IvyMike

Video Friday:UNKLE,Burn My Shadow

Labels: burn my shadow, music video, unkle

posted by IvyMike @ 5/31/2007 11:10:00 PM 0 comments

The top 10 reasons I voted your comment down on Reddit

Like everyone else on the internet, I'm always complaining that it used to be better back before they let the riff-raff in. But this might be extra true on Reddit, which used to be all about Haskell, Damn Interesting, the latest essay and/or breakfast choice from Paul Graham. Lately, the number of "hey here's a picture of a funny crazy car" posts has gone way up. Please, people, let's all pull together and help keep Reddit smart.

In the spirit of helpfulness, I present: The top 10 reasons I voted your comment down

10. You said "dupe". This ain't slashdot. Just vote it down. That's what the arrows are there for.

9. You said "dupe"...and you weren't the first. Please read up on irony.

8. You complained about a story having too many up votes, and called the people who upvoted stupid. The audience for your complaint? Those same people.

7. You posted an otherwise content-free comment saying "this link is awesome". That's what the arrows are there for.

6. You "new commented" when you wanted to reply. God, that annoys me. I did this last week and almost had to kill myself.

5. You blamed it all on the Jews, blacks, or Mexicans.

4. You complained about reddit being overrun by liberals, or athiests, or conservatives, or socialists, or freepers, or Ron Paul supporters, or Mike Gravel supporters, or nerds, or non-nerds, or Jewish black Mexicans. You know what? Maybe there really is a cabal. And now they think you suck.

3. You posted an otherwise content-free comment saying "this link is lame". That's what the arrows are there for.

2. You asked a question which Google could have answered in less time than it took to actually type your question.

1. Your comment was just really, really stupid. That's what Digg is there for.

Labels: humor, keep reddit smart, reddit, top 10, top 10 lists

posted by IvyMike @ 5/30/2007 11:46:00 PM 10 comments

Defeating willful ignorance on global warming

I'll admit it: I'm a blog/message board addict. One of the most frustrating rhetorical devices people use in these forums is "Willful ignorance". It's actually easier to appear to "win" a debate on some subjects the less you know about that subject. So many people deliberately avoid learning anything about the subject at hand, and ignore any information that comes their way.

The anti-global-warming crowd seems to be expert at this--they'll ask the same questions over and over again, never pausing to listen for an answer. They don't want an answer, they want to distract the debate, wear down the opponent, and confuse bystanders into thinking they've raised a good point. I swear if I see the misinformation "volcanoes CO2 dwarfs the CO2 that humans do every year" again (wrong!) I'll scream.

Fortunately, New Scientist has produced a round-up of the 26 most common climate myths and misconceptions that addresses most of these common untruths. I'm not sure that this will do anything to combat the willful ignorance, but at least it provides a handy and quick way to respond.

Labels: global warming, ignorance, willful ignorance

posted by IvyMike @ 5/29/2007 12:34:00 AM 1 comments

Play time: Onslaught

Here, have another hit of flash game crack: Onslaught.

Hint: Build few towers, but buff them up completely.

Labels: flash, flash games, games, onslaught, tower defense

posted by IvyMike @ 5/25/2007 10:58:00 PM 2 comments

Video Friday: Golden Shower, "Video Computer System"

Labels: music video, video friday

posted by IvyMike @ 5/24/2007 11:04:00 PM 1 comments

The best seven minutes of CSI Miami in one clip

Labels: csi, csi miami, david caruso, one liners

posted by IvyMike @ 5/24/2007 10:59:00 PM 0 comments

Drink more Jarritos!

Over 50 years ago, Don Francisco “El Güero” Hill had the vision to create a line of soft drinks made from natural fruit extracts that would reflect the flavors and popular taste of the Mexican people. Made using sugar, not corn syrup! With awesome flavors like Tamarind and Pineapple, what are you waiting for? I'm drinking it right now.

Here in the U.S.A, most companies use corn syrup, which is cheaper thanks to a combination of subsidies and tariffs. And you can thank ADM for these crazy laws, because they have an army of lobbyists making sure things stay that way. Each $1 of profits earned by ADM's corn sweetener operation costs consumers $10!

Jones Soda is bucking the trend, although if you read carefully they say "all of your favorite Jones products will be available with real sugar"...which makes me worry: will there be two versions, a corn syrup and non-corn syrup version?

In any case, foreign-born sodas almost always use sugar (because it's cheaper for them), so... drink more Jarritos! Perhaps I can get this blog sponsored by them.

Labels: adm, archer daniels mindland, corn syrup, jarritos, pop, soda, soda pop

posted by IvyMike @ 5/23/2007 09:49:00 PM 0 comments

Finish her!

Labels: dance, violence

posted by IvyMike @ 5/20/2007 03:29:00 PM 3 comments

Video Friday: Duran Duran, "Hungry Like The Wolf" + Bonus!

Labels: bruce campbell, duran duran, hungry like the wolf, music video, video friday

posted by IvyMike @ 5/18/2007 10:17:00 AM 0 comments

Conan visits Intel

Conan rails against the Intel cubicle farm.

Stupid non-embeddable video...

Labels: Conan, Conan O'Brien, humor, Intel, video

posted by IvyMike @ 5/13/2007 08:10:00 PM 0 comments

Torque Wrench

I finally bit the bullet and bought a torque wrench for a project I'm working on. Actually, I bought two torque wrenches, since no single wrench covered the range of torques I need. The combined range of the two wrenches covers from 2 to 150 ft-pounds.

Edit, for Joe: The wrenches are:

• Craftsman Model 944595, 20 to 150 ft-lbs, 1/2 inch drive.
• Craftsman Model 944593, 20 to 250 inch-lbs, 3/8 inch drive.

Why am I blogging this? Because if you know me, I'd be glad to let you borrow one of the wrenches, so you don't have to buy them yourself!

Labels: lending, tools, torque wrench

posted by IvyMike @ 5/12/2007 02:47:00 PM 0 comments

Video Friday: Dan le Sac vs Scroobius Pip, "Thou Shalt always Kill"

Labels: dan le sac, music video, scroobius pip, thou shalt always kill, video friday

posted by IvyMike @ 5/11/2007 09:05:00 AM 0 comments

Another great sci-fi short: Ray Bradbury, "All Summer in a Day"

There's a short list of science fiction stories that are not just good, they're actually perfect. One of those is by Ray Bradbury: All Summer in a Day.

Labels: all summer in a day, ray bradbury, short stories

posted by IvyMike @ 5/08/2007 11:08:00 PM 0 comments

Instaputz

I used to read Instapundit as a way to take the pulse of the right-hand side of the political spectrum. While I usually didn't agree with author Glenn Reynolds, I at least felt he was presenting an honest defense of his conservative viewpoint. But over the past few years, he's slowly become a predictable megaphone for the right-wing talking point of the day, punctuated by the occasional smarmy "heh" or "indeed" comment.

Fortunately, I'm not the only one who's noticed. One of my new favorite guilty pleasures is Instaputz, "Systematically documenting the putziness of Glenn Reynolds, Pajamas Media, and various other Putzen." Heh, indeed.

Labels: glenn reynolds, instapundit, instaputz, pajamas media, politics

posted by IvyMike @ 5/07/2007 11:39:00 PM 0 comments

Video Friday: George Michael, "Freedom '90"

The definitive David Fincher video.

Labels: david fincher, fredom '90, george michael, music video, supermodels, video friday

posted by IvyMike @ 5/04/2007 12:51:00 AM 1 comments

Poetry for the really lost

Seven roads septverged in a yellow woods.
What now, smart guy?

Labels: poetry, robert frost

posted by IvyMike @ 5/03/2007 07:57:00 PM 0 comments

Rim of the world highlight video

I made this!

Labels: 2007, california, lancaster, rim of the world, rim of the world rally, subaru

posted by IvyMike @ 5/02/2007 11:15:00 PM 2 comments

Poetry for the lost

Two roads converged in a yellow wood.
This can't be the right way.

Labels: poetry, robert frost

posted by IvyMike @ 5/02/2007 09:28:00 PM 0 comments

Poetry for quantum physicists

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
Unobserved, I took them both.

Labels: poetry, quantum physics, robert frost, two roads

posted by IvyMike @ 5/01/2007 08:11:00 PM 0 comments

Herbert F. Kornfeld, dead at 34

Foul play is suspected in the death of an accounts receivable supervisor for a regional office-supply company, sheriff's deputies reported Tuesday. More here.

Labels: gang violence, herbert f. kornfeld

posted by IvyMike @ 5/01/2007 09:06:00 AM 0 comments