Category Archives: Stupidity

You are TOTALLY GAY for Vista! Haaaaaaa HAAAAAAA!

Posted on July 30, 2008 by Kevin

Interesting insight into the results of Microsoft’s “Mojave Experiment” on Wil Shipley’s blog…

Microsoft took a bunch of “regular folks” XP users who were afraid of Vista, and told them Microsoft was going to show them a secret new operating system — which was actually Vista.

UNSURPRISINGLY, these people mostly said they liked Vista.

I hate bad science. Hate it. Hate. So let’s look at not one, not two, but FOUR, yes FOUR (ah-ah-ah!) key flaws in this experiment, any single one of which would render its results meaningless:

* The Placebo Effect
* The Pepsi Challenge Effect
* The Perfectly Controlled Environment Effect
* The Personal Tutor Effect

Microsoft has managed to prove that if you have a friendly expert on a controlled machine (with Vista pre-installed) showing a carefully selected subset of Vista features to an ignorant XP user for a few minutes, the XP user will often say he finds Vista acceptable. Wow.

This so-called experiment of Microsoft’s is an insult to science, and to our intelligence. And I am dying to see the out-takes from their shoot. I mean, how many people do you suppose like being told, “Hey, this giant, unpopular monopolistic software company just made an ass out of you! Ha ha! Our leading scienticians just PROVED that you LOVE VISTA and WANT TO MARRY IT. You are TOTALLY GAY for Vista! Haaaaaaa HAAAAAAA!”

Read the whole article.

Posted in Amusements, Geek, Science, Stupidity, Tech | Leave a comment

Bush or Batman?

Posted on July 24, 2008 by Kevin
Posted in Amusements, Politics, Stupidity | Leave a comment

Scary Candidate Quote #2

Posted on December 27, 2007 by Kevin

Wow.

“And I hear from time to time people say, hey, wait a second. We have civil liberties we have to worry about. But don’t forget, the most important civil liberty I expect from my government is my right to be kept alive, and that’s what we’re going to have to do.”
– Mitt Romney

P.S. Ron Paul in 2008!

Posted in Politics, Stupidity | Leave a comment

What media bias?

Posted on August 13, 2007 by Kevin

This is ridiculous…

This sort of thing is why I stopped watching TV news years ago.

P.S. Go Ron!

Posted in DeepThoughts, Interesting, Politics, Stupidity | 1 Comment

Reason #752 not to vote for McCain

Posted on April 19, 2007 by Kevin

From CNN:

WASHINGTON (CNN) — At a town hall meeting in South Carolina Wednesday, Arizona Sen. John McCain was asked if there is a plan to attack Iran. McCain began his answer by changing the words to a classic Beach Boys’ song.

“You know that old Beach Boys song, Bomb Iran?” the Republican presidential candidate said. Then, he sang. “Bomb bomb bomb, bomb bomb Iran.”

He finished his answer by discussing the Iran’s nuclear ambitions and the country’s desire to wipe Israel off the map to emphasize the real dangers that it poses to the world.

“The senator was adding levity to the discussion and the crowd reacted with laughter,” campaign spokesman Kevin McLaughlin said. “He went on to discuss the seriousness of issue.”

Also, check out the excellent article in Reason magazine, “Be Afraid of President McCain – The frightening mind of an authoritarian maverick“.

Posted in Politics, Stupidity | Leave a comment

"Stuff Happens"

Posted on March 23, 2007 by Kevin

Excellent Economist article on why the war in Iraq failed:

What went wrong? The most popular answer of the American neoconservatives who argued loudest for the war is that it was a good idea badly executed. Kenneth Adelman, he of the “cakewalk”, has since called the Bush national-security team “among the most incompetent” of the post-war era. Others also blame the Iraqis for their inability to accept America’s gift of freedom. “We have given the Iraqis a republic and they do not appear able to keep it,” lamented Charles Krauthammer, a columnist for the Washington Post.

That excuse is too convenient by half: it is what the apologists for communism said too. But there can be no denying that the project was bungled from the start. Western intelligence failed to discover that Saddam had destroyed all his weapons of mass destruction (WMD), the removal of which was the main rationale for the war. However, the incompetence went beyond this. The war was launched by a divided administration that had no settled notion of how to run Iraq after the conquest. The general who warned Congress that stabilising the country would require several hundred thousand troops was sacked for his prescience.

Mr Rumsfeld’s one big idea seemed to be that it was not the job of the armed forces he was “transforming” to become policemen, social workers or nation- builders. As a result, he sent too few and they did nothing to prevent looters from picking clean all Iraq’s public buildings the moment the regime collapsed. “Stuff happens,” was the defence secretary’s comment, a phrase used later as the title of an anti-war play in London’s West End.

Continue reading…

Posted in DeepThoughts, Interesting, Politics, Stupidity | Leave a comment

Americans believe in religion — but know little about it

Posted on March 5, 2007 by Kevin

WaPo book review for Stephen Prothero’s “RELIGIOUS LITERACY – What Every American Needs to Know — and Doesn’t”:

The United States is the most religious nation in the developed world, if religiosity is measured by belief in all things supernatural — from God and the Virgin Birth to the humbler workings of angels and demons. Americans are also the most religiously ignorant people in the Western world. Fewer than half of us can identify Genesis as the first book of the Bible, and only one third know that Jesus delivered the Sermon on the Mount.

A 2005 survey by the Pew Forum on Religion and Public Life found that nearly two-thirds of Americans endorse the simultaneous teaching of creationism and evolution in public schools. How can citizens know what creationism means, or make an informed decision about whether it belongs in classrooms, if fewer than half can identify Genesis? No doubt the same proportion of Americans think that Thomas Edison said, “Let there be light.”

Approximately 75 percent of adults, according to polls cited by Prothero, mistakenly believe the Bible teaches that “God helps those who help themselves.” More than 10 percent think that Noah’s wife was Joan of Arc. Only half can name even one of the four Gospels, and — a finding that will surprise many — evangelical Christians are only slightly more knowledgeable than their non-evangelical counterparts.

Posted in Interesting, Stupidity | Leave a comment

Boston Police Blow Up Suspicious Looking Man

Posted on March 2, 2007 by Kevin

The next logical step… from BBspot:

Boston, MA – There were more tense moments today after Boston Police were forced to blow up a suspicious looking man near a lamp post.

An alert city worker called in the man after noticing that he had been leaning against the lamp post for more than ten minutes.

Officer Charlie O’Hara of the bomb squad said, “We got a report of a man loitering in a high-traffic area with a bulky coat and a backpack. We cleared the area, snuck up behind him, attached the explosives and detonated him.”

Police later learned the man, Evan Johnson, was waiting for his girlfriend, Cindy Collins, who was getting a cappuccino at a nearby Starbucks. His backpack contained books and all that was under his coat was a “Wish you were beer” t-shirt.

Collins explained why Johnson was by the lamp post. “There was a long line at Starbucks, and Evan wanted to smoke so he waited outside for me. Next thing I know I look up and I see police blowing him up. I always told him that down jacket made him look puffy.”
Related News

Mr. Johnson is only the latest scare to hit Boston. Last month a marketing stunt by a cartoon show paralyzed the city. Two weeks ago police shut down Boston’s largest mall after a teen passed gas in an Abercrombie and Fitch. Just this week police blew up a traffic counting device.

“You can never be too careful,” said O’Hara. “I’d rather blow up a hundred innocent people if I can prevent another 9/11.”

Posted in Amusements, Stupidity | Leave a comment

An Open Letter to Microsoft: Re-Release Windows XP

Posted on March 1, 2007 by Kevin

Maybe it’s already too late…

Dear Mr. Gates, Mr. Ballmer, and the many good folks at Microsoft Corp.,

It’s time to sober up on Windows Vista. This just isn’t working out, and your users are getting frustrated to the point where they’re souring on Windows altogether. In case you haven’t seen some of the more noteworthy blog posts on this topic. Or check out the recent bug reports regarding product activation and security flaws. This is all stuff I managed to dredge up that was written yesterday.

People are unhappy with Vista. Really unhappy. And though I know Microsoft has its own form of Steve Jobs’ reality distortion field, it certainly can’t keep you from seeing at least some of the sobering sales figures and the crush of disappointing reviews of Vista. I don’t want to dredge up all the reasons people are unhappy with Vista in this letter. I want to talk about what you ought to do stop a mass migration to Linux and the Mac.

Continue reading…

Posted in Amusements, Interesting, Stupidity, Tech | Leave a comment

Boston Bomb Squad is at it Again…

Posted on February 28, 2007 by Kevin

Now they’re blowing up non-bombs around the corner from my office building…

Suspicious package in Boston turns out to be benign

BOSTON — The bomb squad destroyed a suspicious package in downtown Boston.
Police found the small, green box on the ground in the Financial District Wednesday morning.
Investigators believe it was a pedestrian counter, but the bomb squad destroyed it as a precaution.
No one was hurt, and no businesses needed to be evacuated.

Update: Now with video!

Another update: Security guru Bruce Schneier chimes in on the subject.

Posted in Amusements, Stupidity | Leave a comment