Culture – Page 109 – St. Eutychus

The sweet taste of the reformation

I would like some of this John Calvin beer. What a way to cap off a year celebrating the reformation… it’s predestined to be good.

Via David Ould.

November 12, 2009

Vatican readying evangelistic mission to outer space

Sometimes the Vatican do dumb things in the name of science. Like condemning scientists for their views on the position of the earth in relation to the cosmos…

It seems they’re trying to distance themselves from their historical shackles. How far can one distance themselves from this sort of stupidity? About as far as the galaxy reaches.

The Catholic Church really is the Empire.

“Four hundred years after it locked up Galileo for challenging the view that the Earth was the center of the universe, the Vatican has called in experts to study the possibility of extraterrestrial alien life and its implication for the Catholic Church.”

The Vatican scientist coordinating the summit had this to say…

“If biology is not unique to the Earth, or life elsewhere differs bio-chemically from our version, or we ever make contact with an intelligent species in the vastness of space, the implications for our self-image will be profound,” he said.

I would suggest, that biblically speaking, Christ died for mankind. You know. Humans. The ones made in God’s image. I think that’s where self image comes from. Isn’t it?

November 12, 2009

Cliff Hanger

John Woo’s Red Cliff is playing at the Sydney Travelling Film Festival in Townsville this Sunday at 2.30pm. I’m going. Any Townsville readers care to join me (and no doubt Robyn)?

This was a bit too arty to play in mainstream cinemas in Townsville – but it’s a very cool martial arts movie. Here’s the trailer.

November 12, 2009

Significant Objects: How to bump up your eBay sales with a story

I posted a washing machine being sold on ebay here a while back, and a bike. Both had great stories going with them that I thought must have worked wonders on their sale prices.

It would appear a good description can up the value of your silly ebay items by as much as 6000% – it’s just a shame I didn’t do this with my Star Wars characters – though the Q&A section did get a little bit interesting.

There’s a site called Significant Objects that finds crappy things, writes good descriptions and sells the things on eBay at a significant profit.

Check out their top ten. Here’s an example.

This Russian Doll cost $3. It sold for $193.

Here’s part of the story (here’s the rest).

Figurine of St. Vralkomir (glass cover not included)

This is an icon of the fourteenth-century saint Vralkomir of Dnobst, the patron saint of extremely fast dancing. Handcrafted in a snowbound convent by the nimble-footed Sisters of the Vralkomian Order, it was given to my grandmother—then a nine-year-old girl—as she boarded the ship that would take her to America from Dnobst, a narrow pie-wedge of land bounded by the Dnobst River, the Grkgåt Mountains, and the Great Western Fence of Count Pyør the Litigious.

Vralkomir was a competent cobbler, but he was brusque and taciturn, conversing only to the extent he was required to for business. His fellow citizens found him odd, and they would hurry back out into the year-round cold as quickly as they could. Some said his towering jet-black hat, which he’d knitted of his own hair, would trigger vertigo in those who stared up at it for too long. Many were annoyed by his incessant tuneless humming.

November 11, 2009

I really want a Roomba. I suspect it would scare our free range turtles. So I won’t get one. But I’d actually really like five. Because then I could re-enact this re-enactment of Pacman. Using Roombas.

Australian Roombas are marketed as iRobots. Which is a bit Will Smith if you ask me… only I can’t imagine a Roomba ever turning on humans and killing them. How would it? What’s it going to do? Suck my face off?

November 11, 2009

Bear fail

I love a good bear mauling story. Like Elisha and the rude youths.

This one is pretty awesome (except for the part where people die – but they were terrorists). A bunch of militants in India were hiding out in a cave.

The militants had made their hideout in a cave which was actually the bear’s den, said police officer Farooq Ahmed.

The dead have been identified as Mohammad Amin alias Qaiser, and Bashir Ahmed alias Saifullah.

News of the attack emerged when their injured comrade went to a nearby village for treatment.

November 10, 2009

Statistically kissing dating goodbye

Here’s an interesting statistical breakdown of “match percentages” through OKCupid, an online dating service, based on indicated religious affiliation and level of seriousness.

It’s worth a read for no reason other than that it’s kind of interesting. There are a few other factors considered throughout the piece too.

“All OkCupid users create their own matching algorithms, so when we determine who matches who, we’re just crunching the numbers people give us. A match percentage between two people is a condensed, yet statistically valid, expression of how well they might get along.”

“In short, our method is this: we host an ever-changing database of user-submitted questions, covering every imaginable topic, from spirituality to dental hygiene. To build their own match algorithms, our users answer as many questions as they please (the average is about 230). When answering a question, a user also picks her how her ideal match would answer and how important the question is to her. It’s very simple, and it removes all subjectivity on our part. We simply crunch the numbers.”

Here’s a table. The average “match percentage” is 60.2%.

November 10, 2009

Want a job at Google?

Here’s a list of 140 questions you might face in a job interview at Google.

“Every man in a village of 100 married couples has cheated on his wife. Every wife in the village instantly knows when a man other than her husband has cheated, but does not know when her own husband has. The village has a law that does not allow for adultery. Any wife who can prove that her husband is unfaithful must kill him that very day. The women of the village would never disobey this law. One day, the queen of the village visits and announces that at least one husband has been unfaithful. What happens?”
Explain a database in three sentences to your eight-year-old nephew.
“How many piano tuners are there in the entire world?”
“You are given 2 eggs. You have access to a 100-story building. Eggs can be very hard or very fragile means it may break if dropped from the first floor or may not even break if dropped from 100th floor. Both eggs are identical. You need to figure out the highest floor of a 100-story building an egg can be dropped without breaking. The question is how many drops you need to make. You are allowed to break 2 eggs in the process.”

My answer to all of these questions would be “let me google that for you”…

Via CafeDave.

November 10, 2009

100 Rules for Service

CafeDave posted a link to the first half of this series the other day.

The next half is up.

Here are my favourites.

Do not let anyone enter the restaurant without a warm greeting.
Do not lead the witness with, “Bottled water or just tap?” Both are fine. Remain neutral.
Do not hustle the lobsters. That is, do not say, “We only have two lobsters left.” Even if there are only two lobsters left.
Never say “I don’t know” to any question without following with, “I’ll find out.”
Do not touch the rim of a water glass. Or any other glass.
Never serve anything that looks creepy or runny or wrong.
If someone likes a wine, steam the label off the bottle and give it to the guest with the bill. It has the year, the vintner, the importer, etc.
Never touch a customer. No excuses. Do not do it. Do not brush them, move them, wipe them or dust them.
Never remove a plate full of food without asking what went wrong. Obviously, something went wrong.
Never mention the tip, unless asked.
Never say, “Good choice,” implying that other choices are bad.
Never reek from perfume or cigarettes. People want to smell the food and beverage.
Never patronize a guest who has a complaint or suggestion; listen, take it seriously, address it.
Never play a radio station with commercials or news or talking of any kind.
Do not play an entire CD of any artist. If someone doesn’t like Frightened Rabbit or Michael Bublé, you have just ruined a meal.
If a guest goes gaga over a particular dish, get the recipe for him or her.
Do not wear too much makeup or jewelry. You know you have too much jewelry when it jingles and/or draws comments.
Do not race around the dining room as if there is a fire in the kitchen or a medical emergency. (Unless there is a fire in the kitchen or a medical emergency.)
Do not ignore a table because it is not your table. Stop, look, listen, lend a hand. (Whether tips are pooled or not.)
Do not show frustration. Your only mission is to serve. Be patient. It is not easy.

Most of the principles underlying these 20 tips (and many of the others) are easily transferable to any career or service – and can be applied to the way we treat guests at home, or at church.

Mikey has a good post about good dining manners that’s a useful addition to this one.

November 10, 2009

LHC time travel sabotage theory gains creedence

This really is just an excuse for me to repost my photoshopped Terminator picture… but the time travel theory that was put forward a couple of weeks ago continues to seem slightly more credible with the collider’s latest piece of drama.

But the Large Hadron Collider is experiencing further technical difficulties courtesy of a bird strike – either these are remote controlled robot birds or some sort of time traveling, super evolved, intelligent birdlike creature.

This birdinator took down the LHC with a piece of bread. Cop that technology.

November 10, 2009

The problem with PETA

The problem with PETA – from a PR standpoint – is that they have no sense of scale. How can you sound credible when calling for the end of the fur trade or whale hunting – while on the other protesting about people throwing dead fish at a conference, or the shooting of dogs in computer games – or trying to rebrand fish as sea kittens…

This graph sums it up nicely.