I am such a sucker for these CollegeHumor.com videos, but they’re so well done!

#99 Grammar « Stuff White People Like

Another important thing to know is that when white people read magazines and books they are always looking for grammar and spelling mistakes. In fact, one of the greatest joys a white person can experience is to catch a grammar mistake in a major publication. Finding one allows a white person to believe that they are better than the writer and the publication since they would have caught the mistake. The more respected the publication, the greater the thrill. If a white person were to catch a mistake in The New Yorker, it would be a sufficient reason for a large party.

I’ve been all weekend traumatized because one of my friends kept using the word “shat” in the wrong tense. Clearly “shat” is past tense and she was using it in future tense. I could hardly keep myself from reprimanding her. But in the end I rose above it. *sigh*

Then MyTodd™ said that he thought it wasn’t even a real word! Merciful heavens, the educating I have to do amongst my friends. Who appreciate it one and all, and don’t find me in the least pedantic. *ahem*

I haven’t been keeping up with Something Awful lately because for a while everything there was pissing me off. But to be honest, everything everywhere has been pissing me off lately (read:since January) and I can bravely admit that I am just one big, stinking, festering pile of pissed-off asshole. So anyway. I am eating lunch at my desk today because, like any self-respecting American, I give little to no thought to my mental or physical health and a lot of thought to getting my work done and avoiding my coworkers. I was browsing around and found this article which (if it weren’t for them apparently having some kind of moratorium on women writers there) I would swear a girl had to have written. Maybe just some guy who observes other guys a lot did it, I dunno. Whatever. Now I am pissed off again. Anyway go read this because it made me laugh and because you value my judgement regarding funny stuff.

No Big Deal.

So, married? Boyfriend? Kids? Whats the story? No, not like that, just getting to know you. Oh, married? Yeah, thats great. I cant say I envy you, though. I was married for a while, but thats over. No kids, though.

Oh Yeah, no, Ive got the one kid. Great kid. Hes gonna be smart, like his dad. Im a great dad, never missed a birthday. I spoil that kid rotten on his birthdays. Power Wheels, Nintendo, plasma TV, all that stuff. My ex is like “youre buying him too much stuff, hes too young, he doesnt need all this stuff,” but Im like, dont tell me what your kid needs. For instance, this year I bought him this great little .22 rifle, and his mom throws a hissy fit. Shes like “hes only three, hes gonna kill someone with this thing,” but Im like, listen, the kids gotta be, pardon my French, but the kids gotta be a fucking deadeye to kill someone with a little .22. This year I was gonna get him a crossbow, lets see him kill someone with that. I bet he cant even pull the string back.

You know, I get bored with online tricks and toys. In 1995 I was impressed with having all the world’s information at my fingertips, but now… meh. The world’s information has lost its charm.

Something has rekindled my love of online living lately though, and it’s all related to Firefox. I am using the very niftiest of extensions with it. They make me feel like my own grandma, so filled am I with wonder and amazement at their handiness. Chief among these is:

Foxmarks - This extension for firefox synchronizes your bookmarks across multiple computers. As many computers as you want, whatever platform you desire, as long as you’re running Firefox on said system. I don’t think you can possibly recognize how essential that is until you experience it.

For instance - I am at work. I bookmark a great site. I add it to my Bookmarks toolbar even, that’s how much I love it and need it near me always. Later that afternoon I walk across the office and log into the Mac… it’s there. I go home and log in at home… it’s there. I am at the coffeeshop working on my laptop… it’s there. I don’t have to do anything, I don’t have to manually sync, I don’t have to use an online service like del.icio.us, I don’t have to think about it. It’s just so mindlessly convenient and right. The way things should work. Likewise if I delete a link, or remove some duplicate or redundant ones. I only have to do it once. Lovely.

Google Notebook, specifically the Firefox browser extension for it. This is a clipping service type-o’-deal, so that when I want to save a snippet of HTML I will need later, or a snippet of info from a page, or a link that I don’t want to bookmark but want to visit later that day, or the name of a plant I want to buy, I can just highlight it, click “Clip” and there it will be later! If I want to capture snippets of conversational inanity such as:

“Marketing, it’s not a science. I mean, there’s only so much you can do with it.”

or

“The actual numbers aren’t as important as the fact that we have capacity”

for a book about retarded people that I am planning to write when I have a minute, or maybe just note down the amount of times per day that my new boss calls me “Sharon”, I can do that with no problem. And all that information is available to me on any system I regularly use.

I can also visit my Notebook from any browser on any computer, and share it with others if I want to, but it’s the browser extension that I really love. It lives down in the bottom right-hand corner of my screen being all handy and shit. See?:

So, those are some things that are making me love the internet again lately. Hope you find them useful if you’re not already using them!

qwantz.com - dinosaur comics - April 22 2008

Would you steal a buck? How about a can of soda?

Ariely has been fascinated with the way people rationalize their decisions about what is ethical or not. The small-scale tests he has carried out, though they involve only a few dollars, reveal patterns of thought that may be relevant to understanding how the leaders of a company such as Enron would engage in criminal activity involving hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here’s how the test worked: Ariely and his students went around and left six-packs of Coke in randomly selected dorm refrigerators all over campus. When he checked back in a few days, all of the Cokes were gone.

But when he later placed plates of six loose dollar bills in those same refrigerators, not a single bill was missing when he checked back. Even though the value was comparable–and thus the situations were supposed to be equivalent–people responded in opposite ways. Why is that?

TopatoCo: To Do List T-Shirt (Pre-Order)

see more crazy cat pics

I really love this show, and hate that the writers strike knocked it off course this year. I hope it’s doing well enough to be back in the lineup next fall. Of course my favorite character is Sheldon, with whom I fear my personality (if not my intellect) shares more than a passing resemblance. The introverted misunderstanding of pointless human social rituals? Check. The not being prepared to waste time with those? Check. The obsession with any illness I have and deeply-held belief that someone needs to be tucking me in already? Check.

Last night’s episode was a repeat, but I watched it anyway because I am CRIPPLED and there’s NOTHING ELSE I CAN DO. Ahem. Anyway, luckily it was just as awesome the second time around and had some lovely quotable Sheldon moments in it. Watch the whole thing here. The Luminous Fish Effect

My favorite exchange between Penny and Sheldon is this, though:

Sheldon: You’re not leaving yourself enough space between cars.

Penny: Sure I am.

Sheldon: No, now, let me do the math for you. This car weighs, let’s say 4,000 lbs. Now add 140 for me, 120 for you…

Penny:120?!

Sheldon: Oh I am sorry, did I insult you? Is your body mass somehow tied into your self worth?

Penny: Well… yeah.

Sheldon: Interesting.

and another

Sheldon: There’s some value to taking a multivitamin, but the human body can only absorb so much. What you’re buying here are the ingredients for very expensive urine.

Penny: Maybe that’s what I was going for.

Sheldon: Well then you’ll need some manganese.

Anyway, if you’re not watching this show, you should be!

Thanks to JenX for this one - Ur So Gay - Katy Perry

Favorite lyric:

“You’re so indie rock it’s almost an art
You need SPF 45 just to stay alive”

or perhaps it’s:

“I’m so mean cause I cannot get you outta your head
I’m so angry cause you rather myspace instead”

qwantz.com - dinosaur comics - March 31 2005

new camera pics 091

Originally uploaded by todderik

Everyone says that Prague is so beautiful and colorful. I forget that, and always assume it’s going to be all gray and communist-looking. Anyway, his pictures were amazing.

This one is his favorite. I think it’s mine too.

new camera pics 082

Originally uploaded by todderik

Although this one is also a contender.

More mining my own old bookmarks turned up this old favorite - the Big Book of Fandom & Internet Law. And now they have a wiki!

jurisimprudence » Keriannes Law of Dramatic Irony

Kerianne’s Law of Dramatic IronyIn an online debate, the first person to accuse his opponent of spending too much time on the Internet and/or invite his opponent to “turn off your computer and go outside” automatically loses the argument, and should be subsequently forced to turn off his own computer and go outside.

Bookworm’s Corollary:
The first person to calculate the amount of time elapsed between her posts and her opponent’s replies, and conclude that her opponent has been sitting at his computer all day refreshing the page and therefore has no life, automatically loses the argument.

So, so true. This relatively newer entry caught my eye, though it’s not in the wiki itself.

The Big Book of Fandom & Internet Law

The Gay & Slippery Slope
In any discussion about homosexuality, gay relationships, and/or same-sex marriage, should one side compare one or more of those things to/argue that one of those things will lead to:

1. Rampant llegal and/or harmful activities such as illegal drug use, pedophilia, or bestiality
2. Legalizing marriage to one’s close relatives, to pets/animals, or to inanimate objects
3. Threatening the rights of heterosexual couples and marriage
4. Destruction of the family unit in America
5. The eventual dying out or destruction of the human race;

The person who made the comparison automatically loses the argument and shall be thwacked over the head with (Link NSFW) this blunt instrument (giant dildo) wielded by a frothing, bug-eyed Lewis Black, until such time as sense is beaten into their head. Repeat beatings may be administered if the subject loses consciousness before sense enters. Actual penetration with said blunt instrument is permissable if the subject uses the “Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve” argument in their comparison or claims that equal rights for homosexuals are “special rights”.

Another cool site I forgot about (still mining the depths of the bookmarks) is bubblr. This lets you search flickr images by certain tags, then create a comic strip/one photo with talk bubbles attached. Cute and fun. Here’s mine.

It’s been a long time since I visited Orisinal.com. It’s just one of those sites I’d bookmarked years ago and forgotten about. But I was browsing through my bookmarks (because I have so much work to do I can’t figure out what the hell to do first, so I needed to not do anything for five minutes) and found it again. Lovely flash-based games with soft, delicate graphics and soothing music. Ahh…. This one is my favorite. Hamster in a falling leaf game.