Awards on the web are many and varied, but I wonder how many people realize that a popular award has been lifted from the Photoshop tutorial files. I mean, I didn't think those tutorials were that good.
Given the relative ease with which a new font can be designed, I wonder whether anyone has experimented with a jazzed font for dyslexics. For example, a typical font has only a limited number of strokes, and letter b is nearly a mirror image of d. And for that matter, has anyone come up with any lively fonts to help interest slow learners to read?
Individual responsibility: (Republican:) The right to carry a gun. (Democrat:) The right to have an abortion.
Why is it that served with a meal in a restaurant, a pickle can taste so good, while any pickle in any jar, purchased from a supermarket, has been leached of any flavor?
Precaution: The dream of hindsight.
Consensus: The fear of disagreement.
Tolerance: The self-satisfaction of a group of people sharing the same views.
Third Law of Economics: Create the problem in order to propose a solution.
Isn't it curious that the millions of tons of defoliants and pesticides dumped each year in the atmosphere have no adverse effects on human health, whereas the puff from a single cigarette can cause a roomful of people to get lung cancer.
Wouldn't it be nice to reserve a special place in purgatory for those souls who post without any kind of permission private mail of other people publicly.
Conversation during a family gathering:
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Sister-in-law: I go to the cemetary to practice playing the bagpipes.
Me: Just when I thought it was safe to be dead.
Considering the number of multibillion-dollar projects to develop new weapons, discover subatomic particles, or analyze the atmosphere of Jupiter, wouldn't it be nice if some government had a multibillion-dollar project to improve the quality of life beyond what we know it.
It impresses me to no end that considering the wealth of the United States, government has no sympathy for those that don't make it or that fall through the cracks. Sure, some people cheat on welfare; some millionaries cheat on taxes -- no one talks about getting rid of the IRS or fingerprinting the millionaries because of such cheating.
Solution to World Debt: Stop paying economists wages. If they're such experts, give them a lump sum to start with, and then let them live off their "investments."
"The meek shall inherit the earth." Wrong! wrong! wrong. Graves can be very expensive.
Some years ago -- when it was worth reading -- Science News had a very funny article on the relationship between people and their names, and I thought I might write something similar. But I recently came across the following and thought: Let someone else do the work:
Peculiar Relationships between Authors and the Subject of Their Studies
by A. Kohn
It appears that often a scientists choice of what to study is associated with his name. Classical examples of such a correlation are provided by Lord Brain, who reviewed brain mechanisms, and Fox, who was psychoanalyzed dogs with Oedipus complexes. Goodheart was interested in toplessness in females, and Glascock produced a book on isotopic gas analysis for biochemists. For those versed in German, it might be interesting that Professor Fleisch wrote a book on proper nutrition.
Please note "that the material appeared in mini-JIR and is reprinted with permission. . . . The contents of this document are copyright © 1994, Marc Abrahams. For subscription information, send e-mail to: jir@mit.edu"
That the excerpt above is limited to scientists is rather silly. For instance, there's the English architect William Stonehouse. And while direct relationships are fun, indirect or opposite ones can be very intriguing, such as Robert E. Fear, M.D., obstetrics/gynecology (I wonder how he deals with complaints?).