Random Acts of Blogging
Find the Tie Fighter
Monday, June 25th, 2007OK, a new internet quiz (hat tip: Jason Bennion)
Find the International Space Station in this picture:
Answer in the first comment below. No fair peaking!
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The best rationale for gambling ever…
Saturday, June 16th, 2007For reasons defying explanation, I get my hair cut at the local salon (where my wife gets her hair done). I’m currently sitting in the chair, waiting for the hairdresser, and listening to the following conversation between three women of, well, let’s say of a certain age…:
Woman #1: Yeah, she gambles so much, all the hotels in Atlantic City give her all this free stuff.
Woman #2: Really?
Woman #1: Yeah…
Woman #3: That’s OK, it’s better than giving all that money to a psychiatrist.
Interesting theory…
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Like taking candy from a baby…
Thursday, June 14th, 2007
A massive toy recall could have millions of parents taking their children’s favourite toys away.
On Wednesday, RC2 Corp. recalled about 1.5 million Thomas the Tank Engine wooden railway toys in Canada and the United States, due to concerns that the paint used on them may contain lead.
My kids are pretty much past this stage, but I can tell you from experience that taking away a Thomas the Train toy from a kid who already has one (or, in some cases, dozens) will not be a pleasant experience…
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Calling all Nick Ut fans…
Saturday, June 9th, 2007So this is weird: the guy who took this picture also took this picture.
Which do you think will wind up earning him more money?
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Fancy Gift Cards…
Friday, June 8th, 2007My son just got a Target Gift Card for his birthday. Check it out:
My, we’ve come quite a way with these things, haven’t we?
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If Everyone Agreed to Jump Off a Bridge…
Wednesday, May 23rd, 2007A study from the American Psychological Association has shown that people tend to believe that an opinion they hear frequently is the majority opinion, even if they only hear it from a small number of people:
The studies found that an opinion is more likely to be assumed to be the majority opinion when multiple group members express their opinion. However, the study also showed that hearing one person express the same opinion multiple times had nearly the same effect on listener’s perception of the opinion being popular as hearing multiple people state his/her opinion.
Researchers examined the underlying processes that take place when individuals estimate the shared attitude of a group of people and how that estimation of collective opinion can be influenced by repetition from a single source. Since gauging public opinion is such an essential component in guiding our social interactions, this research has implications in almost every facet of modern day life.
I find this fascinating in light of the current state of political discourse in the country. Much is often made about George W. Bush’s 29% approval rating, and I’ve often wondered if the constant repetition of this fact sways people who may otherwise have different opinions from saying so when they’re polled.
This study would seem to validate that assumption. Or, to state it more generally, the increased exposure we all have to media today probably tends to push opinion polls to the outer extremes. In other words, things are more likely to be 80-90% popular or 80-90% unpopular than they are to be 50%/50%.
It’s a good thing to keep in mind the next time President Bush is called the “most unpopular president in history,” or when each of the upcoming summer blockbusters successively breaks the record for biggest money maker of all time.
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Airport Delay + Free Wifi
Wednesday, May 16th, 2007Yes, I’m stuck in an airport. Yes, I’m bored. Yes, I’m blogging my @*%!# head off.
What’s your point?
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Old Symbols…New Meanings
Sunday, May 13th, 2007The family and I were at the University of Pennsylvania this weekend, enjoying the annual Alumni Day festivities. We spent Saturday evening at the Marriott Hotel near the Philadelphia airport (accomodations during Penn’s alumni weekends are typically “grab what you can get,” given the number of people there for both the weekend, as well as the commencement excercises on Monday).
In any case, I’m in the hotel room and I look up at the wall, and see this by the fire alarm / sprinkler system:
A coat hanger with a red circle and line through it? Back when I was a student at Penn, that was the rather macabre symbol of the Pro Choice movement, signifying the “back-alley” abortions that would take place with coathangers if abortion were illegal. Was Marriott making a political statement? Or maybe a previous guest went around putting stickers on hotel room walls to publicize their views? A closer look cleared it up:
Just an electrical warning. I guess the symbol no longer carries the meaning it once did…
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No Man is an Island…
Sunday, April 15th, 2007…unlike some homes in the Northeast today. Some examples from Chez Greenberg:
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Chain Link Blog
Saturday, April 14th, 2007Jeff Porten linked to a blog post from another site, and now I’m linking to his. Why? Because this is f*%^#ing hilarious:
Ask Google for driving directions between the White House and 10 Downing Street in London. Click the link for the full effect, but here’s the good part:
That could be the funniest thing I’ve seen on the web in ages…
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