Category: One-and-done

Aside

Remember when Microsoft had the genius idea of embedding code inside documents–remember how that worked out from a security perspective? Remember when browsers started allowing executable code to be embedded in the pages–there was no security problem with that, right? So clearly the best thing for us to do is to add a new way to embed natively executable code in web pages. There’s no way that could go wrong, right?

Christmas Spirit

by  on  in One-and-done

I just found this on my hard drive–I think it might have run in Harpers ages ago–and thought it was worth putting up here: A HO-HO-HO HOW-TO From the “Santa Manual” distributed by Western Temporary Services to employees in its “Santa Division” The Walnut Creek, California, firm provides as many as 3,000 Santas to department stores and shopping malls each… Read more →

I must be getting old

by  on  in One-and-done

…because when I read an article with a throughline that’s essentially “Students lie, cheat, and steal a lot more than they used to, and still think they are good people, but it’s OK because there’s so much more stress on them, and anyway it’s not their fault but rather society’s” my reaction is essentially “Oh, phui!”. Everyone thinks they have… Read more →

Aside

I expect lots of things from webcomics, but I don’t usually expect to be stopped utterly in my tracks by a one-off strip. Damn.

Darwinist Dating

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Manipulation and self-interest suffused relations between the sexes even when gentlemen strode the earth; a few pages of Edith Wharton should disabuse any doubters on that score. The lengthy article on modern dating, Love in the Time of Darwinism, at City Journal raised several reaction in me while I was reading it. The only thing I reacted positively to was… Read more →

Web Crack For Intellectuals

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Wikipedia is one of the best things humanity has yet invented for allowing us to use up any extra time we have hanging around. As an added bonus, this time comes with a putative “educational value” benefit, which makes it easy to justify the time and avoid guilt over it. One example of how this might happen: you could go… Read more →

They way they are supposed to.

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Since 2001 I’ve had less use for Christopher Hitchens than I used to. But hey, I’ve got even less use for Pope Inquisitor and his attempts to pull the Roman Catholic Church backwards in time. So if Hitchens wants to get snarky on the practice of indulgences, as he does in the latest Free Inquiry, I’m going to enjoy it… Read more →

Help With Trish’s Research

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And now, you have a chance to help out with Trish’s research. I’ll use her words to explain: As most of us know and have experienced, sometimes painfully, sometimes to our benefit, the vast majority of software developers, and indeed these days the majority of professionals in general, work for a manager. Bad managers can frustrate us, decrease the quality… Read more →

Closet Land

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While thinking about the use of torture by governments today, I found myself wishing I could just make everyone watch Closet LandThe “why” here is obvious if you’ve seen the film. If not, then here’s a quote from the creator’s site: “The film captures the psychological landscape of those who engage in torture and aggression, while also defining the nature… Read more →

The Bricklayer’s Lament

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The first time I encountered the Bricklayer’s Lament was in the 400 Bar in Minneapolis. Todd Menton had just played a set with a backing band consisting of a digeridoo and two tubas<ComicBrogue>”Two tubas. Two tubas are magic.”</ComicBrogue>. At some point after the set–possibly as part of the encore, although the years and the Guinness that night have conspired to… Read more →

Casa El Profundo

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It’s been a while since I did a “this recent discovery suggests Lovecraftian spookiness” post, so let’s do one of those. According to National Geographic, a series of partially underwater temples—”A labyrinth filled with stone temples and pyramids in 14 caves”— have been found off the Yucatan. The article talks about how these temples map onto legends of the Mayan… Read more →

Two Americas

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David Simon, the man behind The Wire, had an interesting piece in the Guardian earlier this week, where he helps the British look at the way the idea of “the American experience” is essentially a non-sensical term, as there are now (at least) two distinct Americas. As usual, Baltimore is his lens, and he has the ability to sharpen the… Read more →

Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada
This work by Chris McLaren is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 2.5 Canada.