Parting Comment

Yesterday, a commenter who goes by the name of bdn2004 got upset because I deleted one of his comments that was completely off-topic. He left another comment which I also deleted. But I saved a copy because it's probably the best comment he has ever made. Here it is:

The first mistake I made was ever reading this blog in the first place. I take that back. The first mistake I made was buying a book by the author of this blog.

He made a comment a couple of weeks ago that he thinks of himself as a nice guy. That is in the eye of the beholder isn't it? I don't think he is a nice guy/person at all. I find him full of vile and hatred towards the more than 50% of the people who call themselves Christians, Republicans or think any different than him. Those who belittle are little as they say - but he can never help himself. You would make a good Communist. They are right. You are wrong. End of story. 

This comment will be bleeped anyway...so I'll let it fly. I mentioned I may buy another one of your books. I wouldn't buy another one of your books if it were leather bound, autographed, cost $.01, was hand delivered, and came with a personal tutor.

And another thing...the banjo is the sorriest instrument ever devised.

Cheap Dental Equipment

In Massachusetts: Dentist used paper clips in root canals.

A former Massachusetts dentist is accused of putting paper clips in patients' mouths during root canals, then billing Medicaid for the stainless steel posts he should have used.

The state attorney general announced Tuesday that a grand jury indicted former Fall River dentist Michael Clair last week on charges including assault and battery, larceny, submitting false claims to Medicaid and illegally prescribing prescription drugs.

Sounds like a business opportunity for Orly Taitz.

Everett True And The Plumber - Part II

Here's Everett's response to the plumber's bill:

I asked for guesses about what Everett would do. Wendy! came pretty close:

I think Everett True will teach that thimblerigger a thing or two about frenzied finance and pounce upon him in that bathtub that has just been fixed. He will give that porch climber such a thrashing his pipe wrench will be spinning! That prop lifter will never try to water a bill again!

God’s Facebook Page Deemed Offensive

More Facebook news: TRA bans offensive Facebook page in UAE.

The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority (TRA) instructed all internet service providers in the UAE to block a specific site on Facebook that is insulting to God, the prophets and Islam.

"TRA received numerous calls and complaints from internet users expressing their anger against unidentified people who created a site on Facebook that is offending to God, prophets, messengers, the Holy Quran and even to all God's books," said Mohammad Al Ganem, TRA General Manager.

"The creator of this site which he named ‘God and Prophets' Site', attributes divinity to himself and spreads distorted writing pretending they are verses from the Quran. He also declared writing a new book falsifying himself as a god. He spreads talk that is insulting to the prophets and to their holy stature. This is considered to be a felony according to the federal law."

He called on internet users to be cautious and to report offences.

Yesterday, a group of internet surfers launched a campaign asking people to boycott Facebook starting from March 20 if Facebook administrators did not block this site immediately.

Movie Food

I've always suspected that the real reason we have movies is for eating purposes: Sony boss asks theater owners for healthier snacks.

The head of Sony Pictures suggested Monday that movie theaters offer healthier snacks to help fight obesity and give audiences a broader range of food choices.

Michael Lynton, chairman and chief executive officer for Sony, told theater owners at their annual ShoWest convention that a survey by the studio at 26 theaters nationwide found that two-thirds of movie-goers said they would be likely to buy healthy concessions if available.

The survey also found that 60 percent of parents thought that healthier concessions would enhance the moviegoing experience and that 42 percent of parents would buy concessions at theaters more often if healthier choices were offered, Lynton said...

"By bringing healthier snacks into your concession stands, you would be helping our country meet an urgent public health need," Lynton said.

Healthy food, of course, costs more. Expect to pay $11.50 for a granola bar.

Census Conundrum

wormpicker is in a pickle. He sent me this email yesterday:

Did you get your census form yet? We got ours today, and I'm already stuck. The cover letter, dated March 15, 2010, says Please complete and mail back the enclosed census form today.

Question 1 asks: How many people were living or staying in this house, apartment, or mobile home on April 1, 2010?

What do I do? I can't lie. I have to fill it in and mail it today. I can't predict the future. I'm not even an illegal alien and I'm already confused and terrified over this thing.

L.A. Quake

Nothing to be alarmed about: 4.4 earthquake awakens Southern California; no major damage or injuries reported.

Southern Californians were awakened early Tuesday to a 4.4-magnitude earthquake centered in Pico Rivera that caused no major damage or injuries but put first-responders on alert and rattled nerves.

According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the temblor struck at 4:04 a.m. about 11 miles east of downtown Los Angeles and about one mile from Pico Rivera.

Too bad it couldn't have waited 19 days, until April 4.

Uninterrupted Text Spotted

It finally happened: Nation Shudders At Large Block Of Uninterrupted Text.

Unable to rest their eyes on a colorful photograph or boldface heading that could be easily skimmed and forgotten about, Americans collectively recoiled Monday when confronted with a solid block of uninterrupted text.

Dumbfounded citizens from Maine to California gazed helplessly at the frightening chunk of print, unsure of what to do next. Without an illustration, chart, or embedded YouTube video to ease them in, millions were frozen in place, terrified by the sight of one long, unbroken string of English words.

"Why won't it just tell me what it's about?" said Boston resident Charlyne Thomson, who was bombarded with the overwhelming mass of black text late Monday afternoon. "There are no bullet points, no highlighted parts. I've looked everywhere-there's nothing here but words."

"Ow," Thomson added after reading the first and last lines in an attempt to get the gist of whatever the article, review, or possibly recipe was about.

At 3:16 p.m., a deafening sigh was heard across the country as the nation grappled with the daunting cascade of syllables, whose unfamiliar letter-upon-letter structure stretched on for an endless 500 words.

Children wailed for the attention of their bewildered parents, businesses were shuttered, and local governments ground to a halt as Americans scanned the text in vain for a web link to click on.

"It demands so much of my time and concentration," said Chicago resident Dale Huza, who was confronted by the confusing mound of words early Monday afternoon. "This large block of text, it expects me to figure everything out on my own, and I hate it."

"I'm sure if it's important enough, they'll let us know some other way," Detroit local Janet Landsman said.

(Thanks Banjo Brad)

Cool Entertainment Center

Found at There, I Fixed it.

Everett True And The Plumber

Today, Everett True gets his bathtub fixed, and the plumber tells him how much it costs.

Does anyone want to guess what happens in Panel 2?

Stoking The Saint-Making Machinery

A joint paper from professors at Harvard and Columbia University: Economics of Sainthood (a preliminary investigation) PDF link.

Saint-making has been a major activity of the Catholic Church for centuries. The pace of sanctifications has picked up noticeably in the last several decades under the last two popes, John Paul II and Benedict XVI. Our goal is to apply social-science reasoning to understand the Church's choices on numbers and characteristics of saints, gauged by location and socioeconomic attributes of the persons designated as blessed.

To carry out this research, we began by collecting long-term data on numbers and characteristics of blessed persons selected by the Catholic Church. The data apply to canonizations (approval as a saint) and beatifications (final stage of qualification for canonization).

Here's one of their charts:

The dummy variable for the last two popes shows a dramatic positive effect on beatifications per year-the estimated coefficient in Table 4, column 1, is 9.76 (s.e.=0.36). This effect compares with the overall mean and standard deviation for the beatification rate of 1.22 and 2.65, respectively.

(via Marginal Revolution)

Diamond-Studded TV

For $2.26 million, you can get the world's most expensive television.

The article starts out with some low-budget models, and ends with Stuart Hughes' PrestigeHD Supreme Rose Edition.

This 55M PrestigeHD television, powered by Metz, is coated in 28 kilograms of 18k rose gold embellished with seventy-two round cut, flawless 1-carat diamonds. That's not the end of the luxury materials used in its creation, however, as the most expensive television in the world features alligator skin hand sewn into the bezel.

Scaring Confessions Out Of Criminals

U.S. Patent 1749090 (from 1930): Apparatus for obtaining criminal confessions and photographically recording them.

The primary object of my invention is the provision of an apparatus for the creation of illusory effects calculated to impress the subject with their being of a supernatural character and to so work upon his imagination to enable an inquisitor operating in conjunction with the recording system to obtain confessions and graphically record them by light action under the control of electric impulses governed by varying intensities of sound waves.

The recording device is in the skull of the skeleton.

(via Futility Closet)

Of Mice And Men

Yesterday I saw Eric Zorn's glowing endorsement of the 1992 film adaptation of Steinbeck's novel: Of Mice And Men.

So I watched it on Netflix last night, and it was excellent. Now I want to watch the original 1939 movie -- but it's not available for streaming.

Facebook Beats Google

The latest score: Facebook edges past Google for weekly traffic.

Facebook nudged past search king Google in traffic last week to become the most visited Web site of the week in the United States, according to the online measurement service Hitwise.

Heather Dougherty, research director at Hitwise, said in a blog post that Facebook had 7.07 percent of all Web traffic for the week of March 13, edging Google's 7.03 percent.

Facebook has been threatening Google for some time, hitting the Hitwise top spot on Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, New Year's Day and the weekend of March 6 and 7.