Alt + Ctrl + 0 Diebold, the electronic voting machine company, to Change Its Name. You now hate the company Premier Election Solutions. See you on November 9th!
Are Computers Altering Our Brains?
I get a bit ranty but this is my response to an article Ypulse linked to at BBC news about how computers are making teens dumb. It’s just extra annoying cause clearly the woman who the article was about grew up at the dawn of TV which clearly makes us smarter after every commercial you see. Arg!
That article is so bogus. There have always been tons of people who don’t like to read. I’m 25 and have been on the computer since I was in 3rd grade and the internet since 6th.
I love to read long books as much as I watch 3 minute youtube videos.
The thing these article never go in to is reading is work. It can be super fun but it’s work that a lot of people don’t like to do. I hear jogging is fun once you start.. but I’ve never started jogging regularly so I can’t tell you for sure.
Reading used to be the only way to get entertainment. but this changed not with the computer but with the transistor radio and then TV.
Another thing never brought up by this article is how much reading you have to do on the computer. It’s not long form narrative but it’s reading. I’ll bet if you compare the amount of reading a teen did in the 60s and 70s it would be less then a teen today. From text messages to youtube comments word for word we read more. The people who argue that youtube comments don’t count as reading are the same people trying to get comic books out of libraries.
You don’t like to read book? Big deal. Tons of people don’t. When they were the only form of entertainment and information everyone had to read books. but now there is more forms of entertainment and information to suit people with different learning styles.
My brother hates to read. HATES IT. But he’ll sit and listen to an audio book for hours (which would drive me crazy).
Ug… these people make me so angry!!
Hard for me to say this diet doesn’t sound like the worst idea ever even if it’s a little more work then I currently do.
Manny Santos My How You’ve Grown
New single from Cassie Steele. (lyrics). The song is ridiculous. I don’t think the N will help promote it. Why couldn’t just be a love song to Craig or something? (via)
Update: Haha… it seems this new album will be a bit of a different genera then the last one:
Natalie Portman’s Shaved Head - Sophisticated Side Ponytail
I’ve not really gotten in to NPSH but the below video is kinda of crazy awesome. The think I want to know for sure is if that’s really a Degrassi reference in the begging. I can’t think of any other J.T. that were killed.
natalie portman’s shaved head - sophisticated side ponytail from thatgo on Vimeo.
Last The Stack Episode at Pulp Secrite
Change can always be scary and I think all the The Stack fans are a little worried about their move from Next Networks to an new undisclosed location. They seem confident everything will work out but with out talking about the details it just makes everyone anxious.
New Degrassi Promo and Song
The new promo is out for season 8 of Degrassi as well as a clip of the new theme song, with vocals.
The plan is to have 9 new characters next season. Can they teach their writers to write new characters instead of haphazardly throwing them together and explaining their backstory in one liners? We’ll see as they are basicly writing to keep their jobs. A bad season and everyone is fired.
Spore Survey: Expansion Info
There is a Spore survey out. Not a ton of information hidden in it but you do get a glimpse of the types of body parts and paint styles they are thinking of adding:
New Body Parts: Robotic, Human, Alien, Skeletal, Cute, Reptile, Monster
New Paint Types: Fur, Feathers, Fanciful, Cartoon, Realistic, Anime
Books I Am Reading Stats
I should keep better track of the stats on Books I Am Reading and since I am not backing up the data automatically here’s what they look like today.
Top Books People Want To Read
- 1984 (Signet Classics)
- The Kite Runner
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
- The Difference Engine (Spectra Special Editions)
- The Cult of the Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture
Top Books People Are Currently Reading
- Twilight (The Twilight Saga, Book 1)
- Moby-Dick or, The Whale (Penguin Classics)
- The Lord of the Rings (50th Anniversary Edition)
- The God Delusion
- Anna Karenina (Oprah’s Book Club)
Top Books People Have Finished
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
- 1984 (Signet Classics)
- Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone (Book 1)
- The Da Vinci Code
- Little Brother
Top Books People Have Given Up On
I like Olbermann when he is not being a complete troll.
via Feministing
In a recent interview with GQ Aaron Sorkin mentioned that he was talking to HBO and was looking for series ideas (He was half joking). But I have had a killer idea for Sorkin and HBO would be the perfect place for it. He should redo the West Wing but do it for a poor war torn country in Africa. It would keep all the drama of the West Wing but have a completely different set of obstacles to over come. Pressure from super powers, constant bankruptcy, military takeovers and other problems that only poor African countries have.
Alicia Sacramone Knocks Some Guy Out
Poised to become an American super start not only is Alicia Sacramone an Olympic Gymnast but she can also punch a dude out cold.
If you missed her last night here is the 2007 Nationals
Star Trek Online
Oh the early days of an MMO. So full of promise and hope. A time when anything a developer says is a fact about the game. Here are my favorites about Star Trek Online so far:
STO will not be a level-based MMO that will take hours upon hours of mindless, pointless grinding that would go against everything Star Trek stands for.
The game will be designed so that those of us with lives will be able to hold our own against those sad, sorry individuals who sink 60+ hours a week into their MMO.
I’m trying to remember an MMO that didn’t promise both of those things. Come on people? Do we have to get so starry eyed every time?
Hard Problems: The Road to the World’s Toughest Math Contest
It’s a little hypnotizing to hear these kids talk about how they tried to solve these math equations. This is a documentary that I would definitely like to see.