I really get tired of the Topper. You know the guy who has to have a story better than yours? If you stubbed your toe last night, he broke his off and reattached it with baling wire.
I’m all for people hearing a story and then telling one similar, but Topper can’t enjoy someone’s story. He has to beat you at everything he has ever done in his entire life.
I worked with a guy who was a Topper, but he had an additional twist. His stories all started the same way: “That’s nothin’. When I was in the military…” For example: “I had some spicy Thai food last night.” Topper would say, “That’s nothin’. When I was in the military I had Thai food in Thailand made with fire ants and napalm and cooked with fuel rods from a nuclear submarine.”
He was insufferable. It got so bad that we started to mock the guy, not just behind his back, but to his face. Every “That’s nothin’…” story was met with one of our own. He’d talk about some Filipina prostitute or something, and one of us would come back with “That’s nothin’. When I was in the military I had to melt hookers of the hull of the ship with a blow torch.”
He would then say, “I didn’t know you were in the military.”
The guy was pathetic. And he still owes me five bucks.
Monday, March 30, 2009
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Earth Hour
What the hell is this? Make a change by turning your lights off for one hour? This makes as much sense as buying your gas on Tuesday or Thursday just so you say you didn’t buy it on Wednesday.
The organizers realize this is a symbolic event, and “The purpose of the event was not to save money or power.” It actually will use more power, because of all the promotion that went it to it and people going to events. What a steaming load this is.
People forget that if everyone did this we very well might cause blackouts. If we all turn our power on at the same time, our local grid will be overwhelmed. To prevent this they keep the generators turning so as to be ready for the massive drain of everyone coming online at once.
In 2008 Google turned their home page black to “Raise awareness” but people got confused and couldn’t remember how to Google, due to the unanticipated trauma of a different colored screen. I go through this every time yahoo changes their lay out, so I guess I can’t be too critical.
Of course, a black screen does nothing to cut energy use. Although that conflicts with what we were told, earlier this year: that two Google searches equals destruction of the ozone layer.
Of course, if Google uses a black screen, and people can’t figure out how to use it, maybe the ozone layer won’t be depleted by superfluous self-Googleing. (I’ve been Googling myself for years, but can stop whenever I want.)
This is about as effective as putting a green logo in your screen.
This is a symbolic act, and modern thinkers and the newly enlightened see no need for symbolism or ceremony. Right? I bet the same people who support earth hour are the same people who think marriage ceremonies or going to church are useless.
I will not be one of the useful idiots participating.
And, then there are the people who voluntarily live with out a refrigerator. Don’t get me started
The organizers realize this is a symbolic event, and “The purpose of the event was not to save money or power.” It actually will use more power, because of all the promotion that went it to it and people going to events. What a steaming load this is.
People forget that if everyone did this we very well might cause blackouts. If we all turn our power on at the same time, our local grid will be overwhelmed. To prevent this they keep the generators turning so as to be ready for the massive drain of everyone coming online at once.
In 2008 Google turned their home page black to “Raise awareness” but people got confused and couldn’t remember how to Google, due to the unanticipated trauma of a different colored screen. I go through this every time yahoo changes their lay out, so I guess I can’t be too critical.
Of course, a black screen does nothing to cut energy use. Although that conflicts with what we were told, earlier this year: that two Google searches equals destruction of the ozone layer.
Of course, if Google uses a black screen, and people can’t figure out how to use it, maybe the ozone layer won’t be depleted by superfluous self-Googleing. (I’ve been Googling myself for years, but can stop whenever I want.)
This is about as effective as putting a green logo in your screen.
This is a symbolic act, and modern thinkers and the newly enlightened see no need for symbolism or ceremony. Right? I bet the same people who support earth hour are the same people who think marriage ceremonies or going to church are useless.
I will not be one of the useful idiots participating.
And, then there are the people who voluntarily live with out a refrigerator. Don’t get me started
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Wikipedia: the source of all knowledge
I like Wikipedia. It is a great way to get a little information on stuff that comes to me while I am supposed to be working.
I know some of you will raise your hands and say “Ooh, ooh teacher, teacher!! Ooh, Ooh!! Wikipedia is inaccurate because anyone can post whatever they want.”
That is exactly what ticks me off. This is a type of site snobbery. “I am going to demonstrate my superior web prowess, by denigrating your obvious lack of intellectual curiosity, which causes you to resort to electronic laziness” You know what? I could not care less (If I hear another “could care less” I might stab someone in the throat.) what you think of my web surfing habits.
The other one is “I don’t use Wikipedia because it suffers from if you say it enough it becomes true.” Well, guess what? The winners write history. Same with facts. Deal with it.
The other form of site snobbery is the “I’ve been using Wikipedia since it had less than X articles.” Well, good for you. I personally don’t have the time or the desire to keep track of such important information. But, if you feel a boost in your fragile self-esteem by finding something on the WORLD WIDE web, hey, that’s great.
Of course, there are the others who will feel self important by pointing out that they don’t use that site anymore, because it is commercialized. Yeah, it’s all about the money now. It used to be about the music. You’ve sold out, man.
I usually just shrug and say “Ok”, that really seems to make them mad.
I know some of you will raise your hands and say “Ooh, ooh teacher, teacher!! Ooh, Ooh!! Wikipedia is inaccurate because anyone can post whatever they want.”
That is exactly what ticks me off. This is a type of site snobbery. “I am going to demonstrate my superior web prowess, by denigrating your obvious lack of intellectual curiosity, which causes you to resort to electronic laziness” You know what? I could not care less (If I hear another “could care less” I might stab someone in the throat.) what you think of my web surfing habits.
The other one is “I don’t use Wikipedia because it suffers from if you say it enough it becomes true.” Well, guess what? The winners write history. Same with facts. Deal with it.
The other form of site snobbery is the “I’ve been using Wikipedia since it had less than X articles.” Well, good for you. I personally don’t have the time or the desire to keep track of such important information. But, if you feel a boost in your fragile self-esteem by finding something on the WORLD WIDE web, hey, that’s great.
Of course, there are the others who will feel self important by pointing out that they don’t use that site anymore, because it is commercialized. Yeah, it’s all about the money now. It used to be about the music. You’ve sold out, man.
I usually just shrug and say “Ok”, that really seems to make them mad.
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