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Maybe??

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No repeat necessary.

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Yea, and ye shall know the weather of the Suck for is shall be Snow. And Snow shall be the weather of the Suck whereas Sun and Rain are the weather of the unSuck. When Snow arrives and falls heavily upon the ground, then shall ye know verily ye are within the time of the Suck. No escape shall ye have for the time of Suck is upon ye as is the Snow.

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Originally published at random negativity. Please leave any comments there.

globeandmail.com: Nature lovers livid as ‘blog’ replaces ‘beaver’ in Oxford’s junior dictionary

Robert Bateman prefers “Castor canadensis,” but the artist and self-admitted “old fogey” is willing to accept “beaver.”

A conservationist, Mr. Bateman, 78, built a career painting a host of Canadian wildlife. Now, times have changed. He can only hope children are able to identify one of his beloved bucktoothed pieces of Canadiana as readily as an iPod.

I’m not sure where I sit on this…  On one hand, there’s the whole make-it-relevant argument which I have to admit to supporting.  something like a dictionary does need to make changes in order to keep itself from becoming dated and out of touch with the users.  Who wants to use a dictionary written in 1940??  Honestly!  The words just aren’t all the same anymore.

On the other hand, there’s a point to be made as far as whether it’s something that has already enough exposure as to not need definition.  ‘MP3 Player’ I don’t think needs defining.  Bateman says this better than I do…

That doesn’t console Mr. Bateman, who understood the “MP3 player” entry to include “all these various iPod things.”

“Name me the kid that doesn’t know what an iPod is, please. Do they really need that in the dictionary?” he said. “They can Google it.”

(And, he proves himself to be more ‘with it’ than the writer thinks by using ‘Google’ as a verb.  W00t!)

‘Blog’ should have been skipped as well, especially considering it’s a bastardization of ‘weblog’.  But that’s a personal pet peeve of mine.

What’s more interesting in this article is what was added to replace the cut words.  ‘Celebrity’, ‘tolerant’, ‘dyslexic’… [Commentary on societal decay can be inserted here...  oh, and a rant about overly left-wing political correctness too.]

Of course, it’s all a tempest in a teacup.  Must be a slow news day. 

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So I was awaken at 4am with the most pleasant sensation in the world as my stomach went into spasms.  Lord knows why, precisely, as I didn’t eat anything odd, off, or even remotely interesting yesterday.

So I lay in bed, drifting in that La-La Land somewhere between asleep and awake, suffering.  And then my door buzzer rang.  The taxi company mis-entered my pickup request for saturday instead of sunday (yes, it was mis-entered — I checked my confirmation.  That sort of capped the hijinx of the evening off.  I’m now awake.  Suffering and awake.  Drinking some coffee on the thought that perhaps something warm will help.

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So, here’s a link to a knitting blog of all places which gives a decent and readable and understandable explanation of what’s going on.

linkitty link

As a side note, this morning the GG chose to prorogue parliament after a 2 hour meeting with Harper.

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Scalzi says it best….

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Sign #1 would have to be that Granville Island Brewing has put out their Lions Winter ale again and as I remember from years past, it’s tasty — oh so very tasty.

Sign #2 would be that I noticed a Yule Log video has hit the torrent sites for download (which I’m currently doing) so that I can have my very own “fireplace” to keep me warm — literally. The plasma kicks off an amazing amount of heat. Love that 1st Gen technology.

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Well, well, well… another minority government for the Conservatives and pretty much nothing has changed. Looking at the pretty coloured map from CBC, you’d think that It’d be a Tory, then NDP government, but of course the fucked up electoral riding system we have here says that in fact it’s a Tory, Liberal, Bloc Quebecois, and then NDP government. Makes sense, eh??

So here’s the breakdown:

Conservative 135 seats 37.42%
Liberal 71 seats 26.66%
Bloc 47 seats 10.12%
NDP 30 seats 17.97%

I love that weird little quirk, don’t you??

Next topic… voter turnout. CBC isn’t saying yet about the turnout but I find it depressing. Doing the math real quick and dirty, I see that 13% of BC turned out to vote. That number is probably wrong as I’m not taking into account voter age, etc. Just using census #’s from July 1 divided by the number of ballots. Still. 13%?? I’m hoping it’s more like 25%, adjusting for proper voter numbers, but even so, that’s sad. Where the hell is everyone???

K… blood pressure rising. time to find some mindless entertainment to leech away the bad thoughts (and the good thoughts… actually, any thoughts. Bah!!

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Oh crap!! It’s that time again. Tomorrow morning everybody gets to mark their choice and take another roll of the dice on getting competent federal leadership.

Personally, I’m not hopeful for any of the parties. Conservative, Liberal, or New Democrats. It’s just the same BS being spouted over and over again. However, I do believe in voting. If you don’t vote, you shouldn’t have the right to bitch. And everyone knows how I like to bitch…

• MapleLeafWeb has a one-page rundown on the major party platforms.
• CUPE’s “report card” on the party’s platforms. Big surprise who they want in power…
• A list of the key election promises and their costs from the Toronto Star.
• And finally, the CBC’s breakdown of where the parties stand broken out by issue.

So, here’s what to read in order to be informed — well, better informed, anyway. Don’t forget to tick one of the boxes tomorrow so you too can bitch and complain about those rat bastards in office.

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Trying to decide if I am in fact slowly going crazy. Slowly going crazy. Craaaaazy. Am I? I am? Maybe. Not sure. Rambling, talking to yourself… those are signs. Mind you, it could be the cold meds too. Undecided. Sure. Nice warm jacket, padded walls. Happy place, happy place. Sleep and really good meds.

All of the above are gooood. Goooood.

especially the sleep.

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Off to work again.

Sunny disposition left a week ago.

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Dihydrogen monoxide (DHMO) is colorless, odorless, tasteless, and kills uncounted thousands of people every year. Most of these deaths are caused by accidental inhalation of DHMO, but the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide do not end there. Prolonged exposure to its solid form causes severe tissue damage.

Symptoms of DHMO ingestion can include excessive sweating and urination, and possibly a bloated feeling, nausea, vomiting and body electrolyte imbalance. For those who have become dependent, DHMO withdrawal means certain death.

Dihydrogen monoxide:

• is also known as hydroxl acid, and is the major component of acid rain /lilicontributes to the “greenhouse effect.”
• may cause severe burns.
• contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape.
• accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals.
• may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes.
• has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients.

Contamination Is Reaching Epidemic Proportions!
Quantities of dihydrogen monoxide have been found in almost every stream, lake, and reservoir in America today. But the pollution is global, and the contaminant has even been found in Antarctic ice. DHMO has caused millions of dollars of property damage in the Midwest, and recently California.

Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used:

• as an industrial solvent and coolant.
• in nuclear power plants.
• in the production of styrofoam.
• as a fire retardant.
• in many forms of cruel animal research.
• in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical.
• as an additive in certain “junk-foods” and other food products.

Companies dump waste DHMO into rivers and the ocean, and nothing can be done to stop them because this practice is still legal. The impact on wildlife is extreme, and we cannot afford to ignore it any longer!

The Horror Must Be Stopped!
The American government has refused to ban the production, distribution, or use of this damaging chemical due to its “importance to the economic health of this nation.” In fact, the navy and other
military organizations are conducting experiments with DHMO, and designing multi-billion dollar devices to control and utilize it during warfare situations. Hundreds of military research facilities receive
tons of it through a highly sophisticated underground distribution network. Many store large quantities for later use.

It’s Not Too Late!
Act NOW to prevent further contamination. Find out more about this dangerous chemical. What you don’t know can hurt you and others throughout the world.

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Wil Wheaton says:

Around 1981 or 82, I learned to program - if you could call it that - on the Atari 400,
copying programs out of magazines, one uncertain finger at a time. I
also learned the proper way to cuss out a computer when I’d miss a
comma or make some other mistake, getting nothing more than SYNTAX
ERROR for my hours of hard work. Guess which skill still serves me
today?

He and I are sympatico in this… he’s only got 3-4 years on me and I was using a sweet Vic20. Good times.

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Two sites that offer up a decent amount of storage for free. Of course, because it’s free, who know how long they’ll be around, but whatever. Is still cool…

• Oosah
• ADrive

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Actually, I’ve been alive and moving since 7 this morning. Sick as a dog, but now fully hydrated thanks to the pot of coffee I’ve consumed. Functional too. Popping the cold meds to force the bod to comply.

Off for another day on-site soon — this time the 34th floor. Should be amusing if not downright entertaining.

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Hosting changes caused the bloggity blog to disappear for a few days but all is back to normal — aside from losing a few entries posted since June, is normal once more.nbsp; My platform for ranting has returned.nbsp; Hurrah.br /

Originally published at random negativity. Please leave any comments there.

Wil Wheaton says:

Around 1981 or 82, I learned to program - if you could call it that - on the Atari 400,
copying programs out of magazines, one uncertain finger at a time. I
also learned the proper way to cuss out a computer when I’d miss a
comma or make some other mistake, getting nothing more than SYNTAX
ERROR for my hours of hard work. Guess which skill still serves me
today?

He and I are sympatico in this… he’s only got 3-4 years on me and I was using a sweet Vic20. Good times.