Commentor Thoughtcrime points out:
“Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan” is an anagram for “My ultimate Ayn Rand Porn.”
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(Ted Rall via GoComics.com)
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I {heart} Paul Constant:
If we’re being generous, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is a man of contradictions. If we’re being honest, Wisconsin congressman Paul Ryan is an idiot. Mitt Romney’s vice presidential pick has problems beyond the basic teabagger contradiction of claiming to be for small government then passing an obscenely large military budget, voting to ban gay marriage, and enacting laws that lessen a woman’s access to abortion and birth control….
In the days since his announcement, Romney has all but disappeared from the right-wing consciousness, with conservative bloggers singing hosannas in Ryan’s name and ignoring the guy at the top of the ticket. It’s a curious event that we haven’t seen before… since 2008, when Sarah Palin eclipsed John McCain and sank his flailing campaign in a matter of weeks.
Of course, Ryan is more dangerous than Palin. Where Palin had a selection of only about 25 catchphrases she could memorize, Ryan has a dictionary full of relevant words he can slap around when he’s under pressure. His statements are just as elusive as Palin’s, but because he’s not speaking in a folksy faux-Southern accent, and because he’s a wealthy white man, people take him seriously….
And so what we’re left with here is the Republicanest Republican of them all, a man who Dick Cheney says he “worships,” a 14-year veteran of the Republican House that drove us off a cliff and then whined all through the Obama administration’s subsequent rescue work. Someone with no qualifications in foreign policy who is happy to talk tough about the Middle East and China when the consequences aren’t his problem. A wealthy young white man who refuses to, for one second, consider what it must be like to be a woman, or a minority, or a member of the lower class, or old. A man whose words mean less than nothing.
Is it any wonder that Romney loves Ryan, can seemingly spend hours sitting next to him and softly chuckling while gazing in his direction, his hands awkwardly curled up in his lap? It must be like looking into a mirror that shows you all your life’s possibilities. It must be like looking at all the potential he used to have. Here’s the distillation of everything Romney believes, and by some fluke, people even like this other guy. If Romney didn’t make Ryan his vice presidential candidate, he’d probably have killed him in a fit of jealous pique.
***********
Apart from mocking rich white dudes’ unnatural affections, what’s on the agenda for the evening?
dmsilev
Trip preparations. Will be in Switzerland week after next. I suppose I should drop by and visit some of Mitt Romney’s money while I’m there.
cathyx
Mocking rich white dudes is a full time occupation. I could go on and on. Actually, I could go on and on mocking dudes.
Davis X. Machina
Entitled dick calls out to entitled dick….
On the agenda for this evening — next chapter in the Python textbook, for an upcoming quiz.
My new band will be named ‘Loops and Tuples’, and only feature members of the zither family of instruments. Kantele players contact me offline.
cathyx
@dmsilev: Tell his millions I said hi, come visit me.
Maude
@dmsilev:
Eat a lot of chocolate.
22over7
Wolcott called Paul Ryan “winsome.” Cracks me up.
Open question: I’m leaving on an excrutiating road trip in a couple of weeks (just me, a Uhaul truck, and a cat on Valium). I’m bringing a couple of books, but I have a strange urge for one of those Ipad thingys. Or maybe a laptop.
I have shit skills with all this technology. I don’t even have a smartphone. But the idea of going for a week with no internet, no games, no email, sounds Bad.
I’d love some input from the Juicer community. I’ll be here most of the night, drinking pinot grigio and watching Tarantino on the teevee.
mamayaga
Here’s a theory I hadn’t seen yet about Mitt’s refusal to release any more tax returns even though it’s sinking his campaign: They may contain evidence that he voted in MA when he was legally a resident in CA, which of course is voter fraud and a felony.
cathyx
@mamayaga: I doubt that it’s something illegal. I’m betting it’s just embarrassing.
dmsilev
@cathyx: I’ll invite the millions over to my place first, but I’m sure they’d be willing to pay you a visit after that.
Peter
@cathyx: I sort of feel the same way – it’s not Christmas for four months, after all – but it does make for fun speculation, doesn’t it?
cathyx
@dmsilev: I doubt there will be anything left over, but thanks anyway.
mamayaga
@cathyx: Apparently tax returns have been relied on by Repubs during the Bush admin to prove fraudulent voting the wrong state. But then, again, IOKIYAR.
Corner Stone
I’ve been looking for opportunities to use the word “gormless” more.
cathyx
@Peter: I’m sure he has many people working for him who would make sure that every thing is legal. There are too many loopholes to make it necessary to break the law to pay nothing or almost nothing.
Thoughtcrime
You’re welcome.
And I like this one:
“Tell me one area where Paul Ryan and Sarah Palin would disagree. I cannot find one area. So, somehow, he’s the smartest guy in the party and she’s the stupidest woman on earth but they agree on everything.”
—Bill Maher
Any belittling comparison to Palin is good.
dmsilev
@22over7: How much money are you thinking of spending? iPads start at $350 (for a factory-refurb baseline iPad 2) and that will only have internet access when you’re in range of a WiFi hotspot. For $400, you can get a refurb iPad 2 with a cell radio; that will have Internet access for $15/month anywhere that there’s cell coverage.
Alternatively, an Android tablet like the Nexus 7 can be had for less ($200 for the baseline model). The downside is that it’s a smaller-sized screen (about half the area of an iPad) and is WiFi-only.
Corner Stone
I’m kind of in a tight spot. Not sure which way to turn, actually.
Should I make homemade pizza or go to my local Viet place and get some spring rolls? It’s bugging the crap outta me.
SteveinSC
@22over7: My wife is totally NOT into the modern information superhighway. She does surf the net a bit, keeps her e-mail app on the HP laptop all the time. That’s about it. I couldn’t figure out anything to get her for her birthday (a milestone one.) Long story short, a lady at a conference I went to said she loves her Ipad. Now my wife loves HER Ipad. She takes it everywhere, uses it constantly for books, e-mail, web games with friends and guards it as assiduously as she guards her credit card. I vote Ipad for you.
Anoniminous
@Corner Stone:
Used the word “gormless” just yesterday! During an International technology demonstration, no less.
Corner Stone
@efgoldman: The hell of it is I really want calamari too. I’m just really discombobulated at this point.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
Magnificent.
burnspbesq
I refuse to think of Ryan as stupid, because it implies that he doesn’t comprehend or doesn’t intend the foreseeable consequences of the policies he’s pushing.
I think he both comprehends and intends the foreseeable consequences of the policies he’s pushing.
And that makes him evil. Let’s call it what it is.
Going to see the kid perform tonight, then organizing the stuff I’m taking to a headphone audio enthusiasts’ gathering (a “meet”), where about 100 people will be bring their coolest gear and set it up for others to experience.
Speaking of which, if you normally just plug your headphones into the headphone jack of your computer, and you can free up a USB port, you really owe it to yourself to check this baby out.
http://www.audioquest.com/usb_digital_analog_converter/dragonfly-dac
Maude
@Davis X. Machina:
Just remember that python in Florida. you be careful.
gbear
I’m one week and two hours into introducing a new cat to my house. The old cat is upstairs and won’t come down. Yesterday I finally realized my old cat was probably starving because the new cat is a Hoover to everything except her own kibbles. Now I’m sneaking meals up to the old cat and new cat is letting me know she’s missing older cat’s food. Old cat still hates the new cat with the fire of 1000 suns, down from a million suns a few days ago. They did manage to come within three feet of each other without a major spitting fit. Yay. New cat loves her new house to death and really wants to be older cat’s friend, and also eat all of her food. No pictures yet. Older cat looks like a bag lady who’s been sitting in the bus terminal too long.
22over7
@dmsilev:
Yeah, the expense is part of the dilemma. I can afford it, but geez I hate spending that much money on myself, especially after blowing a wad on this stupid trip.
On the other hand, I hate that little red dot you have to use as a mouse on a laptop. And they’re heavy.
More wine!
Martin
@22over7: For a road trip, a low-end iPad with 4g might be quite nice. The data plans are month to month, so you would only need to pay $15 for the month then turn it off but it’d allow you to do stuff while on the road – maps/gps, web, etc.
Depending on how far off the trip is, there may be an iPad refresh or the intro of a 7″ iPad on Sept 12.
The nice thing about the iPad is that it’s just dead easy to deal with. No fiddling necessary. Get a 12v charger at the store. I like this style.
burnspbesq
@22over7:
If you want something you can just take out of the box, charge, and intuitively know how to use, go Apple. If you’re willing to endure a learning curve in order to save money, go Android.
Martin
@22over7: Well if you have an Apple store nearby, go in and play with them. That will give you a much better sense of whether it’s right for you or not.
gelfling545
@efgoldman: I have been wondering if some members of the MSM have begun to get a glimmer of a clue that, however well they may be paid to extol the virtues of the Romney/Ryan duo, they will still have to live in this country if these two clowns do manage get elected. That should give anyone pause.
The Dangerman
Anagram for Willard Romney, Paul Ryan (forgot the “and”):
Wild Porn, Manually Yearn
PurpleGirl
@gbear: Thank you for the updates on how the home introduction is going.
burnspbesq
@Corner Stone:
Blackened calamari tacos.
gelfling545
@22over7: Several of the most technophobic people I know, mostly “middle aged” (read “old”) have iPads & love them & would save the iPad if the house was on fire.
SFAW
Pi –
Or, you could try doing the cold-turkey thing. I spent last week down Maine way, no TV, PC, iPlod, Intertubez. Didn’t even go through withdrawal pains, and I’m in front of my computer for most of my job, etc.
Yeah, I know, it’s not the
droidshelp you’re looking for, but you might still consider it.If you’re really desperate, you could bring along a used iPod, and memorize the words to the collected works of Bird or ‘Trane, or maybe Bill Evans.
OK, I’ll stop being unhelpful now. Well, more unhelpful than usual, I guess.
Downpuppy
Remember Freddie’s Georgia student newspaper story?
Board folded, kids won.
Solidarity!
Corner Stone
@Martin: what happened to your little shooting star?
It made you almost as distinctive as Jgabriel’s little period.
22over7
@gelfling545:
LOL. That describes me in way too much detail.
Martin, I do have an Apple store in town, so I may gird my loins and walk in.
I knew you guys would give me good advice. Wine for everybody! But maybe not blackened calamari tacos.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@22over7: Have that wine, then go buy the iPad. We have six of them in our immediate family (of six), and all are in almost constant use. They’re also way too easy to hand over to kids to keep them occupied, esp. when traveling.
Steeplejack
@22over7:
If you’re leaning more toward computer than e-book reader, check out the Acer Aspire One, currently $331 on Amazon. I have come really close to pulling the trigger on one of these in the last few months.
Note: They have these available in some Target stores, if you want to eyeball one in person. I was surprised at how “typable” the keyboard is.
You’ll probably get a lot of recommendations for Google’s Nexus 7 tablet. It has gotten good reviews, but I don’t have any experience with it.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@22over7:
I love my ipad. I am an unabashed ipad fangirl. Insert necessary Apple is evil mumblecakes.
Even with my alcohol-befogged brain, I find it incredibly easy to use, although as I have a mac I can’t say how well an ipad works with a windows computer. The 3G option makes life much easier, but I can survive on wifi in most big cities.
The Kindle app lets me carry about 100 books with me all the time. The maps function has squired me around Tokyo and Lisbon with incredible ease, and I can upload photos straight from my camera which end up on my computer at home automatically. I can send messages to my friends with ipads for free.
If my ipad would cuddle me at night and call me smoochylips, I’d marry it.
I am also, sadly, addicted to, and OCD dependent upon, Dragonvale, but there has to be a downside to everything.
ETA: I also bought a wireless keyboard for the ipad and it makes all the difference. Trying to do actual typing on the screen is tedious, but with a separate keyboard I can do all my blog and novel writing quite happily on the ipad.
Corner Stone
@Downpuppy: I kind of like the look on that blonde lady’s face. She seems like someone I’d like to know better.
The Fat Kate Middleton
@gelfling545: My husband and I are in our late sixties – love both the iPads and the Kindles.
robertdsc-PowerBook
Relaxing. Finishing a Metal Gear Solid 4 run on the Playstation when the LA weather cools down some.
I sent $25 to the big guy in the White House. Feels good.
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack:
Ok, so maybe another 18 months and you’ll actually buy one?
Josie
@22over7: I recently purchased a refurbished MacBook Air from the Apple site and love it. I needed the laptop since I do a lot of word processing in my job. It sounds like the ipad would work just fine for you, and the refurbished ones are quite a bit less expensive. They do have a one year warranty, and the sales person on the phone told me I could call back any time in the first year to purchase the three year warrenty. I will probably do that when I can afford it.
Linda Featheringill
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0812/79814.html#ixzz23oYX7TfL
piratedan
@Linda Featheringill: OHHH SO THEY’RE LIKE THE SITH, RIGHT?
LanceThruster
Put my cat Sylvester to sleep yesterday. Still in a funk. Miss him dearly. He had a good life and gave me lots of love. So glad he adopted me those many years ago.
He now lives here, in electronic immortality. Be good Silly.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Go Vietnamese! But I’m on a Viet rampage after eating at Huong Viet for lunch on Wednesday. My new apartment is less than half a mile from the Eden Center, a huge complex of Vietnamese shops and restaurants. Huong Viet was awesome, and I’m looking forward to grazing through the rest of the restaurants there. Next up: sandwich shop Song Que.
Corner Stone
@Linda Featheringill:
Reminds me of the ST:TNG two-part episode where Data and the crew have to go back to 19th Century USA and stop some damn alien life forms from sucking the souls out of homeless people.
Counselor Troi really shined in this one.
Emma
@22over7: Kindle. don’t bother with the Fire if all you want to do is read. One of the other versions will do. my old Kindle Keyboard has about 400 books in it at the moment, mostly free. The Fire is the “office” version, which travels with me everywhere: email, IM, notepad, books, audiobooks, pdf reader. When I absolutely positively must have a PC-type thing, an Acer Aspire One is dandy.
piratedan
@LanceThruster: mourn him well and keep him in your heart… mine still are
Linda Featheringill
@LanceThruster:
[Hug]
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Linda Featheringill:
Um, okay. I freely admit to being too partisan to accurately judge, but Romney looked peevish talking about his 13%, and typically Willardy with his white board, and Paul Ryan’s sad face does nothing for me.
Yutsano
@Linda Featheringill: Ugh. I just went from zero to ill.
dmsilev
@Linda Featheringill:
So apparently homosexual vampire porn will be the in thing this fall?
Corner Stone
@dmsilev:
Did that somehow go out of style and I missed it?
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Yutsano:
Does the thought of Willard gently running the tips of his fingers down Paul’s ear, across his dark-stubbled and manly jaw and then, gently, almost skittishly, just the tip of his index finger between his lips, Paul biting down on it, grrrr tiger, rrrrraw, and then the kiss, warm and hard, their lips pressed, his blue blue eyes burning, and the teeth so white and sharp, make you feel a little ill dear?
Suffern ACE
@LanceThruster: My condolences. A toast to Sylvester.
Suffern Ace +1
Ash Can
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: OK, dumb question: How did you figure out how to do all that on your iPad? I find the iPad very user-unfriendly; it has none of the self-explanatory features of my laptop, there’s no manual, and my husband has no idea how to do any of the things I want to do on it. Is there some online manual or tutorial for using it?
22over7
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
Oh wow. Mitt/Paul slashfics. I have not had enough wine.
Actually, I don’t think there’s enough wine in the world.
Corner Stone
Normally I prefer a nice crunchy fried calamari. But I had fresh sauteed calamari at Capital Grille with no dipping side sauce and it was mind blowing. They served it with hot peppers and it was *amazing*.
Yutsano
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Unfortunately not ill enough to go home early. Damn intestinal fortitude.
Linda Featheringill
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
LOL! Oh, Sarah! You’re so bad.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@LanceThruster:
I’m sorry about your kitty.
Suffern ACE
Im packing for Wisconsin. I’m wondering if I brought a suitcase full of laundry like I used to in college, would that kind of shameless helplessness make my mom feel 25 years younger or would it just piss her off?
Steeplejack
@22over7:
Most laptops have a “scratchpad” mouse substitute these days. In any case, I recommend one of the Microsoft wireless mobile mice, either the 3500 or the 4000. I have the 3500 but would have gotten the 4000 if they weren’t out of it the day I was at Micro Center. The 4000 is a little bit bigger. But the 3500 is fine.
There’s a tiny dongle you plug into a USB port on the laptop, and that’s it. The mouse is very responsive–I’m thinking about getting one for my desktop computer–and is no big deal to carry in the messenger bag with my current laptop.
Corner Stone
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: GOOOO OOOONNNN….
mechwarrior online
@mamayaga:
It’s more than that. He had to retroactively pay taxes in MA to run for governor (he had paid in Utah and was claiming otherwise) and he may have also pulled the stunt with voting in MA while paying/living in CA.
Given this history of going back and changing things to be kosher either because you need to do something, or because you went and did something and need to make it legal real fast, it’s logical to assume he took the tax amnesty deal on Swiss holdings after the feds came after the bank to make that kosher as well.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Ash Can:
OK. I need another gin to answer that. Back in a minute or two.
AliceBlue
@Linda Featheringill:
From the same article: “Advisors say Ryan helps ease the former governor’s feeling of isolation.”
WTF?
@LanceThruster:
I’m so sorry. Hugs to you.
Corner Stone
@Suffern ACE: I…uhh…what?
dmsilev
@Ash Can: Mine came with a user guide; fire up iBooks and it should be there.
For some of the things Sarah mentioned, you need additional add-ons. There’s a “Camera Connection Kit” which is a couple of adapters that plug into the dock connector and let you download images from either an SD card or directly from a camera. For the keyboard, any standard Bluetooth keyboard will work, though there are a bunch which are designed specifically to talk to iPads (built into a iPad-sized case or similar).
Corner Stone
@dmsilev: You just blew her tiny little mind.
22over7
@Suffern ACE:
No. Just no. I’m guessing she doesn’t do laundry for fun.
Emma
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: you owe me a laptop. Vomit won’t clean off.
SteveinSC
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Don’t forget “…the taste of a pungent drop of blood inflaming passions until then only thought but now given hot, erotic form.” There. Ballistic vomiting.
Steeplejack
@LanceThruster:
That’s tough. My condolences to you.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Ash Can:
There is a manual, but its interminably long and boring. Most of it is intuitive, except when it’s insanely difficult. Once you have signed your identity away to Apple and Amazon though, it tends to work.
What in particular do you want to do? I’m settled in with a drink, so I’m happy to help.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Suffern ACE:
I generally go with “sigh, my baby boy/girl still needs me” in that situation.
ETA: Of course, then I make one of the servants do it, but I think the principle is the same.
Steeplejack
@Emma:
Question on the Acer Aspire One: how does the keyboard hold up over time? The one I saw at Target had some loose keycaps, and I want to assume that was because it was chained to a shelf at Target and people were beating on it.
Any other impressions would be appreciated. As I said above, this thing has been tempting me lately.
Steeplejack
@Corner Stone:
Why you wanna be a gormless agitator?
Downpuppy
@Corner Stone: It’s Martha Plimpton. Her face just got stuck in my head tonight.
Svensker
@LanceThruster:
Big hugs.
Suffern ACE
@22over7: Yeah. I’m guessing it’ll end the way it always does. With her reminding me that she didn’t particularly like taking care of that stuff and didn’t like me as a kid, and me ending up in another 15 year therapy cycle.
22over7
@dmsilev:
THIS. This is the kind of thing that makes me crazy. “Yes, you can do all these wonderful things; all you need are fifty-seven other devices and a degree in computer engineering.”
Now I’m thinking of taking a couple of books.
Emma
@Steeplejack: I had mine for three years and I passed it on to my sister. I had the old version, though, haven’t driven the new one. A friend of mine swears by her Asus Eee.
Peter
@Sarah, Proud and Tall:
I don’t have an iPad, but if my experiences with my iPhone are an indication, the answer is “poorly”. iTunes on Windows is basically unusable, and to get even a single new album onto it requires a complete synching of the device. This is a process which takes forty minutes to an hour to complete, because the damn thing will arbitrarily decide that half my music needs to be resynched for no earthly reason I can intuit. And if I interrupt it – like, say, because I was just tossing some music on before I left and I have to go now – I can no longer access the music that was already there until I complete the synch later.
iTunes also runs like total buggery on Windows and has a bad habit of freezing mid-synch. Fortunately I only have to endure this torment once every few months and the device is perfectly functional on its own. But using it with a Windows PC is a nightmare, and I will likely opt for an Android phone the next time I pay money for one.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@22over7:
Not really. Just a keyboard, a power cord and a camera cord, all of which you can buy from the same store and which just work when you plug them in.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Peter:
Ah. Not good then.
Emma
@22over7: Kindle. Trust me. You can actually get them at a retail store these days so you can check them out.
dmsilev
@22over7: The keyboard is pretty much optional. If you’re going to do heavy duty writing on the thing it’s nice to have one, but for short emails and navigating the web and so forth, tapping the screen is fine. I personally don’t bother with an external keyboard, but that’s a matter of taste as far as comfort level with the on-screen keyboard.
The camera dongles are a different matter; you need them if you want to be able to download pictures onto the thing (yes, you can use the iPad’s camera. Just as long as you don’t mind looking like a complete idiot trying to take a picture with a cafeteria tray…). Chalk that up to Apple’s minimalism fetish.
Micheline
Not a very good tweet from PPP:
PublicPolicyPolling @ppppolls
We are seeing a very competitive Presidential race in Wisconsin…going to be interesting over next month to see if it’s a bump or lasting..
lamh35
Evening guys.
I’m watching the Matrix on Cinemax as if I never seen it before. Doesn’t matter, it still one of the best action movies ever, IMHO. Even the special effects hold up much better than some other movies from that same time.
mechwarrior online
@Steeplejack:
Acer is fine, though all laptop keyboards will wear out over time. The only laptop that has “good” keys are lenovo’s who still use proper switches, everything else is equally crap. I’ve heard good things about vizio’s new stuff but I haven’t had a chance to use it. I wouldn’t worry, laptop keyboards are like 20 bucks and easy to replace.
@Peter:
Apples software is a nightmare in general, largely because they are used to working in a limited eco system, never were that good to start with, and flat out ignore any sense of security. Which made sense for a while, macs make up so little of the install base it’s a waste of time to create a virus for them simply because of security through obscurity. However Safari is a huge pile of dogshit. Way back when they forced people to install it on Windows PCs, and it had such a huge security hole that people got infected left and right.
Typical apple.
Peter
@Micheline: It’s a bounce. If you poke your head over to Five Thirty Eight, Nate has several posts on vice-presidential announcement bounces, and how big they’ve historically been. According to him, this one actually seems to be underperforming.
Peter
@mechwarrior online: Oh yeah, Safari is a fucking joke. I’d sooner use Internet Explorer.
mechwarrior online
@dmsilev:
Two years later apple will catch up to the competition and add an SD or microSD card slot. They will claim they created it and were the first to do it. Legions of people who have drunk the kool-aid will believe this and praise them and pay an extra 40 bucks per ipad for it. Rush Limbaugh will again declare his love for apple on his show. Four months later they will sue Samsung and google over SD card slots.
Corner Stone
@Peter:
I’m not really sure that’s a “bad thing” for this crowd.
22over7
@dmsilev:
Ok, that sounds better. I really didn’t intend to write much anyway. I was looking for something with which to read blogs, read books, and maybe play some games.
PurpleGirl
@Emma: I have an Asus EEE netbook which I bought when my tower unit’s gave up the ghost soon after I lost my job in 2008. It was $400-odd and it’s been pretty good to use. The one thing about netbooks is that they don’t have built-in DVD drives.
dmsilev
@mechwarrior online: Let me guess. Steve Jobs personally shot your dog. Just for the hell of it.
Corner Stone
@22over7:
Just take a beach bag with a couple books. And a flask of something.
That’s where this has been headed all night.
jake the snake
@Corner Stone:
Is that the multi-parter with Twain and London?
Corner Stone
@Steeplejack: Gormless, gormed, gorming, to gorm.
mechwarrior online
@dmsilev:
No I work in IT. I have a healthy distaste of most of the major players, but apple is hands down the worst in several areas. Everybody has their share of screw baggery, HP and toner, Microsoft and Office updates, CISCO’s prices, Adobe and acrobat/flash being giant security cluster fucks. But apple is especially bad.
I get them from a fashion and lifestyle standpoint, but from a quality, reliability, security, and compatibility standpoint they are a nightmare.
I’m coming from an enterprise standpoint, not “computer for grandma” standpoint.
dmsilev
@22over7: If games are an important chunk of what you want the thing for, you’re probably better off with an iPad than with the various Android tablets that people have suggested. For whatever reason, the gaming selection on iOS is quite a bit bigger than on Android.
Which is rather ironic given the swirling vortex of FAIL that has been Apple’s historical record re: gaming.
WereBear
@22over7: Kindle has an app for online access via laptop, or the Kindle thingy itself, and lots of free books if you love classics, out of copyright type stuff.
It’s the future. Or, as Briscoe County Jr had it, “the coming thing.”
I have about 500 books in mine. I love it.
Corner Stone
@jake the snake: Mark Twain makes an annoying eavesdropping pop-in, if that’s what you mean.
I kind of felt like popping him right in the toofies. If you know what I mean.
Hypatia's Momma
The sevenkittens are leaving for their forever homes; two tonight and the rest over the weekend. In order to keep up with my addiction, I’m going to have to switch over to these seven. And the ScientistKittens on LiveStream. And the DelRay Kitten Cam on Ustream.
Emma
@PurpleGirl: Yeah. Sucks. But since I only used it while traveling, and what I needed to do was see the photos I was taking, I just carried one of those card readers for the USB slot. worked a treat.
handy
Who the hell’s bright idea was it to import Atlanta’s weather into Southern California this summer? It’s sticky icky something fierce and I wanna punch a mofo.
Arclite
@Thoughtcrime:
Dude, you win the internets.
Old Dan and Little Ann
Bill Maher comes back right now after a few month hiatus. He will not be short of material.
amk
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Any linky?
Corner Stone
I always wonder if Tom Selleck regretted his character on Las Vegas or In&Out more.
Seanly
OT, but just saw an ad for a new anti-Obama movie narrated by Dinesh D’Souza or whatever his asshat name is.
Corner Stone
@Seanly:
Every time I see his name I picture him in a full brass buttoned vest/jacket with top hat and a band baton in his hand as he leads a full brass band through the streets of New Orleans.
MikeJ
@amk:Try the Gutenberg project. If you use the one in Australia out of copyright means pre 1955. In the US out of copyright means 75 years after the author died.
mechwarrior online
@dmsilev:
There is a good reason for it, hardware variation. While all ios and android devices are based off ARM SOCs there is a lot of variety within them. The most powerful android devices are faster than ios, the weaker ones are a lot weaker.
When developing games for apple you know the hardware, so there isn’t a huge glut of stuff to make sure it works properly on. Plus all apple stuff goes through itunes, rather than the myriad of stores selling stuff for android.
It’s just easier to push games through itunes to the limited configuration of ios products.
And apple wasn’t always behind in gaming, back in the Marathon days they often had better games than Windows PC. However things have changed, and the hardware in apple PCs, especially on the videocard end, is often a generation or more behind the PC side of things. To make matters worse, games run slower in OSX than on Windows with the same hardware by a fair margin. And Microsofts DirectX, as much as I hate it, is simply a faster rendering option than OGL (which is open source and used on the PS3, linux, OSX, ect) that has support for better special effects and tricks.
Apple also has a nasty habit of poorly designed cooling to make sure things looks pretty and cram things into cases they like. When you do game on them macs often get well past heat specs and damage their GPU or they simply underclock them to get away with it. Underclocking is fine for everything but gaming. Which is why people that game on PCs avoid laptops like the plague. The only proper system apple has that could work at gaming (with full graphics cards and not crap ass mobile chips) is the mac pro, which they don’t move a lot of.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@mechwarrior online:
Did someone say my name?
Emma
@amk: http://www.Gutenberg.org. Also check out Gutenberg Australia: http://gutenberg.net.au/. http://www.manybooks.net.
amk
@MikeJ: @Steeplejack: Danke.
Brother Shotgun of Sweet Reason
@Suffern ACE:
My kids have been doing their own laundry while living at home for several years now. It ain’t rocket surgery. If they came home and asked us to do their laundry we’d just point and laugh.
? Martin
@Corner Stone: Forgot to update the iPad account.
Steeplejack
@amk:
Project Gutenberg. Also Project Gutenberg Australia for a somewhat different selection.
Emma
@Emma: well, hell. I tried to fix the manybooks link and it put the comment into moderation. Also http://www.archive.org
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@Old Dan and Little Ann: I see he has Reihan Salan (sp?) on tonight. Isn’t he one of those allegedly bright and non-hatey conservatives? Like Chunky BoBo?
Randy P
@22over7: I’ve got a Kindle. The browser on it is surprisingly not bad, but there are enough frustrations with it that I don’t use it for that purpose very often.
My wife has an iPad and we opted for the G3 version, which means you can connect anywhere there’s cell service in the US. Incredibly good decision even though it means you have to pay extra for a cellular plan. The browser on that is also not perfect, but you’ve got internet EVERYWHERE. We’re in a lot of places where WiFi is either not available, or is supposed to be but isn’t working (Amtrak for instance).
Mike E
I watched ABC World News Tonight wDiane Sawyer and they did a seg on the Pu$$y Riot kerfuffle. I thought a tabloid had just ‘sploded all over my teevee, it was that fucking bad; it went to covering the issue to all of a sudden being an Access Hollywood expose on Putin’s new mansion and his pension for riding bears shirtless. It was as if CoT had invaded my brain and was creating an alternate nooz reality.
Even Entertainment Tonight did a better job on this story.
The Republic of Stupidity
Worships?
Oh puke…
Does Dick want to drink his bathwater, while he’s at it?
lamh35
just finished watching The Matrix and I was thinking ’bout what I read that they originally was thinking of Will Smith as Neo instead of Keanu Reeves but Will had already signed on to Men in Black or something like that. Well guess what came on right after The Matrix??? Men In Black…lol!
Jim, Foolish Literalist
@The Republic of Stupidity: I heard Dick Jr moved back to Wyoming. I’ve always figured we would be cursed with Senator Dick Jr before too long.
MikeJ
@Randy P:
I use a nook. The browser it comes with is ok, but firefox runs just fine on it.
Mike E
Clean up on aisle 138…can I haz release from mod penalty box? Plz!?
JustAnotherBob
What works for me is a netbook and a Kindle.
Kindle is great for reading. I can slip it in jacket pocket and pull it out whenever I’ve got a few moments. Free books, cheaper to purchase e-books – that’s good stuff.
(Amazon has a lot of free and deeply discounted books. I suspect Barnes and Noble does as well.)
I take longer trips and take a lot of photos. The netbook has a SD card reader and decent sized hard drive. I can backup my photos and do some basic editing as I go.
I also carry a very small hard drive and backup to that as well. Painless. And I carry the HD in my pocket, so if the netbook ‘walks’.
I travel with a wireless Logitech trackball. That lets me turn that so-irritating touchpad off.
I like the netbook much more for browsing. No need to hold it or find somewhere to lean it up. And it’s got a keyboard.
I suspect tablets, mega-phones would make sense for those who spend a lot of time riding buses/trains while commuting or just want something they can prop up at work.
I’m not sure an iPad/tablet is as nice for reading as a lighter Kindle/Nook reader.
Just think about how you’re most likely to use your gadget(s)/
Corner Stone
@JustAnotherBob: So you have the kind of vest that a guy would wear going on African safari?
LanceThruster
Thank you all for your warm thoughts.
The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~G.K. Chesterton
LanceThruster
@efgoldman:
He was a renaissance cat so was content with observing the Tweeties from his window perch. He was also a bit of a Magoo so it’s anyone’s guess what he thought he was looking at. But he sure insisted on telling me about it.
JustAnotherBob
@Corner Stone:
No. I have a small pack (20L) and a small camera bag. It’s pretty common for someone to assume my pack is my day bag and look around for my luggage.
I find that’s all one needs for 2-3 months on the road.
catclub
@burnspbesq: re the Dragonfly:
Ogg files? Linux? Did not look promising on either count.
But did look neat.
I also suspected a little bit of stereophile gold plated cable connector goobledygook.
amk
I love the Kindle 3 G the most. Great battery life. Compact. Light weight.
Bought the kindle fire, Used it for 2 days. Then palmed it off to teenage son. Too bulky, sucky battery life. etc. etc.
e-book readers are for reading, not for browsing. Costly lesson lurnt.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He was a loud angry ashole.
Old Dan and Little Ann
@Jim, Foolish Literalist: He was a loud angry asshole.
Matt McIrvin
Sarah Palin’s accent was not faux-Southern; it sounded more quasi-Midwestern. People kept saying she sounded like the people in the movie Fargo, who were supposed to be in Brainerd, Minnesota.
(And then they opined that it sounded stupid, which stung a little, because Northeastern prep-school kids have told me I sound like the people in that movie, too. My accent is Iowa/Kansas City/Cleveland, dammit.)
PGE
If you’ve got an interest in the classics, i.e. Greek and Latin, Loebulus has all 245 Loeb Classics that have come into the public domain as PDFs in one 3Gig zip file. (For those not familiar, original language on one page, translation on the facing page.) Kind of amazing what’s available for free (legally) these days on the web.
http://ryanfb.github.com/loebolus/
karen marie
@22over7: My sister-in-law got a refurbished HP tablet for $200 from w00t! Haven’t heard report from her about it yet but she got it because my nephew has one and loves it.
Ruckus
@Emma:
I have an Asus Eee and while it is OK I’m not all that impressed. I’ve owned it for about 3 years, used a wireless keyboard and mouse because I hate the mouse system and the right shift key is in the wrong place for touch typing. But it was cheap ($225?) and it worked for it’s dedicated task. Now I wish I had gotten a real laptop. And a side note IPad would not work in the dedicated task because the operating system was/is? only single tasking.
KS in MA
@Suffern ACE: Just bring the laundry home and ask her to teach you to use her washing machine. No therapy! Everybody wins!
Corner Stone
@Ruckus:
This sounds like some kind of comment on a Winnie the Pooh thread.
gloryb
One word, nook@22over7:
Ash Can
@Sarah, Proud and Tall: Many thanks (and apologies for taking so long to reply to you; had to go do other stuff). Let’s start with simply commenting here at Balloon Juice. I can’t figure out how to highlight more than one word at a time. There are times when I accidentally highlight a whole paragraph, but when I try to duplicate whatever it was that I did when I actually want to do it, I can’t get it to work. And forget about highlighting just words or phrases by themselves. Plus, there are those nifty editing buttons that I find it impossible to use when I’m on the iPad. If I just want to do something with a single word, such as bold or italics, I can do that as long as the several choices that pop up above the highlighted word haven’t covered the buttons.
The husband, who purchased the iPad in the first place, told me there was no manual. Does the manual come separately from the iPad (which would strike me as being a far too stupid thing for Apple to do), or is the husband being his usual “Instructions? What instructions?” self (more likely by an order of ridiculous magnitude)?
Steeplejack
@Ash Can:
I believe the instruction manual is an e-book that comes stored on the iPad. Look in your iBooks folder (directory or whatever).
Or, hell, here’s a link to the PDF of the iPad User Guide.
Ash Can
@dmsilev: And thank you, too. I’ll find the packaging and dig for the guide, and I appreciate the tip on the electronic version as well.
Steeplejack
@Ash Can:
I don’t think you are getting what everyone is trying to tell you. There is no physical manual. It’s an e-book that comes preloaded on the iPad.
Ash Can
@LanceThruster: Deepest sympathies on your loss. He sounds like a wonderful kitty.
Ash Can
@Steeplejack: And thank you too! (It’s taken me a while to get all the way through the thread.) That’s a huge help. Thanks again.
James E. Powell
Romney’s love for Ryan companionship on the campaign trail is based on Romney’s inability to tolerate anyone who isn’t a total suck-up. Leading up to the decision to tap Ryan for the VP spot, Romney has been in meeting where his staff has been telling him “you’re doing it wrong!” Give up the tax returns, stop lying, don’t run racist ads, quit talking like an 18th century French aristocrat. He was sick of it and doesn’t want to here any more dissent. Time to execute the business plan.
burnspbesq
@catclub:
There are long threads about the Dragonfly on both Head-Fi and Computer Audiophile.
Works on some Linux, but probably not all. No issues with Windows or MacOS; it’s USB Class 1 compliant, so resolution tops out at 96/24, but I’m cool with that.
Ogg? Why?
I know from personal experience (I’ve used the one I bought for the kid) that it works fine with AIFF and Apple Lossless, and I’ve read that it’s good with FLAC. It sounds great, period. Not “it sounds great for a $250 device. And the amp section has surprising balls; I’ve run Sennheiser HD 800s and Audez’e LCD-3s with it, and they get plenty loud unless you’re looking to make your ears bleed.
Ruckus
@Corner Stone:
It is the right size for Winnie. But how to type with paws? My fat fingers are bad enough.
Sarah, Proud and Tall
@Ash Can:
When I want to select, I just press on the word with my index finger. That brings up the Select/select all/paste menu – Select chooses just the word. Sometimes this will select the whole paragraph, but if this happens I just pinch outwards with two fingers to zoom and then it will select just the word. Once you have either the paragraph or a word highlighted, there will be blue dots at the top and bottom. You can drag them with your finger to make the selection larger or smaller….
If I want to paste text into the comment box, sometimes I have to press enter a few times to push it down so I can get at the formatting buttons.
Applejinx
Heh, I’m stil trying to figure out if Mechwarrior’s problem is that every Apple device (yes, it’s normally capitalized, it’s a company name) in his world must be operated through Windows PCs and every Apple software must be run ON Windows PCs.
Thankfully, that’s something I’ve never dealt with.
And funny, my laptop has an SD card slot. (and the audio jacks handle electrical, optical, and power iPhone headsets). But I don’t use Safari outside of the iPhone- I use Chrome.
I daresay an iPad would be nice- I’d want the cell version.
Kindle? traditional e-paper, all the way. Kindle Fire is just stupid- let a Kindle be a Kindle. Though I wouldn’t mind being able to write on the Kindle- but it’d be pretty awkward.
WereBear
@amk: If you go to Amazon Kindle Store, and sort in order of price, you get all the free ones, first.
LC
My friend came up with these anagrams:
Truly, tan, damn money pair
Um, admit Neo-tyrrany plan
Yeah, yeah. “tyrrany”