The enduring presence of the Green Man. An interesting take on the forced history of the figure, one that I disagree with in several ways (not least of which is the lingering East-coast liberal elitism and unexamined sexism - yes, I know the author is a woman - prevalent throughout), but provides some historical reference. A symbol is whatever the people viewing it make of it, while the original meaning may be lost (if there ever was one, sometimes a gargoyle is just a water downspout), what the article does get right is what is important is how the symbol is read in today's world. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
Ten tip to write like Shakespeare. (Grokked from Ellen Kushner)
The last temple of the Celts. The old gods die the hardest. (Grokked from Terri Windling)
So, hacking your hotel light controls. "(System hotel used to control their lights from Android tablets) is a pretty trivial protocol, and notably has no authentication whatsoever." What could go wrong? Seriously, no authentication protocols? And people are upset that the toilets automatically flush. (Grokked from Dan)
"The dispensary had two video surveillance systems… SAPD personnel 'legally disabled 16 surveillance cameras… The hidden 4-camera system continued to record during the execution of the search warrant,' Orange County prosecutors said in the statement." What the WHAT? Police are allowed to legally disable a private business' security cameras? I think that's pretty thin ice that any good lawyer could shatter. Especially in this case were bad officer behavior was caught on the more hidden security system. I'm now trying to figure out why you would need a warrant to discover if the dispensary had proper permits. Wouldn't a document search at the court house be sufficient? Yea I'm thinking a civil suit is in order here. (Grokked from John)
Can a computer program be racist or sexists. Well, no, unless we give computer programs autonomy and personhood. But the programmers who wrote the program can be and their biases often come out in the programming. It's also not just racism and sexism. My wife didn't take my last name. There are still corporate programs out there that can't handle that. For several we've had to do work arounds. There are hundreds of program blind spots into culture and reality. And here I will state that if you think the portrayal of physicists in the Big Bang Theory show them to be insular know-it-alls who never think there's anything outside their own "science" and that they could never be wrong, OMG, you've never been in a room with programmers. First of all, programming is not "science". It's engineering (another profession with an astounding amount of academic narcissism). Although you'd never know that talking with many programmers who love to hold forth and many of the other sciences. Hell, just look at how easily systems are hacked. True, bullet-proof security is an impossibility, but jeez, they could at least make it difficult.
And speaking of computer programs, the AlphaGo program has won the Go tournament. At least it wasn't a total blow-out for the humans. (Grokked from John)
Don't think the Koch brothers, their political movement, or libertarianism in general is evil? Did you know they're against public funding of libraries. This library in Illinois in particular. This is the result of a "no taxes" mentality. Well, the Kochs are rich, I'm sure they'll fund the library out of the goodness of their hearts. (Grokked from Chuck Wendig)
The police don't want to speculate why Chesapeake Energy founder Aubrey McClendon had his gas pedal floored as his SUV slammed into bridge support. Really? REALLY? While not as detrimental to other people, here is your white privilege writ large. That the man was rich only compounds the issue. I'm sure the family is fighting for the insurance money. There are suicide clauses for most life insurance plans.
"Because part of politics is a show… part of a grand messaging scheme intended to increase interest in the campaign, drive turnout, and deliver money into the pockets of everyone from the operatives to the cable networks… But something went wrong… The viewers stopped realizing they were watching a show." Even some of the pundits have forgotten it's a show. Also, about that picture on the top, you do know when the Bushes are in Washington, they most likely sleep at the White House, just as the Clintons did when GW was in. Being President is a very small, exclusive club, and they tend to be supportive of each other. (Grokked from Astrid Julian)
Why do we need gun control? Because in the US toddlers shoot more people than terrorists do. (Grokked form Chuck Wendig)
The Trumpster says that basically no one has been injured at his rallies. Really? The mindfuckery required to reach that statement after having to cancel rallies because of "security concerns" and offering to pay the legal fees of a support who punched a protestor in the face approaches mind boggling. Until you remember that he's a narcissist and megalomaniac CEO asshole. And then it all makes sense.
"Carson then said that Trump had promised him a role in his administration, 'certainly in an advisory capacity.'" Jesus, these people are really bad as basic politics. I think it's a function of them getting in front of what they consider a "friendly audience" and then they just forget what they're supposed to keep secret. Although this might be a way to scuttle the Trump Ship because "Federal law expressly prohibits candidates from directly or indirectly promising 'the appointment of any person to any public or private position or employment, for the purpose of procuring support in his candidacy.'" Although I would be giving them too much credit for being intelligent to go that route. Plus is would mean Dr. Carson would have volunteered to be the sacrifice. (Grokked from Maureen Johnson)
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