Eclecticism

Sometime between August 20th and August 23rd, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• 500 Internal Server Error: 500 Internal Server Error
• Get the Facts About the Stability and Security You Get From Health Insurance Reform | Health Insurance Reform Reality Check: My guess is most, if not all, people on my friends lists, whatever their personal beliefs, will be intelligent and curious enough not to have mindlessly fallen for the overblown rhetoric and hyperbole that the ultra-right-wing has been using in this argument. Whatever the case, though, this is a good collection of answers to the ridiculous assertions that are being made by those who'd rather spread FUD (fear, uncertainty, and doubt) and distrust than actual information. Plus, I like that the White House is using the phrase "reality check". :)
• Review: Inglourious Basterds Is Damned Delightful: "We've seen filmmakers tackle every angle of this war, from the measured and noble perseverance of Defiance to the horror of concentration camp discovery displayed in Band of Brothers. But we've never seen the joy of killing that must have occurred on the winning side, the angry outlet of war, where courage and nobility have left, leaving only darkness, blood, and hurt on all sides. Tarantino tries here, tries to point out the obvious, that real people with flaws and families were involved, that we would have had to send a few killers over there to sort things out."
• When Did Women Start Shaving Their Pits?: I've wondered this myself from time to time over the years. "American women had no need to shave their underarms before about 1915 — after all, who ever saw them? Even the word 'underarm' was considered scandalous, what with it being so near certain other interesting body parts. Then came the sleeveless dress. An ad in the fashion mag Harper's Bazaar decreed that to wear it (and certainly to wear it while participating in 'Modern Dancing'), women would need to first see to 'the removal of objectionable hair.' They didn't need much convincing, and by the early '20s, hairy underarms were so last decade, at least in America."
• John Scalzi’s Guide to the Most Epic FAILs in Star Wars Design: "I'll come right out and say it: Star Wars has a badly-designed universe; so poorly-designed, in fact, that one can say that a significant goal of all those Star Wars novels is to rationalize and mitigate the bad design choices of the movies. Need examples? Here's ten."

Sometime between August 18th and August 19th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• Hands-on With the MiFi Personal Hotspot: "Until you experience a bubble of Wi-Fi that surrounds you wherever you go, you won't know how handy it can be. Sure, having an iPhone is useful, but being able to hop onto the net anywhere using any Wi-Fi-equipped device you like is pretty addictive. You can use it on trains, in cars, or even — as I did — on a bike. Along with my iPod I used Google Maps to navigate my way around the Spanish countryside."
• How to Handle Facebook Privacy Settings for Your Kids: "Facebook users do not always make full use of privacy controls, perhaps because they do not have a full understanding of what personal information may be widely exposed when privacy is not taken into account. Now is the time to instill the privacy habit in your kids. If they make a habit of setting privacy controls on social networks, that lesson will carry over as they move into the workforce and begin to use the internet and other technologies for work and an increasing number of sensitive uses."
• Lessn // ShaunInman.com: "Lessn is an extremely simple, personal url shortener written in PHP with MySQL and mod_rewrite. Download Lessn 1.0.2 and check out the included README.txt for installation instructions (I'm not sure about minimum requirements but I've been using it with PHP 5.2.6 and MySQL 5.0.41)."
• Meanwhile in Alaska: Anchorage’s Summer of Hate: "On Monday, August 17, our newly elected mayor–conservative Dan Sullivan (it's a non-partisan office, so D and R don't apply)–vetoed a gay rights ordinance that the Anchorage Assembly had voted 7-4 to approve on Tuesday, August 11. Although the veto [was] expected from Sullivan, it came as a blow to those committed to making Anchorage a progressive city like many of its West Coast counterparts." Sad. Seattle and Washington haven't been quite as progressive as I'd like — it'd be nice if we were on the list of states supporting gay marriage — but at least we're not as backwards as Alaska seems determined to be.
• Mark Will Read the Entire Twilight Series So You Don’t Have To: "If there's one thing that bothers me, it's unfounded arguments ON THE INTERNET. A lot of people here (myself included) have taken Twilight fans to task for their support of the series of novels written by Stephanie Meyer. At face value, there's a lot to discount about the books: they reinvent the vampire mythology we've come to accept as a society without any respect to history; they are aimed at a young adult audience and quite possibly might be fairly terrible; but most importantly, they've whipped a nation of pre-pubescent girls and middle-aged women into a frenzy that doesn't seem to be going away. And that's the real issue here: Twilight fans, most especially Twi-hards, have ruined the book for thousands of people who have never even read a page simply by being annoying. That's why I'm here: as a non-Twilight fan, I'm going to read the book for you."

Sometime between August 15th and August 18th, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!

• The Geekiest Spots in Seattle: "Let's face it: There are a lot of geeks living in Seattle. It's really not that surprising when you think about it. We have Microsoft in our backyard, as well as more video game developers, comics publishers and record labels than you can shake a slide rule at. In spite of what you might have heard about geeks, we don't spend all our time hiding in basements and shunning social interaction — but the kinds of places geeks like aren't always obvious. Here's a short list of some of the best hangouts in the city for geeks … or for those who just want to find out if it's true that geeks have more fun."
• Translation Party: "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch. = Like that just is not enough. = That's enough. Equilibrium found! "
• IN the LAND of the JUGGALOS: "From the earliest reviews of the Insane Clown Posse's singular brand of circus-themed swear-rap, the general contention has been that there is no way music could possibly sink below this point. This is the bottom. It's almost as if ICP intentionally cherry-picked the worst aspects of goth, punk, gangsta rap, rave, nu-metal, and real metal to create a sub-culture so universally repulsive as to forestall any attempts at outside involvement. Basically, they trumped all previous claims of FTW, and then wrote a nearly unlistenable song called 'Fuck the World' just to hammer the point home. "
• The Evolution of Blogging: "As Twitter has become increasingly ingrained in our everyday lives, its value as as source of information tidbits has become clear. Think of it like that plate of chips and salsa you get before the entree arrives: tasty — spicy, even — but not entirely satisfying. Meanwhile, blogging has become the main course — the source of context. And the evolution into that role has injected new life into the blogosphere."
• Burgerville Announces Latest Sustainability Innovation: Makes Its Drive-Thru Open to Bicyclists: "Opening up our drive-thrus to the large cycling community in our area is a natural for us and is very much in line with our overall values. While we are sorry that Ms. Gilbert was inconvenienced, we appreciate the passion she brought to the issue and her commitment to the environment and our food. We are excited about the positive impact we will be able to make through our new bike policy." This is cool. We need Burgerville to expand northward, they really seem to be a good company.

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."