kjcoop.org » Lulz

How people perceive California

KJ Coop — Sun, 05 Feb 2012 13:53:11 +0000

After a friend posted this on Facebook, I was moved to create this graph that has been bouncing around in my head for a while:

In contrast with reality

Also, can we all realize that San Francisco is in the middle of California and stop using using “San Francisco” and “Northern California” as synonyms? There are 300 miles of California north of San Francisco.

Similar to My Little Pony

KJ Coop — Fri, 03 Feb 2012 07:51:40 +0000

After hearing many good things about the latest My Little Pony incarnation, Friendship is Magic, I looked it up on Netflix. It offered some unexpected similar titles:

Tuesday silly: “Manhood items”

KJ Coop — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 03:54:06 +0000

I was looking up this book (which I have not read so cannot endorse one way or the other) when I found the following ad on Amazon:

An unfortunate computer-generated ad.

I’m not sure what “Manhood items” are, but it made me giggle.

Tuesday silly: The Bad Thing in Yosemite

KJ Coop — Tue, 29 Nov 2011 20:35:21 +0000

The big store in Yosemite Valley has a sign showcasing their commitment to various food standards.

Unfortunately, it is guilty of The Bad Thing:

NO CHEMICALS

Tuesday silly: Dressing vs Stuffin’

KJ Coop — Wed, 09 Nov 2011 02:25:36 +0000

I saw this in Yosemite. I’m not sure why one has the final ‘g’, but the other just has an apostrophe.

Two excerpts

KJ Coop — Mon, 11 Jul 2011 15:11:07 +0000

I liken sociopathic charm to the animal charisma of other mammals who are predators. We watch the large cats, for example, and are fascinated with their movements, their independence and their power. But the direct gaze of a leopard, should one happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time, is inescapable and tetanizing, and the fascinating charm of the predator is often the last thing prey ever experiences.

Enhancing the animal charisma of sociopaths, there is our own mild affinity for danger. Conventional wisdom has it that dangerous people are attractive, and when we are drawn to sociopaths, we tend to prove out this cliche. Sociopaths are dangerous in many ways. One of the most conspicuous is their preference for risky situations and choices, and their ability to convince others to take risks along with them…Our normal affinity for the occasional thrill can make the risk-taking sociopath seem all the more charming — at first. Initially, it can be exciting to be invited into the risky scheme, so be associated with the person who is making choices outside of our ordinary boundaries.

–The Sociopath Next Door by Martha Stout PhD, p 88-89

His angel’s face was only a few inches from mine. I might have — should have — flinched away from his unexpected closeness, but I was unable to move. His golden eyes mesmerized me.

“I’m the world’s best predator, aren’t I? Everything about me invites you in — my voice, my face, even my smell. As if I need any of that!…As if you could outrun me…As if you could fight me off…”

Face ashen, eyes wide, I sat like a bird locked in the eyes of a snake.

–Twilight by Stephenie Meyer, p262-264

Not available for comment.

Magic gender

KJ Coop — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 10:30:27 +0000

A recent Manboobz post mentioned in passing something called Magyck the Gendering (the specific page has mysteriously disappered). Fascinated, I went to google it. Although I found no such reference, Google did supply me with this interesting gem:

Technology as explained by my mother: The Internet

KJ Coop — Wed, 07 Jul 2010 03:32:45 +0000

I was lamenting to my mother the difficulty in explaining technical answers to people who have limited experience with technology. She sighed sympathetically and said something along the lines of, “It’s very difficult for people who are used to dealing with a physical object to understand this thing fluttering all around us, breaking all the laws of physics.”
“Wait, where did you think the Internet is?”
She made a fluttering motion with her hands, “All around us. Like God.”

Technology as explained by my mother

KJ Coop — Fri, 02 Jul 2010 03:26:48 +0000

Someday I’d like to rent out a hall or theater and charge $5 a head for my mom to answer the audience’s technical questions. The audience would require a certain amount of savvy to realize that her answers are hilarious, not informative.

I’ll probably never get around to renting that space, so in the mean time, I’ll be posting them here, in a series I call “Technology As Explained By My Mother “. The first installment has already been posted. I’ve got a few such episodes drafted, I can be reasonably certain this will be at least a three-part series. I hope you enjoy them as much as I do.

Technology as explained by my mother: Links

KJ Coop — Tue, 29 Jun 2010 03:23:29 +0000

I was fielding technology questions from a family friend who had a hilarious misunderstanding about what a link was (he expressed a concern that too many people would link to his web page and cause a short circuit). I went to tell my mom so we could both laugh about it, but first I quizzed her to make sure she knew what a link was.

I asked something along the lines of “If I told you Google links to CNN, would you know what that meant?”

A google is a thing that appears there and you click it and it does something, whether you want it to or not.

She stopped to tell me to stop making that face. I didn’t catch what she said when she continued because I was trying to keep a straight face.