Tag: Entertainment
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Fair but misses the usual
Nieman has a fair-minded article on the decline of science journalism. The author recognizes that science journalism isn’t unique; it’s failing on the same schedule as general journalism. He misses the reason as always. He also categorizes science magazines oddly. He says Scientific American, Popular Science and National Geographic are the three biggest. SciAm has…
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Wanted to hear the music
Reprinting this 2016 item because I wanted to hear the march, and also because a couple of chance mentions have new reference points. = = = = = START REPRINT: Before 1960 local radio stations, even in big cities, spent a LOT of time serving farmers and agricultural occupations. Early morning typically featured one or…
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Bit of syntax fun
Seen at substack, wasn’t meant to be funny so I didn’t snark it there. Word order is important, and singular/plural agreement is important! Some mayflies live only hours as adults, Kevin McMullen MD writes, after having lived for years as a nymph.
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Reported full moon reported!
Via Spokane News. 800 North Sullivan Rd, vehicle collision in the drive through line reported. Reported a vehicle with a person dressed as an oversized bear on the top of a vehicle did not see the other vehicle and hit them. Caller thinks one driver is possibly intoxicated. Reported the occupants of both vehicles are…
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Toadbird
What I want from a real newspaper is features, not articles. Since I subscribed to the real Spokesman-Review last month, it’s been coming through in fine form. Today’s issue has a lighthearted locally written feature on a WEIRDASS local bird, the Common Poorwill (apparently too poor to afford a whip). Unlike the romantic-sounding name, it’s…
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Are these results useful?
Here’s what an outstanding AI helper can do for you! Well, I wish I had trusted AI to write to write welcome I’m the guy side of back of Welcome, I’m the guy with side on the back on of my JS and CSS and Welcome, I’m the guy, HTML5 on the back of the…
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Can’t resist
Via Spokesman, More on the large news lawsuit against large Altman models. = = = = = START QUOTE: The news organizations allege OpenAI is stealing and distorting their copyrighted works, inhibiting their ability to sell their original journalism while also providing ChatGPT users reporting that’s often inaccurate. They have been joined by the Authors…
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Tailings, nuggets
SR describes a huge new $20 million house in Coeur d’Alene. The spec-built estate is spec-named Talis. Clearly the marketers gave considerable thought to the name. 1. Per the article, talis is the genitive case of tal in Latin, (‘of such a type’) which apparently acquired the connotation of ‘best of the type’. 2. Unstated…
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Another Martian dream
Odd parallel with a Martian dream last summer. = = = = = Today’s dream: I was attending an arts fair. Noticed an old lady selling typewritten manuscripts about her experience with Martians, who taught her their system of government called optothecy. I told her I was curious and asked to hear more. “Well now,…
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Understands that science is entertainment
In Preparation is a fairly new Substack publication performing a task that has been missing for a LONG time. It treats science as entertainment, parodying the bizarre excesses of Publish Or Perish and other old and new trends. The writer is extremely careful to label it as satire, which is crucially necessary in the online…
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Why I never re(re(re(re(re(curse)))))
In 40 years of active programming I’ve never used a recursive function. I don’t see why you’d want to GUARANTEE problems. I know the Turingian theorists and Computer “Science” classes advise recursing everywhere, which is an added reason to avoid it. In the AI era, text witch hunters search for em-dashes. In coding the witch…
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Blazer
Via Spokane News: = = = = = On June 15, 2026, at approximately 4:30 am, Spokane Valley Deputies responded to the report of a suspicious vehicle at the Exxon station in the 3400 block of S. Dishman Mica Road. The caller said a vehicle, later found to be a red 2007 Chevrolet Trail Blazer,…
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Cute and true
What your favorite programming language says about you. Note that Basic and Cobol aren’t even there. Basic is mostly gone but Cobol is still very much alive and modern. Google shows a dinosaur as the Cobol logo, but apparently that’s a joke, not the official design. Later thought. Most of these aren’t real logos anyway,…
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