November 2007 Archives
The acrimonious soul of the person who is a human failure, no matter what title or position of power they've grabbed, will express itself in biting comments, harsh tones, and caustic remarks -- all of which they try to disguise as jokes.
The joke is on their self-esteem. Just make sure they don't drag you down as they sink to the abyss of their self-hatred.
ou pisser, on verra. Pensez-y en attendant de crever, charognes.
Pour la postérité: le ring-tone dancer en spandex jaune.
A demure lady is less interesting than the audacious miss. Modesty is not exciting, but one should keep in mind that public reserve often neither reflects nor corresponds to private inventiveness. And vice versa.
I love Calvin. Give me a kid like that any day.
Maledictions are mythical invocations that primitives use in the belief that their consciousness has primacy and drives a malevolent universe to enact curses.
This is a denunciation, which such primitive minds may well take as their personal malediction.
As we know existence has primacy, and no amount of wishing, praying, cursing, or foot-stomping is going to change the laws of existence or otherwise enact effects without causes.
A curse on the deluded and ignorant!
When enclaves of foreigners battle the local police, this should be seen as an overly prominent invasion.
But the political class would rather be pushy in taxing the working people, intrusive in demanding to watch their every move, while never interfering with the supremacist invaders.
Thus continues the European descent into a continental war.
It hurts because it's so close to the facts.
Egoism, as a common definition goes, is excessive concern with oneself.
Excessive, by what standard?
So, what is the word for the basic concept of concern with oneself? making sure you don't get killed, you don't get robbed, you don't get run over by a truck when crossing the road, you don't miss out on romantic love, you don't read boring magazines, you don't eat rotten food, you drink good wine, you wash your hands, you plan your future, you save for rainy days, you travel to interesting places, you develop rewarding friendships? egoism.
Where did the excessive come from? a cultural bias against self-interest, a mystical emphasis on altruism, an assumption that sacrifice for the sake of others is the unquestionable norm. But cynical egoism is the twin of altruism, the use of others as sacrificial fodder for oneself. Egoism by itself is neither excessive nor insufficient.
The properly self-centered man, one who does not buckle at the knees when accused of arrogance or conceit, this man will proudly wear the radical badge of egoist. Radical today, because the virtue of selfishness has been vilified by worshippers of death.
Do you understand that Google Is Smarter Than You?
GISTY is the magical unicorn that lives in (feeds on?) the hearts and minds of all Google employees. The really annoying thing about magical unicorns like GISTY is that she knows -- knows! -- what you would want if you just knew better.
[modified emphasis; via Gmail + POP + mailing lists = broken]
The Santa Ana winds are triggered by high pressure over the Great Basin, a large, arid region of the western United States. They blow into Southern California from the north and northeast. Racing down through the canyons and passes of the region's east-west mountain ranges and out to sea, they push back the normal flow of moist ocean air.
Humidity levels drop into the single digits. Fires dance across hills. Barometric pressure swings suddenly. Heads ache.
deep into your soul. Some think eyes serve as a decent proxy for examination, or a gateway to study. This gives rise to ridiculous peering, as if one can read at length thoughts and emotions by staring into the darkness of pupils. Esthetic response and sensual presence are more relevant perusal methods. In the final analysis, we check things out in countless ways. Perusal arouses by its thoroughness, even though it's thought to be careful.
Intellectual congress is a harmony of soul -- known directly, without strain, conscious effort, or planning.
If the expression of mind-body harmony can be experienced without an active necessity of the sense of touch, it would surely be felt as moments of expanded consciousness, a feeling of touching and being touched by another mind. Glances and smiles can be outwardly observed signs.
It's an automatic response to the deepest core values. That congress is felt, and sought, instinctively. The other one is sensed, and sought, urgently. Brain congress is a form of harmony, a condition of ecstasy. Something radical to think about, and to mention.
Disparity is the essence of individuality. Similarities can only be found within ranges of differences, whether in quantity (one's weight, height, shade of color, ...) or quality (e.g. legs, wings, fins, other modes of locomotion).
There is no discrepancy between acknowledging the fact of individuality, and desiring equality in the rule of law. There must not be a disproportion of treatment between the wealthy and the poor, for instance. We wouldn't want a despicable, corrupt starlet to get out of jail after 10 hours, after being caught driving drunk and in possession of illegal drugs -- while any other person would be damned and thrown in prison for the rest of their life.
Although corporations claim to be persons, they are not, and should therefore not be treated equally with actual human beings.
Punditry is the behavior of choice for those too lazy to learn the rules of evidence and logic, or too corrupt to abide by them. Pundits are stylish, authoritarian bandits in the intellectual world. Their expertise lies in not letting you talk or think.
In the real world, they are cowards who con old widows, stealing their last savings, instead of trying to rob a bank.
Unsophisticated, transparent, despicable sophists.
What is the border color of a given element?
There is no general answer, since one should be asking what is the border-left-color instead (or border-anyotherside-color). Hence JavaScript frameworks are unable to provide a short, efficient answer to a seemingly intuitive, simple question.
A similarly tricky CSS shorthand impacts all aspects of background.
Propitious circumstances encourage me to believe in the favorable promise of good fortune.
After all, virtue is its own reward.
The Earth's spin is slowing down -- in a complex, non-linear fashion. The changes cannot be estimated more than six months ahead, just observed.
Originally, the second was defined as 1/86400 of a mean solar day, as determined by astronomical observation of the rotation of the Earth around its axis and its orbit around the Sun.
However, the solar day has gradually become 1.7 ms longer every century, due mainly to the friction associated with tides. [via Wikipedia and /.]
As I mechanically click the quote-and-post bookmark, routine writing has escaped my grasp, and I blame the unenthusiastic foggy weather for that.
Is lack of interest synonymous with indifference? and can't one be both personal and disinterested? I'm there, but not pulled by your sphere. I see the value and importance, but I disagree with your need for my action.
Parfait d'insouciance, peu importe les centaines de millions, les milliards de cactus qui vivent ailleurs ou plus près.
Une reprise exaltée de Patrick Coutin par The Blood Arm et Les Plasticines. Je me souviens de tes crises de jalousie face à la radio.
Et comment résister à un peu de Dutronc "vintage"? on apprécie l'aisance, la souplesse et les mouvements de jambes.
First, it was music, in small portions. Then music in large quantities. Then any media in any quantity. Then any information, data, work, or piece thereof, anytime, anywhere.
William Gibson: The very first time I picked up a Sony Walkman, I knew it was a killer thing, that the world was changing right then and there. A year later, no one could imagine what it was like when you couldn't move around surrounded by a cloud of stereophonic music of your own choosing. That was huge! That was as big as the Internet!
And those who profit will be delivering the devices to keep the clouds going and to let us find what we want in those clouds.
Si je ne crois pas à l'amour, si je ne vois pas de tendresse en toi, est-ce un signe de ma sensibilité, de ma faiblesse, ou ma perception de ton indifférence à mon sort?
Je peux prétendre avancer, ou alors me réfugier dans la poésie mélancolique, en retrait du pognon, des voitures géantes, de la vie agressive, d'un monde immonde, une planète piégée en faveur des menteurs et des manipulateurs.
Soit plus heureuse maintenant...
For 50 years, computer programmers have been writing code. New technologies continue to emerge, develop, and mature at a rapid pace. Now there are more than 2,500 documented programming languages! O'Reilly has produced a poster called History of Programming Languages, which plots over 50 programming languages on a multi-layered, color-coded timeline.
It's fun to look at, but unfortunately rather incomplete in the particulars and connections of the illustrated languages. Some little-recognized languages were designed to restrain an unwelcome proliferation of custom languages and compilers, and to collect best practices and state-of-the-art at given times. The facts around that would make for a more interesting story.
The US Government is arguing that it should have the power to (secretly) monitor, search, and read email messages. Without warrants.
This would lead to the complete obliteration of the 4th Amendment in the Bill of Rights:
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
The end of freedom builds over time, unless we remain vigilant. The proper response and self-defense of the people is now for everyone to start encrypting their email communications, so that it becomes de facto impossible for the State to violate the 4th amendment with respect to email.
There is beauty in patterns. The top sea urchin was discovered near New Caledonia, at a depth of 300m.
As Hollywood is facing a writers' strike, let us remember that reality shows are already a departure from the art of storytelling. Hollywood has been moving away from art for a while. This strike may be a convenient opportunity for them to plunge further into a world of entertainment without art, a marketing tool to deliver eyeballs to advertisers, the abandonment of esthetics.
What is DADS? a dictionary of algorithms, algorithmic techniques, data structures, archetypal problems, and related definitions. Algorithms include common functions, such as Ackermann's function. Problems include traveling salesman and Byzantine generals.
I've quit reading (both online and in print) Svenska Dagbladet because they've become a tabloid, overwhelming the reader with ads; committing as many information architecture crimes as possible; and screaming at us with huge story titles lacking both distinction and significance. Tyvärr. Jag ger upp, efter ungefär 35 år.
We don't use the metric system in the USA. As a matter of fact, we wouldn't touch it with a 3.048-meter pole.
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We don't need so-called "editors" who want the power to decide and control what story is more important than another.
Let me choose what I want to know about, and then help me follow the story.
What I need is a reporter who will keep a story up-to-date, with insightful connections and a clear timeline when needed (so I know where to pick up the thread when I come back for more).
Dave Winer: The skill of laying out a paper presentation of the day's news on a big sheet of paper is now an obsolete craft. The only reason we needed people to do that in the past was that was the only way to get written news to massive numbers of users of written news. Now that computer monitors are cheap, and we have little computers that can get us news that fits in our pocket, we can try out lots of ways of arranging it, and maybe we'll even discover something new.
People are creative. They're creators. Machines are tools. They're generators. "User-generated" content is rude, marketing language that demonstrates a lack of respect for us, the people.
Dave Winer: The role of the tech industry is to create tools and players. To enable creativity, not harness and control it. (I think this is when it all works best.)
What is "Web 2.0"?
- window-oriented Web interactions, instead of page-based browsing: similar to regular software applications; e.g. Gmail
- online distribution of your personal creativity: sharing your thoughts, photos, and videos, and learning from others; e.g. blogs and Wikipedia
- being connected to other people and their values: for fun, a feeling of participation, insight; e.g. Amazon book recommendations and explicit social networks
What is BUNGEE economics?
First, they lie to and about you. Then they crawl to you, smiling, bearing gifts. So, breathe. Do you know their essence? what is your core in the face of evil?
They can only get to you if you allow them to. Evil needs the cooperation of the good in order to succeed in its destructive endeavours. Withdraw your sanction, and evil shall by necessity crumble. Evil is by essence parasitic.
Whoever fights monsters should see to it that in the process he does not become a monster. And when you look into an abyss, the abyss also looks into you.
—Friedrich Nietzsche
