Tag: General nonsense

The December 17th issue of Time had some interesting statistics on voters. When asked the “most important quality” for a candidate, Democrats picked “good judgment” 33% of the time, and Republicans picked it 21%. The other choices were caring about people, leadership, character, and experience. Does it bother you that…

It will come as no surprise to my regular readers that I sometimes exhibit inappropriate responses in social situations. For example, when I hear about a tragedy, and there is something remotely funny about the event, that’s the part that gets my attention. If a guy dressed in a bunny…

There’s a time that falls between hearing spectacularly good news, and the time you find out the news is wrong. I call it The Wonderful Time. I remember the day my future editor at United Media told me my “development contract” was going to become a real contract, meaning my…

As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, the news is full of stories about promising new technologies that will reduce dependence on foreign oil. I don’t think you can get a full sense of the potential until you see a comprehensive list of all the “might happens.” So let’s create one….

As regular readers know, I sometimes like to make arguments for positions I don’t hold, just to test my viewpoint. Today I will argue that President George W. Bush will be regarded by historians as among the best presidents ever, and might get a place on Mt. Rushmore. Reiterating: This…

Scientists have discovered that kangaroos don’t fart as much as cows. This is more important than you might think. Cow flatulence is actually a big contributor to global warming. Scientists think they can isolate and transfer the stomach bacteria from kangaroos to cows to make the cows digest more efficiently….

My brother argues that society should stop making bad behavior sound cool. Terrorists, gang-bangers, and serial killer are all evil, but on some level you have to admit those are cool labels. If you want to inhibit a particular behavior, a good rule of thumb is this: Don’t give it…

The other day I was wearing a t-shirt with a company’s name on it. Normally I don’t like it when companies use my torso for their marketing, but this was a relatively unknown company, and I liked their shirt better than the rest of the crap in my closet. In…

A halfothesis is half a hypothesis. It’s a notion that sounds good if you don’t think about it long. It’s not worthy of full scientific exploration, but it’s sort of fun to noodle about. My halfothesis is that intelligence is largely determined by the degree of stimulation you get from…

Which of these two things is easier? A. Planning the invasion of NormandyB. Planning a holiday party If you are male, you might think a party involves invitations, food, booze, and decorations. It seems simple. But if there is a woman in your life, step one of the party preparation…

No matter what I’m doing, I can’t help wondering if there is a better way. For example, I noticed yesterday in Las Vegas that many of the casinos have ATMs amongst thousands of slot machines. The casinos hopes you will take your money out of one machine, carry it several…

When I woke up yesterday morning, I had no idea that it would be the day I experienced the best lunch ever. Let me tell you, I have had many lunches. Some of them were darned good. But there can be only one Best Lunch Ever, and I’m sure I…

I’m in Las Vegas this morning, to give a speech a to a few thousand technology workers. Last night, I did an AV check and tried to get back to my room without losing all the money in my wallet. I started optimistically, but it was all downhill after that….

I’ve decided to blog less. I posted daily (mostly) for two years, with the theory that my efforts would be compensated in four ways. 1. Advertising dollars2. Compiling the best posts into a book.3. Growing the audience for Dilbert4. Artistic satisfaction. Readership of The Dilbert Blog is growing rapidly, but…

Suppose you lived in a place with an unusually high population of compulsive gamblers, the type who will keep gambling until they are poor. And suppose you had the resources to open a casino. Would it be ethical to do so? All the gamblers have a choice of resisting, assuming…