Tag: on the web

JoanZone

I sometimes have little fantasies about having my own domain name. I couldn’t justify the expense, really (the expense being A$13 a year, or COR, BLIMEY! £5, what a bargain). Blogger does me fine.

Anyway, I put ‘joan’ into a domain name registration search engine and it tells me that the following domain names are available:

  • joan.asn.au
  • joan.id.au
  • joan.net.au
  • joan.org.au

Not bad, not bad. But then the engine went one step further and told me that ‘the following domains are similar to the one you requested, and may be of interest.’

  • globaljoan.com.au
  • cheapjoan.com.au
  • joanservices.com.au
  • joanzone.com.au

ORRIGHT! JoanZone!

Hazarding a guess

Google displays targeted ads alongside your messages in Gmail. I regularly get automated notifications from Facebook whenever someone posts me a message.

Jenny wrote something on your Wall.

To see what Jenny wrote, follow the link below:
http://url.com/xyz#wall

Thanks,
The Facebook Team

In the absence of context, this is Google Adsense’s best attempt at responding to such emails:


Berlin Wall?!

It’s the scattergun approach. I guess they’re hoping something might stick.

Political Compass Take 2

Two and a half years ago, I took the Political Compass test and came out on the Libertarian Left. My scores were:

Economic Left/Right: -2.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -4.92

Having done this MPhil course, I feel like I have a much deeper understanding of economics, politics, and philosophy. I have just taken the test again. I am still in the Libertarian Left quadrant but check out my scores now!

Economic Left/Right: -7.50
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -6.62

Whoa! I’m an angry young Communist Anarchist.

I went for ‘strongly agree’ and ‘strongly disagree’ for most questions. It seems like I have definite opinions now.

You know, I consider myself a pragmatic and polite person. I’m hoping that strength of convictions doesn’t lead to unreasonableness in action. Strong convictions are good, right? As long as I’m not close-minded, I guess.

For comparison, the following graphs come from the website.


Random news generator

Hahaha… See The Onion on ‘Middle East Conflict Intensifies As Blah Blah Blah, Etc. Etc.‘

The Onion has exposed the Random News About the Middle East Generator.

Sometimes I get assignments from my lecturers that look like a string of jargon strung together. I read the briefing again and again, and still, I’m scratching my head over what it means.

I once made a gaffe in class by audibly commenting, ‘Oh, it’s Random Assignment Generator again.’

I’m struggling through an essay due 5 PM tomorrow. I had a panic attack last night because I suddenly thought, ‘Oh my God, am I writing the right thing?’ I felt like I couldn’t possibly be. What I was writing felt so meaningless and inane.

I feel better about it now but it’s been a b**** of an essay to write and now I’m off to bed to put it off until 4:30 AM tomorrow.

Joshua Bell, incognito

A really fascinating article, Pearls before breakfast from the Washington Post Magazine. The paper set up a fly-on-the-wall experiment. Joshua Bell, one of the most celebrated violists in the world, is asked to busk at a metro station. You would have to pay hundreds to see him perform at close quarters. What do you think happened at the train station during peak hour?

Thanks to Terry Tao for pointing out the link.

English cross-country adventure

My parents are visiting me. All the important stuff is done — I’ve shown them around Cambridge and mum has fed me homecooked genuine Chinese food. Tomorrow, we’re starting a nine day car trip all around England. We’re going to:

  • Stonehenge
  • Bath
  • Warwick and Stratford
  • Manchester
  • Lake District
  • York
  • London

You won’t be hearing from me for a while, then.

An early version of the trip. We might not make it to Oxford, though. It doesn’t matter. Oxford is the poor man’s Cambridge. We’re also going to London later, right before we take a cheap and unsustainable flight to Amsterdam, then Paris.

You’ll find me looking like this all over the countryside: furry hat, camera, and an apple in my mouth. This photo was taken by Nitin on his mobile phone camera in Bath.

Finally, I got this link from Tristan. This junction is just north of my department. It’s a sight to look forward to when the undergraduates get back next term. Viva la bike!

Food porn

A term that makes me giggle is ‘food porn’. You’ve seen it in recipe books: close up shots of glistening food, saturated colours, inviting textures… Touch me! Eat me! Love me! Mmmmm, drool.

Digital Photography School offers an introduction to becoming a food porn artist. Choice magazine exposes the amount of primping and styling needed to produce drool-worthy photos. Tips include:

  • If you’re not advertising the ice cream, you might decide to go fake — coloured mashed potato can make a reasonable substitute.
  • If your Swiss cheese isn’t looking photogenic enough, enhance its holes — use little round cutters or even straws for small holes.
  • Spray deodorant can give a nice frosting to grapes.

Hmm, I suspect my blog will now be flooded with visitors who have put ‘porn’ and maybe ‘coconut’ into some search engine. Nothing to see here, guys. Sorry to disappoint.

Damjan called this ‘Emperor Cake’. There were lots of walnuts in the recipe.

Kate, Damjan and I had breakfast in Bendigo a few years ago. Wow, has it really been that long?

You’ve seen this photo before. But in the spirit of food porn, I have increased the saturation and used a soft focus. One of my favourite things about hanging out with Damjan is his keenness for making (and eating) bread.

Second round offer

“I’m getting a lot of single friends waiting for the next batch of divorcees to come around – and they are. It’s like second-round offers at uni.”

HAHAHAHA… That’s funny. The Sydney Morning Herald writes about Princess Brides. A demographer observes:

‘…generations X (25 to 40 years) and Y will have three main relationships – a starter marriage or de facto relationship in their twenties, another relationship with marriage and kids and then, as they hit middle age and have discharged their parenting responsibilities, a third major relationship focused on common interests and leisure activities.’

Joinworthy

Forget climate change, human rights and Save the British Library… THIS campaign speaks to my heart!


I have seen people on Facebook who have joined dozens or hundreds of groups. I have been much more choosey. ‘Campaign for a faster X5’, having been judged joinworthy, takes my group memberships to four.

The X5 takes 3.5 hours to travel between Cambridge and Oxford. That’s about the same distance as Melbourne to Shepparton. If you take the train between Cambridge and Oxford via London, it takes 2.5 hours and costs about two or three times as much — that’s £34 or A$85 return with a student discount. Frightening, isn’t it?

Mr or Ms Not-quite-right

This is interesting: All Men Are Liars describes ‘the 80 per cent relationship‘.

I think you just need to be careful about the criteria you put on your scorecard. There are important criteria. For me, it’s intelligence, sense of humour, generosity… For others, it might be religion, interests, independence, attractiveness…

I do believe that people are often too picky. Their scorecards are loaded with things that don’t matter or are unrealistic. Perhaps no one should settle for 80 per cent, but if someone is consistently finding 60 and 80 percenters, then maybe he or she needs to look at his or her scorecard.