Category: Things that make you say hmmm?

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This one was simply too good to pass up

Roswellheadline

Reading the Sunday news, and since I like science better than snarky Entertainment or Political news (one in the same in my opinion) I turn to the SciTech section of Google News.

There I find this; 

A crew of astrophysicists on the University of Toronto present in a study that Jupiter might have ejected one other main planet from thephoto voltaic system over 4 million years in the past.

– via Statesman Tribune

That paragraph is messed up in soo many ways. Sadly, it’s also the lead. This article proves that Journalism and English are quite dead. 

So, some number of astrophysicists are somehow riding atop the University of Toronto? I’m not going to touch the ambiguity of “present” in the sentence.

Apparently, we live in a photovoltaic system, instead of a Solar system.

Ok so you’d think that maybe the author was in a hurry while writing the lead, and perhaps he was in a coffee shop finishing the article on an iPad and got distracted…

You give the guy the benefit of the doubt and try to soldier on. Then you encounter these jewels;

Ejections of planets usually happen when one of many planets begins to speed up so quick and so usually that it manages to interrupt free from the Solar’s highly effective gravitational pull. Earlier, Saturn was regarded as the perpetrator, however the brand new analysis has urged that it was Jupiter that booted one other huge planet of the photo voltaic system.

The Photo voltaic System has all the time been recognized to comprise solely 4 large gasoline planets in its roster of worlds: Neptune, Uranus, Saturn and Jupiter. Previous research have instructed this phenomenon is feasible between gasoline giants however failed to have a look at the impact such an occasion would have on the planets’ moons.

So the Canadian astronomers turned their consideration to moons and orbits, growing pc simulations primarily based on the fashionable-day trajectories ofCallisto and Iapetus, the common moons orbiting round Jupiter and Saturn respectively.

– via Statesman Tribune

gasoline giants? fashionable-day??? WTF?

SaganQuote

After your brain reboots multiple times, you realize that this article is appearing on a worldwide distribution system like Google and that’s when I conclude…

Either the guy writing this article had no clue what he was writing about. OR he may have picked up the piece in some language, (perhaps his native language) other than English, then ran it through an online translator relying on the accuracy of a machine to produce a publishable article for him.

The author should be fired.

The content of the rest of the article is so bad, that attempting to read further causes brain damage.

I think I’m going to go back to reading about the “Skull Asteroid” that missed earth last night. Reading the comments about it being a sign of the end times is a lot more amusing and informative.

The Statesman Tribune should be ashamed of itself.

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Refugee or ungrateful guest?

Some middle eastern refugees are refusing accommodation in resorts.

Some news outlets have spun this as refugees wanting to be housed in cities. This may be partially true but not for the negative reasons that pop to mind.

Although, I suppose there are some of these folks that want to be in cities because they want to cause a ruckus.

I imagine if you’ve lived in a city all your life, you’re not likely to be happy about being relocated to a rural setting. It’s not that you’re ungrateful per se, you simply don’t have the skill set to deal with the situation.

I suppose that there is some truth to the forest creating anxiety as well. I’m evil enough that I’d tell the refugees about all the wild animals at night and how those animals lurk in the forest waiting for the unwary to become a meal. Yeah I like Grimm’s tales. That might at least keep the children (If there are any) from wandering off and getting lost, thereby preventing another issue.

I think that the refugees need to have it explained to them that there is simply a finite number of beds, they can either stay in places that are available, like a resort that many Swedes can’t afford, OR they can go the hell home. There are flights to the Middle East every day. Looking at the resorts, I wonder if I can call myself a refugee and let the Swedes put me up for a few months. Damn! Nice places… I digress…

It astounds me that any real refugee would even think to demand different accommodations. If you’re really escaping war, fear for your life and the lives of your children, wouldn’t you be grateful for a roof over your head, food in your belly, and being in a safe country where you don’t have bombs going off?

Maybe it’s a little different for me. A bit more personal, when my home burned years ago, I was essentially a refugee. I literally had a bathrobe and that was it. I appreciated the kindness of people trying to help me get my feet under me again. I didn’t care that the pair of jeans were too big or the t-shirt was too long. I had clothes. I didn’t care that the flip-flops were two sizes too big. I had something on my feet.

Within days, we were in a hotel, and that’s were we stayed for a month. It was cramped, and we had to eat out every day but we were warm and dry, and it was temporary.

During that time I asked for very little and said thank you for everything because I was grateful to be alive, and for every kindness I was shown. That’s the refugee mentality I had. I suppose I expect a similar mentality from people who are escaping a horrible situation.

As someone who’s been there, my heart goes out to refugees.

As a cynic, I question the actual status of any “refugee” who’s bitching about being put up in “too rural” an environment, or complaining their stipend isn’t enough for cigarettes, or that the WiFi signal is poor, (As has happened in Germany).

I expect a real refugee to ask for only what they need. Not demand things they can do without.

I suspect if you were to ask Swedes or Germans in the privacy of their homes or depths of a forest, they’d say the same thing.

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And in Other Ironic news…

South by Southwest canceled panels on gaming harassment due to — Wait for it — Threats of violence.

One of the organizers made this observation.

We had hoped that hosting these two discussions … would lead to a valuable exchange of ideas on this very important topic,” he said. “SXSW prides itself on being a big tent and a marketplace of diverse people and diverse ideas. However, preserving the sanctity of the big tent at SXSW Interactive necessitates that we keep the dialogue civil and respectful. If people can not agree, disagree and embrace new ways of thinking in a safe and secure place that is free of online and offline harassment, then this marketplace of ideas is inevitably compromised.
– via USA TODAY

You know, when you can’t even talk about an issue, fascism is already the rule of the land.

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Reality, is it real?

religiousiconography

Many religious philosophies suggest that our reality is greatly influenced by the world around us and that we, in turn create the reality of the world. Almost universally these beliefs say the positive or negative elements we’re exposed to, become part of us and we in turn reflect and amplify those elements to all around us.

It’s always sounded a bit “Chicken or Egg” to me, and I was willing to ascribe the concept to whichever quaint religion was preaching it. I’d dismiss the idea with an appropriate level of condescension.

As I’ve been reading “self help” books, (I KNOW! Many of these books are nothing more than literary snake-oil) in an attempt to get a handle on my future, I’ve run across the same philosophical underpinning again and again. Except this time, those philosophies are coming from more scientific venues. Ok, psychologists, and neuroscientists, If you’re more of a “Sheldon” in your beliefs, you still think of that as hokum too.

Nonetheless, this has given me pause.

In many cases in my life I’ve chosen to believe and accept as true, information about “we humans” from ancient cultures. (Within Reason) I believe that wisdom is wisdom regardless of it’s source and that we shouldn’t have to re-invent the wheel every 200 years or so, even though it seems we do.

So it occurs to me that I’m inconsistent and perhaps have been discarding valuable information in a biased way because it came from a religion.

Someone once said to me “Perception is reality,” I’d have accepted that as a truth except that perception was not reality when it was inconvenient to that person.

Adam Savage

Still let’s look at that phrase. If perception is reality then reality is in fact just your perception of events or stimuli. Believe me, that phrase takes pages and pages of psychobabble and puts it into a single packet. I just saved you a ton of very tedious reading.

We know that at least part of this statement is completely true. When we touch something we feel that it’s real through tactile sensors in our hands. 

What if being happy or angry is really nothing more than the way we choose to process it? Doesn’t that open a whole new world of possibilities, and wouldn’t that be worth at least some investigation? 

So how do you test the premise?

The primary thing seem to be filtering your input and controlling how you process negative input. 

As Adam Savage humorously said on Myth Busters “I reject your reality and substitute my own.” Turns out if you want to be a happier person there might be a lot of truth in his humorous quip.

This is of course not to say that you need to lobotomize yourself. But suggests that you make damn sure your don’t internalize or dwell on the barrage of negative things happening in the world.

OccupyHippieMeme

After all we don’t all want to be poster children for stupidity as the Occupy Hippie Meme girl has become.

I feel sorry for this girl. I’m guessing that by now, she’s cut her hair, changed her style, dumped the glasses, is wearing Channel suits, and working for a defense contractor somewhere. I really do wish her well and hope that in time she fades from our collective memory to be replaced by someone more deserving of the national ire. I will say this, as a meme, she’s had staying power.

It’s gotta be tough being the face of a generation and being used time and again to represent irrational thinking.

For me this means avoiding the news completely. Right now, I can’t say I’m going to watch just one news broadcast or read GoogleNews for just a few minutes.

I get pissed, then I want to understand an event.

Palmyra being blown up by ISIS for example, pisses me off to no end.  I’d like to see ISIS carpet bombed with Nukes every time I read about another building being destroyed in the name of their hate. The existence of those buildings and artifacts didn’t harm or mean jack shit to ISIS. The could have ignored the city and moved on.

Which is exactly what I should do, instead of getting angry about it and reading all the articles I can find, then getting angrier. I need to acknowledge that it happened, there’s nothing I can do about it and move the hell on. I need to learn how to not take the actions of others so personally. 

Someone once told me that when I get angry, sad, or depressed, about stuff that other people do I’m giving those people, (In most cases, people I don’t even like) power over me. He went on to say, subconsciously my brain knows this, and responds by getting angry over the loss of control. But if I could be really honest with myself, acknowledging that I couldn’t change whatever happened, not take it personally, and not give strangers or others the power in the first place, I’d be a lot happier.

Ouroboros

I didn’t understand it then. I figured it was all a bunch of hokum psychobabble. I’m not completely sure I understand it now, but I’m willing to reconsider the issue.

In my reading, I stumbled across another philosophy which suggests that anger, depression, and bitterness are nothing more than distractions from your greater potential. (Not sure I buy that, in the lofty sense they presented it.) I am willing to buy into these feelings distracting me personally from my goals.

I’m equally willing to accept that not achieving my goals feeds these negative emotions because I berate myself for “Failing”.  And there it is again, Negative emotions feeding negative emotions.  How do you kill an ouroboros?

It’s always been easy for me to be negative. As I’ve become less young, it’s become a lot easier to feel that the world is against me and rail against circumstances over which I have zero control and then feel angry for having been upset about it in the first place.

It’s completely non-productive, I understand this, but it’s too easy for me to do.

WIndandtheLion

Raisuli: To Theodore Roosevelt – you are like the Wind and I like the Lion. You form the Tempest. The sand stings my eyes and the Ground is parched. I roar in defiance but you do not hear. But between us there is a difference. I, like the lion, must remain in my place. While you like the wind will never know yours. – Mulay Hamid El Raisuli, Lord of the Riff, Sultan to the Berbers, Last of the Barbary Pirates.

While considering this whole mess, I was reminded of the quote above.  It’s from a movie, The Wind and the Lion, not to be confused with The Lion in Winter, another good film.

There is so much in this world that is out of my control. I need to take a step back, focus on my reality and leave the negativity of others behind.

I need to find and lay claim to my place…

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From the really BAD idea column

peeple

You may have heard about this, you might not.

I just heard about an application that runs on IOS, slated for release in November that allows you to rate people in the same way Yelp rates businesses.

The applications name is “Peeple” 

Uhh…

WTF?

Apparently, this is the brainchild of Julia Cordray & Nicole McCullough and they’re presenting this as if it’s a good thing to be rated publicly.

Perhaps I’d agree if it was totally consensual.  —- It’s not

I might agree if everyone who is rated can affect, delete, or refute a rating —- They Can’t

All that’s needed to rate someone is the Peeple app and the person to be rated’s cell phone number. The other person does not have to be a member of Peeple. *(at least as it was explained yesterday)

The person that’s been rated will receive a text message saying someone on Peeple just rated them.

Okay.

The requirements to have a Peeple account are as follow. 

  • You have to have a facebook account that is older than 6 months.
  • You have to have a cell phone number
  • (I’m assuming there has to be some kind of minimum age?)
  • You have to have an IOS device.

So here’s where this whole mess falls down and I’m absolutely sure someone must have pointed this out in a developer design or SQA meeting.

This application (Service?) is based on a set of flawed assumptions.

Chilloutslut

Not everyone is nice.

There are in fact a lot of very nasty people for whom anonymity is not a gating factor on their nastiness, (Lena Dunham, Al Sharpton). Lots of people would take great delight in posting all the flaws of their most recent date, up to and including deficiencies in sexual prowess. 

“He didn’t take me to a nice restaurant.”
“She needed deodorant, and was still 1.5 hours late”
“He wouldn’t buy us wine and picked me up in a beat up car.”
“She had no clue how to behave in a nice restaurant, she drank too much, then threw up on the waiter.”
“All she wanted to do was talk about her last boyfriend.”
“We’d barely gotten our clothes off and he’d already gotten off.”
“Couldn’t give a blow job that didn’t feel like my dick was in a blender.”
“He couldn’t find my clitoris with landing lights, and me putting his finger in the right spot!”
“I’ve had better sex with fruits & vegetables.” 

Do we really need this kind of information?  

Not everyone has a facebook account.

If someone is rated unfairly, and doesn’t have a facebook account they’ll have to wait six months to even start to refute what’s being said. By that time, the damage is pretty much done and it’s irrevocable.

Imagine what happens if a guy is accused of rape, and doesn’t have a facebook account? The peeple application would be the least of his worries because in todays world a male is guilty of rape because a female says he is, regardless of the outcome of investigations, or trial.

Not everyone has an IOS device 

It’s probable that this app will be used to harm those who have no defense. The woman who’s using an Android device, The guy who doesn’t own a smart phone because he happens to like the simplicity of a flip phone. These people will be easy targets for victimization because they don’t own an Apple product. Talk about elitism and demanding conformity.

humiliation

Speaking of no defense;

The Peeple CEO says that there’s safety in the fact that for you to be a peeple user, you can’t be anonymous. Okay, that will probably make some people think about what they’re saying.

BUT

Those same people will have no trouble badmouthing someone they think will not be able to respond.

“Oh right, that bastard had an android… He really pissed me off so I can tell everyone else that he’s cheap, has a small dick, and doesn’t know how to kiss. He won’t get a date ever again!”

While I too wish that people would follow the angels of humanity’s better nature, you can’t read five minutes of any twitter timeline, or read any comments section at the bottom of any news article without learning that humanity always descends to it’s baser nature.

I’m pretty sure that this application will create another outlet for the basest and cruelest of our impulses.

Updates:

Peeple CEO defends new app after backlash from critics – Oct 2 2015