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Mailinator Wednesday, September 24, 2003 ...
Okay, I forgot once, so I'm putting this link here to avoid forgetting again. The throwaway e-mail service that creates new accounts automatically is called MAILINATOR. (It's telling that my bookmarks are so messy and the browser's search function so weak that it's more effective to publish a link to the web than keep it on my computer.)
Language Debates Friday, September 19, 2003 ...
Diana Hacker has a series of eloquent essays on language debates, examining both sides and weighing examples in order to make practical suggestions. Plus she agrees with me on serial commas, so she's clearly a genius.
Continuing the Green Revolution Thursday, September 18, 2003 ...
An optimistic look at how bioengineering could continue the Green Revolution and, well, save the world. Tomatoes that draw salt from soil. Fields that don't need to be ploughed. The article includes this quote from a conservative think tank member who estimates that 20 million square miles of forest have been saved since the 1950s by improved farming techniques: "What I'm saying is that we have saved every square mile of forest on the planet." I have no idea about the trustworthiness of the speaker or his facts, but aren't delicious quotes from unverified sources what weblogging is all about?
The Falling Man Wednesday, September 10, 2003 ...
This may not be for you. Esquire Magazine writes about a search for the identity of a man seen falling in a famous photo of the World Trade Center collapse. The choice he and the others faced was unimaginable to me at the time, but now, I suppose I've decided. When you have a few seconds left to live, use them to fly.
From the article: "No one can jump into the arms of God. Oh, no. You have to fall."
Notes for new students Wednesday, August 27, 2003 ...
The late Professor Gwyn Alf Williams of Oxford Brookes University wrote this short guide for students on how to read wisely and write well. "Young people sometimes swallow stuff from books they would never accept for a moment from a living person. Remember there ARE no books, there are only people speaking."
Photos of B.C. fire Saturday, August 23, 2003 ...
Photos of the fire currently burning in British Columbia's Okanagan region. And if you wonder what be left of your home after such a fire, imagine.
Mass produced diamonds Thursday, August 21, 2003 ...
Those Wired authors can still write a hook. "This is very rare stone. Yellow diamonds of this color are very hard to find. It is probably worth 10, maybe 15 thousand dollars." "I have two more exactly like it in my pocket," I tell him.
Obscure humanities-cant Thursday, August 21, 2003 ...
"In the logic of colonialist representations, the construction of a separate colonized other and the segregation of identity and alterity turns out paradoxically to be at once absolute and extremely intimate."
Robert Fulford says, "To commit a sentence like that is to subtract from the sum of human knowledge." Found on Arts and Letters Daily, no surprise.
Double Fine: best game company site in world Thursday, August 21, 2003 ...
Tim Schafer, the irreplacable boggling genius behind Grim Fandango, has a new company called Double Fine. Well, "new" in the sense of never having released any games. They're actually three years old. Anyway! Their game will be wonderful, okay okay, but I'm getting worth of entertainment from their news page: "Here's something you might not know about your nose, and hopefully will never have to find out like I had to: your nose is FULL OF BLOOD, just dying to come out."
Don't miss their jobs page either. And this is completely going to screw up my page here, but here is a mammoth quote to convince you to go.
"Sometimes we get busy and ignore that mail box for months on end. But don't give up hope. Eventually, the mail server will get full, and we'll need to delete some of the applications, so we'll all get together and read through the resumes in there and make fun of people's spelling errors or read their "Job Objective" statements in sarcastic voices and stuff like that.
But maybe we'll see your samples or your web page and all at once the laughter will stop, and our jaws will drop, and then somebody will say, "Whoa." And then I'll look at them and I'll say, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?" And then someone will yell, "I'm way ahead of you buddy!" as they pull up in the company bus/monster truck and as we all pile in, somebody shouts out, "LOCK AND LOAD!" And we drive full speed to your house and you come out and say "D-D-D-Double Fine? But--" and we put a finger to your lips and say, "You had us at hello!" And then your parents try to stop us because they don't understand, so we duct tape them to a streetlight and peel out, popping a wheelie all the way down the street while "Sweet Home Alabama" blares out of the radio and then you and I try to say something at the same time because we're both so excited, so then we both shut up so that the other can talk, and then we both say, "No, you go!", but then we both start talking again at the same time, and we have to just laugh until we're crying tears of joy, and we sense in our hearts that we will all be best friends forever and ever, and never think about what or who we were before. We will just enjoy the ever-unfolding kaleidoscope of happiness and discovery and adventure and laughter that lie before us.
Woolsey on World War Four Thursday, August 21, 2003 ...
James Woolsey, past director of the CIA, writes a sharp and straightforward overview of the ideas behind United States and what he sees as its current war.
AcuteSearch, hooray! Wednesday, August 13, 2003 ...
AcuteSearch allows you to use shortcuts in your address bar; for example g puppies can mean "search Google for puppies" while i Labyrinth will check the IMDB. I know it's been done by other software before, but this free tool works with my CrazyBrowser, which those other tools didn't. I donated immediately, which is unusual for an embarrassing skinflint such as myself.
Update: Fickle! Caught up in all this browser-experimentation, I discovered MyIE2, a much better browser than CrazyBrowser, which has the AcuteSearch feature built in. Oh well, enjoy the donation, AcuteSearch folks! Buy some root beer.
Victoria Monday, August 11, 2003 ...
I knew the Europa Universalis line of games had the reputation of being complex, but gadzooks, my degree wasn't this erudite. Some of the cultural advancements you can research in their upcoming Victorian installment: Functionalism; Malthusian Thought; Expressionism; Phenomenonalism.
Schwarzenegger backgrounder Thursday, August 7, 2003 ...
The first profile I've found of Schwarzenegger and his politics. He's apparently become less conservative over the years, and tends to be fiscally rather than socially conservative anyway. From the article: "Schwarzenegger says he is pro-choice, supports gay rights, and endorses 'reasonable' gun controls and environmental regulation."
A Group Is Its Own Worst Enemy Thursday, August 7, 2003 ...
Someday, the continuing studies folks will find the funds to revise my technology and culture course. This essay on online groups is sure to be on the reading list.
Creative Lab's customer service Wednesday, August 6, 2003 ...
The fan in my three-year old video card became wonky, rattling and even halting from time to time. I e-mailed the manufacturers at Creative and asked if there was anything I could do. They asked for serial numbers and such, and then the next day couriered a new fan from their Oklahoma HQ to my rural house in British Columbia, free of charge. I'm surprised and impressed.
Oh, hey, in posting this link, I find that I was still under warranty (36 months!), which likely explains the smooth replacement. And I thought it was that time I took the thorn from the lion's paw.
McBurgers Friday, August 1, 2003 ...
Now that my friend Grum has bought a house, he won't have time for all the luxuries of his old life, like 89 cent McDonalds burgers. But hoorah! He can make them at home! Plus, it will be easier to get them with ketchup and no other toppings, you weirdo. Mail me the pickle.
(Huh, doesn't that sound like a euphemism. "That's the second time that Chevy has cut me off! Roll down your window, I'm mailing him the pickle.")
Update: Grum writes to say that he eats McDonald's burgers exactly like they serve them and never causes trouble. Well, all the rest of you can mail me pickles.
Bring It On Friday, August 1, 2003 ...
Joey deVilla muses quietly on his philosophy of life. An excerpt:
Sooner or later, you're going to be sitting in the back of the Metaphorical Pickup Truck of Life and realize that there's a guy in a Pikachu costume smoking crystal meth in the driver's seat. His foot is jammed hard on the accelerator pedal, he's drenched in sweat, he has the look of death in his soulless eyes, he's slashing his own leg with a stilletto knife and screaming "PAIN WILL BRING ME CLOSER TO FATHER!"
One recent change to my philosophy is to recognize that a crumbling incomplete half-assed job is better than no accomplishment at all. So look for more one-line weblog entries to come. (Surgeons should not listen to my philosophy.)
Canadian sharks Thursday, July 31, 2003 ...
Three-metre Greenland sharks that lurk in rivers and eat caribou. I want to see one fight a bear. In fact, I want to see one fight a bear for the right to eat me. I like the throwaway line at the end too: "Ten-metre basking sharks are also seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence and the Maritimes." Hold on, hold on. TEN metres? Okay, I see from the web that basking sharks are harmless and gentle creature which feed only on plankton. And maybe floundering elephants that happen to drift into those mouths.
WozNet Monday, July 21, 2003 ...
Mooselessness gets results! Two entries ago I was looking for an easy tracking system and now none less than Steve Wozniak has announced one. Products don't come out until next year, and that tag looks a little big, despite the bichon frise hook in the first paragraph. But I'm hopeful. (Apologies for the month of silence. Bought a new house and am buried in boxes, paint, and troubled eucalyptus trees. One, anyway.)
Man fined for having too many frogs Tuesday, June 17, 2003 ...
To make a routine police ticketing into eye-catching news, all you need is the right headline.
GPS dog finder Tuesday, June 17, 2003 ...
I've been trying to find a device that will let me find our cat in a bush-filled yard. She never strays more than 100 metres, but will cheerfully stay quiet as you zig-zag in the fading light, calling her name. When you finally find her, staring straight at you, she is entirely unashamed: "that was a very good shouting, boy."
This GPS device is too heavy (50g) and over-technical. I shouldn't have to resort to satellites to find my cat. What I want is a radio-controlled beeper or flasher, like those key-finder devices, but even those seem bulky when knotted to a cat. For now, I keep tromping. (Hmm, here's a DIY cat locator. I would need a potion of electrical engineering to follow in his steps though.)
Soundtrack for Toronto Monday, June 2, 2003 ...
Found myself needing this page, but hadn't saved it. (I'd been reviewing a vampire movie set in Toronto for Triggerstreet, and was encouraging the writer to play up the Toronto-nostalgia angle.) Dave Bidini compiles a list of 50 songs that bring out the spirit of Toronto.
Attention Dog Guardians Friday, May 23, 2003 ...
Who needs Photoshop when you have North Vancouver? Found at Boing Boing.
Why Spike ruined Buffy Friday, May 16, 2003 ...
A convincing Salon essay about why Spike's popularity derailed the last season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer by favouring the cool kids over the outcasts. You need to sit through a superad to read the whole piece. Found on Windowseat.
[Update] The more I think about it, the more I disagree with this article. The focus on the too-cool Spike wasn't the problem. First of all, Spike's not really cool. He's got the look, sure, but he's a secret sap: soap operas, onion blossoms, and a sucker in love. The problem with Spike was the endless and fruitless romantic subplot with Buffy. And that's when I twigged to the truth.
It's Buffy I don't like. Whenever we focused on Buffy and her people problems, whether Angel, Riley, Dawn or whoever, my attention wandered. And I always blamed the other character, even though I liked them when they were on their own. But season seven made it clear -- the show was best when Buffy was off-screen, and it had probably always been that way. Buffy had her moments, sure -- her solo episode "Anne" remains one of the best episodes -- but she stopped having chemistry with the other characters some time in season three.
I don't mean to lay this season's problems on her head though. The real problem with season seven is that we drifted away from the core characters to focus on Buffy and a new crew, twisting or neglecting all the characters I cared about.
I'll miss the show, not because it's over -- all shows must end -- but because it ended too late.
Sea-to-Sky University Thursday, May 15, 2003 ...
A private, not-for-profit, liberal arts university is opening in Squamish in 2005. How did I miss this news? Initial enrollment will be a lonely 100 students (I have 43 in my own class right now!) with an eventual goal of 1200 students. The president is David Strangway, who was president of UBC for 12 years. Not sure who's doing their web design, but they're time-commuting from 1994.
I used to want to live in Squamish -- close to both wilderness and Vancouver, and home to the world's most scenic Tim Horton's.
Fifteen billion Thursday, May 15, 2003 ...
Bruce Rolston of Flit is redesigning Canada's military, using billion as his target budget, a billion increase. His discussion is sparked by the Alliance's pie-in-the-sky proposal, linked above, and he's been adding to it daily since.
Rock 'n' Rule on DVD Monday, May 12, 2003 ...
Holy macaroni. Unearthed Films is bringing Nelvana's Rock 'n' Rule to DVD. The deluxe edition will include the rare (and significantly better) Canadian version, which I have stored on a frayed and grey strip of VHS tape somewhere, recorded off a midnight CBC broadcast and later dubbed from Beta to VHS. I used to listen to an audio-only version of this movie in the car, so full was I of incomprehensible love for this movie.
Journey Prize Stories Thursday, May 8, 2003 ...
A big week for me! Not only did my wife and I buy our first home (map for burglars), I also found out that my story "Night Finds Us" is going to be reprinted in this year's Journey Prize Stories anthology, McClelland and Stewart's major Canadian collection of short fiction. I have wanted to appear in this book ever since my mom gave me a used copy of volume 1 back in high school. Very jazzed. Now's the time to get together a full collection of my stories, but then again, with home ownership ahead, I have other vital concerns too.
iTunes Man Tuesday, May 6, 2003 ...
LaughingElk posts lyrics about Apple's new iTunes music service -- to be sung to the tune of Piano Man. "Now Claude at Vivendi's a friend of mine / And his business is selling CDs. / And knows the solution for store distribution/ But he's worried about MP3s."
Zinn and Chomsky's (unused) commentary track for the Fellowship of the Ring DVD Thursday, May 1, 2003 ...
Out of sheer forgetfulness, I stopped reading McSweeney's for about a year. Save yourselves from this dire fate. Even if you don't know Zinn or Chomsky, you'll get the idea fast. (Haha. I just noticed that makes two condescending reassurances in a row. Don't worry. I think the world of YOU. These "read it anyway" comments are there for Graham. Unless you ARE Graham. In which case, they're there for the cat.)
The Emerging Mind Wednesday, April 23, 2003 ...
One for all you cognitive philosophers: the Reith lecture series given by Vilayanur S. Ramachandran on recent neuroscience and what it means for consciousness and human nature. (Very readable. Don't be scared.)
Wal-Mart and America Wednesday, April 23, 2003 ...
A fascinating article about the impact of Wal-Mart's way of doing business on the U.S., and why the best-selling pet food in that country is named after Sam Walton's Irish Settler, gone now twenty years. Full of interesting tidbits, like how the value of theft alone from Wal-Mart could make the Fortune 1000. Found by Nick Denton.
The poetry of Donald Rumsfeld Monday, April 7, 2003 ...
Hart Seely presents selections from Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld's transcripts as poetry. I expected a small laugh, but they're actually quite lovely and effective too. "Glass Box" is my favourite.
Jackson takes on Kong Wednesday, April 2, 2003 ...
I somehow missed this story over the weekend. Lord of the Rings director Peter Jackson and his writing team from that movie, Fran Walsh and Philippa Boyens, hope to remake King Kong. One of the details in this BBC article -- they'll be filming the New York scenes on a farm-field soundstage in New Zealand and decorating it with computer effects, because that's cheaper than actually filming in New York. I love the original Kong, but think a modern re-telling could bring a lot to the film, especially in Jackson's hands.
Phoning Iraq Friday, March 21, 2003 ...
Inevitably, I've become a complete news junkie, wearing away the refresh key on my keyboard rather than be five seconds late learning news. I have no intention of trying to pass along my red-eyed and seedy addiction by highlighting every post of interest, but I did like this story of Nick Denton's journalist friend who sneaks across the Kuwait/Iraq border and then receives a call on his cel phone. He keeps the caller blissfully unaware of his location for good reason...
Yay, me! Friday, March 14, 2003 ...
Yay me! The Canada Council has decided to give me 10,000 dollars to buy wine and wall-sized portraits of myself, thereby encouraging me to pull together a short story collection. In return, I have been giving the federal government credit for my household appearances (putting away the dishes, dancing with the cat). This credit consists mostly of my tootling the theme from Hinterland Who's Who.
By the way, I was delighted to see that all the episodes of Hinterland Who's Who are online. When I mentioned these old wildlife vignettes to Grum, he reminded me of the Heritage Minutes, sixty-second stories of Canadian history. They were produced by a Bronfman foundation, not the feds, but they're still one of the Canadian molecules. Haha, funny that that even makes sense -- "it's very Canadian, even though it's not government-funded."
Unlike Mooselessness.
Contrast Friday, March 14, 2003 ...
Back in June 2001, long before war in Iraq became inevitable, Michael Rubin wrote this article describing the effect sanctions were having on Northern Iraq. Fruit, meat, alcohol, medicine and Playstations were all for sale and within reach. The same sanctions said to be killing children elsewhere in Iraq applied here too, so what's the difference? Saddam Hussein has no power here.
Previously on Mooselessness Friday, March 14, 2003 ...
Last time, we covered a whole bunch of sad things, plus the much happier spectacle of dog houses that look like chalets. Or you can visit the full archives.
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