random bits
Exhibit #342 supporting the case that Dani and I are well-matched:
tonight's theoretical discussion of the proposition "lights timed for
35 MPH are also timed for 70 MPH". Well, that's pretty clearly false;
the interesting discussion was of the reverse. It sure seems like
lights timed for 70 MPH ought to also be timed for 35 MPH,
but I don't think it's so even if you pile on simplifying assumptions
like "green 50% of the time".
Remember when disk space cost a dollar a meg? And later it was a dollar a gig? Dani just bought a 500GB drive for under $100. Um, yeah.
When I bought my current computer (a couple years ago), I was sure that 6 USB ports would be enough for anyone. Yeah, right. Ok, I'll buy a hub. :-) Ok, I don't need all of them all of the time, but it's just easier to leave things like the iPod cable plugged in all the time.
(In a similar vein, I was looking at the mass of plugs in my office -- four-outlet wall socket and 6-outlet UPS, all full. One of the nine plugs (the UPS is plugged into the wall) turned out to be spurious. Eek. (CPU, monitor, printer, scanner, two hard drives, router, lamp. Clearly the lamp's days are numbered.))
Conversation while driving through a construction zone:
"Is this our on-ramp?"
"I think so. At least the signs are facing the right way."
"And no oncoming headlights. Let's go for it."
"Man, if their attitude is 'if you're not from around here why are you on our roads?', they should make it easier to flee."
My father-in-law and his wife were in town Thursday (on their way south for the winter), so dinner with them trumped this week's Hebrew class. They were staying at a hotel along I-79 (Stubenville Pike) and said they wanted to eat at "that Italian restaurant". We don't have much occasion to be on 79 between 279 and 279; can they be more specific? The one where they put the french fries on the sandwiches. Ok, "Primanti's" is an Italian name, I suppose, but I've never thought of it as an Italian restaurant. :-) (Food was ok, smoke was pretty bad, vegetarian options were limited. Next time I push for something different.)
A picture in today's paper made me laugh. It was of two people in a Christmas-tree lot with their dogs. I laughed because I had two conflicting thoughts: we're identifying the tree the dogs like (in that way that only dogs do) and keeping it far far away from the living room, versus we're letting the dogs pick the tree since it's going to be theirs anyway. :-)
This morning's torah reader wanted to give hagbahah (one of the honors) to a woman because we tend to give it to men. This involves lifting the open torah scroll overhead and turning so everyone can see it. The first few people he asked turned him down, so I said I would do it. I commented that early in the year is great for lefties because of where the weight is. Only after I said it did I realize that I'm not actually a lefty; I just feel like one. (Born lefty, raised righty.) Eventually I'm probably going to confuse someone with this. :-)
Browser-tab cleanup time!
What if Gmail had been designed by Microsoft? (source lost, sorry)
The clock at the center of the world, reported by siderea.
ZIP Skinny looks up census data by ZIP code and lets you compare areas side by side.
The care and feeding of volunteers, written in the context of the synagogue but applicable more broadly. There's not a lot here that's new to me, but it's a good starting point when thinking about why people do what they do.
Rohrschach passwords? This is an interesting idea (though not ready for prime time yet) IFF any individual is consistent enough to see the same images in a given inkblot over time. Is that the case? Or might I see a butterfly today and, six months from now, not only be convinced that it's a flower but be unable to remember that I once saw a butterfly?
The secret to raising smart kids (from ralphmelton). I haven't read it all yet, but I don't want to lose it and some of you might be interested too.
Zamzar claims to be able to capture "non-downloadable" content (like YouTube) and convert to various formats. I haven't given it a spin yet. Speaking of tools I haven't tried out yet, Foxit looks to be an alternative to Adobe for reading PDF.
Remember when disk space cost a dollar a meg? And later it was a dollar a gig? Dani just bought a 500GB drive for under $100. Um, yeah.
When I bought my current computer (a couple years ago), I was sure that 6 USB ports would be enough for anyone. Yeah, right. Ok, I'll buy a hub. :-) Ok, I don't need all of them all of the time, but it's just easier to leave things like the iPod cable plugged in all the time.
(In a similar vein, I was looking at the mass of plugs in my office -- four-outlet wall socket and 6-outlet UPS, all full. One of the nine plugs (the UPS is plugged into the wall) turned out to be spurious. Eek. (CPU, monitor, printer, scanner, two hard drives, router, lamp. Clearly the lamp's days are numbered.))
Conversation while driving through a construction zone:
"Is this our on-ramp?"
"I think so. At least the signs are facing the right way."
"And no oncoming headlights. Let's go for it."
"Man, if their attitude is 'if you're not from around here why are you on our roads?', they should make it easier to flee."
My father-in-law and his wife were in town Thursday (on their way south for the winter), so dinner with them trumped this week's Hebrew class. They were staying at a hotel along I-79 (Stubenville Pike) and said they wanted to eat at "that Italian restaurant". We don't have much occasion to be on 79 between 279 and 279; can they be more specific? The one where they put the french fries on the sandwiches. Ok, "Primanti's" is an Italian name, I suppose, but I've never thought of it as an Italian restaurant. :-) (Food was ok, smoke was pretty bad, vegetarian options were limited. Next time I push for something different.)
A picture in today's paper made me laugh. It was of two people in a Christmas-tree lot with their dogs. I laughed because I had two conflicting thoughts: we're identifying the tree the dogs like (in that way that only dogs do) and keeping it far far away from the living room, versus we're letting the dogs pick the tree since it's going to be theirs anyway. :-)
This morning's torah reader wanted to give hagbahah (one of the honors) to a woman because we tend to give it to men. This involves lifting the open torah scroll overhead and turning so everyone can see it. The first few people he asked turned him down, so I said I would do it. I commented that early in the year is great for lefties because of where the weight is. Only after I said it did I realize that I'm not actually a lefty; I just feel like one. (Born lefty, raised righty.) Eventually I'm probably going to confuse someone with this. :-)
Browser-tab cleanup time!
What if Gmail had been designed by Microsoft? (source lost, sorry)
The clock at the center of the world, reported by siderea.
ZIP Skinny looks up census data by ZIP code and lets you compare areas side by side.
The care and feeding of volunteers, written in the context of the synagogue but applicable more broadly. There's not a lot here that's new to me, but it's a good starting point when thinking about why people do what they do.
Rohrschach passwords? This is an interesting idea (though not ready for prime time yet) IFF any individual is consistent enough to see the same images in a given inkblot over time. Is that the case? Or might I see a butterfly today and, six months from now, not only be convinced that it's a flower but be unable to remember that I once saw a butterfly?
The secret to raising smart kids (from ralphmelton). I haven't read it all yet, but I don't want to lose it and some of you might be interested too.
Zamzar claims to be able to capture "non-downloadable" content (like YouTube) and convert to various formats. I haven't given it a spin yet. Speaking of tools I haven't tried out yet, Foxit looks to be an alternative to Adobe for reading PDF.