I feel compassion for those who voted against equal rights in North Carolina. I know their vote was wrong and based on prejudice and faulty logic, but I still have compassion for them, because they rationally believed that they were doing the right thing. To many of us in metropolitan areas or with homosexual friends [...]
The discovery of a possible diamond planet got me thinking. What is more valuable, a planet made of diamond or a planet full of wood? A planet made of gold or a planet made of molybdenum? A planet filled with jewels or a planet where we could grow rice? The answers, I think, are obvious. [...]
A couple of weeks ago, my wife and I were watching Bones and the main character, a scientist, said something that stunned me. I have to paraphrase, but the gist, “I’m a scientist, I can’t just change my mind.” I cried out, when I heard it. Listen, scientists are people, too, and can be as [...]
Huh. I was going to post that I wanted to get two of ABC’s albums with “The Look of Love,” “How to Be a Millionare,” and “Poison Arrow.” I think these are on two different albums if I remember my 80s vinyl correctly. But not only are those albums not available on CD, but the [...]
On the teevee, there’s been a couple of Chrysler commercials that have really, really annoyed me. The first one is subtly annoying, because I had to pay attention to it before I realized how awful it was. There’s a young waifish boy who is leaving school. We hear, but don’t see, a boy say “Hey, [...]
A few years ago, I wrote about a minor long-term effect of the Chernobyl radiation leak. It took almost twenty years for a specific type of radioactive isotope to make landfall and destroy Norway’s reindeer-meat exports. Obviously, with all the other lives and ecologies and industries that Chernobyl affected, the small market in reindeer meat [...]
12/2 10:23 pm – I have a button on my messenger-bag that says “I read banned comics.” It’s a fairly old button, and I got it because it the late 80s and early 90s there were a few comics that were being banned. I don’t think I actually read any of them, but I supported [...]
11/18 1:21 am – The old LIRR trains with the blue and red seats were just not made for typing on a portable computer. They have outlets, but there is no way to get comfortable while typing. – Today at {computer company that shall not be named} there was a graduate student who was working [...]
It’s no secret that I’m an Apple fanatic. I’ve used Macintosh computers since 1986. I’ve taken apart the Mac 128K to see the developers’ signatures inside the case. There has never been a point where I thought I would have to abandon my favorite platform. During the dark-days of the late 90s, I still knew [...]
Seen at the local PETCO — Petmate® Cat Crazies®: “Cats go CRAZY over these specially designed toys!” If only the inventor of the cap on plastic milk cartons thought of this. My step-dad walks into 7-11 in the morning and gets a dozen of these for free. But cats do go crazy for them. Both [...]
