Some AI thinks I'm a guy...

:(

While browsing boingboing.net , I came across a post on GenderAnalyzer , a site that uses AI to determine if a blog is written by a man or a woman. I tried it out on this site, and it promptly told me I was a Man. :(

Sure, I was a little surprised, but they do say that it's not completely accurate. So I then tried putting in the addresses of all the blogs I link to over there----------------->

And it figured out everyone else's gender with 100% accuracy.

So, now I am trying to figure out what about my writing style screams, "MAN."

Is it all the references to Black Holes, tar pits, Infinity Glasses, and Poseidon? Or is it something more subtle?

Felines, Fur, and Flash

Nam was trying to find out if our cat had more hair than both of us combined, and he came across a site with a flash intro that was truly artistic and informational...

I THINK YOU SHOULD WATCH IT.
(please make sure your speakers are on so you can have the full experience.)

Io commands it!!

Apparently, this site exists to promote a series of books that I previously mentioned in this blog. (Parasites made me do it: Library Cats)

Besides viewing the intro, you can also learn your Warrior Cat Name (Brambleface??!!!) And find out your Warrior Cat Clan (apparently, my answers confounded the quiz or I was just not meant to belong to a fictional warrior cat gang).

Critical Thinking: The Skit

Critical Thinking: A Skit

Cast:
Poseidon: The God of the Seas
Captain Margie: A wise pirate



Scene: Captain Margie is sitting on the deck of her ship, admiring the clear, blue waves of the 11th sea when Poseidon surfaces.

Captain Margie
Ahoy Poseidon!

Poseidon
Ahoy!

Captain Margie
What have you been up to?

Poseidon
Nothing much, just thinking.

Captain Margie
How?

Poseidon
Huh? Don't you mean to ask: "about what?"

Captain Margie
No.

Poseidon
I don't get it.

Captain Margie
Of course you don't, Poseidon. That's because even though you think you think, you don't really think at all, at least not critically.

Poseidon
What? I can think critically, you jerk!
There!
Was that critical enough for you.

Captain Margie
Nope.
Here, let me help you.
Did you do anything important this summer?

Poseidon
(thinking)
Wow! This is hard!
I guess I see the difference now! Thanks!
(begins to swim away)

Captain Margie
You're not doing it yet!
(sighs)
Have you thought of something yet?

Poseidon
Hmm. Well, I flooded the Nile.

Captain Margie
Why did you do that?

Poseidon
It made me Hapy.*

Captain Margie
And?

Poseidon
It kept people from starving.

Captain Margie
Why would you want to do that?

Poseidon
Well, not starving to death is generally assumed to be a good thing.

Captain Margie
Aha! There it is!


Poseidon
What! What is it?


Captain Margie
You made the decision to flood the river based on a hegemonic assumption.


Poseidon
I did?

Captain Margie
Obviously. You also assumed that people need food to be happy.


Poseidon
Well...they do!

Captain Margie
Or so the hegemony would like you to believe.

Poseidon
Who is this hegemony?

Captain Margie
An elite group of very powerful individuals.

Poseidon
Hmm...Powerful...
Wait a minute! I'm the God of the Seas!
That sounds pretty powerful to me.


Captain Margie
(frowning)
Hmm. You may have a point there....

Poseidon
As a representative of the Hegemony, I hereby assume I already know how to think critically.


Captain Margie
You idiot.

Poseidon
Good job, Captain Margie! Now you're thinking critically too!

Captain Margie
(groans)

FIN

*BAD PUN ALERT!! Hapy was the Egyptian god of the seasonal Nile floods

Arachnaphobia

I freely admit to being scared of many things, for example: black holes, volcanoes, tar pits, sinkholes, eternity, and people. However, I've never been frightened of spiders....UNTIL TODAY.

There is a rather large (and possibly poisonous) spider , let's call him Fred, who has been living on our deck this summer. Up until a few days ago, Fred's been doing the usual spidery things, stringing up gigantic webs, catching bugs etc. But recently, his webs began encroaching on our deck furniture and house. So Nam knocked Fred off our deck with a broom and removed the web that was strung around our grill.


But Fred didn't like that...

Fred didn't like that at all...

When I went outside to do some homework today, SOMEONE was waiting for me....

nine legs? oops...

...and I almost walked into the retaliatory trap strung up right outside the door!

I took the broom to the massive web and Fred zipped upwards towards the roof. He stayed there as I read my books....watching...waiting...plotting...

Readings: Snow Crash (a few more thoughts)

Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson

Sure, the world of Snow Crash features a dystopian society divided into warring franchises and fascist suburbs, but who said Dystopia had to be depressing? (Orwell?)


I appreciate being able to read about the disturbing possibilities of the future without the somber tones of despair. Instead of tears of hopelessness, Snow Crash delivers magical linguistics, ubiquitous harpoons, and of course, pizza, fresh from the Mafia and always on time!


I recommend this book to people who like linguistics, binary, home-owner-associations, harpoons, easily identifiable protagonists, and that fuzzy static that comes on the T.V. sometimes....