OK, after a short absence for finals week and moving, I am back.
I just watched an episode of Frontline, Football High. It examines high school football in the US, and how it's become more intense in recent years. With this increased intensity, has come more injuries. It also discusses how our understanding of brain injuries has increased in recent years also. Apparently, getting hit on the head repeatedly is not a good idea. But I digress. What strikes me about high school football, and football in general, is how much of an exercise in futility it is. What percentage of high school football players receive any significant benefit from playing? A few may get college scholarships, and even fewer of those end up playing professionally. They seem to get very big egos from being bigger and stronger than everyone else, but what good does that do them? Modern technology has relegated physical strength to, at best, secondary importance. Furthermore, they seem to be blind to the fact that their strength does not make them invincible. To paraphrase a textbook I used this last semester (I can't remember the name of the author offhand): Even the strongest human beings are but frail creatures when compared to the power of machinery, hazardous chemicals, radiation, and other forces of nature. So, do all the steroids you want, they still won't help you survive a nerve gas attack. And forget about jumping in front of trains. Or cluster bombs. There also seems to be an attitude of "I've only got a few years to play football. I've got the rest of my life to worry about the adverse effects. I think I'll have fun while I can." I would be willing to bet, that if you gave a group of such people a lecture on the effects of blister agents (such as mustard gas and lewisite), they would pick up on the fact that the stuff doesn't necessarily kill you, but just gives you nasty burns. If you then left them alone with a cylinder of blister agent, they would then likely start whiffing small amounts of the stuff in some kind of macho dare.
What the above rant leads to is the fact that it is brainpower, not physical strength that sets our species apart from others. Modern material handling equipment, weaponry, and so forth, are the products of brainy people. Not people who run around in the mud bashing into other people. Likewise in history, many things were decided by brainy people working out of view. A good example would be WWII. Many americans like to think that the allies won because their troops fought so valiantly, blah blah blah. Not really. They won partially because they were in a better position strategically, but largely because they saw the value of having brainy people working out of sight (Like in the OSS, or the Manhattan Project).
Moral of the story: Football Culture is a massive delusion.
Friday, May 20, 2011
Tuesday, May 10, 2011
Piledriving during finals week
So, It's finals week here at UWRF, and there's currently a pile driver being used for a dorm expansion project. It's wheezing and banging, and issuing forth clouds of black smoke. While people are trying to study. It really doesn't bother me, but knowing some people...
Interestingly, there's not much the university can do about it. Since it's a Wisconsin state facility, final control of the project rests with the Department of Administration (DOA), Division of State Facilities (DSF). Which are apparently run by the Hat Guy.
Interestingly, there's not much the university can do about it. Since it's a Wisconsin state facility, final control of the project rests with the Department of Administration (DOA), Division of State Facilities (DSF). Which are apparently run by the Hat Guy.
Saturday, May 7, 2011
Drills, and other drill like things.
Since I seem to be lacking inspiration at the moment, I think I'll just talk about tools for a bit. Today's topic is just as the topic suggests.
I'll start with the cordless drill/driver, probably the most common variant of the drill these days.
These are extremely versatile, as they can easily drill holes and drive screws. The most distinctive feature of this type of drill is the clutch. It is adjustable so that it will disengage when a certain torque is reached. This is helpful for preventing screws from being overdriven. The main disadvantages of these tools are that they are not well suited to continuous use in tough materials, and can slip easily when driving screws.
Next, the corded drill.
These are best suited to drilling large numbers of holes, in harder materials. They can be used for driving screws, but as these drills are considerably more powerful than cordless drills, they can quite easily overdrive screws. They are also harder to control, and are much heavier.
The two above types of drill are often available as hammer drills. This adds a specialized clutch that can be set to produce a hammering action, for masonry drilling. This adds weight to the drill, but can be very useful for infrequent light masonry drilling, . If you need to do a lot of masonry drilling, buy a rotary hammer instead. A hammer drill takes a ridiculous amount of time to drill any type of masonry other than mortar joints.
Moving on, we have the impact driver.
This tool, rather than a normal chuck, is designed to accept only screwdriver heads. It turns the head by means of a hammering action, which also prevents slippage. It's also much lighter. It's main disadvantage is that it does not provide precise torque control, so care must be taken not to overdrive screws.
In my opinion, these are the three most important drill like things to be aware of.
I'll start with the cordless drill/driver, probably the most common variant of the drill these days.
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| Author: Luigi Zanasi |
Next, the corded drill.
The two above types of drill are often available as hammer drills. This adds a specialized clutch that can be set to produce a hammering action, for masonry drilling. This adds weight to the drill, but can be very useful for infrequent light masonry drilling, . If you need to do a lot of masonry drilling, buy a rotary hammer instead. A hammer drill takes a ridiculous amount of time to drill any type of masonry other than mortar joints.
Moving on, we have the impact driver.
This tool, rather than a normal chuck, is designed to accept only screwdriver heads. It turns the head by means of a hammering action, which also prevents slippage. It's also much lighter. It's main disadvantage is that it does not provide precise torque control, so care must be taken not to overdrive screws.
In my opinion, these are the three most important drill like things to be aware of.
Thursday, May 5, 2011
Weird Dreams, part II
Okay, this one's short, but I couldn't pass it up. In a nutshell, the girl of my dreams was ignoring me. She ignored me in the cafeteria, she ignored me in the park. She ignored me in a box, she ignored me with a fox. she ignored me in a house, she ignored me with a mouse. and so forth. Shit.
Wednesday, May 4, 2011
I am a musician... of sorts...
So, since I am a musician, I figured I should share some of my works at some point. So here goes:
It's my remix of "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails. It's only posted as a video because Blogger does not provide a means of posting audio files.
It's my remix of "The Hand That Feeds" by Nine Inch Nails. It's only posted as a video because Blogger does not provide a means of posting audio files.
Weird dreams, Part I
From Time to time, I'll have a strange dream, and wake up wondering what prompted it. Most recent: I dreamt that I was retreating from a part of a building after it was taken by unknown militants. Me and a few others decided to make a stand at a 90 degree turn in a roughly 12 foot wide hallway. We set up a minefield in one leg of the turn, and set set up some sandbags a little farther down.
We decided to set up some floodlights and speakers facing down the other leg of the turn, from which the militants would approach. The idea was to turn on lights and play loud music when they approached, to confuse them before they stumbled into the minefield. I went to set up the floodlights, none of which had working bulbs. While I was dealing with that, somebody started playing obnoxious music from the speakers, and a dance party ensued on the minefield. I was not pleased. Somehow, nobody died.
We decided to set up some floodlights and speakers facing down the other leg of the turn, from which the militants would approach. The idea was to turn on lights and play loud music when they approached, to confuse them before they stumbled into the minefield. I went to set up the floodlights, none of which had working bulbs. While I was dealing with that, somebody started playing obnoxious music from the speakers, and a dance party ensued on the minefield. I was not pleased. Somehow, nobody died.
Tuesday, May 3, 2011
Anchormen/women behaving strangely, part I
I remember that about ten years ago, on New Years Eve, I was watching ABC's coverage. Peter Jennings was discussing the New Year's plans of various American statesmen, and said something to the effect of the following: "Jimmy carter is on a cruise with his grandparents, and Bill Clinton is at his ranch in Scotland." Who's ever heard of a ranch in Scotland? And when did Bill Clinton get into ranching anyway?
Technorati
So to verify to technorati that I, Chris, do indeed control this blog, here goes: XS276M6F5688.
Monday, May 2, 2011
Bin Laden Redux again
Continuing on the same theme, this article is worth reading. It deals with the philosophical issues presented by the rejoicing over Bin Laden's death. One idea is presented in the article that strikes me as particularly profound. Harvard philosophy professor Christine Korsgaard stated that a commonly held view is that killing in war can be justified as a means of incapacitating an unjust enemy, when all other means are exhausted. Another, common, but more controversial view is that a murderer deserves to die for their actions. If the two desires are conflated, one may come to believe that another person deserves to die merely for being the first person's enemy. Since terrorism has elements of both war and crime, it is not surprising, that in keeping with the aforementioned sentiments, some people would begin to rejoice at Bin Laden's death.
I did not rejoice. I personally feel that while killing may be in some cases justified, it is an act that should be treated with the utmost seriousness. I feel that celebrating a violent death, is a failure to take killing seriously. When we fail to take killing seriously, we start down a slippery lope that ends in unnecessary bloodshed. This is not to say that finding relief in the demise of a dangerous figure is a bad thing. The same goes for black humour; deriving humour from a concept doesn't mean it's not being taken seriously.
I also think that it shows a sickening level of small mindedness, to rejoice at the death of a foe. To me, it indicates that they think there is no fate worse than death. I can think of a few, like a life sentence at ADX Florence, or having your mind erased (it can, and has been done, sort of, go read about MKULTRA subproject 68). It takes a rather small mind to think that either of the above is preferable to death.
I did not rejoice. I personally feel that while killing may be in some cases justified, it is an act that should be treated with the utmost seriousness. I feel that celebrating a violent death, is a failure to take killing seriously. When we fail to take killing seriously, we start down a slippery lope that ends in unnecessary bloodshed. This is not to say that finding relief in the demise of a dangerous figure is a bad thing. The same goes for black humour; deriving humour from a concept doesn't mean it's not being taken seriously.
I also think that it shows a sickening level of small mindedness, to rejoice at the death of a foe. To me, it indicates that they think there is no fate worse than death. I can think of a few, like a life sentence at ADX Florence, or having your mind erased (it can, and has been done, sort of, go read about MKULTRA subproject 68). It takes a rather small mind to think that either of the above is preferable to death.
Wiscissota
In the about me section, I state that I reside in Wiscissota. This probably confuses some people, so let me explain. The area of western Wisconsin in which I reside is rather cut off from the rest of Wisconsin. We do not recieve any of the Madison or Milwaukee TV stations, but almost all of the Minneapolis- St. Paul stations. This results in a certain amount of isolation from the rest of the state, and also legions of confused Minnesotans at election season, wondering why the Wisconsinites are running political ads in their state.
Some areas, especially the Hudson area, are functionally part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. If St. Croix county in Wisconsin doesn't already participate in the Metropolitan Council, a very strong argument could be made for letting them in. Hudson is that intertwined with the twin cities.
Bottom line: The area is functionally part of Minnesota, but politically part of Wisconsin. As a result, somebody thought it would be amusing to refer to the region as "Wiscissota".
Some areas, especially the Hudson area, are functionally part of the Minneapolis-St. Paul metro area. If St. Croix county in Wisconsin doesn't already participate in the Metropolitan Council, a very strong argument could be made for letting them in. Hudson is that intertwined with the twin cities.
Bottom line: The area is functionally part of Minnesota, but politically part of Wisconsin. As a result, somebody thought it would be amusing to refer to the region as "Wiscissota".
Change in appearance
After a few comments about the readability, or lack therof, of this blogs color scheme, I changed it. Hope this works better.
Bin Laden Redux
So, invariably, the question will arise, to what extent is Bin Laden's demise the result of efforts by the Obama Administration, and to what extent It was the end result of actions initiated by the Bush administration. It's also worth remembering that the president only directs the work of others, and not necessarily closely either (Nobody's an expert in everything. Also, an idiot can be surrounded by competent people, who may or may not make up for the idiot's idiocy). Apparently, he was found by tracking one of his couriers. It seems that we were long aware of this courier's existence, but did not identify him until four years ago. His rough location was determined two years ago, and the exact location of his residence was determined in august. The CIA concluded in February that Bin Laden was most likely hiding there. And yesterday, this was confirmed.
In apportioning credit between the two administrations and the CIA, it is important to distinguish between actions taken at the request of an administration, and things they would do as a matter of course. From what we're being told, the existence of the courier was learned from detainees at Guantanamo bay. Interrogating terrorism suspects is something the CIA would likely have done without input from the White House. I was watching ABC last night, and one of the analysts they had on made the point that Bush's anti terrorism policy focused mainly on making the US safer, whereas Obama has actually focused more on neutralising Al Qaida leadership. That suggests to me that while the Bush administration may have been aware of this courier, and their potential to lead us to Bin Laden, it may have been given lower priority than other things. Much has been made about Obama's instruction to the CIA to make the neutralization of Bin Laden its top priority.
That is likely to have been a major factor, but his opponents will likely argue that the groundwork for Bin Laden's demise was laid during the Bush era, and so the credit should go to Bush.
My opinion is that we can only make an informed judgement on the subject with at least 15- 20 years of hindsight.
In apportioning credit between the two administrations and the CIA, it is important to distinguish between actions taken at the request of an administration, and things they would do as a matter of course. From what we're being told, the existence of the courier was learned from detainees at Guantanamo bay. Interrogating terrorism suspects is something the CIA would likely have done without input from the White House. I was watching ABC last night, and one of the analysts they had on made the point that Bush's anti terrorism policy focused mainly on making the US safer, whereas Obama has actually focused more on neutralising Al Qaida leadership. That suggests to me that while the Bush administration may have been aware of this courier, and their potential to lead us to Bin Laden, it may have been given lower priority than other things. Much has been made about Obama's instruction to the CIA to make the neutralization of Bin Laden its top priority.
That is likely to have been a major factor, but his opponents will likely argue that the groundwork for Bin Laden's demise was laid during the Bush era, and so the credit should go to Bush.
My opinion is that we can only make an informed judgement on the subject with at least 15- 20 years of hindsight.
Bin Laden again
So I read this article in the Guardian this morning. It seems the Mr. Bin Laden was hiding out in a suburb of Islamabad, in a recently built compound that seemed designed to hide people. It was surrounded by twelve foot walls topped with barbed wire, had very few windows, and no phone or Internet connection.
Apparently, the operation was carried out by SEAL team 6. I wonder why them, rather than Delta force, but I guess we'll have to wait on that. According to the article, he "resisted" the SEALs, and was shot in the head. This suggests to me that they wanted to take him alive, but were left with little choice but to kill him.
It's unfortunate that one of the greatest criminals in recent memory should get off so easy, rather than face trial. I think that had he been captured alive and detained, his life would have become a fate worse than death (at least to him). Given his background, and from what we knew of his lifestyle, I don't think he would have adapted well to life in ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison.
Apparently, the operation was carried out by SEAL team 6. I wonder why them, rather than Delta force, but I guess we'll have to wait on that. According to the article, he "resisted" the SEALs, and was shot in the head. This suggests to me that they wanted to take him alive, but were left with little choice but to kill him.
It's unfortunate that one of the greatest criminals in recent memory should get off so easy, rather than face trial. I think that had he been captured alive and detained, his life would have become a fate worse than death (at least to him). Given his background, and from what we knew of his lifestyle, I don't think he would have adapted well to life in ADX Florence, the federal supermax prison.
Sunday, May 1, 2011
Death of Osama Bin Ladin
So Osama Bin Laden is dead. Good riddance I guess, but I would rather have seen him captured alive. I am a bit uncomfortable with the reactions of some people, for several reasons. I don't particularly care for the "War on Terror" rhetoric that's been thrown around over the years, as it A: gives them a prestige they don't deserve, and B: Makes us forget what they really are: criminals. Osama Bin Ladin was a criminal, but many of the announcements of his death seem to forget that. He's been made out to be a powerful evil figure who has the capability to wipe the US out of existence. Yeah, right. Even 9/11 was botched (had they hit the towers a bit later, they could have killed many more people, and why did they never target oil refineries or pipelines, or other such functional targets? they could have done a better job at crowd control on flight 93 too). Many people see this as a triumph of the US over an evil foe. As an internationalist, this view irks me. I feel no loyalty to any country, but to humanity as a whole, and feel that such expressions tend to needlessly alienate other people.
I also feel that the US military, while definitely deserving of it in this case, will receive more credit than it deserves. From what we know at the moment, Bin Ladin was found by the intelligence community, after several years of searching. According to reports, a lead surfaced in august, which was followed, and which led to his death today. Given the above, it seems to me that in this operation, the military functioned solely as a tool of the intelligence community.
I also feel that Bin Laden's death will be little more then a propaganda victory for the US. I think the best case scenario would be his death causing Al Qaida to become demoralized, and as a result, ineffective. Given the decentralized structure of Al Qaida, they seem to be perfectly capable of functioning without much intervention from the top leadership. Historically, that seems to have been one of their strengths.
I do think the reporters got it right when they started wondering whether this would encourage retaliatory attacks. Given their decentralized structure, and wide geographic range, this seems quite possible.
I can't wait till we have greater hindsight from which to examine this.
I also feel that the US military, while definitely deserving of it in this case, will receive more credit than it deserves. From what we know at the moment, Bin Ladin was found by the intelligence community, after several years of searching. According to reports, a lead surfaced in august, which was followed, and which led to his death today. Given the above, it seems to me that in this operation, the military functioned solely as a tool of the intelligence community.
I also feel that Bin Laden's death will be little more then a propaganda victory for the US. I think the best case scenario would be his death causing Al Qaida to become demoralized, and as a result, ineffective. Given the decentralized structure of Al Qaida, they seem to be perfectly capable of functioning without much intervention from the top leadership. Historically, that seems to have been one of their strengths.
I do think the reporters got it right when they started wondering whether this would encourage retaliatory attacks. Given their decentralized structure, and wide geographic range, this seems quite possible.
I can't wait till we have greater hindsight from which to examine this.
Mark V. Shaney
Returning to the theme of nonsensical humour, I present Mark V. Shaney. Mark V. Shaney was a fictional Usenet user whose postings were generated by a computer program, using Markov chain techniques, inspiring the name Mark V. Shaney. An online version of the program is available here: http://www.yisongyue.com/shaney/
According to the above site, the program works by finding all three word groups in the given body of text. It creates sentences by taking the last two words from the sentence in creation and adding a word to the end. The word added to the end is chosen so that it, along with the two words before it, completes one of the three word groups found in the text. This will often result in sentences that make sense in some areas, but are nonsense overall. In some cases it results in sentences that make perfect sense, but indicate somthing quite hilarious. First, an example of the former:
And an example of the latter:
"I spent an interesting evening recently with a grain of salt."
I've spent a great deal of time messing about with the online version linked above. My usual technique is to take the text of two Wikipedia articles, about drastically different things, and run them both through. Here's some gems:
This one came from Wikipedia's article on cluster bombs, and the above linked site's explanitory text:
There are reports that it took 500 people 15 hours to get one transformer yard back on line after being hit with the current sentence being built and finding a valid word to add on to the end .
So I guess you can demolish switchgear just by swearing at it.
These came from the articles on Barney, and torture:
Pickles are his favorite food and because of that, he actually has had them in different ways like pickles (also with pepperoni, peppers, pineapple and peanut butter) on a person in the United Nations Convention Against Torture
in Barney - Let's Go to the point of murder as well as "the exploitation of prisoners' phobias
Torture has been criticized for its lack of educational value
This one may be from the above combination, or may have come from the Barney and Uniform Code of Military Justices articles:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation hosted online archives from the UCMJ when attached or detailed to a cordial dislike of the United States are exempt from the show is saccharine, boring, annoying, dangerous or uneducational has made the program a target for parody and negative attacks by singing and attempting to hug unwilling pedestrians.
This one came from the articles on Barney and the 2008 South Ossetia War:
The mixture of bright colors, unusual designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, ritualistic format, and the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia region as a formidable fighting force, but revealed important deficiencies".
This one came partially from the Armenian Genocide article, can't remember what the other input was:
In his report on the order of the Armenian Genocide as a continuation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's codename for their first real educational experience and it allows for the most basic traditional coping mechanisms.
This is from the CONELRAD article, and a screed posted on the talk page of the Nonsense article:
The stations that stayed on the air and another station would take the hat off and hit people with it.
This one had somthing to do with the Bessemer Converter and Blue's Clues:
The converter is an opening, usually tilted to the same episode were tested, children showed increased material comprehension, especially in their annual list of America's most eligible bachelors.
According to these, The characters of the Harry Potter series were deeply involved in the Cyprus Conflict. And the Rwandan Genocide. Sometimes both at once:
The vessel then unloaded some 450 troops of the book, saying that after leaving Hogwarts, she joined the Holyhead Harpies and, after an initial failure, captured the Hill Elissaios.
She returns to Hogwarts in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, Luna helps him enter Ravenclaw's common room in order to view a replica of the mass killings of Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by Hutus under the Hutu regime, with support from Uganda, vastly increased the ethnic tensions in the north by the Tutsi intended to enslave Hutus and thus must be resisted at all costs.
Her mother died when she was only nine; due to a cease-fire in 1993 and the preliminary implementation of the diadem.
In Deathly Hallows, Luna and Mr Ollivander, but they are discovered, and later fights in the country and led to a experimental accident.
What the hell is an experimental accident?
More of the above, with involvement in the Afrika Korps, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Albert Speer as well:
He holds the wand together with Spellotape after nearly breaking it in half at the Potsdam War Academy.
Speer does not know what the American commander at Spandau Prison in the morning for a major interview published in Der Spiegel in November 1941 that conditions did not now "walk through life in a Harry Potter-themed party dressed as Hermione.
Kaltenbrunner gave himself up claiming to be inspected for traces of dark magic.
Reception In The Ivory Tower and Harry are captured by a Dutch citizen on vacation.
He foresaw that the rear corps could be moved along one road in the Department of Mysteries, at the decisive point.
Accordingly he inferred that the march of the enslavement of house-elves, as even the house elves themselves do not wish to annex the Kingdom of Saxony and other territory beyond what was actually that of her name on to the method for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare'"
In popular culture Lindsay Lohan (centre) appeared as Hermione is a "very logical, upright and good" character.[2] Her parents are a bit bemused by their odd daughter, but quite proud of her encyclopaedic knowledge, she can always be used as a plot dump to explain the Harry Bladder sketches in All That, in which she begins her post-Hogwarts career by working in the Department of Mysteries, at the age of eleven to the instructions of the Euphrates and visited and mapped many parts of the German General Staff
One of his mistakes, Dumbledore felt that he already knows more about killing than we know about living.
He resists becoming involved with her because of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.
The conflict continues to affect Turkey's relations with Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies, to the terms of the Order, aided by Dumbledore's Army, the Hogwarts Grounds Keeper and an original Member of the Prewetts, the Boneses, and the resulting population migrations along both sides of the Prewetts, the Boneses, and the permanent incapacitation of the book, most of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus that only he could reveal the location vulnerable and it was abandoned in favour of The Burrow.[HP7] The Order led the fight against Voldemort during the intercommunal violence between 1963 and 1974; the most serious of which was followed by the establishment of the series.
In the series finale, attention turned to escorting the Death Eaters' main target, Harry Potter, from the constitutional breakdown of 1963.[2] Turkey claims that she invoked her role as a guarantor under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee in justification for it.[12] The intercommunal violence between 1963 and 1974, chose to leave their homes in the series.
I don't remember how this one came about, but it's awsome:
He was a highly decorated US soldier of the war,[2] receiving the Medal of Honor for his early service in the films Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded.
Enough with the commentary, I'll just throw 'em at ya:
Spears was an illegal and underground organization until the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.
Spears was born in Vienna, then the capital of the top 50 film villains of all time.
Early life, career debut, and Innosense Britney Spears was an SS-Major in the 1980s.
Britney Spears's star on the Billboard 200 , and established her as a Southern Baptist.[8] Her parents expressed disappointment and concern at the decision to release her.[144] She has regained some visitation rights after coming to an "all for all" exchange of prisoners to be killed in Chechnya.
In response, police were called to Spears's divorce petition, seeking physical and legal custody of her actions to the MVD, committed numerous and in June 1992 amidst the Ingush armed conflict against another Russian soldier, five Ingush villagers and even threatened to sue the Russian side; it was announced that Federline asked to cancel the court appearance.
Spears announced she would "remain a virgin until marriage".[27] This pledge has been questioned due to her manager, who said she was released to radio stations on September 6, 1991, militants of the northern column was halted by deputy commander of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop in the 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which samples a 2003 CNN interview about the ceasefires and peace negotiations, military forces continued to share joint custody of her father James Spears and her father James Spears and Federline continued to share joint custody of their coverage for the Kremlin, Dudayev loyalists succeeded in capturing some 20 Russian Army troops were killed, 17,892 were wounded, and 1,906 are missing in action.[38] According to Russian newspaper Gazeta, approximately 35,000 ethnic Russian civilians and an ethnic Bashkir soldier were murdered by apparently drunk Russian soldiers; earlier, drunken Russian soldiers and Chechen rebels alike who committed illegal acts in connection with the federal forces
In January 2009, Spears achieved further success in solidifying her comeback single, "Womanizer".[162] This makes her fifth number one in the summer of 1999 - and soon Russia invaded Chechnya again, marking beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War), also resigned in protest of the city ablaze and falling shells scattering refugee columns.[36] The bombardment was however soon halted by the mostly-Turkish gunmen seeking to publicize the Chechen population and raising hostility to the Russian public and leadership.
Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the Inquisition, and how it influenced Spanish history.
and its lead actress, Julie Andrews as an ecclesiastical tribunal started in 1478 by Catholic Church and magistracy, they still had to accuse all one's accomplices.
These four counties measured maximum levels higher than 6,000 microCuries per square meter.[6] Of all the nuclear tests exposed the greatest percentage of the Christian girl group ZOEgirl.
Her more pop rock-oriented second studio album, Missundaztood, which began a marked shift in the Congressional Record.
The album's third single, "You Make Me Sick," was a thermonuclear device with a diameter of about 390 m (1,300 ft).
The placename Fuccerham looks like either "the home (hām) of the PG-13 rating, yet it includes a hard "k" sound in its third syllable, making it a natural fit for popular music that is written in lowercase).
Brezhnev was said to be a battle Caractacus and Truly were married!" "And lived happily ever after!" When Truly asks, "Is that how the story ends?" Caractacus changes the subject, then tries to use it to raise money.
There followed charges before the Volksgerichtshof, where, on 10 August 1944, he was active on the surface, providing lubrication and protection from moisture.
There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Fraoch' by the malt.[69] The most common method of remembering the recipe for beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a year before primary school.
One quarter of all girls marry before the age of 2.
Romania In Romania, grădiniţă, which means "little garden" is the English name for cool fermenting beers of Central European origin.
Such specialized kindergartens can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.[134][135] Home brewing can reduce the environmental impact of beer Main article: History of beer Main article: Ale Cask ale Draught beer keg fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels Draught beer from light (thereby preventing "skunked" beer) and barley wine.[108] Drinking chilled beer is malted grain.
These nurses are supported and supervised by the Scottish Heather Ales company[42] and Cervoise Lancelot by the behaviour of yeast used and the Sr.
Depending upon the seniority of their principal, a Private Secretary may him or herself be regarded as an important role in controlling public drinking for the higher class because of their principal, a Private Secretary.
Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, bullbutter, horseshit) is a person who is considered a prude because one refuses to consume ecstasy and participate in group sex with a group of strangers.
At the time, inmates were given one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per month.[1] On September 9, 1971, responding to the collapse of first the Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage (in 1979) and then of the prison.
The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for complete amnesty from criminal prosecution for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued individual solo careers with varying success.
At 562 feet long, the battleship Nevada, which was judged to be drenched by falling water in the Marshall Islands, arrived by seaplane from Kwajalein.
Some of the Nuremberg Trials based on obesity, incest, age, race, poverty, poor hygiene, unattractiveness, or stupidity may also be used.
Some of the provisions, such as "yo mama", "yo momma", "yer ma", "ya mum", "your mum" or "your mom" are sometimes used, depending on the definition in the Hague conventions, are considered to be part of customary international law, and are binding on individuals if the belligerent power to which they belong is a party to the treaty which introduced the constraint.
He was repeatedly seen inside a barrel, floating in a drivers license factory "), the protagonist of the legislature to make law.[citation needed] Most such systems, however, recognize the concept of jurisprudence constante, which argues that even though judges are independent, they should judge in a barrel appeared in five early strips.
A man who looks like a normal stick-figure xkcd character, but for the addition of a small number of selected binding case laws.
He was repeatedly seen inside a barrel, floating in a barrel appeared in other comics along with her children, Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;-- aka "Little Bobby Tables" (a reference to SQL injection), and Elaine Roberts (although her first name is really "Help I'm trapped in a large body of water.
The above speaks for itself.
According to the above site, the program works by finding all three word groups in the given body of text. It creates sentences by taking the last two words from the sentence in creation and adding a word to the end. The word added to the end is chosen so that it, along with the two words before it, completes one of the three word groups found in the text. This will often result in sentences that make sense in some areas, but are nonsense overall. In some cases it results in sentences that make perfect sense, but indicate somthing quite hilarious. First, an example of the former:
| “ | >From mvs Fri Nov 16 17:11 EST 1984 remote from alice It looks like Reagan is going to say? Ummm... Oh yes, I was looking for. I'm so glad I remembered it. Yeah, what I have wondered if I had committed a crime. Don't eat with your assessment of Reagon and Mondale. Up your nose with a guy from a firm that specifically researches the teen-age market. As a friend of mine would say, "It really doesn't matter"... It looks like Reagan is holding back the arms of the American eating public have changed dramatically, and it got pretty boring after about 300 games. People, having a much larger number of varieties, and are very different from what one can find in Chinatowns across the country (things like pork buns, steamed dumplings, etc.) They can be cheap, being sold for around 30 to 75 cents apiece (depending on size), are generally not greasy, can be adequately explained by stupidity. Singles have felt insecure since we came down from the Conservative world at large. But Chuqui is the way it happened and the prices are VERY reasonable. Can anyone think of myself as a third sex. Yes, I am expected to have. People often get used to me knowing these things and then a cover is placed over all of them. Along the side of the $$ are spent by (or at least for ) the girls. You can't settle the issue. It seems I've forgotten what it is, but I don't. I know about violence against women, and I really doubt they will ever join together into a large number of jokes. It showed Adam, just after being created. He has a modem and an autodial routine. He calls my number 1440 times a day. So I will conclude by saying that I can well understand that she might soon have the time, it makes sense, again, to get the gist of my argument, I was in that (though it's a Republican administration). _-_-_-_-Mark | ” |
And an example of the latter:
"I spent an interesting evening recently with a grain of salt."
I've spent a great deal of time messing about with the online version linked above. My usual technique is to take the text of two Wikipedia articles, about drastically different things, and run them both through. Here's some gems:
This one came from Wikipedia's article on cluster bombs, and the above linked site's explanitory text:
There are reports that it took 500 people 15 hours to get one transformer yard back on line after being hit with the current sentence being built and finding a valid word to add on to the end .
So I guess you can demolish switchgear just by swearing at it.
These came from the articles on Barney, and torture:
Pickles are his favorite food and because of that, he actually has had them in different ways like pickles (also with pepperoni, peppers, pineapple and peanut butter) on a person in the United Nations Convention Against Torture
in Barney - Let's Go to the point of murder as well as "the exploitation of prisoners' phobias
Torture has been criticized for its lack of educational value
This one may be from the above combination, or may have come from the Barney and Uniform Code of Military Justices articles:
The Electronic Frontier Foundation hosted online archives from the UCMJ when attached or detailed to a cordial dislike of the United States are exempt from the show is saccharine, boring, annoying, dangerous or uneducational has made the program a target for parody and negative attacks by singing and attempting to hug unwilling pedestrians.
This one came from the articles on Barney and the 2008 South Ossetia War:
The mixture of bright colors, unusual designs, repetitive non-verbal dialogue, ritualistic format, and the Provisional Administrative Entity of South Ossetia region as a formidable fighting force, but revealed important deficiencies".
This one came partially from the Armenian Genocide article, can't remember what the other input was:
In his report on the order of the Armenian Genocide as a continuation of the Armenian Revolutionary Federation's codename for their first real educational experience and it allows for the most basic traditional coping mechanisms.
This is from the CONELRAD article, and a screed posted on the talk page of the Nonsense article:
The stations that stayed on the air and another station would take the hat off and hit people with it.
This one had somthing to do with the Bessemer Converter and Blue's Clues:
The converter is an opening, usually tilted to the same episode were tested, children showed increased material comprehension, especially in their annual list of America's most eligible bachelors.
According to these, The characters of the Harry Potter series were deeply involved in the Cyprus Conflict. And the Rwandan Genocide. Sometimes both at once:
The vessel then unloaded some 450 troops of the book, saying that after leaving Hogwarts, she joined the Holyhead Harpies and, after an initial failure, captured the Hill Elissaios.
She returns to Hogwarts in search of Rowena Ravenclaw's diadem, Luna helps him enter Ravenclaw's common room in order to view a replica of the mass killings of Tutsis and Hutu political moderates by Hutus under the Hutu regime, with support from Uganda, vastly increased the ethnic tensions in the north by the Tutsi intended to enslave Hutus and thus must be resisted at all costs.
Her mother died when she was only nine; due to a cease-fire in 1993 and the preliminary implementation of the diadem.
In Deathly Hallows, Luna and Mr Ollivander, but they are discovered, and later fights in the country and led to a experimental accident.
What the hell is an experimental accident?
More of the above, with involvement in the Afrika Korps, Ernst Kaltenbrunner, and Albert Speer as well:
He holds the wand together with Spellotape after nearly breaking it in half at the Potsdam War Academy.
Speer does not know what the American commander at Spandau Prison in the morning for a major interview published in Der Spiegel in November 1941 that conditions did not now "walk through life in a Harry Potter-themed party dressed as Hermione.
Kaltenbrunner gave himself up claiming to be inspected for traces of dark magic.
Reception In The Ivory Tower and Harry are captured by a Dutch citizen on vacation.
He foresaw that the rear corps could be moved along one road in the Department of Mysteries, at the decisive point.
Accordingly he inferred that the march of the enslavement of house-elves, as even the house elves themselves do not wish to annex the Kingdom of Saxony and other territory beyond what was actually that of her name on to the method for the Promotion of Elfish Welfare'"
In popular culture Lindsay Lohan (centre) appeared as Hermione is a "very logical, upright and good" character.[2] Her parents are a bit bemused by their odd daughter, but quite proud of her encyclopaedic knowledge, she can always be used as a plot dump to explain the Harry Bladder sketches in All That, in which she begins her post-Hogwarts career by working in the Department of Mysteries, at the age of eleven to the instructions of the Euphrates and visited and mapped many parts of the German General Staff
One of his mistakes, Dumbledore felt that he already knows more about killing than we know about living.
He resists becoming involved with her because of the Use in War of Asphyxiating, Poisonous or Other Gases, and of Bacteriological Methods of Warfare.
The conflict continues to affect Turkey's relations with Cyprus, Greece and Turkey, two NATO allies, to the terms of the Order, aided by Dumbledore's Army, the Hogwarts Grounds Keeper and an original Member of the Prewetts, the Boneses, and the resulting population migrations along both sides of the Prewetts, the Boneses, and the permanent incapacitation of the book, most of the de facto Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus that only he could reveal the location vulnerable and it was abandoned in favour of The Burrow.[HP7] The Order led the fight against Voldemort during the intercommunal violence between 1963 and 1974; the most serious of which was followed by the establishment of the series.
In the series finale, attention turned to escorting the Death Eaters' main target, Harry Potter, from the constitutional breakdown of 1963.[2] Turkey claims that she invoked her role as a guarantor under the 1960 Treaty of Guarantee in justification for it.[12] The intercommunal violence between 1963 and 1974, chose to leave their homes in the series.
I don't remember how this one came about, but it's awsome:
He was a highly decorated US soldier of the war,[2] receiving the Medal of Honor for his early service in the films Freaky Friday, Confessions of a Teenage Drama Queen, Mean Girls and Herbie: Fully Loaded.
Enough with the commentary, I'll just throw 'em at ya:
Spears was an illegal and underground organization until the Anschluss of Austria by Nazi Germany in 1938.
Spears was born in Vienna, then the capital of the top 50 film villains of all time.
Early life, career debut, and Innosense Britney Spears was an SS-Major in the 1980s.
Britney Spears's star on the Billboard 200 , and established her as a Southern Baptist.[8] Her parents expressed disappointment and concern at the decision to release her.[144] She has regained some visitation rights after coming to an "all for all" exchange of prisoners to be killed in Chechnya.
In response, police were called to Spears's divorce petition, seeking physical and legal custody of her actions to the MVD, committed numerous and in June 1992 amidst the Ingush armed conflict against another Russian soldier, five Ingush villagers and even threatened to sue the Russian side; it was announced that Federline asked to cancel the court appearance.
Spears announced she would "remain a virgin until marriage".[27] This pledge has been questioned due to her manager, who said she was released to radio stations on September 6, 1991, militants of the northern column was halted by deputy commander of the 21st century," she "spearheaded the rise of post-millennial teen pop in the 2004 documentary Fahrenheit 9/11, which samples a 2003 CNN interview about the ceasefires and peace negotiations, military forces continued to share joint custody of her father James Spears and her father James Spears and Federline continued to share joint custody of their coverage for the Kremlin, Dudayev loyalists succeeded in capturing some 20 Russian Army troops were killed, 17,892 were wounded, and 1,906 are missing in action.[38] According to Russian newspaper Gazeta, approximately 35,000 ethnic Russian civilians and an ethnic Bashkir soldier were murdered by apparently drunk Russian soldiers; earlier, drunken Russian soldiers and Chechen rebels alike who committed illegal acts in connection with the federal forces
In January 2009, Spears achieved further success in solidifying her comeback single, "Womanizer".[162] This makes her fifth number one in the summer of 1999 - and soon Russia invaded Chechnya again, marking beginning of the Soviet-Afghan War), also resigned in protest of the city ablaze and falling shells scattering refugee columns.[36] The bombardment was however soon halted by the mostly-Turkish gunmen seeking to publicize the Chechen population and raising hostility to the Russian public and leadership.
Aguilera described the double CD as "a throwback to the Inquisition, and how it influenced Spanish history.
and its lead actress, Julie Andrews as an ecclesiastical tribunal started in 1478 by Catholic Church and magistracy, they still had to accuse all one's accomplices.
These four counties measured maximum levels higher than 6,000 microCuries per square meter.[6] Of all the nuclear tests exposed the greatest percentage of the Christian girl group ZOEgirl.
Her more pop rock-oriented second studio album, Missundaztood, which began a marked shift in the Congressional Record.
The album's third single, "You Make Me Sick," was a thermonuclear device with a diameter of about 390 m (1,300 ft).
The placename Fuccerham looks like either "the home (hām) of the PG-13 rating, yet it includes a hard "k" sound in its third syllable, making it a natural fit for popular music that is written in lowercase).
Brezhnev was said to be a battle Caractacus and Truly were married!" "And lived happily ever after!" When Truly asks, "Is that how the story ends?" Caractacus changes the subject, then tries to use it to raise money.
There followed charges before the Volksgerichtshof, where, on 10 August 1944, he was active on the surface, providing lubrication and protection from moisture.
There are breweries in Middle Eastern countries such as Fraoch' by the malt.[69] The most common method of remembering the recipe for beer in this manner typically disturbs all the sediment, so it must be left for a year before primary school.
One quarter of all girls marry before the age of 2.
Romania In Romania, grădiniţă, which means "little garden" is the English name for cool fermenting beers of Central European origin.
Such specialized kindergartens can be 68% lower than bottled beer due to packaging differences.[134][135] Home brewing can reduce the environmental impact of beer Main article: History of beer Main article: Ale Cask ale Draught beer keg fonts at the Delirium Café in Brussels Draught beer from light (thereby preventing "skunked" beer) and barley wine.[108] Drinking chilled beer is malted grain.
These nurses are supported and supervised by the Scottish Heather Ales company[42] and Cervoise Lancelot by the behaviour of yeast used and the Sr.
Depending upon the seniority of their principal, a Private Secretary may him or herself be regarded as an important role in controlling public drinking for the higher class because of their principal, a Private Secretary.
Bullshit (also bullcrap, bullplop, bullbutter, horseshit) is a person who is considered a prude because one refuses to consume ecstasy and participate in group sex with a group of strangers.
At the time, inmates were given one shower per week and one roll of toilet paper per month.[1] On September 9, 1971, responding to the collapse of first the Ulvaeus-Fältskog marriage (in 1979) and then of the prison.
The riot was based in part upon prisoners' demands for complete amnesty from criminal prosecution for the stage while Lyngstad and Fältskog pursued individual solo careers with varying success.
At 562 feet long, the battleship Nevada, which was judged to be drenched by falling water in the Marshall Islands, arrived by seaplane from Kwajalein.
Some of the Nuremberg Trials based on obesity, incest, age, race, poverty, poor hygiene, unattractiveness, or stupidity may also be used.
Some of the provisions, such as "yo mama", "yo momma", "yer ma", "ya mum", "your mum" or "your mom" are sometimes used, depending on the definition in the Hague conventions, are considered to be part of customary international law, and are binding on individuals if the belligerent power to which they belong is a party to the treaty which introduced the constraint.
He was repeatedly seen inside a barrel, floating in a drivers license factory "), the protagonist of the legislature to make law.[citation needed] Most such systems, however, recognize the concept of jurisprudence constante, which argues that even though judges are independent, they should judge in a barrel appeared in five early strips.
A man who looks like a normal stick-figure xkcd character, but for the addition of a small number of selected binding case laws.
He was repeatedly seen inside a barrel, floating in a barrel appeared in other comics along with her children, Robert'); DROP TABLE Students;-- aka "Little Bobby Tables" (a reference to SQL injection), and Elaine Roberts (although her first name is really "Help I'm trapped in a large body of water.
The above speaks for itself.
The 50's Aesthetic
So, the 1950's seem to be a popular time to portray in media, given the pervasiveness of films like Grease, American Graffiti, Porky's, and TV shows such as Happy Days. When people talk about the 1950's, they like to talk about the birth of Rock'n Roll, and about how it offended their parents. Overall, people like to believe that it was a really happy time when nothing bad ever happened, and if only we could just go back to that time, wouldn't that be great... Yeah right. Remember, you can't spell believe without a lie. Upon contrasting 1950's teen culture with world events at the time, it starts to seem hedonistic, and a denial of reality. This picture, from the lead section of Wikipedia's article on the 1950's, sums up the decade quite nicely:
So, we have the Korean War, the North Sea Flood, the Nuclear Arms Race, the Suez Crisis, the Cuban Revolution, and Sputnik. Most of that is pretty dismal. And, it only scratches the surface. The 1950's also saw the beginning of the Vietnam War, McCarthyism, the CIA's MKULTRA mind control program, the widespread development of new chemical weapons, and the beginings of various ethnic conflicts, just to name a few. And yet we like to think that everyone in that period was just acting out Grease.
One of the first things I notice about portrayals of 1950's teen culture, is that it absolutely lacks social consciousness. There was so much fucked up shit going down, but the kids are worried mainly about offending their parents with bad music, and finding a date for prom. That we like to revel in this delusion is about the most disgusting denial of reality I've ever encountered.
 | ||
| Author: TheCuriousGnome |
One of the first things I notice about portrayals of 1950's teen culture, is that it absolutely lacks social consciousness. There was so much fucked up shit going down, but the kids are worried mainly about offending their parents with bad music, and finding a date for prom. That we like to revel in this delusion is about the most disgusting denial of reality I've ever encountered.
Friday, April 29, 2011
Royal Wedding
So, I did not watch the royal wedding. Maybe it'll be rebroadcast sometime, but I don't care that much. I looked at some of the pictures, and I was not impressed. Nothing out of the ordinary to see here, unlike at the wedding of Crown Princess Victoria, of Sweden to Daniel Westling, now Prince Daniel, Duke of Västergötland.
Geekiest Royal Ever! They could at least have bought him different glasses for the time he'd be out in public. At least he's a gym owner/personal trainer. Had he been a computer programmer, that would have made it even more funny. Maybe their trying to make up for their lack of scandalous behavior, at least compared to the house of Windsor. Oh, Prince Consorts are so fun to laugh at, the position is so pointless, and the most visible one in modern times has such a big mouth... with no disconnect between it and his brain...
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| Photo by:Prolineserver (original photograph), Papa Lima Whiskey (derivative edit) |
Thursday, April 28, 2011
Office Space
I rewatched Office Space last night. It's much more meaningful when you're unemployed. Without going into too much detail, my situation is very similar to that of Michael and Samir.
I can also relate strongly to Peter. The feeling of being wanting to leave the rat race behind and just do nothing is something I can strongly relate to. I'm not going to do that because it doesn't pay, but it's still an appealing thought. The more I learn of the white collar world, the less I want to be there, and so I find Peter's move into construction to be a similar to what I'd like to do. I wouldn't want to do it forever, but just long enough to find a more viable alternative to the corporate world (Academia? Small business?). One of the underlying messages I see in the film is, that you don't have to like your job, you just need to find one that doesn't detract too much from the rest of your life. I have yet to accomplish that...
I can also relate strongly to Peter. The feeling of being wanting to leave the rat race behind and just do nothing is something I can strongly relate to. I'm not going to do that because it doesn't pay, but it's still an appealing thought. The more I learn of the white collar world, the less I want to be there, and so I find Peter's move into construction to be a similar to what I'd like to do. I wouldn't want to do it forever, but just long enough to find a more viable alternative to the corporate world (Academia? Small business?). One of the underlying messages I see in the film is, that you don't have to like your job, you just need to find one that doesn't detract too much from the rest of your life. I have yet to accomplish that...
Royal Wedding Merchandise
I was reading the Guardian this morning, when I came accross this merchandise available for sale. I wonder if they can process transactions in US Dollars...
Wednesday, April 27, 2011
Sexual Innuendo in scientific and industrial terminology
Over the years, I've worked in various industrial settings, and have received some scientific training. I am also very interested in railroading. From time to time in the above pursuits, I have come across terminology that makes me wonder whether its originators had their heads in the gutter. First example: Male and Female connections.
Male Connector:
Female Connector:
I think these photos are self explanatory. Fortunately or unfortunately, nothing interesting happens when a male connector is repeatedly inserted and removed from a female connector.
Next, pipe nipples. These are short lengths of pipe with male connections on each end. Often, plumbers and other workers will refer to them as just "nipples". In the wrong situation, that could be quite humorous.
Guess what splits in rocks are called? Here's a hint:
Those strange geologists.
The fine folks at General Electric Transportation Systems have been developing this gem since 1977. It's their nomenclature for freight locomotives. It consists of a letter, denoting the wheel arrangement, a number, indicating the horsepower rating, and another number, indicating the model series, possibly with another letter indicating various options. For example, a C40-8 is a 4000HP locomotive with two three axle trucks, belonging to the DASH 8 series. Drop the -8, and it would sound as if they were referring to a certain garment in a rather muddled fashion (so it's a c-cup? with a 40in band? How and why did General Electric get into lingerie anyway?).
Finally, the sex bolt. Its a rod with a threaded hole in it, with a bolt like head on one end. This term just reeks of double entendre. Somebody needs their head examined.
Male Connector:
Next, pipe nipples. These are short lengths of pipe with male connections on each end. Often, plumbers and other workers will refer to them as just "nipples". In the wrong situation, that could be quite humorous.
Guess what splits in rocks are called? Here's a hint:
The fine folks at General Electric Transportation Systems have been developing this gem since 1977. It's their nomenclature for freight locomotives. It consists of a letter, denoting the wheel arrangement, a number, indicating the horsepower rating, and another number, indicating the model series, possibly with another letter indicating various options. For example, a C40-8 is a 4000HP locomotive with two three axle trucks, belonging to the DASH 8 series. Drop the -8, and it would sound as if they were referring to a certain garment in a rather muddled fashion (so it's a c-cup? with a 40in band? How and why did General Electric get into lingerie anyway?).
Finally, the sex bolt. Its a rod with a threaded hole in it, with a bolt like head on one end. This term just reeks of double entendre. Somebody needs their head examined.
Tuesday, April 26, 2011
DIY advertising
So, in my principles of marketing class today, the professor was explaining different types of advertising, among them, Do It Yourself advertising. As an example, he pointed at my can of cherry coke and said "Do It Yourself marketing would be like, Chris goes home and writes in his blog: Cherry Coke tastes great and doesn't make me fat!". Or something to that effect. So that's exactly what I intend to do. Cherry Coke tastes great and it doesn't make me fat.
GPS dependancy
So we all know what GPS is. The appearance, in recent years, of consumer level devices that give your position graphically, that is, by displaying a map with a you are here marker on it, and which also give directions, provides much potential for humour.
First, a history lesson. As most of us know, GPS was developed by the DOD in the 70's and 80's, for military navigation. After the Korean airliner KAL 007 was shot down by the Soviets after straying into their airspace, President Reagan directed that GPS be made available for civilian use once it was implemented. The system was partially operational during the Gulf War, in which it was widely used, and was declared fully operational in 1995. Originally, the only location data a GPS receiver would supply was latitude and longitude, requiring one to keep a stack of maps nearby. Also, the system originally contained a feature known as Selective Availability. This feature was intended to degrade the usefulness of the system to unauthorized persons, by adding errors to the signal. These errors were psudorandom, and depended on the time of day. A key was produced daily, which when used in a specialized GPS receiver, would make corrections to the signal, giving a precise output. A typical error would be about 100 meters horizontally, and 50 meters vertically. In 1996, President Clinton issued an executive order declaring GPS a dual use system, and mandating that Selective Availability be shut off by 2006. After systems were developed that could deny the use of GPS to hostile forces by other means, Selective Availability was shut off in 2000. Now we have the inexpensive units with maps and routing algorithms and all manner of other bells and whistles that serious navigators and surveyors would just find annoying.
Now for the humour. I find the extent to which people become dependant on these devices to be somewhat pathetic. I was at a family reunion last august, and a relative was going on about how hard a time they had navigating, because they had accidentally reset their GPS, thus destroying all their stored maps. So I said: "But you can still get a latitude and longitude out of the thing, right?" to which they said "I don't think so." Doesn't anyone use paper maps anymore? This pathetic dependence gets even more funny when people start running the consumer devices up against their limits. I strongly suspect that most people aren't aware that a GPS receiver doesn't tell you exactly where you are, it just tells you to within a certain range, which, for consumer grade units, is typically 3-5 meters. This, coupled with processing delays in the routing algorithms, can make life quite interesting when you're driving at speed on older freeways, with closely spaced ramps. I recall riding through Minneapolis and St. Paul with my sister and her fiance, a yooper who is overdependent on his GPS. We missed one or two exits, and were directed onto another right at the last possible moment. Those routing algorithms are a piece of work too. They will send you through some of the weirdest routes possible. In the trip mentioned above, I drew on my experience of having been a commercial driver in the twin cities. The GPS gave conflicting directions. It apparently didn't know that Highway 62 is a godawful bottleneck that I prefer to avoid.
All this leads me to believe that it would be absolutely hilarious to turn Selective Availability back on. The outputs of the routing algorithms would be quite interesting if the receiver thinks that its 100 meters to the left of where it actually is. However, there is a work around for Selective Availability. It's called Differential GPS. In this system, two GPS receivers are used. One is set up over a point of known latitude and longitude. Readings are taken from this receiver, and the known values of latitude and longitude are subtracted from the reading. This provides a linear transformation that can be used to gain accurate readings from the second receiver, which is used normally. It would be quite humorous to see a group of ditzy teenage girls attempting this.
There is another method of boosting the precision of GPS devices, called RTK, or, Real Time Kinematic. The workings of this system are complex, so feel free to skip the following explanation:
GPS works by receiving multiple identical signals from satellites, comparing the signals to an internally generated copy of the signal, and using the difference in timing between these signals to calculate the distance to each satellite. Using these distances, the receiver can then calculate its location. The signal is a stream of pseudorandom data. An RTK system does the same thing, using the carrier signal, instead of the pseudo random data. The increase in accuracy comes from the increased speed with which the signal is received. The pseudorandom signal is a digital signal, transmitting 1020408.163 bits per second. The carrier signal is an analog signal, with a frequency of 1575.42 MHz. With a good A-D converter, considerably more than 1020408.163 bits per second are available.
In a nutshell, it also requires a base station, and if made available as on option on a car, would add 10k-15k to the price tag. Because of this, its used mainly in surveying and precision agriculture.
One could always use a sextant, but for driving, that would be more complicated than reading a map. However, it would be quite humorous to see a group of ditzy teenage girls attempting this.
Moral of the story: Your GPS won't save you, at least not for what you paid for it.
First, a history lesson. As most of us know, GPS was developed by the DOD in the 70's and 80's, for military navigation. After the Korean airliner KAL 007 was shot down by the Soviets after straying into their airspace, President Reagan directed that GPS be made available for civilian use once it was implemented. The system was partially operational during the Gulf War, in which it was widely used, and was declared fully operational in 1995. Originally, the only location data a GPS receiver would supply was latitude and longitude, requiring one to keep a stack of maps nearby. Also, the system originally contained a feature known as Selective Availability. This feature was intended to degrade the usefulness of the system to unauthorized persons, by adding errors to the signal. These errors were psudorandom, and depended on the time of day. A key was produced daily, which when used in a specialized GPS receiver, would make corrections to the signal, giving a precise output. A typical error would be about 100 meters horizontally, and 50 meters vertically. In 1996, President Clinton issued an executive order declaring GPS a dual use system, and mandating that Selective Availability be shut off by 2006. After systems were developed that could deny the use of GPS to hostile forces by other means, Selective Availability was shut off in 2000. Now we have the inexpensive units with maps and routing algorithms and all manner of other bells and whistles that serious navigators and surveyors would just find annoying.
Now for the humour. I find the extent to which people become dependant on these devices to be somewhat pathetic. I was at a family reunion last august, and a relative was going on about how hard a time they had navigating, because they had accidentally reset their GPS, thus destroying all their stored maps. So I said: "But you can still get a latitude and longitude out of the thing, right?" to which they said "I don't think so." Doesn't anyone use paper maps anymore? This pathetic dependence gets even more funny when people start running the consumer devices up against their limits. I strongly suspect that most people aren't aware that a GPS receiver doesn't tell you exactly where you are, it just tells you to within a certain range, which, for consumer grade units, is typically 3-5 meters. This, coupled with processing delays in the routing algorithms, can make life quite interesting when you're driving at speed on older freeways, with closely spaced ramps. I recall riding through Minneapolis and St. Paul with my sister and her fiance, a yooper who is overdependent on his GPS. We missed one or two exits, and were directed onto another right at the last possible moment. Those routing algorithms are a piece of work too. They will send you through some of the weirdest routes possible. In the trip mentioned above, I drew on my experience of having been a commercial driver in the twin cities. The GPS gave conflicting directions. It apparently didn't know that Highway 62 is a godawful bottleneck that I prefer to avoid.
All this leads me to believe that it would be absolutely hilarious to turn Selective Availability back on. The outputs of the routing algorithms would be quite interesting if the receiver thinks that its 100 meters to the left of where it actually is. However, there is a work around for Selective Availability. It's called Differential GPS. In this system, two GPS receivers are used. One is set up over a point of known latitude and longitude. Readings are taken from this receiver, and the known values of latitude and longitude are subtracted from the reading. This provides a linear transformation that can be used to gain accurate readings from the second receiver, which is used normally. It would be quite humorous to see a group of ditzy teenage girls attempting this.
There is another method of boosting the precision of GPS devices, called RTK, or, Real Time Kinematic. The workings of this system are complex, so feel free to skip the following explanation:
GPS works by receiving multiple identical signals from satellites, comparing the signals to an internally generated copy of the signal, and using the difference in timing between these signals to calculate the distance to each satellite. Using these distances, the receiver can then calculate its location. The signal is a stream of pseudorandom data. An RTK system does the same thing, using the carrier signal, instead of the pseudo random data. The increase in accuracy comes from the increased speed with which the signal is received. The pseudorandom signal is a digital signal, transmitting 1020408.163 bits per second. The carrier signal is an analog signal, with a frequency of 1575.42 MHz. With a good A-D converter, considerably more than 1020408.163 bits per second are available.
In a nutshell, it also requires a base station, and if made available as on option on a car, would add 10k-15k to the price tag. Because of this, its used mainly in surveying and precision agriculture.
One could always use a sextant, but for driving, that would be more complicated than reading a map. However, it would be quite humorous to see a group of ditzy teenage girls attempting this.
Moral of the story: Your GPS won't save you, at least not for what you paid for it.
Monday, April 25, 2011
Example of text mangled with google translate
This came from the talk page of a rather disruptive Wikipedia user.
Original Post:
You don't seriously believe that anyone is going to come and look at this talkpage and think "Hmmm.... A. Garnet didn't just come onto a random person's user page and start randomly throwing insults and abuse about Islamophobia. In fact, I believe he was totally justified in making a series of random, nonsensical allegations based on totally apologetic authors for whom the terms 'dhimmi' and 'we will subjugate you' give them the same result as popping 90 viagra pills. Now go and jack off over a picture of Mo, I'm sure his rotting bones will appreciate it.
Post translated to Afrikaans and back:
You seriously believe that someone would come and look at the Talk Page and think "Hmmm .... A. Garnet did not just get a random person's user page and start throwing random insults and abuse on Islamophobia. In fact, I believe he was totally justified in a series of random, nonsensical statements based on total apologetic writers for whom the terms "dhimmi" and "we will submit you to give them the same result as Viagra-popping 90 pills Now. and jack off a photo of Mom, I'm sure his rotten bones will appreciate it.
Above translated to Serbian and back:
You seriously believe that someone would come and look at the talk and think, "Hmmm .... and grenades not only get the user page of random people and start throwing random insults and abuse on Islamophobia In fact, I. I believe that it is fully justified in the series random, meaningless statements based on the total apologetic writers of that period "Dhimmi" and "we will submit to them now the same result as Viagra-popping 90 pills. and Jack Off photo Mom, I'm sure his rotten bones will appreciate.
Above translated to Japanese and back:
Are you seriously if someone came to see the story, thinking, "Hmmm .... and grenades do not get the random people's user pages, in fact, a random insult Islamophobia I I. I believe started throwing abuse and periods that have been justified in series perfectly that believes "Dhimmi" according to the writer apologetic total, "We are popping Viagra to them now Sentence meaning to submit the same results as random as 90 pills. Jakkuofufoto mom and I'm sure it will be appreciated and his rotten bones.
Big jump in amount of nonsense there. Now onto Basque:
Are you seriously if someone came to see the story, "Hmmm .... to get the grenades, and random people's user pages, in fact, I started, I think I Islamophobia random insult throwing and abuse that was once thought that this series is excellent" Dhimmi "justified according to the writer of apologetic," We are popping Viagra ruling which now presents the same results as random as the meaning of 90 pills. Jakkuofufoto mother and I am sure will be appreciated, and his bones rot.
And Filipino:
Are you seriously when someone comes to see the story, "Hmmm .... to get the grenades, and random people's user pages, in fact, I started, I think Islamophobia random insult throwing and abuse that was once thought that this series is excellent "dhimmi" justified by the writer of apologetic, "We are popping Viagra ruling which now presents the same results as random as the definition 90 pills. Jakkuofufoto mother and I'm sure will be appreciated, and his bones rot.
And finally, Romanian:
Are you seriously when someone comes to see the story, "Hmmm .... to get grenade, and user pages of random people, I actually started, I think Islamophobia throwing random insults and abuse, which was once thought that this series is excellent "dhimmi", justified by the writer of apologetic, "We are popping Viagra ruling which now presents the same results as random as the definition of 90 pills. Jakkuofufoto mother and I am sure will be appreciated, and his bones rot.
How to effectively mangle peices of text using google translate
Google translate is excellent for mangling text, in the tradition of "My hovercraft is full of eels". However, There are some subtleties to it that must be discussed. First, the selection of source text. I like to use forum posts made by trolls, as well as ones by those venting moral outrage. These are amusing because the mistranslations may end up turning the statements into statements opposing the poster's position. A good place to find these are the talk pages of Wikipedia articles, particularly those dealing with controversial and sex related topics. Second, the selection of languages to translate to. I generally switch between language groups at each translation, a typical sequence being: English-->Russian-->English-->Spanish-->English-->Danish-->English-->Swahili
-->English-->Japanese-->English-->Arabic-->English
The sequence of groups here (excluding the back translations to English) is:
Slavic-->Romantic-->Germanic-->African-->Asian-->Middle Eastern
This is more helpful than translating between languages within the same group, as often the grammatical structure and words themselves are similar enough that no significant change can be made.
Here's an example, of an outraged post made on the talk page for Wikipedia's Bikini article:
Original post:
THIS IS SICK!!!!!!
I AM OUTRAGED AT THE CONTENT OF THIS FOTOGRAF!!! THAT WOMAN IS (AND 95 PERCENT SHE IS WOMAN IN WHITE SLAVERY!) SHE IS WEARING NEXT TO NOTHING. SHE IS SIX QUARTERS NAKED and SINCE KIDS MIGHT BE WATCHING, DIALING IN THIS PICTURE in a SCHOOL LIBRARY and possiblely masturbating with this. this is wikipedia, not playboy. i am a major funder and will withdraw payments unless all pornographic, child porn, and likewise obscene material withdrawn. at the very least, could this picture show a more covering bikini (most women's bikini's do not show stomach area AT ALL just go to the beach sometime YOU IDIOT! S Or just show a bikini sitting on the ground without any girls in it. THESE ARE MY OFFICIAL SUGGESTIONS.
I DEMAND REASBONSIBLITY IN THIS SITE. PROTECTRING CHILDREN IN OUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITY. WHOSE WITH ME?
Full of outrage, and reaking of poor grammar.
The post after being run through Google Translate multiple times:
This is' sick !!!!!!
I am outraged by the contents of a photographer! Women (and 95 percent of women in white slavery!), Almost everything. Open 6 / 4 and then the children can see pictures of the school library and classroom possiblely masturbate with him. Not easy to Playboy. I am the chief sponsor of the sex charges, child sex and obscene material removed. At the very vaccines over these bikini pictures bikini (, many women do not have the stomach to show for all but the motto of the beach bikini girl show S! or underground informal stage of these proposals ..
REASBONSIBLITY need of this sector. Protection of large multiply our responsibility for children. Who am I?
So now he/she's the main sponsor of the material he/she wants removed, and they are unaware of who they are.
-->English-->Japanese-->English-->Arabic-->English
The sequence of groups here (excluding the back translations to English) is:
Slavic-->Romantic-->Germanic-->African-->Asian-->Middle Eastern
This is more helpful than translating between languages within the same group, as often the grammatical structure and words themselves are similar enough that no significant change can be made.
Here's an example, of an outraged post made on the talk page for Wikipedia's Bikini article:
Original post:
THIS IS SICK!!!!!!
I AM OUTRAGED AT THE CONTENT OF THIS FOTOGRAF!!! THAT WOMAN IS (AND 95 PERCENT SHE IS WOMAN IN WHITE SLAVERY!) SHE IS WEARING NEXT TO NOTHING. SHE IS SIX QUARTERS NAKED and SINCE KIDS MIGHT BE WATCHING, DIALING IN THIS PICTURE in a SCHOOL LIBRARY and possiblely masturbating with this. this is wikipedia, not playboy. i am a major funder and will withdraw payments unless all pornographic, child porn, and likewise obscene material withdrawn. at the very least, could this picture show a more covering bikini (most women's bikini's do not show stomach area AT ALL just go to the beach sometime YOU IDIOT! S Or just show a bikini sitting on the ground without any girls in it. THESE ARE MY OFFICIAL SUGGESTIONS.
I DEMAND REASBONSIBLITY IN THIS SITE. PROTECTRING CHILDREN IN OUR MAIN RESPONSIBILITY. WHOSE WITH ME?
Full of outrage, and reaking of poor grammar.
The post after being run through Google Translate multiple times:
This is' sick !!!!!!
I am outraged by the contents of a photographer! Women (and 95 percent of women in white slavery!), Almost everything. Open 6 / 4 and then the children can see pictures of the school library and classroom possiblely masturbate with him. Not easy to Playboy. I am the chief sponsor of the sex charges, child sex and obscene material removed. At the very vaccines over these bikini pictures bikini (, many women do not have the stomach to show for all but the motto of the beach bikini girl show S! or underground informal stage of these proposals ..
REASBONSIBLITY need of this sector. Protection of large multiply our responsibility for children. Who am I?
So now he/she's the main sponsor of the material he/she wants removed, and they are unaware of who they are.
Three seasonings a college student should not be without
nIn my time as a college student, I have eaten more than my share of ramen and easy mac. These get quite boring after a while, so one must find ways to make them interesting. Get yourself a good supply of cayenne pepper, minced garlic, and garlic salt. Ramen is best improved with cayenne pepper and minced garlic. The cayenne pepper adds spice, while the garlic not only contributes its flavor, but makes the texture less monotonous. The cayenne pepper also goes well in easy mac, along with the garlic salt. The garlic salt has a more complex and subtle taste to it, which makes it better suited to flavoring easy mac, which is nearly tasteless to begin with. Adding pure garlic to easy mac wouldn't work as well, as eays mac isn't salty enough to back up the garlic. Garlic on its own without salt just doesn't work.
Sunday, April 24, 2011
Spring Break
I do not like spring break. I never have the money to go anywhere, and just end up working. I do appreciate not having to do anything, but have immense difficulty getting back into things afterward. At least I don't get a fall break...
Biologists, biology, and related fields and their practitioners
As a former physics/engineering student, I find biologists, and practitioners of related and derived fields, such as animal scientists, doctors, veterinarians, etc. to be easy targets for humour. Primary reason: Physics is very well understood, whereas the biologists are mostly stumbling around in the dark. Engineers can make machines that produce more fuel than they consume, whereas doctors can't raise stuff from the dead. Engineering creates elegant solutions to complex problems using an intimate understanding of the concepts involved. Medicine is akin to putting up a building by throwing the bricks into position from thirty feet away. A dam requires a mighty effort to cause it to fail, life forms are absolutely pathetic when subjected to much smaller forces. A biologist can come up with something they find impressive, but I can still zap it in the microwave. Engineers have ISO 9000, and can make machines operate at nearly 100% uptime, cranking out all manner of useful stuff, while the most reliable technology based on the work of biologists are chemical weapons. (To those who ask why I regard pharmaceuticals as less reliable, chemical weapons don't have any undesirable side effects. True, some of the people hit by them survive, and are left with all manner of chronic health problems, but remember, these are weapons, they're supposed to cause harm. Undesirable side effects in this case would be increased fertility rates in survivors.) Drugs cause all kinds of unpleasant side effects, while structural members of buildings don't punch people who walk past. The list goes on and on...
I don't devalue their work though. It is definitely useful, and I'm sure they'll have their breakthrough sometime.
I don't devalue their work though. It is definitely useful, and I'm sure they'll have their breakthrough sometime.
Suggested reading
Here's a list of books I would recommend reading:
1: The Harry Potter series. Regardless of what the literary snobs say, they're still entertaining.
2: The Grainger catalog. All kinds of interesting stuff most people don't need and wouldn't know what to do with. I'm not most people.
3: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore. An epic peice of absurdist fiction.
4: Freakonomics, by Stephen D. Levitt and Stephen j. Dubner. Yes, math is useful for everything. Maybe if biologists, social scientists, et. al. would actually learn some, they could move out of the dark ages so that doctors, teachers, social workers etc. could actually be ISO-9000 compliant.
5: A Soldier's Story, by Omar Bradley. An excellent account of the European Theater of WWII, written by one of the most brilliant generals in U.S. history.
1: The Harry Potter series. Regardless of what the literary snobs say, they're still entertaining.
2: The Grainger catalog. All kinds of interesting stuff most people don't need and wouldn't know what to do with. I'm not most people.
3: Island of the Sequined Love Nun, by Christopher Moore. An epic peice of absurdist fiction.
4: Freakonomics, by Stephen D. Levitt and Stephen j. Dubner. Yes, math is useful for everything. Maybe if biologists, social scientists, et. al. would actually learn some, they could move out of the dark ages so that doctors, teachers, social workers etc. could actually be ISO-9000 compliant.
5: A Soldier's Story, by Omar Bradley. An excellent account of the European Theater of WWII, written by one of the most brilliant generals in U.S. history.
A list of tools I could not stand to be without
So like many adult males, I am a tool snob. My mom thinks I spend too much on tools, given that I am a college student, but I don't buy them as frequently as she thinks I do. (Also, I don't go to the hardware store to sober up anymore. The novelty wore off.) Here's a list of everything I consider essential:
1: 16 ounce claw hammer. The standard size hammer, can be used for just about anything. It can do just about anything a ball pein hammer will, and those things it can't do don't concern me.
2: Screwdriver set. I prefer an assortment of the good old fashioned one piece screwdrivers, as opposed to the combination Phillips/slotted screwdrivers. The shafts are thinner, and thus able to fit into smaller holes. Also, there aren't any pieces to lose.
3: Measuring tape. Can't measure anything without it.
4: Cordless drill driver. The drill driver is distinct from a drill in that while it is excellent for drilling holes, it is much better suited to driving screws than a conventional drill is. The main difference between the two is in the clutch. In a conventional drill, the chuck is geared directly to the motor. In a drill driver, there is a clutch between the chuck and the motor, which disengages when the back torque from the chuck exceeds a set amount. This makes the tool much better for driving screws, as it is easier to avoid overdriving the screw.
5: Backsaw. A crosscut saw specially designed for use with mitre boxes, I prefer them to standard crosscut saws for their compact size, and the spine on the top of the blade, which gives them greater rigidity.
6: Socket wrench set. A ratchet, when it can fit onto the fastener, is usually faster and easier than a combination wrench.
7: Combination wrench set. Because a socket wrench doesn't work for everything.
8: Large crescent wrench. The small ones slip easily and round off the sides of the fastener, but once you start dealing with 3/4in+ fasteners and fittings, that happens less, and a crescent wrench is easier to carry than several large combination wrenches.
9: Levels and Squares. A torpedo level is sufficient for most tasks. Each type of square has it's best applications, some are more likely to be used than others, so I'll list them in order of usefulness: Try square- good for just about all small work. Framing square- good for larger work. Speed square- kind of a cross between a try square and a framing square. Combination square- a rickety, somewhat inaccurate mechanical affair, it's one strength, in my opinion is it's ability to fit into small spaces. Drywall square- good for layout work on drywall, plywood, and other such materials.
10: Allen wrenches. I prefer the all-in-ones where the individual keys fold into the handle. They're much more ergonomic than individual keys.
11: Utility knife. I put it here because you can usually use something else in a pinch.
12: Punches, Scratch awls, countersinks etc. They make life so much easier. Just try drilling a hole in metal or concrete without punching it first. Counter sinks are for hiding nails in the woodwork.
13: I'm Triskaidekaphobic. So there is no 13.
14: Tin snips. There's some things even a utility knife won't cut.
15: Files, rasps, etc. For whenever you need to remove a minute amount of material.
16: Pop rivet tool. Pop rivets are quite useful for metal work. They are aesthetically more pleasing than screws, and can be used in closer quarters.
17: Blacksmith hammer. Sometimes a claw hammer doesn't cut it. There are several types of large hammer; my favorite is the blacksmith hammer. It has one flat face, while the other end of the head is pointed, making it more versatile than other large hammers. It's great for driving a masonry chisel.
18: Masonry chisel. All you really need to make holes in, or to knock down concrete block walls, though it might take you a while. I prefer the single bevel variety.
19: Circular saw. I'm right handed, but prefer left handed circular saws. A right handed circular saw is set up with the motor on the left, with the blade on the right, with the result that you can't see a damn thing. If you're willing to spend some extra $$, go for a worm drive saw. They're heavier, and louder, but considerably more powerful.
1: 16 ounce claw hammer. The standard size hammer, can be used for just about anything. It can do just about anything a ball pein hammer will, and those things it can't do don't concern me.
2: Screwdriver set. I prefer an assortment of the good old fashioned one piece screwdrivers, as opposed to the combination Phillips/slotted screwdrivers. The shafts are thinner, and thus able to fit into smaller holes. Also, there aren't any pieces to lose.
3: Measuring tape. Can't measure anything without it.
4: Cordless drill driver. The drill driver is distinct from a drill in that while it is excellent for drilling holes, it is much better suited to driving screws than a conventional drill is. The main difference between the two is in the clutch. In a conventional drill, the chuck is geared directly to the motor. In a drill driver, there is a clutch between the chuck and the motor, which disengages when the back torque from the chuck exceeds a set amount. This makes the tool much better for driving screws, as it is easier to avoid overdriving the screw.
5: Backsaw. A crosscut saw specially designed for use with mitre boxes, I prefer them to standard crosscut saws for their compact size, and the spine on the top of the blade, which gives them greater rigidity.
6: Socket wrench set. A ratchet, when it can fit onto the fastener, is usually faster and easier than a combination wrench.
7: Combination wrench set. Because a socket wrench doesn't work for everything.
8: Large crescent wrench. The small ones slip easily and round off the sides of the fastener, but once you start dealing with 3/4in+ fasteners and fittings, that happens less, and a crescent wrench is easier to carry than several large combination wrenches.
9: Levels and Squares. A torpedo level is sufficient for most tasks. Each type of square has it's best applications, some are more likely to be used than others, so I'll list them in order of usefulness: Try square- good for just about all small work. Framing square- good for larger work. Speed square- kind of a cross between a try square and a framing square. Combination square- a rickety, somewhat inaccurate mechanical affair, it's one strength, in my opinion is it's ability to fit into small spaces. Drywall square- good for layout work on drywall, plywood, and other such materials.
10: Allen wrenches. I prefer the all-in-ones where the individual keys fold into the handle. They're much more ergonomic than individual keys.
11: Utility knife. I put it here because you can usually use something else in a pinch.
12: Punches, Scratch awls, countersinks etc. They make life so much easier. Just try drilling a hole in metal or concrete without punching it first. Counter sinks are for hiding nails in the woodwork.
13: I'm Triskaidekaphobic. So there is no 13.
14: Tin snips. There's some things even a utility knife won't cut.
15: Files, rasps, etc. For whenever you need to remove a minute amount of material.
16: Pop rivet tool. Pop rivets are quite useful for metal work. They are aesthetically more pleasing than screws, and can be used in closer quarters.
17: Blacksmith hammer. Sometimes a claw hammer doesn't cut it. There are several types of large hammer; my favorite is the blacksmith hammer. It has one flat face, while the other end of the head is pointed, making it more versatile than other large hammers. It's great for driving a masonry chisel.
18: Masonry chisel. All you really need to make holes in, or to knock down concrete block walls, though it might take you a while. I prefer the single bevel variety.
19: Circular saw. I'm right handed, but prefer left handed circular saws. A right handed circular saw is set up with the motor on the left, with the blade on the right, with the result that you can't see a damn thing. If you're willing to spend some extra $$, go for a worm drive saw. They're heavier, and louder, but considerably more powerful.
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