tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-74182172288958153902024-02-18T21:53:47.955-08:00inverse thinkinginversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.comBlogger111125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-47474214239319559112013-05-27T00:41:00.000-07:002013-05-27T00:41:26.945-07:00Buying things onlineSo, I tried to buy a software package online.<br />
<br />
I tried to use the business credit card, it was rejected because it didn't have something called "Verified by Visa" or "SecureCode." I thought being shipped to my home address and that security code on the back would be enough, but apparently not.<br />
<br />
OK, so try to sign up. Oh wait, my business credit card doesn't support this system apparently, it says so right on their web site.<br />
<br />
Well, fine, I'll try a personal credit card. Maybe Amex, that doesn't have anything to do with either of those systems. Error message: card is not signed up on VbV or SecureCode.<br />
<br />
OK, we'll try a MasterCard... same thing... <br />
<br />
Fine. I'll go to SecureCode and sign up my MasterCard. Enter the card number, fine. Enter some personal info. Rejected. Re-enter, double and triple check... Rejected, could not verify information. Account Locked.<br />
<br />
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!<br />
<br />
Fuck.<br />
<br />
That.<br />
<br />
Shit.<br />
<br />
<br />
I'm only marginally annoyed that I didn't get to buy what I wanted. I'm utterly outraged that such a broken system was made mandatory before it was ready. Mordac lives!<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-50002567495509818632012-11-01T23:38:00.005-07:002012-11-01T23:38:48.556-07:00VotingI don't really get the idea that we should force everyone to vote.<br />
<br />
There are a lot of possible objections to the idea - it should be your right not to vote as much as it is your right to spoil your ballot, you don't really want uninformed people voting anyway.<br />
<br />
If you really want 100% voter turnout, you're probably going about it the wrong way. I think what you really want is a <i>statistically significant </i>voter turnout.<br />
<br />
That is, from the list of all eligible voters, choose 20,000 completely at random and require THEM to vote. The result is probably going to be the same, and if it's too close to be sure, then expand the vote.<br />
<br />
I wonder what it would do to political involvement though... I wonder what that would do the campaign expenditures, where there aren't obvious groups to target.<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-63431993868254732872012-09-26T09:11:00.002-07:002012-09-26T09:11:23.057-07:00Peeve of the DayPeople who lay on the horn because I'm respecting the right of way of pedestrians and oncoming traffic.<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-16125975332926630312012-09-12T11:52:00.000-07:002012-09-12T11:52:06.615-07:00PeoplePeople<br />
Who kill people<br />
Over ideas<br />
Make me want to kill them<br />
<br />
But I don't<br />
And would not condone that <br />
<br />
There's a lesson here somewhere.<br />
<br />
Brought to you by the killing of the US ambassador to Libya over a US film portraying the Prophet Muhammad.<br />
inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-44474244241472116262012-09-07T00:32:00.000-07:002012-09-12T19:28:42.115-07:00Whine, ComplainThings the Federal Liberals did that I didn't like:<br />
<ul>
<li>Canadian Firearms Registry - that's a billion dollars that could have been spent actually preventing crime</li>
<li>Sponsorship Scandal</li>
<li>Generally being a bunch of entitled, self-righteous twits</li>
</ul>
Things the Federal Conservatives are doing that I don't like <br />
<ul>
<li>Renamed the government after their leader (srsly, WTF)</li>
<li>Gagged all government scientists</li>
<li>Gutted scientific research and environmental review</li>
<li>Gutted freedom of the press by not actually having genuine press conferences </li>
<li>Suspicious electoral activity</li>
<li>Generally being a bunch of entitled, self-righteous twits</li>
</ul>
Mostly there are a lot of really weird and disturbing things going on now.<br />
<ul>
<li>As seen in the US, politics is becoming a weird, polarized mix of marketing and sport bordering on religion</li>
<li>That is, there is no substance or policy, just efforts to convince by confusion</li>
<li>We're asked to pick a team to cheer for, not ask if the players are any good, if we should form our own team, or if we should play a different game entirely</li>
</ul>
I think I'm a political atheist.<br />
<br />
Edit Sept. 10, 2012 - severed diplomatic relations with Iran<br />
Edit Sept. 12, 2012 - oh, and I forgot the whole F-35 thing<br />
inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-88057974474568712652012-08-26T02:56:00.000-07:002012-08-26T02:56:22.979-07:00A TragedyOnce upon a time<br />
On a network long ago<br />
Academics and scholars,<br />
Scientists and intellectuals<br />
Discussed logic and theology<br />
Pondered science and philosophy<br />
With civility and decorum<br />
And a semblance of respect for others.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Then the Great Unwashed Masses showed up and fucked everything up.<br />
<br />
<br />
The End<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-327626306324530292012-08-11T19:12:00.002-07:002012-08-11T19:12:40.606-07:00Personality TypesConsider a continuum of personality: <br />
<br />
A. People that will "be good" regardless of laws<br />
B. People that will "be good" because it's the law<br />
C. People that will "be good" in fear of the law<br />
D. People that will "be good" because cost-benefit suggests they should<br />
E. People that will "be bad" because cost-benefit suggests they should<br />
F. People that will "be bad" because they don't fear the law<br />
G. People that will "be bad" because they oppose the law<br />
H. People that will "be bad" because they don't consider the law<br />
<br />
Problems with the world:<br />
<ul>
<li>If Rule of Law is diminished, people from (C) and (D) will shift to (E) and (F)</li>
<li>If laws are oppressive, irrational or misguided, people will shift from (B) to (G)</li>
<li>If people are not taught from an early age to be (A) or (B), they will probably end up (H)</li>
</ul>
It's interesting to consider the causes that would put people in each category. Yes, a lot of people end up in (H) because they Just Don't Think, but I'm sure there's a pretty wide distribution across all categories.<br />
<br />
More importantly, laws are somewhat ineffective at changing behavior, and weak or selective enforcement makes it even worse.<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-8397962448067403702012-08-11T12:48:00.000-07:002012-08-11T12:48:01.123-07:00RegulationRegulation only works when it's more profitable to follow the regulations than to break them.<br />
<br />
Over-regulation simply encourages regulations to be broken.<br />
<br />
Is there something similar to a Laffer curve for Amount of Regulation vs. Compliance?<br />
<br />
Under-regulation can be equally devastating, but where is the point of peak compliance with regulation?<br />
<br />
Alternatively, how else can we encourage powerful and influential people to just stop being dicks?<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-91265664215697001552012-02-19T13:55:00.000-08:002012-02-19T13:55:22.159-08:00Financial HockeyIf hockey was like modern finance:<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li>Teams would be able to borrow goals from future games</li>
<li>Teams would be able to borrow goals from other teams</li>
<li>Referees would have a stake in the outcome of the game</li>
</ul>
Just think, eventually you could end up with teams starting games with negative scores. Teams would be borrowing against their expected future performance, when every member of the current team would be long retired. There would be hordes of sports analysts trying to predict the future by trying to analyze statistics of a chaotic system (OK, that's a lot like now).<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-22603122984554790092012-02-16T00:34:00.000-08:002012-02-16T00:34:06.082-08:00A Theory of MoneyMoney is just a method for redistributing labor and goods across space and time.<br />
<br />
Borrowing is a method for moving labor and goods through time, but of course time travel costs money.<br />
<br />
Since money is just a convenient fiction, we must realize something: everything that has ever been created by people could have been created without money. Money did not magically move actual labor from the future to the present or the past. Everything that has ever been accomplished was done within the capabilities of the people alive at that very moment. The only thing that ever mattered was the motivation/incentive.<br />
<br />
That is interesting, because the banks and governments of the world have managed to generate obscene levels of debt, but debt is just a fiction too. It may have been used as a good incentive to get things done at a particular time, but it didn't actually create labor, it only created incentive.<br />
<br />
<br />
I wonder what we could accomplish if we were all sufficiently motivated without dragging a burden of debt along.<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-32010461034197476192011-12-05T14:16:00.001-08:002011-12-05T14:24:47.013-08:00ProhibitionOstensibly, the reason for prohibition is that using them will destroy the user's life.<br />
<br />
This explains perfectly why the punishment for using them is to throw the user in prison and destroy their life.<br />
<br />
Oh, wait, no it doesn't.<br />
<br />
It's like capital punishment for attempted suicide.<br />
<br />
Just had to get that off my chest.<br />
<br />inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-19928626981283818202011-09-13T16:20:00.001-07:002011-09-13T16:20:09.772-07:00<a href="http://www.nerdtests.com/ft_nt2.php">
<img alt="NerdTests.com says I'm an Uber Cool Nerd God. Click here to take the Nerd Test, get nerdy images and jokes, and write on the nerd forum!" src="http://www.nerdtests.com/images/badge/nt2/d9c820a6e9b65157.png" />
</a>inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-78988469689572799962011-05-28T13:00:00.000-07:002011-05-28T13:14:47.685-07:00The Alphabet According to Goolgle.ca Auto-CompleteA is for aubrie<br />B is for basketball<br />C is for cookie<br />D is for dangerous lyrics<br />E is for ethics<br />F is for frank<br />G is for girlie<br />H is for hook<br />I is for insignificant<br />J is for jake (and a is for apple)<br />K is for kani<br />L is for love (L is for lies)<br />M is for maple<br />N is for neville (who died of ennui)<br />O is for outlaw<br />P is for party<br />Q is for quarry<br />R is for rainbow<br />S is for silence<br />T is for tiger<br />U is for undertow<br />V is for vendetta<br />W is for wind<br />X is for x-ray<br />Y is for yearbook<br />Z is for zamboni<br /><br />What is a(n):<br />What is an adjective<br />What is a blog<br />What is a canuck<br />What is a dutch oven<br />What is an earthquake<br />What is a fever<br />What is a g6<br />What is a hernia<br />What is an ipad<br />What is a joule<br />What is a kindle<br />What is a leader<br />What is a metaphor<br />What is a no fly zone<br />What is an ode<br />What is a podcast<br />What is a qr code<br />What is a root canal<br />What is a stroke<br />What is a tsunami<br />What is an ulcer<br />What is a verb<br />What is a wiki<br />What is an xml file<br />What is a yeast infection<br />What is a zip codeinversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-53580553220650962372011-04-05T22:18:00.001-07:002011-04-05T22:39:04.883-07:00Election time againLet's run down the parties:<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Liberal</span><br />Attempting to bribe me with money borrowed from my grandchildren<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">NDP</span><br />Attempting to bribe other people with money borrowed from my great-great-grandchildren<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Conservative</span><br />Not even bothering to bribe me, won't even tell me how big the bribe is<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Green</span><br />My mom telling me how naughty I have been, wants me to go sit in the corner and have a time-out<br /><br />Since at this moment there doesn't appear to even be a candidate registered in my riding other than the Conservative incumbent, the choice for the moment is fairly easy.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-89758603077286328682011-04-05T17:56:00.001-07:002011-04-05T17:56:54.721-07:00GovernmentCreating problems today in order to promise to solve them tomorrow.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-28549765652063382482011-02-26T01:03:00.000-08:002011-02-26T14:14:34.007-08:00How to Read News HeadlinesIf any part of the headline is 'in quotation marks,' the story is either a vast distortion of the truth, or an outright lie.<br /><br />If the headline ends in a question mark, the answer is no.<br /><br />If the headline suggests a major medical breakthrough, the study will be small, the results not statistically significant, or there will simply be no mention of these things.<br /><br />Addendum: If the headline is written in a publication in the Northwest Territories, hey! Look over there! Something shiny!inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-84931563326528405102011-02-19T16:45:00.000-08:002011-02-19T16:53:33.820-08:00In today's top CBC headlines..."Libyan snipers fire on mourners"<br /><br />and<br /><br />"Winnipeg girl to sing with Lady Gaga"<br /><br />There is something wrong with a world where it is implied those two events deserve the same degree of national attention.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-66145009074981012402011-02-11T22:18:00.001-08:002011-02-11T22:19:12.698-08:00Congratulations to Egypt!The People got what they asked for.<br /><br />Now comes the hard part: getting what they want.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-29572961863389895482011-01-03T02:40:00.000-08:002011-01-03T03:17:54.677-08:00Bo*bs<a href="http://inversethinking.blogspot.com/2008/10/goooooooooogle.html">One of my posts from Oct 2008</a> receives a large number of hits from Google. Considering that the Internet is powered primarily by porn this is hardly surprising.<br /><br />The short version is, it's a survey of the number of Google hits depending on the number of additional O's added to the word "boobs." Being one of the more entertaining bits of original research I have done (in a geek way, not what you were just thinking), it's time for part 2.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPYfaHADzn7772nofgydxiWBj6bNTLv1SmJOT0k6hN2l5DJPj0A2wGD7IAXGFfDo7loA41CAG7Ze4X4xfTr-0QtueWgEROaONcmd3bb_J_JV6CUBaJsH1kfrcN8ZtQMAgHtoBpkNhObU/s1600/boobs2.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 68px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAPYfaHADzn7772nofgydxiWBj6bNTLv1SmJOT0k6hN2l5DJPj0A2wGD7IAXGFfDo7loA41CAG7Ze4X4xfTr-0QtueWgEROaONcmd3bb_J_JV6CUBaJsH1kfrcN8ZtQMAgHtoBpkNhObU/s400/boobs2.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5557908820894736674" /></a><br /><br />As you can see, compared with the original data (blue), there has been a significant increase in the large-O count instances (red). There is a curious spike at 11 O's where there was a dip previously, and 22 O's is also considerably off the trend line for no apparent reason. 35 also shows a bit of a bump. Note that the scale is logarithmic, so while there were 34,800,000 boobs on the internet previously, there are now 40,600,000 even thought the bars are not significantly different in size.<br /><br />Of other interest, I sampled a larger data set as well (up to 125 O's from the 97 in the previous survey). Did you know that the longest word Google will index is 127 characters? Interestingly, there are hits all the way out to 124 O's, with the exception of 111. This data was actually gathered in August 2010, so it may be slightly out of date.<br /><br />So, in the spirit of data openness, and a shameless attempt for more Google hits, here is the raw data (.csv format) comparing the 2008 data with 2010 data:<br /><br />"Google Search","Hits 2008","Number of o's 2008","Log10(x+1)","Hits 2010","Number of o's 2010","Log10(x+1)"<br />"bbs",168000000,0,8.23,540000000,0,8.73<br />"bobs",6080000,1,6.78,16200000,1,7.21<br />"boobs",34800000,2,7.54,40600000,2,7.61<br />"booobs",203000,3,5.31,302000,3,5.48<br />"boooobs",11700,4,4.07,275000,4,5.44<br />"booooobs",9500,5,3.98,101000,5,5<br />"boooooobs",10800,6,4.03,52500,6,4.72<br />"booooooobs",3110,7,3.49,26700,7,4.43<br />"boooooooobs",1930,8,3.29,24100,8,4.38<br />"booooooooobs",2230,9,3.35,9310,9,3.97<br />"boooooooooobs",5830,10,3.77,12900,10,4.11<br />"booooooooooobs",1320,11,3.12,52000,11,4.72<br />"boooooooooooobs",2820,12,3.45,11300,12,4.05<br />"booooooooooooobs",707,13,2.85,4570,13,3.66<br />"boooooooooooooobs",857,14,2.93,4150,14,3.62<br />"booooooooooooooobs",395,15,2.6,7600,15,3.88<br />"boooooooooooooooobs",450,16,2.65,1950,16,3.29<br />"booooooooooooooooobs",645,17,2.81,1920,17,3.28<br />"boooooooooooooooooobs",94,18,1.98,1150,18,3.06<br />"booooooooooooooooooobs",292,19,2.47,1530,19,3.18<br />"boooooooooooooooooooobs",91,20,1.96,1100,20,3.04<br />"booooooooooooooooooooobs",77,21,1.89,907,21,2.96<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooobs",65,22,1.82,8680,22,3.94<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooobs",50,23,1.71,791,23,2.9<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooobs",63,24,1.81,619,24,2.79<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooobs",54,25,1.74,678,25,2.83<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",43,26,1.64,518,26,2.72<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",47,27,1.68,671,27,2.83<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",31,28,1.51,459,28,2.66<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",44,29,1.65,328,29,2.52<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",28,30,1.46,395,30,2.6<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",30,31,1.49,282,31,2.45<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",27,32,1.45,302,32,2.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",31,33,1.51,222,33,2.35<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",21,34,1.34,88,34,1.95<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",22,35,1.36,354,35,2.55<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",17,36,1.26,69,36,1.85<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",15,37,1.2,73,37,1.87<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",20,38,1.32,64,38,1.81<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",15,39,1.2,60,39,1.79<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",20,40,1.32,73,40,1.87<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",10,41,1.04,60,41,1.79<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",7,42,0.9,49,42,1.7<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",9,43,1,40,43,1.61<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",14,44,1.18,36,44,1.57<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,45,0.85,46,45,1.67<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",30,46,1.49,26,46,1.43<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,47,0.85,33,47,1.53<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",11,48,1.08,30,48,1.49<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,49,0.7,26,49,1.43<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",5,50,0.78,35,50,1.56<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",8,51,0.95,28,51,1.46<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",8,52,0.95,18,52,1.28<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",5,53,0.78,19,53,1.3<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,54,0.7,14,54,1.18<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,55,0.7,13,55,1.15<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",5,56,0.78,18,56,1.28<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,57,0.6,13,57,1.15<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,58,0.7,8,58,0.95<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,59,0.7,10,59,1.04<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,60,0.7,11,60,1.08<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,61,0.85,17,61,1.26<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,62,0.7,10,62,1.04<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",7,63,0.9,14,63,1.18<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,64,0.6,17,64,1.26<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",8,65,0.95,10,65,1.04<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",5,66,0.78,7,66,0.9<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",12,67,1.11,11,67,1.08<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,68,0.7,9,68,1<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,69,0.7,7,69,0.9<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,70,0.48,7,70,0.9<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,71,0.85,7,71,0.9<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",5,72,0.78,5,72,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,73,0.48,7,73,0.9<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,74,0.85,7,74,0.9<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,75,0.3,11,75,1.08<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,76,0.48,7,76,0.9<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",6,77,0.85,8,77,0.95<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,78,0,9,78,1<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,79,0.48,6,79,0.85<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,80,0.48,6,80,0.85<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,81,0.7,4,81,0.7<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,82,0.6,12,82,1.11<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,83,0.6,9,83,1<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,84,0.7,7,84,0.9<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,85,0.6,5,85,0.78<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,86,0.48,3,86,0.6<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,87,0.3,5,87,0.78<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,88,0.3,9,88,1<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,89,0.3,6,89,0.85<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",4,90,0.7,5,90,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,91,0.3,6,91,0.85<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,92,0,5,92,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,93,0,3,93,0.6<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",1,94,0.3,2,94,0.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,95,0,3,95,0.6<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",3,96,0.6,5,96,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",2,97,0.48,5,97,0.78<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,98,0,5,98,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,99,0,2,99,0.48<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,100,0,5,100,0.78<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,101,0,11,101,1.08<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,102,0,3,102,0.6<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,103,0,2,103,0.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,104,0,2,104,0.48<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,105,0,2,105,0.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,106,0,5,106,0.78<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,107,0,2,107,0.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,108,0,1,108,0.3<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,109,0,1,109,0.3<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,110,0,2,110,0.48<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,111,0,0,111,0<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,112,0,3,112,0.6<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,113,0,1,113,0.3<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,114,0,1,114,0.3<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,115,0,3,115,0.6<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,116,0,4,116,0.7<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,117,0,1,117,0.3<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,118,0,2,118,0.48<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,119,0,3,119,0.6<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,120,0,3,120,0.6<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,121,0,2,121,0.48<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,122,0,1,122,0.3<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,123,0,0,123,0<br />"booooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,124,0,4,124,0.7<br />"boooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooobs",0,125,0,0,125,0inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-51601503733638126542010-10-22T20:40:00.000-07:002010-10-22T20:57:02.090-07:00DangerFrom <a href="http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-middle-east-11611319">BBC News</a>:<br /><br /><blockquote>Speaking to reporters in Washington earlier, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said she condemned "in the most clear terms the disclosure of any information by individuals and or organisations which puts the lives of United States and its partners' service members and civilians at risk".</blockquote><br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;">Being the aggressor nation in an unjustified war to find weapons of mass destruction that didn't actually exist.<br /></span><br /><br />That is how you put lives at risk, not by revealing events that never should have happened and should have been disclosed much earlier.<br /><br />There has been ample opportunity to reveal and hopefully apologize for the wrongdoings of the previous administration, and do it on your own terms.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-17891314345823968622010-08-21T01:18:00.000-07:002010-08-21T01:31:07.558-07:00Scotiabank / Google Ads FailI added Google Ads to my page here mostly to see how it works, and just because you never know when you might become the target of an Internet meme. We can all hope, anyway. Plus I do get a small but steady stream of people who end up here by searching for boooooooo*oooooobs due to <a href="http://inversethinking.blogspot.com/2008/10/goooooooooogle.html">this</a> post (for which I have new, current statistics, but just haven't posted yet).<br /><br />In any case, I found this humorous:<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbFAWrZkG_zuRS9ta9JN8EwKT8WzTN5wTjgfYLQp7r1u4ygPbWlGmtEXmBEzuThlouMht-L-T4H8begdBgM8eQZQjxmd2mUVkS7ABDpicJOnoBT9m25PdYzJral9iNIgWJgj4k_0cQFo/s1600/scotiabank_fail.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 135px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlbFAWrZkG_zuRS9ta9JN8EwKT8WzTN5wTjgfYLQp7r1u4ygPbWlGmtEXmBEzuThlouMht-L-T4H8begdBgM8eQZQjxmd2mUVkS7ABDpicJOnoBT9m25PdYzJral9iNIgWJgj4k_0cQFo/s400/scotiabank_fail.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5507776261564953922" /></a><br /><br />I'm not quite sure why Scotiabank would want to buy their own name for AdWords. It's not like their web site is hard to find.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-77726788904246026892010-08-10T20:06:00.000-07:002010-08-10T20:18:35.290-07:00Scotia iTrade are a bunch of money grubbing bastardsThis is my review of Scotiabank's Scotia iTrade service.<br /><br />I used to have an account with eTrade Canada. My former employer didn't give me many choices regarding brokerages for our employee stock purchase program, but this was back during the dot-com boom and eTrade was obviously the best known.<br /><br />For the last decade, everything was fine. I had a few shares from the employee stock purchase program sitting in the account, and a little cash. I eventually moved most of the cash out to my main investment account, but I always kept the shares there as a little bit of savings that I wouldn't touch. Plus the shares had declined in value by about 70%, so it wasn't of great interest.<br /><br />Then eTrade went out of business and got bought by Scotiabank. This was fine, everything was the same, just a different name.<br /><br />Then, without any warning, or even a change of policy that was brought to my attention, they started charging a $25/month "inactivity fee." For the pleasure of letting them hold onto some of my money, they feel they need to charge me. Wonderful.<br /><br />So, I sent the appropriate forms to my bank to get all of the assets away from Scotiabank, and that all went smoothly and wonderfully and only took a couple of days and everything was fine.<br /><br />Until I got my statement. Apparently the fee for transferring my account, in order that I might avoid a $25/month charge, is $120. Plus HST.<br /><br />Now, it's possible I overlooked something I was sent after the account was moved to iTrade. I don't think so, though. I usually read that sort of stuff fairly carefully.<br /><br />In any case, I hereby vow to, as far as it is possible, never use Scotiabank or any of the financial services ever again. I would encourage anyone reading this to do the same, if you value your money.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-80036193066272346382010-07-12T16:14:00.001-07:002010-07-12T16:26:04.207-07:00DemocracyActually, I mistyped the title "Democrazy" initially. Somehow that seems appropriate.<br /><br />Thought for the day:<br /><br />Democracy should, in theory, be the last "big stick" that gets used when, for whatever major failing of human intellect, compassion or common sense, we can't come to a suitable consensus or compromise about something.<br /><br />Somehow the polarization, us-vs-them, my-team-vs-their-team mentality (commonly referred to under the broad category of "politicization") has taken over, until all we get are "big stick" resolutions. That's kind of sad really.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-56980480332020187342010-05-29T23:47:00.000-07:002010-05-30T00:02:27.720-07:00The OvertimeIt is bad for the blogging.<br /><br />So, random videos. They fill a lot of space and don't require much effort.<br /><br />I found this very awesome somehow:<br /><object width="360" height="216"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/sbQHvUObMbA&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/sbQHvUObMbA&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="216"></embed></object><br /><br />80's TV the way I like it:<br /><br /><object width="360" height="288"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/qXNwsQpQqqc&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/qXNwsQpQqqc&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="288"></embed></object><br /><br />This was at least entertaining:<br /><br /><object width="360" height="216"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/LoaFkJkjtE8&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/LoaFkJkjtE8&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="216"></embed></object><br />And a little skepticism to round things out:<br /><br /><object width="360" height="216"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/l5tZKCcLLWs&hl=en_US&fs=1&"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/l5tZKCcLLWs&hl=en_US&fs=1&" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="360" height="216"></embed></object>inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7418217228895815390.post-48111374979356246192010-04-23T13:40:00.000-07:002010-04-23T14:11:18.985-07:00Games as ArtRoger Ebert (whose intellect I greatly appreciate) has created a bit of a kerfuffle by declaring that <a href="http://blogs.suntimes.com/ebert/2010/04/video_games_can_never_be_art.html">video games can never be art</a>.<br /><br />The basic disagreements seem to come down to a) arbitrary definitions of art and b) an unclear distinction between the act of playing and the items played with.<br /><br />While playing a game of chess might not be art, the chess set itself could be art. Playing catch with the Mona Lisa might not be art (performance artists might disagree) but the Mona Lisa itself is, I think, art. Still, if dance can be art, why not the act of playing a game? Can figure skating be art, but not hockey?<br /><br />That's a slightly poor analogy, but perhaps this is the central problem: video games don't fit any of the traditional categories we would stick things into. Campfire stories to books to radio. Street performance to stage to movies. Games don't really fit.<br /><br />Maybe games are ultimately the extension of playing make-believe with a big chunk of art (even if it's only preschooler level art) latched on the side.<br /><br />I don't know if games are art. I'm quite sure there is, or can be, art IN games. Personally I think arguing one way or the other falls between stupid and pointless. So I'll stop now.inversehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/10459150030039089804noreply@blogger.com1