Fiat Lux

Two things that jumped out at me this morning:

1) Glenn Greenwald’s piece on the new WMD conspiracy theory currently making the right-wing rounds. Here’s a hint: any theory which requires the complicity of hundreds if not thousands of government workers on all parts of the political spectrum is utter BS. Doesn’t matter what theory you’re talking about, that’s just basic human nature.

2) This excellent video (slightly NSFW, profanity):

No, not the Ruhlman book. Anthony Bourdain’s inimitable style has extended into the web comic world. Check out yesterday’s Dork Tower.

Seriously, who thinks this stuff up?

And who buys it?

His post tonight may not be the Best. Post. Ever. but it’s right up there with the classics.

Go, read, and enjoy.

As for me, I have 2 projects due this week and 2 finals next week. I’m tired.

Seen in Flickr today. Apparently it’s a gag, not for real.

On the one hand, this type of commercial would be a natural extension to the existing “I’m a Mac / I’m a PC” campaign Apple has been running.

On the other hand, would doing so give the Zune too much legitimacy? Probably.

Shelley Powers decided to do something fun with Google Code Search and post the results on her blog: Search the developers’ comments for amusing tidbits. No surprise, “Stupid users” is all over the place.

Her favorite is the search for “piece of shit“. If you’re geeky, it’s very funny reading. Lots of bashing on IE and much much more.

The Mess That Greenspan Made has a well-done “guest blogging” spot but Stephen Colbert on America’s current housing market.

His conclusion:

So all you schadenfreuders out there, you can wipe that smile off your face because the housing bubble isn’t a bubble at all - and if it ain’t a bubble, it ain’t gonna pop. I know this because I just read Kendra Todd’s article at Yahoo! Real Estate where she said that the bubble is a myth and that, “real estate markets in many areas are going through a normal correction cycle.”

[It was an ad - look at the URL - it says promo]

I’m expecting a soft landing for housing and there’s nothing to worry about.

[Until next year]

I’m also expecting peace to break out all over the world, energy supplies to remain plentiful and cheap forever, the trade and budget deficits to correct quickly and painlessly, Republicans and Democrats to end their bickering, real wages to rise, health care costs to fall, education to improve, and all the world’s religions to merge seamlessly into a single unified understanding of God.

Heh. Well done.

Ran across this assessment of Linux as Un-American today:

Unlike Windows, which is a mature commercial product which is normally included with every new computer, Linux is given away. Now it may not sound like much of a problem, after all there is very little profit in merely giving a product away.

This would be certainly true were in not for the Linux project’s seductive Marxist ideology and the effect that it has on ‘Blue-State’ liberals. Indeed, Linux is so pervasive amongst the blue states and many liberal universities that a leading computer expert Steve Balmer [SIC] (from Microsoft) described Linux as cancer.

The American software industry is worth more than $7 Billion; Introducing a foreign product like Linux which is often copied for free could threaten that entire industry. A generation of computer users might get use to accepting foreign software hand-outs rather than paying for a superior American products. If only the danger were just to our economy:

These days computers control everything from TV stations to battleships; Our crucial information and defense infrastructure is built on computer technology. If we allow this cancer into our networks, there is no knowing what the effect might be on our infrastructure, but that is just what liberals are trying to do.

Imagine if the State of the Union address were hacked because the TV station decided to save money by using Linux? Imagine if a stealth-bomber crashed because its software was written by anonymous Chinese or European hackers. It would make as much sense as inviting the French to come over and take over the White-House.

And guess what software Osama Bin Laden uses on his laptop?

If you guessed it was Linux you would be 100% right.

Frankly, I can’t decide if this is somebody’s idea of a joke or if these people are for real, but either way it’s amusing enough to be worth a read.

Chain e-mail from my sister in law, but this one’s a hoot. And very true.

You know you’re from New York when…

1. You’re 35 years old and don’t have a driver’s license.

2. You ride in a subway car with no air conditioning just because there are seats available.

3. You take the train home and you know exactly where on the platform the doors will open that will leave you right in front of the exit stairway.

4. You know what a ‘regular’ coffee is. (For you non-NYers, this is a coffee with milk and sugar)

5. It’s not ‘Manhattan’; it’s ‘The City’.

6. There is no north and south. It’s “uptown” or “downtown.” If you’re really from New York you have absolutely no concept of where north and south are…. (and east or west is “cross-town”!)

7. You cross the street anywhere but on the corners and you yell at cars for not respecting your right to do it.

8. You move 3,000 miles away, spend 10 years learning the local language and people still know you’re from Brooklyn the minute you open your mouth.

10. You return after 10 years and the first foods you want are a “real” pizza and a “real” bagel.

11. A 500 square foot apartment is large.

12. You know the differences between all the different Ray’s Pizzas.

13. You are not under the mistaken impression that any human being would be able to actually understand a PA announcement on the subway.

14. You wouldn’t bother ordering pizza in any other city.

15. You get ready to order dinner every night and must choose from the major food groups which are: Chinese, Italian, Mexican or Indian.

16. You’re not the least bit interested in going to Times Square on New Year’s Eve.

17. Your internal clock is permanently set to know when alternate sides of the street parking regulations are in effect.

18. You know what a bodega is.

19. Someone bumps into you, and you check for your wallet.

20. You don’t even notice the lady walking down the road having a perfectly normal conversation with herself.

21. You pay “only” $230 a month to park your car.

22. You cringe at hearing people pronounce Houston St. like the city in Texas.

23. The presidential visit is a major traffic jam, not an honor.

24. You can nap on the subway and never miss your stop.

25. The deli guy gives you a straw with any beverage you buy, even if it’s a beer.

That’s New York, baby! Ya gotta love it.