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This is an older picture, but it does fit with the meme

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 08:51:52 -0500

This is an older picture, but it does fit with the meme

jamiek: the OneDown Rat Trap The article says “human” when it...

Wed, 25 Aug 2010 11:02:03 -0500

the OneDown Rat Trap

The article says “human” when it means “humane,” but my issue is larger. Once the rat is in there, you then have a beautiful vase containing an angry, scared rat. Just the kind of decoration every home needs!

A few things

That’s a mouse, not a rat.
Both rats and mice would probably be out of that thing in a few minutes and you’d likely be left with a shattered porcelain rat trap.

Truth in advertising

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 10:17:56 -0500

Truth in advertising

""Buying surprise gifts""

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 13:03:51 -0500

""Buying surprise gifts""

Someone needs to develop an Android Tumblr app...

Fri, 06 Aug 2010 14:39:40 -0500

yhf:

swayingdawn:

moegreeb:

One that let’s me fucking reply to people or answer fricken questions!

Screenshots would be nice as well…

I haven’t fooled around with the development aspects of Tumblr like I kept swearing I was going to, but I think the limitation is that the “iPhone”/mobile view of the dashboard doesn’t have that mechanism in place, and that’s what most applications depend on for display.

For a little while I was looking at their dashboard API in the hopes of making something useful, but what it came right down to is that there didn’t seem (to my amateur eyes, anyway) to be a way to say something like “Give me all of the posts since this one” or “give me all of the posts after this one”, so there wasn’t any easy (and non resource intensive) way to paginate.

To be sure, tumblr actually has these functions. That’s why the next and previous links on the (non-infinite scrolling version of) dashboard have those long numbers in them and that’s how the little red “new post” number comes up at the top, it’s just that they aren’t exposed in the API.

Maybe I’m missing something - it certainly wouldn’t be the first time.

It's hot today

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 11:31:45 -0500

Like record breaking hot. The record is 104 set in 1987, and the current temperature is 101, with lots of heat left to go.

But that’s not why I’m posting. I’m posting because the weather service identifier for the Little Rock Airport is KLIT. And because I’m 10.

Towards a somewhat logical defence of compulsory voting.

Tue, 03 Aug 2010 09:26:28 -0500

indefensible:

This is not the only way to defend compulsory voting, but it’s one of the simplest.

If we assert the right to live in a democracy, then we make it imperative that there are people who vote. The right to live in a democracy is therefore purchased by the responsibility to vote. If we were to allow that everyone had the right not to vote, then in what way could we deliver to anybody the right to live in a democracy?

Simply put: if nobody voted, then there would be no democracy in which we could assert our right to live. If you claim the right to live in a democracy then it is incumbent on you to do your part to create that democracy.

I think that my personal argument against compulsory voting stems from the idea self-knowledge and informed choices. First, in a democracy everyone has the right to vote. The nature of democracy means that no one’s right can be abridged, whether because of who they are (sex, race, sexual orientation, etc.) or what they know (level of education, knowledge of the candidates, etc.).

That said, I think that if an individual is not engaged or informed about the potential choices or if they are unaffected by the purpose or outcome of the vote (for example, a vote to increase property tax millage to fund schools for a voter who is a renter and childless), then they should be able to make a responsible decision not to vote, because they either lack the information to make a choice or simply aren’t influenced by the results. You can’t bar someone else from voting because they lack that information, but I certainly think that it could be seen as a responsible choice to abstain from voting for yourself if you so choose.

If the ballot had an abstain option (which no ballot I’ve ever seen does) then I could see making the act of getting the ballot and marking “abstain” compulsory, and there may well be benefit to that, but as it stands today I think that it can be the correct choice for some people to simply not vote in certain situations.

OK, this is the popular news in LA (stumbled across after this...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 21:05:08 -0500

OK, this is the popular news in LA (stumbled across after this post)? I haven’t seen more unremittingly bleak stories in a very long time.

kurafire: friendlyatheist: I bet you can do similar ones with...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 20:52:17 -0500

kurafire:

friendlyatheist:

I bet you can do similar ones with all the other religions threatening each other in some form of violent way.

Then you clearly don’t know much about the other religions, save for Christianity.

Not to belabor the point, but you really can do this with just about all of the other religions, not just Islam and Christianity. A few examples:

I’m not taking a position on whether or not “all religions” are violent inherently or any such generalization. My point is simply that all religions have violent elements and members, if only because they are human endeavors and humans are (or at least can be) violent.

Clancy Brothers - MacAlpine’s Fusillers As a kind of coda...

Mon, 02 Aug 2010 08:21:50 -0500

Clancy Brothers - MacAlpine’s Fusillers

As a kind of coda to my set of posts Friday, here’s another, and one very appropriate for a Monday morning.

Undo a closed tab in Safari 5

Sat, 31 Jul 2010 11:56:03 -0500

finermac:

I love that I can now easily reopen the most recent tab I’ve closed in Safari 5 using Cmd+Z, the system-wide command for for “undo.” Such a life saver.

It’s definitely better than nothing, but you can 1) only reopen the most recently closed tab and 2) only beforenyou follow another link. If you close it accidentally and realize it right away it helps, otherwise it’s no good.

Firefox and Chrome’s “cmd-shift-T” is far superior.

The Clancy Brothers - Isn’t It Grand Boys My...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 17:49:44 -0500

The Clancy Brothers - Isn’t It Grand Boys

My grandfather’s favorite song. Though probably inappropriate, we sang it at the funeral home every night before we left.

The Clancy Brothers - The Irish Rover We had sailed seven years...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 16:49:44 -0500

The Clancy Brothers - The Irish Rover

We had sailed seven years when the measles broke out,
and the ship lost its way in a storm (big storm!).
And the whole of the crew was reduced down to two,
just myself and the captain’s old dog.

North Korean football team shamed in six-hour public inquiry over World Cup

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:48:53 -0500

North Korean football team shamed in six-hour public inquiry over World Cup:

guillee:

The players were subjected to a “grand debate” on July 2 because they failed in their “ideological struggle” to succeed in South Africa, Radio Free Asia and South Korean media reported.

The team’s coach, Kim Jong-hun, was reportedly forced to become a builder and has been expelled from the Workers’ Party of Korea.

The coach was punished for “betraying” Kim Jong-un - one of Supreme Leader Kim Jong-il’s sons and heir apparent.

Well, at least they didn’t send them to prison camps. No soccer player or coach deserves that. Well, maybe Maradona.

As I was driving through the Pine Bluff Arsenal on the way to work this morning

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 15:34:00 -0500

I saw a sign that indicated that the was only a slight risk of explosion. So, y’know, that’s something.

The Clancy Brothers - William Bloat

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 14:53:45 -0500

The Clancy Brothers - William Bloat

The Clancy Brothers - Brennan on the Moor And with this loaded...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 13:53:46 -0500

The Clancy Brothers - Brennan on the Moor

And with this loaded blunderbuss
the truth I will unfold.
He made the mayor to tremble
and robbed him of his gold.

The Clancy Brothers - Red Haired Mary Keep your hands of red...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 12:53:26 -0500

The Clancy Brothers - Red Haired Mary

Keep your hands of red haired Mary,
her and I will soon be wed.
We’ll skip the priest this very morning,
and tonight we’ll lie in Murphy’s shed.

The Wolfe Tones - Big Strong Man Yeah, there are going to be a...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:36:58 -0500

The Wolfe Tones - Big Strong Man

Yeah, there are going to be a bunch of these. It’s just that kind of day. I’ll try to spread them out.

atsween: new shoes Just a little drawing. Getting new shoes is...

Fri, 30 Jul 2010 11:05:12 -0500

atsween:

new shoes

Just a little drawing.

Getting new shoes is pretty fun.

New shoes, new sho-ooh-ooh-oooh-es < /Grandad Freeman >