Friday Ephemera
Let’s call it a partial success. || Sorcery, perhaps. || Ripe and juicy. || Road manners. || Relaxing in the bosom of nature. (h/t, Tim) || For breast-fondling enthusiasts. || Our betters, being so clever, forgot to bring their own. || Suboptimal situation. || Learning curve. || Well, at least there’s lots of it. || Yes, it will be on the test. || Always respect the media. || The progressive retail experience, part 446. || Remember, this never, ever, ever happens. || Harvard student denounces “the violence of statistics.” Which ones, I wonder. || Be careful which questions you ask. || The Internet Movie Cars Database. || When you donate to Wikipedia. || The Manhattan Population Explorer. || Street vibes. || How to thread a needle. || And finally, fragrantly, the thrill of using unfamiliar towels.
You can, should you wish to, follow me on Twitter.
Internet Hall of Fame, Clueless New York Intellectual Division.
And finally, fragrantly, the thrill of using unfamiliar towels.
New York weirdo or San Francisco weirdo?
“I don’t want to learn French, I want to speak French. I’m a goal-oriented person.“
Learning curve.
And it’s gone already.
Immigration means cultural enrichment.
Internet Hall of Fame, Clueless New York Intellectual Division.
Related, as the kids say.
The cars database looks interesting.
As a test I will probably first interrogate it with the Austin 1800 ute and then the Leyland P76.
Learning curve.
Already deleted. It had a tiktok video, the thumbnail being Dylan Mulvaney’s “day 75 of girlhood”. The tweet is archived, but of course the video itself isn’t archived with it. https://preview.tinyurl.com/y7yxj83s
Ripe and juicy.
For a second you had me there.
Our betters, being so clever, forgot to bring their own.
Oh no, really obvious consequences!
Morning, all.
And it’s gone already.
I’ve swapped it for something thematically related, albeit a tad grimmer.
Oh no, really obvious consequences!
Well, yes. Quite. Today’s words are unwittingly symbolic. And the original thread does rather display the eye-widening narcissism at work.
. . . the eye-widening narcissism at work
Rude, pseud, and superglued.
Rude, pseud, and superglued.
Heh. The levels of detestable wankery are quite high, even by the standards of the activist demographic.
Sort of, “I disdain you and what you do, and wish to sabotage your business, and the future of your business, while being hugely inconvenient and thoroughly self-involved. Why aren’t you catering to my every need…?”
Had a 58 Edsel Ranger, great car if the sun was high, early morning or evening the sun’s reflection on the dash would blind you.
In a shocking twist, two people being nice to each other.
the thrill of using unfamiliar towels.
LOL. Eww.
LOL. Eww.
It does, I think, oddly, capture something of our times. It’s simultaneously absurd, unappealing, and not entirely implausible.
Very now.
Common sense alert!
https://youtu.be/ejfECn9b_4s
Common sense alert!
As I’ve said before, we’ve gone from the ideal of burly chaps who will apprehend lawbreakers as forcefully as necessary and send them on their way towards the nearest dungeon, to ladies in funny hats who will be terribly sensitive and empathise with our loss, while we get used to the idea that whatever wrong was done to us will most likely go unpunished.
This, I’m told, is progress.
Tenured faculty member, Diversity Certificate trainer, and Safe Zone trainer, “safe and looking flyyyy” for her faculty photo.
The levels of detestable wankery are quite high, even by the standards of the activist demographic.
The state of these clowns… “Hunger strike”…
https://twitter.com/ShogunCharlie/status/1583372902271176704
The Internet Movie Cars Database
Slightly related: Dave’s Car ID Service.
That’s from the inimitable Iowahawk.
Oooh, there’s a time sink for the lunch break.
I found I’d spent 15 minutes poking through the cars featured in Columbo.
Er, is this for well-educated furriners or poorly educated Brits and ‘Muricans?
Granted, there is an old joke that for engineers English is a second language.
Oooh, there’s a time sink for the lunch break.
And there’s a time portal. Another.
Be careful which questions you ask.
So we’re going to evolve into robots, then robot lizards, then… air ducts?
So we’re going to evolve into robots, then robot lizards, then… air ducts?
Heh. It’s only a matter of time.
The tweet in the thread from the VW idiot when he had to be taken to the hospital after his hand swelled up…”My health is paramount.” This, from someone on a “hunger stroke.” Some people need real worries. Badly.
The tweet in the thread from the VW idiot…
It’s like we’re living through an epidemic of whiny narcissism.
’The Internet Movie Cars Database.’
Oooh, there’s a time sink for the lunch break.
“Er, is this for well-educated furriners or poorly educated Brits and ‘Muricans?”
“Oh stewardess, I speak jive…”
And back from sojourn in FL. All the mouse friends/relatives are good, so there’s that…
Did manage to drive thru a bit of the damaged area, tho. It’s going to take some time.
Is Tedders hungry?
Learning curve: I have been saying for a while that 1) teen girls in particular feel uncomfortable with their new hardware and emotions and 2) they do not really know what it means to be a woman yet, especially the younger they are. They certainly don’t know what it means to be male. This also holds of course for teen boys. Convincing teens and children that surgery and hormones will make them happy, when kids that age are generally morose, is criminal.
“As far as I know I totally pass.”
Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
Happy Trafalgar Day, everyone.
“So, like a surgeon cutting into a patient, we must be careful to use the violence of statistics to do good.”
I speak postmodern, so allow me to translate:
Statistics — and indeed all of science — must always serve the narrative. Should a statistical analysis reach a problematic conclusion then it must be shut down and its participants repurposed to flipping soy burgers. When “reality” is uncooperative, we must reimagine it through shear political will. In short, we constructed reality, and we can reconstruct it.
“Borders are just imaginary lines that don’t exist in nature.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/19/arts/music/crush-racism-kpop.html
Korean popular culture needs to change: not enough blacks are interested in it, and its small number of black fans feel let down by Korean popular culture not meeting them half way by catering to black tastes, black agendas, black egos.
Diversity experts say that Korea has existed for a long time without catering to blacks, the longer its existence the greater its guilt. Not thinking about blacks is in fact such a foundational Korean principle that many Koreans to this day aren’t even aware that they’re not thinking about blacks.
“Always respect the media.“
Remember when “It’s just their way; they don’t know any better” was about as racist as you could get?
“How to thread a needle.”
Hmm. That’s been carefully laid out beforehand. I suspect in reality it’s almost as fiddly as any other method.
“I don’t want to learn French, I want to speak French. I’m a goal-oriented person.”
As far as I can make out, that’s basically* how these AI image generators work: start with a bunch of images of random noise, and pick the one that looks ever so slightly closer to what you’re aiming at. Then add some random noise to that and do it again. And again. And again. Of course, people can’t do millions of iterations every second.
*Yes, I know: massive oversimplification. In reality, it’s actually a form of sorcery.
Beauty pageant sued for selecting contestants that are beautiful.
Just a heads-up. Typepad will be doing some maintenance work tomorrow, so there may be outages. Do try to be brave.
Oh, and by the way, regarding the blockquote issue mentioned previously, it seems that the only way to avoid a change in point size is to put each blockquoted paragraph in its own blockquote tags. If you use long blockquotes, please remember to do that. It’ll save me a lot of faffing about editing your comments.
“Related, as the kids say”
University needs to stop,
It is the single biggest driver of stupidity and wokeness.
Statistics: We now live in a world where the feelings of *some* rule our reality. We must pretend that we can eliminate all fossil fuels with no battery backup–and then pretend surprise when the power is shut off. We must pretend we didn’t just get mugged. The feelings of Catholics or conservatives of course don’t count.
Reality catches up with you eventually. The real world isn’t an app on your phone.
the only way to avoid a change in point size is to put each blockquoted paragraph in its own blockquote tags.
David, would it be easy for you to add a “html hints for commenters” section in the left margin, above or below the “Categories” section, and put links there to posts where you explain such things? That might help people remember how to avoid errors.
But what if we want a change in font size?
Not bad for someone who only transitioned last March – first Forbes, then Ulta Beauty, and now . . . POTUS!
https://twitter.com/ClownWorld_/status/1583476255306829824?s=20&t=q6DijXV4yYSfOMUgEEtM9g
The Internet Movie Cars Database.
They missed one. My 2010 Acura TSX was in the 2012 movie Trouble With The Curve. Granted it was only half a second or so and the focus of the shot was on a beer cooler. I still got paid my $65, though so we’re all good. Some of us Hollywood types are only in it for the money.
But what if we want a change in font size?
Or, say, runaway italics?
Did someone say runaway italics?
Meanwhile…
All this crap always looks the same.
All this crap always looks the same.
If we’re talking about the people who are the subject of that “artwork” I’d be prepared to accept abortion on a retroactive basis.
Agreed pst314,
I know how to close html italics in my own comment. David keeps posting the close italics but doesn’t tell us how to use to close italics when someone else starts runaway italics. I’ve tried placing the close italics in a bunch of different places in a follow on comment and it never seems to work.
So having said that my close italics seemed to work. I put it at the very end of my comment which is why all my stuff appears in italics.
Statistics: We now live in a world where the feelings of *some* rule our reality. We must pretend that we can eliminate all fossil fuels with no battery backup–and then pretend surprise when the power is shut off. We must pretend we didn’t just get mugged. The feelings of Catholics or conservatives of course don’t count.
Reality catches up with you eventually. The real world isn’t an app on your phone.
Did I do that write?
@WTP
Jerome Bixby’s short story manages to be even more disturbing than the Twilight Zone episode based on it.
Steve E – I tried all that and the preview still showed italics. Did it do the same for you but display properly after posting?
“Our betters, being so clever, forgot to bring their own.”
Do you think they could get away with shutting and locking the place for two or three weeks? It’s worth a try.
Muldoon. Yes it showed italics in preview and after I posted. When I refreshed the page it was fixed.
Steve,
Spasiba – I took out the tags in after the italics stayed in preview lest I banjax anything further.
@FMM
I tried all that and the preview still showed italics. Did it do the same for you but display properly after posting?
I have found that putting close italics as the very first item after a rogue post seems to cure the problem. Yes the preview does show italics still but the actual post is OK.
I notice Twitter tends to yank the good stuff pretty damn quick.
It’s like they want it to be souless den of banal leftist piety, but they can’t quite stay on top of it.
Slightly related: Dave’s Car ID Service.
On Twitter he does a Saturday #DavesCarIDService — you can post the hashtag with a family photo. Got an answer from him in September. 🙂
Got an answer from him in September. 🙂
You Americans had such great cars
Isn’t iowahawk great . Mom followed the “higher the hair, the closer to God” philosophy in this fantastic pic
And for those that may be interested Holden Australia had at times a fair bit of Pontiac DNA in them.
Ignorance is bliss, I guess.
Street vibes page does not exist
They just want to talk.
I’m assuming this is among the things they’re unhappy about.
And this.
And hence all the woke piety.
I notice Twitter tends to yank the good stuff pretty damn quick.
Reddit can be aggravating too. The moderators can be remarkably zealous. It’s one of the trials of compiling each week’s batch. I generally throw these things together on Thursday morning, then check that the links are still active last thing on Thursday evening, only to find that by first thing Friday morning some of the ripest offerings have been deleted.
#FeelMyPain
#PassTheTissues
David, would it be easy for you to add a “html hints for commenters” section in the left margin…?
The only hints I can think of are (1) remember to close the italics tags, and (2) put each blockquoted paragraph in its own blockquote tags.
Of course, now that I’ve said that, something else that aggravates will doubtless occur to me.
I’m assuming this is among the things they’re unhappy about.
Related (you may want to switch off your irony meter while watching – it may not be able to cope):
“Even the women in there have been brainwashed”
you may want to switch off your irony meter while watching
As Daniel said in response to these merry scenes, universities have managed to induce among students, on a large scale, something very close to a cluster-b personality disorder.
They just want to talk.
Re the above, an unironic use of the word lunatic.
More scenes of the jolliness here.
“Pride” is an odd way to spell Deranged Narcissistic Delusions, but OK, I guess. (Seizure and or 8 bit game hyperdrive caution)
Related, Slava The Current Thing.
*(“Maverique is a term to describe those whos [sic] gender exists outside of binary completely. It exists on its own plane of gender, seperate [sic] from all others. It is a gender characterized by autonomy and inner conviction regarding a sense of self that is entirely independent.” [In case you were wondering…])
The only hints I can think of are (1) remember to close the italics tags, and (2) put each blockquoted paragraph in its own blockquote tags.
(3) How to embed a hyperlink. Probably other things, too. Everything can be learned on other sites, but in my experience many people can use a handy, immediately-findable guide. If I can find some time, I might even be able to compose some of this for you one of these days and offer it for you to review.
The state of these clowns… “Hunger strike”…
Not bad for someone who only transitioned last March
an unironic use of the word lunatic.
Created by … Microsoft
Note that every single one of these ‘marginalised’ groups claiming to be ‘fighting the power’ are, in every case and without exception, pushing agendas already on the agenda of every government and fully supported by the majority of mainstream media outlets, education providers, and major corporation across the Western world.
So from that point of view, the main difference between the roving gangs of thugs Hosni Mubarak sent to infiltrate the crowds of anti-government protestors in Tahrir Square back in 2011 is that those gangs of thugs got paid for their trouble whereas these clown-ass imbeciles are doing it for free.
Oh, bollocks!
How do you stop it?
It’s going everywhere!
I’m putting the gate on there!
[ Fixes Nikw211’s shameful mangling of HTML. ]
[ Drags enormous marble block along bar, points to engraving. ]
Everything can be learned on other sites, but in my experience many people can use a handy, immediately-findable guide.
I suspect that including a Beginner’s Guide To Using HTML In Comments may result in me spending more time un-up-buggering commenters’ early efforts.
Meanwhile, a science lesson.
“Italics everywhere! Human sacrifice! Dogs and cats living together! Mass italicisation!”
[ Takes cone of shame down from nail on bar, applies to self – adds tip to jar with mumbled apology ]
@WTP
Jerome Bixby’s short story manages to be even more disturbing than the Twilight Zone episode based on it.
Yet a lot of good it did. Or the TV show. Because here we sit. In the story, does little Anthony ever get a spanking? Do the townspeople consider that risking being wished away to a cornfield might not be such a terrible thing given what life in Peaksville has become? I suppose not because that would ruin the story. Characters must remain trapped within the narrative. It’s a lesson we learn from fiction. A mashup of this and The Kugelmass Episode however…
In other Science™ news, an “atypical anorexic” has recovered.
[ Takes cone of shame down from nail on bar, applies to self – adds tip to jar with mumbled apology ]
And Nikw211 escapes death by lava by the narrowest of margins.
Bless you, sir. May the size of your tip impress takeaway delivery drivers.
May the size of your tip impress takeaway delivery drivers.
O.O
In other news, I moved to this part of the country partly to put some space between myself and this insanity. Hiwassee Dam High School is such a small school, about 300 students total, that they will be closing it soon to merge with a couple other schools in the area. As sports go, volleyball and basketball are about the largest teams that they can pull together. Having one of your classmates get brutally abused by a biological male on a volleyball court does not bode well for recruiting players.
Today In Racisism™: eating, though it is unclear if eating a settler is colonial or anticolonial.
In other Science™ news, an “atypical anorexic” has recovered.
Oldie but goodie.
Characters must remain trapped within the narrative
I think that’s where we non-woke are right now.
For you lot over in Blighty, the government is recruiting.
May the size of your tip impress takeaway delivery drivers.
And new intimate partners.
I suspect that including a Beginner’s Guide To Using HTML In Comments may result in me spending more time un-up-buggering commenters’ early efforts
You’d know better than I would. But how about only showing how to do a very few things, with an admonishment that nobody needs anything else to make comments?
And Nikw211 escapes death by lava by the narrowest of margins.
[ Holds up bag of marshmallows. ]
Anybody fancy an early snack?
I think that’s where we non-woke are right now.
Some of us are in a cornfield wondering why so many others would choose to keep living in Peaksville. Might it have something to do with consuming too much fiction?
An aside for Typepad as I doubt David can do anything about this but…gee it would be nice if you’re going to timeout my post to do it when I hit Preview and not after I’ve lost my htlm formatting. Tech geniuses. SMDH.
We have now succeeding in provoking the Left into public support for pedophiles, murderers, child mutilation, abortion up to term (9 mo), arson, theft, and public indecency. Nice that they self-identify that way.
gee it would be nice if you’re going to timeout my post to do it when I hit Preview and not after I’ve lost my htlm formatting.
Your html formatting is not lost: Just refresh the page when you get the timeout error, and you will find yourself back on the comment form with all the HTML formatting that you entered ready to be edited/previewed/posted.
with all the HTML formatting that you entered ready to be edited/previewed/posted.
Or you could just write your comment in a notepad app or in Word or an email template and then paste it into the comment box when you’ve done fine-tuning it. If I’m likely to bang on at any length, which I’m told happens, that’s what I do.
Not bad for someone who only transitioned last March – first Forbes, then Ulta Beauty, and now . . . POTUS!
Prez. Hairsniffer is gonna be in for a bit of a surprise when Mr. 222 Days of Girlhood shows up. Ol Joe is mentally confused enough to be expecting a girl, as in female child, and then this guy shows up.
I can’t make it through more than a couple seconds of any of Mr. Girlhood’s videos – even with the sound off. It’s the eyes, I think – the wide unblinking crazy eyes and all those teeth.
Yet a lot of good it did. Or the TV show.
What exactly was it supposed to accomplish? How would you measure this? It’s a thought experiment about an omnipotent child (I think he’s 3 in the story, aged up in the tv adaptation for practical reasons). It invites one to think about power more generally, and the frailties of the human beings that wield it. In this respect it’s another entry in a several thousand year-old genre.
Because here we sit. In the story, does little Anthony ever get a spanking? Do the townspeople consider that risking being wished away to a cornfield might not be such a terrible thing given what life in Peaksville has become? I suppose not because that would ruin the story.
Some of us are in a cornfield wondering why so many others would choose to keep living in Peaksville.
The cornfield isn’t some kind of peaceful exile. Anthony wills the mangled, twisted remnants of people he’s taken his frustrations out on under the cornfield, as in, into a grave. And even knowing that, the climax of the story involves one of the townspeople basically committing suicide-by-Anthony out of just the sort of motivation you suggest.
They just want to talk.
As our host says, “Lefties project”.
And if I had to bet on which one is going to “die alone”…
Your html formatting is not lost: Just refresh the page when you get the timeout error, and you will find yourself back on the comment form with all the HTML formatting that you entered ready to be edited/previewed/posted.
Sometimes that works, sometimes that doesn’t works.
What exactly was it supposed to accomplish? How would you measure this?
Dude. It was an observation on our collective stupidity, not a complaint that despite the enormous effort of those who came before us, warning and warning repeatedly through the very mediums that most of us admired and shook our heads in agreement with, it is somehow their fault and not ours. In short, it was sarcasm. But that didn’t fit your narrative. Perhaps a little less fiction might help. As my memory isn’t perfect but I am also unwilling at this point to watch it all over again, I shall reference Wiki here, to wit: “since he banishes anyone thinking unhappy thoughts into the otherworldly cornfield from which there is no return”. I don’t recall ‘under’. But either way, getting out of a Higgins Boat on D-Day was suicide-by-Germans. But somehow some survived.