[The hip new way to keep tabs on Rob, without all that time-consuming conversation.]
Earlier today, I found myself about to make a completely baseless comment regarding a complete lack of integrity, and Bernie Mac. I’m pretty sure I picked him because of the syllable count and how it would echo the thing I heard someone say, which prompted unfounded remark in my brain. But then I remembered he’s dead, and there’s no use speaking ill of the dead. But then I remembered the movie ‘Transformers.’
So my probably-stolen XBOX 360 got it’s Red Rings of Death a couple of weeks ago. I went to the online form, which was broken, and I called their tech support, who made me confirm that the rings were in fact red, not green, and issued me a UPS shipping label to have the system sent back to Microsoft. Then, a few label-less days later, I called ‘em up again and repeated the whole process, since they had no record of my original call. But they didn’t really give me any grief about having a probably-stolen console, which was nice of them.
Yesterday, I got an automated phone call at 7:30am to tell me to stay home today between 7am and 8pm, because UPS may or may not stop by, but if they do, it’ll be between those hours. Good lookin’ out, UPS!
…maybe it’s not their fault. Maybe the brown truck is a quantum event!
What I always wondered was, you take a Conquering Nation, pretty much any from history, and what they’re doing is conquering the world, yeah? But the world is quite large. And Germany is quite small. So how can there be enough people in Germany to conquer the world? Because the troops are streaming out of the home land, right? And, unlike Risk, I’m pretty sure you’re not going to start generating troops from the conquered nations. Historically, conscription may have been a thing, and it becomes in the best interest of those conscripted (re: enslaved) to crew the ship, thus preserving their own lives, but that in more modern times, putting guns in the hands of your freshly subjugated enemies and hoping they’ll get your back in the next battle might be one of the very last things you (would want to) do.
So what’s the theory? Kill every man who could fight you, hope that the next generation thinks of your new empire as their home, as opposed to their father-killin’ enemy?
I was looking at the editing style of entertainment news on a couple of sites this morning, some research for an upcoming client / employer (I hope). Now, they say you can tell who is supposed to be watching a show by what’s being advertised (hence ‘soap operas,’ for instance). Over at E! online, all the ads seem to be for STD medication. Hm.
A lot of improvisational theater is based on audience suggestion. I’m pretty sure this is more to prove to the audience that things are, in fact, being made up on the spot, than to provide the performers with topics. So shows start with a request made to the audience.
A few months ago, this was my chance to yell ‘fire!’ in a crowded theater. I was very proud of myself. I don’t know if anyone else noticed.
…but a 1:1 scale map of Alaska is like a microcosm of the state on steroids.
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I think the internet is succumbing to a variety of the grey goo scenario. There’s a lot of it, it’s growing, but the older bits are atrophying, and there’s no method of getting rid of the old stuff except waiting for everything that links to it to atrophy as well.
Searching for information on a technical problem? Enjoy sifting through protips from 2005. Luckily, the topic you’re interested in is a recent technology? Too bad it’s named for a generic noun. (“Apple Color?” Great. Thanks.) Nowadays, folks blogging embedded video have their posts turned to useless mush in a matter of days, and people who [still / ever] pointed you to an article they enjoyed with a link to the main site, because that’s where they saw the article in question? Y’know, along with the all of the other news items of the day? Those people are idiots. It’s true!
The grey goo is self-replicating, but I think the internets are developing a handle on that too, not least of which is the delightful practice of re-blogging – posting the exact same thing you read somewhere else with no additional commentary or insight. I suppose if you’re gonna do it, an aggregator like Google Reader is the way to go, but a few folks manage to make a living on it, just a’ clutterin’ up the internets for the rest of us.