Edible ballots Jan 4, 2006
In Canada, it's illegal to eat a ballot.  The Edible Ballot Society staged a demonstration during the 2000 Canadian election to protest against the supposed lack of democracy.  They did this by eating ballots. #politics
60 Minutes Jan 4, 2006
When I was a kid (Wait, when did I stop being a kid?  Am I a grown-up?  Do grown-ups watch cartoons and play video games?  Do grown-ups still think bodily functions are funny?), I used to hear things incorrectly, like Bobby on Bobby's World.  At the beginning of 60 Minutes, all the anchors would introduce themselves:  "I'm Dan Rather.  I'm Harry Reasoner.  I'm Morley Safer.  I'm Ed Bradley.  I'm ..."  I used to hear "... Reasoner.  I'm Woolley Safer.  I'm Mid Bradley.  I'm ..."  I always used to wonder, what kind of names are Woolley and Mid? #entertainment
Service Jan 4, 2006
I just came to the realization that I'm willing to pay more money for better service. 

My car needs new tires, so I called three places:  the Toyota dealership, Walmart, and STS.  The dealership didn't know what tires my car needed.  They're the ones that gave me the car!  Shouldn't they know?  I've been getting my car serviced there since I got it (except once).  They always try to get me to get more work done than is needed.  They have these stupid things called package deals where they'll check everything on your car for the one-time-low-price of just $399.95.  That's called a "ripoff".  If it wasn't a woman at the desk, I would punch that person in the face.  Nicely, of course. 

Some Walmarts have an oil and lube center.  I called one that's close to me.  They acted kinda dumb (perhaps not acting) and just wanted to get off the phone with me.  They weren't trying too hard to get my business.  Plus, I've been there before to get my oil changed, and I was a bit ticked off that it look about 2 hours to get everything done.  Walmart does that whole "first come, first served" thing, and even though I was the third person there at 7am on a Saturday, it still somehow took forever. 

Then I called STS.  A nice guy greeted me and knew exactly what size tires I needed.  Then he told me the prices and stuff like that.  He was very helpful and good to work with.  I'm going there this weekend to get new tires. 

Walmart obviously had the cheapest prices.  But like I said, they have sub-par service.  The dealership seems like a good place to go, but they don't care about me.  STS seems to actually care.  They could be acting; I don't mind.  But it proved to me that I'm willing to pay more money to get better service.  And it's not that STS is really expensive.  They're probably more than Walmart, but without the 2 hour wait. #business
Gollum Browser Jan 4, 2006
This came out a while ago, but oh well.  Gollum is a browser for Wikipedia.  Some guy was sick of Wikipedia being overloaded and confusing, so he designed a better user interface. #technology
Advertised movies (1) Jan 4, 2006
Let me go on the record to say that I have the absolute worst taste in movies.  All my opinions about movies are wrong. 

I always know which movies to not see:  the ones that are advertised on 770 WABC radio.  I haven't seen any of them yet, and I know I'm doing the right thing.  The ones they've advertised include Cold Mountain, Million Dollar Baby, Sideways, and Brokeback Mountain.  All these have won big-time awards and are critically acclaimed.  The commercials have such positive things to say about these movies that I just know I won't like them.  I don't like movies that win awards or change people's lives.  An award-winning movie is a bad movie.  The term "critically acclaimed" means nothing to me.  If movies like Napoleon Dynamite and Office Space don't win critical acclaim, I don't like movies that critics acclaim. 

I have pretty particular tastes when it comes to movies.  This shouldn't come as a surprise; I'm pretty opinionated about everything.  I like movies that are stupidly funny, like Dumb and Dumber.  I like movies with a big twist at the end, like every one of M. Night Shyamalan's movies.  I like movies that are unnecessarily action-packed, like the Bourne Identity and XXX (Triple X). #entertainment
Brain freeze Jan 4, 2006
This article on MSN's Men's Health talks about a cure for a universal malady:  a brain freeze.  "Too much Chipwich too fast will freeze the brains of lesser men.  As for you, press your tongue flat against the roof of your mouth, covering as much as you can.  'Since the nerves in the roof of your mouth get extremely cold, your body thinks your brain is freezing, too,' says Abo.  'In compensating, it overheats, causing an ice-cream headache.'  The more pressure you apply to the roof of your mouth, the faster your headache will subside." #technology
Simplicity Jan 4, 2006
I value simplicity.  It's a shame that I'll be using a computery example to prove my point, but my life revolves around computers. 

There's this program called miniaim that's about 75 KB and can be used as an AIM replacement.  Instead of downloading and installing a virus-filled adware program such as AIM, I'll take a guess and say that it's probably somewhere around 50 MB.  So what's the difference?  Nothing, except miniaim doesn't have the functionality to send burritos across an internet connection like AIM claims it does.  That's functionality I can live without. 

Oh yeah, and it's a single 75 KB file.  There's no install or anything.  It says it can save some settings in a file, but it's not required.  It's just a little program that does a simple thing.  And that's it. 

Simple is better. #technology