Archive for October, 2008
« Older Entries | Newer Entries »Beware The Russian Flirt Bots
[ 4 Comments ]Posted on October 16, 2008 by admin in Technology
Thursday, October 16th, 2008The high cost of flunking the Turing Test
As I’ve mentioned before, seeing 2001: A Space Odyssey
ME: Hi Alice. ALICE: Hello there. ME: Are you a Russian flirt bot? ALICE: Am I a Russian flirt bot? Yes.
ME: How would you go about securing my usernames and passwords? Read the rest of this entry »
More Gauging Your Condominimum
[ 5 Comments ]Posted on October 15, 2008 by admin in Lifestyle & Culture
Wednesday, October 15th, 2008Only available in metric. A plus for American men, who will be astounded by the new numbers.
Actually, I’ve never written specifically about gauging condom minimums here before, but I was desperate for a headline, as evident in that god-awful pun. So moving on…it seems that in the eternal debate regarding whether or not size matters, we have a new, um, tool to help us out. Condometric coincidentally adds difficulty to answering the familiar question “is that a ruler in your pocket, or are you just happy to see me?” But what exactly is this obsession with penis size all about, anyway? Well, according to this article on About.com, it’s more an obsession for men. For women it’s just a practical concern, or an implement of power (e.g.: “My, what a big/small etc.”). Or as a lesbian friend of mine pointed out in a phone conversation a few minutes ago, “there are plenty of people who really aren’t too concerned about the topic at all“. I agree. So to wrap things up: in spite of the success of innovations like tobacco-flavored and glow in the dark condoms, sales of spray-on condoms remain flaccid.
Silly Billionaire Doesn’t Realize Economy Was Fixed Last Weekend
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 14, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Tuesday, October 14th, 2008George Soros on the Economic Crisis
In these troubled financial times, it’s refreshing to hear a successful financial expert (George Soros is worth about $7 billion) talk commonsensically about the current economic crisis. Except that he’s basically saying that we’re completely screwed. If you have about six minutes, watch this Bill Moyers interview, in which Soros basically says that the extreme form of capitalism that we’ve been playing with (he calls it free-market fundamentalism) could lead to the end of the human race. He balances that seemingly extreme notion with more common-sense talk about how capitalism and socialism have something in common that could make either one succeed or fail catastrophically, i.e.: the human element. He distills that “human element” down to the sense of social responsibility possessed by the leaders of a given society, not only during a time of crisis, but in the ongoing management of the society.
We Used To Call It America
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 13, 2008 by admin in Editorial & Opinion
Monday, October 13th, 2008What’s red and blue, but black and white anyway?
I like to dream that some day we’ll have green and yellow and orange states. The mind-numbing simplicity of our blue and red ones is killing me. Am I a flag-burning weepy artist type who wants to hug a tree while I tax the hell out of myself so I can have decent health care and feed the lazy, or am I a wealthy, heroic, bomb-dropping entrepeneur whose family is proud they haven’t paid a penny in taxes since 1930? Am I a cool jock type who plays football and gets the chicks even though I treat them like crap, or am I a nerdy, philosophizing art-school dropout who’s single ’cause I still feel badly about that last girl? Am I popular, pretty, and stupid? Or am I an outcast, a little different-looking, and snobbishly intellectual? Am I red, or am I blue?
Well, frankly…neither. I’d probably live in the brown state (some muddle of all the basic color options), where we found a balance between having enough for ourselves because we were motivated, and taking care of others because we were actually kind in nature. Where inventiveness and a “maverick” spirit led to anti-gravity cars and an actually healthy way of living, rather than an obsession with archaic combustion engine technologies, holes in the ground spewing black oil, and a lifestyle of gluttony and excess that inspires bizarre medical practices like liposuction.
Or the spectrum state (rainbows were co-opted by special interests a long time ago), where people of different beliefs and lifestyles respected a simple common value: respect others’ beliefs, and when you disagree, discuss things reasonably.
Oh, wait. We used to call that America.
If The Elections Go South, You Can Always Go North
[ Comments Off ]Posted on October 13, 2008 by admin in Politics
Monday, October 13th, 2008“Plus”, as Sarah Palin might add, “ya kin still seeyAmerica from they-er”.
Well, it’s time for America’s traditional leap year question since 2000: “Am I moving to Canada?” The Slate.com video at left has some thoughts to help you decide. It first occurred to me to move to Canada in November of 2000. I did some research though, and found out that they had suddenly made it more difficult, in anticipation of the mass-exodus after American democracy got hijacked. See, Canadians aren’t only nice, they’re SMART. I’m personally looking seriously at the Permanent Tourist option, but if you still find Canada appealing, here are some links to help you decide. CommonDreams.org, in typical whiney liberal fashion, actually offers 10 reasons NOT to move. Puh. We’re not falling for it, hippies. I’d link to more lists, but they can all pretty much be summarized by saying “weed, beer, hockey, health care, and no George Bush”. To which I’d like to add “and Celine Dion doesn’t live here any more”. So let’s cut to the quick. Here’s the actual eligibility list, which the CIC cleverly buried deep within their site. See you in Saskatoon!