It Is Undoubtedly The Future

This day in history:

1873: The Canadian Parliament establishes the North-West Mounted Police (which is renamed the Royal Canadian Mounted Police in 1920).

Man, I miss playing Sergeant Preston.

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Hey, can anyone help me find a PB? I've got a character I'm gonna be apping at Milliways, and while I don't expect her to last more than a few months, I'd still like to scare up a decent PB without running afoul of the horrors of Google Image Search. The character is fourteen or fifteen, short- five feet tall or so- with dark hair and dark eyes. She's got a gymnast's build and is described by the first-person narrator of her canon as 'a little too mannish-looking for one's bed'. She comes from the northern side of the Caucasus Mountains. Her canon's set in the Bronze Age and her ethnicity, Sauromantian/Sarmatian, doesn't exist any more.

I tried to get some descriptions from the Net of what the Sarmatians looked like, but they're not that much help, plus for some reason I keep getting results from white supremacist web sites. Which, no. The current PB I'm using for her when I'm not using a picture of one of the Knossos bull-dancing frescoes is here, but that woman's one of the handful of successful female bullfighters and is at least twice Thalestris' canonical age, so there'd have to be some epic photoplasty to get her to look quite right.

Anyone have a better suggestion, or photomanip skillz0r? Thanks!

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Notes From New Vegas 43: Even The Other Brains Think You're Crazy, Borous

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues ahead. Trigger warnings for involuntary medical procedures. )

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I hate dropping things like this on people, since I know that if I post too much stuff about social issues a lot of folks will get bored or skip right over it, but... well, I'm hoping that those of my readers who identify as various types of Christian will stop and have a look at this.

A North Carolina pastor has made national news with a sermon calling on parents to physically abuse gay children.

With only days remaining before a statewide vote on a constitutional amendment banning all legal recognition of same-sex unions, Pastor Sean Harris of Berean Baptist Church told his congregants: "Dads, the second you see your son dropping the limp wrist, you walk over there and crack that wrist. Man up. Give him a good punch."

Once the sermon came to public attention, Harris tried to retract some of his remarks. But for the families of LGBT youth who heard his tirade, the damage has already been done.

I recently added my name to a short statement assuring LGBT youth that faithful Christians are appalled by Pastor Harris' tirade and that anti-gay violence is never justified by Christian teaching. Can you help us reach 10,000 names so we can release it to the media and show that Pastor Harris doesn't speak for Christianity?

http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/2518/p/dia/action/public/?action_KEY=10391

Thank you.

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I'm posting this from the Staten Island Ferry as we wait to head home.

37.3 miles in 2 hours 54 minutes.

BOOYAH.

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Inspired by the ideas of author J.K. Rowling, Australian scientists have created a rapid new blood test that spells out a patient’s blood type on bioactive paper.

Professor Shen said the research was inspired by the film adaptation of J.K. Rowling’s novel Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets.

“In the film Harry Potter interrogates Tom Riddles’ diary by writing on a page of paper in the Diary “Do you know anything about the Chamber of Secrets?”; and the paper responded with a “Yes” in writing,” Professor Shen said.

“The artist’s vision showed us that non-conventional mechanisms for reporting results using paper-based sensors should be explored.

“And now we have been able to create that same unambiguous response with a blood test.”

Nice work.

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It's not often I laugh out loud at the stuff that gets stopped in my company's spam filter, but today there was a 419 email claiming to be from the 'Economic & Financial Crimes Commission' in Lagos, Nigeria. Their message began with what claimed to be their street address, including the lines (BE CAREFUL OF THE HOODLUMS / SCAMMERS) and 'Motto: No Body Is Above the LAW'. And just in case you missed it, after the 'Attn:' line they repeated themselves:

BE CAREFUL OF THE HUDLOOM


.... I'm sorry, I've been giggling for the last five minutes over this. BE CAREFUL OF THE HUDLOOM.



(The rest of the message is pretty standard, although it's also funny that the email claiming to be from Nigerian law enforcement gives a return email address in .pl. Seriously, people, BE CAREFUL OF THE HUDLOOM.)

(.... which, um, sounds like a Doctor Who villain.)

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I've been buying different kinds of dried beans and legumes at the store almost every time I go grocery shopping lately, mostly just to try them all. Recently acquired a bag of rather nice-looking black lentils; those should be good. Also a bag of fava beans, which I have never used before. I have recipes for those but have not eaten them that I recall. Since I am not a Pythagorean I'm not worried about 'em, but on the off chance that I'm carrying the genes for G6PD deficiency and don't know it I'll be careful with those the first time I eat them. Doubt that'll be a problem, though, G6PD deficiency patients usually have haemolytic issues with aspirin too.

I've already tried the red cargamantos I got the other day. They're really quite nice prepared Colombian style, even if wow have I never run across that many scallions in a dish that didn't have the word 'negamaki' in its name. They take longer to cook than most beans I'm used to, though, even with a strip of kombu in the pot to speed things up. And I don't remember most of my other beans causing quite this much gas. That's okay, though, they're still good and I'll deal.

Probably going to take a stab at the lentils next. We'll see how it goes.

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Notes From New Vegas 42: No, Seriously, What The Hell Is Wrong With You People

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues ahead. )

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Notes From New Vegas 41: Never Mind Oldman, Gary Busey Couldn't Play This Kind Of Crazy

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues ahead. Trigger warning for involuntary medical procedures. )

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Okay, how did I only just find out about this guy? I'm not vegetarian or vegan, but his recipes are really appealing so far and the fact that he's exactly what he says on the tin means that he's got a better presentation than any number of cooking site/cooking show hosts I've seen in ages:

Vegan Black Metal Chef

Allow me to recommend particularly the two vids I've seen so far: Smoothie Alchemy and Hail Seitan. That udon noodle stirfry looks really good...

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I am awake and at work and all is well, or as well as it ever gets when I am awake and at work. Big damn iced mocha helps with that.

Should have Notes From New Vegas 41 done sometime today or tomorrow.

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Notes From New Vegas 40: There's No Place Like Home, There's No Place Like Home- DAMMIT SHOES COOPERATE ALREADY

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues ahead. Once again, possible trigger warning for involuntary medical procedures. )

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Hey, Australia? Check out #5:

Cracked.com's Six Creepiest Ways They're Harvesting Electricity

#5 involves animal carcasses. Specifically, rabbit carcasses. Have any Aussie government science types spoken to Sweden lately?

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This looks like an interesting prospect. The question becomes, assuming I get into it, what topic.

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It's warm here- has been, for the past few days- and I have cats who are messy eaters. And occasionally leave sweet things outside of the refrigerator, which admittedly I shouldn't do. These two facts have started attracting ants- little black ones.

Unfortunately, cleaning up after the cats and locking up the sweet things and washing the area down with strong-smelling stuff that promises to eradicate scents does not appear to have dissuaded the ants from following their foragers' trails. They keep coming back.

I've begun chemical warfare. Terro apparently makes a cat-safe ant bait with boric acid that kills within 24-48 hours, the better to take out the whole colony. I feel guilty as hell for using it- it's not as if the ants are destroying my food supply- but they don't belong in my household and they're not a good thing in terms of hygiene or whatever else they might bring in, so... chemical warfare it is.

I'll continue cleaning up and keeping food locked up and all, but for now, the ants are being baited with death, and hopefully they'll give up on this place once the boric acid kicks in.

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Notes From New Vegas 39: I Hate My Life, Now Why Does My Head Go 'Clonk'?

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Old World Blues ahead. Trigger warning for biologically horrific science and involuntary surgical procedures. )

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I don't have one and I doubt I ever will, especially after hearing about this:



They've signed on in support of CISPA -- the new bill that would obliterate online privacy, give the military crazy new abilities to spy on the Internet, and potentially let ISPs block sites and cut off users accused of piracy. I always knew Facebook was terrifying in terms of their casual disregard for privacy or security, but this is just gross even for them.

The Center for Democracy and Technology's page on CISPA
The Electronic Frontier Foundation's page on CISPA

You might want to have a word with your Congressbeings. I've already contacted mine.

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Notes From New Vegas 38: Goodbye to Utah and the MORMON OF DOOM

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts ahead. )

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Notes From New Vegas 37: BEARS BEARS BEARS AUGH BEARS

( Spoilers for Fallout New Vegas: Honest Hearts ahead. )

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