Many of the touch-screen devices (like the iPhone) only work when touched by a hand, as opposed to a glove or stylus. That’s because it uses a “capacitive” rather than “resistive” system in order to allow for multi-touch gestures. Don’t ask me for a clearer explanation of that, ’cause you’re not getting one. Ok, so […]
Author Archive | weeklyrob
Wolverine! Frog-Style.
You know the X-Men, right? Mutants who save the world and such. Awesome. And you know Wolverine, right? Super-fast-healing hairy badass. And, you know how Wolverine has these claw-thingies that he can force through the skin of his hands? And, when asked whether it hurts when that happens, he said, “every time”? How about a […]
Drive Safe!
Yesterday I heard someone say to “drive safe.” I hear this a lot, and every time, I add a silent “ly” to the end of “safe.” Drive safely. How do you drive? In what manner? Safely. Not safe. Adverb, not adjective. But yesterday, I paused. Suddenly, I remembered Dylan Thomas’s ultra-famous: “Do not go gentle […]
Lisa Simpson: Child Porn Star
I’ve posted before about the ethical questions surrounding “virtual” pornography, (especially virtual child pornography). That is, artificial representations of people (or animals) having sex. No real person was having sex, or in any way abused or humiliated. I can see arguments on both sides, and I don’t know what the shrinks say (if they say […]
Additions to the Oxford English Dictionary
“Big Whoop” is now defined in the OED. They always have quotes for each word, showing how it was used in a published article. In this case they include a quote from comp.unix.questions, a Usenet group. Nothing interesting about the quote, but it’s very interesting to me that they accept Usenet as a published source.
Smart Men Have Better Sperm
See for yourself.
Zuleika, Clio, and My Lovely Dictionary
Finished Zuleika Dobson, by Max Beerbohm, last night. (My copy was expensive, but you can read it online!) It’s a completely silly story (in a good way) about events that supposedly happened at Oxford University in the early 1900s. It’s got some extremely funny bits, and lots of amusing scenarios and wordplay. Several times, the […]
Top Novels
I’ve only read 20 or so of The Modern Library board’s list of the top 100 novels of the 1900s. (I’ve read about 30 of the Radcliffe Publishing Course list. But who’s ever heard of that?) So I figure I’ll read a few more. I’ve just started Zuleika Dobson, which is apparently a lighthearted romp, […]
Thanksgiving
They didn’t call it Thanksgiving yet, but when fall came and the harvest (corn, squash, beans, barley, and peas) was brought in, the men went hunting. They brought back lots of ducks and geese, and governor William Bradford called for a celebration. From Mayflower: “…the first Thanksgiving soon became an overwhelmingly Native celebration when Massasoit […]
Don't Ruin Thanksgiving
Thanksgiving, right? The Indians and the settlers, in the 1600s, sharing food and hopes for the future. And according to lots of sources (like Mayflower, by Nathaniel Philbrick), most of the people at that celebration did actually live harmoniously together for the rest of their lives. Things did start to break down, of course, as […]