Archive for February, 2008
Friday, February 29th, 2008
Metapost: how y’all doing?
Been pretty quiet around the BBQ this week. How the heck are you, anyway? What’re you up to, lately?
17 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, meta by Josh Millard
Thursday, February 28th, 2008
Comic books: kids stuff, still?
Comic books! The historical dismissal was that they were for kids — badly drawn, badly written pulp. Over time, there’s been a lot of attention paid (by readers at least) to the growth of non-superhero comics, to graphic novels and the counter-description of “sequential art”, but we’ve still got Spiderman and Superman as big ticket […]
8 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, entertainment by Josh Millard
Wednesday, February 27th, 2008
Lent for heathens: what would you give up?
Lent (for those who aren’t in the loop) is a forty-day-long period prior to Easter, for most Christian denoms of which I’m aware — and while there’s a lot more going on that just this, the big Lent hook is giving something up for the duration, as a sort of spiritual sacrifice, a preparation of […]
3 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, religion by Josh Millard
Tuesday, February 26th, 2008
An expensive thread.
What thing should everyone own, but most people don’t?
9 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized, bigbig, priorities by big
Monday, February 25th, 2008
We hate Mondays: value in shared suffering?
It’s a bad cliche and a weekly truth for folks working on a M-F schedule: nobody likes Monday. The weekend is over, the workweek recommences; things left dangling on Friday have to be caught back up with; next weekend could literally not be further away.
But is the notion of Monday’s badness — so celebrated […]
3 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, sociology by Josh Millard
Friday, February 22nd, 2008
How has art changed the world?
When (and how, and why) has the border between art and the Real World broken down? If life imitates art, what are some examples of life doing so in a particularly notable fashion?
5 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, philosophy by Josh Millard
Thursday, February 21st, 2008
A Naked World?
How would our world be different if mankind never developed a concept of clothing — and was, in other words, a naked world?
Not intended to be horndoggy, although I understand it comes across that way and I’m blushing a bit. A throwaway line in TNG: Beyond Honor, by Peter David, prompted the thought. […]
9 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, scifi, sociology by WCityMike
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Torture
The united States Government tortures people. Do they contract this work out or do they do it inhouse ie the military? What is the phsycological profile of the people who torture. Are they given special instruction?
1 Comment » - Posted in Uncategorized by K
Wednesday, February 20th, 2008
Next Ice Age
Ok, so Ice Ages come along every so often. With global warming and are unstable environment we are sure to eventually trigger an ice age.
When this does happen, and assuming humans are still around. Will we be able to reverse such a huge global climate trend? If an ice age were to hit us right […]
7 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, science by drewbody
Tuesday, February 19th, 2008
Why is pop stardom such a clusterfuck?
Why is being a pop music artist so rife with occupational hazards?
2 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, entertainment, sociology by Josh Millard
Friday, February 15th, 2008
Whence your personal language peeves?
Accepting as a given that (a) nearly everyone has engaged in some language-related grousing in their lives, and that (b) most of us are aware that this strange half-discipline, this “peevology“, is more about the pleasure of grousing (and even blogging) than anything more righteous and defensible…
What are your language / grammar / usage / […]
25 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, language by Josh Millard
Thursday, February 14th, 2008
Why does cannibalism get such a bad rap?
Setting aside entirely the question of murder or wrongful death as a food source, why is cannibalism per se so reviled? Are there known human cultures where it was not so? Are there animal species that don’t follow this intraculinary taboo?
8 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, ethics, sociology by Josh Millard
Wednesday, February 13th, 2008
The Alivest Guy in the Room
What would the public reaction be like if it turned out that Ken Lay is still alive?
3 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, fraud by interrobang
Tuesday, February 12th, 2008
How would people communicate in Postapocalyta?
AskMe Chatfilter rescue mission:
In case of nuclear holocaust, alien attack, meteor strike, superflu pandemic or other world-wide catastrophe, how might survivors (in a very specific set of circumstances, discussed after the jump) communicate?
Hat tip to kbanas; more preamble/detail in his deleted question if you’re hungry.
5 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, communication, scifi by Josh Millard
Monday, February 11th, 2008
What if smoking was banned?
The legality of smoking cigarettes various already by state and local context: whether you can smoke inside a place of business, or in a bar, or in a public park, is a matter of either statute or at least public debate.
But let’s go all the way. Presume that cigarettes have just fallen under a […]
7 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, economics, sociology by Josh Millard
Saturday, February 9th, 2008
What’s holding you back?
For everything you’d like to do, there’re reasons you’re not doing it. So what are your Some Day things, and what’s holding you back right now?
11 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, priorities by Josh Millard
Friday, February 8th, 2008
O Fowl Intersection!
Why did the chicken cross the road?
11 Comments » - Posted in bigbig by Josh Millard
Thursday, February 7th, 2008
What will boggle, surprise, or upset future historians?
We have the advantage of looking at history as history — what happened 50 or 100 or 300 years ago is done, and the uncloseable distance of time gives us the luxury balking at how things used to be. Scientific beliefs; social mores; government practices: all fair game in hindsight.
So what about today’s world will […]
9 Comments » - Posted in bigbig by Josh Millard
Wednesday, February 6th, 2008
What’s your Kennedy Assassination moment?
Growing up, I was taken with the way adults around me — parents, grandparents, teachers — would talk about their memories of where they were when they heard that JFK had been shot; that Martin Luther King Jr. had been killed. It fascinated me that there were these moments of shared context, of having […]
21 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, sociology by Josh Millard
Tuesday, February 5th, 2008
Should (and would) libraries filter public holodeck content?
As seen on Game Couch this morning (hat tip to Jessamyn):
“Your library has been given a Holodeck by the Bill and Melinda Gates/Daystrom Institute Foundation. Would you limit (filter) what your patrons could do in it? Are there any policies or guidelines you would have in place before it went live?”
9 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, ethics, scifi by Josh Millard
Monday, February 4th, 2008
Is writing by hand doomed?
With the increasing ubiquitousness of keyboard- and keypad- and touchscreen-driven devices in daily life, and with that trend toward non-writing input methods likely to continue over time, is handwriting (in its various forms) on the way out? When, or why not?
12 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, technology by Josh Millard
Saturday, February 2nd, 2008
What would you do if you didn’t have to work?
Congrats, you just won a modest lottery that pays an annual pension as long as you live! It’s not megabucks, but you’ve got a few tens of thousands of dollars after taxes, every year, forever.
In other words: you don’t have to work for a living. What would you do with your time? With your life?
8 Comments » - Posted in bigbig, economics by Josh Millard
Friday, February 1st, 2008
What are the mechanics behind talking to yourself?
I’m not talking about muttered questions like, “Now, where did I put my keys?”, grading, such as “Good job, me!” or knee-jerk curses, such as “Fucking weather!”
I’m talking about the sort of statements you’d normally make to another person, such as “Damn, this elevator is really slow!” or “When are people going to understand?” […]
7 Comments » - Posted in Uncategorized by grumblebee
Friday, February 1st, 2008
What if you could leave your body at will?
If you could travel out of your body at will, where would you go first? Second, third, etc.?
Would you spy on anyone? If so, how would you use your new super fly-on-the-wall knowledge?