That time The Oatmeal raised over $200,000 for charity, just to get unattributed comics taken down from a sleazy content aggregator. A long, amusing saga if you click through and follow all the links.

Before you open your mouth to start a sentence, separate your teeth and drop your tongue off your palate inside your still-closed lips. That keeps the sucking noise inside. In slow motion it is three steps, teeth-tongue-lips, at full speed it's opening your mouth from back-to-front instead of front-to-back. Practice enough and it just becomes the way you open your mouth, you won't even think about it anymore. It helps train the muscles if you try to keep your teeth slightly separated within your mouth throughout the day, even when you're not talking. This also, incidentally, can help with overall anxiety levels.

If you mean you have a surplus of nonfiction ideas that need to be written about and/or spoken about, I'd happily write a few for you. I remember looking into your website several years ago, but the contribution guidelines said you had more writers than you could cope with, so I didn't pursue it further. That might have been before you were doing podcasts though.

I can understand that view. But if you cannot find someone to be a podcast partner, you could have your one voice be a host who interviews third parties, and let them be the other voices. A variation of the Science Friday format. Of course that requires reaching out to strangers to talk on the phone/skype/etc, the mere thought of which personally causes me to break out into a cold sweat.

Thanks for the detailed instructions! I'll see if I can master the process with any success.


Well, I do have such a surplus of non-fiction topics, my "write about this someday" folder tests the endurance of the scroll wheel. But here I was referring to a surplus of ideas/concepts for podcasts. If I didn't have to work a day job, I'd be tempted to launch a couple more podcasts, because there's such huge potential for niftiness. In fact, I'm working on a limited-run side podcast idea in my "spare time," likely to see the light of day approximately when podcasts fall out of style.

In regards to your interest in writing with us, it is still true that our problem is not too few skilled writers, it's too little editing bandwidth. But we do still occasionally welcome new writers who demonstrate considerable skill and interest. The challenge is helping them maintain that interest as they wait for their works to wind through our slow-moving machine. I essentially work three part-time jobs, so I am the bottleneck. But the good news is I *may* have found a way to whittle it down to a mere two part-time jobs, which will free up some time and energy.

I'm rambling. In short, if you really are interested in participating, and you possess a surplus of patience, there's a good chance we can make it happen. I have a Google Doc outlining our process and such, I can share it if you send me a Google Doc email address.

The Jargon File



credit to Happy Monkey "...on the gripping hand..."

Sarah Purcell.

That's a name I haven't thought of in decades. She was in something like That's Incredible, wasn't she?

Edit: Real People. Same thing.

We need a historical preservation society to foster and maintain awareness that That's Incredible and Real People were two different things...and which one was the one that had Fran Tarkenton...wasn't he a football guy...who did he play for...? etc.

The boredom of the British Empire...

Vikings and Giants

Mike Firesmith started his annual Halloween story tonight, it will run each night for five or six days, and they're always good.

Could someone take a look at this article and tell me if it's correct, close-to-correct, or, bullshit?

I am quite high atm, and don't know if I'm 'getting it'...

Also, I want whatever this dizzy heifer is smoking.

It's both true and bullshit. Depends on how you look at it.

On a micro scale, my dead cousin has about $10k in savings bonds. Back in the 80s and 90s he gave about $5k to the US government, and they gave him some pieces of paper in return. He died, and in 2017, I'm going to cash in those savings bonds, which matured years ago but are still accruing good interest, and the US government is going to pay his estate about $12k.

He actually worked for the government, so in his case, you could actually argue that they used the $%k he gave them to turn around and pay him his salary. And soon his estate will get $12k when I cash it in.

The US government isn't hurt by this deal until I cash them in, and then they have to cough up the extra $7k or so.

(I'm making those numbers up. But they are close.)

I'm more concerned by money being sucked out of this country and sent to China, et al.

I'd say it's pretty close to correct. Calling treasury bonds debt is akin to calling bank accounts "debts" of the bank. Which is technically true, but usually meaningless. Unless there's a run on the bank, like in "It's a Wonderful Life", and everyone calls in the debt at once.

Thank you.

And when people actually did that during the Depression, the government just declared an indefinite bank holiday and basically said no, we won't pay it.

That was good, thanks Bruce.

The story of Billy Gibbons' (of ZZTop) 1959 Gibson Les Paul, known as Pearly Gates

"A Japanese gent" once offered Gibbons $5,000,000 for the guitar. He was turned down.

I know ya'll were SO worried about this, but relax, the expansion of the universe is still accelerating.

Oh good, then I don't have to go on a diet, the universe is accommodating. :lol:

Gondolas in DC.

For us non-nerds, here's an explanation of those cable connections and what they do

http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/video-c...vi-hdmi-ports/

Maybe true for the original spec, but modern VGA ports and cables can support resolutions at and above 1080p, though it's analog, and will not be a pixel-perfect image.

Open to Inspection
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in the age of surveillance.

The growth of secret agencies and bumbling bureaucrats who have destroyed America over the last 99 years.

Quick, draw!

https://quickdraw.withgoogle.com/#

I'VE GOT BLISTERS ON MY FINGER!

Awesome Family Guy reference...
________________________________________________

Attachment 58499

Not working right. My pen keeps running out of ink

I thought Ringo said it.

May have been a Ringo joke on Family Guy.

This is where I'm coming from:



Apologies for quality.

Supposedly Ringo says it at the end of Helter Skelter but goddamn if I can find a listenable version.

And, of course, I have 27 Beatles songs, but, not that one.

I thought it was Lennon. Why would a drummer have blisters on his fingers, and Lennon was always whining about something

I couldn't find a answer from a trustable source. I found answers for both Ringo and John.

God forbid finding a listenable original version of Helter Skelter.

Anyway Stewie definitely said it.

Just maybe not 1st.:D

It was Ringo.

This website is both a time killer and educational. It tells you everything it knows about you. Turn sound on.

https://clickclickclick.click

C'mon, it's a Stratocaster--the most ubiquitous guitar shape in the world.

You drew that in 20 seconds? with a mouse?

Yep, this is fun!

I thought he was the walrus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pqUq2Da7d5c

Ringo.

Interesting. I like how it is set up, but it was regularly saying wrong things about me (talking about my cursor being in places it wasn't, clicking in ways I definitely didn't.) I wonder if that's because the site is buggy, or I have some kind of masking ability, or I have a virus and my computer is secretly doing things I'm not aware of.

bo-----rrrrrring. I saw the beginnings of my "Ivory medal" or whatever for one minute of my life. I'd have gonged it, if I only had a gong.

This 3-minute animation will change the way you see the universe

I don't know about all that, but, it is fairly interesting.

Powers of Ten did something similar to this back in the 70s, I think their approach was more accessible since the scale was changing by the same degree each time, rather than linking it to random objects.




There is also this black hole comparison, if you really want to feel infinitesimal. (with suitably ominous music)

Help bring a soldier home for the holidays. This guy has been doing this for a long time, and I believe it to be a very worthwhile cause. He provides plane tickets to servicemen & women around the world who can't afford them, so they can be with their families during the holidays.

Let's Bring 'Em Home is a 501c non-profit charity, so your donations are tax-deductible.:D

I used to donate $100 every year when he was in MA, but a couple years after he moved to FL he turned into an asshole. We had a falling out in a series of emails over one weekend, about the Iraq war.

He's definitely opinionated.

But, remember, you're not helping him...

Yes and no, helping service persons get home, but building his brand, his loyal following which means more income, and his ego.

Alright.:right:

Here in the UK, it is expected to be the busiest shopping day of the year and I suspect that the same can be said for the US and Canada.
Do you groan at the thought of being stuck in a traffic jam, fighting for a parking space or the prospect of being in a confined space with countless other people each possessed of a pair of extremely sharp elbows?
Are you run down, tired, nervous, listless and depressed or just plain pissed off on a dreary afternoon when it's dark by 1530?
Yes? Then what you need is Nukemap.

Just select the target and weapon of your choice and bring a warm glow to your heart (and everywhere else) as you survey the area of destruction and the predicted number of deaths.

Well, it must be better than trudging around Tesco or Walmart. ;)

Nukemap.

I wonder if that default location upon opening the link is T R U M P T O W E R ?

I wonder if that choice was made thoughtfully.