Microsoft Recruiting Video
As a big fan of the Daily Show, I was greatly amused to see this video that Microsoft Recruiting put together for recruiting college kids.
Ed Helms' on-scene report
Ed Helms' on-scene report
Wanna be subversive?
Here's a list of frequently banned books. I resolve to read them all, so that I can quote them to conservatives and irritate them. How amused are you that the Bible and Dr. Seuss are both on the list?
Here's some interesting info from the site:
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballentine. Ironically, students at the Venado Middle School in Irvine, Calif. received copies of the book with scores of words--mostly "hells" and "damns"--blacked out. The novel is about book burning and censorship. Thankfully, after receiving complaints from parents and being contacted by reporters, school officials said the censored copies would no longer be used (1992).(Purchase)
Earth Science. American Book. Challenged at the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Mich. (1987) because it "teaches the theory of evolution exclusively. It completely avoids any mention of Creationism...The evolutionary propaganda also underminds {sic} the parental guidance and teaching the children are receiving at home and from the pulpits."
Handford, Martin. Where's Waldo? Little. Challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw, Mich. (1989), Removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top. (Purchase)
Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random. Challenged in the Laytonville, Calif. Unified School District (1989) because it "criminalizes the foresting industry." (Purchase)
Suzuki, D.T. Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings. Doubleday. Challenged at the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Mich. (1987) because "this book details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose this as his religion." (Purchase)
Here's some interesting info from the site:
Bradbury, Ray. Fahrenheit 451. Ballentine. Ironically, students at the Venado Middle School in Irvine, Calif. received copies of the book with scores of words--mostly "hells" and "damns"--blacked out. The novel is about book burning and censorship. Thankfully, after receiving complaints from parents and being contacted by reporters, school officials said the censored copies would no longer be used (1992).(Purchase)
Earth Science. American Book. Challenged at the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Mich. (1987) because it "teaches the theory of evolution exclusively. It completely avoids any mention of Creationism...The evolutionary propaganda also underminds {sic} the parental guidance and teaching the children are receiving at home and from the pulpits."
Handford, Martin. Where's Waldo? Little. Challenged at the Public Libraries of Saginaw, Mich. (1989), Removed from the Springs Public School library in East Hampton, N.Y. (1993) because there is a tiny drawing of a woman lying on the beach wearing a bikini bottom but no top. (Purchase)
Seuss, Dr. The Lorax. Random. Challenged in the Laytonville, Calif. Unified School District (1989) because it "criminalizes the foresting industry." (Purchase)
Suzuki, D.T. Zen Buddhism: Selected Writings. Doubleday. Challenged at the Plymouth-Canton school system in Canton, Mich. (1987) because "this book details the teachings of the religion of Buddhism in such a way that the reader could very likely embrace its teachings and choose this as his religion." (Purchase)
cool science thingy
View the Milky Way at 10 million light years from the Earth. Then move through space towards the Earth in successive orders of magnitude until you reach a tall oak tree just outside the buildings of the National High Magnetic Field Laboratory in Tallahassee, Florida. After that, begin to move from the actual size of a leaf into a microscopic world that reveals leaf cell walls, the cell nucleus, chromatin, DNA and finally, into the subatomic universe of electrons and protons.
Go here.
Go here.
Why is it
that simply seeing a gay man walk across the lobby at work makes me happy? I'm way too into gay men.
Oh yeah, and last night I dreamed that I was thinking about getting a second dog, but decided against the one I was looking at in a store cause he walked on two legs.
Hmmmm....
(Does it help that even I think I'm odd?)
Oh yeah, and last night I dreamed that I was thinking about getting a second dog, but decided against the one I was looking at in a store cause he walked on two legs.
Hmmmm....
(Does it help that even I think I'm odd?)
Pia does Seattle
So, my friend Pia came to visit for a long weekend. We were pretty busy as you can see. It was beautiful but steaming hot here (in the 90's every day she was here). We went to a lot of restaurants, wandered Seattle, Fremont, Queen Anne, Bellevue, Kirkland, my company picnic (you know, the kind where they close registration after the first 16,000 employees sign up for Saturday - the rest have to go on Sunday! Suffice it to say that it was like going to a private carnival - great for kids, but with also 20 volleyball nets, tarot card and palm readers, a casino, bingo and lots of food.) Oh yeah, did I mention that it was super-duper incredibly hot?
That's what happens when you change the truth
Dana Milbank on President Bush’s speech before the NAACP:
A little while after Bush acknowledged that “many African Americans distrust my political party,” four men in the Massachusetts section rose to demonstrate that distrust by shouting epithets at the president. The ruckus continued until Bond got up and walked behind Bush to make sure the miscreants were removed.
Milbank goes on to note that the official White House transcript scrubs any mention of the disturbance, replacing the heckling with “(Applause).” What he doesn’t mention is that this makes the official transcript much, much funnier.
[THE PRESIDENT:] We’ll work together, and as we do so, you must understand I understand that racism still lingers in America. (Applause.) It’s a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African Americans distrust my political party.
AUDIENCE: Yes! (Applause.)
(Thanks Wonkette!)
A little while after Bush acknowledged that “many African Americans distrust my political party,” four men in the Massachusetts section rose to demonstrate that distrust by shouting epithets at the president. The ruckus continued until Bond got up and walked behind Bush to make sure the miscreants were removed.
Milbank goes on to note that the official White House transcript scrubs any mention of the disturbance, replacing the heckling with “(Applause).” What he doesn’t mention is that this makes the official transcript much, much funnier.
[THE PRESIDENT:] We’ll work together, and as we do so, you must understand I understand that racism still lingers in America. (Applause.) It’s a lot easier to change a law than to change a human heart. And I understand that many African Americans distrust my political party.
AUDIENCE: Yes! (Applause.)
(Thanks Wonkette!)
Hot?
Have you seen An Inconvenient Truth yet? Here in Seattle, it's been in the 90s for days now. From what they tell me, this is really unusual. And LA is unusual heat. As is NYC. Seriously folks...
Interesting blog from Laurie David here.
Don't let our politicians pretend that Global Warming is a theory or that it's not accepted by most scientists. And, don't think that we aren't the main reason for Global Warming.
Interesting blog from Laurie David here.
Don't let our politicians pretend that Global Warming is a theory or that it's not accepted by most scientists. And, don't think that we aren't the main reason for Global Warming.
Space Invaders
People recreating Space Invaders. Brilliant, but incredibly time consuming! Thanks Jenna!
Happy Bastille Day!
Yesterday, I learned that 40% of human DNA is identical to the DNA of a daisy.
Unrelated to Bastille Day, but fascinating nonetheless.
Unrelated to Bastille Day, but fascinating nonetheless.
Today on campus
Krist Novoselic came to work today to talk to our PAC. He was the only one in the room in a suit - luckily, he was wise enough to not wear a tie. (It's super casual where I work. It's not unusual to see folks in shorts, t-shirts, sneakers, slippers - Jenna wears em sometimes, etc. If someone's in a suit, you know they're visiting. Ahhh...corporate America is changing. Well, at least this bit of corporate America is...).
As much as I would have liked him to just tell Nirvana stories, it turns out he's really involved in local (Washington State) politics. He's pushing a new way of voting that's in use in a few places in the US and Canada. It's called Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
In the IRV system, the point is for someone to get a majority of votes (51% or higher), which doesn't happen if there's more than two candidates running. So, when you vote, you vote for your number 1 choice, your number 2 choice, your number 3 choice and your number 4 choice.
If no one recieves 51% of the vote or more, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is dropped out and the ballots of the folks who voted for that candidate are reconsidered. Those ballots #2 choices are then distributed to the remaining candidates. Hopefully, that pushes someone to 51% or higher.
If not, the next lowest number of votes is dropped out and the ballots of the voters who voted for that candidate are reconsidered so that their #2 choices are distributed to help push someone over 51%.
It's a very interesting idea and apparently in use in Australia, San Francisco, British Columbia and I think he said Minneapolis.
It allows for some "gray" in voting, so that if your candidate doesn't win, your vote still counts towards the next appropriate person. Of course, you are not forced to vote for anyone beyond your #1 choice if you don't want to.
I would have preferred him to break some stuff, but it was definitely an interesting idea that I had never heard about. I think he said it was going to be on the ballot here. My concern is that the elderly who couldn't handle the damned butterfly ballot in Florida are never going to understand what they're supposed to do in this type of scenario. There are some pretty dopey people in these United States, ya know.
As much as I would have liked him to just tell Nirvana stories, it turns out he's really involved in local (Washington State) politics. He's pushing a new way of voting that's in use in a few places in the US and Canada. It's called Instant Runoff Voting (IRV).
In the IRV system, the point is for someone to get a majority of votes (51% or higher), which doesn't happen if there's more than two candidates running. So, when you vote, you vote for your number 1 choice, your number 2 choice, your number 3 choice and your number 4 choice.
If no one recieves 51% of the vote or more, the candidate with the lowest number of votes is dropped out and the ballots of the folks who voted for that candidate are reconsidered. Those ballots #2 choices are then distributed to the remaining candidates. Hopefully, that pushes someone to 51% or higher.
If not, the next lowest number of votes is dropped out and the ballots of the voters who voted for that candidate are reconsidered so that their #2 choices are distributed to help push someone over 51%.
It's a very interesting idea and apparently in use in Australia, San Francisco, British Columbia and I think he said Minneapolis.
It allows for some "gray" in voting, so that if your candidate doesn't win, your vote still counts towards the next appropriate person. Of course, you are not forced to vote for anyone beyond your #1 choice if you don't want to.
I would have preferred him to break some stuff, but it was definitely an interesting idea that I had never heard about. I think he said it was going to be on the ballot here. My concern is that the elderly who couldn't handle the damned butterfly ballot in Florida are never going to understand what they're supposed to do in this type of scenario. There are some pretty dopey people in these United States, ya know.
A gift for you
A gift from Jim Guigli, the retired mechanical designer from Carmichael who wowed the judges at this year's year's San Jose State University bad writing competition:
Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.
Detective Bart Lasiter was in his office studying the light from his one small window falling on his super burrito when the door swung open to reveal a woman whose body said you've had your last burrito for a while, whose face said angels did exist, and whose eyes said she could make you dig your own grave and lick the shovel clean.
I have no comment
The Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday heard testimony from Steven Bradbury, head of the Justice Department’s office of legal counsel. When questioned by Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT) on whether the President’s interpretation of the Hamdan case was right or wrong, Bradbury replied, “The President is always right.”
Full transcript below:
LEAHY: The president has said very specifically, and he’s said it to our European allies, he’s waiting for the Supreme Court decision to tell him whether or not he was supposed to close Guantanamo or not. After, he said it upheld his position on Guantanamo, and in fact it said neither. Where did he get that impression? The President’s not a lawyer, you are, the Justice Department advised him. Did you give him such a cockamamie idea or what?
BRADBURY: Well, I try not to give anybody cockamamie ideas.
LEAHY: Well, where’d he get the idea?
BRADBURY: The Hamdan decision, senator, does implicitly recognize we’re in a war, that the President’s war powers were triggered by the attacks on the country, and that law of war paradigm applies. That’s what the whole case —
LEAHY: I don’t think the President was talking about the nuances of the law of war paradigm, he was saying this was going to tell him that he could keep Guantanamo open or not, after it said he could.
BRADBURY: Well, it’s not —
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRABURY: It’s under the law of war –
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRADBURY: The President is always right.
Full transcript below:
LEAHY: The president has said very specifically, and he’s said it to our European allies, he’s waiting for the Supreme Court decision to tell him whether or not he was supposed to close Guantanamo or not. After, he said it upheld his position on Guantanamo, and in fact it said neither. Where did he get that impression? The President’s not a lawyer, you are, the Justice Department advised him. Did you give him such a cockamamie idea or what?
BRADBURY: Well, I try not to give anybody cockamamie ideas.
LEAHY: Well, where’d he get the idea?
BRADBURY: The Hamdan decision, senator, does implicitly recognize we’re in a war, that the President’s war powers were triggered by the attacks on the country, and that law of war paradigm applies. That’s what the whole case —
LEAHY: I don’t think the President was talking about the nuances of the law of war paradigm, he was saying this was going to tell him that he could keep Guantanamo open or not, after it said he could.
BRADBURY: Well, it’s not —
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRABURY: It’s under the law of war –
LEAHY: Was the President right or was he wrong?
BRADBURY: The President is always right.
Odd thoughts and pix
My brain works in mysterious ways...I got a new blanket for my bed last night. I ordered a king size blanket (for a queen size bed) cause the king size comforter is great on my bed at wintertime. Turns out that the king size blanket is way too big. So, I'm lying in my bed running this through my mind and my solution to deal with this situation was that I should buy a king size bed to match the blanket. I got far enough that I was trying to figure out if it would make it through the door before I realized I could exchange the blanket. Hmmmm...
Posted 2 new Bubbleshare albums (click on the image to go to the album):
Folks I work with (I apparently have an amazing ability to make people look insane in photos).
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Fourth of July when Shoshanna and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to attend their parade. Some nice pix from the ferry of Seattle.
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Here are links to my other Bubbleshare albums:
June pix:
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Spring Flowers:
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Paris:
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Discovery Park, Seattle:
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Posted 2 new Bubbleshare albums (click on the image to go to the album):
Folks I work with (I apparently have an amazing ability to make people look insane in photos).
This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog
Fourth of July when Shoshanna and I took the ferry over to Bainbridge Island to attend their parade. Some nice pix from the ferry of Seattle.
This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog
Here are links to my other Bubbleshare albums:
June pix:
This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog
Spring Flowers:
This album is powered by
BubbleShare
- Add to my blog
Paris:
This album is powered by
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- Add to my blog
Discovery Park, Seattle:
This album is powered by
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- Add to my blog
Your tax dollars
Congress is insane. They passed a bill today that makes it illegal to use credit cards or other electronic means to gamble online (by the way, gambling in person is aok with them). It's part of the wholesome family charade they're planning on using in the '06 elections (along with other important stuff like flag burning, illegal immigration and gay marriage).
Note: None of these things actually became law. They knew that they wouldn't pass - they just want to go on the record so that they can claim that the other guys are unpatriotic or horrible people or whatever. It distracts folks from important things like health care, the environment, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, other countries with vowels that hate us....
Ah yes and I was listening to the news and heard about this today:
WASHINGTON, July 11 — It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street.”
But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child’s play: all these “unusual or out-of-place” sites “whose criticality is not readily apparent” are inexplicably included in the federal antiterrorism database.
The National Asset Database, as it is known, is so flawed, the inspector general found, that as of January, Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), ranking the state the most target-rich place in the nation.
Yes, that's right kids --- our government believes that INDIANA IS A BIGGER TERRORIST TARGET THAN NEW YORK. Does anyone read this stuff before it goes public? Seriously. It makes me furious. And, let's not forget that this is the information they use for distributing $$$. So, if you are trying to figure out where to be safe, head right for NYC. You'll certainly have a lot more fun. (I hear my friends from the middle heading for their keyboards right now, but I don't care. I'm going on the record with my belief that New York City is more fun that the entire state of Indiana.) Okay, now that I've alienated the entire mid-west, back to my outrage.
Let's start a petition to fire Jarrod...“We don’t find it embarrassing,” said the department’s deputy press secretary, Jarrod Agen. “The list is a valuable tool.”
And the clincher:
One business owner who learned from a reporter that a company named Amish Country Popcorn was on the list was at first puzzled. The businessman, Brian Lehman, said he owned the only operation in the country with that name.
“I am out in the middle of nowhere,” said Mr. Lehman, whose business in Berne, Ind., has five employees and grows and distributes popcorn. “We are nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care.”
But on second thought, he came up with an explanation: “Maybe because popcorn explodes?”
Note: None of these things actually became law. They knew that they wouldn't pass - they just want to go on the record so that they can claim that the other guys are unpatriotic or horrible people or whatever. It distracts folks from important things like health care, the environment, North Korea, Iraq, Iran, other countries with vowels that hate us....
Ah yes and I was listening to the news and heard about this today:
WASHINGTON, July 11 — It reads like a tally of terrorist targets that a child might have written: Old MacDonald’s Petting Zoo, the Amish Country Popcorn factory, the Mule Day Parade, the Sweetwater Flea Market and an unspecified “Beach at End of a Street.”
But the inspector general of the Department of Homeland Security, in a report released Tuesday, found that the list was not child’s play: all these “unusual or out-of-place” sites “whose criticality is not readily apparent” are inexplicably included in the federal antiterrorism database.
The National Asset Database, as it is known, is so flawed, the inspector general found, that as of January, Indiana, with 8,591 potential terrorist targets, had 50 percent more listed sites than New York (5,687) and more than twice as many as California (3,212), ranking the state the most target-rich place in the nation.
Yes, that's right kids --- our government believes that INDIANA IS A BIGGER TERRORIST TARGET THAN NEW YORK. Does anyone read this stuff before it goes public? Seriously. It makes me furious. And, let's not forget that this is the information they use for distributing $$$. So, if you are trying to figure out where to be safe, head right for NYC. You'll certainly have a lot more fun. (I hear my friends from the middle heading for their keyboards right now, but I don't care. I'm going on the record with my belief that New York City is more fun that the entire state of Indiana.) Okay, now that I've alienated the entire mid-west, back to my outrage.
Let's start a petition to fire Jarrod...“We don’t find it embarrassing,” said the department’s deputy press secretary, Jarrod Agen. “The list is a valuable tool.”
And the clincher:
One business owner who learned from a reporter that a company named Amish Country Popcorn was on the list was at first puzzled. The businessman, Brian Lehman, said he owned the only operation in the country with that name.
“I am out in the middle of nowhere,” said Mr. Lehman, whose business in Berne, Ind., has five employees and grows and distributes popcorn. “We are nothing but a bunch of Amish buggies and tractors out here. No one would care.”
But on second thought, he came up with an explanation: “Maybe because popcorn explodes?”
What is it with the dancing guys?
Matt apparently travels all over the world and videotapes himself dancing everywhere - and I mean everywhere! I think the way he dances is adorable, but putting that aside, the locations and scenery are beautiful! And, he ends up at the Fremont troll (a local Seattle attraction), so I guess he's a local.
Definitely check out Where the Hell is Matt?
Definitely check out Where the Hell is Matt?
Chinese Backstreet Boys
Why is it that these guys lip synching amuses me so? (thanks Karen!). Even funnier, these guys have produced tons of these - they're available on You Tube.
Lowered expectations
I was just watching a Presidential news conference and found myself rather impressed with our President. This was a little shocking to me, so I stopped to think about what specifically was impressing me about him.
It was that he was constructing full sentences.
Hmmm....
It was that he was constructing full sentences.
Hmmm....
Safe phoning
Someone appears to have "invented" condoms for mobile phones. Apparently, now it's safe to lick your mobile phone. Let's not discuss anything else someone might do with a mobile phone cause it's disturbing...
Party Bear
A bear cub drew a crowd of spectators at a Lake Tahoe neighborhood as it munched on barbecue-chicken-and-jalapeno pizza in the back seat of a vintage red Buick convertible.
It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel's mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler, the vehicle's owner said.
Yet, I'm busy wondering if the beer was a twist cap or not...
Here's the whole story.
It also apparently washed it down with a swig of a Jack Daniel's mixer, an Absolut vodka and tonic, and a beer taken from a cooler, the vehicle's owner said.
Yet, I'm busy wondering if the beer was a twist cap or not...
Here's the whole story.
Amazing unusual guitarist
Music is beautiful, but he doesn't play the guitar the way we're used to...click to play.
Stupidest senator?
Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska routinely says idiotic stuff. But his description of why he voted against Net Neutrality (basically saying that you should pay different amounts depending on how much and who you access information from) is the most idiotic explanation of the internet I ever heard...
As a matter of fact, an internet that he was sent was delayed because of commercialism:
"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."
I officially nominate Ted Stevens for moron of the week. (Yes, the's the guy who added the amendment for the "bridge to nowhere".) Someone please take away his mouse.
As a matter of fact, an internet that he was sent was delayed because of commercialism:
"I just the other day got, an internet was sent by my staff at 10 o'clock in the morning on Friday and I just got it yesterday. Why?Because it got tangled up with all these things going on the internet commercially."
I officially nominate Ted Stevens for moron of the week. (Yes, the's the guy who added the amendment for the "bridge to nowhere".) Someone please take away his mouse.
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