A lot of people have been asking me what it’s like to work at google. in short, it blows my fucking mind.

check this out. it’s quick.

at google not only can we get away with this kind of crazyness but it’s *encouraged*

If I could start a cereal company it would make a product called “Sagan-O’s” and they would be shaped like little universes. I think that would be a good way to blow people’s minds for breakfast.

I work all day with computers. I come home and I don’t want to touch a computer but there is all this computer stuff that I want to do. must find solution.

When will companies realize that naming their entire product lines using an externally random* string of numbers and letters is not a good idea.

If you have no idea what I’m talking about, just look at printers (or anything!)

• HP Photosmart Pro B9180 Photo Printer
• Canon Pixma Pro9500
• HP Officejet Pro K5400dtn Color Printer
• Xerox Phaser 6360DN
• Canon Pixma Pro9000

TOP SELLERS:

1. Hewlett Packard LaserJet 1018 Printer
2. Canon PIXMAâ„¢ MP600 All-In-One InkJet Printer

*externally random is a term that I made up. It refers to something that seems to make no sense from an outside perspective. A good and annoyingly frequent example is using acronyms without defining what they refer to first. these acronyms *have* a meaning but to the outside observer they are as good as random. in short: not effective.

The Horseless Buggy! buy stock now!!!!!

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I think that “subject” is a misleading term for the title of emails. Actually it should be summary. Effective email people are good at choosing their subject headings such that they include critical information.

for example

subject: party = bad

subject: Party Tonight at TittyD’s House = Good

ideally you should be able to figure out what the email contains before you have to read it. also, the exceptions to this naturally and obviously sort out in the dichotomy between amiable correspondence (ie this blog post) and timely communications.

take home message: if the communique contains a deadline, answer or timely queston, put it in the subject.

In philosophy, quiddity is essential identity or “whatness,” i.e., something’s “what it is.” The term derives from the Latin word “quidditas,” which was used by the medieval Scholastics to refer to a concept of substance they encountered while translating the works of Aristotle.

It describes properties a particular substance (e.g. a person) shares with others of its kind. The question “what (quid) is it?” asks for a general description by way of commonailty. Quiddity is often contrasted with the haecceity or “thisness” of an item, which, in turn, describes the particular properties of an object or substance (e.g. a particular person).

–

hoary [hawr-ee, hohr-ee]
–adjective, hoar·i·er, hoar·i·est.
1. gray or white with age: an old dog with a hoary muzzle.
2. ancient or venerable: hoary myths.
3. tedious from familiarity; stale: Please don’t tell that hoary joke at dinner again tonight.

The details in brief: Aaron was a smart kid, a star student in high school. After high school, he was diagnosed as delusional. He did poorly in university, and was sort of off again, on again. He bought a gun a few months ago. Then last Monday, he bought a tuxedo and went to the capitol building. He was not holding the gun, but he did not hide it. He claimed to be the emperor. A security guard warned him that he needed to stop advancing. Poor Aaron didn’t listen, and received three fatal gunshot wounds. A story about Aaron by the Denver Post can be found here.

What I find interesting, and perhaps somewhat disturbing, is that the only ensuing debate in the aftermath of this incident is whether or not there should be metal detectors in the capitol.

Uh, hello? A security guard shot and killed a man that wasn’t shooting, nor even holding a gun? Does anyone else think this is just a teensy bit…Oh, I dunno, excessive?

The security guard, Jay Hemphill, has been lauded as a fucking hero! The Rocky Mountain News posted this article about him:

Btw, that part about refusing to put the gun down is a total lie. Several articles already said that Snyder hadn’t even pulled his gun out. Link

I’ve been thinking a lot about this for the past week. Ostensibly, one of the things that cops are supposed to do is to protect the public. They are also expected to put their life on the line, in order to protect the public. Yet, when no one’s life is on the line (as in the case at the Colorado state capitol), they still have the right to fatally wound someone? One could argue that this was self defense, but I disagree. No gun shots were fired, nor was the victim even holding his gun. Additionally, I would argue that cops should not fire their weapons until they are attacked first. It is really the only morally correct option; otherwise, they simply look like assholes for shooting people that may not pose a big threat.

For the moment, I may be in the minority with this opinion, especially in this particular case. But who is some cop to judge when someone dies, simply because he feels “threatened”? Fuck off. If your job is to preserve the peace, and our lives, then maybe you shouldn’t kill people. Additionally, you should be ready to sacrifice your life in return for someone else’s. It would have been equally tragic had the security guard in this particular scenario had been killed, but he’s the one who chose to engage in a dangerous job where he may possibly be killed. I would expect someone with a gun not to scare easily, and get all trigger happy, simply because someone was walking towards him.

Optimize, optimize, optimize….

According to a report from the city’s comptroller, New York City would stand to gain $142 million in the first three years of legalized gay marriage.

::: $$$ via NY1 :::

:: Trained Viciously via USA Today ::

These are the people we send to build peace. US Soldiers *are* the problem.

I’m nocturnal. I’ve always stayed up super late at night because that’s when I’m most creative and most alive. The part that sucks is that there isn’t really anyplace to get decent salsa at 2:28 am*. This is the price I pay.

The Take Home Message: Always have back up salsa!

*(at least most places, there are notable exceptions)

::Harry Potter and the Death of Reading via the Washington Post::

There is at least a decent measure of people to be found in the books they adore. When cruising facebook, myspace or tribe or whatever I mentally award negative check marks to people whose only listed literary endeavors are contained in harry potter and dan brown novels. I’m not saying those books aren’t good, but they only scratch the surface of what’s going on in the world. what I’m getting at is that if someone asks you what your favorite book is and you immediately say “DaVinci Code!” you should be deeply embarrassed. And you know, I’m just going to say this because you need to hear it. You’re also probably a dumbass. Luckily this is a situation that can be remedied or at least seriously mitigated in only a couple years.

I think that a lot of people face a legitimate problem in trying to find good books to read, which is fair. If you walk into a bookstore you’ll find an astounding number of shitty books. One thing I’ve discovered is that you can let time test things out a bit. Sure potter might be all the rage now but will people still care in 20 years? who knows. So here I would like to recommend the modern library’s 100 best books of the century.

http://www.randomhouse.com/modernlibrary/100bestnovels.html

If you like harry potter there are some books in that list that are WAAAAAAY better. Significant quantities of them can be purchased for around a dollar each in secondhand stores. sweet.

Fun Fackt: JK Rowling is the only to become a billionaire by writing books.

So I’ve been working on this life system where I constantly pursue new experiences (and revisit previous experiences that I’ve tagged as “fucking stupid”). The main technique is to avoid saying no when people ask me to do things. A safety net from the banal can be constructed with the proper attitude in that you can draw a lot of enjoyment out of anything if you chill the fuck out and quit whining so much.

So today I did something totally new (for me) I went to the gym with ethan to lift weights. Previously I’ve considered this to be a ridiculous activity since I don’t really see any reason to train to lift 200 pounds off my chest.

It was actually a lot of fun and I ended up getting a membership to a local rock climbing studio that has a gym inside. also, this is a funny picture.

This asshole deserves it, I hope he’s never able to reproduce.

:: via Peta ::

I just love it when libertarians pull some bullshit about abolishing the IRS or the Federal Reserve. I encourage those people to move to afghanistan as often as possible. It’s a great place to “Let the Market Decide” because there is so much opportunity for private business. But the libertarians just whine.

wahhhh wahhh wahhh it’s dangerous. wahhhh wahhh wahhh there’s no roads. wahh waahhh wahhh there’s no freedom.

ohhh shit, all of a sudden *somebody* likes big government. Infrastructure is actually pretty cool when you think about it.

Dear Extreme Libertarians,

I’d like to encourage you to abandon your idiotic belief structure. It’s time for you to move beyond the childlike bitterness that emerges when the internal revenue service “steals” your money. Actually, you should be fucking excited that your taxes pay for roads, schools, the goddamn internet, things like the national institute of standards and technology and people who will try to keep your house from burning down. I swear that I’m going to slap the next person who says “free market” because it’s not free. Markets are regulated by the government so that we can have things like 8 hour workdays and weekends. I understand and sympathize with the urge for less bureaucracy and I even agree that in some situations market competition supported by regulations and legal systems can create a lot of prosperity but seriously, shut the fuck up about abolishing the IRS already.

Best,
TitaniumDreads

ps I hope all your brains explode when the US finally gets it’s shit together and institutes a national healthcare system.