Eclecticism

Sometime between August 12th and August 13th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• I’m a Photographer, Not a Terrorist: "Photography is under attack. Across the country it that seems anyone with a camera is being targeted as a potential terrorist, whether amateur or professional, whether landscape, architectural or street photographer. Not only is it corrosive of press freedom but creation of the collective visual history of our country is extinguished by anti-terrorist legislation designed to protect the heritage it prevents us recording. This campaign is for everyone who values visual imagery, not only photographers. We must work together now to stop this before photography becomes a part of history rather than a way of recording it." This website and campaign is UK-based, but we could really use a sister site or expansion of some form that covers policies in the USA, too.
• Ten Things We Don’t Understand About Humans: "We belong to a remarkably quirky species. Despite our best efforts, some of our strangest foibles still defy explanation. But as science probes deeper into these eccentricities, it is becoming clear that behaviours and attributes that seem frivolous at first glance often go to the heart of what it means to be human."
• The 5 Best Films Made by John Hughes: "John Hughes was an incredible talent who left behind a vast and varied body of work riddled with absolute classics that redefined how films were made. But while he did direct films, he did so for a scant seven years of his 20-plus-year career as an active screenwriter and producer. However, as it turns out, some of his best material he kept for himself. Here's a list of the five very best films written, produced, and — more often than not — directed by the late, great John Hughes."
• Children’s Hospital May Have to Leave Seattle: "A small band of Laurelhurst neighbors appears to be winning a crusade to stop the expansion of Children's Hopsital. A city hearing examiner issued a 37-page report today that recommends, in response to claims made by the Laurelhurst Community Club (LCC), that the city council should deny plans to expand the hospital. Hospital officials say they may be forced to relocate."
• Meet the Generations: An "alternate generational periodization scheme," in which, rather than being "Generation X," I'm part of "the PC generation," right on the cusp of being in "the Net generation." Sounds about right.
• Shorty: A self-hosted URL shortening service, so that if and when external URL shorteners break (such as almost happened with popular shortening service tr.im), I won't have worries about my shortened URLs breaking. Just installed this on my server, and it seems to be working fine!

Sometime between August 9th and August 11th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• A French Revelation, or The Burning Bush: "Incredibly, President George W. Bush told French President Jacques Chirac in early 2003 that Iraq must be invaded to thwart Gog and Magog, the Bible’s satanic agents of the Apocalypse. Now out of office, Chirac recounts that the American leader appealed to their 'common faith' (Christianity) and told him: 'Gog and Magog are at work in the Middle East…. The biblical prophecies are being fulfilled…. This confrontation is willed by God, who wants to use this conflict to erase his people's enemies before a New Age begins.'"
• Deciphering Windows 7 Upgrades: The Official Chart: Wow — this is horrendous. It's a total mess, and this chart only covers three of the six possible versions of Windows 7. I'm not even going to bother trying to upgrade our laptop: Vista's functional, and I don't want to deal with the upgrade hassle. Compare this to the Mac OS X upgrade path to the upcoming 10.6/Snow Leopard: there is one version of 10.6, which sells for $29. It will install on any Intel-based Mac. The install/upgrade process will automatically transfer over all your applications and settings. And that's all you need to know.
• Coca-Cola vs. Pepsi, Revised Edition: "Technically, the Coca-Cola logo as it exists today can not be replicated with the tools of 1887 which, by the way, is the year the script logo was introduced. Not 1885. Coca-Cola was first served in 1886 and even then, the first official logo of Coca-Cola was not the script logo. It first appeared in the Atlanta Journal Constitution in 1886 as both a slab serif and chunky sans serif — it wasn't until mid-1887 that Frank Robinson, Coca-Cola's bookkeeper, drew the first traces of the Spencerian script logo that we all know."
• Where I Write: Fantasy and Science Fiction Authors in Their Creative Spaces: "I spend a lot of time thinking about people's environments — the places they build around themselves, the things they choose to live with. Is there a connection, I started to wonder if there was a connection between the places that writers work and their work itself. Why not find out?"
• We’ll Know When We Get There: Sincerely, John Hughes: "You've already received more letters from me than any living relative of mine has received to date. Truly, hope all is well with you and high school isn't as painful as I portray it. Believe in yourself. Think about the future once a day and keep doing what you're doing. Because I'm impressed. My regards to the family. Don't let a day pass without a kind thought about them."

Sometime between August 4th and August 5th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Psychologists Reject Gay ‘Therapy’: "In a resolution adopted by the American Psychological Association's governing council, and in an accompanying report, the association issued its most comprehensive repudiation of so-called reparative therapy, a concept espoused by a small but persistent group of therapists, often allied with religious conservatives, who maintain that gay men and lesbians can change. No solid evidence exists that such change is likely, says the resolution, adopted by a 125-to-4 vote. The association said some research suggested that efforts to produce change could be harmful, inducing depression and suicidal tendencies."
• TV Showrunners Protest Changes to Primetime Emmys Telecast: "We, the undersigned showrunners and executive producers of television's current line-up of programs, oppose the Academy of Television Arts and Science's decision to remove writing awards from the live telecast. This decision conveys a fundamental understatement of the importance of writers in the creation of television programming and a symbolic attack on the primacy of writing in our industry. We implore ATAS to restore these awards to their rightful place in the live telecast of the 2009 Emmy Awards."
• Seattle Author Is a Goth Ambassador: "Jillian Venters counsels her readers that Goth is a lifestyle, not just a casual costume. And she practices what she preaches: rather than give up her dark Victorian wardrobe during the recent heat wave, the 'Lady of the Manners' tucked ice packs into her corset. Venters is a Seattle resident and the author of 'Gothic Charm School,' a new book based on the Web site where she's dished advice for years to both those in the shadowy subculture and those who would like to understand it."
• Ninjawords: iPhone Dictionary, Censored by Apple: "Every time I think I've seen the most outrageous App Store rejection, I'm soon proven wrong. I can't imagine what it will take to top this one. Apple requires you to be 17 years or older to purchase a censored dictionary that omits half the words Steve Jobs uses every day."
• Outing a Telephone Terrorist: "While Pranknet's hoaxes have caused millions of dollars in damages, it is the group's efforts to degrade and frighten targets that makes it even more odious. For example, a bizarre July 20 prank ended with a hotel worker actually sipping from a urine sample provided by a guest at a Homewood Suites in Kentucky. Additionally, at least twice this year, fast food workers–fearing that they would suffer burns after being doused by chemicals from a fire suppression system–stripped off their clothes on the sidewalk outside their respective restaurants."

Sometime between July 30th and August 4th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• How Netflix Gets Your Movies to Your Mailbox So Fast — chicagotribune.com: "If you subscribe to the DVD-rental service, the Netflix warehouse, which you know must exist somewhere; which a P.O. Box on every Netflix envelope suggests does exist; which processes your Netflix queue with alarming efficiency; which you bet will be as magical as you imagined if you ever stumble on it, overrun with dancing Oompa Loompas in matching jumpsuits of Netflix red, is one of those mythical New Economy temples. Like an Amazon warehouse. Or an Apple warehouse. One imagines miles of pop ephemera between its brick-and-mortar walls — one imagines that limitless building from 'Raiders of the Lost Ark,' but with 15,000 copies of ' Confessions of a Shopaholic.' The truth is stranger."
• Fla. Highrise Has 32 Stories, but Just 1 Tenant: "A large, circular fountain in front of the building is dry. The automatic glass doors that lead to the front lobby are locked. On the front desk is a guest sign-in sheet. The last entry: Feb. 13, 2009. [Over time,] the building grew more deserted. The lights on the pool and palm trees were off. Their garbage shoot was sealed, a trash bin placed in front of their unit instead. Despite the empty units, they faithfully parked in their assigned spot on the second story of the parking garage. Then those lights went off, too. Then there were security concerns. One night, someone pounded on their door at 11 p.m. They called the front desk at the next door building, which contacted police. A search turned up no one, though a pool entrance was open. Another morning they awoke to find lounge chairs in the pool."
• Study: Redheads’ Extra Pain May Cause Fear of Dentists: "Studies have indicated that redheads may be more sensitive to pain and may need more anesthetics to numb them. New research published in this month's Journal of American Dental Association found that painful experiences at the dentist might cause more anxiety for men and women with red hair, who were twice as likely to avoid dental care than people with dark hair." This report does not surprise me in the least. Three guesses as to why, and the first two don't count.
• 10 Worst Evolutionary Designs: "8 Slug genitalia. Some hermaphroditic species breed by wrapping their sex organs around each other. If one of said members gets stuck, the slug simply chews it off. What. The. Hell?"
• Northwesterners not acclimated for record heat: "You might find it hard to believe at the moment, but your body was built for heat. Experts say humans are remarkably adept at coping with high temperatures — but that doesn't lessen the misery for Northwesterners who saw temperatures records topple Wednesday as Sea-Tac airport reached 103 degrees." Some interesting facts and tidbits in this article about how our bodies deal with heat, and how we acclimate.

Sometime between July 28th and July 29th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• TV Tropes: "Tropes are devices and conventions that a writer can reasonably rely on as being present in the audience members' minds and expectations. On the whole, tropes are not clichés. The word clichéd means "stereotyped and trite". In other words, dull and uninteresting. We are not looking for dull and uninteresting entries. We are here to recognize tropes and play with them, not to make fun of them." Much fun. Of particular interest: the Viewer Friendly Interface primarily used as a front-end for Magical Databases. Found through this fun MetaFilter post about the silliness of CSI and similar shows.
• Welcome to the Hottest Day Ever?: "In what is shaping up to be the hottest day ever recorded in Seattle, the forecasted high temperature is 101 degrees. And actually, now that the east wind is here, that could end up being conservative. At 8 a.m., it was 82 degrees in Seattle. To put that in perspective, the day it hit 100 degrees, it was 73 degrees at 8 a.m. So we are well ahead of the pace."
• Sigourney Weaver and Zoe Saldana Talk Upskirts, Empowerment: Saldana: "If we continue, as women, to see this as a battle, it will take so much energy away from what we are. What it takes is education. When I have to fight an army of men, and try to convince them that I should wear pants for an action scene, where I'm running from one building to another, and jumping, and they are convinced that I should do it in a short skirt and Gucci boots — fighting that small battle takes education. We are trying to teach how a women should be created, and how a woman should be treated. [When a male creator does get it right, the correct response is] a little pat on the head like 'You did it.' (She says this, like she's talking to a small child or a puppy.)"
• Speechless: Dilbert Creator’s Struggle to Regain His Voice: "The rules changed all the time–sometimes day to day, sometimes hour to hour–and whenever he tried to recite them, people thought, 'This guy is nuts.' The rules dictated when and where Scott Adams, the chief engineer of the Dilbert comic empire, was allowed to speak. He could neither control them nor predict exactly when they'd go into effect. All he knew was that he'd woken up one morning and found that his voice had turned against him, imposing a set of bizarre restrictions."
• Is This the Stupidest Person Ever? (VIDEO): "We can be rich in cotton and mining metals and silkworms and we can makes things, we can make things cars, the machine can make it for us…on the East Coast they have slaves and they believe in slavery and made in China, but on the West Coast, the new West Coast, we don't believe in that. We believe in the union and that's what we are."

Sometime between July 23rd and July 28th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Sarah Palin’s Farewell Address — Full Transcript: I hadn't actually read this until just now, but it's a piece of work. Not a good piece of work, mind you. In fact, the best way to get a feel for it is through one of the best bits I've ever seen from the Conan O'Brien show: William Shatner reading from Palin's farewell speech. The perfect combination of performer and source material.
• UW Probability Forecast: "No weather forecast is perfect; when a forecaster provides information about tomorrow's high temperature, there is a certain amount of inaccuracy implied in the figure. Variations in elevation, geography and terrain, in addition to the inherently unpredictable nature of the weather, all contribute to these inaccuracies. However, while any well-considered forecast attempts to land as close to the truth as possible, traditional weather forecasts include no information relating to just how accurate they can expect to be, or the likelihood of an outcome that, while not the most probable eventuality, could still have a significant chance of happening. The UW probcast web site attempts to address these omissions."
• #EAFail Link Roundup: "#EAFail is a total clusterfuck of misogyny and pandering to the lowest common denominator. Here are a bunch of resources on it. (Last updated July 25 at 8:45 AM EST.)" (Regarding the Electronic Arts ComiCon 'game' from the Dante's Inferno team encouraging sexual harassment of the booth babes.)
• EA Puts Sexual Bounty on the Heads of Its Own Booth Babes: "At Comic Con, if you commit 'an act of lust' with an EA booth babe and take a picture, you could win dinner with said babes, as well as a great big pile of prizes related to the upcoming Dante's Inferno. That's right, the babes won't just get the standard behavior and awkward advances–if someone is really obnoxious, they get rewarded for it, and then you get to see them again socially!" Worse: the EA flyer actually says any booth babe, not just EA's. So they're encouraging sexual harassment against every booth babe at ComiCon. Yeah…great idea, guys.
• ReasonableAgreement.org | the Small Print Project: "READ CAREFULLY. By [accepting this material|accepting this payment|accepting this business-card|viewing this t-shirt|reading this sticker] you agree, on behalf of your employer, to release me from all obligations and waivers arising from any and all NON-NEGOTIATED agreements, licenses, terms-of-service, shrinkwrap, clickwrap, browsewrap, confidentiality, non-disclosure, non-compete and acceptable use policies ('BOGUS AGREEMENTS') that I have entered into with your employer, its partners, licensors, agents and assigns, in perpetuity, without prejudice to my ongoing rights and privileges. You further represent that you have the authority to release me from any BOGUS AGREEMENTS on behalf of your employer."