 10 hour lines on election day > itself - particularly with the early vote being so popular this year. > Anyone else do early voting? How long did you wait? Would you have waited > 2+ hours to do it early? I did not have that long of a wait. I got to my early voting place about half an hour after it opened. I was apparently the 52nd or 53rd person to vote there that day. I just had to wait for 2 other people to be processed in the line; the procedure is different from what it has been. The early voting location I drove my friend to had waits of around 30 minutes at times, but we got there at the tail end of a rush and she didn't have to wait long at all. We were expecting the wait to be longer and planned accordingly. I vote early because if something comes up at the absolute last minute to prevent me from voting on election day, I want to have voted by then. So far, I've had morning sickness keep me in on an election day, but I had voted early (I think that was the first time I voted early, and I had good days and bad days, and took advantage of a good day to vote). My husband had a really close call with not being able to vote on an election day; he showed up at the polls with his hospital ID still on his wrist and in house slippers. > I was surprised by the lack of supporters or even signs at the voting > location. I saw one small Obama sign and some local runners of either > party along the road, and that's it. Maybe they save that stuff for > election day. > > The local paper (Orlando Sentinel) reported last week that in early > voting turnout, african-american turnout was up, as widely predicted, > but the youth (under 35) turnout was actually quite a bit lower than > expected - Obama's popularity among the younger crowd had been expected > to drive up turnout. From what I saw, there weren't many under-35's at > my location, either. (Sadly, I don't fall under the "youth" category, > even with that broad definition.) I don't know what's been going on with the voting in my area, as far as who is voting. My own polling place, it was all people over 20 taking advantage of the first day that early voting was available in that particular spot. (Some of the early voting places in my county weren't open every day of early voting, and the most convenient one for me wasn't open until the 4th day of voting.) Oh, and I'm not under 35, either. :) I have no idea how old I *look* anymore, even. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Happy Halloween
On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > Given that the first time I heard of Necco wafers was as competition . > 22 rifle targets and only much later that they were in fact edible, > I've always wondered if more of them have been shot or eaten .. :) > > On Nov 1, 2008, at 1:41 PM, Julia Thompson wrote: > >> The only invention in either of the neighborhoods I grew up in that >> I was >> aware of was the man down the street who had invented the machine that >> stamped "Necco" onto Necco wafers. You know, shooting them sounds like a better idea to me. :) I came to the conclusion as a pre-teen that the only decent ones were the chocolate ones, and I'd buy 1 or 2 rolls of those a year. Gave that up about 10 years ago. (They have the advantage of being at least vaguely chocolate, but not melting easily.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Happy Halloween
On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > > On Nov 1, 2008, at 1:41 PM, Julia Thompson wrote: > >> On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, Dave Land wrote: >> >>> On Oct 31, 2008, at 8:22 PM, Nick Arnett wrote: >>> >>>> As the trick-or-treater came by tonight, I found myself tonight >>>> remembering >>>> going to the Isaly's house on Halloween and getting Klondike bars >>>> with >>>> pumpkin pie flavored centers... Mmmm. The Isaly's company invented >>>> the >>>> Klondike bar... and at Christmas, we'd go caroling and they'd give >>>> us >>>> Klondikes with mint, tree-shaped centers. >>> >>> Nobody in my neighborhood invented nothin'. >>> >>> Joes the Plumbers, mostly Maru >> >> The only invention in either of the neighborhoods I grew up in that >> I was >> aware of was the man down the street who had invented the machine that >> stamped "Necco" onto Necco wafers. >> >> (He'd also blown up an abandoned brick structure with his brothers. >> About >> a month later, the absentee owner of the land on which said brick >> structure had stood wrote their father asking him to take it down, and >> offering payment for him to do so.) >> >> Julia > > Did their father respond with an invoice for services rendered? :D I think their father had them clean up what was left and collected the offered amount from the owner when he showed up later to see if it had been taken care of. :) Easiest howevermany dollars he'd ever made, probably. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Happy Halloween
On Sat, 1 Nov 2008, Dave Land wrote: > On Oct 31, 2008, at 8:22 PM, Nick Arnett wrote: > >> As the trick-or-treater came by tonight, I found myself tonight >> remembering >> going to the Isaly's house on Halloween and getting Klondike bars with >> pumpkin pie flavored centers... Mmmm. The Isaly's company invented >> the >> Klondike bar... and at Christmas, we'd go caroling and they'd give us >> Klondikes with mint, tree-shaped centers. > > Nobody in my neighborhood invented nothin'. > > Joes the Plumbers, mostly Maru The only invention in either of the neighborhoods I grew up in that I was aware of was the man down the street who had invented the machine that stamped "Necco" onto Necco wafers. (He'd also blown up an abandoned brick structure with his brothers. About a month later, the absentee owner of the land on which said brick structure had stood wrote their father asking him to take it down, and offering payment for him to do so.) Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Single payer health care
On Wed, 29 Oct 2008, Bruce Bostwick wrote: > On Oct 29, 2008, at 9:21 AM, Nick Arnett wrote: > >> On Tue, Oct 28, 2008 at 8:48 PM, Ronn! Blankenship < >> [EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: >> >>> >>> >>> No, we have examples here of things where there is no competition or >>> they have to take everyone regardless of ability to pay the bill, >>> like the ones I listed. (Nothing to do with R&D but with simply >>> getting seen and getting adequate care.) If we get one-size-fits-all >>> health care, how do we insure that it does not degrade like many >>> other things already have? >> >> >> Let them eat cake? >> >> TINSTAAFL. >> >> Some people lose when an unfair system is made more fair. >> >> Nick > > Let the patients have a say in how the system is designed? Or -- > OMGZ! -- maybe let them design it? > > At the very least, put actual practicing MD's in charge of the medical > decisions to cover or not cover treatment, and hold them accountable for > permanent health consequences if they dodge covering a treatment that > turns out to have been medically necessary? That, at least, would be > better than anonymous, unaccountable spreadsheet jockeys making those > same decisions with the only criteria being the insurer's bottom line .. My wonderful OB (who has since retired from delivering babies) told me about the way she dealt with insurance company people insisting that she had to discharge the patient because it had been 48 hours since delivery was to explain *why* the patient needed to stay in the hospital another 24 hours, and if that didn't do the trick, her final ploy was to inform the person on the other end of the phone that if *they* wanted the patient discharged, they could damn well come and fill out the discharge forms themselves. *That* tended to close down the argument. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, John Williams wrote: > Julia Thompson <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >> So, your view of democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what to have >> for lunch? > > Nicely put. Not original to me. Maybe Benjamin Franklin? Or at least I think I've seen him credited with it, whether or not he actually said it. Just trying to get a somewhat better feel for your position, and your response was very helpful to me in that regard. Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: death and taxes...
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, Kevin B. O'Brien wrote: > Mostly that was just a weird story that leaves you going "Huh?", but > false analogy is used a lot. One of the best ones was popular some years > back, before the Republican party descended into outright criminality. > It goes like this: "The government is just like a family, it cannot live > beyond its means." Many people who gave the outward appearance of > intelligence bought into this one, but it fails at the outset. The > government is not just like a family. In fact, one could search far and > wide and have trouble finding two institutions more unlike than a > government and a family. Apples and oranges are identical twins when > placed next to governments and families. And yet many people focused on > the second part of the statement, while ignoring the fact that the > premise was stupendously wrong, so wrong that it should have invalidated > anything that followed after it. And I see "identical twins" in there, and wonder, "Monoamniotic?" I should probably head for bed now Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
Re: Redistribute the wealth
On Mon, 27 Oct 2008, John Williams wrote: > Nick Arnett <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > > >> On Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 5:56 PM, John Williams >> wrote: > >>> >>> So your position is, if a majority votes for some policy, then no one >>> should have a right to complain about it because the majority rules? > >> No, that's not my position. Not at all. >> >> My position is that it is wrong to misrepresent democracy as coercion. > > LOL! I wasn't expecting slapstick! So, your view of democracy is 2 wolves and a sheep voting on what to have for lunch? Julia ___ http://www.mccmedia.com/mailman/listinfo/brin-l
