quarblotz

10:31am: Buffy In-Jokes
I need some Buffy in-jokes. Specifically, what are some things you might buy at the Magic Box, or that you might buy at a stall for "Hellmouth Supplies?" We're going to a Buffy-themed bout, and are trying to dress up our merch stall appropriately.

So far we're thinking

HELLMOUTH SUPPLIES
Stakes
Skates
Orb of Thessala
Crucifix
Cupcakes
T-Shirts
Slayer Handbook
Wheels


... and so forth. Ideas?

12:38am: So, Google Reader has killed Sharing, trying to force us all into Google+. G+ seems to be a Facebook clone. I decided, fine, I can deal with the idea of circles, and went to sign up.

1) Shared content is visible to everyone, but only nominated friends/circles can see the /comments/ on your shares.
2) G+ wants to link to Picasa. My choices are "Link & Join G+" or "Cancel" (and therefore not join).

So, really? I can join G+, link to Picasa, and share everything with everyone, or I can be cut off from my social circle. This is the social media improvement?

9:47pm: Wifi
Friends, I need wifi. In the UK I have a USB device from T-Mobile, and any time I want I can plug it in, and pay £2/day for internet access. I paid £30 up front, and I top up my account now and then, and that's it. It's like a pay-as-you-go phone for internet access. It's awesome.

But I'm traveling to the States for work a lot these days, and spending far too much time in airports, where my best chance at wifi is a Boingo hotspot for something stupid like £15/day.

How can I get cheap wifi, on tap, in the States?

12:48am: Travel
Dear Delta Airlines,

You are my fourth choice carrier for a number of reasons. Let's leave aside for the moment the historical incidents between us that have won you this lousy position. Let's also leave aside the rather poor service I received today, including being provided a boarding pass with someone else's name, and being asked by four different members of your staff if I was flying on standby, while having my ticket information in front of them. For now, I'd like to focus on your meal offer.

The standard in-flight meal offer was "Egg or Chicken." The guy next to me chose Egg, which appeared to be an omelette with potatoes. The kid across the aisle chose Chicken, and it seemed to be a chicken breast with a cream sauce, with some vegetables and rice. (The Egg was served first.) Both these meals looked pretty good, actually, and notably, neither contained pasta or other obviously glutinous foods.

However, in the past it's been a bit of a lottery as to whether one of the in-flight meals would be gluten-free or not. Therefore, I pre-ordered a gluten-free meal for the flight. I was served -- get this -- baked beans, some mushrooms, bacon, and spinach.

Spinach? It looked like it was *almost* a Full English Breakfast, but spinach? Did "Spinach" appear alphabetically adjacent to "Sausage," and was there some terrible mix-up? I'm sure it wasn't meant to be vegetarian, or there wouldn't have been bacon.

What were you thinking, serving a meal with spinach as (evidently) the primary component? Do you have any idea how grim spinach looks, heated and served in one of those little rectangular dishes? Accompanied by baked beans? How hard would it have been to simply make the "Chicken" dish gluten-free, if you're serving GF meals with meat anyway?

This dish was accompanied by fresh fruit (pineapple and melon), which was pretty good. I was also provided a gluten-free roll, which was like winning the lottery! Not just a roll, but also butter AND jam, which was lovely.

I asked for a Diet Sprite, because I'm totally hooked on fizzy drinks but can't hack the sugar or caffeine. They didn't have any, so I settled for apple juice, and it was lovely. But the main course was embarrassing.

In summation: bread and fruit, good! Drinks, OK. Main course, bizarre. I can't wait to see what you serve me on the way back across the pond.

Sincerely,
me.

- - - -

Dear United Airlines,

You're my first choice carrier for a lot of reasons, not least of all because your planes have outlets at the seats, which makes it much easier for me to spend the sleepless journey consuming media. Yay! My last pair of transatlantic flights with you had planes with no outlets, which was a disappointment. But you can't win them all, and I'm slowly but surely clocking up the miles I need to never sit in cattle class again.

I'd like to discuss your specialty meal offer. I always order a gluten-free meal, and these have mostly been pretty good. The mains are occasionally odd, but mostly include recognizable food, not very unlike the standard meal offer. That's great.

However,

1) Yogurt is not a dessert. How about a gluten-free brownie? How about some ice cream?
2) It's great that I get a salad, but why does it have only sad iceberg lettuce leaves, while my partner's standard-issue salad also has red leaves, and hints of carrot and those weird purple bits? Are you telling me those carrots aren't gluten-free?
3) Additionally, I'd like some salad dressing to go with my sad iceberg lettuce leaves.
4) How about a gluten-free bread roll? You've seen what Delta thinks will pass for a gluten-free meal, and even they can scrounge up a roll for supper AND a roll for breakfast. Is that too much to ask?

Sincerely,
me

10:49am: Buffy
Next update!

( Read more... )

10:18am: Knitting
Dear friends who knit:

I want one of these. In black, with bits of silver threaded through, and extra-long sleeves.

I'll pay you. Any takers?

1:05am: Buffy
Couldn't wait: Season 4, the Klimt vs Monet contest. Awesome.

7:27am: Buffy
Next installment in Buffy reviews!

( Read more... )

1:04pm: SSC
You guys, I have something to share. I've never seen Buffy. I mean, maybe one or two episodes, but I don't know a thing about the canon. So Andy downloaded everything and I'm going through them now. That's not the shameful part.

It's pretty good. Sure, a little dated, and wow does it have a lot in common with Charmed, but whatever. I know Buffy was there first, and it's the one that sets up so much of the Whedonverse, so I'm enjoying it.

( Spoilers below, as if any of you don't know how it goes )

11:32am: Radio
What the fuck is this song they play six times a day that, I swear, includes the lyrics

"We're living in a car car ca--ca-ca-car"

MAKE IT STOP.

9:17am: Google maps in 3D
Look! This map of the center of Munich is being drawn in 3D! (If you can see it...)


View Larger Map

10:41am: Exercise
Right! My resolution this year is to treat Derby like a sport, not like a hobby. To get there I'm adding good old-fashioned exercised to every training session. I'm breaking exercises down into Arms/Legs/Core, and am focusing on one area each week.

Therefore, I need to collect a lot of exercises that don't need any equipment at all. I think I've got the basics covered, but am now officially running low on ideas -- especially for arms.

Can you add to my list?

( Read more... )

5:28pm: Joining a group that meets just once a month produces the same increase in happiness as doubling your income.

From Social Animal" at the New York Times.

The article is riddled with Evo-Psych nonsense. But it's got me thinking:

If we believe that women choose partners based on a need for resources when stuck at home with young babies, why ever would we choose older men? Especially given the very short lifespans of (pre)historic humans, wouldn't a peer, or a younger man be a better match?

Also, proof: If wealthier men have younger brides, then youth in women is currency. THAT's why we spend so much on facial skincare. Bastards.

Here's the quote I shared on Google Reader, slightly expanded:

I believe we inherit a great river of knowledge, a flow of patterns coming from many sources. The information that comes from deep in the evolutionary past we call genetics. The information passed along from hundreds of years ago we call culture. The information passed along from decades ago we call family, and the information offered months ago we call education. But it is all information that flows through us. The brain is adapted to the river of knowledge and exists only as a creature in that river. Our thoughts are profoundly molded by this long historic flow, and none of us exists, self-made, in isolation from it. (...) Happiness is a measure of how thickly the unconscious parts of our minds are intertwined with other people and with activities. Happiness is determined by how much information and affection flows through us covertly every day and year.

I think that's quite good. And frankly, I think it's a stark contrast to the Evo-Psych relationship-building crap most of the article lingers on.

So what's the point? Is the contrast intentional, and if so, why spend so long on the setup? If it's not intentional, have I missed the point?

What do you think?

12:16pm: News
From the Washington Post

Copied in full, with apologies to the AP

from the AP

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- The Tea Party Express says blaming the constitutionalist movement and Sarah Palin for the Arizona shooting that killed six people and wounded U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords is "outrageous."

The California-based group says liberals are trying to exploit the shooting for political gain and place the blame on society for embracing the tea party movement, but the 22-year-old charged in the shooting is the only person responsible for the violence.

In a statement Monday, the Tea Party Express says if the suspect, Jared Loughner, has a definable political ideology, it is that of a far-left anarchist, nothing close to the tea party movement.

The group says some were quick to attack the tea party in an effort to demean and diminish support for the movement, but the tea party seeks change through peaceful means.

Hypocrisy much? Because I'm pretty sure the Tea Party have been blaming Liberals, Immigrants, Muslims, Elites, the Government, and others as blanket offenders. But it's different from the inside. From inside a group you can see that it's made up of individuals, not of a single monumental stereotype. The trick is to see that your group is just like all the other groups out there. Clinging to the idea that you and your beliefs are somehow more special than those of the other 7 billion people on the planet is short sighted and ill-informed. And I'm confident that I'm one of a number of individuals who think so. ;)

I'm not saying Democrats haven't been blaming people as blanket offenders too, but we're also not defending someone who looks like one of our own for having committing a terrorist act on our own soil.

Speaking of terrorist acts, why isn't this one?

Also, "peaceful means?" For real?

10:17pm: Seeing the poetry
Professor discovers hidden literary references in the Mona Lisa

4:34pm: Best friends indeed
From the NSFW files: I Breastfeed My Dog.

11:47am: Thought of the day
If abortion and contraception are so evil, why is no one protesting vasectomies, tubal ligations, or hysterectomies?

11:46am: Media bias
So I go on and on about inequality, and about systemic bias, and about how the world-presented-to-us naturally affects everyone's understanding of how the world works.

Echidne, with another fantastic breakdown, has a new post on Media Bias about Gender.

It seems the BBC (and others) are reporting on a "new study" that shows most women want rich husbands. When actually, the study isn't new, "most" women = 38%, and surrounding socioeconomic factors make the "rich husbands" thing dubious. But that's not news.

( Read more... )

9:52pm: So, Suzie at Echidne posts on the Wikileaks thing, specifically regarding the possibility that he was set up. She starts with this:

"Notorious radical feminist" -- I want that on a T-shirt.

Today, the Times of London quoted Julian Assange saying: “One of the women has written many articles on taking revenge against men for infidelity and is a notorious radical feminist.” He was talking about "Miss A," one of the two Swedish women who have accused him of sexual misconduct.

For your pleasure, I've created and purchased my own Notorious Radical Feminist T-shirt on Zazzle. Wear it with pride, ladies and gents!

2:52am: Party
I'm bailing on the get-together at my folks house on Sunday. Looks like the weather is going to get bad again, and I'm feeling a little under the weather, so it's feeling like a bad idea.

If this leaves you depressed at missing your quota of ME, drop me a line, let's go for drinks!

(Ifwecanfindtimeinthenextweekorso.) :)

10:45pm: Update
Following on from my own Feminist Theory is Everywhere post, an update!

Briefly:
- What Your Voice Says About You
- Taller men are "less sensitive to cues of dominance and masculinity in less dominant men."
- Napoleon syndrome -- short guys really do have to be bigger assholes to be considered.
- Reminded me of a study I can't remember the name of. Men with aggressive, super dick-y bosses start demonstrating stereotypically feminine behaviors: reading expressions and body language, anticipating needs and desires; basically just being sensitive.

And now this! Rich People Can't Recognize Your Emotions.

So, it seems to me that superiors have no need to bother paying attention to others, because subordinates can be relied upon to do all the paying attention and relationshipping and smoothing over. 

5:36pm: December
Right! I'll be Stateside for shorter than usual this year, arriving on Thursday the 16th and departing Tuesday teh 28th. I'll miss New Bart's Eve, I'm so disappointed!

I'm really only free from the 19th to the 23rd, but would really, really like to see as many of you as possible! People are welcome to my folks' house on Sunday the 19th, for pot-luck and hanging out. Maybe about a 4pm start? Is that early enough for people with kids?

If you can make it on the 19th, please post what you'll bring so we can get an idea for numbers and variety. If you want to get together some other time or place, just get in touch!!

10:28am: Feminist theory is everywhere!
I found my way to an article titled What Your Voice Says About You, which is about what it says it is, and is pretty interesting all on its own. It's mainly about male voices, and womens' preferences.

Down in the middle I found this paragraph:
Watkins and others (2010) have shown that taller men (height being an excellent predictor of dominance) are less sensitive to cues of dominance and masculinity in less dominant men. Which might lend a little bit of scientific cred to the whole ‘Napoleon Complex’, whereby men who perceive themselves as inferior (usually due to their height) strive to over compensate to prove their own dominance and status.

I'm reminded of another study that I heard about back in some class somewhere along the line, that I can't find a link for at the moment. The results were basically that men with very dominant bosses began to demonstrate typically female behaviors, like "sensitivity to to the mood of the superior" and "cloying toadyness" (paraphrasing).

If taller men are less sensitive to cues of dominance in less dominant men, let's extrapolate that to suggest that more dominant humans are less sensitive to cues of dominance in less dominant humans. So, Generals don't see Privates as dominant; Privates are below their radar of "Who's worth thinking of as an equal."

Taking it to the next, totally most logical feminist conclusion, men, who are perceived as more dominant than women -- on average, both by themselves, by other men, and by culture at large -- don't generally see women as dominant. A woman must therefore be (as they say) twice as good as a man to be considered his equal. Women must demonstrate far more dominance than men in order to be simply considered peers.

Which, naturally, makes them ballbusters. Damned if you do, damned if you don't.

11:45pm: Google maps
On one of the thousands of posts I've read in the last few days I saw an image of a Google Map. There were several locations identified with the standard inverted-teardrop shape, but they were all colored blue, not green or red, and there was no route shown. It was simply a map identifying a family of locations.

I want to create one, but can't figure out how. I've had a quick look through Help and Features but don't see anything. Before I go cross-eyed, do any of you already know how to do this? Can you help?

Edit to add: found this Static Map developer, but I don't want this coded for a webpage, I want Google Maps to do it so I can edit it dynamically and save it as a jpg for myself. I don't have any knowledge or resources that will allow me do anything related to html; I rely on Google to create a snazzy interface so I don't have to. ;)

Edit again to add: seems I can create a new "My Map" and save it, then look up a single place, save it to "My Map," and it will become a blue location. I just need to search for each address individually, save them to My Map, and then view My Map when it's all in.

Thanks, guys!

10:13pm: British programming
Holy crap you guys, I was just introduced to Worzel Gummidge. With childrens' programming like this, who needs drugs?



... he can change his head!



Holy flipping shit.