Links for May 26th through June 1st

This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on June 1, 2009). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.

Sometime between May 26th and June 1st, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

  • On the (Rebooted) Final Frontier: "It's one thing if you want to pick on the movie itself — there are certainly visible seams in the plot, though really I think that if you're going to complain about the scientific validity or the military verisimilitude of Star Trek, you are simply in the wrong theater to start with — but the criticism that baffles me is the one I keep seeing about 'disrespect.' As though it's the act of rebooting itself that's the problem. To which I can only reply, are these people all nuts? Star Trek's entire history in all media over the last four decades has been nothing but revisions and reboots. Hell, the original Kirk-and-Spock version was actually a reboot after the first pilot failed to sell."
  • 15 Sexist Vintage Ads: "We've come a long way since advertising was so offensively sexist. Right?"
  • Seattle Police Dispatched to Zombie Walk: "This is a startling example of the blinders we wear as geeks. We saw this guy, mentally acknowledged that it was a really cool costume and then didn't think anything more about it. Neither of us had any clue at first what the police were doing there. In our minds there was absolutely nothing amiss and it took both of us several seconds of having the police shouting to realize what they were getting so worked up about. Oh right. There is a guy with a gas mask carrying a rifle with grenades strapped to his jacket standing in the store."
  • Confessions of an Introverted Traveler: "We introverts have a different style of travel, and I'm tired of hiding it. Oh, I'm always happy enough when interesting people stumble into my path. It's a lagniappe, and I'm capable of connecting with people when the opportunity arises. And when the chemistry is right, I enjoy it. But I don't seek people out, I am terrible at striking up conversations with strangers and I am happy exploring a strange city alone. I don't seek out political discourse with opinionated cab drivers or boozy bonding with locals over beers into the wee hours. By the time the hours get wee, I'm usually in bed in my hotel room, appreciating local color TV."
  • Meme Scenery: "So I had this silly idea to isolate the backgrounds from famous Internet memes, removing all the subjects from every photo or video. I'm pretty happy with the results. Like Jon Haddock's porn sans people, these photos are banal out of context. Only someone familiar with the original memes would sense something's amiss, like the set of a play waiting for the actors to stumble into history. Can you name all 22?" (I got ten of them…)