Category: Uncategorized

  • Maybe WEERD can explain this to me

    Because apparently I’m not smart enough to understand this. A marine researcher is clearly needed.

    So some scientists in Australia discovered that a shark native to the tropics has mated with a shark that is very similar (both are called black tip sharks) and produced a hybrid. That I get.

    What I don’t understand is this:

    The Australian black-tip is slightly smaller than its common cousin and can only live in tropical waters, but its hybrid offspring have been found 2,000 kilometres down the coast, in cooler seas.
    It means the Australian black-tip could be adapting to ensure its survival as sea temperatures change because of global warming.

    Let me see if I follow: A shark that can only survive in warm waters mates with a shark that lives in cool waters due to rising temperatures?

    And this counts as a valid scientific hypothesis because….why exactly?

  • Your biased headline of the day

    Photo ID, anti-immigration measures among new laws

    Anti-immigration, eh? That’s funny, because state’s aren’t allowed to enforce immigration laws, nor are they allowed to write their own.

    NASHVILLE, Tenn. (AP) – Tennesseans will be required to have photo identification in order to vote and state employers will have to make sure their employees are legally authorized to work in the U.S. under new laws that take effect January 1.

    Oh. You meant “measures to curb illegal immigration,” not “anti-immigration measures.” If they immigrate legally, there will be no problem.

  • Movies!

    Bad news: Strep throat

    Good news: 2 days of watching movies! Some short reviews

    Colombiana: like any other film by Luc Besson. Think “The Professional” and “La Femme Nikita” with a latin flair.

    Rise of the Planet of the Apes: pretty good. CGI was done very well and there was actually a pretty good storyline.

    Planet of the Apes: The 1968 Charlton Heston version. I decided to finally watch it to maybe fill in some gaps in the prequel. Knowing how the movie ends was not helpful.

    Scream 4: When will Sidney Prescott buy a freaking gun? Otherwise it was as good as a Scream movie can be. I like the franchise mostly because it makes fun of itself while scaring the crap out of you. Also its not torture porn.

  • It’s like a rip in the space-time continuum

    My normal commute: ~55 minutes
    My “school’s out” commute: ~40 minutes
    My “There is precipitation on the ground, in the air, in the forecast, or it possibly looks like it might rain sometime this week” commute: ~1hr 15 minutes

    Today I made it to the office in 26 minutes, and I stopped for breakfast on the way in.

  • RAWR!

    image

    Himalayan cut like a lion

  • And now for something completely different

    Casey is about 70lbs of muscle and teeth now. She needs exercise and so do I, so we go on two 20 minute walks each day. I had been listening to podcasts on these walks, and one of them mentioned The 4 Hour Work Week. A few days later, mrs wizardpc asked me if I had ever heard of the book. Shortly after that, my sister asked the same thing.

    I have this rule where if multiple people in different areas of my life suggest I check something out, I do. So I did.

    I got a copy of the audiobook from a friend and have been listening to it for about 10 days. It’s hilarious. The main point of the book is ruthless efficiency and automation to practically eliminate the need for you to go into the office, and the author uses personal anecdotes to describe what he did, how he did it, and why. I don’t know if I’ll be implementing anything that he suggests, but from a pure entertainment value the book is great.

    If you notice, the link above is to the paperback instead of the audiobook. The reason for that is the first half of the book is full of stories, but the last half of the book is full of resources and links. It’s kind of annoying to have the narrator read URLs to you for 20 minutes. That’s the only knock on the audio version. I’m buying the paperback just so I can have that list of resources.

    Have any of you read it? What did you think? Have you implemented any of the author’s suggestions?

  • Headlines we should see more often

    Would-be robber dodges hail of bullets in Antioch

    The story will warm the cockles of your heart. There’s video, too!

    (I suspect the robber had an airsoft pistol since he didn’t get any rounds off, but I can’t tell from the grainy video)

  • Make a soldier’s day brighter

    And get a chance to win stuff!

    I love those patches, by the way.

  • And we’re back

    Slight problem upgrading the OS caused the blog to go down for a couple of days.

    Protip: don’t do that while you’re on the road.