The Bronze Age in the Eastern Mediterranean region ended suddenly and violently about 1200 B.C. The Hittite Empire and the Mycenaean Greek Civilization were destroyed. Most of the cities in Syria and Palestine were destroyed. Egypt was attacked and permanently weakened. The region entered a dark age that lasted for centuries.
From Popularity for Purchase:
- signs and symbols did indicate something real – a message from a friend or family member whom you see and care about
- signs and symbols indicate a false reality – the early stages of Facebook, when people would beef up their friend count with casual acquaintances and friends of friends, and use Like and Follow to build up a “social network“
- Signs that are not backed up by any reality. One hires ad hoc workers to write posts for one’s Facebook page, blog, Twitter feed. One appears to be a prolific writer, well versed on news and culture. One’s friends (the real ones!) are impressed, and notice one’s growing social circle. Then one hires other ad hoc Workers to Like, Follow, and Comment on the material written by the first lot. Your Google Analytics look great; you rank high in the search engines because you hired writers who are good at SEO. Many people leave comments on your site
- One day you wake up to find that (a) no one is interacting on your site except your paid workers and (b) the content you paid for was scraped to other sites and is being used by your new paid workers to write new-old material.
The Internet once again confirms Sturgeon’s Revelation.
On Sunday morning mia_mcdavid and our son James left here for a road trip. They drove to Michigan, to see Mia’s mother and other relatives. I have been alone here, except for the cat, who apparently regards me primarily as her servant. So what have I been doing? Continue reading
Irish Class, May 16, 2011
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“The French guy thinks the state should seize the means of reproduction.”
— From Best of the Web
mia_mcdavid and I spent Saturday with Colgaffneyis at the Minnesota Scottish Fair & Highland Games. It was my 60th birthday. Continue reading
Steed Wheeled Into Brussels at Night
In what many are hailing as a breakthrough solution to Greece’s crippling debt crisis, Greece today offered to repay loans from the European Union nations by giving them a gigantic horse.
Irish Class, May 9, 2011
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Write a paragraph that describes an object, a very familiar object, so that other people can guess what it is.
You’ll read your description in class on May 9, and people can kind of play 20 questions to figure out what you are talking about.
Mitt is reputed to say whatever an audience wants to hear, but that’s not quite right. In reality he says nothing, but does it in such way audiences believe they’ve heard what they want to hear. He is the chameleon candidate. To call Mitt Romney an empty suit is an insult to suits.
which reminded me of one of my favorite quotes, from Isaac Asimov’s Foundation:
“That,” replied Hardin, “is the interesting thing. The analysis was the most difficult of the three by all odds. When Houk, after two days of steady work, succeeded in eliminating meaningless statements, vague gibberish, useless qualifications—in short all the goo and dribble—he found he had nothing left. Everything canceled out. Lord Dorwin, gentlemen, in five days of discussion didn’t say one damn thing, and said it so that you never noticed. There are the assurances you had from your precious Empire.”
The same SF quote can be applied to many other (most?) American politicians who make the national stage.
So if youre living in Florida on October 1, 2011 and would like to have sexual intercourse with a consenting adult, please check with your veterinarian or local livestock breeder first to make sure you abide by accepted animal husbandry practices, conformation judging practices, or accepted veterinary medical practices.
Via Skepchick.
From Hilbert Space to Dilbert Space, and beyond 