This is Rick Miller's Typepad Profile.
Join Typepad and start following Rick Miller's activity
Rick Miller
Recent Activity
I haven't seen the other Scott's "frightened child" comic, but the bit about a kid being afraid of being killed is pretty clueless.
First of all, most kids are oblivious to their own mortality. They may be frightened by threats of harm but it's extremely rare for children in our society to even consider the finality of death.
Second, offices full of cubies are far more safe than any child's own home. How would a kid get killed in an office?
Basic Instructions, Part 6
In yesterday’s post I showed you how Scott Meyer’s comic, Basic Instructions, would look stuffed into a traditional comic strip format. It’s a tight fit. Today, as an experiment, I rewrote Scott’s joke for Dilbert, to see how many words I could save by featuring a well-understood character, and ...
I don't think it works as a "strip".
He already HAD something that worked. He should run with it.
Newspapers?!? Does anyone still read those???
Basic Instructions, Part 5
If you are new to my ongoing reality series on cartoonist Scott Meyer, start with this link to catch up: http://dilbertblog.typepad.com/the_dilbert_blog/2007/08/basic-instruc-1.html Readers of this blog overwhelmingly preferred reading Basic Instructions in its original 4-panel and wordy format ...
You definitely should have set the price higher, Scott.
Ten points only knocks me down to somewhere in the 130's, so I would just miss officially qualifying as "genius". Big deal. Where do I sign?
Brains or Intercourse
I always wonder why people do research to discover the obvious. Now researchers have “discovered” that smart people have less intercourse than people of average intelligence. http://www.gnxp.com/blog/2007/04/intercourse-and-intelligence.php One reason the dimwitted get so much action is that th...
We can be MORE SURE about the non-existence of any "god" than about the veracity of any experimental results because often religions depend upon believing in self-contradictions, which simply cannot be true.
So it's not a matter of being certain or uncertain about the existence of anything. The high level of "certainty" for atheism comes from the fact that there's no believable definition of god.
The Atheist Who Thought He Was God
Can we ever be sure about anything in life? Is a feeling of 99% certainty enough to say you “know” something? Or do you need to feel 99.9999999999% certain before you’re willing to commit? If you say you need to be 100% certain, you don’t understand how human brains work. It’s common for the hu...
Cochrane reviews data on vitamin C and the common cold.
The Cochrane Collaboration has updated its review
of studies of vitamin C for preventing and
treating colds. [Douglas RM and others. Vitamin C
for preventing and treating the common cold.
Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews 2007,
Issue 3. Art. No.: CD000980. DOI:
10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub3]
http://www.mrw.interscience.wiley.com/cochrane/clsysrev/articles/CD000980/frame.html
The study looked at 30 controlled clinical trials
involving a total of 11,350 participants. The
reviewers concluded:
"Regular ingestion of vitamin C has no effect on
common cold incidence in the ordinary population.
It reduced the duration and severity of common
cold symptoms slightly, although the magnitude of
the effect was so small its clinical usefulness
is doubtful."
Consumer Health Digest #07-28
July 24, 2007
http://www.quackwatch.org/00AboutQuackwatch/donations.html
Things I Used to Know
When I was a kid, it was common knowledge that you would get cramps and drown if you went swimming within an hour of eating. It never occurred to me that if eating and swimming was a deadly combination, the bottom of every pool would be covered with corpses. I never heard of anyone perishing fro...
A-HAHAHAHAHAHA! Accident?!? Sure. :D
I love it. My only comment was, "Another religious dumpfest. How boring." I'm glad to see it all got wiped.
No Sunday Post Today
There will be no post for this Sunday. TypePad hiccuped and was hiding the new posts after the old ones for the past few days. That has been resolved and I will resume blogging Monday morning. The "Great Debate" post about what worldview is most dangerous got deleted by me in the process of tryi...
I pet animals because I want them to like me.
Everyone likes to be liked.
Petting
What do you think about when you pet a dog or cat? There are three typical categories: 1. You imagine how it feels for the animal so you can maximize its pleasure. 2. You think about how it feels to you and your hand. 3. You think about whatever you were going to think about anyway. If you imagi...
Hmmm, if nice shoes can help someone get into a good mood, then I should be helping my wife get to the stores to replace some of her worn-out shoes.
Gotta get her a pair of red pumps too, for special occasions.
Footwear Theory of Motivation
I once had a boss who shared his theory for seducing a woman. I’m not sure if it was genius or insanity. His theory is so simple it has to be one or the other. His two step secret to seduction: 1. Take her to your place. 2. Get her to take off her shoes. That’s it. His observation, after years ...
Scott,
For the benefit of your readers, you should have at least mentioned the classic "fuck me red pumps".
Rick
Footwear Theory of Motivation
I once had a boss who shared his theory for seducing a woman. I’m not sure if it was genius or insanity. His theory is so simple it has to be one or the other. His two step secret to seduction: 1. Take her to your place. 2. Get her to take off her shoes. That’s it. His observation, after years ...
The conclusions of the study didn't logically follow from the experimental results.
The actual results were that people LEARNED ITEMS FASTER when presented with the angry face after those items.
My first guess would be that the angry face would evoke a defensive reaction, since an angry person might physically attack you. It would tickle a reaction of FEAR. I'd speculate that FEAR, not pleasure, is the difference.
Just because it takes place after the sequence doesn't mean it isn't being associated with it. Fear tells your brain to get in gear.
This Explains Everything
I’ve often noted that all of the world’s problems are caused by people who apparently enjoy making other people miserable. I know it sounds like one of those cynical observations I often make for humorous purposes, but I mean it literally. There’s no other explanation for why people put so much ...
I think the name sucks too, but it looks like at least they were following some sort of naming scheme. If it turns out to be a popular vacation spot, I'm sure folks will come up with a nickname for it.
Interplanetary seeding is an interesting question. It's perfectly reasonable to speculate that it could happen naturally if a planet with life already on it were involved in a collision with another large object.
Cool New Planet with a Shitty Name
Scientists discovered a planet 20.5 light years from here that seems to have the right stuff for sustaining life. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/18293978/ The scientists named the planet Gliese 581 C, evidently to showcase the reason scientists can’t get laid. Science fiction writers all over the ...
You don't expect all auto mechanics to sing well, nor bank tellers to all write good novels. So why would you expect a women's basketball team to be examples of morality?
Shouldn't "perfect" morality be the job for professional morality-mongers like Ted Haggard, Jim and Tammy Bakker, and Catholic priests?
Perfection
Something has been bothering me about the Don Imus controversy. On the surface, it’s a case where a mistake was made, and after that, everyone involved eventually did the right thing. - People communicated their feelings in appropriate ways. - Imus eventually acknowledged his mistake and apologi...
"What if everyone did that?"
"Am I deceiving myself in some way?"
"Would someone whom I admire do such a thing?"
The Butler’s Dilemma
Let’s say you’re the butler to a billionaire who lives alone. The billionaire dies in his sleep. You know he owns a large piece of jewelry that no one else has seen, and you have access to it. If you steal the piece of jewelry, sell it, and give the money to an African charity, you can feed an e...
Finally! I was wondering why you kept flogging that dead horse.
I think you could skip the bickering about "free will" though and just concentrate on the "we don't know as much as we think we do" idea.
Things That Shouldn’t Make Me Happy
There are things in this world that shouldn’t make me happy, but they do. For example, when I see two dogs humping in the park, it shouldn’t make me happy. But it does. Today I will experience a new thing that shouldn’t make me happy, but it will. I picked up the latest Time magazine and starte...
Hmm...
If I go around telling other people that my wife mistreats me, or worse, writing about it in a journal, I'll tend to believe that and maybe even ignore the good things she does.
I thought that maybe keeping a journal and then burning it would be cathartic, but now I'm thinking otherwise. Time to start a new journal; a good one.
Thanks for yet another clue, Scott.
Today I Will Improve Your Sex Life
I’m reading a great book called “Influence: Science and Practice” by Robert B. Cialdini. It’s full of research and anecdotes about how to influence people. It’s a real eye-opener. One of the most potent forms of persuasion has to do with people’s innate need to be consistent. Studies show that ...
Hey, this is a valuable thing to learn... not just for hotel staff but for husbands too!
The Joy of Righteous Indignation
During my college years, I worked two summers as a desk clerk for a resort in the Catskills. That’s where my boss taught me that one of the services we offered was listening to irrational whining. He explained that certain customers enjoy complaining. To them, it’s not so much about getting a so...
At what point do you consider a comic to be "stolen"?
If I buy the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal which carries Dilbert in the "Business" section, and I show it to my son (who did not buy the paper)... is that "theft"?
What if I clip it out and put it on my cubie wall? How many people have to see it before it's "theft"?
Then what if I think it's *so* cool that on my blog I post a link to the comic, just to the GIF file on dilbert.com. Is that theft?
World Record Holder?
I wonder who holds the record for being the victim of the most crimes. I might have a shot at that record. Here’s my list. - Assault by pistol (1) - Robbed by large knife (1) - Death threats (1) - Apartment robbed (2) - Garage robbed (2) - Embezzled (2) - Robbed at gunpoint (3) - Car stereos sto...
I don't get much entertainment out of your posts on ineternational topics but this one reminded me of something that *is* kind of funny.
Pick any country that has the word "democratic" in its official name and check it out. It probably isn't democratic at all.
Is Iran as Democratic as the United States?
I’ve been trying to understand Iran’s form of government. They have a President, who is elected by the people, and is the second most powerful person in the country. That sounds democratic. But he’s not the top dude. Above the president is the Supreme Leader who controls the military and police....
Hell yeah. I learned tons of useful real-world stuff in 9 weeks of US Navy boot camp that I've tried to pass on to my kids. It's industrial safety and bullshit detection all in one!
Navy boot camp teaches stuff like:
- follow the directions (implies "read them first"),
- be neat because messes become hazards and obstacles,
- pay attention to details,
- if you don't want people to mess with something, lock it up,
- electricity, steam, rotating machinery and enclosed spaces are dangerous,
- physical fitness is mandatory,
- when in doubt, check it out, and
- if someone is pushing a load of anything in your direction, it's probably crap.
Smarter Than a 5th Grader
From a marketing perspective, there’s a brilliant new game show on TV called Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? The host, Jeff Foxworthy, asks adults questions from topics covered in grade school. The adult can rely on a 5th grader for help up to three times. For example, Foxworthy asked what c...
Subscribe to Rick Miller’s Recent Activity