Friday, April 17, 2009
Nearing the End
The fourth trailer is out for Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. Watch it in HD if you can. I especially like the part where Gollum's cousins come out of the water.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:17 PM in Pop Culture | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, April 16, 2009
The End for Some
Fox:
The Walkman, Discman and MiniDisc player: The multitasker's dream, the Sony Walkman portable cassette player changed the way the world listened to music in 1979, quickly becoming the hottest accessory of the early 1980s.
In 1984, Sony trumped itself with the introduction of the Discman, the CD version, which allowed for individual tracks instead of one never-ending, albeit varied, song.
Eight years later, a new format, the MiniDisc, essentially a tiny CD in a cartridge, caught on in Europe and Asia. But it fizzled in the U.S., where oblivious Yanks kept on listening to their Discmen until they were killed off by iPods in the early years of this decade.
I bought a Sony Walkman in the late 90s. At the time, I went back during the summers to Saudi Arabia where my family lived -- the numerous audio cassettes and the radio provided some relief in that hell.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 05:26 PM in Life, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
Taxing the Mind
Ezra Klein via Just One Minute via Instapundit:
Income taxes do tilt upward. But they're the progressive bit of the federal tax wedge. Other federal taxes, like the payroll tax and the excise tax, are not progressive. (And we're not even going to get into state income, which are frequently regressive) That's why CBO calculates something called the "effective federal tax rate." The EFTR is simply a households’ federal tax liability divided by its income.
I find it a useful measure. Again, by definition, it tells us what percentage of one's total income is paid to the government as federal tax.
Klein, however, is not clear on the concept:
When you look at percentage of total tax liabilities, the rich do in fact bear a heavier burden. But it's because they have so much more money. They are not bearing a heavier burden as a percentage of their incomes.
D'oh!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:45 PM in Economics, USA | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, April 14, 2009
Off the Charts
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:50 AM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, April 13, 2009
Nuclear Explosions
They look so nice from far away.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 08:55 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, April 12, 2009
People are Toys
The tilt shift effect is quite something.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:50 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, April 11, 2009
Supreme Predator
This video is priceless.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 12:04 AM in General | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, April 10, 2009
Where's Eeeva?
The cutest case mod ever.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 12:04 AM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, April 09, 2009
A Small World Without Men
Samantha Brick via Vox Popoli:
I had headhunted to achieve my utopian dream - a female- only company with happy, harmonious workers benefiting from an absence of men.
It was an idealistic vision swiftly shattered by the nightmare reality: constant bitchiness, surging hormones, unchecked emotion, attention-seeking and fashion rivalry so fierce it tore my staff apart.
Matriarchy FTL!
The office was like a Milan catwalk, but with the competitiveness of a Miss World contest - and the low cunning of a mud-wrestling bout.
A beautiful comment at the end by a reader:
I am sorry to hear the author's company went bankrupt despite her hard work. However, she claims life in TV is notoriously tough for women, there is a robust glass ceiling and the men are misogynist. Does it not occur to her, after this experience, that life in TV is tough for everyone, and that the kind of behaviours she has described could be what hold women back and make men hesitate about trusting them?
"The Patriarchy is holding me back" is a lot more soothing than accepting responsibility for one's moronic actions.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 09:15 PM in Politics | Permalink | Comments (5) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, April 08, 2009
Bumped
Cool software if your desktop is cluttered.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:03 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, April 07, 2009
Roads?
Where we're going we don't need roads.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:34 PM in USA, Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
The Porcelain Oppression
This is so ridiculous that even the Onion couldn't parody it.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 04:41 PM in Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, April 06, 2009
Growth in Australia
Look:
THE bra market is expanding, literally. Up to 40 per cent of Australian women now buy bras with a cup size of DD or higher, new figures from lingerie suppliers show.
Yeah, but before you move down there, do you speak “Australian?”
I'm a fast learner, mate!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:16 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, April 05, 2009
Jimmy Carter II
Just hours after North Korea launched a long-range rocket, President Barack Obama called for "a world without nuclear weapons" and said the United States has a “moral responsibility” to lead the way, as the only nation ever to use them.
What an utter moron. The disarming of decent people has never convinced thugs to do the same.
More: Charles Johnson also blogs about the no-nukes fantasy here.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 11:31 AM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, April 04, 2009
Naughty Veggies
Well, not all of them...
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 12:05 AM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, April 03, 2009
Shot from the 82nd Floor
That's quite high.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:57 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, April 02, 2009
OMG
Don't read down to #4 here.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 08:59 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, April 01, 2009
It was Inevitable
In one of today’s more surprising announcements, Apple and McDonald’s are today partnering in a cross-brand product effort.
More:
“We realized the overlap when we started selling the new 13- and 15-inch Unibody MacBooks last October. During our busy holiday season, customers would come in looking for the 17-inch version asking if we had the Big Mac,” explained Pullman Legwand, an Apple Genius at Apple’s flagship Apple Store.
More:
Apple and McDonald’s marketing teams saw the problem and came together to create a brand new product that would effectively bridge the two company’s clientele: the iMc.
50% less vowels!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 03:48 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, March 31, 2009
Conservative Superstar
Daniel Hannan's fiery speech addressing Gordon Brown at the European Parliament electrified the Internet when it was broadcast on YouTube last week. Vox Day interviewed the iconoclastic author, journalist, and European parliamentarian about Brown, Britain, and the global economic crisis on March 26, 2009.
I liked his answer here:
One thing that tends to confuse Americans is that the British National Party is not very popular despite holding what appear to be populist views on immigration and the European Union. Why do they enjoy so little support compared to the three major parties?
Because they are, contrary to the way they are described in the BBC, a party of the far left. They're in favor of nationalization, they're in favor of protectionism, they want workers' councils to run industry, they want a massive state program of rebuilding manufacture. Like Hayek said about the socialist roots of Nazism, they are a national socialist party and the socialist bit is very important to them. Plus, there is a line, a very important line in politics, between being anti-immigration and anti-immigrant. And they've crossed that line.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 05:08 PM in Economics, Politics | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, March 30, 2009
Politicians Pick CEOs
The Other McCain gives his opinion on the recent, horrid interference of the American government with the private sphere.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 07:55 PM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, March 29, 2009
Not That Camera Again
She'll probably not go into photography.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 07:25 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, March 28, 2009
Weird Angles
The photos with the sun are cool.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 11:25 AM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, March 27, 2009
Defining Racism
Via Critical Mass, here’s a short follow-up film on the indoctrination efforts of Delaware University’s ResLife programme - described by its proponents as a “treatment” - in which students were told, “The term [racist] applies to all white people (i.e., people of European descent) living in the United States, regardless of class, gender, religion, culture or sexuality.”
Aha! So, the voluminous non-white immigration into Canada, the US and the broader West is just to make us think that they are not racist.
Such smart racists, these white people.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 07:22 PM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, March 26, 2009
Ignorant of History
Coworker: "I think there should be a maximum income allowed." Me: "You know what they did in the last major society that practiced Socialism?"
My best guess: everybody got a pony!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 04:16 PM in History, Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Use Condoms to Fight Crime?
It's true of course: condoms are not as effective as abstinence. Equally, when it comes to crime, the setting up of police forces, with the powers to prosecute and detain criminals, is not as effective as honesty.
Via Daimnation which has some interesting comments.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 09:06 PM in Politics | Permalink | Comments (4) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
President Zobama Speaks
The ending had me in stitches.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:34 PM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, March 23, 2009
No Limit ...
... to Jewish cruelty!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 08:16 PM in World War IV | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, March 22, 2009
Piercing the Spindles
Americans have too much fun.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 01:47 PM in Web/Tech | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, March 21, 2009
That Dog!
New chicks get unwanted attention.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:36 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, March 20, 2009
Craziness in the EU
The Daily Mail via View from the Right:
Using 'Miss' and 'Mrs' has been banned by leaders of the European Union because they are not considered politically correct.
Brussels bureaucrats have decided the words are sexist and issued new guidelines in its bid to create 'gender-neutral' language.
When will the dreaded patriarchy end?
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:56 PM in Politics | Permalink | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, March 19, 2009
It was Slippery
Nothing is 100% safe.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 08:31 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
The Pathan Identity
I've been wondering about this for a while - do you happen to have any inside info as to exactly how much support the Taliban enjoys inside Pakistan? I know that the regime probably just wishes they'd all drop off the face of the earth, but how much support do they have in the border region from the average Pakistani?
The North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in Pakistan is the most religiously intolerant place in that nation. A few years ago, thugs there started beating up people who weren't in mosques during prayer time.
I would say that the majority doesn't oppose the Taliban for two big reasons.
1. The Taliban represent themselves as enforcers of true, undiluted Islam. Ergo, anyone who opposes them is the enemy. Even Pakistanis in urban areas -- where one can fly kites, play cricket, listen to the latest Indian music and watch Hollywood blockbusters -- oppose the US and hence are in de facto alignment with the Taliban. Of course, this support would wane if they got their golden chance to live under their demonic rule.
2. Many people in that province don't consider themselves an integral part of Pakistan. Their cultural habits, ethnicity and language are distinct from the rest of the country. The Pathans (or Pashtuns) are extremely tribal and often refuse to allow the Pakistani military in their lands. Pakistanis have to use local officers to enforce the law; many Pathans in the military simply don't cooperate with anti-terrorist efforts or, worse, tip the suspects.
In a provincial population of 20 million, I'm sure, one can find millions who loathe the Taliban but they'd be sadly outnumbered by the irrational buffoons who provide moral and financial support to this modern evil.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 01:55 PM in World War IV | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
Matrix/Skynet are Responsible
This is ... creepy.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 08:23 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Monday, March 16, 2009
Trashcanistan Supreme
The Telegraph via LFG:
Mr Riedel, who served on the NSC under three previous presidents, believes that unless serious action is taken, Pakistan will become a "terrorist university", posing a far greater threat to the security of the US and Europe than Afghanistan before the September 11 atrocities.
Recent "apocalyptic" intelligence on the situation in Pakistan has sent shockwaves through the upper echelons of the Obama administration and convinced Mr Riedel's review team that radicals trained in Pakistan are the greatest threat to Western security.
One White House aide emerged from an intelligence briefing on Pakistan three days after Mr Obama's inauguration to exclaim: "Holy s--t!"
Pakistanis trained the Taliban and then exported them to Afghanistan. That's why these Islamists have such a high level of support in the border regions of Pakistan.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 09:11 PM in World War IV | Permalink | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)
No Hope for a Dope
I should also point out that there is no reason to pay any attention to Christopher Buckley, David Brooks, or Megan McArdle anymore... not that anyone here likely was. If you couldn't figure out that Obama was the most left-wing member of the Senate and would therefore govern accordingly as president despite whatever he might say in order to get elected, you simply do not possess either the historical knowledge or the requisite number of synaptic connections to engage in credible political analysis and commentary.
Ouch.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 07:49 PM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
TANSTAAFL
Heinlein was a genius.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 06:50 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Sunday, March 15, 2009
Definitely a Playa
A master of the game.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 05:27 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Saturday, March 14, 2009
Feminists Wept
Charles Murray via Vox Popoli:
Within a decade, no one will try to defend the equality premise. All sorts of groups will be known to differ in qualities that affect what professions they choose, how much money they make, and how they live their lives in all sorts of ways. Gender differences will be first, because the growth in knowledge about the ways that men and women are different is growing by far the most rapidly. I'm betting that the Harvard faculty of the year 2020 will look back on the Larry Summers affair in the same way that they think about the Scopes trial--the enlightened versus the benighted--and will have achieved complete amnesia about their own formerly benighted opinions.
That makes it clear: Science is just a tool of patriarchal oppression.
Down with science!
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 04:05 PM in Politics, USA | Permalink | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)
Friday, March 13, 2009
The Magic of HDR
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:15 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
Thursday, March 12, 2009
Feel the Warmth
One of the best times to take photos.
Posted by Isaac Schrödinger at 10:04 PM in General | Permalink | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)
