Quote of the Day
From Robert Richardson's Henry Thoreau: A Life of the Mind on self reliance:
The danger in setting society at a higher value than the individual, the trouble with encouraging people to identify themselves primarily with some group, was that it then became easy to transfer the blame for one's own shortcomings to that group. If one looked to society for one's identity and one's satisfactions, then surely society should be held accountable for one's dissatisfactions, lack of identity, alienation. Emerson had already set himself against this view, and Thoreau was now thinking along the same line.
Posted: June 24th, 2010
at 3:28pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: quote of the day
Comments: No comments
Inside David Choe's Monograph
David Choe is set to a release a 288 page monograph from Chronicle Books aboutA his life and illustration career. Take a look at Arrested Motion blog.
"the aim of every artist is to arrest motion…" -Faulkner
Posted: June 23rd, 2010
at 3:30pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: contemporary,blogs
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Is it Worth it to Pick Up a Penny?
Dear Cecil:
On the way home this morning I stopped to pick up two one-dollar bills which I assume someone lost in an alley. Reflecting on the decreasing value of the dollar led me to consider this question: is it worth it to pick up a penny? That is, considering the amount of energy expended and the cost of food required to provide said energy, can the penny be considered a profit?
a Nick L., Chicago
Cecil replies:
Let’s not make this any more complicated than we have to. The Scientific Research Team here at Straight Dope HQ has proven that a proficient penny-picker upper can probably pick up a particular penny in five seconds. On an hourly basis this works out to $7.20 per hour. As of 9/1/97, minimum wage will be a mere $5.15 an hour. Wherefore, if perchance a penny appears, pounce upon that puppy promptly, Poopsie. And pass that spittoon your way out. Please.
aACecil Adams
Posted: June 22nd, 2010
at 2:18pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: myninjaplease,life,business,"ninja",et cetera
Comments: No comments
My Ninja Please! Dot Matrix Printer Music

Created at Czech Technical University in Prague, these printers play some carols like they did in the 80s.. My ninja, please!
Posted: June 21st, 2010
at 7:58pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: myninjaplease,computers,music
Comments: 1 comment
TED : Michael Shermer
Posted: June 20th, 2010
at 2:28pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: life,science,boredom killer,"ninja",philosophy
Comments: No comments
Sativex Mouth Spray
LONDON, June 18 (Reuters) - GW Pharmaceuticals Plc’s (GWP.L) cannabis-derived medicine Sativex has been approved in Britain for treating spasticity in patients with multiple sclerosis, in a landmark decision for the small drugmaker. AThe much-delayed product was finally granted a British licence on Thursday, an official from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) told Reuters on Friday. AThe company later issued a statement confirming the move. AClinical trials have shown GW’s Sativex, which is sprayed under the tongue, reduces spasticity in multiple sclerosis (MS) in patients who do not respond adequately to existing therapies. AIt became the world’s first cannabis medicine to win regulatory clearance when it was approved in Canada in 2005 for neuropathic pain but its roll-out in Britain — and other European markets thereafter — is a larger sales opportunity.
Posted: June 19th, 2010
at 11:50pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: too good to be true,drogas,business,mnp is for the children,real life news,science,development,health
Comments: No comments
Bear Stearns’ CEO Joint Venture
WSJ printed a bad article at a bad time late 2007 about Bear Stearns’ CEO smoking dro in the bathroom while playing at a bridge tournament in Tennessee that lit the house of cards on fire… he then broke a deal to never be out of town at the same tourney at the same time of a soon to be fired exec….
Posted: June 19th, 2010
at 8:09pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: drogas,games,et cetera,trade
Comments: No comments
Open Source: The Capitalists’ Choice
Open Source promotes a more efficient market because competition is not shut out so easily. As an Open Source oriented provider you need to be sure that you are always providing a service that the customer considers to be worth the money they’re paying. If you don’t then they can easily take their business elsewhere, safe in the knowledge that any other provider will have the same access to the source code, documentation and other internal information needed to deliver the features and bug fixes that you require without needing you to throw out your systems and start from scratch with something new.
Open Source is good capitalism. It encourages competition, it allows small players easy entry to the market and it rewards genuine delivery of value to customers.
The proprietary software model on the other hand, is built around the idea that the companies in control of the system have secrets information that those they claim to serve are not privy to. We are told these secrets are necessary and are in the interest of the greater good, but they are used to suppress rebellion and choice. Hang on… doesn’t that sound a bit like some sort of authoritarian communist state?
Posted: June 19th, 2010
at 5:35pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: business,open source
Comments: No comments
Snipers Succeed by Missing Their Targets
Zeroing involves shooting your rifle, observing where the bullet hit, making the appropriate adjustments and then repeating the process. To complicate matters, snipers need to continually readjust and shift their zero because changes in climate, wind, elevation and the temperature of the barrel will all affect the bullet's trajectory.
So snipers spend the majority of their time learning from their misses. A common quote is that snipers will shoot 5,000 shots in training for every one that counts in combat. Those 5,000 shots provide the sniper with invaluable DOPE on their gun (DOPE is an acronym for Data On Previous Engagements). One important distinction is that they focus on engagements - not hits or misses. Because both will happen over the course of sniping.
Posted: June 19th, 2010
at 5:15pm by Koookiecrumbles
Categories: weaponry,blogs,security
Comments: No comments