So you get a check in the mail. Most of the time you can tell it’s a check without even opening it up. So can any one else looking at it. Is this not a most serious security violation? The bureau or business that sent that to me needs to Read more…
I saw a package, frozen something-or-other by some company-or-other, that actually said, “caution: this product may be hot after heating.” There are just so many things wrong with that statement… “May be?” May be hot after heating? Does it have some super high-tech, sci-fi, space-age heat resistant packaging but so badly designed Read more…
The number of times in a week (or even in a day) I have to click on somebody’s legal disclaimer, end user agreement, “we use cookies” announcement [by the way, all websites use cookies, and they are absolutely harmless. Deal with it!], “your mileage may vary,” or wait while some FBI Read more…
Dear Microsoft: Please stop trying to improve things. You don’t do it very well. Sincerely; A very frustrated Long Time User of Windows and Olden School Programmer & Software Designer. (So there) P.S. you see, the problem is that you take things that, well, while they were not perfect, Read more…
Looks like Mars is positively a-swim. (Sort of.) Take a look here(1) if you haven’t heard to news. Well… okay. Not “a-swim” not when compared to its closest neighbor (us) whose surface area is 70% free-standing water, not merely a (probably) frozen lake and some ‘puddles’ a mile under the surface(2) Read more…
Just a quick thought: if, after a political debate, the pundits have to debate who won, then no one won. Possibly it means that none of them are fit for office. More likely it just means none of them are any good at debate. The less quick thought: I Read more…
I was 8 years old, more or less, when TV advertisers started to seem suspicious to me. I’d ask around, ask some questions of the adults and those who didn’t say something like “you ask too many questions” or “aren’t you the clever one,” instead of answering the question (also Read more…
This is the other half of what is really a two-part posting, first questioning the modern “conservative” movement, now performing similar surgery on the so-called “liberals.” First, a definition: liberal: per the Oxford English Dictionary(1) 1. open to new behavior or opinions and willing to discard traditional values. “they have Read more…
The last few years (ok, the last 30) it’s become increasingly hard for me to put the traditional definition of “conservative” together with the actions of those who now call themselves conservatives. The American Republican party (which is generally considered the conservative party — though in reality it is only Read more…
I’ve been watching words I use everyday (more or less) gradually fall out of use during my life. This is fine; that’s how languages are. I’ve also watched the typical vocabulary go down over the same time span. Walter Cronkite used a far larger vocabulary than does even NPR these Read more…
With all respect to the Ginsu Knife (has been out of production for some time now) I tend to use the phrase “Ginsu knife advertising” to refer to a particular category of come-on that I put on the “to be distrusted” list. For those who don’t know or don’t remember, Read more…
There’s an ad for ADHD(1) where a young person is caught just staring blankly out the window. The ad says, or implies, this is a serious mental disorder. Bull! It’s called day dreaming and it’s a very, very important part of the functioning of the human mind. Now, perhaps, if the Read more…
You may or may not remember (or otherwise know) that one of the the first American Space Shuttles(1) to fly was the Enterprise. This was supposed to be a candy thrown to the Star Trek fans of the time. Problem here is that the Star Ship Enterprise (from Star Trek,1966 – Read more…
So, we had a serious blanket of smoke here, due to some fires (quite a few, actually) and a freak wind from the North East. I mean serious smoke. At 1:30 in the afternoon it was nearly pitch black outside, save for street lamps and such. Probably that meant it Read more…
Let’s face facts, folks: there is no science behind Star Trek. It’s Science Fantasy(1), not Science Fiction. Looking for the science behind it is like looking for the science behind Lord of the Rings. There isn’t any, but there doesn’t need to be any. It’s internally consistent (Star Trek sort of, Read more…
I think I was 12 years old the first time it dawned on me what “kills 99.9% of all germs means.” I was spraying a can of “disinfectant” around, per my mom’s instructions, because the basement had flooded, flood handled but now things might be growing in the damp cinder Read more…
“There’s nothing special about being old. It just takes a long time.” ~ Robert Heinlein (speaking as Lazarus Long) Our society worships youth to an absurd degree. Even when I was a “youth” (that is, enthusiastic and very dumb) I thought this was a pretty silly thing. I knew Read more…
Folks born since the end of the 1980’s have no idea (thank God!) what it was like living under the Cold War. Unfortunately, not too many who were there understood what was happening either, because they didn’t know any better, and because after a while it’s all just background noise. Read more…
I was one of those weird kids who was disappointed that Latin was no longer available when I got to high school. The forebear of all Western Languages (more or less, not a completely true statement) and it’s not being taught any more? Sheesh… Well, I have had lots of time Read more…
Quick thought: If *I* put out a product that worked as randomly, as poorly, as sporadically as your typical cell phone(1) or as, say, Microsoft Publisher(2)… I’d get into quite a lot of trouble. Question: why don’t they? Yes: my shortest post to date… (1) I have a fairly Read more…