Category: From Macromediocrity

Somebody over on the geek listserve just posted this:

I’ve had three Palm Treos [i.e., Treos running the Palm operating system] and they were much more reliable then the Win OS version I currently have. But Palm is probably not going to be around forever and to stay in tune with the times I switched, but can’t say I’m happy about it.

I find myself mildly (and increasingly) outraged that someone would do this. It’s like switching from Beta to VHS before the studios stopped releasing Beta tapes. (We hung on until the bitter end. I wouldn’t be surprised if my mom still has a working Beta machine to watch all the classic movies she taped off cable.)

I suppose some people call this kind of behavior “flexible and forward-thinking,” or “seeing which way the wind is blowing.” I call it defeatist, anti-idealist, and toadying to the forces of mediocrity, conformity, and assimilation. (Not that I have a dog in this fight, being as I still use a paper Filofax, but still.)

According to today’s news:

A man about to be executed decided to make one final gesture of goodwill before his imminent arrival at St. Peter’s Gate or some alternative place of judgment. Instead of keeping his last meal for himself, he asked that his meal (a veggie pizza) be given to the first homeless person found outside the prison.

The prison officials (seemingly less worried about their respective judgment days, or consigned to the fact that their fates are already sealed) would not meet the man’s request, citing the prison’s policy of not donating to charities. What a fantastic policy!

Thankfully, not all people are so callous. Nearby homeless shelters were flooded with donated pizzas from kind-hearted people throughout the area, including one woman who with a group of friends delivered 150 pizzas to one local shelter.

In an article in today’s edition, the Post takes a look at the effects of technology on TV schedules and advertising revenue.

It sounds like we might be in for quite a sea change in how we think about, and interact with, TV.

Sounds good to me!

I’m a big fan of astronomy-related news, so this was a nice little read. But I’d much rather prefer some Hubble shots of this supernova than the artist’s rendition chosen instead. The drawing evidently shows what the star “may have looked like when it exploded.”

My two grudges:
1) I’m not a big fan of concept pictures unless the subject is purely theoretical or immensely difficult to capture. I’ve seen plenty of real exploding star pics to know this is not the case here. Why should I believe the artist? “May have looked like” is not a very convincing disclaimer.

2) If you are going to use a concept picture of what an exploding star might look like, go all out! We’re talking about the brightest supernova ever! That’s the picture you choose?! C’mon! What about this or this?!

Discovered while reading this extensive blog thread about the finer points of fried potatoes, this site contains an extensive analysis of the complete lack of an actual Belgium.

Driving home from Union Station last night with Michelle and Matthew, the car in front of us had a sticker on it showing a symbol that none of us recognized (it was a pointed oval/vesica piscis crossed with a tilde). I haven’t found it yet but I did find this intriguing reference site.

I’ve mentioned before how I didn’t understand the reasoning behind the recent redesign of the NTEN website, right? Here’s a tiny bit of sad: Their Firefox tab-icon looks like a shiny green pill.
(I should talk, ’cause we don’t even have a Firefox tab-icon. But still.)

Have I, of late, waxed rhapsodic on the coolness of my brother-out-law?
Endless vastnesses of cool. (Like this.)
Also warmth.
(This is his website.)

Here’s what I got when I tried to Google the CLPI caterers.

Look! It’s Will! (I’ve been thinking the same thing. But it looks more like Will.)

My crocuses are gone, and the daffodils are starting to look a little dried out and sad. The cold snap means I have not yet planted nasturtiums and snapdragons to take the place of the gone-by bulbs in my flower-border. I was getting really crabby about that, and then this morning suddenly the narcissi under the maple tree have come up, and some tulips that I forgot about are in bud. Whee.