Cath's Rants & Ramblings

Bikes

2007-10-14T16:27:00.000-07:00

Football

2007-10-12T22:45:00.000-07:00

Cary Tennis managed a much more sensitive answer to this question than Prudie, as much as I adore Emily Yoffe.

Maybe it's just because I like the prospect of a world where you can argue football doesn't exist.

Stuffed Baked Pears

2007-09-26T21:32:00.001-07:00

I want to eat this.

The problem is, I don't particularly want to cook it first thing in the morning....

Hatred of Modern Society Part II

2007-09-26T19:49:00.000-07:00

Following up on a previous post, from the perspective of a current Women's Studies class:

Something from today's NY Times (Lisa Belkin):
When we talk to our children about sex, about alcohol and drugs, or about the dangers of the Internet, we give them limitations and warnings. But when it comes to the subject of work, we tell them that they can be whatever they aspire to be; that they should aim high, work hard and dream big.
Although the article is about mothers balancing children and work, the insight is larger than that. I'd also make a connection to the NYTimes April feature about high school students pushed to excel in all areas. Preaching that it is possible for a person to do everything merely sets students up for depression because being stopped by finite resources (time, money, aptitude) becomes a personal failing.

The "you can do all the work you can imagine" myth is even more pervasive. It also paves the way for racism and sexism, because those in a position to have opportunities (to attend college, for example) come easily can interpret it as a personal failing (laziness, lack of effort) if anyone in another societal group does not have the same opportunities.

Academia and Religion

2007-09-26T19:21:00.001-07:00

The problem with discussing religion in an academic setting is that in all things academic discussions strive to approach the subject matter from an unbiased perspective; yet in religious questions (such as whether there is a God), being unbiased towards either answer is actually a strong opinion of its own.

Something worth reading

2007-05-31T09:46:00.000-07:00

Sam Brownback, senator from Kansas, speaking about evolution in today's New York Times Op-Ed section.

Sound byte driven debate certainly needs to be criticized. I am hoping that in a few decades the internet will once again let text and discourse gain a foothold over 15 second clips when influencing political decisions. The internet certainly has its share of inflammatory and inaccurate material, but these snippets do not exist in isolation the way that they would if aired on the radio or television. In fact, being connected to other material is arguably the definition of the web.

But, back on topic, asking political candidates to raise their hands if they "believe in evolution" is just absurd and Senator Brownback takes it apart beautifully.

There is very little for me to add to the senator's letter, other than to highlight my favorite line:

The heart of the issue is that we cannot drive a wedge between faith and reason. I believe wholeheartedly that there cannot be any contradiction between the two.

This is why trying to divide things up so that it's Evolution vs. All Religion always irks me. The theory of evolution is not an alternative religion for science fans; it clashes very specifically with one interpretation of creation, which is not something all religions unanimously agree on. Darwin should not be used as a foil for God (as some art around campus uses him, if you've seen the sculpture outside the Science Library) because it's nonsensical to do do.

Sociologists discover something most people already knew:

2007-05-31T07:40:00.000-07:00

...most "evangelical" teens are talking the talk but not walking the walk.

Of particular note:

One study found that the pledge works better if not everyone in school takes it.

I could have told you this at age 10. Lining up all of the schoolchildren and making them pledge something is meaningless; it just wastes time. During my public school years we had school-wide pledges about avoiding drugs, alcohol, sex, etc. — ours were administered to entire auditoriums, and you were not given a choice about whether or not to participate, so they meant absolutely nothing.

If anything, the take-home lesson was that pledges and vows are something you parrot and discard. Teaching that honor and commitment should be taken seriously would have done far more to change the world for the better than a single one of the verses about drugs or alcohol.

Yes, the phones CAN get weirder

2007-05-24T08:05:00.001-07:00

I have been told that after I left the office on the day of the echo calls, a small child began calling repeatedly and shouting "TOODLE NOODLE!"

Giggling at the NYTimes

2007-05-24T07:17:00.000-07:00

I'm assuming that this was intentional, and the text equivalent of a sly wink. I laughed out loud.

Evolution gets its continual comeuppance, while biblical revelations are treated as gospel. (italics added)

As they say in these parts: O RLY?

It's from a Museum review of the Creation Museum in KY; the museum is probably more than a bit loony (not a creationist here, and there seems to be obvious comedy in reinterpreting science in the name of not reinterpreting biblical text), but the photographs make me want to visit it just to appreciate the artistry of the displays.

(edit for an addition)

Another game of can you spot the lol?, this time with a bakery story.

When the bakery first opened, it had no name — a stunt that made the place perfect bait for bloggers. He thought about naming it Barn Door or Backyard, but eventually settled on Birdbath. “I like Birdbath,” Sahar Cusack, a clerk, told me. “I like to think of this as the birdbath,” she went on, pointing to the counter filled with pastries, “and all the little birds come in to feed at it. And I like the idea of birds and your carbon footprint — birds have one of the tiniest footprints.”

They admitted to baiting bloggers, so — interesting birdbaths you yankees have up there!

The phone calls can always get more bizarre...

2007-05-22T08:27:00.000-07:00

When I wrote yesterday's entry, I thought that the ship's horn calls could not be topped for pure surrealism.

Today I answered the phone to hear only my own voice, echoing on a three second delay, with timing such that my repeated "Hello"s answered themselves. After about 30 seconds of this, whatever called hung up.

Telemarketers again

2007-05-21T08:58:00.000-07:00

I've gotten used to prerecorded telephone calls by now. And there seems to be a distinct trend of the calls growing more and more surreal - the dialing programs that hang up on me right as I answer or ask me to wait on hold (uh... no, you called me), the day that I answered the phone to hear only jazzy music for an extended period of time (presumably it was also the result of an automatic dialer that had not been programmed to introduce itself before putting me on hold?).

Today's new twist:

I pick up the phone, and started to say "Good morning, may I help you" to be cut off by the deafening sound of a ship horn blasting my eardrums. I have my Inter-tel station's volume adjusted for quiet international calls with weak reception, not obnoxious noises. Who in their right mind thinks it's a good idea to open a phone call with a blast like that? You don't need to get my attention with a loud noise; that is the job of the phone station's ring, and it does it well.

I'm sure it seemed like a cute idea to use sound effects to United Public Opinion Group, but there seems to have been a distinct lack of thought about what it would be like to be on the receiving end. They don't give a contact phone number, or I'd be sorely tempted to get an air horn of my own and call back to share the unique experience.

The best part is that automated calls like this are usually repeated despite any effort on my part to stop them (this one didn't even give me an option to be removed) so I get to spend an entire week braced for a loud noise every time I answer the phone. It's like living a bad comedy sketch.

This is genius...

2007-05-20T15:20:00.000-07:00

Favorite link today -

A Fair(ly) Use Tale

I'm fascinated by intellectual property law and copyright, and the more that I think about it, the more that career seems to finally tie together all of my odd interests. Internet culture and MMORPGs are both fields where there's much to define and debate. Fine art? An obvious connection, and my undergraduate degree would be an asset instead of a diversion. My lingering interest in animation? Disney's role in the formation of copyright law really can't be ignored. Horticulture? Once again, more connection than you would think; patented and copyrighted plants that still reproduce like any other plants can create all sorts of tricky situations. And arguing with people like the sarcastic bitch I am — again, perfect match!

One for the Bad Idea File

2007-05-18T07:49:00.000-07:00

Reading about the trend of adding cemetaries or columbariums to colleges, all that I could think of was how UGA residents, as a group, treat the old cemetery on Jackson Street. Since part of the goal is obviously fundraising, they are overlooking a major cash cow in charging for the unique services that they as a college campus can provide (like cemeteries that have a fee to keep flowers at your gravesite). For an extra $2,000, your earthly remains will regularly be vomited on, and on holidays your marker will be decorated with a seasonal arrangement of beer cans and used condoms.

Warning: obvious joke ahead

2007-05-16T07:29:00.000-07:00

The Wiccan pentacle, a five-pointed star inside a circle, is often confused with symbols of Satanism. (The five points of the star represent the elements of nature — earth, air, fire and water — and the spirit...)

By your powers combined... I AM CAPTAIN PLANET!

Ok, now that I've got that out of my system...

One of these days I'll stop commenting on the NYTimes in every blog entry. This article, though, somewhat relates to my entry from a few days ago. It discusses how many Wiccans hide their religion from their own family.

Members of other religions, including Jews and Catholics, have sometimes been forced to mask their faith in the past because of religious bias, Professor Steinmetz said. But it is rare, he added, for people to keep their religion from parents and grandparents, as many Wiccans do.

It is my firm belief that any faith you cannot defend is insincere. Avoiding prejudice in environments where you will not have time for a dialogue is one thing; feeling that you would be unable to explain your choice to your family is quite another, and should make you question whether you have a religion or a LARP. Particularly if, in the example of the woman the NYTimes featured, you have felt the need to acquire a black cat to go with your altar and call your religious meetings "witch school."

Lest I be accused of ~~Planeteer~~ Wiccan prejudice, this loathing also applies to Christians, atheists, and members of absolutely any belief system (religious or not!) who have not examined their own thoughts enough to articulate a response to challenges. Modern society is a constant assault of material trying to influence you, and thus every belief must be thoroughly vetted.

Adventures with Vista. Advistaures?

2007-05-15T06:42:00.000-07:00

It's a frustrating time to try to choose an operating system.

Most of the information about Vista online has a strong bias. There's a lot of glowing, cheerful ad copy. There's also a lot of anti-Microsoft anger from posters who do not always explain what they dislike. And Microsoft's efforts to further polarize computer users into Microsoft vs. Open Source with their current scare campaign (announce which patents are supposedly violated already. Making accusations without giving the accused enough information to refute you is a tactic that should be left to internet forum trolls) is certainly not helping.

In the end, many of the objections to Vista — that it was not innovative enough to be worth upgrading from XP, the hardware requirements are high, some old hardware/drivers are incompatible — seemed to be negated by the fact that I was building a new system. And since I anticipate it being used widely in the business world we need it around to test software (and I want to learn its tricks since I will probably have to work with it one day).

So when I bought all of my hardware at Microcenter on Sunday (somewhat impulsively) I also picked up a copy of Vista Home Premium.

Installation was quick and it recognized all of the hardware, although I started a large download of a new video driver. I knew it wasn't as bad as all those horror stories on the internet! I thought to myself. In fact, I actually really like—

This copy of Windows is not genuine.

With that announcement, Vista locked my access to all system settings and programs.

The only thing that I could think of was a typing error when I entered the product key, despite having checked it character-by-character twice the way that I always do when installing software. But I couldn't check this theory because I was blocked from the control panel.

I spent a while pressing the "try again" link to see if it had been some sort of hiccup in my connection to their server, with no luck.

So I tried the "what could cause this message?" link, thinking that human typing error would surely be one of the options and that it would give me instructions for re-entering it. I got a list of ways that I could have violated the license and the option to buy a new product key. No thanks; you already have enough of my money.

Contact tech support was the next option. But wait! First it is suggested that you fill out a three-page survey. The allure of telling them I was dissatisfied using radio buttons drew me in. (If you want to measure customer satisfaction, who in their right mind surveys people seeking tech support before helping them?)

I checked "disbelief" for What was your reaction to finding out your copy of Windows is not genuine? and scrolled past flea market and roadside stall to type in Microcenter as where I had purchased my copy of Vista. I scrolled past far too many questions about my computer ownership philosophies until I found a field where I could type I'm sure that this is an error either in my typing or your validation software. Why are you wasting my time with this?

The large download finished before I worked my way through to contacting anyone, and Windows had also automatically installed several updates, so I rebooted the system. It downloaded a few more Windows updates and rebooted again. Then, unbidden, prompted me for the product key, and accepted the exact digits that I had previously entered. I suspect that one of the updates corrected something in their software. With a third reboot the scarlet letter(s) THIS COPY OF WINDOWS IS NOT GENUINE stopped being tattooed across my screen.

Is this the future of rights management? I am afraid for society if so:

You are guilty until proven innocent.
The system offers no way to recover from human error (by either the user or the programmers).

For Windows "validation," the 30-day grace period means that your computer functions while you troubleshoot if the process fails somehow. But for certifiying that it is "genuine" Windows acts as judge, jury, and executioner instantly. That's not right. Particularly with reports showing that despite the inconvenience to legitimate users, Vista's protection doesn't even slow down actual software piracy.

The New York Times said God is Dead

2007-05-13T22:06:00.000-07:00

(apologies, couldn't resist the title)

A review of God Is Not Great: How Religion Poisons Everything is so slathered in the worship of intellectualism that it is quite amusing that the author cannot see his own gods even as he writes "isn’t 'object of worship' almost a definition of a god?"

The example "conundrums" are not much of a challenge to religion, so I hope for the book's sake there has been a sampling error:

On a more somber note, how can the “argument from design” (that only some kind of “intelligence” could have designed anything as perfect as a human being) be reconciled with the religious practice of female genital mutilation, which posits that women, at least, as nature creates them, are not so perfect after all? Whether sallies like these give pause to the believer is a question I can’t answer.

Disclaimer: I have not read the book itself yet. But this quote seems to make it obvious that the reviewer, if not the author, has fallen into the most common errors of atheists I have argued with: he has combined all religions together into one lump, and is then crowing over having found logical flaws in his Frankenstein's monster.

To specifically take apart the question in the quote: before you ask whether being unable to reconcile intelligent design theory with genital mutilation challenges the value of religion, you must find a group that actually holds both of these as part of their religious values. Additionally, to be caught in a contradiction, this group must believe that they are making the female more physically perfect than she was created; this is not a reason for the practice that was given on any of the websites I found in my brief research.

The vast majority of your religious readers will not be in this small group and will find you tedious instead of having their faith shaken.

With this considered, the following concession in an otherwise glowing review seems to render the book especially worthless:

And all the logical sallies don’t exactly add up to a sustained argument...

It is impossible to logically tear down all of religion in vignettes because religion is not a unified front. When you try to take all of religion as a whole, it should be no surprise that you find contradictions and fallacies; religions disagree. There is even immense variety within Christianity and within church congregations.

Anyone who challenges the vague beast of "religion," picking his battles, is sure to win a meaningless victory. It would be far more interesting to debate an individual apologist who is practiced at articulating his beliefs. (Googlefight!)

This is a digression, but it should also be noted that many religions think that humans are sinful and imperfect, so discovering human hypocrisy does not attack their foundation. Having flaws in our execution does not disprove the truths we are trying to follow; after all, by that logic I personally have exposed integral calculus as a sham... repeatedly.

When I am supreme overlord of Earth...

2007-05-09T08:31:00.000-07:00

Once I have seized power, I am making this class on reading newspapers critically a program for elementary and middle school students instead of a specialty college course. It will be taught alongside an introduction to basic statistics and internet search skills.

During my public school career (grades K-8) we did discuss newspapers several times. These were days when everyone in the class would be handed one to look over while the virtues of daily newspaper reading was preached — newspapers that had been provided by their publishers for exactly this purpose, so it's hardly surprising that we didn't talk about looking for bias in sources!

Teaching children to read critically will be on my agenda, although this program will (of course) have to timed carefully to start towards the end of my reign, lest I create a populance that questions my propaganda.

They're coming to take me away, Ha-ha

2007-05-08T12:04:00.000-07:00

Acording to the computer, the literature class that I took last year satisfied UGA's "Cultural Diversity" requirement, but not the separate "Multicultural" requirement.

The "multicultural" requirement is college-level while "cultural diversity" is university level, but how exactly can a course be culturally diverse but not multicultural?

Most irritating of all: there's a note in the course bulletin that courses fulfilling one may not fulfill the other, meaning that this piece of illogic has already been noticed by someone who decided that's just the way it is, deal with it kids!

No, it's not a generation gap

2007-05-03T09:14:00.000-07:00

Today's NY Times has a think piece on online sites for children that sort of gets me riled up.

I wonder what she’s doing, whom she’s talking to and — here’s the part I find most mysterious — why it’s fun.

This is a generation gap I may never bridge... Am I the only parent lost in the 21st century?

I'd argue, to the contrary, that there has not been even the slightest change in the way children play over the past few decades. Throughout my youngest years, my dolls (Barbies and their like, followed by Littlest Pet Shop and — this would take more space to explain than I want to give it — dolls my friends and I crafted out of pencil erasers during the school day) attended doll social events at friends' houses, had pretend jobs that I acted out, and of course had doll houses that I decorated. It should not be the least bit surprising that it is the same fun to do that for a toy made out of pixels than plastic.

In fact, it might arguably be far healthier when doll accessories are earned by play work activities within the game world instead of bought with real world money. Barbie gets fancy things when a little girl begs a parent to buy them. Most virtual dolls get fancy things when they're earned at a play job — flipping burgers, to use the example from the NYTimes article. And a game economy provides a far better sandbox for learning about budgeting resources between needs and wants than the traditional allowance.

Ironically, as a parent writing about online worlds, the author missed the one thing that's actually of concern and worth a parent-child discussion and alarmed thoughtpiece:

“I feel dizzy,” I said. “How did that roulette wheel thing suddenly get onscreen and why are you spinning it?”

“To get a hundred dollars in kidzcash,” she said.

Games of chance are extremely easy to program and for this reason they are a staple of most online browser-based worlds. But there's one essential difference between roulette in this online game and roulette played for real money at either a virtual or physical casino: most online worlds that have them are using their games of chance as a way to add virtual money to their economies, so it is possible to make a consistent profit at them. Casinos provide consistent profit to themselves.

Pinta Island Tortoises

2007-05-01T07:47:00.000-07:00

~~Lonesome~~ George, famous tortise of the Galapagos, may not be the last Pinta tortise after all!

When I saw him a year ago the tour guide mentioned that part of the search for other Pinta tortoises had included genetic testing of the giant tortoises in zoos around the world. It seems to make a good story that George's actual genetic relatives were so near the whole time.

Amusingly, perhaps because so much value has been placed on things being unique, the initial reaction of some people seems to be that this demeans George somehow.

The NY Times also has an article today about the slaughter of invasive goats in the Galapagos. I'm forced to admit that it reminds me, more than anything else, of doing World of Warcraft quests on my low level druid. So you love nature and animals? Great! Get your weapons and go kill everything that moves down there in Mulgore.

Second Source Funding

2007-04-26T07:51:00.000-07:00

Time to expand this young blog into another of my favorite uses of the internet... griping about people who make your day difficult, so that search engines will (hopefully) return tales of how irritating they are instead of their happy ad copy.

Second Source Funding
2nd Source Funding
http://www.2ndsourcefunding.com/

...is a name that has become quite familiar to me from their frequent calls to work that play a recorded message. Last week I started taking notes on their calling habits because I had heard the name too many times, despite trying to get our number removed.

Searching for the 800-number given in the recorded message reveals that I am not alone. There is a hive of angry bees at Whocalled.us. Although I doubt that any amount of effort will produce a result. The problem is that telemarketers — like spam email senders — are bullies who are adept at avoiding the consequences of violating the law.

The registrant of 2nd Source Funding's website is Sam Chanin, 150 Broadway, New York, New York 10038, and they use the phone number 800-303-7020.

According to the FCC's website, in 2006 Sam Chanin, CEO of "Business Payment Systems LLC" at 800-303-7020 and the same mailing address received an official citation "for violations of the Act and the Federal Communications Commission's rules that govern telephone solicitations and unsolicited advertisements. As explained below, future violations of the Act or Commission's rules in this regard may subject you and your company to monetary forfeitures." Why take a citation as a sign to stop your illegal activities when you can just make a new front for your credit card processing business instead?

In case you have ever wondered if knowingly violating laws and being a nuisance bordering on harassment to nearly everyone his telemarketing contacts would bother a person, it apparently does not. "I would be a really good rabbi," Mr. Chanin cheerily told one website.

It's like those cards with "How do you keep an idiot busy? (over)" printed on both sides

2007-04-26T07:49:00.000-07:00

Don't read my blog today. Read Dad's.

Hatred of Modern Society Part I

2007-04-25T08:12:00.000-07:00

Something from today's NY Times (Lisa Belkin):

When we talk to our children about sex, about alcohol and drugs, or about the
dangers of the Internet, we give them limitations and warnings. But when it
comes to the subject of work, we tell them that they can be whatever they aspire
to be; that they should aim high, work hard and dream big.

Although the article is about mothers balancing children and work, the insight is larger than that. I'd also make a connection to the NYTimes April feature about high school students pushed to excel in all areas. Preaching that it is possible for a person to do everything merely sets students up for depression because being stopped by finite resources (time, money, aptitude) becomes a personal failing.

I impersonate myself, but only on Tuesdays

2007-04-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

It is important not to forget the true victims of the William-Kate breakup: the now unemployed Kate Middleton impersonators.

Wait, the who what now?

I can understand why there's a market for the impersonations with an element of performance to them. Some impersonators would obviously make the event more entertaining, like the various Borats who advertise their services. And it's a small jump from cover bands to singer impersonators (and a real cynic could argue that many pop singers' songs, dancing, and "image" is so defined by music industry professionals that you can put anyone with a similar body and voice into the role).

But impersonators of society figures seem deceptive. Why would you hire one for an event or advertisement unless you wanted people to think s/he was the real thing? It seems that costuming alone could communicate the idea of "a woman similar to Kate Middleton" (or whoever) for most purposes without looking for an exact body double.

Blogs: Scrapbooks of the Internet

2007-04-15T07:00:00.000-07:00

Some blogs have a clearly defined purpose, whether it's tracking news on a certain topic or detailing personal experiences with a hobby or life event. This is not one of them!

I see it as a scrapbook (in the Victorian sense, not the sense of the store I once visited with paper punches in 500 different shapes). Hey, that calling card has an interesting picture of a bird on it! Get the paste. The internet provides many scraps, and I simply want to collect them and throw in some thinking here and there. It may end up being decidedly boring to anyone who is not me, but that's true of most of blogs, isn't?