Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
Always remember: your public information really is public, and even if no one creepy is looking for you specifically, there’s always a possibility they could be looking for someone like you. (Remember the “please rob me” site that reposted location-enabled tweets?)
Be sure you understand your privacy settings, especially with anything that tells the world where you are right now.
I'm rarely impressed by those “If so-and-so had written X” jokes that simply plug in plot points or character traits from one of their well-known works. It's lazy, and it implies that authors are only capable of creating one type of story. If you're going to do something like that, take 20 minutes to think about some of their other work and pick out some common elements. 20 minutes on Wikipedia, folks – that can't be asking too much.
The Moon and Venus, Monday night. Plus Jupiter in the taller photo.
Wayne comments on Google+: wow Jupiter really shows! Just wish I could see that signature red spot though.
It’s been stated that Flashpoint wasn’t originally going to be a reboot, and it’s been stated that Dan Didio has wanted to do a reboot as far back as Infinite Crisis. (I think that plan ended up morphing into “One Year Later” and 52.)
I have no idea whether Final Crisis was at some point planned to be a reboot or not, though.
The words “Comic-Con” and “Hotel” shouldn’t cause this much anxiety when used together.
Facebook opposes the practice of prospective employers asking for your password.
“As a user, you shouldn’t be forced to share your private information and communications just to get a job. And as the friend of a user, you shouldn’t have to worry that your private information or communications will be revealed to someone you don’t know and didn’t intend to share with just because that user is looking for a job.”
Still trying to figure out how “Stand your ground” translates to “Pursue and attack,” and now Geraldo Rivera (remember him?) chimes in with “He asked for it! Look what he was wearing!” WTF?
I’m constantly astonished at how slow Facebook’s Android app is. If it can’t load my news feed while *waiting for an elevator*, something’s wrong with it. (And that’s when GPS is off. If GPS is on, it sits even longer trying to figure out where I am, even though it doesn’t actually need the location info.)
Google+ and UberSocial (a third-party Twitter app) are both a lot faster to load content, AND they can both sync in the background, so there’s at least something for me to read more or less instantly. Facebook does have a “refresh interval,” but as near as I can tell it doesn’t do anything, or maybe it’s the interval for checking notifications.
/rant
Comment in response to The 10 Most Successful Failures in Geekdom
Apologies in advance for the nitpicking, but this is one of those things that Just Bugs Me(tm), and it seems to come up every time the BSG finale is mentioned.
The “Mitochondrial Eve” concept doesn’t mean everyone else died out. It’s finding a common ancestor based on the fact that we only inherit mitochondria from our mothers.
Start with two families. One has all girls, or a mix of girls and boys. The other has all boys. The mother who has girls? Her grandchildren will inherit her mitochondria. The mother who has all boys? Her mitochondrial line will disappear, even if she has more grandchildren than the first.
One character being Mitochondrial Eve doesn’t mean every other family died out. It just means that over time, each other line had at least one generation of all boys.
WonderCon Day 2 photos are up. A lot busier today, but still nowhere near San Diego levels
I had an enjoyable day at WonderCon today, though my shoulders felt like they were going to fall off since I was carrying around some rather large books. It was a good balance of autograph hunt, bargain hunt, sightseeing, costume spotting and events, with a lot going on but not too many people to move.
First batch of photos is up on Flickr.
Walking down the hall at WonderCon, I heard someone saying, “I think so, Brain…” in a perfect Pinky voice. I looked over and it was Rob Paulsen. 'Kay bye.
When you do the math, it turns out the sun is still a lot brighter than the background stars even as far out as Pluto.
BAFact math: How bright is the Sun from Pluto? | Bad Astronomy
Sure, I'll happily fill out a survey on the experience I had using your online store that one time five or six months ago.
Why Venus looks so much brighter than Jupiter. (This is something I don’t usually think about, but over the past month, with the two planets in the same area of the sky, I’ve really noticed it.)
Originally shared by Philip Plait (The Bad Astronomer):
Venus still blazes Jupiter, but 10 times as bright
Venus and Jupiter are still near each other in the sky, and will be for the next few days. Just go outside after sunset and face west; you can hardly miss them!
Venus is the brighter of the two by a long shot. That might seem weird; after all, Venus is about the same size as Earth, but Jupiter is over 11 times wider (and 140 times the area)! So why is Venus brighter?
Math! At least, math + geometry + science. Let me show you…
Jupiter and Venus still blaze in the west
[Image credit: Robert Blasius at fotografie.robert-blasius.de as part of Astronomers Without Borders]
Photo of last night’s closest approach between Jupiter and Venus. Jupiter is bright, but as you can see here, Venus is a lot brighter.
Edit: Apparently tonight is the closet approach. I could swear I’d read that it was Monday. Looks like I’ll be taking another photo tonight.
I've got a handheld connection to a worldwide network of information, communication and entertainment, and the signal's solid. If I'm bored waiting in line, it's my own fault.
If you have a clear view of the western sky after sunset, go out and look sometime this weekend. Venus and Jupiter are getting really close (visually), and will reach their closest alignment on Monday.
Oh look, a website that still thinks disabling right-click accomplishes anything other than annoying people who use context menus & gestures
