![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
Word Game!
Oct. 19th, 2008 08:20 pmDo you know where most words come from? Play this great etymology based game. Makes my semiotic-heart go pitter patter.
Caution, may be addictive to the bibliophile.
Also. In addition to making![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
ginmar a bunch of new icons, I gathered and created a few of my own. Yay!
Caution, may be addictive to the bibliophile.
Also. In addition to making
ginmar a bunch of new icons, I gathered and created a few of my own. Yay!
More Equally Large Boa Goodness
Mar. 21st, 2008 08:47 pmDon't have much to say, just wanted to show off my new icon. Freshly made the only way I know how... using MS Word. I don't have, nor do I know how to use, Photoshop and the like. *shrug*
Lemme know what you think.
Lemme know what you think.
Hahahahaha!
Jan. 6th, 2008 10:03 pmOkay. For those of you who love the "Badger Badger Badger" flash movies... and who also love the Harry Potter series... go watch this flash movie here. It is a "Potter Potter Potter.. Weasley Weasley.. Snaaaape" take on the old classic.
As a matter of fact, check out this Wiki site that has links to all the various Badger flash movies and their take-offs. Some are droll, others silly, some just plain funny.
As a matter of fact, check out this Wiki site that has links to all the various Badger flash movies and their take-offs. Some are droll, others silly, some just plain funny.
Cats Rule... or Cat Rules:
Jan. 2nd, 2008 05:32 pmEarlier today I was mocked by my sweetie-pie Phoenix, (aka: Phoufus, Phoufikins, Phoufinator, and Pho-Pho) as he tore up yet another roll of toilet paper. He doesn't unroll it, he shreds it... and tried to do the same with the roll of paper towels. Lucky me. *snerk*
The following is something I found apropos of the above incidents through my friend stumble. All cat lovers will laugh and groan in appreciation for the wit and sarcastic of this list, yet know that the true nature of our whiskered friends are revealed therein. Enjoy!
Guidelines for Cats
( Read more... )
------------------------
This treat was brought to you by James S. Huggins
The following is something I found apropos of the above incidents through my friend stumble. All cat lovers will laugh and groan in appreciation for the wit and sarcastic of this list, yet know that the true nature of our whiskered friends are revealed therein. Enjoy!
Guidelines for Cats
( Read more... )
------------------------
This treat was brought to you by James S. Huggins
Just found a new search engine... or a parody of Google. Haven't quite determined the authenticity yet.
It is Doogle - The Feckin' Search Engine of Ireland
The first thing I did was hit the "I feel bolloxed" button as I couldn't think of a thing to search for. First on the hit parade was Bollox.net. There is so much that is wrong, but at the same time, amusing in a "I can't believe I just laughed at that" embarrassed feeling.
The first picture I came to that I felt like sharing was this one:
a picture listed in the advert group on the side, an advertisement for National Geographic Channel's Shark Week.
It is Doogle - The Feckin' Search Engine of Ireland
The first thing I did was hit the "I feel bolloxed" button as I couldn't think of a thing to search for. First on the hit parade was Bollox.net. There is so much that is wrong, but at the same time, amusing in a "I can't believe I just laughed at that" embarrassed feeling.
The first picture I came to that I felt like sharing was this one:
a picture listed in the advert group on the side, an advertisement for National Geographic Channel's Shark Week.
Which came first?!
Sep. 4th, 2007 04:09 pmDomesticated cats - or domesticated dogs??
CATS!
DNA traces origin of domestic cat
Domestic cats around the world can trace their origins back to the Middle East's Fertile Crescent, according to a genetic study in Science journal.
They may have been domesticated by early farming communities, experts say.
But the study suggests the progenitors of today's cats split from their wild counterparts more than 100,000 years ago - much earlier than once thought.
At least five female ancestors from the region gave rise to all the domestic cats alive today, scientists believe.
The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates back 9,500 years, when cats were thought to have lived alongside humans in settlement sites in Cyprus.
However, the new results show the house cat lineage is far older. Ancestors of domestic cats are now thought to have broken away from their wild relatives and started living with humans as early as 130,000 years ago.
The researchers focused on DNA in the mitochondria, the "power plants" of cells which supply energy and have their own genetic material.
Comparison of the genetic sequences enabled researchers to determine the relationships between different cat lineages.
The scientists found the cats fell into distinctive genetic clades, or groups.
The results show that, apart from accidental cross-breeding, European wildcats are not part of the domestic moggy's family tree.
Neither are the Central Asian wildcat, the Southern African wildcat, or the Chinese desert cat.
But domestic cats formed a clade with some wildcats from the Middle East, suggesting that today's moggy stems from the wild felines of this region.
Rodent catching
Experts believe cats originally sought out human company, attracted by rodents infesting the first agricultural settlements.
The early farmers of the Fertile Crescent - present-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel - would have found the animals extremely useful for protecting their grain stores - an association that continues to this day.
"The Felidae family is well known as a successful predator - very deadly, very ferocious, very threatening to all species including humankind," said co-author Stephen O'Brien, of the US National Cancer Institute.
"But this little guy actually chose not to be that," he said. "He actually chose to be a little bit friendly and also was a very good mouser."
The study included researchers from the UK, the US, Germany, Israel, Spain and France.
**Domestication of the dog is placed at approximately 14,000 years ago.
CATS!
DNA traces origin of domestic cat
Domestic cats around the world can trace their origins back to the Middle East's Fertile Crescent, according to a genetic study in Science journal.
They may have been domesticated by early farming communities, experts say.
But the study suggests the progenitors of today's cats split from their wild counterparts more than 100,000 years ago - much earlier than once thought.
At least five female ancestors from the region gave rise to all the domestic cats alive today, scientists believe.
The earliest archaeological evidence of cat domestication dates back 9,500 years, when cats were thought to have lived alongside humans in settlement sites in Cyprus.
However, the new results show the house cat lineage is far older. Ancestors of domestic cats are now thought to have broken away from their wild relatives and started living with humans as early as 130,000 years ago.
The researchers focused on DNA in the mitochondria, the "power plants" of cells which supply energy and have their own genetic material.
Comparison of the genetic sequences enabled researchers to determine the relationships between different cat lineages.
The scientists found the cats fell into distinctive genetic clades, or groups.
The results show that, apart from accidental cross-breeding, European wildcats are not part of the domestic moggy's family tree.
Neither are the Central Asian wildcat, the Southern African wildcat, or the Chinese desert cat.
But domestic cats formed a clade with some wildcats from the Middle East, suggesting that today's moggy stems from the wild felines of this region.
Rodent catching
Experts believe cats originally sought out human company, attracted by rodents infesting the first agricultural settlements.
The early farmers of the Fertile Crescent - present-day Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Israel - would have found the animals extremely useful for protecting their grain stores - an association that continues to this day.
"The Felidae family is well known as a successful predator - very deadly, very ferocious, very threatening to all species including humankind," said co-author Stephen O'Brien, of the US National Cancer Institute.
"But this little guy actually chose not to be that," he said. "He actually chose to be a little bit friendly and also was a very good mouser."
The study included researchers from the UK, the US, Germany, Israel, Spain and France.
**Domestication of the dog is placed at approximately 14,000 years ago.
There was this box see...
Jun. 13th, 2007 03:46 pmToday has been a humdinger. I got up at the crack of noon and decided to shower, dress, and go get yesterday's mail. There was a package in the mailbox addressed to me. I'm not expecting anything... and if it were for the CoB it would be addressed to him or he would've told me about it, I think. The last thing I "won" on eBay came in a few days ago, the rest of the comic books in Marvel known to feature an alien species known as "The Brood" which weren't quite in the condition I thought they'd be. Anyways, I decided to go take the package out from the mailroom area to the atrium outside.
I've been holed up int he house for the past few days and I need some fresh air, even though it's hot as hell out here. Heck, it's been hot, humid, and thunderstorming practically every day for the last month. Storms seem to hit the same time every day, right around when people should be getting home from work, or at least stuck driving home in traffic on I-84. Not that this is an indicator of global warming or the end of the world or anything.
So, I'm sitting there with this package, and the wind is blowing a nice breeze through, so I'm pretty comfortable, surprisingly. It is overcast still as well. I figure I should look at the return address to see if that will give me any clues as to who this mystery package is from. B. L. Ze'bub Enterprises, Consumer Awards Division, 999 Goldstone Lane, Babylon KS 66607. Did I win something? Weird.
Getting the envelope open wasn't too bad either, though I ripped the enclosed letter a little. Which after all, can't be that important since it isn't the prize, right? There was this sweet little box made out of this black stone with cryptic engravings all over it and inset mother of pearl around the edges. None of it made any sense to me but I got a couple of competing urges bludgeoning me at the same time as soon as I got a good look at the box.
Part of me was yelling "open it up!" and another part was saying "don't open it, who's it from, what could be in it?" while I was also thinking I could piece the letter together and read it first but again, I'm sure there isn't anything important there and that it's probably just some advertising gimmick. Heck, I thought it's probably some cheap gimrack that was sent out to try and get me to buy something else. Always getting free samples and junk mail tyring to sell me stuff that I don't need.
What the heck. I decided to open it. It was stuck pretty tight, the more I struggled to get it open the more determined I became to see what was inside of the damned thing... I'm not concerned about it, after all I've been having a hell of a time opening up soda bottles, jars and any other type of household good for a while now. Too bad CoB isn't about to open it for me like he does with those bottles and jars... I ended up slicing my finger on one of the carved letters and bleeding all over the thing before I finally cracked the lid.
It was empty, though there was this big whoosh of air that almost blew me off my seat on the concrete steps. Typical for this time of day, with those storm-fronts moving in every night. There was a weird smell, like rotten eggs and seaweed and something else I couldn't identify on the wind. But, there's an old water treatment plant up the street, maybe something cracked open in the bowels of its system and got blown over by that wind. Funny, trees didn't seem to move though. Maybe I just missed it since I almost got knocked on my ass. Whatever.
So, I took my little box, along with the ripped letter, some other junk mail, and the everpresent bills into the apartment with me. Have to get cracking on that business plan I'm working on. But before I start with that I decide to read the letter that was enclosed with the box.
(actual names changed to protect the identities of the bloggers involved.)
---------------------------------------
Dear Semiotic,
As you know, I'm working down here for (undisclosed business) since they got popped last week. While they were dicking around getting the contract signed with us, they got popped, it took them over a week after that to get us here and we are still only doing original contract stuff and not an Incident Response. Of course, since my company is practically paying them for me to be here, I dunno what I've gotten myself into.
Had to send this to you without making it seem like it was from me. DON'T OPEN THE BOX. Whatever you do, don't open the box. I found out that beneath the veneer of bumblefuck idiocy this company is actually a front for some sort of cult that is trying to bring on the end of the world. Even these idiots have finally figured out they want to keep their networks safe from prying eyes and to keep their membership database out of the public pervue but, having no clue how to do it, had to go and call in my company to do it for them.
Again, DON'T OPEN THE BOX.
The chick I'm having to work with is a nutcase going through a divorce or some shit, so she's all stressed and let it drop that (while she was erasing logs to cover up the cult business, which come on, I'm a hacker and I'm going to catch that) there is this cult and this box was going to be opened during some ceremony was in danger of being found by the response team (me). Of course, she didn't realize that I would have access to that message as well. I found the box and packaged it up and sent it express mail to you to get it away from them. Now I'm acting like nothing else is going on, and the cops and feds are investigating now too.
Call me when you've finished reading this and let me know that YOU HAVEN'T OPENED THE BOX.
Love,
CoB
---------------------------------
Oh, crap! You guys thing something bad's gonna happen now? It's gotta be a joke, right? Are there any signs that the end of the world is nigh? Shit. Hope everything's okay. I guess I'm going to have to call CoB and let him know that I opened the box. *sigh*
I've been holed up int he house for the past few days and I need some fresh air, even though it's hot as hell out here. Heck, it's been hot, humid, and thunderstorming practically every day for the last month. Storms seem to hit the same time every day, right around when people should be getting home from work, or at least stuck driving home in traffic on I-84. Not that this is an indicator of global warming or the end of the world or anything.
So, I'm sitting there with this package, and the wind is blowing a nice breeze through, so I'm pretty comfortable, surprisingly. It is overcast still as well. I figure I should look at the return address to see if that will give me any clues as to who this mystery package is from. B. L. Ze'bub Enterprises, Consumer Awards Division, 999 Goldstone Lane, Babylon KS 66607. Did I win something? Weird.
Getting the envelope open wasn't too bad either, though I ripped the enclosed letter a little. Which after all, can't be that important since it isn't the prize, right? There was this sweet little box made out of this black stone with cryptic engravings all over it and inset mother of pearl around the edges. None of it made any sense to me but I got a couple of competing urges bludgeoning me at the same time as soon as I got a good look at the box.
Part of me was yelling "open it up!" and another part was saying "don't open it, who's it from, what could be in it?" while I was also thinking I could piece the letter together and read it first but again, I'm sure there isn't anything important there and that it's probably just some advertising gimmick. Heck, I thought it's probably some cheap gimrack that was sent out to try and get me to buy something else. Always getting free samples and junk mail tyring to sell me stuff that I don't need.
What the heck. I decided to open it. It was stuck pretty tight, the more I struggled to get it open the more determined I became to see what was inside of the damned thing... I'm not concerned about it, after all I've been having a hell of a time opening up soda bottles, jars and any other type of household good for a while now. Too bad CoB isn't about to open it for me like he does with those bottles and jars... I ended up slicing my finger on one of the carved letters and bleeding all over the thing before I finally cracked the lid.
It was empty, though there was this big whoosh of air that almost blew me off my seat on the concrete steps. Typical for this time of day, with those storm-fronts moving in every night. There was a weird smell, like rotten eggs and seaweed and something else I couldn't identify on the wind. But, there's an old water treatment plant up the street, maybe something cracked open in the bowels of its system and got blown over by that wind. Funny, trees didn't seem to move though. Maybe I just missed it since I almost got knocked on my ass. Whatever.
So, I took my little box, along with the ripped letter, some other junk mail, and the everpresent bills into the apartment with me. Have to get cracking on that business plan I'm working on. But before I start with that I decide to read the letter that was enclosed with the box.
(actual names changed to protect the identities of the bloggers involved.)
---------------------------------------
Dear Semiotic,
As you know, I'm working down here for (undisclosed business) since they got popped last week. While they were dicking around getting the contract signed with us, they got popped, it took them over a week after that to get us here and we are still only doing original contract stuff and not an Incident Response. Of course, since my company is practically paying them for me to be here, I dunno what I've gotten myself into.
Had to send this to you without making it seem like it was from me. DON'T OPEN THE BOX. Whatever you do, don't open the box. I found out that beneath the veneer of bumblefuck idiocy this company is actually a front for some sort of cult that is trying to bring on the end of the world. Even these idiots have finally figured out they want to keep their networks safe from prying eyes and to keep their membership database out of the public pervue but, having no clue how to do it, had to go and call in my company to do it for them.
Again, DON'T OPEN THE BOX.
The chick I'm having to work with is a nutcase going through a divorce or some shit, so she's all stressed and let it drop that (while she was erasing logs to cover up the cult business, which come on, I'm a hacker and I'm going to catch that) there is this cult and this box was going to be opened during some ceremony was in danger of being found by the response team (me). Of course, she didn't realize that I would have access to that message as well. I found the box and packaged it up and sent it express mail to you to get it away from them. Now I'm acting like nothing else is going on, and the cops and feds are investigating now too.
Call me when you've finished reading this and let me know that YOU HAVEN'T OPENED THE BOX.
Love,
CoB
---------------------------------
Oh, crap! You guys thing something bad's gonna happen now? It's gotta be a joke, right? Are there any signs that the end of the world is nigh? Shit. Hope everything's okay. I guess I'm going to have to call CoB and let him know that I opened the box. *sigh*
A human with green blood? Illogical.
Jun. 8th, 2007 02:51 pm
Patient bleeds dark green blood
A team of Canadian surgeons got a shock when the patient they were operating on began shedding dark greenish-black blood, the Lancet reports.
The man emulated Star Trek's Mr Spock - the Enterprise's science officer who supposedly had green Vulcan blood.
In this case, the unusual colour of the 42-year-old's blood was down to the migraine medication he was taking.
The man's leg surgery went ahead successfully and his blood returned to normal once he eased off the drug.
Dark green
The patient had been taking large doses of sumatriptan - 200 milligrams a day.
This had caused a rare condition called sulfhaemoglobinaemia, where sulphur is incorporated into the oxygen-carrying compound haemoglobin in red blood cells.
Describing the case in The Lancet, the doctors led by Dr Alana Flexman from St Paul's Hospital in Vancouver wrote: "The patient recovered uneventfully, and stopped taking sumatriptan after discharge.
"When seen five weeks after his last dose, he was found to have no sulfhaemoglobin in his blood."
( Read more... )
I commented to CoB shortly after finding this article that it would be interesting to see if conventioneers started taking this medication to make their Vulcan characters more realistic. Heh.
In other news, I've been sneezing and stuffy for days now - but only indoors. All the disturbed dust in the air no doubt.
Pottermania Begins...
Jun. 4th, 2007 04:54 pmPotterpalooza
For the Quidditch players, wizard rockers and would-be witches who gathered at a New Orleans Harry Potter convention, this is the dawning of their summer of love -- and loss.
By Rebecca Traister
Salon.com
Jun. 01, 2007 | It was noon on a Friday at the end of May, and strangely dressed people drifted through the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter.
On Canal, a teenage girl in a shirt reading "Support Severus" stared goggle-eyed at a storefront displaying shirts with slogans like "FEMA Evacuation Plan: Run, bitch, run!" Around the corner at the Walgreen's, an adult woman in black robes was buying hair gel. "Congratulations," said a cashier. It was Tulane's graduation weekend. "Oh, I'm not graduating," said the woman. "I'm Hermione today."
It felt like the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," in which wizards who usually hide their identities from the muggle (i.e., non-magical) population are in such a tizzy over the supposed demise of the Dark Lord Voldemort that they carelessly appear in public in their wizarding robes. Except this wasn't Little Whinging, the dreary suburb where J.K. Rowling's fictional orphan grows up before discovering his magical abilities; this was New Orleans, La., and it was 83 degrees out. Besides, there's no such thing as wizards.
But I didn't mention that to these Potter fans, who had come to the Crescent City for Phoenix Rising, a four-day conference with more than a thousand attendees. Organizers chose New Orleans because of the city's history of rising from ashes; phoenixes are crucial to Potter lore, and never more so than at this juncture. (Warning: This story is lousy with spoilers for the first six books, so if you don't want to know, turn back here.)
( Read more... )
----------------------------------------------------
I have plans to sit outside my apartment building where the UPS people pull up to catch my delivery on release day. I am such a geek. I've been listening to audiobook versions of the previous six - just realized book two was messed up (got it from a friend of mine) though some of the time it recedes into background noise when I am working on something. Started with six, then five, and then started with the first one on.
For the Quidditch players, wizard rockers and would-be witches who gathered at a New Orleans Harry Potter convention, this is the dawning of their summer of love -- and loss.
By Rebecca Traister
Salon.com
Jun. 01, 2007 | It was noon on a Friday at the end of May, and strangely dressed people drifted through the streets of New Orleans' French Quarter.
On Canal, a teenage girl in a shirt reading "Support Severus" stared goggle-eyed at a storefront displaying shirts with slogans like "FEMA Evacuation Plan: Run, bitch, run!" Around the corner at the Walgreen's, an adult woman in black robes was buying hair gel. "Congratulations," said a cashier. It was Tulane's graduation weekend. "Oh, I'm not graduating," said the woman. "I'm Hermione today."
It felt like the first chapter of the first Harry Potter book, "Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone," in which wizards who usually hide their identities from the muggle (i.e., non-magical) population are in such a tizzy over the supposed demise of the Dark Lord Voldemort that they carelessly appear in public in their wizarding robes. Except this wasn't Little Whinging, the dreary suburb where J.K. Rowling's fictional orphan grows up before discovering his magical abilities; this was New Orleans, La., and it was 83 degrees out. Besides, there's no such thing as wizards.
But I didn't mention that to these Potter fans, who had come to the Crescent City for Phoenix Rising, a four-day conference with more than a thousand attendees. Organizers chose New Orleans because of the city's history of rising from ashes; phoenixes are crucial to Potter lore, and never more so than at this juncture. (Warning: This story is lousy with spoilers for the first six books, so if you don't want to know, turn back here.)
( Read more... )
----------------------------------------------------
I have plans to sit outside my apartment building where the UPS people pull up to catch my delivery on release day. I am such a geek. I've been listening to audiobook versions of the previous six - just realized book two was messed up (got it from a friend of mine) though some of the time it recedes into background noise when I am working on something. Started with six, then five, and then started with the first one on.
