Big Pickles

It was about a month ago, remember?

I told you that you needed to play this game, Portal.

But you didn't listen, did you? Nope, you figured you had better things to do.

Now you're trying in vain to decipher the latest xkcd. Too bad, it's a good one.

I tried to tell you...

Labels: the cake is a lie

I normally try to avoid posting about politics, which is my excuse for not posting much lately. It's all politics out there nowadays.

But I thought this was too good to pass up. I would love to hear President Bush's response when someone explains to him that his favorite painting doesn't mean what he thinks it means.

Labels: The Slipper Tongue

Because, by all indications, the Internet does.



By the way, Buzzfeed is my new favorite tool for finding fun stuff on the Internet. Check it out if you're bored.

Labels: actors, links

A short article by Mark Gaberman, on writing for Jeopardy.

I've always wondered about what it would be like to write for that show. Sounds like it's wicked awesome, just as I always suspected.

Labels: game shows

The 2007 Periodic Table of Elements Printmaking Project.

For example, here's Potassium:

I though it would be fun to show the element in a more different way, as to where it is found (bananas) and what the element was classified as : metal... so I thought that making a structural banana with plates jumping into the foreground and informing the viewer some basic data, the atomic number and name of the element.

Labels: art, science

I just received notice that Jeanine has a blog, so I've updated my links to the right.

The announcement came with the details of the birth of her son, Clark Vance Marshall.

Labels: babies, blogs

Have I posted about the Edge before? Every year, they pose a question to a bunch of scholars, mostly scientists, and then print up their answers in a book. This year's question is "What have you changed your mind about?"

(Check out the questions from past years as well, if you haven't before.)

I liked Richard Dawkin's explanation of how changing one's mind is frowned upon in politics but encouraged in science. It's something I've tried to explain more than once recently.

I can think of two things I've changed my mind about in recent years. One is my opinion of the virtues of free markets. I used to default to the pro-capitalism side on any issue involving privatization, deregulation, unionization, etc. I'd still say I'm a capitalist, but I no longer reflexively think that free market forces are the cure to all ills.

Another is my optimism about the world in general. I used to take it as given that the world is getting worse and worse all the time, and it would continue to do so until we eventually destroyed ourselves, but I no longer believe that. In many ways, it's getting better all the time. Whether we're talking about technology or ethics or international relations, as bad as things sometimes seem, you can almost always argue that things are better now than they have ever been.

Labels: answers, questions

ThinkGeek never ceases to amaze.

They have a WiFi alarm clock that you can set up so that it will donate real money to an organization you hate every time you hit the snooze bar. Awesome.

I've heard of this ploy used as a motivation tactic before--my dad had a life coach who used it. I don't remember what behavior he was trying to reinforce, but he gave the guy $1000, and every time he screwed up, the guy would send $100 to Hillary Clinton.

This is the first time I've seen the tactic implemented in an alarm clock. "But," you ask, "what's to stop you from just lying in bed and listening to the radio?" You could just switch it to the oh-so-annoying buzzer. Or, in keeping with the spirit of the thing, tune it to a radio station you loathe.

Labels: sleeping with the enemy

Hey, remember Man vs. Kids? If you're like me, you're reminded of it every time one of your kids punches you in the kneecap.

Well, like Inigo and Fezzik, it's wise to know your limitations before going into battle. Find out how many five year olds you can realistically take on at once by clicking here.

It could save your life someday.

Labels: ...leaving twenty for me...