Last week, we got an email notice at work reminding everyone to wear their security badges and saying that security would be checking our badges on a random basis. I also noticed that they had a guard stationed near the tunnel from the building to the subway.
I wonder if there's some security threat I don't know about?
Monday, October 11, 2004
The Best Thing For You by Annabelle Lyons
This book consists of three novellas. The first one - the story of parents dealing with their adolescent son, who has been charged with the cruel beating of a disabled man - is very well done, realistic and poignant. However, the other two novellas are rather forgettable - I didn't find myself eager to read more. Get it from the library if it seems interesting, but it's not worth buying.
This book consists of three novellas. The first one - the story of parents dealing with their adolescent son, who has been charged with the cruel beating of a disabled man - is very well done, realistic and poignant. However, the other two novellas are rather forgettable - I didn't find myself eager to read more. Get it from the library if it seems interesting, but it's not worth buying.
Stupid conspiracy theory of the moment:
During the last US election, many people were repeating an old urban legend
that there is a curse on all presidents elected in a year ending in 0. All
these presidents have died in office or have had an attempt on their life.
This has not yet happened to George W. Bush. Therefore, if he does not die
and no attempt is made on his life before the US election, he will be
re-elected so that curse can be fulfilled.
Disclaimer: this blog does not advocate attempting to influence the outcome
of elections through the use of violence.
During the last US election, many people were repeating an old urban legend
that there is a curse on all presidents elected in a year ending in 0. All
these presidents have died in office or have had an attempt on their life.
This has not yet happened to George W. Bush. Therefore, if he does not die
and no attempt is made on his life before the US election, he will be
re-elected so that curse can be fulfilled.
Disclaimer: this blog does not advocate attempting to influence the outcome
of elections through the use of violence.
Things They Should Invent (or perhaps they already have but I don't know
about it): A website where people register things they would buy if they
were available on eBay.
I have occasionally considered selling something on eBay. Whenever this
occurs to me, I search eBay for the item that I'm selling to see how much it
goes for. What usually happens is I don't see the item I'm thinking of
selling, so I assume that no one is buying it. However, it's quite possible
that there are willing buyers, it's just that no one happens to be selling
that particular item at the moment. If the website I propose existed, I
could just check that site and see if anyone was interested in buying that
item even if there weren't any of said item for sale on eBay at the moment.
When I decide to post my item for sale, I could click on something that
would alert the people who said they would buy it to the existence of my
auction. If this site were directly affiliated with eBay, the potential
buyers could be automatically alerted when an auction they're interested in
appears (even if the seller doesn't look at the potential buyer site), and
unsuccessful bidders could choose to be automatically listed as interested
in buying that item next time one comes on sale.
about it): A website where people register things they would buy if they
were available on eBay.
I have occasionally considered selling something on eBay. Whenever this
occurs to me, I search eBay for the item that I'm selling to see how much it
goes for. What usually happens is I don't see the item I'm thinking of
selling, so I assume that no one is buying it. However, it's quite possible
that there are willing buyers, it's just that no one happens to be selling
that particular item at the moment. If the website I propose existed, I
could just check that site and see if anyone was interested in buying that
item even if there weren't any of said item for sale on eBay at the moment.
When I decide to post my item for sale, I could click on something that
would alert the people who said they would buy it to the existence of my
auction. If this site were directly affiliated with eBay, the potential
buyers could be automatically alerted when an auction they're interested in
appears (even if the seller doesn't look at the potential buyer site), and
unsuccessful bidders could choose to be automatically listed as interested
in buying that item next time one comes on sale.
You know how there used to be (or maybe still are - I don't watch a lot of
television) commercials saying that Credit Card X is accepted at more places
than any other card?
Why would it be at all preferable for a business to NOT accept all three
major credit cards? Wouldn't they lose customers that way? I know I
recently stumbled upon an online store that only accepted American Express,
and if they had had something I wanted to buy, no matter how badly I wanted
to buy it, I would not have been able to do so because I don't have an
American Express card. How is this in any way a good business practice?
television) commercials saying that Credit Card X is accepted at more places
than any other card?
Why would it be at all preferable for a business to NOT accept all three
major credit cards? Wouldn't they lose customers that way? I know I
recently stumbled upon an online store that only accepted American Express,
and if they had had something I wanted to buy, no matter how badly I wanted
to buy it, I would not have been able to do so because I don't have an
American Express card. How is this in any way a good business practice?
Sunday, October 10, 2004
Saturday, October 09, 2004
Things They Should Invent: Urban landscaping based on leaf colour
I grew up right under the Niagara Escarpment, and every fall around this time we'd get a full blast of various different colours of trees. Now I'm in Toronto, and when I look out my window the only colour I see is yellow. No beautiful reds and oranges, no giant flame-like progression.
So I propose that when planning what kinds of trees to plan in urban areas, they should take into account the need for an attractive variety of fall colours.
I grew up right under the Niagara Escarpment, and every fall around this time we'd get a full blast of various different colours of trees. Now I'm in Toronto, and when I look out my window the only colour I see is yellow. No beautiful reds and oranges, no giant flame-like progression.
So I propose that when planning what kinds of trees to plan in urban areas, they should take into account the need for an attractive variety of fall colours.
Attention news media:
J.K. Rowling did not say that someone is going to die in Half Blood Prince. The question was worded as follows:
It said nothing about Book 6. All this says is that there will be at least one more death in the series.
And this isn't even news. It was clearly established in Order of the Phoenix that Harry must either kill Voldemort or be killed by him. Since it would be incredibly stupid to write seven books and not wrap up the main plot, we can reasonably assume that this will happen before the end of Book 7. So we already know that there has to be another death!
J.K. Rowling did not say that someone is going to die in Half Blood Prince. The question was worded as follows:
Q: Are you going to kill any more characters?
A: Yes, sorry
It said nothing about Book 6. All this says is that there will be at least one more death in the series.
And this isn't even news. It was clearly established in Order of the Phoenix that Harry must either kill Voldemort or be killed by him. Since it would be incredibly stupid to write seven books and not wrap up the main plot, we can reasonably assume that this will happen before the end of Book 7. So we already know that there has to be another death!
Friday, October 08, 2004
Fw:
Why WordPerfect annoys me: if you have some text highlighted, you can't
toggle between typeover/non-typeover with the insert key. It just doesn't
do anything
toggle between typeover/non-typeover with the insert key. It just doesn't
do anything
Fw:
I'm not all that fond of k.d. lang
I'm not all that fond of Leonard Cohen
I'm not all that fond of religious connotations
But I am surprisingly impressed by k.d. lang's cover of Leonard Cohen's
Hallelujah!
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift,
the baffled king composing Hallelujah...
I'm not all that fond of Leonard Cohen
I'm not all that fond of religious connotations
But I am surprisingly impressed by k.d. lang's cover of Leonard Cohen's
Hallelujah!
It goes like this, the fourth, the fifth, the minor fall, the major lift,
the baffled king composing Hallelujah...
Fw:
I am extremely happy with my prof's teaching methods. I find that her tests
are reasonable and she makes a good transition from topic to topic that
seems like logical building on what we know. We learn vocabulary in natural
theme-related sets (numbers, colours, foods, days of the week), and she
focuses on case endings and typical natural sentences using those cases, so
that if need be I can take the sentences she teaches us and plug in my own
words from the dictionary.
However, I seem to be the only one in the class who is happy with her
teaching. Other people complain that she teaches too much written and not
enough conversation (I thought the class was heavy on conversation and light
on writing - we don't even need to be able to spell yet!), and they fault
her for her imperfect spoken English, even though she understands us
perfectly and can explain concepts in English.
I'm wondering why I feel differently about her teaching. Perhaps it's
because I'm the only one with a background in linguistic theory? Perhaps
it's because I came into this class with the least prior knowledge? Perhaps
it's because I have spent more time studying languages than most people and
am acutely aware of what kind of information I need, and therefore am aware
that she is giving me exactly the right information?
are reasonable and she makes a good transition from topic to topic that
seems like logical building on what we know. We learn vocabulary in natural
theme-related sets (numbers, colours, foods, days of the week), and she
focuses on case endings and typical natural sentences using those cases, so
that if need be I can take the sentences she teaches us and plug in my own
words from the dictionary.
However, I seem to be the only one in the class who is happy with her
teaching. Other people complain that she teaches too much written and not
enough conversation (I thought the class was heavy on conversation and light
on writing - we don't even need to be able to spell yet!), and they fault
her for her imperfect spoken English, even though she understands us
perfectly and can explain concepts in English.
I'm wondering why I feel differently about her teaching. Perhaps it's
because I'm the only one with a background in linguistic theory? Perhaps
it's because I came into this class with the least prior knowledge? Perhaps
it's because I have spent more time studying languages than most people and
am acutely aware of what kind of information I need, and therefore am aware
that she is giving me exactly the right information?
Thursday, October 07, 2004
1. Sometimes when I walk through the subway station and a busker is playing danceable music, I feel the urge to dance my way through the concourse. But that works much better if you have a dance partner, and I've yet to experience the convergence of a suitable dance partner and a danceable busker.
2. They should invent a Trillian for file-sharing programs.
3. Overheard: "That dog is so 80s!" I didn't see the dog in question.
2. They should invent a Trillian for file-sharing programs.
3. Overheard: "That dog is so 80s!" I didn't see the dog in question.
Brinksmanship = not cool.
Really, I'd like to see a little more consensus building so we don't have to worry about government falling every time there's a disagreement. The Liberals should have actively tried to reach a compromise rather than screaming "CONFIDENCE VOTE! CONFIDENCE VOTE!" And the Tories and Bloc shouldn't be amending the throne speech just to throw their weight around.
Really, I'd like to see a little more consensus building so we don't have to worry about government falling every time there's a disagreement. The Liberals should have actively tried to reach a compromise rather than screaming "CONFIDENCE VOTE! CONFIDENCE VOTE!" And the Tories and Bloc shouldn't be amending the throne speech just to throw their weight around.
Tuesday, October 05, 2004
At work today, I encountered the term "carottes purees".
My first thought was pureed carrots. So I googled "pureed carrots" to see if there was such a thing. I got about 700 results. However, I noticed that most of them had to do with baby food. Since my text wasn't about baby food, I decided to google "pureed carrots" -baby to see what there was about pureed carrots for grownups. Surprisingly, I got over 5,000 results.
Logically that doesn't seem right, does it?
My first thought was pureed carrots. So I googled "pureed carrots" to see if there was such a thing. I got about 700 results. However, I noticed that most of them had to do with baby food. Since my text wasn't about baby food, I decided to google "pureed carrots" -baby to see what there was about pureed carrots for grownups. Surprisingly, I got over 5,000 results.
Logically that doesn't seem right, does it?
Saturday, October 02, 2004
A Carnivore's Inquiry by Sabina Murray is a total waste of time. Read the dust jacket, read the first 12 pages, and it becomes completely obvious what's going to happen for the rest of the book. It's poorly organized, the reader doesn't react to things the way the author intends, and the plot is utterly transparent from the outset. Don't bother.
People are always talking about how renewable energy is important because we're going to run out of fossil fuels for energy sources.
It occurred to me yesterday that renewable energy is also important because we need oil to make plastics out of. I don't think we have an alternative to plastics yet, but we do have alternatives to fossil fuels. Therefore, we should be preserving our oil for plastics.
It occurred to me yesterday that renewable energy is also important because we need oil to make plastics out of. I don't think we have an alternative to plastics yet, but we do have alternatives to fossil fuels. Therefore, we should be preserving our oil for plastics.
Friday, October 01, 2004
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