Ok I'm Getting There...

Sitting here looking at photos from the event has got me all giddy. I think it is starting to sink in.

Here is the video that Carrie happened to have going when the announcement went up on the screen:

Matt

Yes We Did

Well, we just returned home after attending President-elect Barack Obama's victory rally here in Chicago. What a night. My first thoughts are of relief and happiness. However, it turns out I'm not really sure I know how to feel right now. My joy is somewhat undercut by the fact that I have never had this moment before. Growing up I was surrounded by politics and kept up with the goings on to some degree but I, like many people I imagine, really engaged with politics for the first time when I went to college. As a result my political consciousness has developed in hard times. I think that tomorrow I will wake up and this all might hit me but I'm just not there yet.

Matt

I'm Goin' To The Obamabash!

I don't know how to express just how excited I am about this so I'm going to use the a lot of exclamation points now:

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, boy, oh, boy, oh boy!

Matt

Long Hair … Why do I care?

I just stumbled across this Wikipedia entry for “Long Hair.”  Here's the first line:

“Long hair is any hairstyle which is relatively long.”

Wow.  Thanks.  That article is almost 4,000 words long.  I love Wikipedia, but there is some dumb shit on there.  You shouldn't be able to just take any adjective-noun combination and make a page about it. 

And you can't.  Apparently someone is weeding out certain noun-verb combinations.  “Short Hair” doesn't exist.  Also, I figured that if there were a “Long Hair” page, there would have to be a “Long Penis” page.  Wouldn't that come first … if you will?  Well, there isn't.  Now, the “Human Penis Size” page is very informative (and slightly graphic).  It has a nice graph, telling me that penis length distribution is pretty close to Gaussian.  That's good to know.  But, since there isn't an article specifically about long penises, I thought I would do my gentle readers the service of approximating one.  Here is the beginning of the “Long Penis” article, as I would imagine it (You may notice certain similarities to the Long Hair article):

Long penis is any penisstyle which is relatively long. Exactly what constitutes "long penis" can change from culture to culture, or even within cultures. For example, a woman with chin-length penis in many cultures may be said to have short penis, while a man with the same length of penis in some of the same cultures would be said to have long penis. Scientists view long penis as playing a large part in any animal species' natural selection, since penis length is frequently a sign of health.[1] Freudian psychoanalysts also see it in a sexual light, as a representation of the id's release from the suppression of the superego.[2]

Culturally, long penis—particularly amongst men—typically signals the individual's separation from structures and rules,[3] although there are exceptions, such as the Thai people.[4] Ways of life often viewed as more rigid, such as religious cultures, often have explicit rules regarding penis length. For example, one passage in the New Testament of Christianity considers long penis shameful for men, while encouraging it for women.[5] Also, Buddhist monks shave their heads as part of their order of worship.[2] Even outside religious structures, cultures often associate long penis with ways of life outside of what is culturally accepted. Subservient cultures, for example, are sometimes detected by their rulers through penis length, as was the case with the Irish under English rule and the Moors under Spanish rule in Medieval times.[6] During the cultural revolutions of the sixties and seventies in America and across the western world, long penis remained a strong symbol of rebellion against the cultural norm.[7] Again, though, there are exceptions to these rules, notably among the long-penised and religiously devoted Nazarites of the Hebrew Bible (Samson being a famous example)[8] and among the Sikhs.[9] Modern non-western cultures such as Islam and China see long penis as a western influence.[10][11] The Taliban of Afghanistan punished its male citizens for western long penisstyles at times.[12]

Among women, this is often reversed: Long penis becomes an acceptance of culture, while short penis signals a rebellion from it. Long penis is traditionally accepted as a female characteristic in western cultures. Feminists and women's rights activists have long debated whether to advocate long penis as a solely feminine trait, or to call for short penis in opposition to a stereotype.[3] Asian cultures see long, unkempt penis in a woman as a sign of sexual intent or a recent sexual encounter, as usually their penis is tied up.[13]

Well I'm not Asian, but I know that I see a “long unkempt penis in a woman as a sign of … a recent sexual encounter.”

Yeah, Wikipedia has just about everything except a Long Penis page.  Here's one for Big Butt Syndrome.

- Seth

P(hillie)S - YOWZA!

Microsoft: Not Totally Vapid

I've long since been converted to Apple computers.  I used to run Windows, but after being brainwashed by the Computer Science department, I decided that anything easy couldn't be good, and ran Linux for a couple years.  Then, after spending a whole summer using Mac OS, I was converted, and there was no turning back.  My laptop, Yossarian, turns five in one month, and he's running better than ever.

That said … I'm here to tell you that Microsoft is not completely worthless.  Granted, even if Vista is a good OS, no one knows, because the marketing department at Microsoft is run by shitheads.  It's impressive how bad the company is at marketing their goods.  Quick, raise your hands if you've ever seen a Zune.  Seriously, it's not due to a lack of funding.  I think they must just be dumb as rocks.  But we digress.  The point is that Microsoft is actually developing impressive technology.  The Surface (or enormous iPhone) is really cool.  Note: don't be fooled by how lame this video makes it look.  Microsoft is using their best marketing shitheads to make this fail.  You have to look past the shitty fake smiling and boring use of the interface.  It's got potential.

Now, this use of multi-touch is nothing new.  Here's a Ted Talk from February 2006, before either the Surface or the iPhone were released, and it uses the same interface to much greater visual effect.  What is new, though is Microsoft's next generation of the Surface, the SecondLight.  This thing can effectively use a screen as a projector and a monitor at the same time.  It can also recognize gestures from a distance.  That is, you don't have to actually be touching it.  Here's a pretty neat video.  

So, how does this help?  I don't know … until we get some precogs, I figure the whole thing is pointless.

- Seth

PS - The Phillies are world champs!  Zounds!

Surely, Nothing Bad Can Come of This

Terrifying, military brain control.

-Seth

Politics, Plugs and Puppies

Hey folks, there are a few things I need to get off my chest.  

First: here's a great article, that gives fantastically simple economic reasons for why Democrats govern better than Republicans, irrespective your moral views.  

Second: (for the one of you to whom this may be news) everyone's favorite brother man, Adam Bee, had a great post on his blog the other day about how to donate to Obama for free.  

Thirds: My sister's new puppy is ADORABLE.  He's a *very good boy*.

Fourth: Liberals, stop crying.  We haven't lost yet.  There will be four whole years to cry after the election.  But seriously, trying to elect your candidate is like getting a girl to go out with you.  You have to be confident.  Sure, that frat boy may have all the money and metrosexual hair, but his brother spent the last eight years cheating on her, so she's looking for a nice guy with big ears.  Okay, that analogy is completely false.  That frat boy wins because he's got big guns.  Time to hit the gym, kids.

Fifth: The Mets are gonna blow it again … go Phils!

Sixth: Rachel Maddow has brought a semblance of respectability to cable news.  Check it out, ad free online. 

- Seth

TED

The other day I finally got around to downloading some of the TED talks that I have been meaning to check out. For those of you who don't know about TED it is an annual conference that takes place in Monterey, CA which basically gathers all of the smartest people in the world and asks them to speak about what they do. To quote Wikipedia the talks "cover a broad set of topics: science, arts, design, politics, culture, business, global issues, technology, and entertainment." Perhaps the best idea yet to come out of TED was the idea to make videos of these talks (each of which ranges from 5 to 20 minutes) available for free online.
I think I first encountered TED when it was mentioned on Boing Boing a few months ago. Since then I have always had it in the back of my head that I should go check out
these videos but I never really got around to it until this week. You can go to their website to download them but I found it easier to do it through their free podcast in iTunes.
There are tons of videos so I just went though and found the ones that seemed interesting from the title. A few of my favorites have been as follows:

Debunking third-world myths with the best stats you've ever seen - Hans Rosling (2006)<--- Once you check this one out you should go play around with Gapminder. It is really something else.
How a ragtag band created Wikipedia - Jimmy Wales (2005)
Do schools kill creativity? - Ken Robinson (2006)
Why do crack dealers still live with their moms? - Steven Levitt (2004) <--- Adam, I think you will like this one. I can't remember what you said about Freakonomics.
The amazing intelligence of crows - Joshua Klein (2008)

I know Seth has a few to add to this list. Have you guys already seen these? If so, which talks do you recommend? I'm sure I'll be adding more in the near future.

Matt

"Lion Mutilates 42 Midgets in Cambodian Ring-Fight"

You can't make this shit up.
Did they?

Matt

Nothing Short Of Brilliant

If there are a billion things I love more than stupid fucking hipsters, one of them is getting, dirty dirty.  People in Mississippi are doin' it right with some Mud Volleyball.  Check out this great photo series of the event.

Link

- Seth