Argue with a pig? What I learned from Google+ today

I once heard a quip: "Never argue with a pig.  You'll only get frustrated and it annoys the pig."  As a frequent uninvolved third party to debates, I think of this often.  

Since I had/have not decided if I was/am interested in Google+, I did not get an invite to Google+ (yet), but it is very interesting to wander among the Google+ circles viewing profiles, photos, videos, and buzz/blogs.

On Ben Standard's Google+ buzz page appears this video gem:



explaining the theoretical underpinnings of arguing with a pig (and Republican politicians?).

Brilliant.

( Credits:  HuffPost->Google+ Guide Tip 4: "Follow Googlers"->List of Googlers->Shimrit Ben-Yair->Itai Ram->Natanel Barookhian->Ben Standard... 1 hour diversion. )

e-books on a budget

I don't have an ipad, a Kindle or a Nook.

I don't have anymore room on my bookshelf for storing books.  Actually, I think bookshelves anywhere but at the library are a serious perversion of resources.  (I could have been a socialist, if I wasn't so anti-social :) That sounded good, but actually, I'm just socially hesitant. )

Going to the library gives me a small burst of nostalgic pleasure, but unless I am going to pick up a book I requested to be moved to my branch, there is very little chance they will have the book I am looking for on the shelf.  Over the last ten years, I learned to use the Internet version of my library's "card catalog" and only went to the library to pickup and return books.  (I once wondered if I could have started an Internet success story called "NetBooX" with the NetFlix model.)

Lately, my library catalog searches are returning both physical books and e-books on their "Overdrive Digital Library".  I can still reserve a book from the library, but now I don't even have to drive or bike to the library.

Reading e-books isn't perfect, but it is free ( tax supported free ).  I downloaded Adobe Digital Editions to my wife's netbook, and can sit on the sofa for up to six hours straight to read a book.  (The wife has caught TFA - "The Face" Addiction, so I have some time to fill lately.)


At the moment I'm at page 147 of 539 of:

So enough of this reality, I'm ready for some serious escapism this 4th of July weekend.

Tornadoes? Flooding? The herd is busy.

"At present [May 3, 2011] officials believe 328 people were killed across seven states when a band of tornadoes ravaged the South, making it the deadliest twister outbreak since the Great Depression.
It comes the day after the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration announced there were more tornadoes in a single day in America last week than any other day in history.
According to NOAA, there were 312 tornadoes in total, including 226 in one day." (dailymail.co.uk of all places)

The fact that hundreds of people died last week, and thousands will have no home to return to for months is lost on "the herd" as they chase after news of a bearded lunatic in a "galaxy far, far away".  Humans really are just another herding animal.  A few around the edges of the herd noticed the crisis for "the other animals", and then went back to feeding themselves.

To Blog, or Not To Blog, that is [not] the Question

"To blog, or not to blog, that is [not] the question" - the question is "where to blog and why there"?

Facebook's Wall and "Status" mechanisms can be a blog, and indeed for the Facebook crowd that has kidnapped our society, Facebook is the "where and why".  Why? Because that is where people are these days.  Anywhere else is like choosing to paint graffiti on the ocean floor.

Perhaps to avoid catching FOMO fever ('Fraid Of Missing Out), I am here.

"Money, Money, Money. It's a rich mans world."

I just can't get buck my cynicism that politicians, (and therefore the government, and my future), have been pwnd by "Wall Street".