Making the impractical practical (2010/12/09)
There was some cyberpunk novel I read some years back involving a character who had the phrase “poor impulse control” tattooed on his forehead, as a warning to people who encountered him. This strikes me as a great idea, but there would be serious problems with trying to impose such a thing as a penalty through the court system.
[read more...]The better mousetrap (2010/12/08)
They say if you build a better mousetrap, the world will beat a path to your door.
[read more...]More thoughts about autism... (2010/12/01)
My friend Dave commented on my post about autism, using his own blog… madness!
[read more...]Domino's Pizza: How to screw up an online ordering process (2010/11/30)
Okay, so, I like pizza. I order pizza. A while back, for some reason, it came to pass that I tried Domino’s pizza. The pizza was good, but what really struck me was the ordering process. They’d done a wonderful job.
[read more...]Identity and attributes (2010/11/27)
In many fields of discussion, you eventually run into the fundamental question: How do you distinguish between identity and attributes? This might seem a bit abstract, so lemme give a few examples.
[read more...]Sorry, puppy. (2010/11/26)
I hit a dog with a car today. Understand, this was not exactly a planned action. I was driving out to pick up some dinner, some time after dark, and as I was driving along Woodley (between Linden and Division), SUDDENLY DOG. I slowed down quite a bit, there was a sort of thump, and there was a dog running away off to the left of my car. I have no idea how hard the dog got hit, or whether it was seriously injured, or just bruised, or what. I didn’t go check; on my list of clever actions, you will not find “chasing an unfamiliar dog, possibly injured, across other peoples’ lawns”.
[read more...]This is so weird... Autism group hates autistic people? (2010/11/23)
So, there’s this “advocacy” group, called Autism Speaks. They are… weird.
[read more...]NetProspex: Verified spam. (2010/11/23)
I recently got spammed by some entity called NetProspex, which claims to have “verified” lists of various business people. They had one of my email addresses associated with my name, and were informing me that from time to time companies using their service would be contacting me with information they thought would be of interest to my business.
[read more...]Clueless spell checker leaves me joyless, pointless rant ensues. (2010/11/22)
I am listless without Shinies, but they cost money; since I am at some risk of being penniless, and thence homeless, if I get every pointless Shiny Thing I encounter, I have imposed limits on the limitless and constrained myself to getting New Shinies only when I have found boundless income, such as an extra writing project. In fact, doubtless related to this, I recently sold some peerless writing. While there is some doubt as to whether it is the Perfect Shiny, I have nevertheless acquired an iPad.
[read more...]Why health care is an outlier (2010/11/18)
I’m a pretty consistent sort, usually. I am a big fan of market economies as a way to allocate resources. They work. They work for all sorts of things, from steak dinners to cars, from telephones to glassware.
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