On a side note, why have republicans chosen ACORN as the scapegoat? They’ve been around since 1970, and no big hue and cry – I only heard about them in 2008. WTF?
4.
TenguPhule
An action shot:
Fee FIgh Foo Fum!
5.
asiangrrlMN
Tunch, Tunch, slow down there, boy. You don’t want to overdo it.
He is so freaking cute. I love the little devil horns on his head.
renato, snort. Too freaking funny. With Tunch, though, how will we ever know if he STOPS going galt?
6.
TenguPhule
On a side note, why have republicans chosen ACORN as the scapegoat? They’ve been around since 1970, and no big hue and cry – I only heard about them in 2008. WTF?
The moment they became instrumental in getting Democratic leaning voters to the polls, they became GOP enemy number #1.
(The lectures are given for an audience of what looks to be a bunch of bright high school kids. You don’t need a postdoc to follow along.)
Is there any more to mind than the brain? Does experience shape the way our brain develops? When we learn something new is our brain physically altered? In four presentations, Dr. Thomas M. Jessell and Dr. Eric R. Kandel help us puzzle out how the brain is organized, how it develops, how it controls behavior, and how it stores memory.
[Kandel is a Nobel winner – JH]
This DVD set includes detailed chapter search by scientific topic; direct access to animations; English subtitles; interviews with the speakers; special features on synaptic function and animal locomotion; a discussion about neurobiology and mental illness; and a story on Alzheimer mice from NOVA scienceNOW.
I have a hard time with Elvis … he was such a mess of a person.
But that voice, and that sense of the music. What singer has been more imitated than this guy …. and yet he absolutely cannot be imitated. There is no substitute for the real sound of him. I can spot an imitation in the first syllable.
People who know me know I am a voice person, I hear things in voices that other people don’t. I don’t know why this is, I can only do about three things very well, and singing is not one of them, but anyway …. Elvis’ voice takes my imagination down through layers of stuff that you just don’t hear in a male voice very often. And he had total control of it, always knew just where the edge was, sang right up to it, and never lost his control.
Awwwwwwww. Whoza big snuggly wuggly (slightly worried looking) puddy?
12.
cyntax
@asiangrrlMN:
I was thinking the same thing, but I believe the discerning eye can tell from the position of his ears…
13.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Woot! There’s my dope-smokin’, teabag dunkin’, tattoo-sportin’ pretend hubby who is gay-married! How goes it?
14.
Laura W
@Martin: I could tell as soon as I saw your post.
Just a certain je ne sais quoi ….
(Hopefully this thread will now morph into the predictable Mac v. PC war that always ensues. Only one notch above teabagging, Rush or Beck threads in terms of novelty and interest factor.)
15.
asiangrrlMN
@cyntax:
You have better eyes than I, then, because no matter how long I stare at his ears, they don’t move.
16.
Fencedude
This has been the only remotely interesting place on the entire INTARWEBS all freaking day.
Though the torture memo thread over at Yglesias’ makes for….uh…interesting reading.
50 minutes till I get off work. Ugh.
17.
Third Eye Open
Just bought an XBOX 360 and Bioshock, my dad and bro have been raving about it forever. The story, the characters, the graphics…its just friggin amazing!
Anyone have any recommendations for good games, at least until the new FF comes out?
If you’d gotten a PS3 I’d reccomend Valkyria Chronicles.
(DLC comes out today!)
20.
khead
@ Third eye
Call of Duty – World At War.
I see Nazi zombies in my sleep now. Enjoy.
21.
cyntax
@Third Eye Open:
If you like Bioshock, Deadspace is supposed to be amazing [though no timely references to Randian philosophy like in BioShock].
22.
Martin
Well, I’ll resolve the war soon as I’m about to install Boot Camp/Vista/VMWare, so no matter what I win. Not looking forward to getting all the Apache/PHP/MySQL and the Oracle ODBC/SSL bits working later tonight. And no, the default install is missing too much stuff, as is MAMP. That took ages to get set up on my old system (mostly because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing until I start writing code.)
23.
Brick Oven Bill
I have a bone to pick with Brachinator (sp?).
In order to counter Hillary blaming Mexican gun problems on American Citizens, I had previously posted this article, which quotes a named ATF spokesman, which puts the number of illegal firearms confiscated in Mexico, that originated in the US, at 5114.
This out of 29,000 illegal firearms confiscated in Mexico over the same period, yielding a percentage of 17%, not 90%. Brachinator defended the 90% number by posting a government agency document which is exactly the thing that I had a problem with in the first place.
The Administration, of course, blames this 17% (they claim 90%) on us irresponsible Citizens, that must be regulated, you see. But what percentage of the 17% (they claim 90%) came from US transfers to the Mexican military and police forces? To the Central American military and police forces? My guess is most of it, as the Mexican police are corrupt and 5114 is a small number over 2 years, given what is going on down there.
Obama, again today, blamed the American people for supplying 90% of Mexico’s illegal guns. People would trust Obama more if he would be honest. Personally, honestly is all I expect from my government. I see this as being their job.
24.
Shygetz
Wow, John, what brand high speed film did you use to capture that amazing action shot? I expected to see the motion blurring from Tunch’s lightning-fast movements, but somehow you managed to capture the tiger in mid-pounce. Well done, sir.
25.
cyntax
@asiangrrlMN:
Right, but once they have moved, then you’ll know he’s no longer going Galt.
Well, if you drink enough wine and close both eyes, you might see it my way.
Yeow. I just inadvertently flipped the channel over to Nancy Grace. She is scary looking. Like, Stevie-Nicks-super-coked-up-Rhiannon-rings-like-a-bell-through-the-night scary looking.
maybe i missed it but why is john so silent right now on quite possibly the most damning indictment of a US president, represented in the Bush torture memos, in more than a century?
for instance, the bush torture memos revealed that Bush OLC officials explicitly acknowledged that the techniques they were authorizing were routinely denounced by the us state department when it criticized foreign governments: http://www.librarygrape.com/2009/04/torture-memos-admit-techniques-were.html
i fear that our disposition toward eventual apathy and relatively placid outrage is going to allow everyone in the bush administration to get off scot-free. prove me wrong folks, but the inhuman crimes that spilled the blood of innocents and the guilty alike have washed us all in soul-corrupting criminality. if we don’t speak up forcefully on this issue, some other GOP nutjob will someday rely on the precedent that we all set with our silence.
You must have really enjoyed the last eight years.
Hey, where do you suppose those pesky WMDs went?
36.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Hey, what time is it there, and what do you do? I gotta know if you’re gonna pull your weight in our pseudo-marriage or not.
And have you broken the news to your hubby and cats and dogs? I haven’t told my boys (cats) yet. I want it to be a surprise.
37.
cyntax
@Library Grape:
Can’t speak for John but I’m approaching this like an endurance sport, tyring to pace myself, don’t want to burn up all my outrage too early since there’s a lot more distance to cover.
when I go to the circus, my favorites are streudel, ponies, and honesty from my government.
I have never gone to the circus and expected streudel and a statement from my government.. what circus do you go to?
Really, I have only seen lions and tiger and bears. Do you really live in the USA?
Oh, and I’m married to a doctor… My mother is happy (although she’ll be thrilled if she thinks she’s getting another daughter in law into the deal as well).
@John Cole: well, to an extent, they do speak for themselves. but i have to say that the mass upswelling of rage and anger we’re going to need to force obama’s hand is pretty much incomprehensible at this point. when 250k GOP douchebags can mass a visible front against a scary negro in the white house, we have that much more of a responsibility to really drum up the anger about the shit that really matters. the gop during the clinton years pushed us to the brink of booting a sitting president over a blowjob. if we can’t force obama’s hand to prosecute the worst illegality in over a century, we will all stand at the finish line with the blood of those we tortured on our hands and the stain will never be erased from our souls.
46.
mcd410x
Alan Greenspan was once awarded the Enron Prize for distinguished public service.
Ah yes. The old "Play dead so the hairless monkey will come with in striking distance" game.
The thing I’m learning about older cats is they do sleep a lot, but only so their sudden freak outs and attempts to wreck the place up are that much more alarming.
48.
Comrade Jake
My brother and I are documenting our upcoming road trip from Albuquerque to Durham later on this summer. We’re planning the trip online.
@Comrade Jake: Ha. Good luck with that! I did Durango-ish to Asheville-ish over 5 days in Dec. of 06 with a dog and four cats. I was lucky enough to have a companion (who I’d never met prior to the move but knew pretty well post-move) driving the big truck with my stuff in it, hauling my SUV (with the dog and two cats) behind us. He and I and two cats in the cab. Good times.
The best part of the whole trip was getting snowed in for 24 hours in OK. All there was to do was watch tv from bed, drink wine coolers, and eat convenience store food. Bliss.
I’m sure your trip will be way better. And prepare yourself for how freakin’ long TN is. You’ll be whizzing through TX and OK feeling all cocky, and then you’ll start to believe you will never, ever, reach the other side of TN.
51.
Brick Oven Bill
Re: 71%
The problem with honesty in a democracy at this point in its cycle, is that it makes one unpopular. I would say that Axelrod, or whoever is writing the lines, is tactically sharp.
But Putin is a chess player, and his assessment that the realities of the economic situation will sink in by the fall is pretty good, from what I see. Which is why I cannot understand Obama’s upbeat economic tone as of late. This is why I am concerned for Team Obama.
Another thing I cannot understand is his practice of alienating the military population.
The dark side of my mind suggests to me that an event is being staged. The rational side of my mind tells me that association with military leadership brings up the father figure issue, and that he is more comfortable surrounding himself with Orszag and Geithner types.
52.
The Dangerman
@r€nato: Thus giving new meaning to a computer hanging.
And prepare yourself for how freakin’ long TN is. You’ll be whizzing through TX and OK feeling all cocky, and then you’ll start to believe you will never, ever, reach the other side of TN.
But if ya do Tennessee in the fall there is no more beautiful place on earth, IMHO.
54.
Just Some Fuckhead
What’s it like never grasping what was truly important when it mattered, BOB?
55.
khead
More XBOX:
In the opening scene of the Call of Duty game I mentioned earlier, a soldier has a cigarette put into his eye before his throat is slit.
How many Bush admin. lawyers does it take to write a memo saying that’s not torture?
@John Cole: p.s. just to clarify, john — you’re my favorite blogger, followed by sully. i respect your opinion immensely and am hoping to hear a big statement from you on the memos because i so greatly respect your opinion. JCole 2012!
I see your point, but I think the necessary element missing is that of surprise. The release of the memos has an element of "no shit, Sherlock" to them, dontchathink?
58.
Pooh
Not sure if it’s been covered in these parts today, but the GOP dominated state legislature rejected the AG nomination of America’s Governor:
JUNEAU – The Alaska Legislature voted 35 to 23 today to reject the confirmation of Wayne Anthony Ross, Gov. Sarah Palin’s pick for attorney general.
According to Legislative Research, today’s rejection of Ross is the first time in state history that a head of a state agency has failed to be confirmed by the Legislature. All the Democrats in the Legislature voted against Ross, but they were joined by nine Republicans, including the Senate president and House speaker.
59.
Laura W
@Just Some Fuckhead: But ya know, I’m not far from Eastern TN, really. That’s why they call it Western NC, see? Gorgeous here too.
I was struck by how pretty Arkansas was (er, from the passenger side of a Ryder truck going 60MPH on Hwy 40, was it?) Dunno what I expected, but not so much pretty.
… on April 1, your Georgia Senate did threaten by a vote of 43-1 to secede from and even disband the United States.
It was not an April Fool’s joke.
In fact, Senate Resolution 632 did a lot more than merely threaten to end this country. It stated that under the Constitution, the only crimes the federal government could prosecute were treason, piracy and slavery.
Hmmph. So Georgia admits that the feds can prosecute slavery. That’s… progress.
.
61.
Martin
The problem with honesty in a democracy at this point in its cycle, is that it makes one unpopular. I would say that Axelrod, or whoever is writing the lines, is tactically sharp.
Actually, the problem with honesty in a democracy at this point is that some people assume it’s impossible, which makes them even more insane because you aren’t being transparently dishonest, like politicians are supposed to be.
@Pooh: "The release of the memos has an element of "no shit, Sherlock" to them, dontchathink?"
That’s the beauty of the Bush/Cheney plan, isn’t it? Make the horrific sound commonplace. Make the criminal seem banal, right? If we can’t mobilize a front of rage on these horrors committed in our name, we don’t have much of a claim to outrage later on when the shit happens again.
63.
Brick Oven Bill
I’ve been onto Paulson from almost the beginning Just Some Fuckhead. M3 went away on the 23rd of May, 2006, right before he took office.
Perhaps Bush was willing or gullible. Perhaps Obama is naïve or compromised. Paulson was CDO-in-Chief at Goldman Sachs. Geithner’s Chief of Staff (and apparently his only staff) is a lobbyist from Goldman Sachs.
Maybe you and me could be local group get-together buddies Just Some Fuckhead. You would be impressed with the people who are drawn to the message you have perhaps conveyed. Sometimes, we drink beer.
64.
Kirk Spencer
Brick Oven Bill,
17% is at least as dishonest as 90% – maybe moreso.
See, the 17% works only if those weapons not turned in for testing and all weapons which were untraceable did not come from the US. However, untested and untraceable does not mean that.
Of those turned over for testing which COULD be traced, 90% came from the US. In most studies and surveys, it’s generally acceptable to use the testable range as being proportional to the untestable range. The fact that about 40% of those sent for testing were, in fact, untraceable would lead me to add qualifiers. But the assumption of proportion is defensible.
The 17% is honest only if (as an example) we can say McCain never had even 1% of the US population say they supported him. 306 million people in the US, largest survey I saw had about 2000 people, and McCain barely got over half. So McCain got 1050 of 306 million, which means everyone OBVIOUSLY lied when they said he had half or more of the vote.
Maybe you and me could be local group get-together buddies Just Some Fuckhead. You would be impressed with the people who are drawn to the message you have perhaps conveyed. Sometimes, we drink beer.
but i have to say that the mass upswelling of rage and anger we’re going to need to force obama’s hand is pretty much incomprehensible at this point.
I think that this point is still being slapped around on a thread from John’s earlier post about the memo release.
and BTW Library Grape, I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash. Per your recommendation, I thought I start with some of Stephenson’s earlier stuff instead of Anathem.
I must say I’m really enjoying his writing style. It moves right along.
Glenn Greenwald is challenging the citizenry of the United States to march on the streets in protest of the failure of Obama’s administration to prosecute those from Bush’s admin that advocated and PLANNED the torture that took place from 2002 to… whenever. Who’s up for a trip to the National Mall asap?
"and BTW Library Grape, I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash. Per your recommendation, I thought I start with some of Stephenson’s earlier stuff instead of Anathem."
Yay! Good job! I’m sure you’ll love it. Snow Crash is imbued with a deliciously subversive "fuck everyone" fast-paced style that is weirdly erotic in a strange, anarchic way. seeing the devolution of the US into autonomous "burbclaves" really has resonance right now, what with the Rick Perrys of the world advocating secession. Tell us what you think of L. Bob Rife!
Tell your dog I sympathize–I am not a people person, either.
So I’m good with the hubby and the mother. I’m in like Flynn once I get some raw steak!
P.S. You’re a lawyer and your hubby is a doctor? Wow! MY parents would be very impressed.
78.
Mike in NC
when 250k GOP douchebags can mass a visible front against a scary negro in the white house, we have that much more of a responsibility to really drum up the anger about the shit that really matters
250K GOP douchebags was a figure concocted by FOX Noise. I call bullshit. Actual numbers appear to be between 25-100K. Waving lots of poorly spelled signs about gun control, abortion, illegal aliens, commies, etc. DIAF wingnuts!
B.O.B.: Another thing I cannot understand is his practice of alienating the military population.
Now Bill is just making shit up and pulling it out of his ass. Oh, wait…
79.
Brick Oven Bill
I am everywhere Just Some Fuckhead. But here is one group in Virginia Beach, run by an attractive blonde. The disadvantage about having an attractive blonde run the show is it chases away other women. But this particular group has a good rating and an established record, which means that the meetings are probably good.
One of my favorite bars is the Jewish Mother, in Virginia Beach, by the way. This is a better place than the Steep and Brew in Madison.
His early stuff is great – I particularly enjoyed Cryptonomicon – and the Baroque Cycle is gripping (and took me about half the time to read it that I expected).
Anathem by comparison, I have started to read three times and just can’t get into it….
81.
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
the disadvantage about having an attractive blonde run the show is it chases away other women.
Not if the attractive blonde is a guy, though, right Bill?
@passerby: I think we are the only two worried that poooor Tunch is just fading away. No wonder he went galt. He doesn’t have the energy to do anything else!
@Tattoosydney: i highly recommend getting into anathem. the first 200 or so pages are hard to wade through but once you get the rhythm, it is mind blowing. his mind is truly vast and deliciously fucked up
PS, I tried reading cryptonomicon a few times and couldn’t keep it together. i find it dated. it’s too firmly grounded in dated, late 90s dot-com tech speak. as a former programmer, i found the breathless disquisitions on PPP, TCP/IP etc too reminiscent of late 90s mass-audience reality-free hacker porn
"burbclaves", yes, these gated communities filled with like minded people seem to be emerging already. The fictional "White Pillars" community that openly declares Whites Only sounds like Bush’s new neighborhood in Dallas.
And his disdainful description of those who wish for and haggle about the delivery of their pizza in a half hour or get it free is art imitating life.
but enough of that here, I’ll give a book report at Library Grape when I’m done reading it.
Yes. Pedro can always be bought off with food… although sometimes it requires constant feeding in order to stop him going for the stomach. He’s cute but a typical cattle dog with personality … well "quirks" is the charitable term ("disorders" being the less charitable term).
89.
Mike in NC
One of my favorite bars is the Jewish Mother, in Virginia Beach, by the way.
Shitty, dirty overpriced hole in the wall with lousy service. (But it has been a few years.) Most of the bars and restaurants close to the beach are like that. There are several better places close to NAB Little Creek, like Lynnhaven Fish House and Steinhilber’s.
90.
eemom
"I kind of like the Obama fellow and what he has done so far."
Right fucking on. Regardless of one’s views as to what should be prosecuted, protesting Obama for something Bush did strikes me as maybe two or three degrees removed from the teabaggers — if that.
And JHC on a cracker, what’s it gonna TAKE to get people over this "Glenn Greenwald is God" delusion?? Folks, he’s not even the great legal authority he pretends to be — he practiced law for all of about 8 years, half of those as a drone at a Manhattan law firm.
91.
Brick Oven Bill
I am sorry to disappoint, Just Some Fuckhead, but as a veteran who has openly expressed concerns about the economy, and support for the second Amendment, one needs to be somewhat prudent.
I’m a big fan of Larry Niven and re-read his stuff every couple of years. Also Orson Scott Card is phenomenal. But not being sure about a new author, I carefully perused the book reviews of Stephenson’s works before deciding on Snow Crash and I’m really enjoying it.
Some of the reviews of Anathem kinda gave me the same sense of what you said. Most books are $9.99 per download so here’s hoping Kindle will have a sale because if I like an author, I tend to read the whole body of work.
Well he’s looking good. I think using the furminator this year really cutting down on the spring shedding time.
Tunch needs some albacore tuna. Lip smackin lean. I put and extra splash of water when I feed Rex his tuna cuz he loves to drink the juice.
95.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Ohhhh, Pedro is a sweetie! He’s so cute. Do you have pics of your cats? I will post pics of your future cat-in-laws when I upload them to Flickr.
96.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Or some wild salmon, but yes, albacore tuna is good, too. My boys love the juice from that!
97.
MNPundit
My girlfriend bought a furminator today, based purely on my hyping of it based purely on your hyping of it. This evening, she placed the cat in the bath tub (so she could clean up the hair easier and cuz he loves to sit in the tub) and used it. Perhaps because he was also enjoying being in the tub, the cat almost died of happiness while he was being furminated. When she was going to get up he would not allow it, he demanded more furmination and he got it. I shit you not.
And then he tried to eat the hair she furminated out. Christ what a moran that cat is.
He was very disappointed when it was time to stop for the night but she will be back furminating tomorrow because he has a lot of hair.
And the right continues to eat their own. I’m just rooting for injuries and massive collateral damage in the wing nut blogosphere.
99.
asiangrrlMN
@Andrew: I am speechless at the picture of Beck holding up a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. I can’t say what’s going through my mind right now.
I think I loathe Beck even more than I do Limbaugh.
100.
Brick Oven Bill
There are very few forces in the world more powerful than attractive young women Fencedude. I have experienced this in the life process. You can read about it in the Iliad, a book written 5000 years ago. Politics never change.
These are not Republican events, for the record. A Republican showed up to ours, and was torn apart, but in a constructive way. He was turned towards the Capitol and made a promise. It was pretty powerful in my eyes, and he was trembling a little on the way out.
I am sure this has been said, but anyone who thought that the Daily Show and Colbert would suffer under Obama probably had no idea how much material the wingnuts would up on a daily basis. They both have been on fire with the tea bagging thing this week. Just wow.
Yeah-but, if I got wild salmon in the house, I’M going to be the one eating it–he can have a bite. Bad enough I’m feeding my cat canned albacore when there are starving people somewhere in the world.*
[ *Actually, I care about starving people but not enough to feel guilty about what I feed my little pawtnah.]
Glenn Greenwald is challenging the citizenry of the United States to march on the streets in protest of the failure of Obama’s administration to prosecute those from Bush’s admin that advocated and PLANNED the torture that took place from 2002 to… whenever. Who’s up for a trip to the National Mall asap?
I just had a long post in response to you and Library Grape go up in smoke, and after letting out all of my anger (not at you guys), I am drained and it is late, so I cannot repeat everything.
My main point was that we should first stage protests at the offices of every single Republican member of Congress. Make the Republicans defend this crap, not on Fox News, but in front of thousands of their constituents who do not like the fact that we tortured people. I am determined to lead a march on the office of Peter Roskam, my Congressman from Illinois, who is a completely useless individual. I want him to explain why the federal government is prosecuting former Chicago police officers for abusing and torturing murder suspects in the 1970s and the 1980s when the OLC determined that such practices were not torture when committed in 2002. Weren’t these officers just ahead of their time. They should be given a medal.
From here forward I will be donating my money and my time to the ACLU and any other organization that has fought against everything wrong that the Bush Administration and the Republican Party has done. I will work to make certain that those who committed these travesties (especially the f-cking lawyers) are properly punished and to ensure that this cannot happen again.
105.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Well, yeah. I don’t mean give the cat(s) all of it, but they sure do like a bite or two. Their stomachs, on the other hand, are not always as sure.
106.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@Brick Oven Bill: "He was turned toward the capital"!!!! Like some ridiculous libertarian tent revival or something??? Did he see the light?
107.
MNPundit
@John PM: No look, the point is to protest and be very visible and gin up a lot of public anger and response to force Obama to prosecute. He said it himself, we need to do this, if the people push hard enough I think he will do it. But he needs us, if for nothing else as cover.
And if he won’t even afterwards? Then we will have a core of people who can begin the efforts to remove him from office in 2012.
I cooked a half-chicken in my crockpot today and I’m such a fool. Instead of marinating it and seasoning it like I planned to, I realized that the cat wouldn’t like the flavor so I went with just salt and a little pepper so he wouldn’t get indigestion from it.
I gotta get back control over my life.
109.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Oh, that’s so sweet. I buy my own food (I don’t cook) with one thought in mind: Will the boys eat it? If not, then I don’t buy it. Yes, I am kitty-whipped. You know what, though? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
As I said, I had a much longer comment that apparently was eaten by Tunch. Yes, the DOJ should prosecute. I said on a previous thread that the Senate can get the ball rolling on all this by bringing impeachment proceedings against Jay Bybee to remove him from the Ninth Circuit. People should also file complaints with the appropriate state bars to get Addington, Yoo, Gonzales and all the other lawyers disbarred. However, before staging a protest against Obama, I think it would be good to let Republican representatives know that we are unhappy with them for actively allowing this to happen. If Obama does nothing then there will be time to express our displeasure toward him. However, that time has not yet arrived. Before any protests are directed at Obama, I want to see all the liberal non-secessionist Texans march on Bush’s house in Texas and remind him that he is a war criminal.
We have no cats. In our house cats are known as "dinner" – c/f previous comment re dog/personality disorder. He turns into a snarling ball of rage at the mere suggestion that a cat has been in the vicinity in the last ten years.
Bradley’s cat died of cancer about two years ago now. She hated me. Her favourite trick was to sit on my chest while I was asleep, whisk her tail across my nose to wake me up and then stand up so I got a close up view of kitty date.
We have thought that getting Pedro a kitten might work, but we are too scared to try.
112.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Oh, now, see. If Pedro tried to go after my boys, then our three-way marriage would end right there! I am pretty dang protective of them.
By the way, Bradley’s cat wasn’t hating on you, she was showing you love. Shadow does that to me because he wants me to lick him. It’s what cats do to each other as a greeting. I always turn him down. It’s not my thing.
"to force Obama to prosecute.He said it himself, we need to do this, if the people push hard enough I think he will do it. But he needs us, if for nothing else as cover."
I remember Obama saying this when he was on the campaign trail. I think, well, I thought he wanted this from the people too. But it occurred to me today that if this is what he wants, his leadership is going to be needed.
That is to say he needs to keep emphasizing The People’s role. But that’s not happening here. His emphasis on the need to move on instead of insisting on prosecution, seems to me, is having a dampening effect.
Why is it that we are now put in a position where we have to start a wave of dissent vs a wave of support? As a political strategy, it goes counter to what the polls show as being what the people want: Rule of Law, no 2-tiered justice system, etc. No?
114.
Common Sense
re xbox: Fallout 3 is an absolute blast.
re Stephenson/Snow Crash: Hero Protagonist. That is all.
115.
RPh
In a "dialogue bubble over the head" world he’s thinking: "there is sooooooooo a deuce in your shoes".
But …. since you are only feeding him dry food … and not enough … you should be OK for the time being.
But … someday … when someone you have over gives him "the table scraps" … it’s bye-bye dress shoes. Hello shit-sock!
(not to be confused with any edition of "The Glenn Beck Show" … OK … to be confused with EVERY edition of "The Glenn Beck Show …")
Until then he’ll have to console himself with taking your breath away as you sleep.
By the way, Bradley’s cat wasn’t hating on you, she was showing you love. Shadow does that to me because he wants me to lick him. It’s what cats do to each other as a greeting.
Urp. I just threw up in my mouth a little.
Oh, now, see. If Pedro tried to go after my boys, then our three-way marriage would end right there! I am pretty dang protective of them.
We have tried to introduce the idea that cats may not be evil, but his little doggy brain seems hardwired with the idea that they must die.
Good job ours is a long distance (polygamous/gay/multiracial etc.) marriage.
117.
Brick Oven Bill
It was probably two parts fight or flight on the part of the politician, and one part inspiration Gordon.
The man making the suggestion at his arm was impressive, and the crowd was ornery because of the fancy clothes the politician chose to wear.
The politician had walked into the middle of a ring of participants. I really do recommend checking out a meeting and making your own judgments.
I saw the red wiggle digging in his garden the other day.
He didn’t appear to be looking for oil shale, but you never know.
119.
MNPundit
Becua@passerby: Well I was trying to give it a more generous interpretation. I also think that Obama has decided that his other programs matter more. Other than that, I would guess that doing what’s right is not always fun after all, which is a bit simplistic of me.
I have been really looking into Fallout 3. Its between that and Left 4 Dead
121.
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@passerby: I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash.
That book kicks some pretty serious ass, IMO. I read it long ago, when I was about the age Hiro Protagonist is in the story. I found it to be far more factual about computers than any cyberpunk I’d read before (or since, really) and way less hipster posturing. Be ready for LOTS of exposition, though, because Stephenson writes about big ideas.
But watch for these two lines, quoted probably wrongly from memory, which touch off some nice little essays:
"The number 65,536 is more instantly recognizable to a hacker than his own mother’s birthday."
and
"Until the age of twenty-five or so, a man still thinks he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world."
Well I was trying to give it a more generous interpretation.
No need to explain MNPundit, I think your interpretation is the same as mine…at the time he said it anyway. We took him at his word.
But now he’s POTUS in the hot seat and, I guess, what was said in the heat of the campaign is more difficult to actually stick to when pushin comes to shovin.
123.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Oh, sorry. Were you eating lunch? Um, yeah, the cat just hated you! Yeah, that’s all! Feel better?
I have a feeling that our intercontinental, interracial, inter/homogeneous, interspecies, multiple-partners marriage will work out juuuuuust fine as long as we emphasize the intercontinental part. I just need to trot you guys out for shock value during my campaign for POTUS.
Or, we could just have our own sitcom. "Me and My Two Same-Marriage Hubbies". It could be a smash!
My life tends to be measured by the spaces between each new Iain Banks SF novel. I pray that he never dies.
125.
Brick Oven Bill
You people are backwards in Australia, as Murray Wiggle explained it to me TattooSyndey. Murray told me that there was no snow in Australia at Christmas on his special. So perhaps Murray was digging potatoes in his backyard during your backwards Aussie fall season. I do not believe that there is oil shale in Australia. USA #1, then Canada, Brazil, Estonia, and Morocco.
"The number 65,536 is more instantly recognizable to a hacker than his own mother’s birthday."
I’ve gotten to this line already and have made a mental note of it. Since I’m not tech savvy ( a couple of my sibs are software engineers so I’m not totally outside ) it takes careful effort to comprehend the significance of this type of info in a novel.
But, as I am a Niven fan precisely because of his use of hard science (don’t understand all the physics), I’m hoping there will be a pay-off that I can appreciate WRT the 65,536s and the 8s and the 2 squareds, etc.
In any event, I’m willing to learn something.
127.
Common Sense
I second the Orson Scott Card nomination. Great scifi writer even if his politics are batshit crazy.
Incidentally is it just me or do scifi authors tend to be a little more likely to wrap themselves in tin foil than the average fella?
You people are backwards in Australia, as Murray Wiggle explained it to me TattooSyndey. Murray told me that there was no snow in Australia at Christmas on his special.
Yes we are… although we have things like socialised medicine, guaranteed hospital treatment, subsidised university education and a distinct lack of torture to make up for it.
So perhaps Murray was digging potatoes in his backyard during your backwards Aussie fall season.
We call it "autumn", but yes, it is entirely possible he was digging potatoes…
I do not believe that there is oil shale in Australia. USA #1, then Canada, Brazil, Estonia, and Morocco.
We do have large supplies of natural gas. Perhaps that is what he was looking for?
You people are backwards in Australia, as Murray Wiggle explained it to me TattooSyndey. Murray told me that there was no snow in Australia at Christmas on his special.
Yes we are… although we have things like social1sed medicine, guaranteed hospital treatment, subsidised university education and a distinct lack of torture to make up for it.
So perhaps Murray was digging potatoes in his backyard during your backwards Aussie fall season.
We call it "autumn", but yes, it is entirely possible he was digging potatoes…
I do not believe that there is oil shale in Australia. USA #1, then Canada, Brazil, Estonia, and Morocco.
We do have large supplies of natural gas. Perhaps that is what he was looking for?
But, as I am a Niven fan precisely because of his use of hard science (don’t understand all the physics), I’m hoping there will be a pay-off that I can appreciate WRT the 65,536s and the 8s and the 2 squareds, etc.
Computers count in binary. 0 and 1, so powers of 2 are ubiquitous in computing. Groupings of bits in 4s (rare) 8s (octal number system) and 16s (Hexadecimal system) make bit patterns easier to read.
Computers also will typically use the last bit to the right or the left, depending on the computer, to donate the sign of a number: positive of negative. If that’s the case range of a 16 bit number is -32768 to +32767
If no sign is required, then the computer can use all 16 bits which gives you the maximum value of 65535 or including 0, 65536 possible values.
I have no idea if that’s relevant since I haven’t read the book, or maybe you knew that already. At any rate there you have it.
132.
Brick Oven Bill
TattooSydney; I have met many Aussies in my time, and am ready to propose an exchange. Details at some later time, as I am going to bed. But you will be very, very impressed with this Ms. Diane Feinstein. She is a very important person.
I know an Aussie welder-diver who wired up my old shop after I convinced him to get off the train with me in Nevada. You might know him, although I cannot remember his name. He is the one with some place on the ocean with a swimming pool and smokes full flavor cigarettes. He is very popular with the ladies, and is a regular, all around good guy.
Diane is very nice and you will enjoy the contributions she will make to Australian society, as she likes guarantees too. To a future positive relationship; Bill
133.
bago
2^16 .
Regarding xbox, gears of war 2, mass effect, and fallout 3.
134.
BDeevDad
@Tattoosydney: I love Stephenson but keep getting stuck on the first 50-100 pages of the Baroque Cycle. When does it get moving? I feel like I am in the first 200 pages of Lord of the Rings.
BTW, Cryptonomicon helped me realize I wanted to switch from mechanical engineering to software.
135.
bago
In greater detail, 16 bit computers were the norm at the time of the writing of Snow Crash. Therefore the number 65,536 is the maximum number that you can process on a single cycle with a 16 bit cpu. A bit being a 1 or a 0 (representing 2 possibilities), multiplied over the number you can process, 16. 16 bits, 2^ 16th. It also (in general) determines the amount of memory you can address. This is why a 32 bit machine can only address 4 gigabytes of memory (2^32 = 4,294,967,296 = 4 billion addressable bytes), and for more memory you have to go to a 64 bit machine.
136.
bago
test^test^test
137.
bago
So the caret will superscript text as an opening and closing tag. Neat.
138.
MikeJ
I love Stephenson but keep getting stuck on the first 50-100 pages of the Baroque Cycle. When does it get moving?
I read the first book and a third of the second. If it ever gets better, it’s sometime after that. I say that as someone who really liked Zodiac, SC, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age.
I know an Aussie welder-diver who wired up my old shop after I convinced him to get off the train with me in Nevada. You might know him, although I cannot remember his name. He is the one with some place on the ocean with a swimming pool and smokes full flavor cigarettes. He is very popular with the ladies, and is a regular, all around good guy.
I am reminded of my adopted aunt, who upon meeting anyone who appeared vaguely Asian, used to say "I know a man from Singapore called John. He owned a shop. Do you know him?"
She was a lovely woman. Dumb as a box of hammers, but lovely.
Hmmm. I kind of got into it from the start – I found the interactions between his made up characters (who closely resemble characters in his other books, as usual) and the real historical personalities fascinating…
Watching Scarborough, sadly. They’re talking Torture Memos, and Poison Joe is suggesting that Obama is treating the brave CIA agents the same way as the Americans who (never; urban legend) spit on returning Vietnam veterans. He says Obama’s handling of the issue is "perverse and disgusting." He says we’re going to "get hit again," and Obama will have hell to pay as America asks, "how did this happen?"
He says he’s only doing it to get the Democrats off his back. "Putting a caterpillar in a box is offensive to who, Leftists?" he says. Yes, that is how he summarized the gut-churning memos the rest of the world read yesterday. The worst thing we ever did was put a bug in a box, oh, and he added that from time to time maybe we splashed some water on somebody’s face.
I’m going to start breaking things. Why do I watch this crap, and how is it that MSNBC is a lefty cable news network when they give this jackhat three hours every freaking weekday?
My life tends to be measured by the spaces between each new Iain Banks SF novel. I pray that he never dies.
Aha. Were you and Mr. Jud separated at birth, by any chance? He’s also a Banks junkie. He’s revisiting Fearsum Endjinn at the moment.
I like Banks’s stuff well enough, but I am more in awe of the fact that he pops out a book in six months so he can spend the other six months driving cars and drinking whisky (not at the same time). If I could pop a book out in six months (and sell it) I would spend the other six months running up mountains and eating delicious cheeses (also not at the same time).
I hear things in voices that other people don’t. I don’t know why this is
Maybe you’ve benn dipping into one of Egg Shen’s potions?
144.
canuckistani
I’m another big Neal Stephenson fan, just rereading the System of the World right now. And I have to say that Snow Crash is a perfect choice for a new techie reading device. A story of a future made of and for corporations feels so right for the Kindle.
Laura W
Ben Affleck is kyooot.
One of those men who gets kyoooter as he ages.
Speaking of pretty men, look what someone sent me last night.
Wowie.
r€nato
Tunch has gone galt as well, I see.
arguingwithsignposts
ACORN!
it had to be said.
On a side note, why have republicans chosen ACORN as the scapegoat? They’ve been around since 1970, and no big hue and cry – I only heard about them in 2008. WTF?
TenguPhule
Fee FIgh Foo Fum!
asiangrrlMN
Tunch, Tunch, slow down there, boy. You don’t want to overdo it.
He is so freaking cute. I love the little devil horns on his head.
renato, snort. Too freaking funny. With Tunch, though, how will we ever know if he STOPS going galt?
TenguPhule
The moment they became instrumental in getting Democratic leaning voters to the polls, they became GOP enemy number #1.
Martin
Mmm. First post on a new MacBook Pro.
I am a happy, happy boy.
Jon H
For sciencey folks, HHMI’s *free* 2008 Holiday Lectures DVD is now available.
(The lectures are given for an audience of what looks to be a bunch of bright high school kids. You don’t need a postdoc to follow along.)
[Kandel is a Nobel winner – JH]
It’s 2 DVDs, about 240 minutes.
r€nato
@Martin:
I have a 17" one.
MacBook Pro that is…
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
@Laura W:
Damn, that is a great side.
I have a hard time with Elvis … he was such a mess of a person.
But that voice, and that sense of the music. What singer has been more imitated than this guy …. and yet he absolutely cannot be imitated. There is no substitute for the real sound of him. I can spot an imitation in the first syllable.
People who know me know I am a voice person, I hear things in voices that other people don’t. I don’t know why this is, I can only do about three things very well, and singing is not one of them, but anyway …. Elvis’ voice takes my imagination down through layers of stuff that you just don’t hear in a male voice very often. And he had total control of it, always knew just where the edge was, sang right up to it, and never lost his control.
Tattoosydney
Awwwwwwww. Whoza big snuggly wuggly (slightly worried looking) puddy?
cyntax
@asiangrrlMN:
I was thinking the same thing, but I believe the discerning eye can tell from the position of his ears…
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Woot! There’s my dope-smokin’, teabag dunkin’, tattoo-sportin’ pretend hubby who is gay-married! How goes it?
Laura W
@Martin: I could tell as soon as I saw your post.
Just a certain je ne sais quoi ….
(Hopefully this thread will now morph into the predictable Mac v. PC war that always ensues. Only one notch above teabagging, Rush or Beck threads in terms of novelty and interest factor.)
asiangrrlMN
@cyntax:
You have better eyes than I, then, because no matter how long I stare at his ears, they don’t move.
Fencedude
This has been the only remotely interesting place on the entire INTARWEBS all freaking day.
Though the torture memo thread over at Yglesias’ makes for….uh…interesting reading.
50 minutes till I get off work. Ugh.
Third Eye Open
Just bought an XBOX 360 and Bioshock, my dad and bro have been raving about it forever. The story, the characters, the graphics…its just friggin amazing!
Anyone have any recommendations for good games, at least until the new FF comes out?
jrg
That’s not Ben Affleck.
Fencedude
@Third Eye Open:
If you’d gotten a PS3 I’d reccomend Valkyria Chronicles.
(DLC comes out today!)
khead
@ Third eye
Call of Duty – World At War.
I see Nazi zombies in my sleep now. Enjoy.
cyntax
@Third Eye Open:
If you like Bioshock, Deadspace is supposed to be amazing [though no timely references to Randian philosophy like in BioShock].
Martin
Well, I’ll resolve the war soon as I’m about to install Boot Camp/Vista/VMWare, so no matter what I win. Not looking forward to getting all the Apache/PHP/MySQL and the Oracle ODBC/SSL bits working later tonight. And no, the default install is missing too much stuff, as is MAMP. That took ages to get set up on my old system (mostly because I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing until I start writing code.)
Brick Oven Bill
I have a bone to pick with Brachinator (sp?).
In order to counter Hillary blaming Mexican gun problems on American Citizens, I had previously posted this article, which quotes a named ATF spokesman, which puts the number of illegal firearms confiscated in Mexico, that originated in the US, at 5114.
This out of 29,000 illegal firearms confiscated in Mexico over the same period, yielding a percentage of 17%, not 90%. Brachinator defended the 90% number by posting a government agency document which is exactly the thing that I had a problem with in the first place.
The Administration, of course, blames this 17% (they claim 90%) on us irresponsible Citizens, that must be regulated, you see. But what percentage of the 17% (they claim 90%) came from US transfers to the Mexican military and police forces? To the Central American military and police forces? My guess is most of it, as the Mexican police are corrupt and 5114 is a small number over 2 years, given what is going on down there.
Obama, again today, blamed the American people for supplying 90% of Mexico’s illegal guns. People would trust Obama more if he would be honest. Personally, honestly is all I expect from my government. I see this as being their job.
Shygetz
Wow, John, what brand high speed film did you use to capture that amazing action shot? I expected to see the motion blurring from Tunch’s lightning-fast movements, but somehow you managed to capture the tiger in mid-pounce. Well done, sir.
cyntax
@asiangrrlMN:
Right, but once they have moved, then you’ll know he’s no longer going Galt.
Fencedude
@Brick Oven Bill:
Stop bringing your complete misinterpretation of what she said into a perfectly fine Open Thread.
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
@Brick Oven Bill:
It’s the same with me and you Billybob.
I used to enjoy about 90% of your material, and now it’s down to 17%.
Can you please do something about that?
Thanks in advance big guy!
asiangrrlMN
@cyntax: So in other words, i could be in for a loooooong wait.
Laura W
@jrg:
Well, if you drink enough wine and close both eyes, you might see it my way.
Yeow. I just inadvertently flipped the channel over to Nancy Grace. She is scary looking. Like, Stevie-Nicks-super-coked-up-Rhiannon-rings-like-a-bell-through-the-night scary looking.
Library Grape
maybe i missed it but why is john so silent right now on quite possibly the most damning indictment of a US president, represented in the Bush torture memos, in more than a century?
for instance, the bush torture memos revealed that Bush OLC officials explicitly acknowledged that the techniques they were authorizing were routinely denounced by the us state department when it criticized foreign governments: http://www.librarygrape.com/2009/04/torture-memos-admit-techniques-were.html
i fear that our disposition toward eventual apathy and relatively placid outrage is going to allow everyone in the bush administration to get off scot-free. prove me wrong folks, but the inhuman crimes that spilled the blood of innocents and the guilty alike have washed us all in soul-corrupting criminality. if we don’t speak up forcefully on this issue, some other GOP nutjob will someday rely on the precedent that we all set with our silence.
cyntax
@asiangrrlMN:
Pull up a chair…
=)
Brick Oven Bill
Sorry HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker, when I go to the circus, my favorites are streudel, ponies, and honesty from my government.
Anoniminous
I trust you took "Tunch Expenses" as a business deduction.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Hello bisexual, tattooed future POTUS wifey!
I’m well. Although I am currently at work, I’m about 18 hours closer to the weekend than you lot!
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
@Brick Oven Bill:
Which government is that?
You must have really enjoyed the last eight years.
Hey, where do you suppose those pesky WMDs went?
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Hey, what time is it there, and what do you do? I gotta know if you’re gonna pull your weight in our pseudo-marriage or not.
And have you broken the news to your hubby and cats and dogs? I haven’t told my boys (cats) yet. I want it to be a surprise.
cyntax
@Library Grape:
Can’t speak for John but I’m approaching this like an endurance sport, tyring to pace myself, don’t want to burn up all my outrage too early since there’s a lot more distance to cover.
JL
@Brick Oven Bill:
I have never gone to the circus and expected streudel and a statement from my government.. what circus do you go to?
Really, I have only seen lions and tiger and bears. Do you really live in the USA?
John Cole
@Library Grape: I mentioned it, I downloaded the 20 page Bradbury and the 18 page Bybee and read them.
What can I say? They sort of speak for themselves, don’t they?
big woo
@Brick Oven Bill:
You mean, like, these people?
I’m not sure I agree with you a hundred percent on your analysis there, BOB.
JL
@John Cole: You know this type of smackdown is why your audience adores you. .
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
It’s amost 1pm on Friday afternoon. I’m one of those evil lawyers, slaving away in the service of a US based law firm.
I haven’t broken the news to my hubby yet, but I can’t imagine he will worry.
I’d be more concerned that the dog might bite you… he’s not a people person.
Comrade Luke
@Third Eye Open:
If you like good stories I hear The Elder Scrolls: Oblivion is a good one as well. I think that’s the name.
Tattoosydney
@Tattoosydney:
Oh, and I’m married to a doctor… My mother is happy (although she’ll be thrilled if she thinks she’s getting another daughter in law into the deal as well).
Library Grape
@John Cole: well, to an extent, they do speak for themselves. but i have to say that the mass upswelling of rage and anger we’re going to need to force obama’s hand is pretty much incomprehensible at this point. when 250k GOP douchebags can mass a visible front against a scary negro in the white house, we have that much more of a responsibility to really drum up the anger about the shit that really matters. the gop during the clinton years pushed us to the brink of booting a sitting president over a blowjob. if we can’t force obama’s hand to prosecute the worst illegality in over a century, we will all stand at the finish line with the blood of those we tortured on our hands and the stain will never be erased from our souls.
mcd410x
Alan Greenspan was once awarded the Enron Prize for distinguished public service.
Kenny Boy, whereever you are, I hope it hurts.
kommrade reproductive vigor
Ah yes. The old "Play dead so the hairless monkey will come with in striking distance" game.
The thing I’m learning about older cats is they do sleep a lot, but only so their sudden freak outs and attempts to wreck the place up are that much more alarming.
Comrade Jake
My brother and I are documenting our upcoming road trip from Albuquerque to Durham later on this summer. We’re planning the trip online.
Be nice, and enjoy.
Just Some Fuckhead
Don’t listen to JL, John. You suck.
Laura W
@Comrade Jake: Ha. Good luck with that! I did Durango-ish to Asheville-ish over 5 days in Dec. of 06 with a dog and four cats. I was lucky enough to have a companion (who I’d never met prior to the move but knew pretty well post-move) driving the big truck with my stuff in it, hauling my SUV (with the dog and two cats) behind us. He and I and two cats in the cab. Good times.
The best part of the whole trip was getting snowed in for 24 hours in OK. All there was to do was watch tv from bed, drink wine coolers, and eat convenience store food. Bliss.
I’m sure your trip will be way better. And prepare yourself for how freakin’ long TN is. You’ll be whizzing through TX and OK feeling all cocky, and then you’ll start to believe you will never, ever, reach the other side of TN.
Brick Oven Bill
Re: 71%
The problem with honesty in a democracy at this point in its cycle, is that it makes one unpopular. I would say that Axelrod, or whoever is writing the lines, is tactically sharp.
But Putin is a chess player, and his assessment that the realities of the economic situation will sink in by the fall is pretty good, from what I see. Which is why I cannot understand Obama’s upbeat economic tone as of late. This is why I am concerned for Team Obama.
Another thing I cannot understand is his practice of alienating the military population.
The dark side of my mind suggests to me that an event is being staged. The rational side of my mind tells me that association with military leadership brings up the father figure issue, and that he is more comfortable surrounding himself with Orszag and Geithner types.
The Dangerman
@r€nato: Thus giving new meaning to a computer hanging.
Just Some Fuckhead
@Laura W:
But if ya do Tennessee in the fall there is no more beautiful place on earth, IMHO.
Just Some Fuckhead
What’s it like never grasping what was truly important when it mattered, BOB?
khead
More XBOX:
In the opening scene of the Call of Duty game I mentioned earlier, a soldier has a cigarette put into his eye before his throat is slit.
How many Bush admin. lawyers does it take to write a memo saying that’s not torture?
Library Grape
@John Cole: p.s. just to clarify, john — you’re my favorite blogger, followed by sully. i respect your opinion immensely and am hoping to hear a big statement from you on the memos because i so greatly respect your opinion. JCole 2012!
Pooh
@Library Grape:
I see your point, but I think the necessary element missing is that of surprise. The release of the memos has an element of "no shit, Sherlock" to them, dontchathink?
Pooh
Not sure if it’s been covered in these parts today, but the GOP dominated state legislature rejected the AG nomination of America’s Governor:
Laura W
@Just Some Fuckhead: But ya know, I’m not far from Eastern TN, really. That’s why they call it Western NC, see? Gorgeous here too.
I was struck by how pretty Arkansas was (er, from the passenger side of a Ryder truck going 60MPH on Hwy 40, was it?) Dunno what I expected, but not so much pretty.
JGabriel
Georgia Threatens To Secede (So Do OK and SC):
Hmmph. So Georgia admits that the feds can prosecute slavery. That’s… progress.
.
Martin
Actually, the problem with honesty in a democracy at this point is that some people assume it’s impossible, which makes them even more insane because you aren’t being transparently dishonest, like politicians are supposed to be.
Library Grape
@Pooh: "The release of the memos has an element of "no shit, Sherlock" to them, dontchathink?"
That’s the beauty of the Bush/Cheney plan, isn’t it? Make the horrific sound commonplace. Make the criminal seem banal, right? If we can’t mobilize a front of rage on these horrors committed in our name, we don’t have much of a claim to outrage later on when the shit happens again.
Brick Oven Bill
I’ve been onto Paulson from almost the beginning Just Some Fuckhead. M3 went away on the 23rd of May, 2006, right before he took office.
Perhaps Bush was willing or gullible. Perhaps Obama is naïve or compromised. Paulson was CDO-in-Chief at Goldman Sachs. Geithner’s Chief of Staff (and apparently his only staff) is a lobbyist from Goldman Sachs.
Maybe you and me could be local group get-together buddies Just Some Fuckhead. You would be impressed with the people who are drawn to the message you have perhaps conveyed. Sometimes, we drink beer.
Kirk Spencer
Brick Oven Bill,
17% is at least as dishonest as 90% – maybe moreso.
See, the 17% works only if those weapons not turned in for testing and all weapons which were untraceable did not come from the US. However, untested and untraceable does not mean that.
Of those turned over for testing which COULD be traced, 90% came from the US. In most studies and surveys, it’s generally acceptable to use the testable range as being proportional to the untestable range. The fact that about 40% of those sent for testing were, in fact, untraceable would lead me to add qualifiers. But the assumption of proportion is defensible.
The 17% is honest only if (as an example) we can say McCain never had even 1% of the US population say they supported him. 306 million people in the US, largest survey I saw had about 2000 people, and McCain barely got over half. So McCain got 1050 of 306 million, which means everyone OBVIOUSLY lied when they said he had half or more of the vote.
joe from Lowell
I’m kind of afraid to read them. I saw the bit about the insect.
I want to slog through 100+ pages of that?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Brick Oven Bill:
Where are ya, BOB? I’m in Virginia.
passerby
@Library Grape:
I think that this point is still being slapped around on a thread from John’s earlier post about the memo release.
and BTW Library Grape, I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash. Per your recommendation, I thought I start with some of Stephenson’s earlier stuff instead of Anathem.
I must say I’m really enjoying his writing style. It moves right along.
JGabriel
@Brick Oven Bill:
Yes, come to the dark side. We have: cookies! *
(*In memory of Lurita Doan.)
.
Gus
Tunch is so cute. I’m a sucker for kittehs with pink noses.
PaulW
Glenn Greenwald is challenging the citizenry of the United States to march on the streets in protest of the failure of Obama’s administration to prosecute those from Bush’s admin that advocated and PLANNED the torture that took place from 2002 to… whenever. Who’s up for a trip to the National Mall asap?
John Cole
@PaulW: Have fun. I kind of like the Obama fellow and what he has done so far.
Library Grape
@PaulW: ME!!! if we can’t mobilize mass anger at the blood on our hands then, well, rome will fall someday — and not that far off
passerby
And John, Tunch is looking kinda skinny. Is he getting enough to eat? Or maybe his fur is thinning out now that shedding season is waning.
It’s a nice beefcake pose. and asiangrrlMN is right. Looks like he’s got devil horns. (good Tunch. good good boy.)
Third Eye Open
@Fencedude:
I bought it mainly for the ability to stream Netflix, its cheaper than cable.
@cyntax:
Ill look that one up, I think I remember hearing something about it
@Comrade Luke:
Between school and work I don’t have time for ES, its a great series but WAY too time consuming.
I really like the Xbox, eventhough I really wanted the Nintendo games, but the Box is light-years ahead in gameplay
Library Grape
@passerby:
"and BTW Library Grape, I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash. Per your recommendation, I thought I start with some of Stephenson’s earlier stuff instead of Anathem."
Yay! Good job! I’m sure you’ll love it. Snow Crash is imbued with a deliciously subversive "fuck everyone" fast-paced style that is weirdly erotic in a strange, anarchic way. seeing the devolution of the US into autonomous "burbclaves" really has resonance right now, what with the Rick Perrys of the world advocating secession. Tell us what you think of L. Bob Rife!
Ninerdave
***puts a lampshade on his head then teabags the entire thread***
WOOOOOOOO!!!!
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney:
Tell your dog I sympathize–I am not a people person, either.
So I’m good with the hubby and the mother. I’m in like Flynn once I get some raw steak!
P.S. You’re a lawyer and your hubby is a doctor? Wow! MY parents would be very impressed.
Mike in NC
250K GOP douchebags was a figure concocted by FOX Noise. I call bullshit. Actual numbers appear to be between 25-100K. Waving lots of poorly spelled signs about gun control, abortion, illegal aliens, commies, etc. DIAF wingnuts!
Now Bill is just making shit up and pulling it out of his ass. Oh, wait…
Brick Oven Bill
I am everywhere Just Some Fuckhead. But here is one group in Virginia Beach, run by an attractive blonde. The disadvantage about having an attractive blonde run the show is it chases away other women. But this particular group has a good rating and an established record, which means that the meetings are probably good.
One of my favorite bars is the Jewish Mother, in Virginia Beach, by the way. This is a better place than the Steep and Brew in Madison.
Tattoosydney
@passerby:
His early stuff is great – I particularly enjoyed Cryptonomicon – and the Baroque Cycle is gripping (and took me about half the time to read it that I expected).
Anathem by comparison, I have started to read three times and just can’t get into it….
HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker
Not if the attractive blonde is a guy, though, right Bill?
Just Some Fuckhead
@Brick Oven Bill: You disappoint as usual, BOB.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: I think we are the only two worried that poooor Tunch is just fading away. No wonder he went galt. He doesn’t have the energy to do anything else!
Library Grape
@Tattoosydney: i highly recommend getting into anathem. the first 200 or so pages are hard to wade through but once you get the rhythm, it is mind blowing. his mind is truly vast and deliciously fucked up
PS, I tried reading cryptonomicon a few times and couldn’t keep it together. i find it dated. it’s too firmly grounded in dated, late 90s dot-com tech speak. as a former programmer, i found the breathless disquisitions on PPP, TCP/IP etc too reminiscent of late 90s mass-audience reality-free hacker porn
John Cole
@passerby: He is eating plenty, trust me.
Did I mention my vet has a furminator? We giggled about that.
passerby
@Library Grape:
"burbclaves", yes, these gated communities filled with like minded people seem to be emerging already. The fictional "White Pillars" community that openly declares Whites Only sounds like Bush’s new neighborhood in Dallas.
And his disdainful description of those who wish for and haggle about the delivery of their pizza in a half hour or get it free is art imitating life.
but enough of that here, I’ll give a book report at Library Grape when I’m done reading it.
Library Grape
@passerby:
"but enough of that here, I’ll give a book report at Library Grape when I’m done reading it."
awesome! i look forward to it! :)
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Yes. Pedro can always be bought off with food… although sometimes it requires constant feeding in order to stop him going for the stomach. He’s cute but a typical cattle dog with personality … well "quirks" is the charitable term ("disorders" being the less charitable term).
Mike in NC
Shitty, dirty overpriced hole in the wall with lousy service. (But it has been a few years.) Most of the bars and restaurants close to the beach are like that. There are several better places close to NAB Little Creek, like Lynnhaven Fish House and Steinhilber’s.
eemom
"I kind of like the Obama fellow and what he has done so far."
Right fucking on. Regardless of one’s views as to what should be prosecuted, protesting Obama for something Bush did strikes me as maybe two or three degrees removed from the teabaggers — if that.
And JHC on a cracker, what’s it gonna TAKE to get people over this "Glenn Greenwald is God" delusion?? Folks, he’s not even the great legal authority he pretends to be — he practiced law for all of about 8 years, half of those as a drone at a Manhattan law firm.
Brick Oven Bill
I am sorry to disappoint, Just Some Fuckhead, but as a veteran who has openly expressed concerns about the economy, and support for the second Amendment, one needs to be somewhat prudent.
In any case, in the instance that you live anywhere near Herndon, Heather belongs to this group.
passerby
@Tattoosydney:
I’m a big fan of Larry Niven and re-read his stuff every couple of years. Also Orson Scott Card is phenomenal. But not being sure about a new author, I carefully perused the book reviews of Stephenson’s works before deciding on Snow Crash and I’m really enjoying it.
Some of the reviews of Anathem kinda gave me the same sense of what you said. Most books are $9.99 per download so here’s hoping Kindle will have a sale because if I like an author, I tend to read the whole body of work.
Fencedude
@Brick Oven Bill:
BOB, why are you so obsessed with how many pretty girls are at a given Republican event? What in the world does it matter?
passerby
@John Cole:
Well he’s looking good. I think using the furminator this year really cutting down on the spring shedding time.
Tunch needs some albacore tuna. Lip smackin lean. I put and extra splash of water when I feed Rex his tuna cuz he loves to drink the juice.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Ohhhh, Pedro is a sweetie! He’s so cute. Do you have pics of your cats? I will post pics of your future cat-in-laws when I upload them to Flickr.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Or some wild salmon, but yes, albacore tuna is good, too. My boys love the juice from that!
MNPundit
My girlfriend bought a furminator today, based purely on my hyping of it based purely on your hyping of it. This evening, she placed the cat in the bath tub (so she could clean up the hair easier and cuz he loves to sit in the tub) and used it. Perhaps because he was also enjoying being in the tub, the cat almost died of happiness while he was being furminated. When she was going to get up he would not allow it, he demanded more furmination and he got it. I shit you not.
And then he tried to eat the hair she furminated out. Christ what a moran that cat is.
He was very disappointed when it was time to stop for the night but she will be back furminating tomorrow because he has a lot of hair.
Andrew
LGF vs Glenn Beck… FIGHT!
And the right continues to eat their own. I’m just rooting for injuries and massive collateral damage in the wing nut blogosphere.
asiangrrlMN
@Andrew: I am speechless at the picture of Beck holding up a picture of Martin Luther King Jr. I can’t say what’s going through my mind right now.
I think I loathe Beck even more than I do Limbaugh.
Brick Oven Bill
There are very few forces in the world more powerful than attractive young women Fencedude. I have experienced this in the life process. You can read about it in the Iliad, a book written 5000 years ago. Politics never change.
These are not Republican events, for the record. A Republican showed up to ours, and was torn apart, but in a constructive way. He was turned towards the Capitol and made a promise. It was pretty powerful in my eyes, and he was trembling a little on the way out.
MNPundit
@Mike in NC: 300,000 was a number concocted by NATE FUCKING SILVER.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
I am sure this has been said, but anyone who thought that the Daily Show and Colbert would suffer under Obama probably had no idea how much material the wingnuts would up on a daily basis. They both have been on fire with the tea bagging thing this week. Just wow.
passerby
@asiangrrlMN:
Yeah-but, if I got wild salmon in the house, I’M going to be the one eating it–he can have a bite. Bad enough I’m feeding my cat canned albacore when there are starving people somewhere in the world.*
[ *Actually, I care about starving people but not enough to feel guilty about what I feed my little pawtnah.]
John PM
@PaulW: #70
I just had a long post in response to you and Library Grape go up in smoke, and after letting out all of my anger (not at you guys), I am drained and it is late, so I cannot repeat everything.
My main point was that we should first stage protests at the offices of every single Republican member of Congress. Make the Republicans defend this crap, not on Fox News, but in front of thousands of their constituents who do not like the fact that we tortured people. I am determined to lead a march on the office of Peter Roskam, my Congressman from Illinois, who is a completely useless individual. I want him to explain why the federal government is prosecuting former Chicago police officers for abusing and torturing murder suspects in the 1970s and the 1980s when the OLC determined that such practices were not torture when committed in 2002. Weren’t these officers just ahead of their time. They should be given a medal.
From here forward I will be donating my money and my time to the ACLU and any other organization that has fought against everything wrong that the Bush Administration and the Republican Party has done. I will work to make certain that those who committed these travesties (especially the f-cking lawyers) are properly punished and to ensure that this cannot happen again.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Well, yeah. I don’t mean give the cat(s) all of it, but they sure do like a bite or two. Their stomachs, on the other hand, are not always as sure.
Gordon, The Big Express Engine
@Brick Oven Bill: "He was turned toward the capital"!!!! Like some ridiculous libertarian tent revival or something??? Did he see the light?
MNPundit
@John PM: No look, the point is to protest and be very visible and gin up a lot of public anger and response to force Obama to prosecute. He said it himself, we need to do this, if the people push hard enough I think he will do it. But he needs us, if for nothing else as cover.
And if he won’t even afterwards? Then we will have a core of people who can begin the efforts to remove him from office in 2012.
passerby
@asiangrrlMN:
I cooked a half-chicken in my crockpot today and I’m such a fool. Instead of marinating it and seasoning it like I planned to, I realized that the cat wouldn’t like the flavor so I went with just salt and a little pepper so he wouldn’t get indigestion from it.
I gotta get back control over my life.
asiangrrlMN
@passerby: Oh, that’s so sweet. I buy my own food (I don’t cook) with one thought in mind: Will the boys eat it? If not, then I don’t buy it. Yes, I am kitty-whipped. You know what, though? I wouldn’t have it any other way.
John PM
@MNPundit:
As I said, I had a much longer comment that apparently was eaten by Tunch. Yes, the DOJ should prosecute. I said on a previous thread that the Senate can get the ball rolling on all this by bringing impeachment proceedings against Jay Bybee to remove him from the Ninth Circuit. People should also file complaints with the appropriate state bars to get Addington, Yoo, Gonzales and all the other lawyers disbarred. However, before staging a protest against Obama, I think it would be good to let Republican representatives know that we are unhappy with them for actively allowing this to happen. If Obama does nothing then there will be time to express our displeasure toward him. However, that time has not yet arrived. Before any protests are directed at Obama, I want to see all the liberal non-secessionist Texans march on Bush’s house in Texas and remind him that he is a war criminal.
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
We have no cats. In our house cats are known as "dinner" – c/f previous comment re dog/personality disorder. He turns into a snarling ball of rage at the mere suggestion that a cat has been in the vicinity in the last ten years.
Bradley’s cat died of cancer about two years ago now. She hated me. Her favourite trick was to sit on my chest while I was asleep, whisk her tail across my nose to wake me up and then stand up so I got a close up view of kitty date.
We have thought that getting Pedro a kitten might work, but we are too scared to try.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Oh, now, see. If Pedro tried to go after my boys, then our three-way marriage would end right there! I am pretty dang protective of them.
By the way, Bradley’s cat wasn’t hating on you, she was showing you love. Shadow does that to me because he wants me to lick him. It’s what cats do to each other as a greeting. I always turn him down. It’s not my thing.
passerby
@MNPundit:
"to force Obama to prosecute. He said it himself, we need to do this, if the people push hard enough I think he will do it. But he needs us, if for nothing else as cover."
I remember Obama saying this when he was on the campaign trail. I think, well, I thought he wanted this from the people too. But it occurred to me today that if this is what he wants, his leadership is going to be needed.
That is to say he needs to keep emphasizing The People’s role. But that’s not happening here. His emphasis on the need to move on instead of insisting on prosecution, seems to me, is having a dampening effect.
Why is it that we are now put in a position where we have to start a wave of dissent vs a wave of support? As a political strategy, it goes counter to what the polls show as being what the people want: Rule of Law, no 2-tiered justice system, etc. No?
Common Sense
re xbox: Fallout 3 is an absolute blast.
re Stephenson/Snow Crash: Hero Protagonist. That is all.
RPh
In a "dialogue bubble over the head" world he’s thinking: "there is sooooooooo a deuce in your shoes".
But …. since you are only feeding him dry food … and not enough … you should be OK for the time being.
But … someday … when someone you have over gives him "the table scraps" … it’s bye-bye dress shoes. Hello shit-sock!
(not to be confused with any edition of "The Glenn Beck Show" … OK … to be confused with EVERY edition of "The Glenn Beck Show …")
Until then he’ll have to console himself with taking your breath away as you sleep.
Still … pretty boy …
Tattoosydney
@asiangrrlMN:
Urp. I just threw up in my mouth a little.
We have tried to introduce the idea that cats may not be evil, but his little doggy brain seems hardwired with the idea that they must die.
Good job ours is a long distance (polygamous/gay/multiracial etc.) marriage.
Brick Oven Bill
It was probably two parts fight or flight on the part of the politician, and one part inspiration Gordon.
The man making the suggestion at his arm was impressive, and the crowd was ornery because of the fancy clothes the politician chose to wear.
The politician had walked into the middle of a ring of participants. I really do recommend checking out a meeting and making your own judgments.
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
I saw the red wiggle digging in his garden the other day.
He didn’t appear to be looking for oil shale, but you never know.
MNPundit
Becua@passerby: Well I was trying to give it a more generous interpretation. I also think that Obama has decided that his other programs matter more. Other than that, I would guess that doing what’s right is not always fun after all, which is a bit simplistic of me.
Third Eye Open
@Common Sense:
I have been really looking into Fallout 3. Its between that and Left 4 Dead
Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist
@passerby: I’ve just gotten my first download on Kindle: Snow Crash.
That book kicks some pretty serious ass, IMO. I read it long ago, when I was about the age Hiro Protagonist is in the story. I found it to be far more factual about computers than any cyberpunk I’d read before (or since, really) and way less hipster posturing. Be ready for LOTS of exposition, though, because Stephenson writes about big ideas.
But watch for these two lines, quoted probably wrongly from memory, which touch off some nice little essays:
"The number 65,536 is more instantly recognizable to a hacker than his own mother’s birthday."
and
"Until the age of twenty-five or so, a man still thinks he could be the baddest motherfucker in the world."
passerby
@MNPundit:
No need to explain MNPundit, I think your interpretation is the same as mine…at the time he said it anyway. We took him at his word.
But now he’s POTUS in the hot seat and, I guess, what was said in the heat of the campaign is more difficult to actually stick to when pushin comes to shovin.
asiangrrlMN
@Tattoosydney: Oh, sorry. Were you eating lunch? Um, yeah, the cat just hated you! Yeah, that’s all! Feel better?
I have a feeling that our intercontinental, interracial, inter/homogeneous, interspecies, multiple-partners marriage will work out juuuuuust fine as long as we emphasize the intercontinental part. I just need to trot you guys out for shock value during my campaign for POTUS.
Or, we could just have our own sitcom. "Me and My Two Same-Marriage Hubbies". It could be a smash!
Tattoosydney
@passerby:
Thanks – I’ll have a look at them.
My life tends to be measured by the spaces between each new Iain Banks SF novel. I pray that he never dies.
Brick Oven Bill
You people are backwards in Australia, as Murray Wiggle explained it to me TattooSyndey. Murray told me that there was no snow in Australia at Christmas on his special. So perhaps Murray was digging potatoes in his backyard during your backwards Aussie fall season. I do not believe that there is oil shale in Australia. USA #1, then Canada, Brazil, Estonia, and Morocco.
passerby
@Xecklothxayyquou Gilchrist:
I’ve gotten to this line already and have made a mental note of it. Since I’m not tech savvy ( a couple of my sibs are software engineers so I’m not totally outside ) it takes careful effort to comprehend the significance of this type of info in a novel.
But, as I am a Niven fan precisely because of his use of hard science (don’t understand all the physics), I’m hoping there will be a pay-off that I can appreciate WRT the 65,536s and the 8s and the 2 squareds, etc.
In any event, I’m willing to learn something.
Common Sense
I second the Orson Scott Card nomination. Great scifi writer even if his politics are batshit crazy.
Incidentally is it just me or do scifi authors tend to be a little more likely to wrap themselves in tin foil than the average fella?
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
Yes we are… although we have things like socialised medicine, guaranteed hospital treatment, subsidised university education and a distinct lack of torture to make up for it.
We call it "autumn", but yes, it is entirely possible he was digging potatoes…
We do have large supplies of natural gas. Perhaps that is what he was looking for?
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
(Bugger – I used the "socia1sed" word)
Yes we are… although we have things like social1sed medicine, guaranteed hospital treatment, subsidised university education and a distinct lack of torture to make up for it.
We call it "autumn", but yes, it is entirely possible he was digging potatoes…
We do have large supplies of natural gas. Perhaps that is what he was looking for?
Shibby
@Third Eye Open:
Fallout 3 IMHO
Ninerdave
@passerby:
Computers count in binary. 0 and 1, so powers of 2 are ubiquitous in computing. Groupings of bits in 4s (rare) 8s (octal number system) and 16s (Hexadecimal system) make bit patterns easier to read.
Computers also will typically use the last bit to the right or the left, depending on the computer, to donate the sign of a number: positive of negative. If that’s the case range of a 16 bit number is -32768 to +32767
If no sign is required, then the computer can use all 16 bits which gives you the maximum value of 65535 or including 0, 65536 possible values.
I have no idea if that’s relevant since I haven’t read the book, or maybe you knew that already. At any rate there you have it.
Brick Oven Bill
TattooSydney; I have met many Aussies in my time, and am ready to propose an exchange. Details at some later time, as I am going to bed. But you will be very, very impressed with this Ms. Diane Feinstein. She is a very important person.
I know an Aussie welder-diver who wired up my old shop after I convinced him to get off the train with me in Nevada. You might know him, although I cannot remember his name. He is the one with some place on the ocean with a swimming pool and smokes full flavor cigarettes. He is very popular with the ladies, and is a regular, all around good guy.
Diane is very nice and you will enjoy the contributions she will make to Australian society, as she likes guarantees too. To a future positive relationship; Bill
bago
2^16 .
Regarding xbox, gears of war 2, mass effect, and fallout 3.
BDeevDad
@Tattoosydney: I love Stephenson but keep getting stuck on the first 50-100 pages of the Baroque Cycle. When does it get moving? I feel like I am in the first 200 pages of Lord of the Rings.
BTW, Cryptonomicon helped me realize I wanted to switch from mechanical engineering to software.
bago
In greater detail, 16 bit computers were the norm at the time of the writing of Snow Crash. Therefore the number 65,536 is the maximum number that you can process on a single cycle with a 16 bit cpu. A bit being a 1 or a 0 (representing 2 possibilities), multiplied over the number you can process, 16. 16 bits, 2^ 16th. It also (in general) determines the amount of memory you can address. This is why a 32 bit machine can only address 4 gigabytes of memory (2^32 = 4,294,967,296 = 4 billion addressable bytes), and for more memory you have to go to a 64 bit machine.
bago
test^test^test
bago
So the caret will superscript text as an opening and closing tag. Neat.
MikeJ
I read the first book and a third of the second. If it ever gets better, it’s sometime after that. I say that as someone who really liked Zodiac, SC, Cryptonomicon, and Diamond Age.
Tattoosydney
@Brick Oven Bill:
I am reminded of my adopted aunt, who upon meeting anyone who appeared vaguely Asian, used to say "I know a man from Singapore called John. He owned a shop. Do you know him?"
She was a lovely woman. Dumb as a box of hammers, but lovely.
Tattoosydney
@BDeevDad:
Hmmm. I kind of got into it from the start – I found the interactions between his made up characters (who closely resemble characters in his other books, as usual) and the real historical personalities fascinating…
JenJen
Watching Scarborough, sadly. They’re talking Torture Memos, and Poison Joe is suggesting that Obama is treating the brave CIA agents the same way as the Americans who (never; urban legend) spit on returning Vietnam veterans. He says Obama’s handling of the issue is "perverse and disgusting." He says we’re going to "get hit again," and Obama will have hell to pay as America asks, "how did this happen?"
He says he’s only doing it to get the Democrats off his back. "Putting a caterpillar in a box is offensive to who, Leftists?" he says. Yes, that is how he summarized the gut-churning memos the rest of the world read yesterday. The worst thing we ever did was put a bug in a box, oh, and he added that from time to time maybe we splashed some water on somebody’s face.
I’m going to start breaking things. Why do I watch this crap, and how is it that MSNBC is a lefty cable news network when they give this jackhat three hours every freaking weekday?
R-Jud
@Tattoosydney:
Aha. Were you and Mr. Jud separated at birth, by any chance? He’s also a Banks junkie. He’s revisiting Fearsum Endjinn at the moment.
I like Banks’s stuff well enough, but I am more in awe of the fact that he pops out a book in six months so he can spend the other six months driving cars and drinking whisky (not at the same time). If I could pop a book out in six months (and sell it) I would spend the other six months running up mountains and eating delicious cheeses (also not at the same time).
Also: this is very fascinating, if you’re a history geek like me.
Comrade Scrutinizer
@HitlerWorshippingPuppyKicker:
Maybe you’ve benn dipping into one of Egg Shen’s potions?
canuckistani
I’m another big Neal Stephenson fan, just rereading the System of the World right now. And I have to say that Snow Crash is a perfect choice for a new techie reading device. A story of a future made of and for corporations feels so right for the Kindle.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@Ninerdave:
I know what it means. 65535 bytes is all the memory there is, so be careful how you use it.
Heh.
TheOfficialHatOnMyCat
@Comrade Scrutinizer:
Me no drinky.
passerby
@Ninerdave:
@bago:
.
Thanks very much for the explanation y’all. Bago provides the answer to a question I was going to ask of Ninerdave:
Why is 16 bits the highest limit?
So, in theory, there can exist a 128 bit computer and on up?
[Hope there’s not going to be a test on this stuff.]
Cris
Me too! Well, actually, I hear voices in things that other people don’t.
Gemina13
Personally, I think Tunch is one gorgeous cat. He can lie around my house any day. :D