Random Thoughts From Marybeth

Preview Search Results

Pagebull shows screenshots of the results for a search. You will need a broadband connection and even then it's not the speediest search. I don't know how often I would use this but I can see it being handy to "refind" a page that I've viewed before but can't remember anything other than the subject of the page.

Testing Meme Speed

From Acephalous:

1. Write a post linking to this one in which you explain the experiment. (All blogs count, be they TypePad, Blogger, MySpace, Facebook, &c.) 2. Ask your readers to do the same. Beg them. Relate sob stories about poor graduate students in desperate circumstances. Imply I'm one of them. (Do whatever you have to. If that fails, try whatever it takes.) 3. Ping Technorati.

The links will be tracked by Technorati.

Another Childhood Myth Busted

I never could have dug a hole to China in my backyard. Not just for the obvious reasons, but because I would have ended up somewhere in the Indian Ocean near Australia.

Where would you have ended up?

Is That a Threat or a Promise?

One of the six imams ordered off a US Airways flight this week is calling for a boycott of the airline.

Another news article is predicting that the US Airways/Delta merger may cause ticket prices to rise in some areas. This includes a number of cities in Florida (one of my favorite destinations.)

I'm thinking that if the boycott goes through it will make this carrier attractive to many travelers regardless of ticket price.

Soccer Violence in France

Pajamas Media has a report about a Jewish soccer fan who was attacked by a mob after a soccer game and the policeman, Antoine Granomort, who tried to protect him.

French President Jacques Chirac expresed horror at the event and was either "astonished" or "stupified", according to other news reports. It's nice to hear that he's "horrified" but if this surprised him, he hasn't been paying attention.

Interior Minister Nicolas Sarkozy said, "This was football, not war." (Except for the part where each side wears a uniform that identifies it and you have a winner and a loser, it's nothing like war.) If he means the behavior of the fans, then it's true, it's not like the wars of the last few centuries. Tribal warfare existed before there were nations and news reports make it sound as though France is becoming less intigrated and more tribal.

There are now discussions about controlling ticket sales to avoid incidents like this in the future. Forgive me if I have doubts that this will be much help. They should ask the policeman who was involved if he has any suggestions, he's already shown an ability to evaluate the situation and take action. (No, I'm not suggesting shooting all the hooligans, just that he may have ideas on what could be done to prevent something like this from happening again.)

It was probably just a coincidence of location but it was interesting to me that the man who was attacked and the policeman who tried to defend him took refuge in a McDonald's. Could they have picked a place that was any less French?

Warnings About Putin

This story makes me think that the man we saw in Chicago may have been on to something.

Describing the Elephant: Missing the Big Picture

The Universal Music Group, the world’s largest music company, filed a copyright infringement lawsuit yesterday against MySpace, the popular social networking Web site, for allowing users to upload and download songs and music videos.

...In a statement yesterday, Universal said its music and videos “play a key role in building the communities that have created hundreds of millions of dollars of value for the owners of MySpace. Our goal is not to inhibit the creation of these communities, but to ensure that our rights and those of our artists are recognized.”

I think that Universal Music is placing a rather high value on the "contribution" that its music has added to MySpace and I think they are overlooking the likelihood that the communities that are built around music increases the fan base for artists which increases music sales. Also, it only considers the gain made by MySpace and the article does not state how much (if any) they believe was lost by Universal Music.

I understand that Universal Music has an obligation to protect the rights of their artists but I'm not sure that this is the best way to do so. I doubt the fans think of themselves as pirates. For them, web space is just an extension of real space. You hang up posters of musicians in your bedroom, you post pics on your page. You play your latest CD or music download for friends, you make the same available online. In most cases, the generation that populates most of MySpace just want to share something they like. There isn't any desire to "stick it to the man". That was their parents' (or grandparents') thing.

Will users of MySpace see this as simply a law suit against a Web site or as a personal attack from an industry they support? Maybe a little of both, but what they know rationally is not always what they feel. As a group, teenagers tend to view everything as all about them.

American teenagers spent about $159 billion last year. How much is viral advertising to this group worth?

The title of the post comes from this story.

I Was Edjamacated

(Found via VW who probably paid more attention in school than I did. I spent my time cutting classes learning how to be a really good guesser...so I guess, the quiz is right. I am mostly self-taught.)

QWERTY Warriors (Word Shot)

A typing game - you're in the center of the field and you need to type the words next to your enemies as they enter the play area. If you type the words quickly and correctly, they are eliminated and you score points. You can set the difficulty level from easy to impossible.

From Back When Video Games Didn't Top the Most-Wanted Christmas List

Hasbro Inc. reports that its EASY-BAKE Oven was inducted Thursday into the National Toy Hall of Fame, at the Strong – National Museum of Play.

Lionel trains was also inducted this year.

You can view the Easy-Bake Oven and Lionel train entries along with my favorite, the cardboard box.

Festival of the Arts

Yesterday was the Kentuckiana Girl Scouts 34th Festival of the Arts. It was also the day when the weather turned from pleasantly warm to cold and wet. Fortunately the programs my daughter's troop took part in were all indoors.

Our first event was presented by Kentucky Down Under (they came to Louisville, we didn't have to drive to Horse Cave, KY). We learned about some animals from Australia and also about Australian Aboriginal culture. They brought a cockatoo, a snake, and a joey (baby kangaroo) and taught the girls how to play a didgeridoo.

Our second event was a workshop where the girls learned some magic tricks. They had so much fun with this that they were still gathered around the magician asking about other tricks when the workshop had ended.

Our third, and last event, was presented by Doug Berkey, a mime and movement artist. He talked about the stagecraft involved in the kinds of performances he does and we watched his show where he used masks and props along with miming performance techniques.

I Don't Have an Accent (Some of Y'all Just Talk Funny)

(Link via Beth whose answer was the same except for the parts that were different.)

I Voted

No line, no waiting. They did ask for my ID - clearly an attempt to disenfranchise short, blonde women. They've asked for an ID everytime I've voted for as long as I can remember and I've always been short (may not have always been blonde, though). Then again, they ask my husband for an ID too and he's tall and has dark hair. I may have to rethink my conspiracy theory here...could it be that checking ID is just a way to make sure that we are who we say and are entitled to vote?

Pre-Election Blame

Newsweek is already pointing the finger at John Kerry in the event that the Democrats don't do as well as they had expected. This must be because voters are stupid and would fail to vote for Democrats running in state and local elections because of what Kerry said. It certainly couldn't have anything to do with the party platform. I haven't been thrilled with the Republicans lately but I also haven't seen the Democratic party offering anything better.

If the Republicans maintain control of the House and Senate, it may be a case of "better the devil you know". I also think that any scandals or inappropriate behavior will affect the chances of candidates that weren't directly involved. I know there are plenty of crossover voters but I also think that many people remain true to their parties even when they become disenchanted with the party's politicians as a whole. My candidate is good, I just wish those people in the other states would elect someone better than they have.

As for Kerry's "botched joke", if that's what he wants to call it, fine. But wouldn't most people who said something like that by mistake try to clear it up immediately? As soon as he heard the gasps from some of the audience he should have realized there was a problem, explained what he meant to say and added that maybe he should stick to politics and leave the humor to ________ (insert the name of any left-leaning comedian.) Unfortunately, the ability to mock himself or admit to mistakes is not something he seems to be able to do. It's unfortunate for Democratic candidates too, not because I think that people will assume their local politicians agree with his original statement but because they had to waste time speaking against it rather than talking about their ideas and plans (assuming they have any).

Heh

More here.

Flag Family

When we checked into the Wilderness Lodge I asked if we could be the Flag Family. This is the family/group who goes to the roof of the resort and helps raise the flags - US flag, resort flag, and Disney flags. It's a very popular request but we lucked out, last Friday (our last full day at WDW) was open.

We met Cast Member Stan in the lobby and took the elevator to the 7th floor. This let us get a sneak peak at the concierge floor. Then we climbed 60-something stairs to the roof.

The view from there was incredible. We had a good view of Space Mountain and Cinderella Castle since the Magic Kingdom was the closest park but we could also see the high points of a couple of the other parks- Expedition Everest in Animal Kingdom and Tower of Terror in Disney MGM Studios.

We took turns raising the flags (and gawking at the view). It was a very special way to begin the last day of our stay.

Deep-Fried Pizza

My first reaction was, "yuck" but then I looked at the pictures and started thinking that it might be kind of tasty.

Disney Rides

Nemo & Friends Ride (Epcot) - You get to this ride through the entrance that used to be the main entrance for The Seas pavilion. (Now the entrance to the pavilion is on the left of the front of the building - the old exit.) We didn't have to wait in line long for this ride but from the space they allowed, you can tell that Disney expects this to be a popular ride.

The ride has all the characters from Finding Nemo and will keep the younger kids entertained without boring the older kids and adults.

Expedition Everest (Animal Kingdom) - I used to hate roller coasters (except for Big Thunder Mountain for some reason) but on this trip I felt bad that my oldest son didn't have anyone who would ride them with him. So, on this vacation I went on Space Mountain, Rock 'n' Roller Coaster Starring Aerosmith, and Expedition Everest. I didn't feel the sense of panic that I used to whenever I thought about riding a roller coaster. Maybe I've mellowed or maybe even roller coasters seemed relaxing compared to staying behind and listening to my younger children bicker about, well, everything.

I loved Expedition Everest so much I asked for the front seats on my second ride. The ride experienced some kind of problem and was shut down right after we rode it or I would have gotten in line again.

Mission: Space (Epcot) - We rode the green ticket (milder) ride first and then the orange ticket ride a few times. My younger son loved this ride...so much so that my older son and I began to get tired of it. I thought the warnings about motion sickness before the ride were overstated but I don't know that I would want to try it just after eating either.