Some Other Guy's Journal

11:02am: Bacteria make major evolutionary shift in the lab
A species-defining trait has been observed to occur as the result of multiple mutations occurring over 10,000 generations apart.

Twelve populations of E. coli bacteria were derived from a single bacterium then cultured for 44,000 generations (about 20 years), with samples of each generation frozen for later study.

All of the population evolved some similar traits (such as larger size, lower population density) but around generation 31,500 one population evolved the ability to metabolize citrate, something which E. coli can not do.

Tests with the frozen samples of previous generations showed the citrate mutation relied on a previous mutation that occurred around generation 20,000 in only one of the populations.

So basically we not only have a what is essentially a new species evolving while we watch, we have hard evidence that the defining change is the result of at least two separate mutations occurring thousands of generations apart.

Even better, it's happening "if you wait long enough" just like biologists have been saying all along.

12:59pm: We Don't Need Them
We Don't Need Them by Joe Carpenter.

I’ve never understood the idea of speaking truth to power. The truth, surely, is that in almost all countries of the world, political and economic systems are designed to benefit only the rich and powerful, at the expense of those with less money and power. This is how the world works, and I see no reason to think that the powerful don’t already understand that. After all, they designed it; they maintain it.

[...]

Time to wake up, time to grow up. We’re not children. We do not need to ask permission to live like sane, reasonable, thoughtful, compassionate human beings. We do not need to beg or bow or kneel. We do not need to look to government or to experts or to the rich and famous. Whatever we need, we can get it ourselves. Whatever we want to stop -- we can stop it ourselves. Whatever must be done, we can do it ourselves. We do not need them; we need each other.

9:58am: Random Numbers
Some number that I stumbled on in the news yesterday:

$11,000,000 -- Approximate amount Hillary Clinton has loaned her own campaign so far
$35,000,000 -- Approximate amount Mitt Romney loaned his own failed campaign
$25,000,000 -- Approximate amount Australia is sending for cyclone relief in Myanmar

(I'm not picking on Clinton, Romney or Australia, those were just the numbers I happen to run into)

4:00pm: Rise of the Silver Surfer
The special effects were adequate and there were a few decent action scenes. BUT the story and acting were horrible and the characters were utterly unlikable and unbelievable. By the end of the movie, the utter destruction of all life on Earth seemed like a small price to pay to keep Sue and Reed from reproducing.

And since and Sue's children are pretty much guaranteed to be horrible mutants anyway she and Johnny should just go for it.

11:41am: There's another war brewing most of us know nothing about.
[skip these if animal on animal violence bothers you]

it started small, but is escalating rapidly.

(The cow in the second video has human accomplices, but supposedly started doing this on his own.)

9:03pm: A handy little tool
Here's a handy little tool I found while looking for fonts:

WhatTheFont

You upload a image of some text and it tries to figure out what font it is. It seems to do a pretty good job.

12:03pm: Anna Nicole Smith
If this was a movie, the surprise plot twist would be that Daniel is Dannielynn's father. If that means nothing to you, consider yourself lucky.

7:29pm: How could anything look less like a Bomb?

9:51pm: Best Press Conference Ever.

12:35pm: My New Spam Filter Settings
More spam than legitimate mail was getting through my filters, so I tweaked them a little.

The good news: No spam is getting through and only about 1% of what it blocks is legitimate mail. The bad news: it's blocking everything.

Yep, 99% of my email is spam.

I guess I'll fall back to my previous filter.

1:24pm: I need a word or phrase
There are a bunch of science fiction / fantasy stories where the hero is transported to another world by mysterious means with little no equipment (often naked) and with little or no foreknowledge of the world he or she is entering. Examples would be The Barsoom series by Edgar Rice Burroughs, the Green Star series by Lin Carter, or Den from the first Heavy Metal movie.

It seems like this is a common enough motif that it would have a name, but best I've been able to track down is "Interplanetary romance" which doesn't quite cut it.

Any thoughts?

11:24am: Thought for the Day
The plural of "neurosis" is not "personality"

7:19pm: A breif discourse on the effects of vicodin on my sense of humor:
From My Boss:

When you have a chance pop off an email with a Dragnet status report. Although if you really want you can do it Mickey Spillane style, or Lovecraft style or whatever you wish. But I think Dragnet style would take less time.

"Dragnet style" means "Just the facts." In this case that would be "I spent Friday dealing with a dental emergency, so the project didn't get finished." But that's no fun so I replied with...

( The Project on the Threshold )

6:31pm: A random thought
I don't have anything against monogamous people, I just don't want my wife dating one.

11:09pm: My reactions to this video were

disbelief - I did not just see that.

outrage - How could he do that?

perverse joy - We've got him now!

miscellaneous bits of meta-thinking - is it fake, is she as grossed out as she looks, is it really all that bad, is it out of context, has he literally gone insane, etc.

The crushing realization that there are basically two possible outcomes: either nothing much will come of this or after all he's done, this is what finally makes people react.

I can't decide which would be more disturbing.

1:20pm: Any suggestions or comment before this goes live? http://jhuger.com/christian_nation

7:33pm: Can you tell which quotes are Anne Coulter and which are Adolf Hitler?

( Spoiler )

2:12am: Whiskey Tango Foxtrot.
Jesus H. Christ with an bazooka. I have no idea what to make of that. The top contenders are:

• It's a hoax or a parody
• These people are trying to trigger Armaggedon.
• These people will do anything for a buck.

I suppose "All of the above" is a possibility, but for now I'm going with WTF.

12:03pm: Rush to Judgement?
So Rush Limbaugh has finally been arrested on drug charges and we get to watch another example of Privilege. He's out on bail and the charges will be dropped in six months if he stays in rehab. That's exactly what should have happened, and exactly why this makes such a good example of Privilege.

Being allowed to go on with their lives while being treated for their addiction without even getting a criminal record is exactly what should happen to a large percentage of drug users. But it's not what happens. They get tossed in reeking, over-crowded, dangerous prisons and their lives are ruined. Rush Limbaugh has the money and contacts to get treated they way everybody should be treated.

That's why it's so hard for straight white males to see that we have Privilege. For the most part we're just being treated the way everyone should be treated. The problem is that gays, non-whites, and women aren't being treated the way they should be. The problem is that in this society being treated fairly gives us an unfair advantage.

9:38am: My twisted mind vs. reality - Movie posters
Zorro 2005

The Billboard: Nothing but a big ragged 'Z', with a near-future date under it.

Where my mind went: Since there would be absolutely no point in yet another remake of Spanish colonial Zorro, the new version might be set in modern day.

( Plot Summary )
The Reality: Since when did a movie being absolutely pointless stop Hollywood? The date was just the movie release date.

Elvis 2.0

The Billboard: The word "Elvis", the right half of Elvis Presley's face, some unidentifiable tech stuff and the word "2.0".

Where my mind went: Elvis resurrected through cybernetics, and not in a good way. Starring Bruce Campbell.

( Plot Summary )
The Reality: It was actually two separate ads, with half of the top ad missing. I have no idea what either of the ads were really for.

10:33am: Paul Hackett

You may recall a few weeks ago I posted about Paul Hackett, a Democratic candidate for Senate. Among other things, he said that the Republican party had been hijacked by religious extremists, and that intolerance was un-American.

Several of you wondered how far a Democrat with a backbone or politician who spoke his mind would get. The answer is...

Today I am announcing that I am withdrawing from the race for United States Senate. I made this decision reluctantly, only after repeated requests by party leaders, as well as behind the scenes machinations, that were intended to hurt my campaign...

...Thus ends my 11 month political career...

more...

...Not very far.

9:19am:
"the Republican Party has been hijacked by the religious fanatics that, in my opinion, aren't a whole lot different than Osama bin Laden and a lot of the other religious nuts around the world"


That's Paul Hackett, A democrat running for U.S. Senate in Ohio. When asked to apologize, he said "I said it. I meant it. I stand behind it."

Here's a little more from his On the Issues page:


"Never once in my 43 years of life have I heard of anyone getting a divorce because their neighbors are gay. Every American deserves to be treated with simple human dignity. Gays and Lesbians are no different. They should be entitled to ALL of the same rights and responsibilities we take for granted... workplace non-discrimination, hate crimes protection, the right to serve in the armed forces and the right to validate their love in the way they see fit. The history of our country is a proud story, ever evolving toward greater equality. We cannot let the religious right turn the clock back now."


I think this guy's worth watching.

2:49pm: Project Update
This project Now lives here.

I'm using This bookcrossing account.

So far 2 books have been released, with ten more ready to go.

1:25pm: The Origin of Species
Barnes & Nobles is currently offering "The Origin of Species" for an extremely reasonable price: about $6 in stores or $4 on their web site. This is a pocket-sized hardbound book with gilt edges and a bookmark ribbon.

At this price, those so inclined could easily afford to buy several and set them free at coffee shops, laundromats, bus stops, hotels etc. thus providing the patrons of such places with something to read other than "Awake!" or the Gideon Bible.

The Page for this book at Barnes & Nobles is here. Those who are curious to know what happens to the book after they set it free might find Bookcrossing useful.

Those with more spare cash than spare time should feel free to hop on over to PayPal and shoot a few bucks to james@jhuger.com along with a note saying that it's a donation for this project.

5:13pm: A blast from the past
An early Christmas gift from serenejournal

Tunnels & Trolls 7th edition
30th anniversary
Written by Ken St. Andre
New cover art by Liz Danforth

I haven't had a chance to read the whole thing yet, but it looks like Ken St Andre managed to keep most of the flavor of 5th edition while making some improvements. It has a very old-school feel to it.

Also, the old PC game is on the CD that comes with the game. It's running. The sound doesn't work, and It has that thing going on that a lot of old games have where things sometimes happen too fast to follow, because nobody ever considered the possibility that you might need to slow a game down for it to be usable, but other than that it seems to be working