Robot Monkeys

Labmate Yize, who has been in the US for two weeks, after watching on Sarah Palin’s interview with Katie Couric:

She should not be interviewed. She looks not smart.

The Sentinel:

Wednesday afternoon was the third week of the Police Department’s campaign to stand watch over what some say has become a public nuisance. Officers and city leaders say they regularly receive complaints of people in that parking lot next to the farmers market buying and selling drugs, getting drunk in public, urinating on the asphalt and playing drums with little skill, among other issues.

Methane may be escaping from the arctic.

Methane is 20 times more effective at locking in heat than carbon dioxide, and if released, will accelerate global warming. If this is confirmed, it implies that we’ve passed the tipping point, and global warming is running away.

I haven’t watched the Emmys in several years, but tonight I turned it on just in time to see Tom Smothers receive his Emmy for writing the Smothers Brothers show back in 1968.

He took his name off the nominee list because he was afraid that he would hurt the rest of the writers’ chances of winning because he was too radioactive. They won, but he didn’t.

Tonight he received, “a brand new 1968 Emmy.”

His speech talked about speaking out, and he closed with this “ha ha only serious” joke. “Truth is what you get other people to believe.”

After four minutes and 10 seconds, a changed call.

The bad call was always part of the game, and a good team could win even with a missed call. Now we’ll have a bunch of whiners crying “Let’s go to the videotape!”

There’s no crying in baseball.

Previously

SIGIR 2009 Website:

The Red Sox will not be playing in Boston during SIGIR itself. Unfortunately, that means you can’t attend one of their games. Fortunately, you will not be conflicted about whether to skip a SIGIR event to see them play.

The Red Sox will be playing Baltimore from the 24th to the 26th if you want to stick around some extra days. You can get more information starting from the July 2009 Red Sox calendar.

Because of the timing, SIGIR itself will not be organizing any Red Sox event. You’re on your own.

Nice.

Make Pennsylvania red, and that’s a map I can believe. McCain 295, Obama 243.

8 Jupiter masses and 500 light years away, a planet may have been directly imaged orbiting 1RXS J160929.1-210524. Now assuming that it is a planet, this is potentially very interesting. When I saw the photo, I immediately thought of a post I read before where Eric Ford of U Florida, discussed what could be detected from a single pixel. You could derive makeup, and assuming that the planetary surface is visible and nonuniform, the rotational rate.

I suspect that if it is a planet, it’s just another dead rock, but it would be cool if it was at least an interesting dead rock.

http://www.hasthelhcdestroyedtheearth.com/
http://www.isbarackobamamuslin.com/

Mickey Kaus of Slate:

Friday, September 12, 2008
You lost me at “de”: Headline/byline of an op-ed in yesterday’s WS

Democrats Need to Shake
The “Elitist’ Tag
By Lynn Forester de Rothschild

Does Lynn Forester de Rothschild actually exist, or did Paul Gigot invent her? … [That's Lady de Rothschild to you, buddy-ed. Even better.] … 4:48 P.M.