Hoodie or costume?
OK, I admit that I sometimes look at some of the more costume-like hoodies and think "wow, that is really nicely done." I too would love looking like a storm trooper or Commander Shepard or any others in a long line of iconic characters. Oh neat! Some even have full-face hoods! Wait, full-face hoods? I don't exactly know how I should be feeling about that one there pal.
I just can't help now but catch myself in that moment of geeky bliss wanting some of these things then realize how stupidly impractical some of them really are. Oh yes, I know you can see through the full hoods, but limited. Not only that, but the desire to put a face or a helmet in cloth, though cute really does not look that good. Damn man! If you wanna look like Boba Fett, I'm fine with the sweatshirt.
Hell, get the backpack that looks like his jet pack and wear an actual helmet. I think at the end of the day that would be better looking in the true nature of the character and more importantly you won't have to worry about zipping your lip up!
I always knew there would be something unsettling about those hoodies but it never really hit me until now. That is until they make a function T-Rex faced hoodie with real jaw snapping action. What? Dinosaurs are totally different than sci-fi or comic characters. They don't count as being limited to the same restrictions.
Say that again? World's longest word
I love science, but there are times I hate it. I seriously, seriously hate it. No, it has nothing to do with the factoids and all that. It's names. I've always hated scientific names. Not only are they a pain in the butt to read sometimes, but some get insanely out of hand. How out of hand? Well the chemical name for titan, "the largest human protein" has 189,819 letters in it, and takes over three hours to actually say.
Titan is made up of 26,926 different amino acids, the largest known protein and a key part of muscle tissue. Did I actually know that or look it up? I'll never tell, though I did take many many years of biology as part of anthropology.
Furthermore, you have to ask if I actually stayed awake through them. The answer there is no. What is even more impressive is this little beauty of a video with some poor guy actually reading the whole word. Just incase you are wondering, yes it does take over three hours so you may want to skip ahead. I find the dead plant and the stubble amusing. Pretty sure he nods off once too.
Now I'm sure you're curious to see what the word actually looks like, right? I bet you are and because I love you guys that much I'll dedicate myself to writing the whole thing out, for SCIENCE! I love science! The word is:
Methionylalanylthreonylserylarginylglycylalanylserylarginylcysteinylprolylarginylaspartylisoleucylalanylasparaginylvalylmethionylglutaminylarginyl-leucylglutaminylaspartylglutamylglutaminylglutamylisoleucylvalylglutaminyllysylarginylthreonylphenylalanylthreonyllysyltryptophylisoleucylasparagi- nylserylhistidylleucylalanyllysylarginyllysylprolylprolylmethionylvalylva-
WAIT, WAIT, no never mind. No, I'm not doing this, I don't love you that much. I'm only mildly fond of you. If you actually want to see the rest of the word fully written out I suggest taking a peek here:
More fake girlfriend apps
There is one place in this world where the idea of a virtual girlfriend has become 100 times more common than any place in the world, and countless versions have shown up in different media forms and such for well over a decade now to help combat insane amounts of social anxiety.
That's right: Japan. Where else? Sure, these things tend to branch out eventually, but pillow girlfriends, date Sims and even augmented reality dates all start there. It comes as no shock to see anything new in this “theme” come out.
This time it's a silly little iPhone app called “watching cute girl." It's basically exactly what you think it is. It's an app of a cute girl just watching you all dreamy eyed and periodically dropping one of some 180 pre-recorded comments and sweet nothings.
You know, I'm not even going to get snarky at this point. Truth is Japan has a major growth problem (that being zero percent) seeing males becoming more socially reclusive and shy, women becoming more aggressive and self-sufficient.
I know these apps are made to help comfort these situations a bit, but at the same time, isn't it also just going to exacerbate the problem more? I normally would roll over and laugh about going out and meeting people. Problem is that's not likely to happen when there is no incentive to in the first place. I'll just tip my hat and say “good job guys but no thanks, I'm an Android person anyway.”
Coffee extinct by 2080?
If there is any truth to a recent study by Kew Gardens then there is a possibility that climate change can wipe out the vast majority of the world's wild arabica coffee plants by the year 2080. 99.7 percent of the bean growing regions of the world would become too hot to support the plant, thus driving it to extinction. OK, it's true that most of the coffee we drink is actually grown in green houses and this is more concerning the natural “pure” beans. The thing is that it's the pure beans farmers have to go back to periodically to rebuff their own crops as the green house breeds grow weaker.
Yes, there is a broader science involved than just "Make more beans.” So you know what this means: over the coming years, prices are going to just get worse. You can't even say "well what about the South American ones?” Sadly they are not pure.
Geeze, when you say it like that, it all sounds so bigoted. Then again, I guess it can be. I am a Coffee Nazi I'm told. Unlike coffee snobs, I won't even look at Starbucks without disdain. Hey, I live in the Northwest. Starbucks is just a gimmick we dumped on the rest of the world, we still keep the really good things to ourselves.
I suppose if there is going to be a shortage, I'm going to have to fight to the bitter end. People risk their lives dealing with me without coffee; imagine what I would be like trying to preserve my stash of it!
Luxury for less
We'd be lying if we said we didn't absolutely love high-end jewelry. And it's not just us. When it comes to jewelry, everyone appreciates name-brand beauties. But who can afford such luxury? Psst. You can. Yes, you. Just because it's luxurious doesn't mean that it's beyond your reach. Believe it or not, there are ways to indulge without going broke.
Have a look at our list of some of the most affordable jewelry by Tiffany, Hermes and Cartier.
Tiffany: You need not stand outside the Tiffany store a'la' Audrey Hepburn with a longing look on your face. Remember that uncomfortably comic scene from the film where Peppard and Hepburn explain that they can't even afford the lowest-priced item at Tiffany? Hogwash. Tiffany isn't just for the uber-rich.There's plenty for buyers on a budget at this iconic jewelry store. And with dropdown boxes that list items by price, the Tiffany webpage makes it easy to find luxury within your price range. We happen to love the Tiffany Infinity pendant (pictured above) and the Tiffany bead bracelet.
Hermes: The prices at Hermes are so high that they border on obnoxious. But when you wear anything Hermes, you know that you're getting exactly what you pay for. The quality is so exceptional that it's almost other-worldly, and the simplistic beauty of the brand makes it instantly recognizable. When you buy Hermes, you're not purchasing a piece of jewelry; you're investing in a piece that will never depreciate and will likely become a family heirloom. And believe it or not, some Hermes pieces are actually affordable. The lacquered wooden bracelet above is part of a collection of pieces that are less than $250, and a few of the leather jewelry items with the famous H logo are under $300. If those prices are still too high, check out the Twilly scarves, which can be wrapped around the wrist like bracelets, for $140. Still pricey, of course, but for Hermes, that's cheap.
Cartier: Everyone knows that Cartier is anything but cheap, but that doesn't mean that everything by this famous jeweler has a $10,000 starting price. Trust us, you don't have to be Beyonce to buy Cartier bling. (But you may need a credit card). There are a few lovely Cartier chains that can be yours for $500 and up, including the above-pictured cable chain necklace. There are even some bracelets that, while still pricey, are well under the traditional Cartier prices. Cartier, much like Hermes, is an investment. When you buy from Cartier, you're purchasing timeless pieces whose value will only increase over time.
Whether you're buying a gift for someone else or just treating yourself, don't let the big names of jewelry scare you away. With a little searching and a few weeks of saving, almost everyone can afford a little piece of luxury jewelry.
Enjoy!
Chone On Crazy Diamond, Dept.
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In Fortune 500, there are times when senior managers (those in control of other managers, and who have budget responsibility) and directors (those in control of senior managers, and who have fangs down to their chins) meet in a large room to arrive at consensus decisions.
They do this because some decisions have cross-organizational impact. If a change of timeline, from Jan. 1, 2013 to Dec. 15, 2012, has the potential to embarrass the Applications Integration senior manager when he fails to hit that deadline, then that AI senior manager has the right to sign off on it. If a particular senior manager has a new initiative, say an added design-build team to increase a system's scalability, then that senior manager needs to trot around the halls and secure "buy-in" well in advance of the Steering Committee at which he proposes it.
The first time that Dr. D was ever invited to sit in a steering committee, as a "subject matter expert" (ha!), was in 1990. He was asked a question and he responded something like, "Well, the thing we're missing here is that this approach will cause problem X."
The silence in the room, and the looks on peoples' faces, was sickening. I'd said something horrible, and had no idea at all what it had been.
............
Afterward, he asked a friend what went wrong. The friend was reluctant to even tell Dr. D, for fear of being caught near the explosion when it went off under Dr. D's chair. "If I were Senior Manager X, I would have been pretty uncomfortable when you said that."
Dr. D had been completely oblivious to the fact that there was a suit attached to that proposal.
Explanations could be multiplied, but we trust that you take the point from here. Executives live and die by political capital. You could say, "I don't care about any of that," and you could also not be a $250,000 executive for very long. Those guys live on 90-day renewable contracts. Their contracts, and territory, are renewed based on their quarterly reports: were they on time, under budget, with a good defect rate? Okay, you're still senior manager. And you wonder why they don't mind firing people?
When the project is not on time, not under budget, and doesn't have a good defect rate -- let's say you are losing 95 games per season -- then you have a lifeline: your allies. Every day you add a chit to your allies account or lose one.
..............
You wonder why free agent contracts like Chone Figgins' aren't deep-sixed earlier than they are? Try suggesting that in a steering committee. There is a suit attached to that contract. Even suggesting Figgins' playing time be reduced, in a setting like that -- much less that Figgins be DFA'ed -- is likely to make a permanent, mortal enemy of a suit or six. Permanent.
And by the way, you wonder why bloggers aren't hired locally? :- ) How far out of bounds do bloggers get, going by the dimensions of this playing field?
The fact that Jack Zduriencik could DFA Chone Figgins, with a full year left on Figgins' contract, is a testament to the excellent standing that he (STILL) enjoys with the ownership committee. Their confidence in him is apparently still very high. This is EXTREMELY unusual, in Fortune 500, given the circumstances. The Nintendo ownership group has always been very patient about on-field results, provided that the yearly cash flow is pretty. But the M's have lost a boatload of games, for several years now. It's a compliment to them that they are willing to stay focused on the bottom of the talent pyramid.
...............
Chone Figgins was worth +4, +3, and +7 wins in the three years before the M's signed him. They got him for only $8.5 million per year, which is fully 50% off market value. At a 50% WAR bid, they were the highest bidder. That tells you all you need to know about GM's and WAR dogma.
...............
Dr. D does not believe in paying "soft skills" WAR heroes -- Shane Victorino, Melky Cabrera, etc -- their full theoretical value. But! Next time you can pay 2 WAR's worth of money to a 5 WAR player, you gotta do it again.
It was absolutely a no-brainer with Chone Figgins. There was a 4-5 WAR player, at a position and offensive role that fit us, sitting there for piddling 2 WAR money. There was no real decision involved; it was like asking whether you swing away with Miguel Cabrera up and a 2-0 count. He grounds into a double play? That's life. Zduriencik's decision to sign Chone Figgins goes into his ledger as a positive to be celebrated, not a negative to be overcome.
You draw aces wired, you bet them hard, and then the other guy draws out his straight ... hey, what can you do. Play them the same way next time.
Just hope the next no-brainer doesn't blow up due to dumb flippin' luck.
BABVA,
Dr D
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Terrible PC setups
I will never claim to be a super awesome gamer fiend. I love gaming, yes. I collect systems. I play for hours on my PC and laptop (yes, I am greedy and have both), but I adore my simple setup.
The desk isn’t that big so I maximized the space with the flat screen in a desk corner, the laptop on a stand in the center, the PC itself under desk with everything compartmentalized to allow access yet if I had to, I can pull out the PC and assorted wires for maintenance. It is neat and safe. It is a desk I am not afraid to show off.
It’s Thanksgiving!
Please excuse me, I’m not a highly sentimental person. I find the whole "let’s hang out with family we see every day, eating turkey and singing kumbayah" kind of boring. Well and history. Let’s say history was less pleasant. Then again, most American traditions have some sort of sour note in them. This is not necessarily good or bad – it just simply is.
City Tuesday
I tend to not gravitate toward games with too much realism. Real life is full of realism already: some good, some demoralizing bad. So many like myself turn to gaming to escape reality and find something positive in our day.
But some games bridge that in such a way that you are left having to figure the puzzle out, having to live it out because it is that engrossing. And best yet, it tackles such a topic with tact.
City Tuesday is a sort of part story, part simulation. It has you tasked with trying to find bombs hidden by terrorists through a sprawling city. You are tasked to find these bombs or pandemonium will break out and people will get hurt.
Black Thanksgiving?
Thanksgiving is the start of the incoming holiday season. The season to hang with family you may or may not miss for a few weeks out of the year. To stuff yourself with food you know is bad for you, but will eat anyway. To watch cheesy films for nostalgia's sake. To be thankful you are alive and here.