Massively cool video of a rocket’s shock wave destroying a sundog (rainbow-like halo effect)
via @BadAstronomer
Archiving my Twitter, Facebook and other social network activity
Massively cool video of a rocket’s shock wave destroying a sundog (rainbow-like halo effect)
via @BadAstronomer
I just realized I’ve been misreading a series of spam subjects for the past week. It’s “We have 78 *vacancies* in your area and want to invite you to become one of these selected few,” not “We have [x] *vaccines*…” That makes a *lot* more sense!
What's the most mis-targeted ad you've gotten on Facebook? I just got one for a girls' summer camp (no kids) in Vermont (I live in California). I think the worst-targeted I've seen were the dating sites FB used to show me even though they knew I was married.
I actually burst out laughing when I saw a spam consisting of the phrase “some random words here” repeated 300 times.
BlueMarble monthlies animation
Animation of the Earth without clouds over the course of a year. The advancement and retreat of snow during winter in the Northern Hemisphere is the most dramatic, but the shift from green to brown and back in the tropics and temperate areas is also interesting.
Remembering the good old days before PulseAudio, when sound on Linux actually WORKED.
Ugh. New corollary: You don’t *sneeze* into the wind, either.
Today’s WTF: There’s ONE CENT left on the balance for my student loan. Monday’s auto-payment should have finished it off, but I guess there was a rounding error when they calculated the amount. I *could* wait another month for the next auto-pay cycle, but I figured I’d just send them the $0.01 now.
For some reason, spam for essay-writing services really bugs me. Maybe I’m just used to the usual porn/pills/etc. spam, or maybe it’s that they actively encourage the *target* to be dishonest, too.
Ah, so the official WordPress app for Android is based on & replacing WpToGo. That’s why it seemed so familiar.
I want to mash up “Flogging Molly” & “WALL-E,” but that sounds so sad. #MusicMonday
Comment on Phone and Text Bans On Drivers Shown Ineffective
Just because a behavior is banned doesn’t mean people have actually stopped doing it. California’s ban has been in place for a year and a half now, and I still regularly see people driving while talking on their phones. So hand-held phone use has reduced in these areas. How much?
The other thing to consider is that at least the California law allows you to use your cell phone while driving as long as you use a hand-free system, like an earpiece or a car system that acts as a speakerphone. I seem to recall that other studies have shown that hands-free cell phone conversations are just as distracting as conversations carried out while holding the phone. (The article spends a whopping one sentence on this.)
If homeopathy worked, wouldn’t water filters actually make things worse? Not to mention sewage treatment…
Dropped my phone & watched it break into 3 pieces…then realized it was just the back cover coming off & battery falling out. *whew!*
Supreme Court overturns ban on direct corporate spending on elections
Wanna bet you won't hear many Republicans complaining about “activist judges” in this case?
Simple Passwords Remain Popular, Despite Risk of Hacking – NYT
As the second headline says, “If Your Password Is 123456, Just Make It HackMe.”
I just checked the Vertical Horizon tour schedule to see if they’d added any shows in California. Well, the band hasn’t set anything up farther west than Utah, but the lead singer had a performance in California…at the Borders in Tustin. YESTERDAY.
Worth remembering: Your fandom is not Fandom.
Comment on Netflix Will Delay Renting New WB Releases
I’m sure that’s [a discount on DVDs] a big part of it…but the press release also mentioned that WB is giving them access to more of its catalog for their streaming service.
With physical DVDs, if WB refuses to sell directly to Netflix, they can always send someone to Costco, buy a bunch of DVDs, and rent them under the first sale doctrine. With streaming, they need an active contract with WB to do it (legally) at all. If WB decides not to renew that contract…well, there goes their streaming service. Or at least anything from Warner Bros.