I’m not sure if someone made a post like this earlier, but sometimes junk emails just crack me up. I just got the following junk email:
Subject: Map Dung Aircraft Carrier Spectrum Snail
We carry all popular Replica*watches*online
http://jeanettehurdtc.googlepages.com
Map Dung Aircraft Carrier Spectrum Snail? Give me a break. That’s just stupid.
Also, one time I saved a screenshot of the most worthless junk e-mail ever. At least the junk above makes some attempt to bring you to their fake website. This email doesn’t even have anything to click, let alone a message!
Here is an interesting article about lying:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/21/AR2007112102164.html?nav=hcmodule
Some of the interesting points are that the average person lies 2 to 3 times over the course of a 10 minute conversation, and that parents are constantly telling their kids inconsistent views on lying (”never lie” and “tell aunt barbara you love her gift.”)
First of all, sorry for my absence from the blog, which I know you have all been secretly bemoaning. Now that I’ve signed on on my new laptop, I should be commenting regularly again.
Anyway, I thought I’d try to start up a round of discussion about ‘08 while showing you an awesome campaign commercial for Mike Huckabee. I think it has the perfect blend of sly humor and intriguing sound bites (”wants to abolish the IRS”? Obviously rhetoric but aren’t you curious about his actual positions now?)
These are my long-held predictions about ‘08:
(1) John McCain is going absolutely nowhere. He’s a lame-o sycophant who thinks he’s this “maverick” but actually is a complete sell-out. It’s becoming more and more obvious.
(2) Mike Huckabee will if not win then become a major contender.
(3) Sexist anti-Hillary backlash will backfire and end up working in her favor. I would argue that this is already starting to happen.
(4) Obama doesn’t really have a lot of substantive opinions & the hype will fizzle.
OK, partially I just wanted to brag b/c I think my predictions so far have been prescient. Anyone else want to come forward with their predictions?
This was in the New York Times this morning and struck me as one of the most beautifully written letters to the editor I’ve ever read.
To the Editor:
“All They Are Saying Is Give Happiness a Chance,” by Eduardo Porter (Editorial Observer, Nov. 12), made me smile. Despite the fact that I have few of the trappings of success, I am happy.
While I have a human desire for financial gain, fulfilling romantic relationships and international accolades for my brilliance, I do not have (or reasonably expect) any of those things. And yet, I am happy. I struggle to pay my bills, wonder if those are old-lady wrinkles sneaking onto my face and gesture obscenely at other drivers when they cut me off. Still, I am happy.
What I can offer to Mr. Porter is support for his theory that time is worth more than money. I have a job and a life that gives me the time and space to read, play with my dog, dine with my friends, stare into space and generally get plenty of happiness-sustaining mental candy.
I’m glad that the world is full of people who need to do and to be and to know — relentlessly and aggressively. They create the noise and pressure that typify modern life, and they give me something to look at when the leaves stop spinning in the wind.
Most people don’t know who this guy was. Here it is in short: William James Sidis was, by far, the smartest man to ever live. Here’s a quote from the article:
In chapter four, Amy Wallace spends a significant amount of time comparing William Sidis to other known geniuses. On net, he equals or exceeds all others and except for his lack of social graces and athletic interests, appears more well-rounded than most.”
Here’s a short list (a more lengthier one on the site) of some of his amazing mental accomplishments:
Given IQ is a purely anthropocentric means of assessing intelligence, Sidis’ IQ is crudely estimated at 250-300.
Started typing at three. Used his high chair to reach a typewriter. First composed letter was an order for toys from Macy’s.
Mastered higher mathematics and planetary revolutions by age 11.
Learned Gray’s Anatomy at six. Could pass a student medical examination.
At age 8, Billy surpassed his father (a genius) in mathematics.
In 1910, at age 11, lectured Harvard Mathematical Club on ‘Four-Dimensional Bodies.’
Billy knew all the languages (approximately 200) of the world, and could translate among them instantly!
Speaking of glue, this morning I repaired some chess pieces with Superglue, which worked so perfectly that I felt obliged to compose a poem.
An Ode To Superglue
Oh Superglue
how my life has changed since I found you
together we have formed a bond so strong
to you, and only you, do my treasures belong.
In the morning you exceeded my wild expectations
as I repaired the rook’s crenellations,
resurrecting the queen’s coronet as you fix her
with a single drop of your magic elixir.
Poor Humpty Dumpty could never recover
as all the king’s horses and men did discover
but as for you, not once, but twice, thrice and again
have you repaired all the kings, the horses, and the men.
Oh Superglue, my admiration ever lingers,
just like the stickiness on my fingers.
Some of you may know that I believe there is a 70% percent chance that by the end of my lifetime human brains will be transplanted into robot bodies. Many have ridiculed me for my beliefs, and Ooie and I even have a $100 bet on the subject (although she might have forgotten about it — looks like her fallible human body has failed her!)
Anyway, humanity has gotten one step closer!:
Scientists have built a robot controlled by a moth brain. They “immobilized” the moth and attached an electrode to a neuron in the vision area of its brain. Result: The moth’s eye movements steer the robot. Proposed applications: 1) Perfecting brain-machine connections so amputees and paraplegics can manipulate artificial limbs. 2) “A robot hooked into the moth’s sophisticated olfactory system might one day be used to detect bombs.” (”If it blows up, all you’ve lost is a moth.”) 3) Down the road, “machines that can see and smell the world just as living things do.” Human Nature’s prediction: Animal brain components will be the next stage of robots, because we’re learning that it’s a lot easier to engineer bodies than brains.
What does everyone else think? Will one day the Tedder P. Schoenhopfer Policy Exchange be available in the palm of your hand…LITERALLY?!?!?
