Ragged Clown

Oglaf. The funniest comic on the interwebs (sometimes). It’s very naughty.

Python. It’s not quite Ruby.

I’ll celebrate my thousandth post with a quote from the same song that I quoted in my first. Yes, to dance beneath the diamond sky With one hand waving free, Silhouetted by the sea, Circled by the circus sands, With all memory and fate Driven deep beneath the waves, Let me forget about today until […]

Me: Do you know ruby or java? Other guy: No. Php and Javascript. Me: How about you? C#, maybe? Third guy: No. Just Perl. Me: Anyone know Python? All: No. Me: OK, me neither. Let’s do Python, then.

Orwell’s Diaries have been serialized daily online for the last few years as though Orwell were a contemporary blogger. His diary started with Word War II and each entry is posted on the day it was written but time-shifted 70 years into the future. The early entries were fascinating for their fleeting glimpse into the every […]

I started a new job with a brand-new startup. An old life is ending as a new life begins.

I’ve just spent 20 minutes searching the AT&T web site for somewhere to register my disenchantment with their services. The AT&T home page has a link to a contact us page which links to a message saying if you prefer to email us click here. Click that and you get a phone number and a link […]

Here’s a fun game to play with your american-speaking children. Write out these three words on three separate cards and hand the cards to one of your children to read. Merry Mary Marry Have child number one read out the cards and have child number two write down the words that they hear. Score 1 […]

Love bloggingheads.tv. Love Jonathon Haidt. Love evolutionary psychology. Inevitable that I would love this. And I did.

I wish it were possible to stay out of the culture wars. But then I go and read something like this: Halfway through my pregnancy, I learned that my baby was ill. Profoundly so. My doctor gave us the news kindly, but still, my husband and I weren’t prepared. Just a few minutes earlier, we’d […]

I hate the culture wars even or, perhaps, especially when my side is winning. There are so many interesting points to make for and against a federal mandate that employers provide insurance coverage of contraception. For example, Using insurance to pay for an entirely predictable cost makes a nonsense of the idea of insurance. Unplanned […]

If you had asked me, six minutes ago, whether we should spend more money on NASA, I’d’ve said “No. Can’t afford it and it’s not a proper role for government.” Neil deGrasse Tyson’s testimony to the Senate may have just changed my mind. Actual testimony: The empty seats at the committee table make me think […]

Having now shepherded two little clowns through elementary and middle school, a lot of teachers have crossed my path. It has been rare to come across one with a passion for science. I have come across teachers who apologize for how hard maths is. They explain how they will make it easier and more fun for the […]

Mispronunciations Maester Khal Looks Catelyn is much older and harsher than I expected. In my mind she had a stark beauty. It was inevitable that Ned would look like Sean Bean but I had him older and more refined. I can’t get the hang of Rob but Bran and Jon Snow are exactly as I […]

Will they make a good movie?

A fun way to spend a Saturday – reinstalling wordpress because your blog got hacked.

By the time I’ve finished this entry, the Iowa results will probably be in and my post will be already out of date. I’ll type quickly. It seems to me that this year, more than any other time that I remember, the current field of GOP candidates accurately represents the many, many faces and special […]

In case the embed doesn’t work: Feynman on Beauty

In the end his popularity just leached away. What a waste!

One thing that I envy conservatives for is their ability to think in terms of statistics. 42 million with no health insurance? Oh well, at least 260 million have it. That’s pretty good right? 12 million illegal immigrants? Send ’em back where they came from. Been here 25 years? Got kids who are grown up […]

Facebook’s biggest contribution to civilization is the like button. Before we could like things, we had to decide whether something was 3 stars or 4 stars and I could never decide whether 3 stars meant this is pretty good or I am quite disappointed in this but not enough to give it two stars. 4 stars […]

I made a list of things a couple of years ago. I thought you might like an update. Just finished another theme. Garbage disposal still broke. Bathroom still needs renovating. Still no blinds. We have a new fence. Sansa was recycled. I made that pendulum table! Didn’t renew ceremonial deists site. From my main list: […]