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Perspective
I will admit that I have descended into that pitfall of geekiness, editing Wikipedia. I will also admit, with great shame, that I have actually gotten into discussions about Intelligent Design on the internet.
I was reviewing an article about a fossil and noted that the date given was 555.3 million years ago. Reading more closely, the radiometric ( Read more... ) -
I read it on the internet....
Wikipedia's article on Edward the Confessor lists him as the patron saint of difficult marriages /and/ the British Royal Family. Given the troubles they had in the last generation, why does that seem ever-so-appropriate?
Also from the Internet, I'm seeing people spell maté as if it were French. The actual Spanish doesn't have an accent there, the ( Read more... ) -
Strange Weather
In Montana on the 11th, it was snowing. From there I left for Iowa, which has been really battered by floods lately. I was in the western part, where it was mostly just crop damage, the eastern part of the state was mostly under water. The west didn't exactly escape damage, though, a tornado took out a boy scout camp less than 50 miles from ( Read more... ) -
Where's Waldo?
Montana, then Iowa. Be back on the 18th or 19th. -
New Orleans
Back from the Big Easy. Red beans and rice, gumbo, check. Beignet and substantial excess of powdered sugar, check. I passed on the Hand Grenade and the Hurricane and the strip clubs on Bourbon Street. New Orleans, especially the French Quarter, is pretty gritty, and the impression I got was that Katrina didn't really change that fact. I can ( Read more... ) -
Just in case you thought they could sink no further
Junta "provides" disaster relief by putting their name on international aid.
Quoted from a New Orleans newspaper for maximum frustration value.
Brownie was doing a heck of a job compared to these two-bit hooligans. -
Thank you, captain obvious!
Helpful hint from our local power company, PGE:
"Gardener's tip: stay away from power lines when pruning."
No, really? -
Machine translation and the news
Xinhua news coverage of the Burma disaster:
Caveat, this is the "overseas" version of the page, not the domestic news. Not sure how different they are.
What a mess.
Just for comparison, by day 6 in Hurricane Katrina, the superdome had been emptied of people and the crisis was largely over. I'm just thinking about this particular spin since I'll be ( Read more... ) -
Russian reversal?
"In Soviet Russia, Wikipedia edits you ( Read more... )