Monthly Archives: June 2014

Epic Rap Battles, Culture War, Yet More Problematic Politics, Some Interesting Decor, and the Requisite Number of Cat Posts

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This entry is part 55 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

My sleeping and eating schedule this weekend was even more off from what most would consider “typical” than normal.

But, that’s what I get for going out to an 80s mega dance party on Friday, partying with rock stars on Saturday, and spending most of Sunday recovering and trying (failing!) to get back on a more useful schedule.

I really don’t know how you people who drink do it.

Lots going on in the news today… and some other interesting and problematic revelations over the weekend. It’s all in today’s feed (which stretches back to Friday).

Blasts from the Past, Signal Knowledge, Private Police, Big Brother Buzz, and Just Some Darn Funny Stuff

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This entry is part 54 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

Today did not start out well.

The bus I normally catch to make it to work on time just plain didn’t show up.

The second bus on that route–the one that will get me to work just a little late, as long as we don’t hit any long traffic lights–was late.

Since that first bus hadn’t shown up, it was also at about 90% capacity when I got on. Total standing room only and a lot of shared airspace and getting friendly with strangers (and their bags).

The first stop after mine filled the aisles of the bus to sardine level.

Then the bus driver spent three minutes arguing with people at the second stop after mine about why he couldn’t fit them on the bus. That repeated for half the stops after that one (since the bus wasn’t getting any less full).

Why there isn’t a “Bus is full” option on the vehicle signage, I’ll never know. There should be.

Because, man, were there some pissed off people.

Rightfully, so, too. Some of them were going to end up being a minimum of an hour and a half late for wherever they were going. I’m assuming most were going to work. You know, a place where being late can get you fired.

This isn’t the first time this has happened in the past year.

Usually, the bus shows up. But more often than not it’s between five and ten minutes late. In a 20-30 minute rotation (depending on time of day). That’s up to a third late. Sometimes more.

Even five minutes late, if the timing is just wrong enough to catch the later traffic lights, is enough to make me miss my first connecting bus. Catching the second connecting bus still gets me to work on time, but just barely. On days I miss that second connection, I’m stuck waiting at the transfer station for another 20 minutes–in order to do a 10 minute bus ride.

I can’t tell you how often I’ve just considered shelling out for a cab from the transfer station.

So my day started with my normally just shy of an hour commute taking me around an hour and a half (from front door to desk). If I were driving, it would less than half an hour.

While I appreciate having public transportation as an option, I really don’t appreciate its lack of ability to hold to an actual schedule.

We’ll see what tomorrow brings.

Innovation Squashed, Bigotry from the Bench, Hacking Hackers, Science Rap, and Work-life Balance

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This entry is part 53 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

As I mention frequently (perhaps too frequently), my own natural flow doesn’t fit exceptionally well with the standard 40-hour work week setup.

I’ve also said for years that we’ve become victims of our technology instead of masters of it.

Instead of allowing our advancing technology to give us modest gains in both free time and productivity, we’ve instead gone whole-hog for productivity at all costs. Creating a culture of utter consumption and quest for profit above all else.

This is unhealthy. It leads to people being continually unsatisfied–as they are regularly manipulated by advertising and cultural pressure to have more, to consume more, and to be conspicuous as hell about it. It’s devoured our culture and contributes stress beyond belief to our lives.

How I think it should have gone? Technology should have, at least in part, freed up more time for everyone to explore the things that interest them. Yes, progress would have been slower, but it also would have been deeper. And, I think, the modern world wouldn’t seem so shallow, trite, and cold as it often does.

We’d have more patience with each other (since competition and one-ups-manship wouldn’t be quite so big a part of our lives). We’d enjoy ourselves more (because we’d actually have time to).

Anyway, those are shorthand thoughts. The article in today’s stream (which I know I’ve posted before in years past, since it’s from 2010) says it all better (and if you click through to the comments, there’s another article there that goes even deeper).

Enjoy what free time you have and don’t let the machine grind you too much on your way through…

https://www.facebook.com/kierduros/activity/10152121073215981

Political Progress, Severe SWAT, Riotous Raccoons, Diminutive Dwellings, and Interest Intelligence

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This entry is part 52 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

In the feed today is a totally adorable video of people feeding a whole passel of raccoons in a parking lot.

It’s one of the stupidest things I’ve seen people do on the Internet today. (That’s saying a lot.)

I grew up in the woods. I’ve had numerous “close encounters” with raccoons. They’ve all been amusing. But that doesn’t mean I go out of my way to interact with these critters. It’s typical to see three, maybe four raccoons trundling along in the dusk… especially if there’s a trash bin nearby. But, more often, you’ll see solitary ones or pairs doing their thing. If you’re in an area where you see this often, they probably won’t dash off when they see you–they’ll just continue on their way.

That, in and of itself, is kind of a problem. It means they’ve gotten used to humans being around them. It also gives the false impression that they’re really okay with humans being around them and can easily lead to people thinking, “Hey, let’s play with the cute animals!”

Which is a very bad idea.

In the video there are more than two dozen raccoons gathered around this nimrod who’s handing out Doritos. In a parking lot. During daylight.

That is not typical in any way, shape, or form.

This is a whole colony of raccoons who have been trained out of most of their natural habits–being nocturnal, not grouping up, showing at least some minor trepidation when humans are around, actually foraging for food. No doubt this has occurred after years of people feeding them in that parking lot (which I’m guessing is for a park of some sort).

Here’s what this sort of thing leads to…

  • A bunch of raccoons that can easily catch and spread disease–not just among themselves, but over to humans, too
  • A situation where someone is more apt to get bit or scratched or otherwise wounded by a raccoon (which never ends well for the raccoons in the area)
  • A hazard for pets and other animals (not to mention children)
  • A game of Russian roulette as to when that cute and passive gaggle of fuzzies is going to decide you most certain are not done feeding them as they swarm you

These are wild animals, people. They should be treated with some amount of respect and, whenever possible, left to their own devices.

Unless you like the idea of going though treatment for potential rabies infection. If that’s the case, then by all means go snuggle with those little banditos.

Star Wars Stuff, Perspective on Numerous Levels, Cool Looking Hobbies, and (of course) Politics

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This entry is part 51 of 100 in the series Today's Tidbits

I’ve spent far too long reading stuff and watching YouTube videos. Between that and hitting a meeting down in Silver Spring proper after work tonight, my “free time” has all but vanished, leaving me, once again, at the “Oh, crap, I should probably be going to sleep now-ish” point.

My “normal” sleep schedule really doesn’t fit well with the “normal” world. There’s really nothing close to normal about it. It rotates oddly if I’m left to my own devices. And, while I’ve found plenty of documented cases of variously odd natural sleep schedules. documentation doesn’t really help solve the problem of it not at all matching with a typical work schedule. (Let alone when anything else is going on.)

This has been the case for pretty much as long as I can remember.

And it really shows no signs of changing for the better. No matter how much I try to tweak it.

So, here’s the feed from today and the weekend. Enjoy it. I did. 🙂