Nathan Campbell – Page 267

Craigslist connections

I think Australian culture is poorer for not having the same addiction to Craigslist that our American friends do. There is an Australian site.

There’s apparently a whole culture I was almost completely unaware of, where you post “Missed Connections” advertisements or messages in the hope of finding that person who caught your eye.

I know Text the Editor in our local paper occasionally features this sort of behaviour. But it’s mostly so that people can vent or rage about bad driving.

This is a long preamble to bring to your attention this blog called “Missed Connections” where an artist provides artistic renditions of these ads that catch her eye.

Like these…

“Monday, March 23, 2009
-m4w (Harlem)
Remember? Uptown A train. Sunday at around 9pm. I was the black dude reading Bukowski’s Post Office. You were reading the Arts and Leisure section. You passed wind rather loudly and started chuckling. I’d like to see you again. The flatulence wasn’t a turn-off. “

“Thursday, August 27, 2009
sorry your bike got stolen. its beautiful. when some guy offered it to me for 40 bucks, i didnt even think twice. i was drunk, missing my bike and figured if not me, someone else would buy it anyways. also, my bike got stolen last week. who knows, maybe you bought it for 40 bucks from some guy on the street. so if you see me riding it, feel free to say hey. maybe we could trade back. if not, you can buy it from me for 40 bucks. id buy my old bike back for 40 bucks. it was way more comfortable than this one. “

“Saturday, October 17, 2009
– m4w
We shared a bear suit at an apartment party on Saturday night.
I asked for your number and you gave it to me, but somehow I don’t have an area code written down. I had a great time talking with you, and I don’t trust Chance enough to wait until I see you in the elevators… “

October 25, 2009

A night at the football

We went to the Fury game last night. And despite what Joel says about football there is something thrilling about a tight, low scoring game that isn’t really decided until the final whistle.

And there’s something beautiful about a player who knows the rules gazumping a pack of whingers who don’t…

Robbie Fowler is a class player. Tim was going to post this video too – I don’t think he has yet…

October 25, 2009

Knight to south paw

Chess boxing is my new favourite sport.

“The basic idea in chessboxing is to combine the #1 thinking sport and the #1 fighting sport into a hybrid that demands the most of its competitors – both mentally and physically.
In a chessboxing fight two opponents play alternating rounds of chess and boxing. The contest starts with a round of chess, followed by a boxing round, followed by another round of chess and so on.
A contest consists of 11 rounds, 6 rounds of chess, 5 rounds of boxing. A round of chess takes 4 minutes. Each competitor has 12 minutes on the chess timer.”

I can’t help but think that it’s one of those sports that will be forever dominated by participants from the former USSR.

It would seem that in order to ensure chess players can last more than one round one of the only qualifications for the competition is the ability to play chess… but competitors should be a little worried.

One of the Klitschko brothers, Vitali, holds a PhD in sports science. He’s no dummy. And he and his brother are both keen chess players and world heavyweight boxing champions… from Wikipedia…

“Both Vitali and his brother are avid chess players. Vitali is a friend of former world chess champion Vladimir Kramnik and the two have played, with Kramnik always winning. Vitali has commented that “chess is similar to boxing. You need to develop a strategy, and you need to think two or three steps ahead about what your opponent is doing. You have to be smart. But what’s the difference between chess and boxing? In chess, nobody is an expert, but everybody plays. In boxing everybody is an expert, but nobody fights.””

October 24, 2009

Have a break, have a Tac Bac

Canned crispy bacon. Nutritious and delicious.

You can buy it from Think Geek.

October 24, 2009

Small change

I thought this was pretty funny. It’s from here.

And along the same theme…

October 24, 2009

Six areas atheists and Christians should agree

I had the chance this week to head along to JCU’s Society of Atheist Philosophy (SOAP) meeting where Dave Walker was invited to speak on the reasons he’s not an atheist.

The meeting itself had all the trappings of a Christian meeting. It had a nice positive tone.

Dave did a great job. I’m hoping he’ll turn his three reasons into guest posts.

But here are six areas I think Christians and atheists should agree.

The separation of church and state is a good thing
One of the big branding problems facing Christianity, and one of the major problems atheists have with Christians, is that we’re inconsistent in our approach to politics.

We can’t want to impose Christian morality on people through the legal system unless we’re happy for an atheist government, or Islamic government to do the same to us. If we all believe we’re right and everybody else is wrong we need to make accommodations for this in the way we deal with each other.
Freedom of speech
I’m a bit shocked at how Christians respond when atheists want to advertise or gather. This week two atheist websites were hacked – probably by crazy Christians. Complaints flood in every time an atheist association puts up a billboard or advertises on a bus.

If we want to be free to discuss and promote our beliefs we need to uphold the rights of others to do the same. Even if we don’t like what they’re saying.
Most religious beliefs are crazy
I think it was Peter Jensen who said that atheists are the closest group philosophically to Christians because we’ve both made a deliberate decision regarding the existence of God. We believe there is one, they believe there is none, the rest of society is either undecided, pluralistic, or quasi-spiritual.In most cases we’ve applied logic and reason to the rejection of other Gods. We shouldn’t be overly upset when atheists do that to us. Even if we think they’ve discounted one God too many.

There are also a lot of subsets of Christianity that fit the crazy bill. Anyone who bases a distinctive on one verse in a part of a gospel that is not even in all the original manuscripts (like the snake holders and poison drinkers do) should be considered crazy.

Most people who read Revelation as though it’s a literal description of what’s going to happen (even though it is introduced as a vision) can also rightly be labeled crazy.
Pluralistic relativism is a dumb idea
If there’s one idea that truly unites atheists and Christians it’s the idea that we can’t all be right. Both groups make absolute claims. All religions make contradictory claims. Even the monotheistic Abrahamic religions that are theoretically following the same God make claims that can not be reconciled. Islam teaches Jesus didn’t die. Judaism teaches Jesus isn’t the Messiah, and that he didn’t rise. We can’t all be right. We can’t pretend that we are.
Morality is not dependent on belief in God
Atheists are capable of doing good things. The group contributing the most money to developing small businesses in developing countries on Kiva is an atheist society.

Christian statements about morality are slightly confused, which in turn confuses atheists. There are two definitions of good at play in the Bible. One describes actions. It’s “good” to feed the hungry. The other describes our nature. Where nobody can be “good enough” for God.

It’s true that Christians believe that all goodness, and good actions of people come from God. Whether you’re a Christian or an atheist. And that good atheist actions come because they too are made in the image of God.

But you don’t have to believe in God to be good.

To throw further confusion into the mix – not even Christians are “good” in the complete sense. And nobody is good (or righteous) except Jesus.
Science is a great tool for understanding the world
Christianity’s stance on science (particularly in America) is confused and confusing. Science has no scope to prove or disprove God, unless you think the Bible (written before the scientific method was developed) somehow seeks to be a scientific textbook.

Science teaches us about the way God does things. It reveals more about the world we live in. Christians should love science. Not fear it. The reason some Christians fear it is the same reason someone attacked by a vicious dog fears all dogs. Science handled badly is dangerous.

What Christians shouldn’t like (and one of Dave’s points) is the idea of naturalism – that only what we can sense and test is real. This is a philosophy that embraces science as a sword. It’s not science.

For more fun with Google autofill check out my new blog…

October 24, 2009

How to write a novel: the twist

So you’re writing that novel you’ve always had trapped inside your head. But the plot is formulaic and requires something a little bit special. How bout a twist. Here’s a nice chart that will help you pick the perfect plot device for a completely non-formulaic storyline.

From Dresden Codak.

October 23, 2009

Facing the music

If I was going to make a compilation of musical torture it would look nothing like this (now fairly old but suddenly “current”) list of bands that may or may not have been played to torture people who may or may not be terrorists held at Guantanamo.

A bunch of bands want to know if they have been in the metaphorical firing ~~line~~ squad, they’ve launched a Freedom of Information inquiry to find out if their music was played. I think Metallica have joined in just so they can be paid the appropriate royalties.

If I was an unheard of band I’d be joining the inquiry just to get my name in the news…

Except maybe “I Love You,” from the “Barney and Friends” children’s TV show.” I would just play that over and over again.

When I was a little younger I used to be a musical terrorist. I’d take $10 worth of coins into a pool hall that had one of those video clip jukeboxes and order $10 worth of really painful music (think Britney Spears and Aqua) and then leave.

What songs would you torture people with?

October 23, 2009

Name and shame

It turns out that nominal determinism has something to it…

A news story reporting on a study of school performance in Germany reports what anybody who has read Freakonomics already knows. Names can cause all sorts of dramas.

The Freakonomics blog linked to this news story which explained a little bit about why all the staff are deserting the PM’s office.

“The name Kevin was perceived as being linked to especially poor behaviour and performance, with one study participant even writing that, “Kevin is not a name – it’s a diagnosis!””

This is a German study so these names don’t look like orthodox Australian names – but the study of 2,000 teachers found that people with normal names turn out better.

“The study reveals that the names traditional names such as Charlotte, Sophie, Marie, Hannah, Alexander, Maximilian, Simon, Lukas and Jakob are consistently linked to strong performance and good behaviour. Non-traditional names such as Chantal, Mandy, Angelina, Kevin, Justin and Maurice, on the other hand, are associated with weak performance and bad behaviour.”

October 23, 2009

Just google it

I’ve started a second blog. Not because this one bores me. I’ve been messing around with Tumblr. It’s pretty cool. And I’ve noticed a lot of single issue tumblr blogs that I like.

I’ve also been thinking about how funny some of the google autofill results are.

So I’ve combined the two here.

Feel free to make any suggestions for inclusion…

October 22, 2009

Why I tell the Tractor Joke

Mark asked me what the webcomic with the blackboard was. It prompted a return visit to Surviving the World. This edition perfectly sums up why I tell the tractor joke…

October 22, 2009

Bowing to peer pressure

Everyone is writing soppy lists about their spouses. Simone started it. Soph, Ben, and Amy followed.

They want me to join in. I thought about it. I commented on Simone’s last post saying these lists were gay. I didn’t mean gay in a good way.

I thought about writing a list of things I don’t like about my wife (she steals the blankets)… I would have written a list like “I hate that she just has to look at me and I immediately agree with her”… but then I thought it would be all too similar to a Heath Ledger movie. And he’s dead, so I can’t say nasty things about him or his work.

I thought about making my list satirically soppy filled to the brim with gory details. We all know how I feel about oversharing and this whole trend treads perilously close to that mark.

But here, because Ben said I was a big girl’s blouse if I didn’t, is a list of things I love about my wife. So here are ten things. It’s not an exhaustive list.

She loves God.
She loves me.
She is cute.
She is funny. And laughs at my jokes.
She encourages me.
She wants to serve others, but also is prepared to tell me when I’ve over committed.
She is mega-organised (and I am not).
She will provide any children we have with athletic genes so they won’t run last at school.
She likes coffee.
She started posting here again because I told her that I like it when she does.

Amy gets points because her list about Tim is 20 points long.

October 22, 2009

Font flow chart

By now you know that Comic Sans is terrible. If you’re still struggling and want a helpful flow chart – I’ve found one for you…

October 22, 2009

M a x K e r n i n g

Kudos to Aaran for posting this link in a comment. It’s awesome.

Max Kerning has dedicated his life to properly spaced type. His homepage is probably not something you want to visit with the sound turned up in your office. You can also follow him on Twitter.

He wrote a manifesto – called “Letters to Live By” which contains many useful typographic tips.

Like these:

“Typographic integrity cannot be feigned, and pretending with type only leads to disillusionment. Never, ever, ever fake condensed type. Do not try to create your own kerning pair when a master has already done it for you. Emulating a type style with a word processing button should never be done if the font includes a typeface in that style.

For example, you must not italicize Gill Sans when you can set it in Gill Sans Italic. It may seem like the same thing, but it’s impertinent and inconsiderate.”

It is not the shortening of words into grunt-like abbreviations that troubles me so. Instead, it is the fact that 96 percent of all written communications in the world contain words that by their very appearance dissuade people from reading them.

The reason more people do not glean wisdom from War and Peace is not because it is dull. The reason people only pretend to have read Ulysses is not because of the maddening run-on sentences and dearth of punctuation. No. Absolument non! It is because no one has taken the time and care to properly set the type, thus rendering the words useless.

Let us never underestimate the importance of kerning…

“To truly increase literacy, typography must be taught in even the earliest grades. If we do not instill in our young citizens the importance of properly set type— and the ability to kern—then we will perpetuate the cycle of creating literature with unattractive letter spacing that no one wants to read (and no one will read), causing people’s literacy to grow sloppy and feeble and atrophied.”

October 22, 2009

New scambaiting post up

Apologies to feed readers who have already had to wade through a pile of text documenting my latest attempt to procure some photos from a scammer… it’s a long one. Appropriately called “the longest scambaiting post ever” and I’m actually about 25% confident that it will eventually bear fruit. It’s not over yet.

October 21, 2009