Sudoku Time
Posted by Stephen Waits Tue, 07 Feb 2006 23:52:47 GMT
2/7 in 7:31.
Selenium just got a little easier...
Posted by Stephen Waits Tue, 07 Feb 2006 16:28:26 GMT
Now it’s very easy to use Selenium in Rails, thanks to the new selenium plugin by Jonas Bengtsson.
Religion is still dumb..
Posted by Stephen Waits Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:52:21 GMT
Check out the “Straight Dope” on Mormonism where the author describes how Joseph Smith “wrote” the Book of Mormon. One notable quote:
I will now give you a description of the manner in which the Book of Mormon was translated. Joseph Smith would put the seer stone into a hat, and put his face in the hat, drawing it closely around his face to exclude the light; and in the darkness the spiritual light would shine. A piece of something resembling parchment would appear, and under it was the interpretation in English. Brother Joseph would read off the English to Oliver Cowdery, who was his principal scribe, and when it was written down and repeated to brother Joseph to see if it was correct, then it would disappear, and another character with the interpretation would appear.
Yes, Mormons believe that. It’s really no more or less ignorant and stupid than any stories throughout Christianity and Islam. But Mormons get picked on quite a bit, while those others are often just assumed truths, despite being equivalently unbelievable tall tales.
On the other hand, claims about the origin of the Mormon church aren’t inherently more implausible than those of world religions such as Christianity and Islam–it’s just that that the history of the church and its teachings are within the range of modern history, and therefore can be independently studied.
I personally believe that religion is something weak people need to follow. It fills a hole for them. Meanwhile, the folks at the top gain power, fame, and even wealth.
I will say that every Mormon I’ve ever met is super friendly. They will go way out of their way to help anyone with anything. They are especially supportive of each other. Yes, they pay the LDS a lot of money. But, if they find themselves without a job or in some other sort of crisis, the community steps in. So, yes, that’s good. They are generally great people, and you’d be lucky to have them for neighbors.
They, like any other Christian or Islamist, just believe in funny stories. Whatever works…
All the Super Bowl Commercials
Posted by Stephen Waits Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:33:14 GMT
I don’t watch the Super Bowl. I haven’t for years. I don’t like football, and the Super Bowl is just another football game, except really long. Anyway, I used to at least record it and zip through to catch a few commercials, but I don’t even do that any more. So I was happy this morning when I found all of the Super Bowl XL commercials on Google Video.
My favorites:
- Budweiser - Clydesdale American Dream. Sappy but I smiled.
- Budweiser - Superfan Cowboy.
- Dove - Campaign for Real Beauty. Only because of the genius in this marketing campaign, that’s been going on for awhile. They don’t mean any of it, but they’ve figured out how to sell soap to fat people - which is most people.
- United Airlines - Dragon. A fantastical spin of United’s stylistic ad campaign.
- V for Vendetta. Because it looks good.
New Monster Specs
Posted by Stephen Waits Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:28:51 GMT
Ducati sent the guys over at Kneeslider some detailed specs for the new S4Rs. This thing is luscious!
Mission Accomplished
Posted by Stephen Waits Mon, 06 Feb 2006 15:13:22 GMT
Kids Found.. Sheriff Thankless
A couple of good Samaritans in California are caught in that awkward maw between heroism and recklessness after some pretty interesting flying led to the rescue of two 11-year-olds last week. …
The Sheriff goes on to complain about the rescue; however, he wasn’t getting the job done. While he doesn’t need to condone this, he should be thankful.
More here.
Via AVweb Current Issue.