Words: blowsy [MW]

Main Entry: blow·sy
Variant(s): also blow·zy /'blau-zE/
Function: adjective
Etymology: English dialect blowse, blowze wench
1 : having a sloppy appearance or aspect : FROWSY
2 : being coarse and ruddy of complexion

Email: Be just or be nice [AS]

I have a desire only for friends who don't smoke, lie, act shallow and similar craven sins. I interact with some who intersect those categories, and I even like some [a lot] -- [Giger fan K comes to mind --] but at this time I have no friends (save JB) who smoke (or etc.).

I'm glad UT won [the Rose Bowl]. Go Texas!

It's too bad when people treat you like shit and then pretend to (or do) forget that anything ever happened. I'm developing this cynical theory that the quickest path to happiness includes intentional ignorance. You can't evaporate a pan full of air [or prickle a conscience that's evaporated]!

It's OK to be (or stay) mad. Maybe you can forgive her with time (since reparation doesn't seem likely). But it's up to you and your feelings. Be true to yourself and what really happened first (which demands justice); being nice is helpful but, in the big picture, overrated. The prophet Jeremiah wasn't nice!

Weblogs: Debunking Bush's NSA lies - A handy pocket guide

(via Arianna Huffington) "I guess it all depends on what your definition of 'limited' is. And of 'reviewed.' And of 'briefed.' And of 'lying through your teeth.'"

Email: VoiceIt Support

It's not encouraging people to buy your software when we see typos on your website screen shots (presss, etc.)!

Humor: Literary pirates

Did you hear about the literary pirates? They flew the banner of the Jolly Roget's.

Words: prosopopoeia [MW]

Main Entry: pro·so·po·poe·ia
Pronunciation: pr&-"sO-p&-'pE-&, "prä-s&-p&-
Function: noun
Etymology: Latin, from Greek prosOpopoiia, from prosOpon mask, person (from pros- + Ops face) + poiein to make
1 : a figure of speech in which an imaginary or absent person is represented as speaking or acting
2 : PERSONIFICATION

Language: Please review and advise

"Please review and advise" is the new way I close emails to a development manager, basically saying, "Please confirm this bug and let me know when it's fixed."

Neologisms: complexificization

(Nuff said.)

Musings: Plant-watering service

Please tell me there is a potted plant over there, and that the guy standing behind the next cubicle, and making that loud water-nozzle sound, is with the plant-watering service...

Technology: Star Trek-like communications badge

(Vocera via Infoworld)

"The Vocera Communications Badge is a wearable device that weighs less than two ounces and can easily be clipped to a shirt pocket or worn on a lanyard. It enables instant two-way voice conversation without the need to remember a phone number or manipulate a handset.

The Vocera Communications Badge is controlled using natural spoken commands. To initiate a conversation with Jim and Mary, for example, the user would simply say, "Conference Jim Anderson and Mary Guscia." In addition, when a live conversation is not necessary, text messages and alerts can be sent to the LCD screen on the back of the Vocera Communications Badge."

Press: A technician named Melvin

Robert X. Cringely's Notes from the Field column in Infoworld this week: "When he called Dell with a question about his warranty, he spoke with six techs (named, respectively, Wasi, Gaurav, Farhan, Yuvaraj, Satyendra, and Melvin)."

Musings: Chocoholic? Nah!

I do not have a chocolate habit... and I'll deny it till the day I start snarfing down Hershey's chocolate kisses -- paper tape, foil and all!

Neologisms: loquation

(What are the three most important things for a Realtor? Loquation, loquation, loquation!)

Main Entry: lo·quac·i·ty
Pronunciation: lO-'kwa-s&-tE
Function: noun
: the quality or state of being very talkative

Main Entry: lo·qua·cious
Pronunciation: lO-'kwA-sh&s
Function: adjective
Etymology: Latin loquac-, loquax, from loqui to speak
1 : full of excessive talk : WORDY
2 : given to fluent or excessive talk : GARRULOUS
synonym see TALKATIVE
- lo·qua·cious·ly adverb
- lo·qua·cious·ness noun

News: Cyclotrons are our friends

(via NPR) Albert Swank wants to operate a nuclear cyclotron in his garage in Anchorage, Alaska, ostensibly to produce medical isotopes that have a short shelf life and are in demand. His neighbors don't want this so badly, they've pushed the city council to promulgate an ordinance that bans cyclotrons, ever.

Cyclotrons are our friends. They help us explore the boundaries of the big bang, play with the building blocks of the universe, and finger the gossamer edges of creation itself. I've driven over the miles-wide Stanford Linear Accelerator and interviewed scientists who work at Chicago's FermiLab and the Minnesota's Tower-Soudan Mine. This is more ethereal stuff than rocket or space science, and it has the potential to tell us What the Bleep Do We Know, for real.

But a cyclotron in your neighbor's garage? How about zoning for nuclear industry?

From the NPR report, Swank seems to have been secretive and even deceptive in his applications for the device. Moreover, he seemed adamant that he would install and operate the cyclotron, despite any opposition (not an entirely rational response).

Cyclotrons are our friends, but jerks who have cyclotrons are not.

Weblogs: Better to have loved and lost

(via AM on Yahoo 360)

Email: Yahoo Support

I was signed into Yahoo [Messenger] and the following link was sent immediately before the person I know slightly signed off (giving the impression it was sent [in bulk] as spam):

[...] www.geocities.com/xxx_welcome_2006_xxx [...]

The link brings up a site that looks like Yahoo Photos and asks for [my] password while I was logged in. The source coding looks suspicious too. Is this a known exploit that Yahoo users should be alerted to?

[Note: Here is the correct link for Yahoo Security.]