You know the drill: lots of links, less commentary than usual. I plead work.
- Does the idea that Sesame Street might need a warning label fire up some of that good old cognitive dissonance for you? Well, apparently there is one on the recently released early episodes. And some of the parents they showed it to were shocked.
The old “Sesame Street” is not for the faint of heart, and certainly not for softies born since 1998, when the chipper “Elmo’s World” started. Anyone who considers bull markets normal, extracurricular activities sacrosanct and New York a tidy, governable place — well, the original “Sesame Street” might hurt your feelings.
Read the story at the NYT. (On an unrelated note, have I mentioned the bugmenot plugin for Firefox?)
- In my drinking days I used to frequently and loudly comment that I’d rather get table service at the OEP from Kevin or Ian than from any of the girls, even the ridiculously hot ones, because Kevin and Ian were masters of bringing me my next drink at approximately the same instant that I realized I was ready for it. In order to do this, obviously, they had to know when I was getting close to the end of drink, determine if I were going to have another
I admit that this would have been the ridiculously easy part, back in the day. , order it from the bar, and time the delivery just right. All in all a relatively complex operation, especially for someone who is working a section with many tables.
Apparently Microsoft is trying to automate this. I’m not convinced that technology is the solution to this problem. And call me a luddite, but I’m pretty sure I’d not want to drink anywhere that the tables were electronically alive–at least not unless the table was interactive enough to allow me to order specific things. Even then, it’s a poor second to top quality human service. - I’m a pretty cynical fellow, as you might know if you’ve read more than just this entry, but even I was surprised to learn one of the major reasons bad food was cheap. I’ve been very aware that the cheapest food is often the worst for you, and that composing a healthy diet costs rather a lot more than what it’s possible to subsist on. (Indeed, the Fast Food Nation arrivistes might be surprised to know that this kind of thing was openly discussed in pop culture over 20 years ago.) What I didn’t realize is that a substantial part of the reason that this is so, is because bad food is subsidized. Yeah–not only does it cost you more to eat healthy, but if you do it you’re still paying for the bad food other people eat through your tax dollars. Yay.
- Canada Post’s rates were already absurd. How can it make sense that it’s cheaper for me to mail something to California than to Toronto? I’m stunned that they’re thinking of raising them at all, much less of doubling them. This is one of those things that should be funded by tax dollars, both to ensure that all Canadians get comparable service, and to enable Internet-era business.
- Less than a week until the US election now. I wonder how Larry is doing. He should have been in a commercial–it would make him feel like he was doing something. Here’s one he would fit right into. All the cool kids are doing it.
- Do you sometimes need a little break from work? Bookmark this. Expect a productivity decline, unless you have a fairly iron will.
- My brain is utterly incapable of processing the Kennedy campaign theme song. I’m glad GRRM brought it to my attention, but it’s going to change the way I think about an era. I just can’t align it with the modern world, where something like Hey Sarah Palin makes a lot more sense.
- I’ve often muttered here about adaptations of books and comics to movie and TV. See if you can guess who’s speaking in this quote: “Am I going to sell another book to Hollywood? Probably not. Bit once, OK; bit twice, you’re stupid.” It’s not Alan Moore.
- I believe we’ve established that I’m fairly cynical. So I ‘m not surprised that in the midst of an economic crisis caused primarily by greedheads running wild without concern for the consequences of their actions, the very people who are supposed to be fixing the problems are actually using the bailout to drive their corporate interests rather than acting in the national (and, indeed, international) interest. Once again, your tax dollars at work.
- Speaking of the crisis, have you heard about the latest economic indicator? It puts the hemline thing to shame. I present the Angus Young Index. At least bad news will come with a lot of C, D, and G.
- We may not be able to get our national shit together in an election, but at least Canada has occasional bouts of sensibility. Linking is not republishing, and it’s nice to have the courts notice that. And it’s not just us–I’m pleased to see the Yanks noting the self-evident fact that hash-and-compare is a kind of search.
- I read a lot of science fiction. As a consequence I’ve seen a lot of possible notions explored, and some things that most people would find outré are old hat to me. However, even though I’ve encountered the notion of pet cloning before in fiction, reading about it as a “here and now” reality still kind of freaks me out. I’m still kind of creeped out that Spenser did dog-cloning the old fashioned way, I’m really not prepared for the new, crazy-rich-people-only method. Someone should turn Pete Singer loose on this whole concept.
And that’s enough for now.
