ornith

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• Commented on WoWPod: a self-contained hut for WoW players
  It figures that the toilet-kitchen-no-wipe-or-sink thing would be Horde-themed visually. Way to reinforce the stereotype, guys!...
• Commented on Zogby poll: 52% of Americans support legalization of pot
  I strongly suspect that the major reason marijuana has any status as a gateway drug is BECAUSE it is illegal. If you didn't have to deal with drug dealers and make yourself a felon to get it, there's no reason...
• Commented on Dr. Sketchy art salon comes to LA
  I've been to the Philly one and it was great. I highly encourage LA artsy-and-above-drinking-age folks to attend! And I really like that the models AREN'T nude - drawing clothing, especially complex costumes, is a valuable skill that you can't...
• Commented on Japan's "suicide forest"
  @5, 16: That explains the prevalence of the-forest-where-you-keep-looping around in Japanese RPGs... @10: there's more than one way to romanize Japanese. I'd agree that using the h is generally an outdated method, but it's not, strictly speaking, wrong. @32: Not...
• Commented on Many Restaurants Remain Oblivious to Mobile Web
  I actually do understand the pdf menu... in a lot of cases, it's literally a scan of the paper menu, and pdfs are smaller than giant pics. That doesn't excuse cellphone browsers from not running flash, nor sites that use...
• Commented on Penetrating orbitocranial injury from kitchen sink
  Or in English, "how the fuck did that guy get the lever handle from his sink sprayer through his face"?...
• Commented on Roomba cover resembles monstrous horny toad
  I think I'd prefer a tribble!...
• Commented on When Do We Start Calling Years 'Twenty-Somethings'?
  I think the reason we haven't been saying "twenty" so far is that it's confusing... "twenty one" means something different. "Twenty ten" and up, however, get clearer....
• Commented on Jon Stewart slaughters crazy finance guy Jim Cramer -- video
  @31 The "court jester" comparison occured to me too. It was so obviously NOT comedy, and yet, who but a commedian is allowed to get away with it?...
• Commented on Rocking chair designed to look like abdominal muscles
  @6 Manhattan. But yes, my thoughts exactly....
• Commented on Salvador Dali's rotary dial cosmetics compact
  The lobster dress has little green floral sprig things overall... and they're parsely! It's so great. There's also a lobster phone (with a lobster for a handpiece on a normal black rotary phone base). And the shoe hat is one...
• Commented on Anatomical armchairs
  Isn't there a Shel Silverstein poem like that? "And I'm STILL hot!"...
• Commented on Replace Hardcovers with a Bunch of Big Signs
  I don't have the money or space for hardcovers (studio apartment), so I'd much rather they just went straight to paperbacks. For that matter, hardcovers are harder for me to carry with me or lend out, too - they're heavy!...
• Commented on Design for nine-square-feet house
  Just for reference: the average coffin is over 14 sq ft. A Japanese capsule hotel room - where you do NOTHING but sleep and maybe watch TV - is something like 18. A twin mattress is over 20. 9 square...
• Commented on Repair Manifesto
  Here's an idea: learn to do basic sewing. By which I mean hem a pair of pants, mend a ripped seam, and sew on a button or a patch. Takes nothing but a spool of thread, a needle, and a...
• Commented on Christian salt, a wingnut alternative to Kosher salt
  @14 - something about the flake properties of kosher salt makes it provide more flavor per amount used - it's quite popular with chefs and the sodium-conscious. Nor is it particularly expensive by any means. So no, kosher salt is...
• Commented on Idiot stuffs cat into bong
  @26 - that's idiotic. I mean, it's not like people use those little baggies for beads or buttons - heck, a lot of my clothing that came with spare buttons used those same tiny plastic bags. As idiotic as the...
• Commented on Reconstructing the genome of the earliest mammal
  @1 as a Christian who believes in evolution - go for it! @3 if they're anything like other birds, they'd crap all over your floor, making them not very good pets. But they might make really good meat sources....
• Commented on Researchers develop handy phrasebook for people who travel in time to the Stone Age
  I suspect there are some very, very few words that go back that far - something like "ma" for mother seems to be incredibly widespread - but I also think you'd do a lot better with good old point-and-gesture....
• Commented on TSA demands biometric IDs for period reenacter mule-drivers
  @43 Uh, I think the TSA existed before Dubya. I mean, we had security checkpoints in airports long before him. They just had their powers absurdly expanded under Dubya and went on a giant power trip because of it. And...
• Commented on Test driving a Tesla Roadster
  If they just worked off normal plugs, they'd be a lot easier to recharge. Needing special power sources, and then dozens of adapters, to find anywhere to refuel the thing... of course that's the kiss of death....
• Commented on California measure to legalize and tax pot
  Even if the price of pot tanks so hard they make no money taxing it, it'll STILL help the state's bottom line - that's a lot of pot smokers the state isn't spending money arresting and locking up in jail....
• Commented on 419 scammer impersonates the nation of Ethiopia, takes $27 million from Citibank
  Does Nigeria have any industry other than scamming?...
• Commented on Web Zen: Bacon Zen 3
  When I look at the baconlamp, all I can think of is that dog treats commercial. You know. I. smell. bacon! BACON BACON BACONBACONBACON!...
• Commented on Research on snap judgments based on people's faces
  @17 I'm glad to see I'm the only one who thought "hey, that guy looks like Obama". Which is fairly reasonable, considering - dominant and trustworthy is rather what you want in a president. I myself appear to fall far...
• Commented on Trader Joe's fan commercial not to be missed
  Most of the grocery stores here in Philly have those stupid carts. Even the Whole Foods. The Trader Joe's here has awesome prepared foods but mediocre produce (most supermarkets here have terrible produce for some reason). But no wine, because...
• Commented on Hallucinations that are tied to eye disease
  @10 In my experiene, absinthe isn't really a hallucinogen, so much as an, um, pareidolia-en. Rather than see things that aren't there, you just see more to the things that are, like a kid looking for pictures in the clouds,...
• Commented on Hans Moravec's slide on computer power and intelligence
  I find it highly odd that this graph places the computation power for reasoning above the computational power for imagination. Last I checked, computers are much, much better at reasoning-type tasks than imagination-type tasks even now. We are currently making...
• Commented on David Pogue's TED2009 roundup
  And the answer is areca palm is safe for pets but the other two are dangerous. (Also, what he's calling money plant isn't the one with the white translucent disc leaves many people know by that name.) Four waist high...
• Commented on David Pogue's TED2009 roundup
  Hmm, I think I should look into whether those plants are cat-safe; if they are, I'm putting some in my new apartment....