Friday, April 19, 2013

Friday Fodder

A few odds and ends here at the end of the week.

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Spring seems to have finally come to us here in Michigan. I know because yesterday we had our first tornado watch of the season.

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Long time readers will know that I am a fan of Douglas Adams' Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy series of books. In that world, posits Adams, the Earth is merely a supercomputer built by a super-intelligent race of beings to come up with the question to the answer to life, the universe, and everything.

Well now, apparently, certain physicists are going to see if there's any truth to that fictional hypothesis.

And you thought I was kidding.

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Have you been to Disney World and gone into one of their theaters where you get to experience *more* than just 3-D? Where the seats move, things tickle the back of your legs, a breeze blows across your face ... all in conjunction with what's happening on screen?

They are now calling that "4DX." At least in Japan. And that's where they will test it out on none other than the upcoming Iron Man 3 release. PC Magazine has the story here.

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Finally, a link that I'm sure will not work in a month, possibly even next week ... but here's breaking news on the Boston Marathon bombing brought to you by CNN and Yahoo.

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.

Monday, April 15, 2013

Where Does Your E-Mail Go When You Die?

Many of us have something known as a "Last Will and Testament." This is a document that describes, rather in detail, what we would like to have done with our worldly goods and other possessions when we shuffle off this mortal coil.

But what happens to our digital possessions? What happens to your e-mail when you die?

The answer is nothing. It just sits there, taking up digital space on an Internet server. The same thing for your Facebook account, Twitter, LinkedIn, GooglePlus+, Pinterest, Tumblr, Flickr, LiveJournal, or any of a hundred other websites and social media networks where you might have an account residing.

Google - as they do with many things - is attempting to get ahead of the curve by introducing a concept they call an Inactive Account Manager, which sets up a series of actions for them to take if your Google account goes silent for a specified number of months. These actions include simply deleting your data, or shipping it off to a contact you have named. You can read more about it here.

Let me go on record right now as being an advocate of this. It is conceivable that, at some point (undoubtedly far in the distant future), there will be more inactive data on the Web than active users. I am not tech-savvy enough to say if this will clog or impede the use of the Internet, but why take the chance? I recommend that all my readers include instructions - and passwords - in their wills that will allow your estate to delete or properly archive your data on personal hard drives once you are deceased.

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Theologically Incorrect...

Three men who seldom went to church passed away in the same vehicle accident and stand before Saint Peter at the Pearly Gates.

"I will allow you through these gates," Saint Peter says, "if you can tell me one simple thing, that all men should know by now."

The three men looked hopeful.

"Tell me about Easter."

The first man steps up and says, "I think I know. That's the holiday the whole family gathers together to watch football and eat turkey."

Saint Peter says, "Umm, no," and the man disappears in a puff of smoke and brimstone.

The second man, looking a little rattled, says, "Isn't that the holiday where the whole family gathers and we give each other gifts and decorate a dead tree?"

Saint Peter sighs heavily and sadly says, "Wrong," and the second man is gone in a puff.

Saint Peter turns to the third man, who looks confident, and asks, "What can you tell me about Easter?"

The third man smiles and says, "From what I remember, that's the holiday that usually occurs in early Spring and is the culmination of Holy Week, after Christ's crucifixion. He is buried and placed in a cave and a large rock is rolled across the front of it. Three days later, the rock is rolled away by angels and Jesus emerges..."

Saint Peter smiles. Then the man says, "...and if he sees his shadow, it means six more weeks of winter."

Puff.

--near-death.com
Edited

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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. There are never any endings, only beginnings in disguise.

Friday, April 12, 2013

Friday Fodder

Just a few random musings for a lazy Friday...

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A weather haiku I dashed off just now:

Nature Doesn't Do Calendars
Nice having winter
Cold, wet, windy, snow, blowing
But isn't it Spring?

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So the U.S. Navy has taken a giant step forward into the Star Trek future, and has installed a working laser - called LaWS, for Laser Weapons System - that has supposedly been 100% accurate in taking down attacking drones, because no matter how they fly, they're not faster than light.

Here's a video released by the Navy in the last day or so.



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And here's a cute little animated GIF sent to me by former list member Dianne F. ... my daughter wonders if this cat is naturally talented or if there was training involved. Your thoughts?



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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. Spending the weekend with my Dad. See you Monday!

Monday, April 08, 2013

Onyms

The Greek word for "name" is onyma. This gives us the back end for several word descriptions:

Antonym: a word that is the opposite of another word. For example, "bad" and "good" are antonyms of each other. (The front end comes from "anti," which is against or opposite.)

Homonym: words that sound the same but have different meanings. For instance, "him" and "hymn." One is a person, the other a song. The front end here is from the Greek "homo," which means same and is used in words like "homosexual" and "homogenized."

I've recently been introduced to words that are, thanks to English usage, contronyms, though sometimes that word is spelled "contranym." The front end of the word is, again from the Greek, something that means against, (like "anti") but with the inference of being compared to something else. Contronyms are words also referred to as auto-antonyms.

What they are, in plain language, are words that can have opposite meanings, all by themselves, depending on use and context. They don't depend upon having to have another word like the two examples at the top of the post. Generally, it depends on whether or not the word is being used as a noun or a verb.

You know what? Mental Floss can probably explain it better than I can. They have a short list with further details here.

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Funny Thoughts

It cost me 75 cents to put air in my tires the other day. I remember when it was free. I asked the gas station guy why the price had gone up. He replied, "Inflation."

What do you call it when you feed a stick of dynamite to a steer?
Abominable. (Say it slowly to yourself.)

I bet the butcher at my grocery store $50 that he couldn't reach the meat on the top shelf behind him.
He looked and said, "No bet. The steaks are too high."

Did you hear about the numbering snafu on the spaces at the new multi-level parking garage?
It was just wrong on so many levels.

Never hit a man with glasses. It's usually better to use a blunt object.

Oldie but a goodie: What's the difference between roast beef and pea soup?
Well, anybody can roast beef....

Do attorneys have to wear law suits to court?


--Laugh Factory
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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761.

Friday, April 05, 2013

R.I.P., Roger Ebert

Roger Ebert, the very first film critic to win a Pulitzer Prize, passed away yesterday. He had announced on Tuesday that he was taking a "leave of presence" as they had discovered his cancer had returned and he was going to undergo further chemotherapy. He died two days later.

I had always held a soft place in my heart for Roger, for he was the critic who came closest to my own feelings about movies. What he liked, I enjoyed; what he disliked, I generally wouldn't spend money on seeing.

How did I discover this? By using the WiseGeek website, where they have a database of critics and their reviews of movies. Here's how it works: They have a list of movies here, and you personally rate each movie you've seen. Then they compare your ratings of those movies with their database list and match you up with a movie critic who has also rated those movies similarly to your scores.

It's that easy.

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The WIT and WISDOM of ROGER EBERT

From his review of "The Brown Bunny": I had a colonoscopy once, and they let me watch it on TV. It was more entertaining than The Brown Bunny.
"No good movie is too long and no bad movie is too short."
From his review of "Mad Dog Time": Mad Dog Time is the first movie I have seen that does not improve on the sight of a blank screen viewed for the same length of time ... [it] should be cut into free ukulele picks for the poor. 
"If a movie is really working, you forget for two hours your Social Security Number and where your car is parked."
From his review of "Armageddon": Whatever they're charging to get in, it's worth more to get out.
"Kindness covers all of my political beliefs. No need to spell them out. I believe that if, at the end, according to our abilities, we have done something to make others a little happier, and something to make ourselves a little happier, that is about the best we can do. To make others less happy is a crime. To make ourselves unhappy is where all crime starts. We must try to contribute joy to the world. That is true no matter what our problems, our health, our circumstances. We must try. I didn't always know this and am happy I lived long enough to find it out."
From his review of "Freddy Got Fingered": This movie doesn't scrape the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't the bottom of the barrel. This movie isn't below the bottom of the barrel. This movie doesn't deserve to be mentioned in the same sentence with barrels.
"Every great film should seem new every time you see it."
From his review of "Crocodile Dundee": I've seen audits that were more thrilling.
"Yes, I was fat, but I dealt with it by simply never thinking about it. It is useful, when you are fat, to have a lot of other things to think about."
From his review of "A Lot Like Love": To call A Lot Like Love dead in the water is an insult to water.

From his review of "The Last Airbender": The Last Airbender is an agonizing experience in every category I can think of and others still waiting to be invented.

From his review of "Seven Days In Utopia": I would rather eat a golf ball than see this movie again.
 In his last public statement, on his blog, he had reminisced about the beginning of his film criticism career, some 46 years earlier. He summarized by saying, "So on this day of reflection I say again, thank you for going on this journey with me. I'll see you at the movies." 
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Mark's Musings is published on a periodical basis - right now on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays - but that may change without notice. Find me on Twitter at http://www.twitter.com/markmusings. This blog is considered to be a digital periodical publication and is filed as such with the U.S. Library of Congress; ISSN 2154-9761. I understand that Gene Siskel is waiting, and has saved Roger a seat on the aisle.