With a wig and a dress it really stands out how gorgeous Sinéad O'Connor really is (the tall one in the black wig). She could have been bigger than Kylie if she was not so contrarian. (I'm not saying that choice is right or wrong, big fame is hardly a pleasant thing.)
Saturday, June 27, 2009
E-mail headers
Aren't computers just complex? Take a simple little thing like e-mail headers, for example. My email app Eudora has settings which hide most of the headers from me, because there are dozens (hundreds?) of them, and I only want date, addresses, subject.
And yet so many odd headers show up. Sometimes I'll get the odd mail where I don't see a single odd, cryptic header, and that's a delight. But sometimes the headers will be like 20 lines, just meaningless code. How come some e-mails need them and some don't?
And look at this one: what in the world, besides military encryption, could need a code for a single header which is this long?? Think: every new character adds like 40 new possibilities.
(Damn, it doesn't wrap in the browser, I'll have to wrap it manually. It was one long line.)
X-YMail-OSG: uj6A4zsVM1kgmxKLDz20vrw8F18K1k0vbUDL
hzb1y7BX36sRZsi7Q2WAtt.DME.YCoIjDKjagTDFAGWJ5.m
CY5i2Rt10pNIsN15_fNdCqGc8Y40klKDYAQaNlL9Yzp9NTcd
3UH1sXpUTxvQ3tZIRPHEtzXkv_sqZ3Kcjdn473YtRfdYATTp
n6481BDFjSk9XXnd.X70Gp1XBro7HE0Xp6bRQ5vZB1Z6tuZ
XVV0kai215k3VapIojTP_cQZ6lYhvd6Tp8ty5zCQ--
And yet so many odd headers show up. Sometimes I'll get the odd mail where I don't see a single odd, cryptic header, and that's a delight. But sometimes the headers will be like 20 lines, just meaningless code. How come some e-mails need them and some don't?
And look at this one: what in the world, besides military encryption, could need a code for a single header which is this long?? Think: every new character adds like 40 new possibilities.
(Damn, it doesn't wrap in the browser, I'll have to wrap it manually. It was one long line.)
X-YMail-OSG: uj6A4zsVM1kgmxKLDz20vrw8F18K1k0vbUDL
hzb1y7BX36sRZsi7Q2WAtt.DME.YCoIjDKjagTDFAGWJ5.m
CY5i2Rt10pNIsN15_fNdCqGc8Y40klKDYAQaNlL9Yzp9NTcd
3UH1sXpUTxvQ3tZIRPHEtzXkv_sqZ3Kcjdn473YtRfdYATTp
n6481BDFjSk9XXnd.X70Gp1XBro7HE0Xp6bRQ5vZB1Z6tuZ
XVV0kai215k3VapIojTP_cQZ6lYhvd6Tp8ty5zCQ--
Thongs
The video below reminds me, I am just trying out a newish sitcom I didn't know, 8 Simple Rules. (It seems promising, and has at least one pretty babe, young enough to make me cringe in shame about looking, gotta love that.) The teen daughter comes down, and the thin side strings of her thong are showing over her tight jeans. Her father says "no way". She says: "but I have to. Panty lines!". He says: "panty lines are fine. In fact, in my day they were quite the thing." She says: "well, this is the thong generation." He says: "It's no wonder you young women are always so angry, you're walking around with a permanent wedgie."
(Do you see a video above here? Oddly, it shows in Safari, but not in Firefox.)
Update:
Aniko said...
What is a wedgie?
Something brain-dead American young males do, pull up hard on another boy's underpants in the back (so it "wedges in"). Don't ask me how it's supposed to be funny, it's done by the same people who will dunk somebody's head in a toilet for "fun".
(Do you see a video above here? Oddly, it shows in Safari, but not in Firefox.)
Update:
Aniko said...
What is a wedgie?
Something brain-dead American young males do, pull up hard on another boy's underpants in the back (so it "wedges in"). Don't ask me how it's supposed to be funny, it's done by the same people who will dunk somebody's head in a toilet for "fun".
Friday, June 26, 2009
Expensive homes too, now
It took a while, but the most expensive houses are now suffering the same fate as the general market. One property is marked down fifty million dollars from last year!
A have a friend with a successful business (last I heard). A few years ago he told me how he was buying houses in Paris, Africa, all over the place. I asked him if this was wise? It could be a real trap. I mean, it didn't even sound like he was planning to rent them out or anything. He said "no no. OK, right now we have to work like hell to pay it all, but this is the new way to get rich. Your method, living beneath your means, is the old-fashioned way."
I never really saw the logic of it, and I'm guessing by now he does not either. Hopefully he did not get caught too badly.
A have a friend with a successful business (last I heard). A few years ago he told me how he was buying houses in Paris, Africa, all over the place. I asked him if this was wise? It could be a real trap. I mean, it didn't even sound like he was planning to rent them out or anything. He said "no no. OK, right now we have to work like hell to pay it all, but this is the new way to get rich. Your method, living beneath your means, is the old-fashioned way."
I never really saw the logic of it, and I'm guessing by now he does not either. Hopefully he did not get caught too badly.
Bare fruit
It seems I've had so many "sexy" posts in the last couple days, I might as well add this one.
How you doin'?
A bore is a man who, when you ask him how he is, tells you.
-- Bert Leston Taylor
Yes, funny, isn't it? I've always been a little bit confused about the greeting "how are you?" Because it's not the same as "hello" and you can't say "hello" back. But at the same time it's not really a request for a real answer, because unless it's a close friend saying it, he really does not want to hear about your recent little personal problems or victories. So basically the only appropriate answer is "good, good" or similar, which makes the whole thing a bit meaningless, doesn't it?
Actually I found out that "thank you" is a good answer which leaves everybody happy, even though it does not really make sense.
Author Gary Renard, in a recent podcast, told how he'd said "how you doing?" to an old guy working in a menial job in an airport. And the guy, seemingly non-sarcastic and actually happy, said "I'm living the dream".
I like that. It's not in how you have it, but how you take it.
-- Bert Leston Taylor
Yes, funny, isn't it? I've always been a little bit confused about the greeting "how are you?" Because it's not the same as "hello" and you can't say "hello" back. But at the same time it's not really a request for a real answer, because unless it's a close friend saying it, he really does not want to hear about your recent little personal problems or victories. So basically the only appropriate answer is "good, good" or similar, which makes the whole thing a bit meaningless, doesn't it?
Update:
Author Gary Renard, in a recent podcast, told how he'd said "how you doing?" to an old guy working in a menial job in an airport. And the guy, seemingly non-sarcastic and actually happy, said "I'm living the dream".
I like that. It's not in how you have it, but how you take it.
Video cameras and combo cameras
Article about the difference between a still camera which also does video, and a real video camera. Turns out there are many more differences than one might expect, and some are interesting.
On composing pictures (updated)
Article on composing photos.
The amazing thing about composition is how few people really do it, both painters and photographers. They just arrange things so they fit in the frame, that's it. Very rarely does anybody work consciously with lines and tension in the frame. How rare? Well, as an example I've probably had pictures submitted to Domai from over a thousand photographers. 98% of them were good enough to be publishable. In other words, these guys are far better than the average snapshooter. And yet, of those thousand photographers I've found maybe five who seemed to me to be working consciously and artistically with composition.
Update:
Tommy said:
Eolake.. Composition, I'm glad that this subject came up again. I've been reading a book on composition and you recently had a posting of a picture that you say has good composition. It's a posting from May 13th 2009 of an old neighborhood covered in snow [see below, posted again. -E]. I've looked and thought about that picture quite a bit while thinking on the book that I'm reading. The book doesn't (unless I haven't gotten to it yet) talk about lines in a photo being what makes good composition, which if I remember right you thought was what made it a well composed picture. I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute and make some additional comments on that picture as to what makes it's composition good.
Well, now you put me in the spot. Nobody agrees on anything in aesthetics and composition! :-)
Firstly, for some reason I tend to think about pictures mainly in terms of lines. I don't know why. Others has "Shapes" as their basic, others have Color, others have Message, others have Subject... you get the idea.
Why do I think this is a good composition? The short answer is, I enjoy it, it excites me. But that does not help you. The longer answer is hard... I doubt whether we will ever get a scientific formula which explains it, but to me it feels like every part of this picture "is aware" of every other part. As if they are placed deliberately to make a Whole. As if there is a particular tension and at the same time harmony between every shape and every line within the frame.
Too much tension and too little harmony makes a picture (or book, or song) discordant, unpleasant. Too much harmony and too little tension makes it boring and predictable.
Pop music and cookie-jar paintings tend to lean towards the harmonic side. Avant-garde art tends to lean towards tension.
Example: in the picture below, the wires across the sky are slanted. If they were horizontal and if the tree in the middle had been totally vertical, the whole thing (to me) would be too harmonious and thus boring. It would have lost the precious tension.
Hope I'm helping.
Basic courses on composition usually explains about "L" compositions, triangle compositions, circle compositions, etc. I think this is a good start, because it makes you start to think about the frame and elements as a whole. But of course as an artist advances, he goes beyond those basic shapes.
The amazing thing about composition is how few people really do it, both painters and photographers. They just arrange things so they fit in the frame, that's it. Very rarely does anybody work consciously with lines and tension in the frame. How rare? Well, as an example I've probably had pictures submitted to Domai from over a thousand photographers. 98% of them were good enough to be publishable. In other words, these guys are far better than the average snapshooter. And yet, of those thousand photographers I've found maybe five who seemed to me to be working consciously and artistically with composition.
Update:
Tommy said:
Eolake.. Composition, I'm glad that this subject came up again. I've been reading a book on composition and you recently had a posting of a picture that you say has good composition. It's a posting from May 13th 2009 of an old neighborhood covered in snow [see below, posted again. -E]. I've looked and thought about that picture quite a bit while thinking on the book that I'm reading. The book doesn't (unless I haven't gotten to it yet) talk about lines in a photo being what makes good composition, which if I remember right you thought was what made it a well composed picture. I would really appreciate it if you could take a minute and make some additional comments on that picture as to what makes it's composition good.
Well, now you put me in the spot. Nobody agrees on anything in aesthetics and composition! :-)
Firstly, for some reason I tend to think about pictures mainly in terms of lines. I don't know why. Others has "Shapes" as their basic, others have Color, others have Message, others have Subject... you get the idea.
Why do I think this is a good composition? The short answer is, I enjoy it, it excites me. But that does not help you. The longer answer is hard... I doubt whether we will ever get a scientific formula which explains it, but to me it feels like every part of this picture "is aware" of every other part. As if they are placed deliberately to make a Whole. As if there is a particular tension and at the same time harmony between every shape and every line within the frame.
Too much tension and too little harmony makes a picture (or book, or song) discordant, unpleasant. Too much harmony and too little tension makes it boring and predictable.
Pop music and cookie-jar paintings tend to lean towards the harmonic side. Avant-garde art tends to lean towards tension.
Example: in the picture below, the wires across the sky are slanted. If they were horizontal and if the tree in the middle had been totally vertical, the whole thing (to me) would be too harmonious and thus boring. It would have lost the precious tension.
Hope I'm helping.
Basic courses on composition usually explains about "L" compositions, triangle compositions, circle compositions, etc. I think this is a good start, because it makes you start to think about the frame and elements as a whole. But of course as an artist advances, he goes beyond those basic shapes.
Thom on compact cameras
"The other place for growth is to sell something to everyone you've already sold something to. That's what my Compact Challenge was all about: every serious shooter I know--not some, but EVERY--is looking around for their Everywhere Camera and not quite finding it. We try new compacts like the P6000, G10, and LX3 when they come out and pick the one that comes the closest to what we want (another Nikon problem, it isn't the P6000). But we're not happy. We're still shopping. We looked at the DP-1 (and DP-2) and passed. We're looking at the E-P1 now and finding something that looks like it might pass muster."
Thom, Nikon expert. (His site does not have permalinks to posts, but the quote is from a June 21st post.)
Thom, Nikon expert. (His site does not have permalinks to posts, but the quote is from a June 21st post.)
Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day
Parents banned from taking pictures of their own children at sports day, article.
This insanity is reaching ever-higher levels, especially here in the UK. I'm banging my head on the wall. If some pedo gets off on seeing clothed children, all he has to do is go out in the street and look! So banning photographing them makes as much sense as... fuck, I can't even come up with an equally insane example to mock this. It's a self-parody.
This insanity is reaching ever-higher levels, especially here in the UK. I'm banging my head on the wall. If some pedo gets off on seeing clothed children, all he has to do is go out in the street and look! So banning photographing them makes as much sense as... fuck, I can't even come up with an equally insane example to mock this. It's a self-parody.
More revolutions per minute than Argentina
Dyson DC31 Handheld Vacuum Has The World's Fastest Motor, article.
"James Dyson claims his 2.2lb DC31 handheld vacuum has the world's fastest motor "by a long stretch." Thanks to a new switched reluctance motor, it's capable of achieving 104,000 revolutions per minute."
That is impressive.
I have a compact Dyson myself. Best vacuum cleaner I ever had or tried.
"James Dyson claims his 2.2lb DC31 handheld vacuum has the world's fastest motor "by a long stretch." Thanks to a new switched reluctance motor, it's capable of achieving 104,000 revolutions per minute."
That is impressive.
I have a compact Dyson myself. Best vacuum cleaner I ever had or tried.
No sexy apps for the iPhone?
No sexy apps for the iPhone? Article. Too bad, would have been cool for Domai.
Thursday, June 25, 2009
Sexy shirt
This reminds me of many years ago, back when I actually had to do an honest day's work to make a living, one very early morning on the bus on the way to my shitty work I saw a pretty woman with the sun shining through her white shirt. Sure put a shine on that morning.
Most strained analogy ever?
Perfect as the wing of a bird may be, it will never enable the bird to fly if unsupported by the air. Facts are the air of science. Without them a man of science can never rise.
-- Ivan Pavlov
--
What can I say? Woof!
-- Ivan Pavlov
--
What can I say? Woof!
Quickly Mail a Link in Safari
Quickly Mail a Link in Safari
Reading a Web page in the Safari browser and want to send the URL to a friend via email? Simply press Command-Shift-I to open a new email message with the Web page title as the Subject line and the Web page URL in the message body.
[Thanks to TidBITS.]
Reading a Web page in the Safari browser and want to send the URL to a friend via email? Simply press Command-Shift-I to open a new email message with the Web page title as the Subject line and the Web page URL in the message body.
[Thanks to TidBITS.]
Actor needed for emotional role
[Real ad from Craig's List.]
Date: 2009-04-17, 12:52PM EDT
My deceased aunt gave my two kids a Cocker Spaniel a few months back. The dog has been a terror and become overwhelming for me. I am a single father raising two young children. I cannot face telling the kids that the dog must go. I have found a good home for the dog, and just need someone to transport the dog, and play the villain.
Premise: You will be the dog walker hired by daddy (me) to walk Skittles. I will introduce you to the kids, and you will tell them you are going to help Skittles get her exercise when Daddy is too busy to walk her. At that point you will walk Skittles to your car and take her to her new family 20 minutes from my place. Then return holding just a leash. The story will be that Skittles broke free of the leash and took off. At this point prepare for crying, things being thrown at you, and possibly cursing. My kids are young and dramatic, their girls.
Pay will be $500. The job will take roughly 2 hours at best.
This job is ideal for an actor looking to diversify their role base, or someone who genuinely likes to make children cry. Acting experience is a plus, but not necessary. Please inform me of any prior experience in this kind of situation.
Actor needed for emotional role � One day high pay
Date: 2009-04-17, 12:52PM EDT
My deceased aunt gave my two kids a Cocker Spaniel a few months back. The dog has been a terror and become overwhelming for me. I am a single father raising two young children. I cannot face telling the kids that the dog must go. I have found a good home for the dog, and just need someone to transport the dog, and play the villain.
Premise: You will be the dog walker hired by daddy (me) to walk Skittles. I will introduce you to the kids, and you will tell them you are going to help Skittles get her exercise when Daddy is too busy to walk her. At that point you will walk Skittles to your car and take her to her new family 20 minutes from my place. Then return holding just a leash. The story will be that Skittles broke free of the leash and took off. At this point prepare for crying, things being thrown at you, and possibly cursing. My kids are young and dramatic, their girls.
Pay will be $500. The job will take roughly 2 hours at best.
This job is ideal for an actor looking to diversify their role base, or someone who genuinely likes to make children cry. Acting experience is a plus, but not necessary. Please inform me of any prior experience in this kind of situation.
Wednesday, June 24, 2009
Infallible
An older man approached an attractive younger woman at a shopping mall. 'Excuse me; I can't seem to find my wife. Can you talk to me for a couple of minutes?'
The woman, feeling a bit of compassion for the old fellow, said, 'Of course, sir. Do you know where your wife might be?'
'I have no idea, but every time I talk to a woman with a figure like yours, she seems to appear out of nowhere.'
The woman, feeling a bit of compassion for the old fellow, said, 'Of course, sir. Do you know where your wife might be?'
'I have no idea, but every time I talk to a woman with a figure like yours, she seems to appear out of nowhere.'
GoTopless.org
[Thanks to Maurice.] GoTopless.org, article. -- home page.
"U.S.-based organization GoTopless.org claims that women have the same constitutional right as men to go bare-chested in public. In Columbus, OH, where it is already legal for women to go bare-chested, GoTopless will be part of Comfest 2009 to encourage women to exercise that right."
Me? I'm all for it. Equality über alles.
"U.S.-based organization GoTopless.org claims that women have the same constitutional right as men to go bare-chested in public. In Columbus, OH, where it is already legal for women to go bare-chested, GoTopless will be part of Comfest 2009 to encourage women to exercise that right."
Me? I'm all for it. Equality über alles.
Monday, June 22, 2009
By the clean end
[Thanks to Ian.]
There is an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's term was "Political Correctness."
The winner wrote: "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
This same doctrine also alleges that the use of the word "turd" MAY be offensive to some undefined minority, probably the same minority that, in the later 19th century, insisted on calling piano legs "limbs" and advocated using plaster to cover the not-to-be-observed portions of classical sculpture.
Perhaps, in order to avoid the remote possibility of being offensive to any potential offendee, we should substitute "firmly cohesive excremental matter" for turd.
There is an annual contest at Texas A&M University calling for the most appropriate definition of a contemporary term. This year's term was "Political Correctness."
The winner wrote: "Political correctness is a doctrine, fostered by a delusional, illogical minority, and rabidly promoted by an unscrupulous mainstream media, which holds forth the proposition that it is entirely possible to pick up a turd by the clean end."
This same doctrine also alleges that the use of the word "turd" MAY be offensive to some undefined minority, probably the same minority that, in the later 19th century, insisted on calling piano legs "limbs" and advocated using plaster to cover the not-to-be-observed portions of classical sculpture.
Perhaps, in order to avoid the remote possibility of being offensive to any potential offendee, we should substitute "firmly cohesive excremental matter" for turd.
Friction
The world is wide, and I will not waste my life in friction when it could be turned into momentum.
-- Frances Willard
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
-- Booker T. Washington
These two quotes were right after each other today in the quotes service I use. I find it interesting, because they say almost the opposite things. I agree far more with the first one.
Some people stay in a situation where they have a ton of opposition, because dammit, they are not gonna give up, they will stay and fight! Where another person may look at the situation and think "maybe this only feels important because I'm getting all that opposition. Maybe if I take a step to the side, I can avoid all this time/energy wasting fighting, and get a lot more done."
-- Frances Willard
Success is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome.
-- Booker T. Washington
These two quotes were right after each other today in the quotes service I use. I find it interesting, because they say almost the opposite things. I agree far more with the first one.
Some people stay in a situation where they have a ton of opposition, because dammit, they are not gonna give up, they will stay and fight! Where another person may look at the situation and think "maybe this only feels important because I'm getting all that opposition. Maybe if I take a step to the side, I can avoid all this time/energy wasting fighting, and get a lot more done."
Sunday, June 21, 2009
Lit up frog.
Lit up frog. From Geo.
by James Snyder who wrote:
by James Snyder who wrote:
This is a Cuban tree frog on a tree in my backyard in southern Florida. How and why he ate this light is a mystery. It should be noted that at the time I was taking this photo, I thought this frog was dead having cooked himself from the inside. I’m happy to say I was wrong. After a few shots he adjusted his position. So after I was finished shooting him, I pulled the light out of his mouth and he was fine. Actually, I might be crazy but I don’t think he was very happy when I took his light away.
Dolphin in love
Dolphin in love. And they blame men for not being able to resist women? At least we're the same species!
(On further viewing, it seems to be a trick he taught it, and he's baiting it with a fish. The tail motion is just the dolphin trying to get further up. But it does look funny.)
-----
Well, at least this guy is a primate, and who can blame him?
(On further viewing, it seems to be a trick he taught it, and he's baiting it with a fish. The tail motion is just the dolphin trying to get further up. But it does look funny.)
-----
Well, at least this guy is a primate, and who can blame him?
