That's just like, your opinion, man. The Dude

The reason the word man was historically used for human ( mankind , chairman , etc.) is not that English speakers were so sexist they denied women's existence. It's because originally in English, it didn't mean male . There were two kinds of men : wers and wives (singular wife ) or wifmen and "wermen" (really wǽpmen ). We still use wer in werewolf and wif in midwife .

• The expression " Old Wives' Tale " disparages all women, not just the married ones.
• Male midwives are never called midwers .
• Female werewolves are usually called werewomen despite the facts that
  1. That means Man-woman .
  2. Wifwolf is awesome .

Regardless, now man means male , and women do all jobs, so we've got to make changes like fireman ↦ firefighter . Before you get your back up about this , the reason neologisms like chairperson sound bad isn't because they're contrived, it's because English loves monosyllables . Chairman sounds good because it's short. Heck, chair is stronger than the original though more contrived than chairwoman .

This was handled really well when Star Trek changed " To boldly go where no man has gone before " to " To boldly go where no one has gone before ". Non-nerds didn't know the less politically correct explanation , but didn't complain. The usual whiners didn't notice because trading one monosyllable for another didn't make it sound more awkward. We don't actually care about preserving old meanings or traditions, we just want eloquence .

Unfortunately, that trick can't be universally applied ("That's one small step for a one , one giant leap for onekind ."). We do have another monosyllable for human available, but I suspect wight is even more fraught than man . We need to dive into the bucket of all possible monosyllables and get a fresh one that sounds just right. Don't worry, there are plenty to choose from .

Did you hear that? Couldn't they say chair person ? I mean, come on guys — Oops! Overheard after a meeting

• quotation
• language
• trivia

Short words are best and old words, when short, are the best of all. Winston Churchill

I don't know how other languages work, but here in English, we love monosyllables . That's why using man for human sounds so good — though this now may have too much baggage .

The space of all possible monosyllables is like the space of reasonable domain names . It feels large, but you want to make sure you grab some good ones before they're all gone. In the interest of this, I wrote this script to list all non-obscene English monosyllables .

When I get enough tuits , I'll use the same CMU phonetic dictionary to generate an exhaustive list of all possible monosyllables like gripst .

• quotation
• language
• short

• scripts

The javascript below makes it so double clicking an element on a webpage gives the option to save its contents or compare to what was previously saved.

function get_display() {
  return document.querySelector("#floater_display");
}


function update_display(text) {
  document.querySelector("#floater_display").innerText = text;
}


function update_display_dom(elt) {
  let d = get_display();
  while (d.firstChild) {
    d.removeChild(d.lastChild);
  }
  d.appendChild(elt);
}

function perform_save() {
  localStorage["saved"] = document.querySelector("#floater").dataset.content;
}


function perform_compare() {
  if ("saved" in localStorage) {
    let old = localStorage["saved"];
    let new_ = document.querySelector("#floater").dataset.content;
    if (old == new_) {
      update_display("Same as saved");
    }
    else {
      let table = document.createElement("table");

      let tr0 = document.createElement("tr");
      let th0 = document.createElement("th");
      th0.innerText = "Different from before:";
      th0.style.textAlign = "left";
      tr0.append(th0);

      let tr1 = document.createElement("tr");
      let left_th = document.createElement("th");
      left_th.innerText = "Saved";
      let right_th = document.createElement("th");
      right_th.innerText = "Current";
      tr1.append(left_th);
      tr1.append(right_th);

      let tr2 = document.createElement("tr");
      let left = document.createElement("td");
      let right = document.createElement("td");
      left.style.verticalAlign = "top";
      right.style.verticalAlign = "top";
      left.style.borderStyle = "solid";
      left.style.borderWidth = "1px";
      right.style.borderStyle = "solid";
      right.style.borderWidth = "1px";
      left.innerText = old;
      right.innerText = new_;
      tr2.append(left);
      tr2.append(right);

      table.append(tr0);
      table.append(tr1);
      table.append(tr2);

      update_display_dom(table);
    }
  }
  else {
    update_display("Nothing previously saved");
  }
}


function inject_floater() {
  let floater = document.createElement("div");
  floater.id = "floater";

  let save = document.createElement("button");
  save.id = "floater_save";
  save.innerText = "Save";
  save.onclick = perform_save;
  floater.append(save);

  let compare = document.createElement("button");
  compare.id = "floater_compare";
  compare.innerText = "Compare";
  compare.onclick = perform_compare;
  floater.append(compare);

  let content = document.createElement("div");
  content.id = "floater_display";
  floater.append(content);

  let close_ = document.createElement("button");
  close_.id = "floater_close";
  close_.innerText = "Close";
  close_.onclick = close_floater;
  floater.append(close_);

  document.body.prepend(floater);
}


function go_floater(elt) {
  let floater = document.querySelector("#floater");
  floater.style.visibility = "visible";
  floater.dataset.content = elt.innerText;
  document.querySelector("#floater_display").innerText = showntext(elt);
}


function close_floater() {
  let floater = document.querySelector("#floater");
  if (floater) {
    floater.style.visibility = "collapse";
    deselect_all();
  }
}


function deselect_all() {
  Array.from(document.querySelectorAll(".selected")).forEach(function(selected) {
    selected.classList.remove("selected");
  });
}


function select_element(elt) {
  deselect_all();
  elt.classList.add("selected");
}


function showntext(elt) {
  let fulltext = elt.innerText;
  if (fulltext.length <= 20) {
    return fulltext;
  }
  else {
    return fulltext.substr(0, 26) + "...";
  }
}


function universal_ondblclick(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  e.stopPropagation();
  let clicked = e.target;
  select_element(clicked);
  go_floater(clicked);
}


function inject_css() {
  let style = document.createElement("style");
  style.innerHTML = `
#floater {
  background: #f7f7f7;
  width:90%;
  padding: 1em;
  position: fixed;
  bottom: 0;
  left: 1em;
  border-width: 1px;
  border-style: solid;
  visibility: collapse;
  z-index: 9999;
  color: black;
}
.selected {
  border-style: solid;
  border-width: 3px;
  border-color: red;
}
  `;
  document.head.prepend(style);
}

function main() {
  window.addEventListener('dblclick', universal_ondblclick);
  inject_css();
  inject_floater();
}

main();

• recipes

Adapted from this recipe to

• Reduce salt
• Add heat
• Reduce carbohydrates
• Simplify cooking

Spicy Cabbage Soup

• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 large diced white onion
• 6+ cloves minced garlic
• 8 cups of sodium free vegetable/chicken stock from carton or powder
• 2+ diced carrots
• 1+ stalk celery
• 3+ small skinned, cubed turnips (big ones are bitter, small ones taste like cabbage)
• 1 roughly chopped head of cabbage
• 1½ tsp. ground cumin
• 1 tsp. crushed red pepper flakes

Directions

1. Heat oil in big stockpot over "medium-high" heat.
2. Sauté onions for 5 minutes. Stirring until softened.
3. Stir in garlic and sauté for 2 minutes until fragrant.
4. Add everything else, stirring until simmer.
5. Reduce to medium-low for 30 minutes.

I buy genuine Brother toner out of gratitude .

• short

60% of quotes I like have dubious attribution. When I find a saying without an obvious source, I attribute it to Yara Lightfoot. Found a provable source? Tell me and I'll update.

She's a Swedish-Hobbit name from this generator that doesn't show up in google.

Clear source

History viewed from the inside is always a dark, digestive mess, far different from the easily recognizable cow viewed from afar by historians.

— Dan Simmons, Hyperion

Messy attribution/rewording, etc.

Fairy tales are more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.

— G.K. Chesterton paraphrased by Neil Gaiman

God only knows

Some people are so poor, all they have is money.

— Yara Lightfoot

• quotation

Unfortunately, people are not rebelling against Microsoft. They don't know any better. Steve Jobs

• Favicons
• Beautiful background images for the login screen

• list
• quotation
• short

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers.

“Why don't they let us use calculators here?!”

I've been asked the above question by 90% of my college freshmen. I'll explain why calculators are forbidden on exams and generally discouraged for use in most math classes at most institutions of higher education.

“What's with this university?”

Almost anybody involved in " tertiary education " anywhere in the world agrees that learning mathematics should have nothing to do with using calculators. At one community college where I taught, I and my colleagues were forced by administrators to integrate calculator use into our lesson plans despite our objections.

The feeling that calculators hinder students is in no way unique to your university. Johns Hopkins professor W. Stephen Wilson has compiled an ad hoc list of math professors around the world who agree .

“So you don't think calculators are good for anything?”

Calculators certainly have their place. When I add the scores on your final exam, I will be typing them into my trusty TI . I don't trust myself to add long lists of numbers by hand accurately. When I'm finished with a long and difficult problem, I often check the answer on my calculator or computer to see if I've messed anything up.

“What's wrong with calculators anyway?”

1. They lie.

   The calculator is a machine. It doesn't know anything about mathematics. A smart engineer has programmed it to give some pretty good answers to some math questions, but these are usually approximations, and, in the strictest sense, very often incorrect .

   For example, once you've become acquainted with elementary manipulation of exponents in algebra, you, a human, can tell that 20 ^x ×30 ^x =600 ^x so 20 ^x ×30 ^x – 600 ^x =0 .

   Look at what calculators think the graph of 0 looks like when you write it as above:

   TI-92 : $60	Maple : $995	Michelle - age 13: Priceless

   This problem is called “ overflow error ” and it's one of the many ways calculators lie to you if you don't carefully guess real answers based on their approximations. One instance of this error may have cost over $370,000,000 .

2. They can't understand or explain anything subtle.

   Humans can understand that the functions

   f(x)=

   x 2 x

   and
   g(x)=x
   are slightly different: g can take any number as an argument, but f is not defined at 0.

   Calculators understand this:

   TI-92	Maple

   but have no way to tell you when you're studying the entire function by looking at its graph:

   TI-92	Maple	Esther - age 15

3. They can only give answers to a few types of questions and only if you ask just right.

   TI-92	Maple	Catherine - age 14
   ChatGPT

4. Asking for something to be done for you is not the same as doing it yourself.

   Depending on a machine to do your intellectual work is not just degrading, it also limits your understanding. If you want to do any kind of science from Engineering to Biology to being a practicing physician, you're going to have to understand mathematics. Understanding comes from doing.

5. You need to be able to recognize when they err and possibly supply an alternative answer yourself!

   Your graphing calculator is a precision instrument that will probably not have a real bug for years to come. But, if you only learn how to do math with a calculator, you're going to have to depend on whatever machine happens to be around when you're doing your job. That machine might not be as dependable:

“Why do they want me to be good at calculating stuff by hand? It's so tedious.”

Math teachers don't want you to be fast accurate human replacements for calculators. Most teachers consider it their responsibility to craft test questions and exercises in such a way that the arithmetic involved doesn't invite too many errors. Limiting calculator usage in class is to help you learn mathematics, not learn fast arithmetic .

“But I don't know a bunch of elementary arithmetic!”

Ask me anything .

Please ask me about any aspect of mathematics that's escaping you. You can come by my office anytime . Don't have shame about anything. Teaching you is my job. Understanding your coursework is your job. I mean it. If you can't add 1/3 to 1/2 ask me how!

• math

• Canonical lines where no human makes a choice
• A game theoretic trick that lets parties fight over redistricting in a way that comes out fair to both

• politics
• math

This keeps happening. I write something tiny in Python for my own use. Then I realize I want to add just one dependency and immediately want to rewrite in Rust just because cargo works so much better than pip.

I should think of Rust as much, much harder to use, but here we are.

• short

Charm is the ability to insult people without offending them; nerdiness the reverse. - Nassim Nicholas Taleb

Parents observed nerds' tastes and made their kids listen to Mozart and play chess.

I've just realized in 100 years, people will force their kids to play Dungeons & Dragons and watch Marvel movies .

• short
• showerthoughts

Black's spheres

• Previous position: The spheres are distinguished by a property called "identity". Each ball has a distinct identity, so there are two spheres.
• Current position: These spheres are so identical that if one had an eye and looked up, it would see "the other one"'s eye looking back at it, batting its eyelashes at the exact same time, etc. Clearly these are one ball. I guess I think "identity" alone isn't a property.

Consciousness

Chinese Rooms

• Previous position: Chinese rooms are conscious. Regardless of the goofy mechanism, if I'm talking to a room and say "What did I say my name was again? What was the second question I asked you?" and it actually responds correctly, that thing's conscious. Specifically the consciousness is located in the algorithm as represented by the Chinese rulebook inside the room. My brain's just a collection of algorithms written in wetware anyway. What's the difference?
• Current position: The fact that the Chinese room can respond instantaneously without reflection makes it seem like it's not cogitating. So I feel like there's no cognition. I instinctively feel like it can't be conscious because of this. I still haven't figured out how to go back and rationalize this with any good argument.

Ant colonies

• Previous position: Of course ant colonies are conscious . I'm conscious, though my individual cells aren't. My brain is, though the individual neurons aren't. Ant colonies seem to have memories that last longer than the lives of the individual ants .
• Current position: Uh oh. If ant colonies are conscious , then I may have to accept that the planet Earth is conscious . I don't want to believe that, so I need to rationalize my way out of it.

• list
• philosophy

My son has gotten accustomed to pre-made frozen pancakes. "Made by a robot in a factory". Through trial and error, I have figured out how to make pancakes that he can't distinguish from pre-made ones:

Robot Pancakes

• ½ of what the directions say for Bisquick with 2 teaspoons of sugar
• • In one big bowl (dry)
    • 1½ cups flour
    • 3 tablespoons sugar
    • 1¾ teaspoons double-acting baking powder
  • In another big bowl (wet)
    • 1 egg
    • 3 tablespoons vegetable oil
    • 1¼ cups milk
  • Whisk or egg-beater dry bowl
  • Whisk or egg-beater wet bowl
  • Pour wet bowl into dry bowl, whisk together
  Adapted from The Joy of Cooking
• If you have a pancake dispenser , pour everything in there. I keep it in the fridge for a week so I can make pancakes every morning.
• Pour into perfect circle on skillet, 1m45s on each side.
• Cast iron skillet.
• Electric stove setting 2

• recipes

cmake:

sudo apt-get install cmake

xsltproc:

sudo apt-get install xsltproc

tidy-html5:

git clone git://github.com/htacg/tidy-html5
cd tidy-html5/build/cmake
cmake ../..
make
sudo make install

curl:

sudo apt-get install libcurl4-openssl-dev

libpcre:

sudo apt-get install libpcre3-dev

readline:

sudo apt-get install libreadline-dev

python modules:

sudo apt-get install python-yaml

duktape: Even though duktape-dev and duktape are present, installing them didn’t get duktape.h

git clone https://github.com/svaarala/duktape.git
cd duktape
make dist
cd dist
make -f Makefile.sharedlibrary
sudo make -f Makefile.sharedlibrary install
make -f Makefile.cmdline
sudo ln -s $(pwd)/duk /usr/local/bin/duk

Make links to libraries in somewhere raspbian looks by default:

sudo ln -s /usr/local/lib/libduktape* /usr/lib/

edbrowse:

cd build
cmake ..
make
sudo make install

• how to

This must be Thursday. I never could get the hang of Thursdays.

Arthur Dent

I made a quick page to test your ability to use the doomsday rule .

• short
• link

Thanks to this gimp script you can now make a hedcut of yourself to pretend you’ve appeared in the Wall Street Journal.

• A pixel artist renounces pixel art
• SVG by hand

• list
• links

• How to make movie posters of different types

• short
• list
• links

Not that I have anything much against redundancy. But I said that already. Larry Wall

• JoyToKey which converts USB joystick input into keyboard and mouse input.
• Prof. Knuth's letter to the Patent Office
• Anime Style Simpsons Poster from this deviant art deviation .
• Anime Style Futurama Poster from this other deviant art deviation .
• The only legitimate hit when looking through google for "I am the ^ and the $."
• Yes, the David Korn story is true. (UNIX story)
• Shockwave video showing an interesting way to fold your clothes.

• list
• links
• quotation

Computers are useless. They can only give you answers. Pablo Picasso

• model M keyboards (Mine was $1 at Goodwill )
• Mozilla Firefox
• Stylish ( a style I made )
• Glaze Black Theme
• Fly around Baltimore . Controls: Arrows, A, Z, space
• google for audio
• Wikipedia (They also like lists )
• Project Gutenberg : full text of any book out of copyright.
• SDF provides free UNIX accounts.
• The Dvorak Layout : mildly more efficient and much less stressful than QWERTY
• MIDI
• The Info-Mac HyperArchive

• list
• links

The difference between 2048 and gambling is that now that I've won 2048 once, I never have to play again.

• link
• short

Joni Mitchell is great, but I try to think of her lyrics as nonsense (a la Tori Amos ¹ ) because they're always "introspective" ² . Today's case in point: youtube told me against my will that instead of a bunch of gibberish about astrology, Little Green is about giving up her newborn daughter for adoption.

1: Jeez, five seconds looking for some nonsense lyrics by her brought up stuff about multiple miscarriages and female genital mutilation.

2: i.e. personal stuff about her life I don't want to hear about when I'm doing the dishes.

• downers
• short

• short
• link
• how to

• short
• link

Alex Trebek: He took control of the Ford Motor Company after Henry Ford's death.
Ken Jennings: Who was Ford?
Alex Trebek: More specific.
Ken Jennings: I was afraid you were going to say that.

• The peanut is neither a pea, nor a nut.
• Koalas have fingerprints
• House cats, tigers, and cheetahs can't taste sweetness
• How Romans multiplied Roman Numerals, and why it works

• list
• trivia

When I was a kid we had role models. We didn't have computer games; we were brought up properly: by television. Jimmy Carr

• Limbo
• Portal
• Miegakure
• Heavy Rain

• short
• list
• video games

My person-action-object (PAO) system using major system words exclusively. Some are a stretch, but it's a very easy system to learn with the major system crutch.

• Animals make great objects.
• I like to distinguish 03 and 3, so I've actually got 110 triplets.
• My real personal list replaces many celebrity and generic names with friends: I suggest you do likewise.
• Suggestions for simpler replacements are more than welcome.
• Having the triplets be striking themselves made them easier for me to remember.

• tool
• memory
• mnemonics

• Eplacéra nyäen etterló "K" ithwó äen etterlí "C"
• Ovémí héten irstfë etterlä fóen achéï ordwó óten héten ndéen
• Fíen héten ordwá síen esslú hantë 4 etterslï onglá, ddäen héten ndingéa -en
• Fíen héten ordwí síen ongerlá utben ndséó níen äen owelvó, ddäen -th
• Fíen héten ordwï síen ongerló utben ndséá níen äen onsonantcë, ddäen äen andomrë owelvä óten héten ndéen
• Princlésë iberallylé ithwa ccentäth arcsmé

• short
• language
• how to

• Oh, that scene in Bladerunner actually makes sense.
• Game theory
• Multiplication.
• Not trying at math can cost you $15,000.
• Great algorithm to answer Gerrymandering.
• Java Sliderule.
• Large collection of so-so quality math videos. ()
• Not about math, but great example of teaching.
• Circles are awesome.
• Chatrooms that allow chatting in LaTeX ()
• An instance of a teacher falling for a fencepost error.
• Conditional probability matters.
• Slightly condescending story about public confusion over negative numbers.
• How to count to twenty on one hand.
• A majority of Americans ()
• Only helping about 80 people.
• Get a large sample size before extrapolating.
• Comcast thinks 0 is positive.
• Surely fake 911 call for math help.
• This youtube user hosts many Square One TV sketches.
• Free math textbooks online. I can confirm that they're not _all_ just by cranks.
• How the Romans multiplied Roman Numerals and why it works.
• How misused calculators embarassed a traffic officer.
• Why don't they let me use calculators?
• Exotic multiplication and division from strange textbooks
• Supermathematics
• A nice use of log-scale plotting.
• Everything you always wanted to know about trig . ()
• Benford's Law
• Embarassing math rap.
• Longish talk about statistics
• Multiplication Method for large numbers
• Sophomore's Dream
• Pythagorean theorem applied to everything
• Mobius transformation eye-candy
• Self-referential formula
• Example of mathematical ignorance misconstruing statistics
• 8 minute mock documentary about math
• Magazine misprint
• Some innumeracy anecdotes
• Infamous verizon dollar and cents arithmetic mistake

• links
• list

• list
• links

I prefer ^* to parse code and literature with my mind and eyes, not weird highlighting. So I usually have syntax highlighting off. But having commented out code look different is really helpful. If you would like that kind of setup, drop

" Turn off all syntax highlighting except comments and errors which are actually useful.
set t_Co=256
syntax on
highlight Comment    cterm=italic ctermfg=none
highlight Error      ctermfg=yellow
highlight Constant   ctermfg=none
highlight Identifier ctermfg=none
highlight Statement  ctermfg=none
highlight PreProc    ctermfg=none
highlight Type       ctermfg=none
highlight Special    ctermfg=none
highlight Underlined ctermfg=none

* Not anymore (2015)

• how to
• vim
• short

Or: How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Meter

A centimeter? If any centimeters come crawling into this room, I'll step on 'em! Sally, Peanuts

The Few Advantages of Traditional Systems Over Metric

Units usually correspond to something understandable in your environment.

There are usually specialized units that work on whatever scale you need.

There are units tailored to every particular purpose.

The steps between units are often small and intuitive.

• 1000 meters is 1 kilometer.
• A few feet is a yard.
  • A few yards is a rod.
    • A few rods is a chain.
      • 10 chains is a furlong.
        • 8 furlongs is a mile.

Traditional units naturally express an estimation's margin of error.

Large units often divide evenly into useful whole numbers of smaller units.

The Advantages of the Metric System

It is the standard system for the whole world.

The units of measurement are all powers of 10.

• metric

1. Put the latest xbindkeys tarball in some directory (I like to use $HOME/src )
2. tar xvzf xbindkeys-1.8.5.tar.gz
3. cd xbindkeys-1.8.5
4. sudo apt-get install libx11-dev guile-1.8 guile-1.8-dev guile-library
5. sudo ./configure
6. sudo make
7. Get some error. But just sudo make a few more times anyway.
8. sudo make install

• short
• how to
• ubuntu

• short
• how to

Hey, as long as he's got eight fingers and eight toes, he's fine by me. Homer Simpson

I've seen ways to count to 6 , 10 , 15 , and even 31 on one hand.

I've found the most natural method to be one that counts to 20 taught to me by my friend Romie. Instead of counting fingers or memorizing hand positions you count the joints and tips in your five fingers. Each finger has four, so you can count to 5 × 4 = 20 on one hand.

For 1 through 16, point at the joint or tip with the thumb of the same hand. For 17-20 use the middle or index finger, whichever comes up more naturally. For 17, you're really just pointing at the pad of your hand — it's too hard to feel the joint under there.

Try this at home! It's nice to be able to count so high on one hand and it's less cumbersome than more exotic methods. Of course there's nothing to stop you counting 20s on your left hand and units on your right, allowing you to count to 20 × 20 = 400 on two hands.

• math
• quotation

Death, then, being the way and condition of life, we cannot love to live if we cannot bear to die. William Penn

I just realized that even if cryonics made sense and was 100% effective. I have 0 faith in 20 generations of people to be even slightly responsible.

• short
• downers
• quotation

Controller is so intuitive, even your mum can play. Shigeru Miyamoto

• short
• link
• video games
• quotation

Yes, Cuban 'b'.

All of the extremely dirty words in English are monosyllabic ( some examples ). It's always been funny to me that there were certain grunts we can utter that make people uncomfortable and make children giggle and blush.

I always figured there must be some words like these in Chinese. They would have the added bonus of having a single chinese character, i.e. a _picture_ that would make people uncomfortable. When I'd ask my Chinese friends, the closest they'd give me was something that translated to "his mother" or "your mother". These were no good because

• They use two characters .
• The characters themselves aren't inherently bad; the phrase is dirty. This is equivalent to saying someone sleeps with their own mother. That's not a swear word, it's an insult.

As it turns out, my Chinese friends were being coy. There is a single character — a picture — a single flat-toned syllable that makes Chinese speakers blush. It is bī.

This word is funny on many levels.

• It's an inherently dirty word as it's a vulgar word for female genitalia.
• It's made from the characters for 'body' and 'cave' stitched together.
• Combined with the word for 'cow' (níu), it means ‘cool’ in a cocky, aloof way.
• Combined with the word for 'stupid' (shǎ), it's derogatory. "You stupid female genitalia!"

References:

• language
• offensive

This post used to have a long rant about how much I hated L.A. because idiots kept slamming their cars into me. This song is in the same vein and much less whiny.

When it's grey in L.A. I sure like it that way,
Cause there's way too much sunshine round here...
I don't know about you, I get so sick of blue skies
Whenever they always appear.

And I sure love the sound of the rain pouring down,
On my carport roof made out of tin,
If there's a flood, then there's gonna be mudslides--
We all have to pay for our sin!

And I suppose that they'll close canyon roads,
And the freeways will all start to clog.
And the waters will rise and you won't be surprised
When your whole house smells like your wet dog...

When it's grey in L.A. it's much better that way,
It reminds you that this town's so cruel.
Yeah it might feel like fun when you're sporting sunglasses--
But really, you're just one more fool!

I'm just a chump,
This whole town's a dump,
We came out here to dump all our dreams
Of making it big, but we're stuck in a sig alert nightmare--
That's just how it seems.

And I suppose, Laurie David sure knows
All those cars we drive heat up our earth;
And sea temperatures rise, and those constant blue skies
And brush fires can sure curb your mirth!

Brad Grey's in L.A. yeah okay! I should stay here
There's no place that's better I know,
For a wannabe star, stuck in a car
On a freeway with nowhere to go...

When it's grey in L.A. I sure like it that way,
Cause there's way too much sunshine round here...
I don't know about you, I get so sick of blue skies
Whenever they always appear!

• Los Angeles
• downers
• video

• Los Angeles City College
    855 N. Vermont Ave.
    Los Angeles, CA 90029

• East Los Angeles College
    1301 Avenida Cesar Chavez
    Monterey Park, CA 91754

• Los Angeles Harbor College
    1111 Figueroa Place
    Wilmington, CA 90744

• Pierce College
    6201 Winnetka Ave.
    Woodland Hills, California 91371

• Los Angeles Trade Technical College
    400 West Washington Blvd.
    Los Angeles, CA 90015

• Los Angeles Valley College
    5800 Fulton Avenue
    Valley Glen, CA 91401-4096

• Los Angeles Mission College
    13356 Eldridge Avenue
    Sylmar, CA 91342-3245

• West Los Angeles College
    9000 Overland Avenue
    Culver City, CA 90230
    (I taught here and it paid well!)

• Moorpark College
    7075 Campus Road
    Moorpark, CA 93021

• Santa Monica College
    1900 Pico Boulevard
    Santa Monica, California 90405

• Oxnard College
    4000 South Rose Ave
    Oxnard, California 93033
    (I taught here and it was great!)

• Compton Community College
    1111 E. Artesia Blvd
    Compton, CA 90221

• Long Beach City College
    Pacific Coast Campus
    1305 East Pacific Coast Highway
    Long Beach, CA 90806

• Long Beach City College
    Liberal Arts Campus
    4901 East Carson Street
    Long Beach, CA 90808

• Coastline College
    11460 Warner Avenue
    Fountain Valley, CA 92708

• Pasadena City College
    1570 E. Colorado Blvd.
    Pasadena, CA 91106

• Mt. San Antonio College
    1100 N. Grand Avenue
    Walnut, CA 91789

• College of the Canyons
    26455 Rockwell Canyon Road
    Santa Clarita, CA 91355

• Los Angeles Southwest College
    1600 West Imperial Highway
    Los Angeles, CA 90047

• data
• list

Software and cathedrals are much the same -- first we build them, then we pray. Sam Redwine

• GUI
  • psdash
  • winmerge
  • zenmap
  • Retroshare
  • Artha
  • Theme Font and Size Changer
  • Wily
  • twilio
  • gmusicbrowser
  • PDF-shuffle
  • Swiffy
  • OGMrip
  • flightgear
  • screenlets
  • gdesklets
  • SheepShaver
  • Marble
  • CrossOver
  • Fontmatrix
  • OpenGrade
  • Disk space visualizers
    • ncdu
    • gt5
    • gdmap
    • windirstat
  • qutecom
  • mediatomb
• WEB
  • file.pizza Direct browser to browser file sharing
  • Database of vector images
  • vexflow
  • instantserver
  • cleaver
  • echofs
  • Stamen Map to Image
  • Gollum
  • Nonsense Forum
  • AJAX Zoomify viewer
  • DotEPUB
  • Offliberty
• Firefox add-ons
  • Adblock Plus
  • Blank Your Monitor + Easy Reading
  • Configuration Mania
  • DownThemAll!
  • Ghostery
  • Grab and Drag
  • Multi Links
  • Pentadactyl
  • QuickJava
  • QuickProxy
  • Stop Autoplay
  • Stylish
  • TabGroups Menu
  • Theme Font & Size Changer
  • TubeStop
  • User Agent Switcher
  • Web Developer Toolbar
• CLI
  • sortphotos *perfect* program for gathering up all your old photos and putting them in a simple hiercharchy renaming files as necessary.
  • ttystudio
  • PBOX Like apt-get for windows
  • Edbrowse
  • tabview
  • cgdb
  • locate
  • byzanz
  • Bower
  • Control-T
  • Underscore-CLI
  • Selfspy
  • wcd (curses cd burner)
  • pacpl
  • whistle control
  • boodler
  • tmsu
  • glue
  • StormFS
  • CPat
  • vidir
  • Toast
  • When
  • Cronwhip
  • Shuf
  • EasyTimeLine
  • lesspipe
  • Ermine
  • bashmount
  • pinfo
  • kippo
  • clamor
  • ttyload
  • fc-list
  • plowshare
  • sup
  • trickle
  • albumbler
  • detox
  • pv
  • pstree
  • clitwi
  • Mp3 players
    • moc
    • nvlc
  • dzen
  • unpaper
  • swftools
  • acpi
• Programming
  • pulse
  • pex
  • visPy
  • midipix
  • lawnchair
  • sql.js
  • blessings
  • Show vim marks

• list

The moment one gives close attention to anything, even a blade of grass, it becomes a mysterious, awesome, indescribably magnificent world in itself. Henry Miller

• perspective
• Steampunk
  • Datamancer
  • Steam Punk Workshop
• Língua Portuguesa
• vi
• Spiders
• Evolution
  • Biological
  • Stellar
  • Geological
• Smoke curling
• Liquid crowning
• Clouds
• Intricate Machinery
  • Steam toys
  • Engines
  • Carburetors
  • Typewriters
    • Typewriters
    • The Virtual Typewriter Museum
  • The Human Body
• Celtic knotting
• Radial Symmetry
• Graffiti
  • Witty
  • Baroque
• The Sun
• The Moon
• The Ocean
• Music

• quotation
• list

Fa, fa, fa. Alfred E. Neuman

• Show me a trunk murderer, and I'll show you a sloppy packer. (Issue 038)
• Bars are something which if you go into too many of, you're apt to come out singing a few of, and maybe land behind some! (Issue 039)
• It takes 12,000 workers to put a bottle of milk on your doorstep, and at 4 A.M. in the morning, it sounds like it. (Issue 040)
• There are more important things in life than money... but they won't go out with you if you haven't got any! (Issue 041)
• Conscience is what hurts when everything else feels so good! (Issue 042)
• Kissing a girl because she lets you is like scratching a place that doesn't itch! (Issue 044)
• It is no longer a question of where civilization began, but if it ever did! (Issue 045)
• The big guns in business are the guys who haven't as yet been fired! (Issue 047)
• America was once "The Melting Pot"... now it's "The Pressure Cooker!" (Issue 048)
• One sure way parents can keep their teenage daughters out of hot water is to put some dishes in it! (Issue 049)
• Astronomers point out that star clusters, galaxies, in fact the whole universe is racing away from Earth at 15,000 miles per second. Can you blame it? (Issue 050)
• A fellow will go out with a girl if she's really different from other girls... the difference being she'll go out with him. (Issue 051)
• Even a Castanet doesn't click every time! (Issue 052)
• Adolescence is that period in a child's life when his parents become most difficult! (Issue 053)
• It's a good idea to keep your words soft and sweet because you never know when you'll have to eat them! (Issue 054)
• In the old days on radio, you used to wonder what the studio audience was laughing at. Nowadays on TV, you wonder why! (Issue 055)
• Invariably, the contents of a will are a dead giveaway! (Issue 056)
• Behind almost every successful man is a woman who doesn't have a thing to wear! (Issue 057)
• That little voice inside us, which used to be our conscience, is now a pocket radio! (Issue 058)
• When adults act like children, they're called 'immature' -- When children act like adults, they're called 'juvenile delinquents'! (Issue 059)
• A loaf of bread, a jug of wine, and thou beside me... and pretty soon I'll be fat, drunk, and in trouble! (Issue 060)
• Taking your wife to a convention is like taking the game warden hunting. (Issue 061)
• The nicest thing about success is you don't have to listen to good advice any more. (Issue 062)
• People get into financial difficulty when they don't act their wage! (Issue 063)
• People with bad coughs should go to Doctors instead of Theaters! (Issue 064)
• Some people are like blisters, they show up right after the work is done! (Issue 065)
• Only a light bulb can go out every night and still be bright the next day! (Issue 066)
• Petting is one game where the players prefer to stay on the bench! (Issue 067)
• The main thing wrong with the younger generation is a lot of us don't belong to it anymore! (Issue 068)
• Alarm clocks invariably scare the daylights into people! (Issue 069)
• You'll never get rid of a bad temper by losing it! (Issue 071)
• The trouble with trying to 'get away from it all' these days is that most of it is portable! (Issue 072)
• People go on vacation to forget things... and when they open their bags, they remember what they forgot! (Issue 073)
• If your wife wants to drive, don't stand in her way! (Issue 074)
• Learn from the mistakes of others, 'cause you'll never live long enough to make 'em all yourself. (Issue 075)
• Housework is what a woman does that nobody ever notices -- until she doesn't do it. (Issue 076)
• If Communism is such a big success, why don't they put up a 'picture window' instead of an 'iron curtain'? (Issue 078)
• It's a good thing the Earth turned out to be round, because putting a satellite into a square orbit would've been costly! (Issue 079)
• Girls who try to be 'talking encyclopedias' should remember that reference books are never taken out! (Issue 080)
• You never know bow many friends you have until you rent a Summer place! (Issue 081)
• Some minds are like concrete... all mixed up and permanently set! (Issue 082)
• If we're going to insure better education for our children, we better start pulling some wires -- mainly the ones on the TV, Radio and Hi-Fi! (Issue 083)
• Working on a job may not be as hard as it used to be, but it certainly is a lot more taxing. (Issue 084)
• The good thing about Rock 'n' Roll records is when they wear out, you can't tell the difference. (Issue 085)
• Somehow I always get the same seat at a ball game -- between the hot dog vendor and his best customer. (Issue 086)
• Sometimes, the best scheme for doubling your money is to fold it in half and stuff it back in your wallet! (Issue 087)
• Everybody's looking for less to do, more time to do it in, and more pay for not doing it. (Issue 088)
• A sense of humor is what makes you laugh at something which would make you sore if it happened to you! (Issue 090)
• A tree is something that stands in one place for fifty years, and then all of a sudden jumps out in front of a woman driver. (Issue 091)
• If you want to know what it's going to be like being married to your girl, just watch how she treats her little brother! (Issue 092)
• You can't do anything about the family you were born into, but you can do something about the family your children will be born into! (Issue 093)
• Many a girl in love with a cleft chin makes the mistake of marrying the whole man! (Issue 094)
• Occasionally a bachelor will find a girl who has everything -- looks, charm, grace, wit, personality, common sense, and a husband with three children! (Issue 095)
• One of the biggest improvements we could make in the American Home is to take the scale out of the bathroom and put it in front of the refrigerator! (Issue 096)
• Today's 'Non-Conformists' are getting harder and harder to tell apart! (Issue 097)
• Stop complaining about the Summer heat! Just be grateful you don't have to shovel it! (Issue 098)
• When it comes to absorbing information, some people are like blotters: they soak it all in, but they get it all backwards! (Issue 099)
• Usually, when people give up smoking, they substitute something else for it... mainly bragging! (Issue 100)
• 'Thinking' is what happens when you finally close your mouth and your head starts talking sense to itself! (Issue 101)
• Some sons of brilliant fathers are such disappointments that it would seem enlightening doesn't strike in the same place twice. (Issue 102)
• This summer, buy your girl a Bikini. It's the least you can do for her! (Issue 103)
• There's one thing we know for sure about the speed of light: It gets here too early in the morning! (Issue 104)
• When money talks, nobody criticizes its accent! (Issue 105)
• Whether a man winds up with a nest egg or a goose egg often depends upon the chick he marries! (Issue 106)
• Usually, when 'money grows on trees,' there's a lot of grafting going on! (Issue 107)
• A Class Reunion is when Alumni get together to find out who's too successful to show up! (Issue 108)
• Efficiency Experts are smart enough to tell you how to run your business, and too smart to start one of their own! (Issue 109)
• Most of us don't know exactly what we want, but we're pretty sure we don't have it. (Issue 110)
• A clock-watcher is liable to wind up as just another one of the hands! (Issue 111)
• A wedding ring is like a tourniquet--it cuts off your circulation! (Issue 112)
• An electronic computer and a bikini swim suit are very much alike... they both eliminate a great deal of guesswork! (Issue 113)
• Mothers-in-Law are like seeds -- you don't need them, but they come with the tomato! (Issue 114)
• Good manners are what one man shows to another man's wife! (Issue 115)
• Parents who have a lot of kids deserve plenty of credit! In fact, they can't very well get along without it. (Issue 116)
• Everyone knows the difference between 'right' and 'wrong'... it's just that some people can't make a decision! (Issue 117)
• Live within your income and you'll live without worry --and other things. (Issue 118)
• Making out your Income Tax form is like making out a laundry list -- either way, you lose your shirt! (Issue 119)
• The longer you nurse a grudge, the longer it takes to get better! (Issue 120)
• Familiarity breeds attempt! (Issue 121)
• A kiss is valid proof that two heads are better than one. (Issue 122)
• Raising children is like taking pictures: You never know how they'll come out! (Issue 123)
• When it comes to hindsight, everybody's got 20-20 vision! (Issue 124)
• For every man whose career begins to flower, there's another with poison envy! (Issue 125)
• The grass is always greener at the Golf Club that has a restricted membership! (Issue 126)
• The trouble with most neighborhoods is that there are too many hoods in them, and not enough neighbors! (Issue 127)
• Mini-skirts are getting so short these days, there's probably more cotton in the top of a bottle of aspirin! (Issue 128)
• Bachelors, like detergents, work fast and leave no rings! (Issue 129)
• Golf and Success are very similar: you strive to get to the green... and then you're in the hole! (Issue 130)
• As grown-ups get older, work seems a lot less fun, and fun seems a lot more work! (Issue 131)
• A Diplomat is someone who can keep his shirt on while getting something off his chest! (Issue 132)
• By the time a guy is in shape to buy his wife beautiful clothes, she isn't! (Issue 133)
• Many a TV Pilot is a Kamikaze! (Issue 134)
• Blessed are the Censors, for they shall inhibit the Earth! (Issue 135)
• Marriage is like drugs to some people; they keep taking one dope after another! (Issue 136)
• The only reason more American families don't own an elephant is they've never been offered one for a dollar down and a dollar a week! (Issue 137)
• When you give back all of your ill-gotten gains, you're a Reformed Crook. When you keep most of the loot and only give back a small part of it, you're a Philanthropist! (Issue 138)
• Most people are too lazy to open the door when opportunity knocks! (Issue 139)
• A political candidate is someone who rises on whatever the people will fall for! (Issue 140)
• Man cannot live on bread alone... but plenty get by just on crust! (Issue 141)
• You want to see 85, don't look for it on the speedometer! (Issue 142)
• Nowadays, most bank accounts need month-to-month resuscitation! (Issue 143)
• Nowadays, most bank accounts need month-to-month resuscitation! (Issue 144)
• Sometimes it pays to resist a temptation. A better one may be coming along! (Issue 145)
• Today, the game isn't 'Following The Leader'... it's 'Swallowing The Leader'! (Issue 146)
• It's what you learn after you know it all that really counts! (Issue 147)
• Many a self-made man was constructed by forced labor. (Issue 148)
• Alimony is the high cost of leaving! (Issue 149)
• Marriage is like a bath; once you're into it and you've gotten used to it, it's not so hot. (Issue 150)
• It's hard to believe that a man will propose to a girl under a light he wouldn't even pick out a suit by! (Issue 151)
• The trouble with modern apartments is: the walls are too thin when you try to sleep, and too thick when you try to listen! (Issue 152)
• If you were old before your time, you probably got that way having a time before you were old! (Issue 153)
• Living on a budget is the same as living beyond your means, except that now you have a record of it. (Issue 154)
• Many of our politicians who were swept into office should have been brushed aside! (Issue 155)
• Men don't marry women on $75.00 a week any more! A girl's gotta be earning at least twice that much! (Issue 156)
• Flattery is the art of telling someone exactly what he thinks of himself! (Issue 157)
• More diets begin in clothing stores than in doctors offices! (Issue 158)
• Life begins at 40 -- except for those who went like 60 when they were 20! (Issue 159)
• Tears are the hydraulic force through which masculine will-power is defeated by feminine water-power! (Issue 160)
• You know the Honeymoon is over when your dog brings your slippers, and your wife harks at you! (Issue 161)
• The great advantage of compact cars is that you can get twice as many of them into traffic jams! (Issue 162)
• Today, there is a marked increase in communication and exchange between students... mainly, mononucleosis! (Issue 163)
• Before arguing with your boss, it may be well to look at both sides: His side... and the Outside! (Issue 164)
• A Supermarket is where you spend half an hour hunting for instant coffee! (Issue 165)
• Man does not live by bread alone! Once in a while, he needs buttering up! (Issue 166)
• Don't worry about forgetting your girl-friend's birthday: you'll catch it later! (Issue 167)
• Don't worry about forgetting your girl-friend's birthday: you'll catch it later! (Issue 168)
• Summer is the time of year when the Highway Department closes the regular roads and opens the detours! (Issue 169)
• Your money and your vacation never seem to run out at the same time! (Issue 170)
• Driving while drunk often leads to mourning after! (Issue 171)
• The average man is a guy who spends his whole life trying to prove to everybody that he isn't! (Issue 172)
• Some people will do anything to hang on to a job... except work! (Issue 173)
• The women who go around wearing padded bras, false eyelashes and phony wigs are usually the ones who complain, 'There aren't any real men left!' (Issue 174)
• Today, it takes more brains and effort to make out the Income Tax Form than it does to make the income! (Issue 175)
• Eliminating unemployment should be our major concern... and we can start by getting rid of the thousands of 'non-workers' on Government payrolls! (Issue 176)
• People who borrow will take anything--but a hint! (Issue 177)
• The President's 'Economic Theories' means putting your money where his mouth is! (Issue 178)
• The early bird gets the worm... but look what happens to the early worm! (Issue 179)
• A rolling stone gathers no moss... but it always ends up at the bottom of the hill! (Issue 180)
• The pen is mightier than the sword... except when it runs out of ink! (Issue 181)
• Still waters run deep... but they're usually stagnant! (Issue 182)
• A watched pot never boils... but, then, neither do the contents burn! (Issue 183)
• Better late than never... unless you're going to the Dentist! (Issue 184)
• What goes up must come down... except, it seems these days, the cost of living! (Issue 185)
• Neither a borrower, nor a lender be ... and the whole country would be out of business! (Issue 186)
• Absence makes the heart grow fonder... of someone else who's around! (Issue 187)
• A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush -- but it can also make for a pretty messy hand! (Issue 188)
• Nature tends to fill a vacuum... but so does the act of cleaning the house. (Issue 189)
• Stone walls do not a prison make, nor iron bars a cage... but they do a pretty good job of keeping you confined! (Issue 190)
• Out of the mouths of babies oft come gems... not to mention germs... and undigested food! (Issue 191)
• Cast your bread upon the waters, and it will return ... as soggy bread! (Issue 192)
• Summer is the time of year when there's not much on TV ... or on the girls at the beach! (Issue 193)
• Modern technology has developed a 15 cent soda can which, when discarded, will last forever... and a $5000 automobile which, when taken care of, will rust out in two or three years! (Issue 194)
• Credit cards are what people use after they discover that money can't buy everything! (Issue 195)
• If you were to kick the person responsible for most of your problems, you wouldn't be able to sit down for a week! (Issue 196)
• Enjoy yourself! It's later on you'll think! (Issue 197)
• A successful man is a clod just like you who worked harder! (Issue 199)
• Living it up is like taking out insurance... the older you get, the more it costs you! (Issue 200)
• Falling in love is like eating mushrooms: You're never sure it's the real thing until it's too late! (Issue 201)
• Eat, drink and be merry... for tomorrow, it'll cost you a lot more... thanks to inflation! (Issue 202)
• Experience is something you never have until just after you need it! (Issue 204)
• A miser is tough to live with, but he makes a terrific ancestor! (Issue 205)
• In the old days, most men who finished a day's work needed rest! Today, they need exercise! (Issue 206)
• The trouble with some people who don't have very much to say is that you have to listen so long to find out! (Issue 207)
• For some people, counting calories is a weigh of life! (Issue 208)
• Most of the books published these days go into total obscurity... especially the ones your friends borrow! (Issue 209)
• The trouble with most vacation resorts is they never have the same shapely girls you saw in their ads! (Issue 210)
• They really shouldn't ban praying in public schools! After all, that was the only way most of us got through! (Issue 211)
• Beware of the guy who comes up and slaps you on the back. He's bound to expect you to cough up something! (Issue 212)
• A racetrack is where the windows clean the people! (Issue 213)
• "Some people never do anything on time ... except buy! (Issue 214)
• Heartburn is a Justice of the Pizza! (Issue 215)
• Vision is what some people claim they have when they find that they've guessed correctly! (Issue 216)
• One thing modern science can't seem to get the bugs out of is fresh paint! (Issue 217)
• After listening to all the campaign speeches, it's easy to see why they call Politics 'the most promising of careers'! (Issue 219)
• If you're watching a movie on TV, and the girl says 'No!' -- you know it's an old movie! (Issue 220)
• When you're in deep water, it's a good idea to keep your mouth shut! (Issue 221)
• Ever notice that "doing their thing" seems to be an obsession with people who don't seem to have a thing to do? (Issue 222)
• Some modern housewives are the kind who put off today what their husbands can do over the weekend! (Issue 223)
• 'Economics' is the study that tells you that the best time to buy anything was six months ago' (Issue 224)
• Live every day as if it were your last, because one of these days, you'll be right! (Issue 225)
• Nuclear energy may be the one thing that will finally prove to us that all men are cremated equal! (Issue 226)
• Silence isn't always golden! Sometimes it's just plain yellow! (Issue 227)
• If at first you don't succeed... you re about normal! (Issue 228)
• Today, if a movie is rated 'G', the hero gets the girl; if it's rated 'R', the villain gets the girl; and if it's rated 'X', everybody gets the girl! (Issue 229)
• There must be a lot of good in people because so little of it ever comes out! (Issue 230)
• Life is what happens to you while you re busy making future plans! (Issue 231)
• Ever notice that to entertain some people, all you have to do is listen? (Issue 232)
• Money still talks these days! Trouble is, you have to increase the volume a lot! (Issue 233)
• It's really amazing how unimportant your job is when you're asking for a raise... and how important it can be when you want a day off! (Issue 234)
• One reason it's so expensive to support the government these days is because so many people are holding it up! (Issue 235)
• A born executive is a guy whose father owns the business! (Issue 236)
• After all is said and done, there's always a lot more said than done! (Issue 239)
• It's better to sleep on something you plan to do than be kept awake by something you've done! (Issue 240)
• Most people can't stand a poor loser... or a rich winner! (Issue 241)
• The trouble with doing nothing is you can't quit and rest! (Issue 242)
• Adam was lucky! He never had to listen to Eve talk about the other men she could have married! (Issue 243)
• We all know how to shut our mouths ... but few of us know when! (Issue 244)
• Man is the only animal that blushes... or has reason to! (Issue 245)
• The successful politician knows how to remain in the public eye without irritating it! (Issue 247)
• The first thing a guy notices about a girl... depends on which way she's going! (Issue 248)
• Some girls get so love sick, they take the first pill that comes along! (Issue 249)
• Anatomy is something that everybody has... but it looks better on girls! (Issue 250)
• The chief difference between ignorance and innocence is: you don't need an expensive lawyer to be found ignorant! (Issue 252)
• People who make the same mistake the second time are the lucky ones who didn't kill themselves making it the first time! (Issue 253)
• Practice makes perfect... except with Russian Roulette, where practice just makes a mess! (Issue 254)
• Even the man who has everything is envious of the man who has two of everything! (Issue 255)
• Notice how girls who claim that all men are alike seldom have trouble spotting the difference between you and Tom Selleck? (Issue 257)
• 'Computer errors' are most often caused by computers picking the wrong job applicant to run the computer! (Issue 258)
• The biggest flaw in the 'Star Wars' system is that it will drive the Soviets to develop an 'Empire Strikes Back' system! (Issue 259)
• The best things in life are free -- the expensive part is paying for the dinner and movie that comes first! (Issue 260)
• One of the most strenuous exercises is putting the thought of food to the back of your mind! (Issue 261)
• Have you noticed that political promises are usually in one year and out the other? (Issue 262)
• In the past we blamed bad people on the environment, now we blame the environment on bad people! (Issue 263)
• A masochist is one who paints himself into a corner and then applies a second coat! (Issue 264)
• Only in America could a letter that offers a prize of two million dollars be regarded as junk mail! (Issue 265)
• It's no wonder politicians don't listen to their conscience. They don't want to take advice from a total stranger. (Issue 266)
• People on ego trips should buy one-way tickets. (Issue 267)
• The only man entitled to be asleep at the switch is the owner of an electric blanket. (Issue 268)
• An argument is two people trying to get in the last word first. (Issue 269)
• Why is it that things always look greener in the other guy's wallet? (Issue 270)
• Modesty is the art of drawing attention to whatever it is you're being humble about! (Issue 271)
• It's astonishing how politicians never say anything, yet always insist they're being misquoted! (Issue 272)
• The ups and downs of the economy are the result of having elected too many yo-yos. (Issue 273)
• The reason politicians are so busy is that they spend half their time passing laws, and the other half helping their friends get around them! (Issue 274)
• A lot of people who complain they don't get what they deserve don't know how lucky they are! (Issue 275)
• Nothing like a little exercise to change a person's life -- especially if it's a walk down the aisle! (Issue 276)
• Nowadays, government employees are people who aren't ashamed of their convictions. (Issue 278)
• When most people put in their two cents worth, they aren't over-charging! (Issue 279)
• A lawyer is someone who writes a 30-page document and calls it a brief! (Issue 280)
• There was a time when a preacher's Little Black Book was the Bible! (Issue 281)
• The reason money doesn't grow on trees is because the banks own all the branches! (Issue 282)
• In the past, stocks split. Today, they just fall apart! (Issue 283)
• You know the world's in trouble when it takes 2,000 laws to enforce the Ten Commandments! (Issue 284)
• Nowadays, the only time a politician is telling the truth is when he calls another politician a liar. (Issue 285)
• These days the meaning of "a faithful husband" is one whose alimony checks arrive on time! (Issue 286)
• If most people said what's on their minds, they'd be speechless! (Issue 287)
• As Sen. John Tower learned, dignity is something that can't be preserved with alcohol! (Issue 288)
• Good hospitality is making your guests feel at home, even when you wish they were! (Issue 289)
• The trouble with learning from experience is that you get the test before the lesson! (Issue 290)
• You know illiteracy is a problem when the only thing most people can read are George Bush's lips! (Issue 291)
• It's called take-home pay because there's nowhere else you can afford to go with it! (Issue 292)
• It's not just the ups and downs that make life difficult. It's the jerks. (Issue 293)
• Ever notice how people who say, 'That's the way the ball bounces' are usually the ones who dropped it? (Issue 294)
• A gossip columnist is someone who uses dirt to make a mountain out of a molehill! (Issue 295)
• T.V. would be a lot more worthwhile if they shot fewer shows and more producers. (Issue 298)
• Life is like a shower. One wrong turn and you're in hot water! (Issue 299)
• What, me worry? (Issue 300)
• Remember the good old days, when the government lived within its income and without most of yours? (Issue 302)
• Germs attack people where they're weakest -- which is why there are so many head colds. (Issue 303)
• An employer is someone who's late when you're early and early when you're late! (Issue 304)
• Elections are when people find out what politicians stand for, and politicians find out what people will fall for. (Issue 305)
• America is a land which fought for freedom and then began passing laws to get rid of it! (Issue 306)
• The dollar will never fall as low as what some people will do to get it! (Issue 308)
• Nowadays, men of so-called Presidential timber are mostly bark! (Issue 309)
• We're living in an age when lemonade is made with artificial ingredients and furniture polish is made with real lemons! (Issue 310)
• Today, too many workers spend their time trying to make their weekends meet! (Issue 311)
• Politicians are people who get sworn in and then cursed out! (Issue 312)
• The same parent who tells you it's time to find yourself will also tell you to get lost! (Issue 313)
• The distance between many people's ears is a block! (Issue 314)
• The problem with the ladder of success is that by the time you've climbed it, you're considered over the hill. (Issue 316)
• The suburbs are where they cut down all the trees and then name the streets after them! (Issue 317)
• If banks are so good with numbers, why are there always eight windows and three tellers? (Issue 318)
• April 15th is a day that tests a person's power of deductions! (Issue 319)
• It's a good idea to save your money. One day it might be worth something again! (Issue 320)
• How is it that people looking for a helping hand tend to overlook the one at the end of their own arm? (Issue 321)
• The reason most doctors don't believe in acupuncture is because they'd rather stick us with the bill! (Issue 323)
• Most people don't act stupid; it's the real thing! (Issue 324)
• These days, the problem with many neighborhoods is that there are more hoods than neighbors! (Issue 325)
• Most wives are like ventriloquists -- they stand there nodding while the dummy does all the talking! (Issue 398)

• mad
• quotation
• list

The city's central computer told you?! R2D2, you know better than to trust a strange computer! C3P0

• short
• computers
• quotation

Get your feet massaged.

• short

Num me vexo? Alfred Novus Homo

• list
• quotation
• links

People who don't know anything tend to make up fake rules, the real rules being considerably more diffiucult to learn. Aaron Sorkin

"Hygiene"

• You must brush your teeth after you eat breakfast and after you eat dinner, but claim to brush your teeth after every meal you eat.
• You must floss at least once a day, but claim to floss every time you brush your teeth.
• You must claim to gargle with mouth-wash every time you brush. If you perceive that people are unhappy with your breath you should actually use mouth-wash up to three times daily. If nobody appears to notice your breath, you can avoid mouth-wash altogether. Be wary, however, that people will often criticize your breath to others, but not alert you to any problems. If you are at all sensitive to this type of treatment, you should use mouth-wash before interaction with the general public.
• Bathe (preferably shower) at least once per 24 hours. If you, due to extreme emergency, go 24 hours or more without bathing, you must apologize to everyone you meet for having performed manual labor which has caused you to perspire. Do not admit to not having bathed. Nobody will tell you that your appearance or smell is offensive, so you must immediately apologize at your first interaction of the day with everyone.
• You must claim to wash your hair every time you bathe. How often you wash your hair in reality will depend on many factors such as race, gender, and hair-style.
• You must wash your hands, with soap, after any interaction with a toilet. This is one of the few rules that has basis in actual hygiene. You can make other people ill if you fail to do this.
• Feet are considered dirty even when freshly washed. You cannot touch anything with them whether bare, in socks, or in shoes.
• Walking in bare feet is considered "unhygienic".
• You must claim to get your hair cut or trimmed at least monthly. You may, in reality, never cut it if you are female. If you are male, you must keep your hair shorter than neck-line, unless you are considered to be extremely attractive.
• You must claim to comb your hair several times a day, though in reality, you must only do this once a day, after you bathe.
  • (Update) How to comb your hair is a moving target. Some years parting in the middle is the norm. Some years choosing a side is , other years, it's unacceptable . In recent years, the safest bet has been to towel dry male hair and leave it messy . Female hair can be parted in the middle , but, as is always the case for females, the fashion rules are really quite complicated . The rules are completely incomprehensible to me if your hair is kinky .
• You must apply under-arm deoderant immediately after you bathe.
• You must clip your finger-nails extremely low so they cannot collect dirt. Cleaning them with the knife included in your nail-clipper is unacceptable.
• You must claim to immediately wash any article of clothing, other than shoes, after one use. In reality, you may wear any article of clothing repeatedly until it is obvious to others that you have worn it more than once. Because you cannot detect the scent of your own body accumulating on your clothing, you cannot smell your clothing to tell whether or not it is acceptable. You must develop a sense for how often different articles may be worn without accumulating too much of your natural body-odors. A general rule of thumb is
  • Shirts: wear only once if you sweat at all during the day, twice if not. Note that you may sweat without noticing while performing manual labor, and then forget when you remove your shirt later.
  • Socks and underwear: wear only once. If stained by anything such as bodily waste, coffee, tea, or ink, you must dispose of underwear immediately. Though, if worn, your underwear is not usually exposed to the public, it may be suddenly exposed if you change in a locker-room or get into an automobile accident. You may retain socks for as long as you like, regardless of the number of stains and holes they may accrue. If they are ever exposed to anyone, however, you must claim that they are the only pair of socks you have that have these problems.
  • Pants: can be worn up to five times if jeans and three times if slacks. You must examine closely to note how dusty the cuffs get. At the first indication of dust on the cuffs, you must wash, even if you've only worn them once.
  • Also, note that if you wear an article of clothing more than once, you must refrain from wearing said article on consecutive days, as this will give you away. If you accidentally wear the same article two days in a row, claim to have just done the laundry the previous evening and add, "I really love this (shirt/pair of socks/pair of pants)."
• You must never stick your finger in your ear or nose , even surreptitiously. You must blow your nose to remove anything, no matter how small. Likewise, you must a use a q-tip to remove anything from your ears.
• You must claim to wear underwear unless sleeping or bathing. You do not actually have to wear them, though.

"Fashion"

• If you wear anything that reveals your socks, for instance a pair of shorts, you must crumple your socks down sloppily. You cannot roll them down carefully; it is important to get a haphazard effect. Under no circumstances, can you wear your socks stretched up over your calves as their design seems to imply.
• Clothes must not "clash" in color and style, but also must not match too precisely in color.
• You are either a "hat person" or not. In the former case you must never be seen without a hat, in the latter, you must never wear one.
• You must claim to wear clothes while sleeping. You do not actually have to wear them, though.

"Etiquette"

• When people say "How are you?" you must not tell them how you are. You must respond with one of the following
  • "Fine."
  • "Good."
  • "So-so."
  • "How are you?" (strangely enough, this works)
• If you are a passenger in a car, you must claim to enjoy any music, or lack of music, coming from the driver's radio.
• If you ride in any public transit vehicle, you must avoid eye contact with any other passengers. Usually, you should stare fixedly at one spot if not pretending to read a book or look at your wrist-watch.
• You must wear a wrist-watch at all times if you are male.
• You must claim to be apolitical and areligious.
• You must never contradict any part of an anecdote that somebody is telling.
• You must never express doubt in another person's personal beliefs.
• You must never criticize another person's appearance positively or negatively unless asked. If asked, you must invariably respond positively.
• Strong memorization of details is considered equivalent to respect for an object or person. The more you can memorize about a person, the more you appear to care about them. Conversely, the more you forget about a person or object, the less esteem you appear to hold him or it in. Upon meeting somebody, you should memorize facts 1 and 2. To appear to care more, memorize more facts on the list.
1. His first name.
2. His last name.
3. His birthday.
4. His favorite sport(s) and food(s).
5. His birthplace.
6. His middle name(s).
You cannot ever state that you have the facts memorized, they must come up naturally in conversation. Though, in reality, you could be deeply in love with someone and not remember fact 1, you must not reveal this. When you have forgotten anything, it is taboo to ask, you must glean the information secretly.
• Use of him/he/his when the gender of a person is unknown is considered an assertion of the superiority of men, non-existence of women, or something else equally untenable and offensive. You must instead use any of a number of awkward circumlocutions . Your sensitivity to the plight of women is measured by the awkwardness of the circumlocution. So, for example, replacing him/he/his with them/they/their is considered polite. But, replacing him/he/his with "her or him"/"she or he"/"her or his" ranks a person among the most ardent feminists. You must change which circumlocution you use to match the criteria of your listener. It is virtually impossible to tell what will offend and what will please, so the safest thing to do is to wait for your listener to use an ambiguous pronoun.

• how to
• normal people

Today I saw The Fog of War (or as its author insists on calling it, the fog of war ). Whenever I see or read things like it, I'm reminded of a view of the world revealed to me by S. H., loan officer at L. Toyota. He revealed his philosophy to me in parable:

Remember last week when that lady tried to shoot herself in her car on the freeway? The freeway was blocked while the police tried to convince her not to do it. That's the way it always works. That lady's got some problems. Those good 15 policemen have to try to help her. But who's really being affected? The thousands of normal people like you and me who are sitting on the freeway. They just want to go to work. They want to earn money to make their children's lives good and help their communities. And look what happens to them!

Yes, with reservations, of course, I agree.

• short
• philosophy

• x-ray to xray
• q-bert to qbert
• P-Diddy to Pdiddy
• g-men to gmen
• X-men to Xmen

The OED's non-committal opinion.

• language

• Marital status: Married (to John )
• Eye color: Brown
• Hair color: Black

These are things I'm doing now:

• Married to Laarni
• Raising two boys
• Living in Columbia, Maryland, USA .

This is a now page

And thou shalt take no gift: for the gift blindeth the wise, and perverteth the words of the righteous. Exodus 23:8

I have been unable to think of any polite way to tell this to people directly, so I'm going to say it on my webpage. I have enough stuff. If you want to purchase a present for me, please donate as much as you would spend on me to one of the following charities. A $5.00 donation means so much more to me than a $50.00 gift certificate. Of course if you want to make me a pizza or just say, "John, you're the bomb ." that's okay, too.

Every charity I list is one whose goals I agree with ¹ and your donation is tax deductible except for donations to SDF since it's a §501(c)(7) non-profit (public club).

• Humanitarian and social efforts

  • The Book Thing of Baltimore

    Need a book? Take. Have a book? Give. You can donate physical books or money. This is a local Baltimore charity.

  • St. John's Huntingdon

    This is my church in Baltimore. If you're likely to donate to them, maybe you'd like to visit. They offer a welcoming Christian community and beautiful traditional Anglican mass.

  • The Red Cross ( ARC Charity Navigator Rating )

    This is one of my favorite charities. Giving blood or platelets means a lot more to me than money. No amount of cash can generate human blood. To donate blood , call 1-800-GIVE-LIFE (1-800-448-3543) or visit http://www.givelife.org .

  • Big Brothers and Big Sisters of America ( BBBS Charity Navigator Rating )

    This is a mentoring organization which pairs up volunteers with children in need of guidance, friendship, tutoring and other older-sibling type services.

  • The Marrow Foundation ( NMDP Charity Navigator Rating )

    This is the non-profit organization which helps fund the National Marrow Donor Program . You should also submit a blood sample to the NMDP to save the life of somebody who matches your marrow. Any donation can be done completely anonymously.

  • The National Federation of the Blind ( NFB Charity Navigator Rating )

    This organization is by the blind, for the blind. They provide job-training, legal advice, braille materials, computer usage advice and much more to blind people across the United States.

  • Bread for the World ( BFTW Charity Navigator Rating )

    Who they are .

  • Oxfam International ( Oxfam Charity Navigator Rating )

    What they do .

• Computer oriented and technical things

  • SDF

    This is the non-profit educational UNIX system that hosts my website for free, gives me my e-mail and lets me compile programs and do lots of other neat computer-geek stuff. You can join , too, if you'd like to learn more about UNIX.

  • netBSD

    This is the operating system that the above mentioned SDF runs.

  • OpenBSD

    Similar reasoning to netBSD above.

  • PuTTY development

    It's a little too complicated to explain what this is. You can look it up in the Wikipedia . The point is, it's a free program that I use and donations help them.

  • Project Gutenberg

    A resource for free electronic versions of every book that is out of copyright.

  • Videolan Project

    An open source video player

• "Meta" meant "after" in Greek, not "about" since the Metaphysics section came literally after the Physics section in the organization of Aristotle's treatises. (2020-09-07)
• Penguin and Random House merged in 2013 . (2020-06-12)
• " Selfie s" are usually backwards images. It's obviously easier to take a picture of yourself that looks like a mirror, but I assumed the image would be stored right-way-round. (2020-05-20)
• git-bug exists for tracking bugs entirely in the repo. and bridging to github/gitlab/jira issues. (2020-05-16)
• The latest dd has a status=progress flag that gives you a progress bar as it runs instead of silently writing your bits. (2020-05-02)