Terry Tate: Everything old is new again

I loved the Terry Tate Office Linebacker commercials back in the day. The hilarity continues with a new set of ads for… well, who care? It’s funny! (BTW he’s telling people to go vote.)

“Believe me, Alaska is like a microcosm of America…”

“Our next door neighbors are foreign countries!”

If you never saw the old ones… Check it out, and remember, “You kill the joe, you make some mo’!”

Is scientific research all wrong?

The Economist has an interesting article about the nature of scientific publications–namely that research is wrong. The author points out that overstating your research will increase the chances of it getting noticed and getting published. Scientific research has become big business: publish or perish! Two major points that I find to be true (unfortunately):

• Negative results are not publishable.
• Big, bold claims are more likely to get published than incremental updates.

The Internet has made everyone a publisher so many traditional institutions need to be reformed. Research is not immune. The article suggests that, rather than trusting journals, all quality above some threshold be published.

Good points. Interesting solutions. Any dissenters out there?

Happy Halloween!

Happy Halloween! Safely enjoy the nice weather and your friends

The Anti-McCain Smear Viral Campaign

Here are a few left-leaning clips about McCain that are in response to the Obama smears going around the Internet. They’re well made and they send a clear message: McCain sucks. Whether that’s true or not, I’m not sure any politician is any better; after all, “If they weren’t corrupt when they went in, they will be when they come out!” Decide for yourself below.

McCain versus himself:

On the economic disaster:

McCain’s problem just became a nightmare:

Fox bad-mouths Obama… Fox is right-leaning (who knew?)

McCain should end the politics of hate:

Three days left to vote. Get out and make your voice heard!

NBC back on the air and I am underwhelmed

It seems that NBC is now back on the air here in Austin. This comes after weeks of not getting the local NBC affiliate, KXAN. Andrea discovered the change last night with the always memorable Deal or No Deal. If you’re curious, the right answer was no deal.

I cannot find details of the settlement, but the KXAN site does mention a fair resolution. In the end, both sides lost because I’m annoyed at their bickering which affected the services I received. Now that NBC is back, I realize I did not miss it.

Midori sushi is great!

Last night we went to Midori, a sushi/Asian food restaurant in NW Austin. Lane went here for his birthday meal and liked it. I was really excited after I read the overwhelmingly positive reviews. Even the local Fox affiliates foodie, Rob Balon, loved it!

After eating there I must say that I was impressed. Everything was absolutely delicious! The miso was a treat; the house salad was fresh and satisfying; the teriyaki was superb; and the sushi was fantastic. I recommend the Boca Raton roll which is similar to Maru’s J-Bomb, but way less spicy.

Beyond great food the place has ambience. The interior is very clean; the restaurant is decorated with Japanese-looking pieces. Waitresses wear traditional Japanese garb and the sushi chefs welcome you with a Japanese “hello”–I’ve been watching anime long enough to know some Japanese! Fun.

I will be returning to Midori!

4 minutes of inspiration

This morning I was inspired by a speech from Dave Eggers, one of three 2008 TED prize ($100,000) winners. In this clip Dave talks about how we, the people, can help the educational system. The idea is simple:

As you’ll see in the video, Austin has a similar center called the Austin Bat Cave. (Apparently it’s not officially 826 National, but it follows in the same vein.)

I think Dave has an excellent, inspirational idea that should be replicated all over. Anyone interested in starting the central Austin center?

SUMO Paint – Photoshop online

Today I heard about a neat new web app: SUMO Paint. It’s no Photoshop (or Inkscape if you like free!), but the features are pretty solid and it provides a lot of options for importing/exporting.

SUMO Paint represents a big advancement in online capabilities. We’ll soon be able to do everything online–”in the cloud”–from any computer with an Internet connection. Cool!

A few interesting and timely links

• Today’s top story on CNN is about how Palin is going against her own campaign in an effort to save herself a shot for president in 2012.

• Another about Palin’s incompetency: She may not even be smarter than a 3rd grader.

• And onto the financial crisis which is showing few signs of letting up. This could be because banks have better things to do with their free money than lend it to Joe Sixpack. Banks are not free markets–they’re highly regulated–so we may as well give them some criteria to meet so they’ll help the overall good instead of themselves.

Does she represent all McCain supporters?

A McCain volunteer claimed a large black man assaulted her; however, it seems that was not the case. I am particularly amused that she claimed the assailant had and carved a “B” in her face. The only problem: the B was backwards as if done in a mirror. The McCain campaign capitalized on the story and tried to rile people up by making race an issue.

Apparently it is on people’s minds as NPR had interviews playing last night where some folks revealed that they were afraid of the racial tensions that would explode if 1) a black man was elected or 2) if a black man had gotten this far and then was not elected.

I’m left wondering if the girl did this as part of an official plan by the McCain camp. Is she representative of modern conservatives? In any case, she’s a sick, sad person and the McCain campaign further smacks of desperation.

Thanks to Lane for the links.