A New Home

I moved my crap to Google.

http://brownjs.blogspot.com/

http://prayforj.blogspot.com/

Revised Prayer List Page

I finally decided to revise the Prayer List page. When I originally posted it, I rushed through the explanation. It was sloppy, but is now much more clear.

Comments are disabled on this post. If you have something to say, do so on the Prayer List page.

Identicons as Default Avatars

Don’t freak out when you see some weird graphic beside your name and comment. WordPress recently added a new feature which provides avatars for users who don’t have one. I have chosen to enable this feature, here, on my insignificant, seldom-read weblog.

Default Avatar Options – Identicons

I would highly recommend trying out Identicons, which are a cool math-based image idea created by Don Park that’s unique to the commenter, so even if someone doesn’t have an avatar yet they have a consistent (and handsome) image next to their name when they comment.

This post has plenty of comments for you to get an idea of what Identicons are like. I’m not sure I agree with them being “handsome,” but they are certainly more pleasing to the eye than the gray mystery man. If, by chance, you don’t like having a generated avatar for yourself, you can always use a Gravatar.

Merry USAmas

Back in December, I saw something which caught my attention. I was on my way to the local transfer station (recycling center), when I drove past a residence decorated for Christmas. I didn’t have a camera with me, so I was unable to capture the moment. I’ve been back to the facility twice, and forgotten my camera both times, but the decorations were still there. Today, the 16th of April, I remembered to take a camera.

I haven’t seen this lit, but I imagine it radiates with glorious liberty, spawning patriotism among the passing drivers. (click for full size)

Get Service?

I stumbled upon this short clip on YouTube not long ago. Though it’s meant to be religious, I still like it a lot. Instead of rambling on about what I think it’s about, and what we can learn from it, I’ll just get to the video. Oh, and if you figure out what “get service” means, please let me know.

The Mist

I just watched the scariest movie I have ever seen- The Mist. Holy fucking shit am I scared of religious people!

That ending… made me cry like a baby.

irregardless

“Ir-” is a word prefix meaning “not” or “the opposite of.”

The word suffix, “-less,” means “without.”

Therefore, irregardless means “the opposite of [being] without regard,” i.e. “regardful” or “with regard.” The word contains two negatives (ir- & -less) which cancel each other out, leaving the root word unaffected.

Scientific Literacy: B-

I recently found an article written by Richard Carrier over at the Secular Web. It’s entitled “Test Your Scientific Literacy!” He writes an interesting piece covering the basics of how science works in the form of offering a 24-question true-or-false test. It’s good information that can surely benefit nearly everyone. I took the test and scored a B-, though I do have excuses for two of my wrong answers. If you want to test your own scientific literacy, do it now. I will go over my misses and explanations below. If you read them first, the results of your test may be skewed.

I incorrectly answered…

• (3) I was thinking of the general approach rather than the specific actions taken by all scientists. I don’t think this should count against me.
• (8) I consider reinterpretation and perspective change as new information within the context of an experiment. I don’t think this should count against me because he and I categorize these differently.
• (9) I took this to mean that experiments were being rigged.
• (15) I misunderstood the difference between “law” and “theory,” just as he explained.
• (20) I guessed, not knowing which actually which is relied upon more often. Deduction seemed reasonable to me.

If my excuses are worthy, I manage a slightly better B+. If you took the test, share your results.

By the way, if anyone knows how to display nonconsecutive numbering in an ordered list on a WordPress blog, let me know. Setting the value attribute of each list item works in the editor, but is lost after publication.

*Update* I have opened a thread in the forum concerning this issue.

Anonymous Gift Mail

UPS delivered a package to me yesterday. I was surprised to be receiving something because I hadn’t placed any orders recently. Before opening the package, I could already feel that it was a book. Apparently someone wanted me to have a copy of the Holy Qur’an.

It’s a nearly new copy, only showing subtle marks on the paper cover. This one contains the Arabic text along side of the English translation. That means I can now read the actual words of Allah as they were revealed to Muhammad! Oh happy day!

Something I found funny… On the back of the book is a price sticker which reads, “$11.99 MSRP: $0.00.”

To the sender: Thank you for the free book. I already had two copies of the Qur’an, both of which I requested and received for free from online sources. Neither contain Arabic, so it’s fair to consider them inferior. But since I don’t speak or read Arabic, it won’t be of much use to me.

If anyone else would like to send free books to me, my wish list is online at Amazon.

Speaking Up and Getting Hosed

I went yesterday to the nearby gas station to fill the tank I use for my mower. The place requires payment before fueling, which is reasonable considering the high gas prices. I’m sure a few have been filling up and tearing off without paying, like a friend of mine used to do.

I entered to pay for three gallons of gas for the tank I use for my mower. The attendant calculated the cost, I handed him a ten, and I promptly received the difference. He was a young, brown-skinned fellow with somewhat-less-than-perfect English. I have no idea about his ethnicity or native language. No matter though- he did his job adequately and was nice about it. I understood him with no problems… “Eleven eighteen is your change.”

The middle-aged white guy behind me at the counter said that he wanted to fill up his van. As I walked out the door, he was right behind me. A few steps from the door, he began to go left, and I, right. That’s when he looked over at me and made a remark that started a brief exchange between us.

van man: Those people.

me: What people?

van man: [pointing back toward the store] Those people.

me: What about them?

van man: They can’t even speak English.

me: I would say that those people are your equals regardless of what language they speak.

van man: [after a pause] You’re right. I’m sorry. You’re right.

I felt empowered, even righteous. It was the first time I ever vocally objected to the racist remarks of a stranger head-on. I’ve had plenty of opportunities in the past. My usual approach was to contort my face into an obviously disgusted look, but otherwise, to do nothing. This has always left me with feeling guilty and weak… like a pussy for not standing up for the rights of my fellow humans.

How about some instant karma?

Feeling good that I had done something that is, to me, worthy and necessary, I knelt down and removed the cap from my gas canister. I then took the pump nozzle from the pump to insert it into the canister. That’s when gas poured out of it all over my right arm and hand. I hadn’t even pulled back on the trigger. I was soaked! WTF! I just did a good thing! LOL!

Since my gas container was on the ground, it was lower than the tank on any vehicle would be. My guess is that difference was enough for gravity to empty the hose (on me). Damn it.

What do you think? Did van man apologize because he realized his mistake, or just because he was caught in the act?