Something Awful
Basically the only thing I still read on the SA front page is Dr. David Thorpe's "Your Band Sucks". What I usually read is the hate mail he receives for his bad reviews. It seems that there is a surprising number of people who don't realize he's a gimmick whose job is to write bad reviews.
Anyway, his latest post is an aptitude test to determine whether or not you should start a band. Most likely, the answer is no.
Thursday, September 28, 2006
Wednesday, September 27, 2006
Weightless Surgery
BBC
The whole idea confounds me. What they did was set up an operation in one of those planes they use to get people used to weightlessness. However, weightlessness only lasts 20 seconds. So they had to stop after 20 seconds and wait for the whole thing to start again. I understand why they did it, to get a rough idea of what it would be like to perform surgery in space, but I don't get the last part of the article about applications here on Earth.
The whole idea confounds me. What they did was set up an operation in one of those planes they use to get people used to weightlessness. However, weightlessness only lasts 20 seconds. So they had to stop after 20 seconds and wait for the whole thing to start again. I understand why they did it, to get a rough idea of what it would be like to perform surgery in space, but I don't get the last part of the article about applications here on Earth.
Sunday, September 17, 2006
Du Har Inte Röstat Piratpartiet
Dagens Nyheter
The non-socialist alliance narrowly defeated the socialists in the Swedish election. The Democratic Socialist Party had their worst showing in over 80 years, although they are still the single largest party. Also, the Pirate Party did not receive the required 4% of the vote to get into the Rikstag. In fact, despite evidence of strong showings for new parties and weak poll results for various minor parties, the make-up of the Rikstag remains largely unchanged.
The non-socialist alliance narrowly defeated the socialists in the Swedish election. The Democratic Socialist Party had their worst showing in over 80 years, although they are still the single largest party. Also, the Pirate Party did not receive the required 4% of the vote to get into the Rikstag. In fact, despite evidence of strong showings for new parties and weak poll results for various minor parties, the make-up of the Rikstag remains largely unchanged.
Saturday, September 16, 2006
Saturday, September 02, 2006
Electoral Shake Up
New Standard
It appears that California is very close to changing up how the electoral college works. The state senate recently passed a bill to have electoral college votes go towards the candidate that won the national popular vote, not just the state popular vote. So for once in a long while, California's votes will go to a republican candidate, even if that's not what state residents want.
The problem I foresee is that it creates no incentive to vote. California can get away with this because its population is large enough that it can sway the national popular vote, but using the 2004 vote as precedent, Bush's margin of victory was greater than the number of voters in 38 states. If any one of these states implemented this same plan, it wouldn't matter at all if no one voted, the state electoral votes would just go along with the national vote. Even in 2000 with its relatively small margin, that margin was still greater than the voting population in 11 states.
It appears that California is very close to changing up how the electoral college works. The state senate recently passed a bill to have electoral college votes go towards the candidate that won the national popular vote, not just the state popular vote. So for once in a long while, California's votes will go to a republican candidate, even if that's not what state residents want.
The problem I foresee is that it creates no incentive to vote. California can get away with this because its population is large enough that it can sway the national popular vote, but using the 2004 vote as precedent, Bush's margin of victory was greater than the number of voters in 38 states. If any one of these states implemented this same plan, it wouldn't matter at all if no one voted, the state electoral votes would just go along with the national vote. Even in 2000 with its relatively small margin, that margin was still greater than the voting population in 11 states.
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