Reader Finds Card Skimmer On Bank ATM
I've always been paranoid about ATMs, but I figured I'd be fine if I only visited bank ATMs instead of the sketchy-looking ones at the local 7-11. Silly, silly me! Just watch as I now wrestle with every stinking ATM I visit, convinced each one is out to skim my data. And then the security guards haul me away, thinking I'm trying to deface bank property. Gah.
I just can't win.
Wednesday, April 29, 2009
Envision World Peace: Marry A Terrorist
The Atlantic: All You Need Is Love / How The Terrorists Stopped Terrorism
My parents told me about this years ago, and then my dad sent me this article recently. I think the story is a hoot, and gets at the heart of the terrorism problem: give somebody a sense of worth, with everyday staples taken care of, and they'll stop blowing up airplanes &c.
Hooray for ingenuity!
My parents told me about this years ago, and then my dad sent me this article recently. I think the story is a hoot, and gets at the heart of the terrorism problem: give somebody a sense of worth, with everyday staples taken care of, and they'll stop blowing up airplanes &c.
Hooray for ingenuity!
Heartache leave: the best PR ever
Via Iconoculture:
"Japan-based Hime & Company gives its female employees under 24-years-old up to three days of “heartache leave” so they can take time to heal from a broken heart (Reuters.com 1.28.08)."
Is this brilliant? Or the dumbest thing ever? Why only three days? Why don't male employees get the same thing, when we all know that guys can easily be just as distraught over matters of the heart?
I actually think this is a publicity stunt to get buzz for Hime and Co., which (according to the Google translation of its website) is a "marketing company that provides products and services targeted to women (items Planning - Promotional PR)". Looks like they're brilliant at what they do.
"Japan-based Hime & Company gives its female employees under 24-years-old up to three days of “heartache leave” so they can take time to heal from a broken heart (Reuters.com 1.28.08)."
Is this brilliant? Or the dumbest thing ever? Why only three days? Why don't male employees get the same thing, when we all know that guys can easily be just as distraught over matters of the heart?
I actually think this is a publicity stunt to get buzz for Hime and Co., which (according to the Google translation of its website) is a "marketing company that provides products and services targeted to women (items Planning - Promotional PR)". Looks like they're brilliant at what they do.
how to get creatively unstuck?
TED Talks / Elizabeth Gilbert: A different way to think about creative genius
Are we geniuses? Or does genius speak through us? Is belief in a muse just an easy way to shed accountability, or necessary for not suffering a nervous breakdown? I'm not sure about any of these things, but I do know that Gilbert is a terrific speaker, and I highly recommend watching this 18-minute talk. I especially recommend it if you're feeling creatively stuck.
Are we geniuses? Or does genius speak through us? Is belief in a muse just an easy way to shed accountability, or necessary for not suffering a nervous breakdown? I'm not sure about any of these things, but I do know that Gilbert is a terrific speaker, and I highly recommend watching this 18-minute talk. I especially recommend it if you're feeling creatively stuck.
gorgeous poster art
I found this totally by accident, and now I'm half in love, half eating my heart out that I'll never be this stupendous an artist.
ISO50
ISO50
Oh boy! Jury duty!
First things first: Mr. T just had jury duty as well!
Next things next: Last week, through this past Monday, I had jury duty on an attempted murder case. I was only a juror alternate, which meant I couldn't sit in the room with the deliberating jury, but I agreed with their verdict of Not Guilty -- there simply wasn't enough evidence. Crazy thing? The verdict was decided in TWENTY MINUTES. Now, that's what I call efficient. Crazy, but efficient.
To quote from an email I just sent about this: I learned a lot about
- LA gangs (I won't mention any in particular, because I don't want to get shot)
- LA gang graffiti ("NELA" = "Northeast LA", for example. It's also popular to spray your "E"s as backward "3"s)
- LA gang clothing (if you see young guys in LA wearing sports jerseys with T logos on them, be they for the Texas Rangers or other, walk away VERY QUICKLY)
- GSR tests (GSR = Gun Shot Residue. Apparently the test is BS once a person washes their hands.)
Also, when a threatening, gang-type person asks you "Where you from?", they really mean "What's your gang?" and will most likely shoot you if you give a wrong answer.
Ha ha! Isn't Los Angeles exciting and dynamic?
Next things next: Last week, through this past Monday, I had jury duty on an attempted murder case. I was only a juror alternate, which meant I couldn't sit in the room with the deliberating jury, but I agreed with their verdict of Not Guilty -- there simply wasn't enough evidence. Crazy thing? The verdict was decided in TWENTY MINUTES. Now, that's what I call efficient. Crazy, but efficient.
To quote from an email I just sent about this: I learned a lot about
- LA gangs (I won't mention any in particular, because I don't want to get shot)
- LA gang graffiti ("NELA" = "Northeast LA", for example. It's also popular to spray your "E"s as backward "3"s)
- LA gang clothing (if you see young guys in LA wearing sports jerseys with T logos on them, be they for the Texas Rangers or other, walk away VERY QUICKLY)
- GSR tests (GSR = Gun Shot Residue. Apparently the test is BS once a person washes their hands.)
Also, when a threatening, gang-type person asks you "Where you from?", they really mean "What's your gang?" and will most likely shoot you if you give a wrong answer.
Ha ha! Isn't Los Angeles exciting and dynamic?
Friday, April 17, 2009
Mindshare LA: 16 April 2009
It was in a warehouse, downtown, after dark.
I got there early and helped set up chairs.
Hundreds of chairs -- dusty but light.
Open bar. Two giant snakes inside the bar's counter. I asked for a club soda "with a wedge of something." I got a cup full of various citrus wedges and fizz. Joy! On a side table: chocolate torte from Porto's. Also joy!
I had a new phone message from a job rep. She offered me a job as a brand licensing manager for NBC Universal. The following morning, I will politely decline.
Met people. Many, many people. Programmers, astrophysicists, pre-med people. Media people. JPL people. CalTech people. People whose jobs I couldn't quite figure out, but they seemed to be having gobs of fun anyway. They all liked my earrings. I'd already forgotten which ones I was wearing. I touched them; mother-of-pearl toucans, each of which took up half of each ear. Go toucans!
Time to sit down. I sat with my new CalTech posse.
First speaker discussed group dynamics. Should have been a half-hour longer, at least.
Second speaker discussed drag queens and the fluidity of personality. I wonder how this could be extended to other, non-drag groups?
Third speaker discussed the AlloSphere. I desperately need to test drive this thing.
Intermission. More fizz with wedges of things. Hello, snakes! But they were sleeping. They looked comfy.
Fourth speaker discussed DNA art. So cheap to make, so expensive to buy! I wish I had his brilliance.
Fifth speaker did terrific magic, with very bitter patter. I guess bitterness was his thing. It was on the knife edge between hilarious and depressing.
More talking. CalTech people surprised that I did not, in fact, attend CalTech. Business cards, bonding, drag queens, AlloSphere. Discussion of potential field trip to the AlloSphere. Discussion of the term "field trip." I asserted that field trips do not necessarily require chaperones. Everyone looked relieved.
12:30pm. Back to the car. No ticket, whoo! Chilly out, but I was A-OK. I was wearing my sassy red coat which makes fascinating people say "hello" to me.
I slept well.
I got there early and helped set up chairs.
Hundreds of chairs -- dusty but light.
Open bar. Two giant snakes inside the bar's counter. I asked for a club soda "with a wedge of something." I got a cup full of various citrus wedges and fizz. Joy! On a side table: chocolate torte from Porto's. Also joy!
I had a new phone message from a job rep. She offered me a job as a brand licensing manager for NBC Universal. The following morning, I will politely decline.
Met people. Many, many people. Programmers, astrophysicists, pre-med people. Media people. JPL people. CalTech people. People whose jobs I couldn't quite figure out, but they seemed to be having gobs of fun anyway. They all liked my earrings. I'd already forgotten which ones I was wearing. I touched them; mother-of-pearl toucans, each of which took up half of each ear. Go toucans!
Time to sit down. I sat with my new CalTech posse.
First speaker discussed group dynamics. Should have been a half-hour longer, at least.
Second speaker discussed drag queens and the fluidity of personality. I wonder how this could be extended to other, non-drag groups?
Third speaker discussed the AlloSphere. I desperately need to test drive this thing.
Intermission. More fizz with wedges of things. Hello, snakes! But they were sleeping. They looked comfy.
Fourth speaker discussed DNA art. So cheap to make, so expensive to buy! I wish I had his brilliance.
Fifth speaker did terrific magic, with very bitter patter. I guess bitterness was his thing. It was on the knife edge between hilarious and depressing.
More talking. CalTech people surprised that I did not, in fact, attend CalTech. Business cards, bonding, drag queens, AlloSphere. Discussion of potential field trip to the AlloSphere. Discussion of the term "field trip." I asserted that field trips do not necessarily require chaperones. Everyone looked relieved.
12:30pm. Back to the car. No ticket, whoo! Chilly out, but I was A-OK. I was wearing my sassy red coat which makes fascinating people say "hello" to me.
I slept well.
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