Category Archives: Uncategorized

Something is the new something

A list of cliches (via Google) where something is being transposed to be the new thing:

  • Clarendon is the new Helvetica
  • The location field is the new command line
  • Fake is the new real
  • Orange is the new black
  • Quiet is the new loud
  • Nearshore is the new offshore
  • Red is the new blonde
  • Blacker is the new black
  • Iraq is the new Vietnam
  • Movie piracy is the new plague
  • Fat is the new thin
  • Wide is the new black
  • Fat is the new tobacco
  • Organic is the new kosher
  • MFA is the new MBA
  • Small is the new big
  • Spim is the new spam
  • Being uncool is the new cool
  • Gay marriage is the new abortion
  • 30 is the new teenage
  • Butt crack is the new cleavage

Of course, everything is the new black. Why is black the standard? Have any other favorites?

Vegan fish sticks

I am now soliciting vegan fish stick recipes to test. Here is a fairly complicated-sounding one, involving kelp powder, Amino acids, and unheardof seasonings. Here is what I would call a “quick and dirty” way, which would be dipping in soy sauce, lemon juice, and breading. The secret trick will most likely be the way the tofu is cut up. It can’t be just a square block, or you won’t have that terribly-processed-cheap-fish feel to it.

Random effects/instincts that intrigue me

  1. When someone is driving and they are checking the lane they want to change into, they inadvertently drift into the opposite lane (not sure if this has anything to do with spatial distortion)
  2. People instinctually/subconciously slow down when starting to drive on an overpass/bridge (I read this in a study somewhere, but now can’t find it)

Tracking has-been celebrities

Now that I have comments, I can ask questions and actually get replies, so here goes…

This story about the little blond kid from “Family Ties” getting busted for a DUI made me wonder: How does someone pick a seemingly random police blotter item and match the person’s name to figure out that the person is/was a celebrity (and thus making it “news”)? Is there some sort of very large database of people (which includes their birth names!) so that when their names show up in a police report, the media gets alerted to it? Inquiring minds want to know.

HP ScanJet 4670 See-Thru Vertical Scanner

HP ScanJet 4670 See-Thru Vertical Scanner: I was purchasing a scanner last night, and was terribly intrigued by this scanner that stands up vertically on a wire easel, is see-through, and can basically be lifted off and placed on top of anything to scan it. I almost purchased it, but I had no idea of how well the concept really works in practice. The reviews are lukewarm, so maybe it was a good decision not to get it, but it still intrigues me.

The Propaganda Game

This weekend I scored an original unopened 1970 edition of “The Propaganda Game” from WFF ‘N PROOF! It’s spectacular. And it’s got the sponsorship of the infamous Lorne Greene! For the unfamiliar, it’s a game where you learn the intriguing techniques used by professionals to mold public opinion. Players learn to recognize “bandwagon” appeals, faulty analogy, out-of-context quotes, rationalization, technical jargon, emotional appeals and many more. In playing this game learners develop deeper insight about the underlying premises in TV ads, newspaper editorials, and political speeches.

“In a democratic society such as ours, it is the role of every citizen to make decisions after evaluating many ideas. It is specially important that a citizen be able to analyze and distinguish between the emotional aura surrounding an idea and the actual content of that idea. It is this goal of clear thinking that The Propaganda Game addresses.” — Commander Adama Lorne Greene