Weird – Geoff Arnold's Blog https://geoffarnold.com Blogging on and off since 2003 Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:44:59 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=7.0 https://geoffarnold.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/favicon-32x32-1.pngWeird – Geoff Arnold's Bloghttps://geoffarnold.com 32 32 2463456 Faith!https://geoffarnold.com/2009/08/24/faith/ Mon, 24 Aug 2009 04:44:59 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=2196 Faith… it’s not just for religion any more. I just bought some I’believe potato chips:
Faith... Not just for religion any more! I just bought some "... on Twitpic

]]> 2196 Juxtapositionally challengedhttps://geoffarnold.com/2008/04/02/juxtapositionally-challenged/ Wed, 02 Apr 2008 21:55:35 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1823 From The Debatable Land:

The Scotsman today:
Page 1: Mystery of Severed Head Found on Arbroath Beach
Page 18: The Awe Inspiring Beauty of Scotland’s Beaches

]]> 1823 It's not from me… honest!https://geoffarnold.com/2008/03/29/its-not-from-me-honest/ Sat, 29 Mar 2008 22:56:02 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1822Continue reading "It's not from me… honest!"]]> It happens every few years, and it’s happening again right now. A bunch of spambots are spewing forth thousands of emails about fake Gucci handbags, and each message has my email address in the “From:” field. The result: I’ve been receiving hundreds of mailer “bounce” messages for the last few days, filling my inbox and confusing my spam filters. There’s nothing to be done about this; I must just wait for it to subside. Last time I seem to remember that it took a couple of weeks. The ever-present worry, of course, is that some spam filtering system will decide that my email address is toxic, and starts blocking my legitimate emails. E-fingers crossed….

]]> 1822 Set cognitive dissonance to maxhttps://geoffarnold.com/2007/10/21/set-cognitive-dissonance-to-max/ Sun, 21 Oct 2007 19:12:03 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1630 How about a “Hello Kitty AK-47”? “A perfect gift for the young lady of the house. A bargain at only $1072.95!”
HK-AK-47
Or perhaps you’d prefer Martha Stewart anti-personnel mines?
—
(HT to the Akihabara News.)

]]> 1630 Check out BAB today…https://geoffarnold.com/2007/09/13/check-out-bab-today/ Thu, 13 Sep 2007 13:29:59 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1581 Bad Astronomy Blog is remembering Space 1999 with a really cool image….

]]> 1581 Falwell's legacy of stupidity and bigotryhttps://geoffarnold.com/2007/05/28/falwells-legacy-of-stupidity-and-bigotry/ Mon, 28 May 2007 19:54:35 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1441Continue reading "Falwell's legacy of stupidity and bigotry"]]> Poland to probe if Teletubbies are gay:

Poland’s conservative government took its drive to curb what it sees as homosexual propaganda to the small screen on Monday, taking aim at Tinky Winky and the other Teletubbies. Ewa Sowinska, government-appointed children rights watchdog, told a local magazine published on Monday she was concerned the popular BBC children’s show promoted homosexuality. She said she would ask psychologists to advise if this was the case.

Apparently others in the Polish government are worried about her…

… making public comments “that may turn her department into a laughing stock.”

May? Too late, I’m afraid.

]]> 1441 "Is this [an unconvincing and thoroughly distracting replica of] a dagger that I see before me?"https://geoffarnold.com/2007/04/25/is-this-an-unconvincing-and-thoroughly-distracting-replica-of-a-dagger-that-i-see-before-me/ Wed, 25 Apr 2007 16:11:57 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1390 Stupidity spreads.

]]> 1390 Like rubbernecking after a particularly gruesome car crashhttps://geoffarnold.com/2007/04/11/like-rubbernecking-after-a-particularly-gruesome-car-crash/ Wed, 11 Apr 2007 03:38:12 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1365 I didn’t want to read this story about a thesis entitled Quantum Feminist Mnemotechnics: the Archival Text, Digital Narrative and the Limits of Memory, but I found myself powerless to resist. Unfortunately, even though this sounds like another affaire Sokal, the author seems to be sincere. How disappointing….

]]> 1365 Latex, handcuffs… and a donkeyhttps://geoffarnold.com/2007/03/01/latex-handcuffs-and-a-donkey/ Thu, 01 Mar 2007 22:49:38 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1306Continue reading "Latex, handcuffs… and a donkey"]]> Alec just drew my attention to this newspaper story, which I unhesitatingly nominate for the “Best Opening Sentence of 2007” award:

A man who was found dressed in latex and handcuffs brought a donkey to his room in a Galway city centre hotel, because he was advised “to get out and meet people,” the local court heard last week.

I also liked the following example of Irish legal compassion: He was also charged with damage to a mini-bar in the room, but this charge was later dropped when the defendant said that it was the donkey who caused that damage. The whole thing is strangely reminiscent of Frank Zappa’s tour de force album from 1971: The Mothers: Fillmore East.

]]> 1306 Good Math, Bad Math,… Theosophical Math!https://geoffarnold.com/2006/11/09/good-math-bad-math-theosophical-math/ Thu, 09 Nov 2006 04:14:19 +0000 http://geoffarnold.com/?p=1195Continue reading "Good Math, Bad Math,… Theosophical Math!"]]> Check out this wonderfully wacky piece at Good Math, Bad Math on Rudolph Steiner and Theosophical Math. For example:

In normal projective geometry, there’s an interesting kind of duality, where you can take theorems involving lines and points and switch the lines and the points in the theorem, and the result is also a theorem. So, for example: given two distinct points, there is exactly one line that crosses through both of them. The dual statement of that is: given two distinct lines, there is exactly one distinct point that they both cross through.
Steiner insists on carrying duality to silliness, and that’s where the really crazy math comes in. Since there’s normal space where parallel lines converge and intersect at infinity, there must be a dual space where everything is at infinity, and things converge towards the finite.

Wow. Where can I get some of that stuff…?

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