September 29, 2011
The concept known as the law of the instrument, Maslow’s hammer, or a golden hammer is an over-reliance on a familiar tool; as psychologist Abraham Maslow said in 1966, ‘It is tempting, if the only tool you have is a hammer, to treat everything as if it were a nail.’ The sentiment that people look for cure-alls, and over-use familiar tools, is likely traditional; see panacea. Likewise, the use of a hammer and nail as imagery are likely as old as hammers and nails, or even the use of rocks as tools, which the hammer evokes.
The hammer and nail metaphor may not be original to Kaplan or Maslow, and has been attributed to Mark Twain, though there is no documentation of this origin in Twain’s published writings. Under the name of ‘Baruch’s Observation,’ it is also been attributed to Bernard M. Baruch, a stock market speculator and author.
read more »
Posted in Humor, Philosophy, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
September 28, 2011
From the late 1860s until the 1970s, several American cities had ugly laws making it illegal for persons with ‘unsightly or disgusting’ disabilities to appear in public. Some of these laws were called Unsightly Beggar Ordinances. The goal of these laws was seemingly to preserve the quality of life for the community, similar in spirit to current homeowners association regulations and by-laws: ‘No person who is diseased, maimed, mutilated or in any way deformed so as to be an unsightly or disgusting object or improper person to be allowed in or on the public ways or other public places in this city, or shall therein or thereon expose himself to public view, under a penalty of not less than one dollar nor more than fifty dollars for each offense.’
Many states’ ugly laws were not repealed until the mid 1970s. Omaha repealed its Ugly Law in 1967. Columbus withdrew its in 1972. Chicago was the last to repeal its Ugly Law as late as 1974. The recantation of Ugly Laws were tied to the passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 where certain rights were granted to people with disabilities: ‘Individuals with disabilities are a discrete and insular minority who have been faced with restrictions and limitations, subjected to a history of purposeful unequal treatment, and relegated to a position of political powerlessness in our society, based on characteristics that are beyond the control of such individuals and resulting from stereotypic assumptions not truly indicative of the individual ability of such individuals to participate in, and contribute to, society.’
Posted in Humor, Politics |
Leave a Comment »
September 27, 2011
Stigler’s law of eponymy [uh-pon-uh-mee] is a process proposed by University of Chicago statistics professor Stephen Stigler in his 1980 publication of the same name. In its simplest and strongest form it says: ‘No scientific discovery is named after its original discoverer.’ Stigler named the sociologist Robert K. Merton as the discoverer of ‘Stigler’s law,’ consciously making ‘Stigler’s law’ exemplify Stigler’s law.
For example: Alzheimer’s disease, though named after Alois Alzheimer, had been previously described by at least half a dozen others before Alzheimer’s 1906 report which is often (wrongly) regarded as the first description of the disorder. Historical acclaim for discoveries is often allotted to persons of notoriety who bring attention to an idea that is not yet widely known, whether or not that person was its original inventor – theories may be named long after their discovery.
read more »
Posted in Humor, Language, Science |
1 Comment »
September 25, 2011
The term ‘crocoduck‘ was originally presented in a 2004 children’s story, ‘Guji Guji.’ The author and illustrator Chih-Yuan Chen produced the bestselling children’s story in 2004 as a modern day twist on The Ugly Duckling story in which a crocodile egg rolls into a duck’s nest and is raised in a brood of ducklings, growing up as a ‘crocoduck’ who thinks he is ‘not a bad crocodile,’ but ‘Of course, I’m not exactly a duck either.’ It was later used by creationists to claim that the absence of any half-crocodile, half-duck creature disproves evolution, an argument that quickly became a popular theme used to ridicule a common misrepresentation of the theory of evolution.
In 2007 creationists Kirk Cameron and Ray Comfort participated in a televised debate, parts of which were aired on ABC Nightline, on the existence of God. Comfort says they produced composite pictures of what ‘we imagined would be genuine species-to-species transitional forms. We called one a ‘crocoduck’ and another was called a ‘birddog.’ These pictures were used to show exactly what they thought evolutionists believe, but can’t back up through the fossil record.’ Their composite picture of the imaginary ‘crocoduck’ showed the head of a crocodile on a duck’s body. However, modern species share a common ancestor, but are neither descended from each other nor from some crude composite chimera, and ducks are not descended from crocodiles.
Posted in Humor, Philosophy, Science |
1 Comment »
September 24, 2011
Expletive infixation is a process by which an expletive or profanity is inserted into a word, usually for intensification. It is similar to tmesis, a word or phrase separated into two parts, e.g. ‘turn it off.’ The most commonly inserted English expletives are adjectival: either participles (fucking, mother-fucking, freaking, blooming, bleeding, damned) or adjectives (bloody). Although most speakers are not exposed to these formations until after childhood, they can form new examples readily once introduced to the process, and their judgments of which formations are acceptable are remarkably consistent. This suggests that the rules for the placement of the expletive are not arbitrary, but instead derive from fundamental aspects of English phonology.
A simple rule is that the insertion occurs at a syllable boundary, usually just before the primary stressed syllable. Thus, one hears abso-fuckin’-lutely rather than *ab-fuckin’-solutely. This rule is insufficient to describe examples such as un-fuckin’-believable, however, so modifications to this rule are proposed such as morpheme boundaries taking precedence over stress. Counterexamples to this exception do exist: unbe-fuckin’-lievable. A more fundamental theory due to John McCarthy is based on prosody, the rhythm, stress, and intonation of speech.
Posted in Humor, Language |
1 Comment »
September 22, 2011
Cleverbot is an artificial intelligence (AI) web application that learns how to mimic human conversations by communicating with humans. It was created by AI scientist Rollo Carpenter, who also created Jabberwacky, a similar web application. In the first decade of its existence after being created in 1988, Cleverbot held several thousand conversations with Carpenter and his associates. Since being launched on the web in 1997, the number of conversations has exceeded 65 million. Cleverbot, a learning Artificial Intelligence conversationalist, took part alongside humans in a formal Turing Test at the Techniche 2011 festival at IIT Guwahati, India. Cleverbot was judged to be 59.3% human, far exceeding expectations. The humans in the event achieved just 63.3%.
Cleverbot differs from traditional chatterbots in that the user is not holding a conversation with a bot that directly responds to entered text. Instead, when the user enters text, the algorithm selects previously entered phrases from its database of prior conversations. It has been claimed that ‘talking to Cleverbot is a little like talking with the collective community of the Internet.’
Posted in Humor, Technology |
Leave a Comment »
September 11, 2011
Figure 8 racing is a form of automobile racing that combines elements of oval racing, demolition derby, and road racing. Racing is done on a track shaped like an 8. The cars cross paths at the center of the 8, which is known as the ‘crossover.’ Because of this layout, crashes are inevitable. Figure 8 racing is a unique sport that requires strict attention to detail and timing to successfully navigate the crossover. The oldest operating figure 8 track in the United States is Indianapolis Speedrome in Indianapolis, Indiana. The track has been in operation since the 1940s. It hosts the annual World Figure 8 race, which is considered the world championship event. The first 3 hour long endurance race was held in 1977.
Figure 8 track racing began right after World War II in the late 1940s. The track may have had an overpass so that the cars did not cross each other’s paths. Most historians believe that the first track where drivers crossed each other’s paths was the 1/5 mile long Indianapolis Speedrome. The sport received nationwide publicity when it was frequently televised on ABC’s ‘Wide World of Sports’ in the 1960s, usually from the Islip Speedway in New York. The cars used are often standard cars, but are usually modified for lightness and safety. A wing much like a sprint car may be placed on the roof to increase downforce. The cars’ bodies are typically made out of sheet metal.
Posted in Games, Humor |
Leave a Comment »
September 8, 2011
PFFR (or Pre-natal Fighting Frightening Remembrances Forever Ltd.) is a Brooklyn based production company/art collective/electro-rock band consisting of Alyson Levy, Vernon Chatman, Jim Tozzi, and John Lee. The group has been active since 2000. The group’s portfolio of work includes albums, live performances, various art exhibits such as ‘An Attack On All Americans Or The Tyranny Of Weed’ shown at the LFL Galley in New York, and the script for the film ‘Final Flesh.’
PFFR are also active in television comedy. They wrote, directed, produced and starred in the MTV2 variety program ‘Wonder Showzen’ (2005–2006) and the Adult Swim CGI series ‘Xavier: Renegade Angel.’ For both these shows, Chatman and Lee are the directors and main voice talent, whilst Tozzi and Levy are the animation/character designer and art director, respectively. Levy provides additional voices for both shows whilst Tozzi does only for ‘Xavier.’ PFFR are also responsible for producing, directing and co-writing Jon Glaser’s Adult Swim show ‘Delocated.’
read more »
Posted in Art, Humor |
Leave a Comment »
September 8, 2011
Love and Rockets (often abbreviated L&R) is a black and white comic book series by Gilbert Hernandez and Jaime Hernandez, sometimes cited jointly as Los Bros Hernandez. Their brother Mario Hernandez is an occasional contributor. It was one of the first comics in the alternative comics revolution of the 1980s.
The Hernandez brothers self-published the first issue of ‘Love and Rockets’ in 1981, but since 1982 it has been published by Fantagraphics Books. The magazine temporarily ceased publication in 1996 after the release of issue #50, while Gilbert and Jaime went on to do separate series involving many of the same characters. However, in 2001 Los Bros revived the series as ‘Love and Rockets Volume 2’.
read more »
Posted in Art, Humor, Language |
Leave a Comment »
September 8, 2011
Gilberto Hernández (b. 1957), also known by the nickname Beto, is an American comics writer/artist. Along with his brothers Jaime and Mario he co-created the acclaimed independent comic book ‘Love and Rockets,’ published by Fantagraphics Books.
The style of Gilbert’s work has been described as magic realism or as a ‘magic-realist take on Central American soap opera.’ A common theme is the portrayal of independent women, and their strength, with the main example being Luba of Palomar, who character that appears in much of his work. His stories often deal with issues relevant to Latino culture in the United States.
read more »
Posted in Art, Humor, Language |
Leave a Comment »
September 7, 2011
ToeJam & Earl is an action video game for the Sega Genesis (Mega Drive elsewhere). Released in 1991, it centers on the titular ToeJam and Earl—alien rappers who have crash-landed on Earth. As they attempt to escape the planet, players assume the role of either character and collect pieces of their wrecked spacecraft. ToeJam & Earl’s design was heavily influenced by the computer role-playing game Rogue, and took from it such features as the random generation of levels and items. It references and parodies 1990s urban culture and is set to a funk soundtrack. The game was positively received by critics, who praised its originality, soundtrack, humor and two-player cooperative mode. It attained sleeper hit status despite low initial sales, and its protagonists were used as mascots by Sega. Several sequels were produced for other consoles, but their commercial and critical success was mixed.
The game has been called a surreal, comic satire, and a ‘daringly misanthropic commentary on Earthly life.’ ToeJam, a red, three-legged alien, wears a large gold medallion and a backwards baseball cap, while the rotund and orange Earl is marked by high-tops and oversized sunglasses; both outfits are ‘over-the-top appropriations’ of 1990s urban culture. Their speech features California slang. The game is set to a jazz-funk and hiphop soundtrack inspired by Herbie Hancock.
read more »
Posted in Art, Games, Humor |
Leave a Comment »
August 25, 2011
Magic satchel is a term often used in reference to role-playing video games. It refers to the use of a character’s inventory in the game, which can often contain more items (or items of too large a size) than is physically possible for the character to carry without any visible means to hold or transport them. The concept is so common in fantasy fiction that it is parodied by the character The Luggage in Terry Pratchett’s ‘Discworld’ series, a semi-sentient, bottomless treasure chest that follows its owner around.
The term ‘hammerspace’ describes the seemingly invisible place from which fictional characters, such as cartoon characters, pull out very large objects, such as mallets. Technically the term hammerspace is not used to refer to a magic satchel itself, but rather the area or pocket of space that a magic satchel occupies; a magic satchel is like a door to hammerspace. The ‘bag of holding’ is a similar concept in the role-playing game ‘Dungeons & Dragons.’ A real-world example is the clown car which often is used in the circus, in which numerous clowns clamber out of a tiny automobile.
read more »
Posted in Games, Humor |
1 Comment »
The Daily Omnivore 