Unsought Input

Here are pictures of the geeks at Comic Con dressed up in their cosplay outfits. Whats surprising is how many attractive girls there are, maybe I need to get my own lame costume.

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Here is a cute little animation about an alien.  My addition to the study of UFOlogy, if you will, even though I didn’t make the video, only found it on youtube.

This is a cute little animation about two gentlemen fighting for the hand of a fair(ly well endowed) maiden.  Don’t let me ruin it for you by telling you there is a little twist.  Please enjoy!

Here are three episodes of David Blaine. Enjoy.

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Recently I received the worst job inquiry I have ever seen. I’ve had my resume floating around on job sites like Dice and Monster.com since the last time I was actively looking, more than three years ago, so I periodically get emails from keyword-searching recruiters. But nothing like this. This is a masterpiece:

HI, GREETINGS!!! WE ARE LOOKING FOR UI DEVELOPER SPECIALIST WITH BELOW SKILLS TITLE: UI DEVELOPER SPECIALIST Ø LOCATION: CULVER CITY, CA Ø TAX TERM: CON_CORP CON_IND CON_W2 Ø PAY RATE: ALL INCL Ø LENGTH: 12 MONTHS SKILLS: AJAX CSS PHOTOSHOP JSP HTML JOB DESCRIPTION: A MINIMUM OF 5 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE WORKING IN A TEAM ON A COMPLEX-PHASED NEW TECHNOLOGY MEDIUM SIZED WEB PROJECTS UNDERSTAND SOFTWARE DEVELOPMENT METHODOLOGY (PREFERABLY RUP) ABILITY/DESIRE TO UNDERSTAND BUSINESS PROBLEM THAT THE APPLICATION IS TRYING TO FIX/SOLVE RESPONSIBLE FOR DEVELOPING THE USER INTERFACE FOR A COMPLEX WEB APPLICATION WITH A LOT OF DATA ENTRY SCREENS, WORKFLOWS, VIEWS AND REPORTS EXPERIENCE USING TOOLS SUCH AS PHOTOSHOP OR ILLUSTRATOR TO PRESENT DESIGN COMPS, UI OPTIONS PARTICIPATED ON PROJECT WITH EXTENSIVE UI REVIEW PROCESSES AND CHANGES CAN PRESENT AND IDENTIFY USABILITY CHALLENGES AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT. CAN DESIGN PAGES WITH USABILITY IN MIND EXPERIENCE USING TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS HTML, CSS, JAVASCRIPT AND XML EXPERIENCE WITH BLEEDING EDGE TECHNOLOGIES SUCH AS AJAX AND FLEX (ACTION SCRIPT) EXPERIENCE WORKING ON SITES THAT HAVE A JAVA BACK-END; WORKING KNOWLEDGE OF JSP EXPERIENCE WORKING ON PORTAL BASED SITES (NICE TO HAVE) EXPERIENCE ON PROJECTS WHERE SLICK UI**S AND HIGH PERFORMANCE PAGES ARE A KEY CAN UNDERSTAND AND EXPLAIN CROSS BROWSER CHALLENGES, PERFORMANCE CHALLENGES BASED ON UI DECISIONS ETC. MUST BE ABLE TO PROVIDE EXAMPLES DELIVERABLES WILL INCLUDE: LOW-TECH MOCKUPS USING PHOTOSHOP, ILLUSTRATOR, EXCEL OR VISIO HTML PROTOTYPES WITH FUNCTIONING JAVASCRIPT AND DATA INTERACTIONS FLEX APPLICATION DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT THE BACK-END DEVELOPMENT TEAM JSP DEVELOPMENT TO SUPPORT THE BACK-END DEVELOPMENT TEAM .PLEASE RESPONDS WITH YOUR UPDATED RESUME AND THE FOLLOWING DETAILS RATE EXPECTATIONS | IMMIGRATION | AVAILABILITY | CURRENT LOCATION| CONTACT NUMBER ——————————————————————————– WARM REGARDS, JOHN ADAMS | SIERRA INFOSYS | [ed: removed] PHONE: [ed: removed] (OR) [ed: removed] | [ed: removed] ——————————————————————————–
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So recently I wrote an article on how I felt that the British show IT Crowd is very good and does not need an American remake. If you click right there on that little blue link, you can read it, too, if your heart so desires. Basically it just became a comment festival to say that because I don’t think that a lot of people are “intelligent” (I will use this term loosely) enough to really enjoy this type of humor that I am a bad American. I am not saying that you have to be intelligent to understand humor. You can be dumb as a rock and still think things are funny. And different things are funny to different people. For example, my friends like to watch people take the Cinnamon Challenge all night. They think this is the funniest thing since the icanhascheezburger.com. I do not. I don’t really think it’s funny at all. And these people are pretty dumb. And you know, of course, that dumb people are funny. I mean, that is why Jackass got to make two movies that a lot of people went out to see and then bought, along with lots of TV shows and DVDs and merchandise.

But you know what? I do think intelligence has a lot to do with the type of humor you find funny. You have to be smarter to get certain subtle references to pop culture or semi-inside jokes taken from any culture: pop, web, society, ect. Because you can only get so far with fart jokes. Really. I am pretty sure that the basic fart jokes do wear down over time. Don’t get me wrong, a fart joke here and there is funny. Just not all the time. That is why intelligence in humor is what makes a certain movie or TV show or book or comedian or whatever more funny and memorable then another. Do you agree with me? I actually don’t care if you do or not. I mean, I am writing this article which means that it obviously bothers me a little that I had to go out of my way to explain this to some people, but that I wanted to make sure it was understood what I mean. So, maybe I do care. But just a little.

And, I am not saying I am really smart or that you are really dumb (if you felt that the title of my article on the IT Crowd was derogatory towards you, then maybe it was? If not, then hey, I’m not talking about you.). All I am saying is that there are a lot of dumb people out there who never get tired of fart and poop jokes, getting to see people kick other people in the nuts or fall off of buildings. But for the rest of us who want that kind of humor mixed in with more intelligent and snappy humor I feel we get punished with main stream entertainment. And I am very thankful when something funny comes out on TV or at the movies. But it’s like a rare mythological beast. You will see it and love it and want to own it but no one will believe you that it was there (or in this case worth watching). Americans are all jaded and bored. I am tired of the same old recycled TV being reprocessed and re-aired. So, sorry if I offended you people who like to watch the same show 20 different times (I am talking about anything here but you can insert The Real World if you want a specific example). Over a hundred different channels for people to watch and still nothing on TV worth watching.

Oh, and one last thing, it’s not just Americans. Every country has their fair share of dumb people. I’m sorry to just single out the good ole USofA. I know, it makes me anti-American. So does everything else despite but that is an article for another time.

Before we answer that question, take a look at the video below. This is Jon Stewart interviewing Chris Matthews about his new book, Life’s a Campaign: What Politics Has Taught Me About Friendship, Rivalry, Reputation, and Success:

This is very different from most interviews with authors touring news and talk shows in support of their new book. The most obvious difference is that Stewart has a strong opinion and actually takes Matthews to task for what in the book. Most interviews consist of fluffy questions like, “so what inspired you to write this book” followed by 60 seconds of uninterrupted marketing while the interviewer casts loving gazes the author’s way.The most shocking thing for me, though, is that Stewart has actually read Matthews’ book and come up with his own, very informed, opinion about it. It sounds disgusting, but I don’t think I’ve gotten this impressions from any “real news” shows in the past.Take a look at The Daily Show interview with Alan Greenspan:

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Who says that nerds won’t make good parents? Oh, no one said that? My bad. I guess I misheard, but here is a list anyway. Oh, and I am too lazy to prioritize these, so they are in no particular order.

1. Who has cooler toys and gadgets than nerds do? I can tell you my husband has three little man armies downstairs that he built from models, a million dolls-oh, I mean action figures- all over the place, card games, board games, you name it. As far as gadgets, how about good computers, video games consoles, large televisions and home theater systems? And let’s not forget about the plethora of DVDs or Blue Ray or whatever you happen to own. The child of a nerd will want for no awesome toys, as the nerdy parents will have already bought them all for themselves.

2. The children of nerds will not be left to watch TV alone for hours on end while the parents ignore their children. Oh no. And I can guarantee you that these children will not be watching The Doodlebops, either. These kids will be watching DVDs of G.I. Joe, Transformers, Thundercats, Sesame Street, Voltron, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles and many more of our childhood favorites. And we will be sitting right beside them reliving our childhoods.

3. A Surplus of old comic books to read. Your nerd child is years behind on the X Men Series so you had better start reading him/her in the womb. Think about it, if you had the comics you had now as a child (all of them at once, I mean) you may have never left your room. Nerd children will be able to read by the time they are in kindergarten and they will have already read the entire Phoenix Saga. (more…)

According to BusinessWeek, the Lunesta ad is one of the least-skipped commercials on TV. This is an important metric for advertisers. Ever since TiVo and other DVRs have made it easy for people to jump past commercials, advertisers have tried to find ways to get them to watch.

If you look at the rest of the the list, it’s hard to see what makes a commercial less skipworthy. I have a theory in the case of Lunesta. I think people don’t skip because they are mesmerized by the soul-eating Lunesta butterfly. Watch the video:

…And now you tell me: doesn’t it look like the butterfly brought that woman the sweet gift of a quiet death? Every time that commercial comes on, I point to the screen and yell to my wife, “That butterfly is going to steal her breath!”

Apparently I’m not the only one creeped out…

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You probably got to this article by Googling “how to be a hipster” or “learn to be a hipster.” If that’s the case, it’s too late, don’t even bother, you’ll never be a hipster - the fact that you want to be one enough to type it into a web browser means you are already trying too hard.

Besides, are you really still using Google? Or the word “googling”? What is this, 2002?

So enjoy this video, it’s funny enough to make you feel better but it’s a shallow enough commentary that you’ll remain plainly not a hipster.

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When most airlines are having technical troubles, they call a mechanic or get out the manual or something to that matter. I am assuming. I have never worked for an airline but this is what I figure happens. It is logical, it makes sense.

Not if you work for Nepal Air. An article today on MSNBC is headlined “Airline sacrifices goats to appease sky god“. I thought that this headline might possibly be, you know, something to catch my attention and that the “sacrificial goats” were like, you know, taking away the in flight pretzels or beverages, some type of budget cut. Not actual goats. And not to an actual “sky god”.

These sacrificial goats, who’s names were Mindy and Max, were sacrificed in the name of Akash Bhairab, who is the renowned Hindu Sky God. Akash Bhairab has long been in control of all flying aircraft in and out of Nepal and surrounding areas and of course, if there is technical troubles, there must be sacrifices. Max and Mindy are not the first of their kind to be sacrificed for the greater good of on time departure and arrival times. It has been rumored that the Boeing 757 in question had offended Mr. Bhairab by having “technical troubles” possibly dealing with the “electrical wiring”, two things which the ancient and all powerful sky god is not familiar with. Thus, the sacrifice had to be made.

The highlight of this entire article from our good friends at MSNBC was this little snippet:

“The snag in the plane has now been fixed and the aircraft has resumed its flights,” said Raju K.C., a senior airline official, without explaining what the problem had been.

Without explaining what the problem had been? Obviously the problem was that the 757 had offended Mr. Bhairab and measures had to be taken. There will be a funeral held for Max and Mindy in the proper manner later this week. There is no comment from Max or Mindy’s surviving family as they are goats and do not speak.

It has been rumored that Delta plans on converting all of their staff to the Hindu religion later this year to gain Mr Bhairab’s favor over their current budget crisis.

They go door-to-door. They are affable and conspicuously pleasant to deal with. And they both want to save your soul. But in the end, there can be only one, so we ask: what happens when Mormons and Jehovah’s witnesses collide?

Okay, that was fun. Most of us turn off the lights and hide when either group comes knocking (that is, unless you have some yardwork for them to do). But what if both groups showed up at your door- who should you listen to and who should you direct to the curb?

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A favorite show of mine, The IT Crowd plays on British televisions on Channel four on Friday Nights. The first season came on in February of 2006 with six episodes and the second season just started not too long ago, and by that I mean last week. This show is hilarious and should be watched by all. In fact, here is a short clip of humor to make you giggle like a small school child.

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