Reverse Polish Notation: never thought about it, but apparently 1+2=3 isn't the only kind of math grammar out there.
Vocabulary words: charette, progesterex the fake date rape drug, parkour some city hoppity jumpy sport city folk have probably heard of. But I can tell you I haven't seen much of that around here.
Ghoulardi and his sucessor, Ron Sweed, also known as "The Ghoul." Note the part where young Ron gets an internship with Ghoulardi using the time honored method of wearing a gorilla suit.
The entire article on Damien Hirst is hilarious.
And behind the scenes, on the talk page for corset, a saga unfolds: a years-long, slow, painful battle between the people who want to write an article about corsets, and an earnest Danish user bearing an unspeakably huge grudge against all things corset.
Armed with 15 billion pictures and misguided intermediate English supplemented by something Babelfishy, user Haabet wreaks havoc on all aspects of the article.
Sometimes painful, sometimes funny, maybe heartwarming somewhere (?) it would be a real page-turner if it were, you know, on paper.
Tuesday, June 30, 2009
Sunday, June 28, 2009
Mysteries
Here are some mysterious mysteries.
Bugs is just 1 year shy of a quarter century!
Who are these people? Apparently Bugs has just turned 25, but why is everyone ending their post with not-so-well-known words such as "agagagagag," "bibibibibi," and "cecececece?"
Theories:
Because this site is called Raoul's China Saloon, perhaps the board is for ex-pats in China, and the agagag-ing is a way of expressing applause or cheering? Either online Chinese slang or something from offline. Do Chinese people say "agagag" at each other on their birthdays?
OK: yes, looks like it is for ex-pats judging by the other discussions.
A search for "agagagagag" turned up some other stuff, but also another page from Raoul's China Saloon. Again, some people are agagag-ing here for somebody else's birthday.
So, we've established they are ex-pats, that "agagag" is appropriate at least for birthdays, and that Raoul's China Saloon is one of the main places agagag-ing occurs.
My guess is either: Chinese slang that doesn't show up in English web results because it's in Chinese characters, OR
Slang specific to Raoul's China Saloon, and the rest of the results I saw were people screwing with keyboards, OR
something else. But it is 1:45 in the morning and I shouldn't try to investigate it further now.
Bugs is just 1 year shy of a quarter century!
Who are these people? Apparently Bugs has just turned 25, but why is everyone ending their post with not-so-well-known words such as "agagagagag," "bibibibibi," and "cecececece?"
Theories:
Because this site is called Raoul's China Saloon, perhaps the board is for ex-pats in China, and the agagag-ing is a way of expressing applause or cheering? Either online Chinese slang or something from offline. Do Chinese people say "agagag" at each other on their birthdays?
OK: yes, looks like it is for ex-pats judging by the other discussions.
A search for "agagagagag" turned up some other stuff, but also another page from Raoul's China Saloon. Again, some people are agagag-ing here for somebody else's birthday.
So, we've established they are ex-pats, that "agagag" is appropriate at least for birthdays, and that Raoul's China Saloon is one of the main places agagag-ing occurs.
My guess is either: Chinese slang that doesn't show up in English web results because it's in Chinese characters, OR
Slang specific to Raoul's China Saloon, and the rest of the results I saw were people screwing with keyboards, OR
something else. But it is 1:45 in the morning and I shouldn't try to investigate it further now.
The Wikipedia article for simple columnar epithelia still has, as of this writing, some of the mysterious Korean that was there the first time I looked at it. 그딴거 없어 꺼져 at the bottom of the page is still there. The first time around, it was 장준보 in one spot, and then 그딴거 없어 꺼져 at the bottom.
I went to quite a few Korean-->English translators. The first one said the two phrases meant "The Jang...I'm dying," which was enormously creepy. Others also said something about a Jang and then something about shit.
Either Wikipedia is being haunted by a ghost trying to speak to Jang, or some young Korean hooligan is telling his friend Jang to eat shit.
Or maybe some American hooligan is trying to tell John to eat shit and sent it through an English-->Korean translator, then put it on Wikipedia. The English version will never be recovered because it was mangled in translation.
The world shall never know!
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I went to quite a few Korean-->English translators. The first one said the two phrases meant "The Jang...I'm dying," which was enormously creepy. Others also said something about a Jang and then something about shit.
Either Wikipedia is being haunted by a ghost trying to speak to Jang, or some young Korean hooligan is telling his friend Jang to eat shit.
Or maybe some American hooligan is trying to tell John to eat shit and sent it through an English-->Korean translator, then put it on Wikipedia. The English version will never be recovered because it was mangled in translation.
The world shall never know!
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Saturday, June 27, 2009
American Memory from the Library of Congress
American Memory from LOC gets its own entry because it's amazing.
A small sample of what you can find from here:
Read and watch the history of Coca Cola ads
See WPA Posters
Listen to audio of interviews with former slaves
Search for old railroad maps by state
Look at women's suffrage photos
It goes on and on. Just click on a subject and go.
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A small sample of what you can find from here:
Read and watch the history of Coca Cola ads
See WPA Posters
Listen to audio of interviews with former slaves
Search for old railroad maps by state
Look at women's suffrage photos
It goes on and on. Just click on a subject and go.
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Eye Candy Miscellaneous
Sgt Pepper Cast of CharactersUnconscious Blue and other art type things. Site design is great.
Rarg Animated Short scared and fascinated me when I was a very young kid. I've spent at least 15 years trying to find a place to watch it again, and here it is.
Weirdest Looking Blog Ever (seemingly populated by cousins to Domo-kun)
Nurture by Steelcase, beautiful site and some interesting ideas about space
Vidcat Archive of fashion videos from 1950 to present
Ad*Access, an image database of print ads 1911-1955. Highlights include the "feminine hygiene" ads, which are all horrific. "There's a womanly offense--Greater than body odor or bad breath!"
Rarg Animated Short scared and fascinated me when I was a very young kid. I've spent at least 15 years trying to find a place to watch it again, and here it is.
Weirdest Looking Blog Ever (seemingly populated by cousins to Domo-kun)
Nurture by Steelcase, beautiful site and some interesting ideas about space
Vidcat Archive of fashion videos from 1950 to present
Ad*Access, an image database of print ads 1911-1955. Highlights include the "feminine hygiene" ads, which are all horrific. "There's a womanly offense--Greater than body odor or bad breath!"
Using + and –
Let’s say you’re looking for somebody named Tom Jonese. You are looking for Tom Jonese the cockroach enthusiast, so you search Google for Tom Jonese
And Google’s like, Did you mean…Tom Jones? And lo and behold all your results are all about Tom Jones the singer, and a bunch of other Tom Joneses, and you’re like,
“Noooo, Google! That’s not what I meant!” What do you do?
There are quite a few things you can do to try and banish Tom Jones the singer.
Use quotes, as in “Tom Jonese”
Quotes mean, “I want this phrase, and EXACTLY this phrase!” All your results should show up with the phrase Tom Jonese.
Use the plus sign, as in Tom +Jonese
The plus sign directly before a word means, “Yes I want this word EXACTLY as spelled!”
The plus sign is also especially useful if you’re looking for a username. Say you are looking for more posts by a cockroach enthusiast with username RoachFever. And so you put in RoachFever and Google doesn’t like that, so it separates Roach and Fever and you get a bunch of results about the album “Fever Dreams” by artist Steve Roach. To get rid of Fever Dreams by Steve Roach, search for +RoachFever instead.
If you’re still not getting results with Tom +Jonese, you can add more information. Search for Tom +Jonese cockroach and hope nobody is calling an unrelated Tom Jonese a dirty little cockroach. Pile on more information as needed.
Let’s say you’re searching for Tom +Jonese cockroach now and you’re getting angry results from people who HATE Tom Jonese the singer and think he’s a vile human cockroach. They hate him SO MUCH they don’t know how to spell Tom Jones, they’re spelling Jones as Jonese, and they’re getting into your results. You can also try getting rid of some of these bad results by using -.
Tom +Jonese cockroach –singer
-Singer means get rid of results with the word singer, and therefore cut out some of the “Tom Jones the singer is a human cockroach” results. However, you had better hope that Tom Jonese the cockroach enthusiast does not have another hobby: singing.
Tom Jonese could have his own homepage telling you all you need to know about his cockroach enthusiasm, but if it says something like,
“HI my name is TOM JONESE and I loooooove cockroaches!!!” and then on the same page it says “I also like to sing, here are some links to songs about cockroaches!” then you have just eliminated one of your most useful results.
And Google’s like, Did you mean…Tom Jones? And lo and behold all your results are all about Tom Jones the singer, and a bunch of other Tom Joneses, and you’re like,
“Noooo, Google! That’s not what I meant!” What do you do?
There are quite a few things you can do to try and banish Tom Jones the singer.
Use quotes, as in “Tom Jonese”
Quotes mean, “I want this phrase, and EXACTLY this phrase!” All your results should show up with the phrase Tom Jonese.
Use the plus sign, as in Tom +Jonese
The plus sign directly before a word means, “Yes I want this word EXACTLY as spelled!”
The plus sign is also especially useful if you’re looking for a username. Say you are looking for more posts by a cockroach enthusiast with username RoachFever. And so you put in RoachFever and Google doesn’t like that, so it separates Roach and Fever and you get a bunch of results about the album “Fever Dreams” by artist Steve Roach. To get rid of Fever Dreams by Steve Roach, search for +RoachFever instead.
If you’re still not getting results with Tom +Jonese, you can add more information. Search for Tom +Jonese cockroach and hope nobody is calling an unrelated Tom Jonese a dirty little cockroach. Pile on more information as needed.
Let’s say you’re searching for Tom +Jonese cockroach now and you’re getting angry results from people who HATE Tom Jonese the singer and think he’s a vile human cockroach. They hate him SO MUCH they don’t know how to spell Tom Jones, they’re spelling Jones as Jonese, and they’re getting into your results. You can also try getting rid of some of these bad results by using -.
Tom +Jonese cockroach –singer
-Singer means get rid of results with the word singer, and therefore cut out some of the “Tom Jones the singer is a human cockroach” results. However, you had better hope that Tom Jonese the cockroach enthusiast does not have another hobby: singing.
Tom Jonese could have his own homepage telling you all you need to know about his cockroach enthusiasm, but if it says something like,
“HI my name is TOM JONESE and I loooooove cockroaches!!!” and then on the same page it says “I also like to sing, here are some links to songs about cockroaches!” then you have just eliminated one of your most useful results.
Using site: to get more comprehensive or trustworthy results
Let’s say hypothetically you’re looking for information on the swine flu, and you get results like:
Look for government content on the swine flu only by using the following query.
site:.gov swine flu
The first results are from the CDC, which is a good source all in all.
Similarly, if you want to look for resources on Shakespeare from colleges, use this query.
site:.edu Shakespeare
Hey, turns out colleges have some good resources on Shakespeare.
And so on and so forth: .org, .com, .net. etc etc. It's a nice and handy way to search for certain kinds of sites or only look for information from sources you’re more likely to trust.
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- www dot swineflu dot com! Yeah!! Looking for swine flu? Click on these sketchy links! Buy swine flu from Amazon.com!
- Yahoo answers about swine flu: a 12 year old wants to know “I hugged a pig! Can I get the swine flu???”
- Etcetera, equally useless
Look for government content on the swine flu only by using the following query.
site:.gov swine flu
The first results are from the CDC, which is a good source all in all.
Similarly, if you want to look for resources on Shakespeare from colleges, use this query.
site:.edu Shakespeare
Hey, turns out colleges have some good resources on Shakespeare.
And so on and so forth: .org, .com, .net. etc etc. It's a nice and handy way to search for certain kinds of sites or only look for information from sources you’re more likely to trust.
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Who are we to judge the cockroach lover?
There are cat fanciers, there are dog lovers, and there are also:
Cockroach enthusiasts!
I love the internet. There are so many reasons why I love the internet, but one of them is that anyone can find their niche. This can be good or bad, depending on whether one's niche is unethical. But cockroach enthusiasm? While I can't entirely understand the point of view, it is a victimless crime. (Granted, cockroaches aren't much for communicating their feelings on the subject, but if they can survive nuclear winter, I'm sure they could survive unconditional love.)
I can just imagine poor conflicted Mr. Poindexter Jones. One day he finds a cockroach and by gosh if the little cockroach doesn't worm (cockroach) its way into his heart. Mr. Jones names it "Binky." Mrs. Jones doesn't understand the appeal of Binky, and makes Mr. Jones's life a living hell campaigning against the inclusion of Binky in their family. So, lonely and ashamed, Mr. Jones sits alone at his computer, with Binky by his side, and makes a fateful search for "cockroach enthusiasm" on the internet.
And what joy, what newfound courage: it turns out that Mr. Jones is not alone! and he can network to his heart's content with other cockroach enthusiasts. Maybe they could even give him some marital advice!
Who are we to judge the cockroach lover? He deserves to find his niche, regardless of whether we personally would kill a cockroach getting within 1,000 feet of us. He deserves a search engine that will point him to a world in which Mr. Jones and Binky can live together, cockroach and human, happily ever after.
Cockroach enthusiasts!
I love the internet. There are so many reasons why I love the internet, but one of them is that anyone can find their niche. This can be good or bad, depending on whether one's niche is unethical. But cockroach enthusiasm? While I can't entirely understand the point of view, it is a victimless crime. (Granted, cockroaches aren't much for communicating their feelings on the subject, but if they can survive nuclear winter, I'm sure they could survive unconditional love.)
I can just imagine poor conflicted Mr. Poindexter Jones. One day he finds a cockroach and by gosh if the little cockroach doesn't worm (cockroach) its way into his heart. Mr. Jones names it "Binky." Mrs. Jones doesn't understand the appeal of Binky, and makes Mr. Jones's life a living hell campaigning against the inclusion of Binky in their family. So, lonely and ashamed, Mr. Jones sits alone at his computer, with Binky by his side, and makes a fateful search for "cockroach enthusiasm" on the internet.
And what joy, what newfound courage: it turns out that Mr. Jones is not alone! and he can network to his heart's content with other cockroach enthusiasts. Maybe they could even give him some marital advice!
Who are we to judge the cockroach lover? He deserves to find his niche, regardless of whether we personally would kill a cockroach getting within 1,000 feet of us. He deserves a search engine that will point him to a world in which Mr. Jones and Binky can live together, cockroach and human, happily ever after.
Friday, June 26, 2009
Sordid Underbelly
Yes, there are a lot of pure and innocent things on the internet, but it's also got quite a sizable and sordid underbelly. Some would argue that it is like 99% sordid underbelly. I don't remember the statistics on how much % of internet is actually porn/other freaky things, but I feel like the porn:not-porn ratio was a lot heavier on the porn side.
So, here are some random samples of the seedy portions.
First, you need to see the most glorious chart that has ever been created, I'm serious, it is so cool your eyes will be the size of saucers no matter what your feelings towards crazy fetishes. If the link is broken, it's copyright Katharine Gates and it's called "fetish map" or "fetish chart." Also, an alternate link to view it is this.
I will sing the praises of this chart for the rest of my life.
Here is a thumbnail if I can just learn how to use Blogger without breaking the internet.
Here we go.
Next is The Website of Aradd the Black Unicorn. You know this is going to be interesting already, because Aradd, with two ds, is a phenomenally stupid name, especially for a black unicorn. Note. Please, please note:
It's not even clear in case a poor little 7 year old stumbles into this site and doesn't know what's going on.
"This is a large country and if you proceed from here, there is no way back!"
Yes, let's be cryptic so the 7 year old doesn't know Mr. and Mz. Unicorn will be having graphic and intimate relations with one another on the next page.
"...And they are doing little more than just stand and look at each other."
What does that even mean? Doesn't that mean you're telling the 7 year old the happy animals are just having a staring contest on the next page?
Hm. Looking at the pictures on the rest of the site, I have to say I'm only recommending this one because of the delightfully creepy layout of the homepage. The porn section is less interesting as it's just some disturbing furry stuff.
Finally, here is a page from the USA Sex Guide 2000-2004. On this page, some men in Columbus, Ohio discuss the local prostitutes: where the prostitutes are, what the men did with them, and what the men think of them.
A lot of porn terminology. It's like they're so invested in porn as reality that they're demonstrating their virility/masculinity to other men by portraying themselves as porn stars in their stories. You'll notice some unfamiliar acronyms; the internet will tell you what some of these mean. It might not bear mentioning, but also note the utter contempt they've got for women, and the fact that they're perfectly aware that some of these women are in prostitution to feed addictions.
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So, here are some random samples of the seedy portions.
First, you need to see the most glorious chart that has ever been created, I'm serious, it is so cool your eyes will be the size of saucers no matter what your feelings towards crazy fetishes. If the link is broken, it's copyright Katharine Gates and it's called "fetish map" or "fetish chart." Also, an alternate link to view it is this.
I will sing the praises of this chart for the rest of my life.
Here is a thumbnail if I can just learn how to use Blogger without breaking the internet.
Here we go.
Next is The Website of Aradd the Black Unicorn. You know this is going to be interesting already, because Aradd, with two ds, is a phenomenally stupid name, especially for a black unicorn. Note. Please, please note:
- Creepy black unicorn animated gifs!
- Misspelling of "traveler" in unnecessarily frilly cursive!
- That you can travel to the magical lands of Kandor, Ellgar, and Kondor from the weird marble texture buttons on the sidebar!
It's not even clear in case a poor little 7 year old stumbles into this site and doesn't know what's going on.
"This is a large country and if you proceed from here, there is no way back!"
Yes, let's be cryptic so the 7 year old doesn't know Mr. and Mz. Unicorn will be having graphic and intimate relations with one another on the next page.
"...And they are doing little more than just stand and look at each other."
What does that even mean? Doesn't that mean you're telling the 7 year old the happy animals are just having a staring contest on the next page?
Hm. Looking at the pictures on the rest of the site, I have to say I'm only recommending this one because of the delightfully creepy layout of the homepage. The porn section is less interesting as it's just some disturbing furry stuff.
Finally, here is a page from the USA Sex Guide 2000-2004. On this page, some men in Columbus, Ohio discuss the local prostitutes: where the prostitutes are, what the men did with them, and what the men think of them.
A lot of porn terminology. It's like they're so invested in porn as reality that they're demonstrating their virility/masculinity to other men by portraying themselves as porn stars in their stories. You'll notice some unfamiliar acronyms; the internet will tell you what some of these mean. It might not bear mentioning, but also note the utter contempt they've got for women, and the fact that they're perfectly aware that some of these women are in prostitution to feed addictions.
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Job search
General: Oodle
Outdoorsy/"adventure": Backdoor Jobs, Coolworks
Oregon Employment Department
Check Browse Available Jobs. Then check Government Jobs→applicable cities, applicable county, state, federal. Rinse and repeat. Har har.
Federal seems like a hassle but I’ve never been through the process. State is nice; I got an Oregon State Parks internship through that job site. Filling the PD100 out the first time is hard and then it’s a relative piece of cake. Just make sure to save your first PD100 on your computer somewhere so you can copy and paste.
Travel: BUNAC, WWOOF (this is more volunteering, but with room & board)
Travel, English teaching: JET program, Ohayo Sensei, Dave's ESL Cafe
For WU students and graduates: Career Center Jobs
Work at home: Rat Race Rebellion, WAHM.com
At WAHM, check job listings as well as the telecommuting moms folder.
Be careful. Both WAHM and Rat Race Rebellion have good info on avoiding scams.
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Outdoorsy/"adventure": Backdoor Jobs, Coolworks
Oregon Employment Department
Check Browse Available Jobs. Then check Government Jobs→applicable cities, applicable county, state, federal. Rinse and repeat. Har har.
Federal seems like a hassle but I’ve never been through the process. State is nice; I got an Oregon State Parks internship through that job site. Filling the PD100 out the first time is hard and then it’s a relative piece of cake. Just make sure to save your first PD100 on your computer somewhere so you can copy and paste.
Travel: BUNAC, WWOOF (this is more volunteering, but with room & board)
Travel, English teaching: JET program, Ohayo Sensei, Dave's ESL Cafe
For WU students and graduates: Career Center Jobs
Work at home: Rat Race Rebellion, WAHM.com
At WAHM, check job listings as well as the telecommuting moms folder.
Be careful. Both WAHM and Rat Race Rebellion have good info on avoiding scams.
___
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Nerd miscellaneous
Tragically, the Amazon links only lead to the “real” Batman movies. There must be some place to watch these. Sometime I’ll investigate the rest of superheroeslives.com and dig some up.
Batman and Robin in the Nude, or Class and its Exceptions
"Because Robin is a liminal entity, through his adoption, Batman is interpellated into a position of similar liminality, a liminality that is similar to that which law enforcement agents are held within, able to uphold the law while simultaneously breaking it." It goes on for 16 pages.
The Periodic Table of Comic Books
"Click on an element to see a list of comic book pages involving that element."
Women in Refrigerators
A tally of the number of female characters who get killed or otherwise harmed in comic books.
BlueHarvest.net Sound Archive
A Star Wars and Sci Fi sound archive. This is if you want to clutter your computer with Star Wars sound effects. Just think: you make a mistake and the computer calls you a nerf herder!
This could also be a wonderful way to royally piss off your friends! Spend some alone time with their computer, and when they come back, every misclick produces this.
The ultimate would be if they didn’t know how to change the sound back. They’d kill you for sure.
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Rules
SF Citadel
The San Francisco Citadel is an S&M dungeon, and like many establishments, it has a list of rules to follow. What cracks me up about this is that so much of it sounds familiar.
"Do not sit or leave your toys on the play equipment. You cannot “reserve” equipment."
You'd think that most of these rules would be outlandish, but no. It's a practical, matter-of-fact set of rules that would be perfectly at home on the wall of a library, with fewer tweaks than you would think.
San Francisco Citadel Rules
BSG/EUBSA Private Military Operator
I always thought that weird private military companies would not have websites available to the public, let alone websites with crowded, white, hard to read text and unnecessary caps and the like. This is an oddly fascinating but hard on the eyes look at application rules for Private Military Operators, written by a ticked off somebody in HR.
Some basic ground rules for applications regarding PRIVATE MILITARY with BSG/EUBSA
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The San Francisco Citadel is an S&M dungeon, and like many establishments, it has a list of rules to follow. What cracks me up about this is that so much of it sounds familiar.
"Do not sit or leave your toys on the play equipment. You cannot “reserve” equipment."
You'd think that most of these rules would be outlandish, but no. It's a practical, matter-of-fact set of rules that would be perfectly at home on the wall of a library, with fewer tweaks than you would think.
San Francisco Citadel Rules
BSG/EUBSA Private Military Operator
I always thought that weird private military companies would not have websites available to the public, let alone websites with crowded, white, hard to read text and unnecessary caps and the like. This is an oddly fascinating but hard on the eyes look at application rules for Private Military Operators, written by a ticked off somebody in HR.
Some basic ground rules for applications regarding PRIVATE MILITARY with BSG/EUBSA
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Blogs
This is going to be one of the longest, most monstrously big posts ever because I really, really like finding interesting blogs.
I have tried to categorize them but we shall see how that goes. I will also try to write a little introductory line or two that might be wrong/uninformative.
Category I: I don’t know them, they don’t seem famous, I don’t know how I found most of them
Aunty Christ: Besides having the best name ever, Aunty Christ is really smart and fun to read. I found her while looking for the owner of a comment on the Oregonian website that I really, really liked.
Please Stop Tickling Me: Where I found Aunty Christ. I haven't read this one much but have kept it under the assumption that I knew what I was doing when bookmarking it.
My Sad Alter Ego: My Sad Alter Ego is a doctor, and is also bipolar. It's really interesting to read someone who is both a doctor and a patient.
Still Drinking: My favorite is the story about the insane sparrow, "No Freaking Way." I don't subscribe to his views on sex and gender. I'm going to try and limit caveats for any of these blogs. There are others but if I say them all it'll be a waste of time.
Dynamoaf: I found these guys searching for the phrase "fuck twitter."
Superfucksuck and another blog by the same guy, Rapex_In: Guy reminds me of Holden Caulfield.
Little Lambs Eat Ivy: Found this one on Feministing, haven't read a lot but looks good. I think she's in Harvard.
Hobolawstudent: Found on Aunty Christ. Again, haven't read a lot, looks good. Law student who may be cleaning up her online image so I don't know how long this one will be around.
Josh Blog: Concentrated, beautiful. Need to read this one more.
Category II: Thematic (This may be a stupid category but I don't care)
Post Secret: Postcard secrets
Strange Maps: Self explanatory
Passive Aggressive Notes: Self explanatory. Fun but reading it too much can leave a bad taste in the mouth. The comments are stupid.
Why Women Hate Men and its sister blog, Psychotic Letters from Men:Fun subject matter and the author of these blogs is a glorious human being.
Case in point: "While many men feel women adopt impossible-to-meet standards for their dating candidates, Philipe has effectively trumped women by listing a set of ridiculous standards that are not only stringent, but have absolutley nothing to do with a relationship whatsoever. It's like selecting a car based on the mating habits of Brazilian tree sloths."
Wooster Collective: "A celebration of street art."
A Commonplace Blog: Books. I haven't read a lot but I'm very sure it's good.
Hanzi Smatter: Every entry is a case study on why you shouldn't get a kanji tattoo unless you can read it.
Lifehacker: Fun, nerdy, interesting, but never tell yourself you'll be more efficient for reading it. It's efficiency porn. You will just waste time basking in your imagined efficiency. Or at least, that's how it happens with me.
Feministing: Fun to read, interesting. I read a comment once complaining that the main message of one of the posts was "bad feminist, no cookie." While I love this site/blog/thing I can agree that's the downside.
III: I Would Willingly Live In Their Basement and Consume Their Leftover Table Scraps Just to be Around Them (but not in a creepy way! “LOL”)
Don Hertzfeldt, animator
Ryan North, author of Dinosaur Comics
John Campbell, author of pictures for sad children
Additionally: John Campbell's Twitter, the only Twitter that I am sure is worthwhile reading. But I won't read it on my phone. For god's sake.
IV: The Inevitable Uncategorized Section
The Chronicle of Artistic Failure in America
Gaijin Smash
Margaret Cho
Unfogged
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I have tried to categorize them but we shall see how that goes. I will also try to write a little introductory line or two that might be wrong/uninformative.
Category I: I don’t know them, they don’t seem famous, I don’t know how I found most of them
Aunty Christ: Besides having the best name ever, Aunty Christ is really smart and fun to read. I found her while looking for the owner of a comment on the Oregonian website that I really, really liked.
Please Stop Tickling Me: Where I found Aunty Christ. I haven't read this one much but have kept it under the assumption that I knew what I was doing when bookmarking it.
My Sad Alter Ego: My Sad Alter Ego is a doctor, and is also bipolar. It's really interesting to read someone who is both a doctor and a patient.
Still Drinking: My favorite is the story about the insane sparrow, "No Freaking Way." I don't subscribe to his views on sex and gender. I'm going to try and limit caveats for any of these blogs. There are others but if I say them all it'll be a waste of time.
Dynamoaf: I found these guys searching for the phrase "fuck twitter."
Superfucksuck and another blog by the same guy, Rapex_In: Guy reminds me of Holden Caulfield.
Little Lambs Eat Ivy: Found this one on Feministing, haven't read a lot but looks good. I think she's in Harvard.
Hobolawstudent: Found on Aunty Christ. Again, haven't read a lot, looks good. Law student who may be cleaning up her online image so I don't know how long this one will be around.
Josh Blog: Concentrated, beautiful. Need to read this one more.
Category II: Thematic (This may be a stupid category but I don't care)
Post Secret: Postcard secrets
Strange Maps: Self explanatory
Passive Aggressive Notes: Self explanatory. Fun but reading it too much can leave a bad taste in the mouth. The comments are stupid.
Why Women Hate Men and its sister blog, Psychotic Letters from Men:Fun subject matter and the author of these blogs is a glorious human being.
Case in point: "While many men feel women adopt impossible-to-meet standards for their dating candidates, Philipe has effectively trumped women by listing a set of ridiculous standards that are not only stringent, but have absolutley nothing to do with a relationship whatsoever. It's like selecting a car based on the mating habits of Brazilian tree sloths."
Wooster Collective: "A celebration of street art."
A Commonplace Blog: Books. I haven't read a lot but I'm very sure it's good.
Hanzi Smatter: Every entry is a case study on why you shouldn't get a kanji tattoo unless you can read it.
Lifehacker: Fun, nerdy, interesting, but never tell yourself you'll be more efficient for reading it. It's efficiency porn. You will just waste time basking in your imagined efficiency. Or at least, that's how it happens with me.
Feministing: Fun to read, interesting. I read a comment once complaining that the main message of one of the posts was "bad feminist, no cookie." While I love this site/blog/thing I can agree that's the downside.
III: I Would Willingly Live In Their Basement and Consume Their Leftover Table Scraps Just to be Around Them (but not in a creepy way! “LOL”)
Don Hertzfeldt, animator
Ryan North, author of Dinosaur Comics
John Campbell, author of pictures for sad children
Additionally: John Campbell's Twitter, the only Twitter that I am sure is worthwhile reading. But I won't read it on my phone. For god's sake.
IV: The Inevitable Uncategorized Section
The Chronicle of Artistic Failure in America
Gaijin Smash
Margaret Cho
Unfogged
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Hilarious Videos (In My Opinion)
I know I have a Youtube account for a reason, and I know a lot of these are probably going to be broken in about 3 months, but I'm still posting them here.
Kelly Clarkson Goes Hardcore
I’m a Marvel and I’m a DC (Deadpool and Watchmen)
Cat who likes to go into sleeves
Boz the Pomeranian With a Big Toy
Box Cat
The Chemical Brothers—Believe
Highlights:
0:57—Creepy Machine: Oh shit, he saw me
1:54—Guy: And it’s like, this CLAW
Natalie Portman Rap
Volare Karaoke
Groove Jigoku V Opening
Kompressor: Girl from Ipanema
Rahmens Chiisa na Kaisha 1 (No Subtitles)
Rahmens Chiisa na Kaisha 2 (No Subtitles)
Rahmens—Japan Culture Lab: Sushi (Subtitles)
Rahmens Nihongo Gakkou American (No Subtitles)
95% of these puns and jokes are lost on me, but seeing the Rahmens imitate Americans alone is completely worth it.
Nailin Palin I'm sure there are about 15 million reasons why this is not kosher from a feminist perspective, but I do not care.
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Kelly Clarkson Goes Hardcore
I’m a Marvel and I’m a DC (Deadpool and Watchmen)
Cat who likes to go into sleeves
Boz the Pomeranian With a Big Toy
Box Cat
The Chemical Brothers—Believe
Highlights:
0:57—Creepy Machine: Oh shit, he saw me
1:54—Guy: And it’s like, this CLAW
Natalie Portman Rap
Volare Karaoke
Groove Jigoku V Opening
Kompressor: Girl from Ipanema
Rahmens Chiisa na Kaisha 1 (No Subtitles)
Rahmens Chiisa na Kaisha 2 (No Subtitles)
Rahmens—Japan Culture Lab: Sushi (Subtitles)
Rahmens Nihongo Gakkou American (No Subtitles)
95% of these puns and jokes are lost on me, but seeing the Rahmens imitate Americans alone is completely worth it.
Nailin Palin I'm sure there are about 15 million reasons why this is not kosher from a feminist perspective, but I do not care.
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Webcomics
Webcomics I like. There are probably 15 bajillion more I would also like, but I am kind of scared to find out because I am the king of procrastination. These webcomics may not be news to some of you, but: just in case.
Perry Bible Fellowship
Dinosaur Comics
Buttercup Festival
pictures for sad children
A Softer World
Toothpaste for Dinner
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Perry Bible Fellowship
Dinosaur Comics
Buttercup Festival
pictures for sad children
A Softer World
Toothpaste for Dinner
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OpenCourseWare
"OpenCourseWare, or OCW, is a term applied to course materials created by universities and shared freely with the world via the internet"
MIT OpenCourseWare
Top 100 Open Courseware Projects
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MIT OpenCourseWare
Top 100 Open Courseware Projects
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Books That Sound Cool
Books/other thing like plays I need to read, but have not read!
Waiting for Godot
Wikipedia:
Waiting for Godot follows two days in the lives of a pair of men who divert themselves while they wait expectantly and unsuccessfully for someone named Godot to arrive. They claim him as an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognise him were they to see him. To occupy themselves, they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide — anything "to hold the terrible silence at bay".
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
Kirkus Reviews: Placing the American family in its historical, cultural, economic, and philosophic context, Coontz (co-ed., Women's Work, Men's Property, 1986) identifies the myths--and their sources, functions, and fallacies--that Americans generate around family life, as well as the terrible burden these illusions create. Violence, abuse, poverty, ignorance, alcoholism, dependence on government support--in
brief, all the social ills attributed to the breakdown of the family--have in fact been a part of American social life since Colonial times, Coontz says. She further argues that our ideal of family life is primarily an invention of the 50's, projected in TV sitcoms such as Leave It to Beaver, and is an ideal as pernicious as are the social problems it supposedly prevents.
A Particular History of the Five Years French and Indian War in New England
I don't entirely remember why I need to read this but I'll take my own word for it.
Between Heaven & Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death With John F Kennedy, C.S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley
Looks like this is actually about Christianity, but eh: I don't care. Even if it ticks me off, seriously. John F Kennedy, CS Lewis and Aldous Huxley floating around in the afterlife talking at each other.
Litigating Morality: American Legal Thought and its English Roots
"This volume is a thematic study in legal history that uses past and present landmark court cases to analyze the legal and historical development of moral regulatory policies in America and resulting debates. Five moral policies are included: abortion, sodomy, pornography, criminal insanity, and the death penalty."
Law and Justice as Seen on TV
"Beginning with the history of courtroom drama on TV and its various contradictions and shifts, since the late 1940s to the present, the book analyzes the various entertainment series and genres that have so proliferated in recent years, giving special attention to such popular and influential series as "Law and Order" and "Cops." The second section begins by charting the complex and contested history of the coming of cameras to the courtroom and the way in which that legal decision led to televised trials and to the rise of Court TV. It examines as especially interesting and important the major trials—such as those of the Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson, and Timothy McVeigh—which helped to shape the way television came to frame trials and their social implications for public consumption. From there it examines major social issues—gender violence, youth crime, family dysfunction, victims' rights which, with the rise of the courtroom as a major political and television arena, have come to be viewed largely as legal issues to be discussed and determined in legal terms by Americans in general."
The Idea of Decline in Western History
"Examining the idea of decline in Western history, the historian Arthur Herman explains how the conviction of civilization's inevitable end has become a fixed part of the modern Western imagination."
Erik the Red's Saga
Someday, I will buy a bottle of alcohol and I will recruit a few friends to have a party. At this party, we shall read as much of Erik the Red's Saga as we can. From what I remember reading, it is the funniest work of literature in existence on so many levels.
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Waiting for Godot
Wikipedia:
Waiting for Godot follows two days in the lives of a pair of men who divert themselves while they wait expectantly and unsuccessfully for someone named Godot to arrive. They claim him as an acquaintance but in fact hardly know him, admitting that they would not recognise him were they to see him. To occupy themselves, they eat, sleep, converse, argue, sing, play games, exercise, swap hats, and contemplate suicide — anything "to hold the terrible silence at bay".
The Way We Never Were: American Families and the Nostalgia Trap
Kirkus Reviews: Placing the American family in its historical, cultural, economic, and philosophic context, Coontz (co-ed., Women's Work, Men's Property, 1986) identifies the myths--and their sources, functions, and fallacies--that Americans generate around family life, as well as the terrible burden these illusions create. Violence, abuse, poverty, ignorance, alcoholism, dependence on government support--in
brief, all the social ills attributed to the breakdown of the family--have in fact been a part of American social life since Colonial times, Coontz says. She further argues that our ideal of family life is primarily an invention of the 50's, projected in TV sitcoms such as Leave It to Beaver, and is an ideal as pernicious as are the social problems it supposedly prevents.
A Particular History of the Five Years French and Indian War in New England
I don't entirely remember why I need to read this but I'll take my own word for it.
Between Heaven & Hell: A Dialog Somewhere Beyond Death With John F Kennedy, C.S. Lewis & Aldous Huxley
Looks like this is actually about Christianity, but eh: I don't care. Even if it ticks me off, seriously. John F Kennedy, CS Lewis and Aldous Huxley floating around in the afterlife talking at each other.
Litigating Morality: American Legal Thought and its English Roots
"This volume is a thematic study in legal history that uses past and present landmark court cases to analyze the legal and historical development of moral regulatory policies in America and resulting debates. Five moral policies are included: abortion, sodomy, pornography, criminal insanity, and the death penalty."
Law and Justice as Seen on TV
"Beginning with the history of courtroom drama on TV and its various contradictions and shifts, since the late 1940s to the present, the book analyzes the various entertainment series and genres that have so proliferated in recent years, giving special attention to such popular and influential series as "Law and Order" and "Cops." The second section begins by charting the complex and contested history of the coming of cameras to the courtroom and the way in which that legal decision led to televised trials and to the rise of Court TV. It examines as especially interesting and important the major trials—such as those of the Menendez brothers, O.J. Simpson, and Timothy McVeigh—which helped to shape the way television came to frame trials and their social implications for public consumption. From there it examines major social issues—gender violence, youth crime, family dysfunction, victims' rights which, with the rise of the courtroom as a major political and television arena, have come to be viewed largely as legal issues to be discussed and determined in legal terms by Americans in general."
The Idea of Decline in Western History
"Examining the idea of decline in Western history, the historian Arthur Herman explains how the conviction of civilization's inevitable end has become a fixed part of the modern Western imagination."
Erik the Red's Saga
Someday, I will buy a bottle of alcohol and I will recruit a few friends to have a party. At this party, we shall read as much of Erik the Red's Saga as we can. From what I remember reading, it is the funniest work of literature in existence on so many levels.
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Handy in General
Acronym Finder
There are a lot of confusing acronyms out there. Use the handy Acronym Finder to figure out what the hell that random group of letters actually means!
Note that if you group your search results by rank instead of alphabetically, the most common or popular definitions will come first.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
Google Language Tools
Want to search for something in foreign language pages, but don't actually speak that language? Guess what! No problem! Go to Google Language Tools.
http://www.google.com/language_tools
Site Advisor
Considering whether or not you should click that sketchy looking link? Check to see if it's safe by entering the URL on this SiteAdvisor page. If it comes back "Site tried to download 5,000 horrible diseases onto computer" then you know not to go for it.
Not all web sites will come up with information, but at least some will.
http://www.siteadvisor.com/analysis/
Wayback Machine
Let's say you wish you could see the history of a certain webpage. What did it look like in 2006? What did it look like in 2008? Guess what: you can see that, for many sites. It is so cool.
http://www.archive.org
Search Operators
Google kung fu. I'd add learn how to use "cache:" in case the cache isn't showing up for a particular webpage.
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861
There are a lot of confusing acronyms out there. Use the handy Acronym Finder to figure out what the hell that random group of letters actually means!
Note that if you group your search results by rank instead of alphabetically, the most common or popular definitions will come first.
http://www.acronymfinder.com/
Google Language Tools
Want to search for something in foreign language pages, but don't actually speak that language? Guess what! No problem! Go to Google Language Tools.
http://www.google.com/language_tools
Site Advisor
Considering whether or not you should click that sketchy looking link? Check to see if it's safe by entering the URL on this SiteAdvisor page. If it comes back "Site tried to download 5,000 horrible diseases onto computer" then you know not to go for it.
Not all web sites will come up with information, but at least some will.
http://www.siteadvisor.com/analysis/
Wayback Machine
Let's say you wish you could see the history of a certain webpage. What did it look like in 2006? What did it look like in 2008? Guess what: you can see that, for many sites. It is so cool.
http://www.archive.org
Search Operators
Google kung fu. I'd add learn how to use "cache:" in case the cache isn't showing up for a particular webpage.
http://www.google.com/support/websearch/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=136861
Another blog it is so disgusting
This is yet another blog. Boo hiss I have like 50 of these. The good news is that this particular blog is for sharing cool things I have found on the internet. Blah blah blah. Let's do this.
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