Big Pickles

You've probably seen it, it's all over YouTube:



I'll just say that Scarlett Johansson has my vote.

Labels: politics

An epic battle.

Labels: animation

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...

I just finished Portal. Part of the Orange Box, it's been out on PC and XBox 360 since October, and was just released on PS3 this month. If you have access to any of these platforms, I strongly urge you to do what you must to acquire and play this game. It is fun.

It's not a long game, 19 puzzle-like levels, and I probably finished it in about 3 or 4 hours. All I can say is that on about the second or third level you begin to realize that you're playing a game like no other before. And that feeling only intensifies throughout the game, up to and including the closing credits.

Which is my real reason for posting. Have I mentioned Jonathan Coulton before? Oh yes, here and here. I read several months ago that he had been asked to write the music for a video game, which I thought was awesome. Then I learned that it was only the music for the closing credits, which seemed less awesome. So I forgot about it.

When I finished Portal, I was impressed by the song at the end, but it didn't jog my memory. It was only when I played the game again with the developer commentary turned on (that's another thing about this game, it has built in commentary like a DVD--how cool is that?!) that I learned that it was Jonathan Coulton, and then I was all, oh yeah...

ETA: And Portal sweeps the WRAs!

Labels: the cake is a lie

These guys are awesome.

Labels: audio, radio star violence, video

You know the drill. You type in a word, and then R2-D2 translates it into his language.

Labels: astromech protocol

I've seen several studies cited recently that show that kids perform better in school when they are taught to focus on effort rather than talent. A recent article in Scientific American reaches the same conclusion.

The students who held a fixed mind-set, however, were concerned about looking smart with little regard for learning. They had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard at something was a sign of low ability. They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well.

I wouldn't say I had "little regard for learning," but I can definitely identify with the disdain towards effort. In my high school, all of us smart kids knew who the "workers" were, and how many of them had usurped our rightful places at the top of the class. In fact, the ultimate betrayal was when, around sophomore year, one of our own became a "worker," instantly shooting to the top spot with his unstoppable combination of effort and talent.

Of course, the "workers" were the ones that got into med school.

Labels: gifted, talented

I'm no singer, but I'm guessing this guy has a well trained falsetto.

Labels: audio, little mermaid, video

In Back to the Future, Dr. Emmett Brown said to Marty McFly:

I'm sure in 1985 plutonium is available at every corner drugstore, but in 1955 it's a little hard to come by.

Turns out he wasn't that far off.

Be sure to read the reviews.

Labels: mail-order radioactive chemicals

...for a lawyer.

Labels: funny names

"And that's why I hate Christmas."

Labels: christmas, tech

Handy infographic which illustrates several different baseball pitches. Have to remember this for next season.

Labels: baseball