How to kill a joke...

I was reading an article that pointed to the Wikipedia entry for False Premise. I think that article could also be used to demonstrate how something isn't funny at all when you try to explain it.

A false premise can also be a premise that is poorly or incompletely defined so as to make the conclusion questionable. The following joke from Plato and a Platypus Walk Into a Barillustrates the point:

"An old cowboy goes into a bar and orders a drink. As he sits there sipping his whiskey, a young lady sits down next to him. ... She says, 'I'm a lesbian. I spend my whole day thinking about women. ...' A little while later, a couple sits down next to the old cowboy and asks him, 'Are you a real cowboy?' He replies, 'I always thought I was, but I just found out I'm a lesbian.'"

The mistake the cowboy makes is that he assumes that the definition of a lesbian is somebody who spends the "whole day thinking about women." The reason the joke works is because in a certain way that definition could apply to lesbians, but it fails to address the point that a lesbian is a homosexual female. The cowboy is neither homosexual nor female, therefore he is not a lesbian.

Emphasis mine.

HRO Auctions

Ham Radio Outlet is now doing auctions for ham equipment.

Just like you and me...

... only better.


Gary Varvel

Are you kidding me?

Bev Perdue | NC Governor | Suspend Elections | Jobs | The Daily Caller:

"“I think we ought to suspend, perhaps, elections for Congress for two years and just tell them we won’t hold it against them, whatever decisions they make, to just let them help this country recover,” Perdue said at a rotary club event in Cary, North Carolina, according to the Raleigh News and Observer. “I really hope that someone can agree with me on that.”"

Seriously? That's the answer? I don't think this idea passes the good sense test.

Tablets, Tablets, Tablets

A review of the iPad challengers...

And a new one coming next week... Amazon Tablet announcement on Wednesday

Amazon Kindle Tablet Could Shake Up Tablet Wars: Here's How | PCWorld (Via Slashdot.org) - thoughts about Amazon's possible tablet and strategy - pros and cons.

Looks like I am one of the cool kids with my 7" Nook Color Android tablet...

The Motorola 7" Android Tablet

The 7" HP TouchPad that will never be.

And the power of the iPad and other consumer devices in the enterprise - they have been leaking into our company for years and it is only getting worse, err better, err worse.

Online Identity

If you've read anything about the changes to Facebook, you know that they are trying to access data from every facet of your life. Mark Zuckerberg has already said that privacy is dead. Even when signing out of Facebook, you will find that it has stored your credentials as you visit other sites that have integrated with Facebook. (Deleting all your Facebook cookies can work around that.) The plan is to make Facebook a requirement instead of being optional as you visit sites outside the walled garden. For example, if you want to use Spotify, you are now required to have a Facebook account.

And given the stance that there should be no anonymous Facebook accounts, there doesn't seem to be a way around this requirement.

Perhaps something like this is the future...

PSEUDONYMITY. You heard it here first. I think it’s a big concept. Pseudonymity is the combination of anonymity and authority. It is an alter ego name that follows you on the Internet. It allows you to interact with people in different ways.

I would use the word "reputation" instead of "authority," but I think we are talking about basically the same thing. You may not know who I am, but if you follow my blog, you will know what to expect from me and get to decide if I am trustworthy/interesting/crazy.

Worser and Worser

wesrucker247 From the "things that only happen at Tennessee" department: Smokey the dog tears ACL. No, really: http://t.co/iD5NFMukTue, Sep 27 10:02:45 from TweetDeck

Seriously. When will UT start to catch some breaks?

DEAD SIX is Out Today

DEAD SIX is out today! « Monster Hunter Nation:

"The plot is big. The action is big, but we kept it plausible. The tactics/equipment stuff is solid. One of my proof readers is a guy that Jack Bauer would hang out with. We did our homework. Considering that we wrote this years ago and put in the Arab Spring, a narcotrafficante revolution in Mexico, and stealth helicopters, none of which (we knew) existed at the time, I’d say we were at least semi-plausible in our brainstorming process. We took some liberties with reality, all authors do, but we tried not to make them stupid liberties."

Larry must be listening to my suggestions.

Baofeng UV-3R: DC Cigarette Lighter/ USB Charging Cable

Main Trading Company has a USB charging cable and cigarette lighter charger for the UV-3R for $13. (Their cable is much prettier than mine.) I find having the cigarette lighter DC charger with a USB port to be very useful... I can charge my phone, my GPS, my iPad, my Nook, or my UV-3R.

Baofeng UV-3R: Mark II Display

Check out the video to get a feel for the two line display on the Baofeng UV-3R Mark II.