I think most people who watch much television have those few escapist shows… ones that have absolutely nothing to do with reality but are addictive despite (or more likely because of) that fact. My best example for a long time was pretty much any show written by Aaron Sorkin. The West Wing and especially Sports Night were favorites of mine. The way I put it was that no one talks that way in real life, but it’s such fun to watch. 🙂
For years I have been enamored with the basic principle of conservation of energy. I know that’s a bit weird, but since when is that a surprise?
Been meaning to post this quickie since last week. I figure this one will get me geek cred with my console gamer friends…
I work in the same lab with the guy who wrote this book.
How cool is that? 🙂
Oh. Holy. Crap.
I’ve gotta learn to be careful what I wish for.
I so didn’t see that coming. Any of it. Brilliance. Sheer brilliance. The bit with the jelly babies was a bit on-the-nose, but bravo nonetheless. Russell Davies is a genius.
Once you’ve seen it (and it has aired here in the US), come back here and tell me I’m wrong. I dare you. 🙂
I just noticed today that my senior memory meme post has no question 12. I didn’t skip it. Eeyore didn’t have one either. At first I was going to be all boring and just try to find out what the missing question was, but then I figured out that this is the perfect opportunity for reader participation!
That’s right! You, my 3 lucky readers, have a once-in-a lifetime chance. 🙂 Drop in a comment that contains what you think should have been question number 12 about my senior year of high school. I will answer all questions from people I know (so don’t ask what you don’t want to know!), and I’ll probably answer even if I don’t know you. Just be sure I have your email address… I reserve the right not to answer publicly. 🙂
Cleaning up another promised post, details about why my car was gone so long for those who are mechanically inclined. The following details came from the (very helpful) tech who worked on my car.
It all came down to one bolt.
In the category of the power of memory…
I just picked up a copy of a guilty pleasure from Second Spin (link invalid… according to my brief scan on archive.org, this company started shutting down in late February of 2008) on the cheap: Electric Youth by Debbie Gibson. I was getting ready to rip it just a few minutes ago, and something really weird happened. My eyes rested on the title of the opening track (”Who Loves Ya Baby?”), and in the space of about 2 seconds, my mind went from the title to a mental sound clip of the chorus to the smell of the ink used to print the liner notes for my old cassette copy (which was stolen along with the rest of my collection over 13 years ago).
I’ve heard before that smell is the sense most strongly tied to memory, but I’ve never had it go “backwards” like that before. For whatever reason, that tape’s liner notes had a strong and distinct scent that none of my other tapes had, so I smelled it every time I opened up the case (which was REALLY often about 8th or 9th grade or so). I guess the association in my brain was stronger than I thought. 🙂
Important security announcement for WordPress users who have updated to version 2.1.1: the download file for 2.1.1 was apparently cracked to include a security exploit. If your WordPress site is running 2.1.1 and you obtained that version from any source other than the official subversion repository (using the svn command and a URL at svn.automattic.com), you apparently need to upgrade to 2.1.2 NOW. Follow the link for details.
This one’s going to be a little dry, but it’s actually a bit of a public service announcement for friends. For anyone who has a home router appliance (from Linksys, Netgear, D-Link, etc.) on their incoming cable modem/DSL service, double check and make sure you have changed the administrator password on the box to something other than the default.
Some folks have come up with a successful attack that they term “drive-by pharming” where they trick your web browser into logging into your router and changing settings to allow external attacks on your computers. Most SOHO routers come set by default to not allow connections from the outside Internet. However, this attack makes use of your browser so that the attack comes from inside your network (by way of your computer’s browser). The good news is that the attack is completely dependent on you leaving your router set to its default IP address and password. If you change the administrator password, you’re safe.
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows to be released in July. (archived copy on archive.org)