The Fuzzy Squid

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Sat, 10 May 2008 01:12:00 +0000

I don't think anyone wants to know what people really think of them.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Fri, 09 May 2008 17:51:00 +0000

Foldit, a game made by two medical researchers in collaboration with some computer scientists and with consultation from some game designers, tap into people's intuition where raw computer processing power isn't enough. Basically like Folding@Home, but instead of donating idle CPU cycles to do useful work, you play a game:

"Some people are just able to look at the game and in less than two minutes, get to the top score," said (UW associate professor of computer science and engineering) Zoran Popovic. "They can't even explain what they're doing, but somehow they're able to do it."

One of the most interesting parts is that they've incorporated competition into the game: between gamers playing for a high score, and actual research groups.

One of the questions I think about a lot is how graphic/visual/interaction design could change the world; it's interesting to see how game design could change the world.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Mon, 21 Apr 2008 20:26:00 +0000

It's really interesting to see the reaction that non-meat eaters have towards PETA's X-prize, with many claiming that they would not eat in-vitro meat, and some going so far as to denounce it as regressive for animal welfare.

To me, this reeks of intellectual dishonesty, with a nice helping of sour grapes on the side. If you don't eat meat for ethical reasons, you can eat vat grown meat with a completely clear conscience. If you still have a problem with it, your reasons for being a vegetarian/vegan have absolutely nothing to do with ethics*. Sucks when science pulls the rug out from under your belief system, but I have as much sympathy for you as I do for the Catholic Church sending Galileo to house arrest for heliocentrism**.

I'm actually impressed by PETA's stance, as it is refreshingly shrewd, and I practice Realpolitik in most areas of my life, cuisine included. This is not to absolve them of their grievances against humanity and reason, of which there are legion. But they recognize that their mission to prevent cruelty to animals is NOT the same as the collective vegan/vegetarian agenda.

* "Meat is icky and I'm better than you so I get to tell you what to do."
** In all fairness the church did officially concede that the Earth is not stationary. In 1992.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Fri, 18 Apr 2008 00:29:00 +0000

Remember when I got all uppity about unethical design, and the crooked designers that spawn them? I stopped just short of likening them to the contractors on the Death Star, because that Kevin Smith argument could be misconstrued as admiration for the man... but that is neither here nor there.

Anyway, here is one artist's response to the same: "Archisuit consists of an edition of four leisure jogging suits made for specific architectural structures in Los Angeles. The suits include the negative space of the structures and allow a wearer to fit into, or onto, structures designed to deny them."

noreply@blogger.com (Malb) — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 17:06:00 +0000

Damn, she's huge!!!

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 03 Apr 2008 01:24:00 +0000

joeflet: nice
joeflet: (y)
joeflet: that was supposed to be thumbs up
dkuo: uh
dkuo: it looks like a lady's vagina
joeflet: nice

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 16:36:00 +0000

ON VEGANISM

Folks, you know how I feel. But allow me to bring out the horse once more so I can just link to this post next time someone brings up veganism/vegetarianism. And it should be noted that the majority of my ire is aimed at vegans, and you will understand why shortly.

Here I will explain all the reasons why veganism is an affront to my sensibilities and intellect.

1. Veganism as morality
Not really worth discussing as there are clearly no absolutes when it comes to moral values. But my personal belief is that it is not immoral for people to eat meat any more than it is immoral for a lion to prey on a gazelle. To deny this part of our nature is to deny we are part of nature, much in the way evolutionists claim that we are too special to be mere animals. It disconnects us from the larger whole. This is why I advocate that everyone who eats meat kill something for food once in their lives, so that you can really understand what it means for something to die so you can live.

2. Veganism as ethical behavior
Animals bred for food can and should be treated in an ethical manner. The problem with veganism is that it is almost always fundamentally militant. Kind of like saying you're a Christian, but you're not pushy about your faith? Well ultimately, Christians still believe that they're the only ones in the room going to heaven when they die. You can obscure that all you want, but at its core, veganism is about being better than other people. If your goal is to prevent unethical treatment of animals, being a vegan will do more to counter that goal than any hamburger, ever.

3. Veganism for environmentalism
Which is worse: a hamburger from grassfed beef raised 30 miles from your house, or organic out of season produce from halfway around the world? I'll give you a hint, the one that doesn't require petroleum based fertilizer, and need to be shipped across the ocean, then trucked to your door. And all the packaged meat replacement products? Did you think about the oil used in processing and packaging your fake meat?

Eating local is way more important than organic for both meat and produce--and once you start eating local, it naturally scales down the amount of meat you eat, which is good for the next point...

4. Veganism for health
Basically, read a Michael Pollan book or two. "Eat food, not too much, mostly plants." YES, American eat way too much meat. We also eat WAY too much corn.

5. Yes but how does it taste?
Vegans are, tellingly, universally defensive about their food. When one claims things like "it tastes just as good as meat" or "I don't miss chocolate at all", it is no longer about taste, it is about a self-conscious posture that focuses on meat-substitution rather than the natural merits of your ingredients. Why must you eat tofutti (and insist it is as good or better than ice cream) when there are delicious sorbets and granitas available? There have been people on this planet eating meatless for thousands of years, who have created some of the richest culinary traditions in existence, and yet you insist on making a meatless meatloaf? Yes, I would have a Napoleon complex about my food too.

6. So why are people vegans?
I can only offer personal anecdotes here. Consistently, all the vegans I have met have recited the same talking points that you get with your cruelty-free welcome packet. But underneath it, I have always seen at least glimmers of ulterior motivations. I think as a food philosophy, it draws for much the same reasons that religion is attractive—some people need structure, answers; others want to be righteous; for others it's outright social pressure. Many have had control issues across the board, and food was only one expression.

This is obviously not to invalidate an entire category of people wholesale. Just as it is with religion, there are really good-natured people who are in it for exactly the reasons they profess. But just like religion, is it really wrong to assume the worst of people when the majority set out to prove you right?

7. Who ARE vegans anyway?
The Dali Lama, and white affluent hipsters on the coasts. Ok just kidding! The Dali Lama eats meat. No, seriously—all the Tibetan monks do, and they pray for each animal that they kill.

8. But beyond all this talk
there is the actual experience of hanging out with vegans. Eating is a huge shared experience, one of the few universals that we as a species, and really all animals, have. It is how we express love, friendship, and merriment. It is as basic as you can get, bottom of the pyramid.

Vegans are a pain in the ass to hang out with. It is not impossible, but even in eating disorder friendly Northern California, it is a serious logistical overhead. This unfortunately, is why vegans are biased to spend their time with other vegans, at really terrible restaurants, further isolating themselves from the rest of the world.

9. Okay okay.
This is the paragraph wherein I backpedal and acknowledge that some of my best friends are vegetarian, etc. I have friends who do not eat meat and I respect their choices. It is not a choice that I could ever seriously consider. I enjoy trying new things way too much to ever choose to categorically limit myself to a subset of all possibilities. Others derive their pleasure by other means, and more power to them.

I respect those who don't define themselves by what they eat, their diet being simply an expression of who they are.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Wed, 26 Mar 2008 07:33:00 +0000

HEY GUYS I TOTALLY MADE YOU A MIXTAPE
I will make more soon don't judge me it's late

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Tue, 18 Mar 2008 18:44:00 +0000

WHO'S A GOOD PLANT? WHO'S A GOOD PLANT??

YOU ARE! YES YOU ARE!

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 00:59:00 +0000

MY POKEMANS LET ME SHOW YOU THEM

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Mon, 10 Mar 2008 15:42:00 +0000

Every day I wake up with a different song playing in my head. It's like having an iPod in my head set to random. I KNOW IT IS AWESOME. This morning it was Stevie Wonder - Living for the City.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 06 Mar 2008 23:18:00 +0000

I pride myself in being open to new experiences, particularly when it comes to food. This does not mean I will eat anything. There are lots of things I don't like; but every now and then (maybe once a year) I will purposely eat something I don't like, just to confirm that my taste buds haven't rewired themselves, or that they've come up with a strain of cucumber that doesn't taste stupid.

So for the record: goat cheese continues to suck.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Fri, 29 Feb 2008 18:09:00 +0000

Do you think that sitting on power/phone lines for the last 100 years, being exposed to an EM field, has affected the avian genome? Also, why do gay people like Kathy Griffin?

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 01:58:00 +0000

peeingdog: I just stabbed myself with a pen
peeingdog: I am bleeding
peeingdog: like, a lot
suzy_turtle: yikes!!
suzy_turtle: why did you do that?
peeingdog: I had it upside down!
peeingdog: I was pushing down on it so the point would retract!
suzy_turtle: do I need to come over and apply a tourniquet?
peeingdog: no you need to explain why this god-damned pen is so sharp!!!
suzy_turtle: it's unfortunate that fat-tipped pens are called 'sharpies' and sharp, pointy pens are not
suzy_turtle: but honestly, do you really want to side w/ the people who need warning labels on their coffee cups explaining that the contents are hot?
peeingdog: why does a pen need to be so pointy that the force required to click the button is also the minimum force required to drive the tip deep into my flesh??
peeingdog: AND GOD-DAMNIT don't get me started on tort reform
peeingdog: everything you know about that coffee lawsuit is corporate propaganda!!

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 20:09:00 +0000

me: my miracle fruit plant is here!
Emily: whaaat
Emily: that was super fast
me: now I need to make my apartment hot and humid
me: if you know what I mean
Emily: i.e., take off your pants?
me: that's the step 1 of all my gardening plans

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Mon, 28 Jan 2008 18:56:00 +0000

I tire of telling this story, so this post will be half-hearted. Whatever! Maybe you should involve yourself in my face-to-face life rather than reading about it on the webs!

My car was broken into this weekend, and the thieves took $15 worth of kitchen supplies I had picked up from Sur La Table. Completely ignoring the $350 iPod that was sitting out in the open. People don't take any pride in their work these days.

So I need new glass for the window they broke. There are none in North America. It is being special ordered from Germany.

Yes wait for it... AND THE GERMANS SCREW ME AGAIN

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Wed, 23 Jan 2008 06:57:00 +0000

Emily: nevermind, I have your resume open
Emily: omgz your resume has a legend
Emily:

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 10 Jan 2008 17:49:00 +0000

TWO RANDOM THOUGHTS:

1. In my enthusiasm, I may have neglected to think about the physical logistics of deploying 7+1 speakers in my modest living room before clicking on 'buy'.

2. Living so close* to one of my favorite bar/restaurants in San Francisco is not going to be good for me, my liver, or anyone.

*I've moved! If you didn't get my announcement email and want my new address, let me know.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 17:40:00 +0000

I think the guys who think pregnant women are gross are kind of like the guys who can't eat meat unless it's been processed into a nugget. On a side note, it's a good thing I don't have titles attached to my posts, or else you'd all be subjected to a too-clever-for-its-own-good carne/carnal pun.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 18:38:00 +0000

As I was falling asleep last night, I was thinking about an old epiphany--that people who like you will like you regardless of what you do. This has comforted others, but always faintly tasted of resignation to me (there are those who are really good at blinding others with love). But then I thought about it some more and realized that it is the things you do, that make up who you are. And that is what they love (or hate).

And so my new year's resolution: to get my actions in line with who I want to be.

Happy New Year, folks.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 20 Dec 2007 19:18:00 +0000

Last night a woman came up to the bar and asked for "a shot of the most expensive whiskey you have." Yes, she asked for a shot of it, and then proceeded to pound the $50 glass of bourbon, putting it on her date's tab.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 01:24:00 +0000

Play Passage. It's a 400k game that'll take you 5 minutes. Play it before you read the artist's statement. (The author of the game calls it a "creator's statement", but I'm comfortable relabeling that.)

Someone once said something about a life unexamined, but my memory of that is all compressed and pixelated...

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Fri, 07 Dec 2007 04:30:00 +0000

God-damn it. Why are there always half a dozen week-old, half empty bottles of wine in my kitchen? When I have children they will be taught that you do not open a bottle of wine if you cannot finish it in one sitting. You are not getting up from this table until you are done, mister!

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Fri, 16 Nov 2007 18:44:00 +0000

Let's compare airport scenes at Newark and San Francisco, shall we:

SFO
TSA screeners, actually reading and verifying documents, notice when a traveler's ID and ticket destination are the same, and wish them a nice trip home. Also often heard saying mahalo to us, just for showing our papers.

EWR
TSA screener yells at me for having my hands in my pockets as I go through the metal detector, and yells at me again for not having my boarding pass taped to my chest, even though we are 50 feet and direct line of sight from where the last guy checked my boarding pass.

noreply@blogger.com (dannyboy) — Thu, 01 Nov 2007 17:31:00 +0000

peeingdog: behold
scottsmig: that looks amazing
peeingdog: that would be ridiculous, just lying under the machine waiting for it to drop a donut in your open waiting mouth
peeingdog: like some kind of magic animal that pooped delicious hot donuts
peeingdog: why can't we genetic engineer that
peeingdog: I want a pet pygmy elephant that poops donuts
peeingdog: "I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MR. TINY TUSKS!!"
scottsmig: it would still be gross though
scottsmig: I wouldn't eat a donut from anything's ass
peeingdog: even if it was the best donut you ever tasted?
scottsmig: no!
peeingdog: damnit, we have the technology!
scottsmig: you're telling me you can look at a elephant's butthole and accept your food from that?
peeingdog: we find it disgusting now because we know what comes out of it currently
peeingdog: I have a vision
scottsmig: ugh
peeingdog: we can make it better
peeingdog: for our children's children
scottsmig: why don't we just eat the donuts out of the machine, and forget about the buttholes?
peeingdog: but I want a pet elephant!
scottsmig: you can have that!
peeingdog: yes but it will poop everywhere and currently that poop is not a delicious breakfast pastry
scottsmig: I still don't buy that you would eat those donuts
peeingdog: there would be NO trace of doodie; just donut
peeingdog: ants do it all the time, they drink stuff out of an aphid's butt
scottsmig: ok ok