Clipmarks | missangelyss's clips

Why Steampunk Is Popular

Sat, 20 Sep 2008 20:30:46 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

1. It’s Geekery The Genders Can Share

On the most basic, most appealing social level, steampunk is a way to masculinize romance.

2. An Aesthetic Response To The Science Fiction In The Culture

clean, happy technology with rounded edges. Which is great in that it’s completely user-friendly — but terrible in that “user-friendly” means “predictable”

3. Like Being Goth Without Scaring Your Parents

People think of goths as weirdoes who take vampires too seriously, and therefore they can’t help being worried on some level that a crazy goth might, you know, want to make them bleed. Whereas steampunks are — what? Weirdoes who take pocket-watches too seriously? What are they gonna do, vehemently tell you what time it is?

4. Bridging The Subgenre Gap

Steampunk is helping to bring us back to the days when the subgenre categories didn’t matter so much

5. The Future: UR Doin It Wrong

Steampunk basically lets us go back, at least in our imagination, and try again

10 Words to Avoid When Writing

Mon, 14 Jul 2008 22:37:36 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: I think I am really kind of guilty of a lot of these. ;c)

Clip Source: preciseedit.com

Really: "Avoiding this word is a really great idea."
Reason: A really great idea is the same as a great idea. If you need to emphasize something, such as the "greatness" of an idea, use a single word that means what you are trying to say, e.g., "Avoiding this word is an excellent idea."

Think: "I think the government should stop people from writing poorly."
Reason: If you write an opinion, the reader understands that you also think it. Just say what it is you think, e.g., "The government should stop people from writing poorly."

Sort of/Kind of: "Using these words is sort of annoying to the reader."
Reason: If using these words is only sort of annoying, you haven't told the reader exactly what it is. If it is annoying, say so: "Writing this way annoys the reader." If it is not annoying, tell the reader exactly what it is, e.g., "Using these words bothers readers." Use words that mean what you are trying to say, and give the reader exact descriptions. This also applies to "kind of."

Tags: english, writing

69 Ways of Saying, "You Whore!"

Tue, 01 Jul 2008 06:48:48 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

Clip Source: www.pornokrates.com

Biter: A wench whose quim is ready to bite her arse: a lascivious, rampant wench.

Buttock Broker: A bawd, or a matchmaker.

Covey: a collection of whores. "What a find covey hereis, if the devil would but throw his net!"

Dells: Young buxom wenches, ripe and prone to venery, but who have not lost their virginity, which the "upright" man claims by virtue of his perogative: After which they become free for any of the fraternity. Also a common strumpet.

Hedgewhore: An itinerent harlot who bilks the bagnios and bawdyhouses by disposing of her favours on the wayside under a hedge. A low, beggerly prostitute.

Rantipole: A rude romping boy or girl; also a gadabout, dissipated woman. To ride rantipole; the same as riding St. George. See RIDING St. GEORGE. Also see WHORE.

Riding St. George: The Woman uppermost in the amourous congress, that is, the dragon upon St. George. This is said to be the way to get a bishop.

Trumpery: An old whore; or goods of no value.

Tags: english, language, humor

The Letter in the Pond

Sat, 07 Jun 2008 22:32:59 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: After digging up a pond in his new home, he found this letter under the liner.

Clip Source: www.thatcanadiangirl.co.uk

Recently, a friend of ours, Simon, moved to Over, just North of Cambridge, UK. He was moving to a lovely property, with a nice garden and a pond.

Simon wasn’t so keen on the pond though. It’s not very child friendly, and with two young ones running around the garden, he thought it would be safer to get rid of it.

A few buckets and hours of sweating later, Simon lifted the pond lining to discover a laminated piece of paper sitting at the bottom of the gaping hole that once was the previous owner’s pond.

Tags: humor, bizarre

Who Do These Homeschooling Parents Think They Are?

Sun, 01 Jun 2008 04:18:10 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: It's funny how some people seem so set against a parent's right to homeschool. This comment lampoons that beautifully.
(More at the site.)

Clip Source: phatmommy.com

There is an interesting discussion going on at the Asbury Park Press web site about the pros and cons of homeschooling.

TANSTAAFL2: I don’t know who these parents think they are. You would think they might leave the shaping of their children’s minds, careers and futures to trained professionals, but they insist on interfering in their offsprings’ lives every step of the way.

As if these children were actually their responsibility from birth to adulthood. Don’t they realize these are the people’s children, the state’s responsibility. As such, they must be molded by the state and educated in accordance with state requirements — no more and no less.

They must be taught the role of the state is to protect the individual from his own inherent stupidity, because the individual is incapable of making intelligent decisions for himself, and therefore cannot be held responsible for his actions. The state must act as parent, Big Brother, nanny.

Tags: homeschool

Worst First Date Ever!

Sun, 04 Feb 2007 08:45:18 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: If not the worst, certainly among the top ten worst first dates. I'm betting there wasn't a second date. As chivalrous as it was, how could you look a guy in the eye again after that?

Clip Source: www.websitement-tm.com

They were about an hour away from anywhere with a rest room and in the middle of nowhere! Her companion suggested she try to hold it, which she did for awhile.

Unfortunately, because of the heavy snow and slow going, there came a point where she told him that he had better stop and let her pee beside the road, or it would be the front seat of his car.

They stopped and she quickly crawled out beside the car, yanked her pants down and started. Unfortunately, in the deep snow she didn't have good footing, so she let her butt rest against the rear fender to steady herself.

As she bent to pull up her pants, the young lady discovered her buttocks were firmly glued against the car's fender. Thoughts of tongues frozen to pump handles immediately came to mind as she attempted to disengage her flesh from the icy metal. It was quickly apparent that she had a brand new problem due to the extreme cold.

Horrified by her plight and yet aware of the humor she answered her date's concerns about "what was taking so long" with a reply that indeed, she was "freezing her butt off and needed some assistance!"

And you thought your first date was embarrassing. This gives a whole new meaning to being "pissed off".

So, as she looked the other way, her first time date proceeded to unzip his pants and pee her butt off the fender.

Thinking about what had gotten her into the predicament in the first place, both quickly realized that there was only one way to get her free.

Obviously, as hysterical as the situation was, they also were faced with a real problem. Both agreed it would take something hot to free her chilly cheeks from the grip of the icy metal!

Jay went into the audience to find the most embarrassing first date that a woman ever had. The winner described her worst first date experience.

Upon finishing however, she soon became aware of another sensation.

Tags: dating, first date, embarassing moments

What Happens to Your body if you stop smoking Right now?

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:15:35 GMT

clipped by: nemesarial

Clip Source: healthbolt.net

I think one of the main reasons it’s so hard to quit smoking is because all the benefits of quitting and all the dangers of continuing seem very far away. Well, here’s a little timeline about some of the more immediate effects of quitting smoking and how that will affect your body RIGHT NOW.

In 20 minutes your blood pressure will drop back down to normal.
In 8 hours the carbon monoxide (a toxic gas) levels in your blood stream will drop by half, and oxygen levels will return to normal.
In 48 hours your chance of having a heart attack will have decreased. All nicotine will have left your body. Your sense of taste and smell will return to a normal level.
In 72 hours your bronchial tubes will relax, and your energy levels will increase.
In 2 weeks your circulation will increase, and it will continue to improve for the next 10 weeks.
In three to nine months coughs, wheezing and breathing problems will dissipate as your lung capacity improves by 10%.
In 1 year your risk of having a heart attack will have dropped by half.
In 5 years your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
In 10 years your risk of lung cancer will have returned to that of a non-smoker.
In 15 years your risk of heart attack will have returned to that of a non-smoker.

So, you have more immediate things to look forward to if you quit now besides just freaking out about not being able to smoke.

Tags: smoking, cancer, quit smoking, health

Verbotomy: The create-a-word game

Wed, 10 Jan 2007 02:18:42 GMT

clipped by: kankamuso
clipper's remarks: I'm totally into this.

Clip Source: www.verbotomy.com

Verbotomy: How to Play

Verbotomy is about creating words.

Every day we create a new definition and matching cartoon. Your challenge is to create a word -- a verboticism -- that matches the definition. After you create your verboticism, you can vote for, or against, other player's words to help select the winning verboticism for the definition.

If you want more details, click on each step listed below.

1. Read the definition

Each day we publish a new definition and cartoon on the site.

2. Create a new word

After you read the definition, try to think of a new word — a verboticism — that would be a perfect fit.

The new verboticism must be all letters (a-z), all-one-word, with no spaces, dashes, numbers, or special characters.

Ideally your new verboticism will not match any existing dictionary-words (i.e., it is new and different), but this is not an absolute requirement.

The best verboticisms are pronounceable, and hint at the meaning.

3. Save your word

When you submit your verboticism, you will get an instant verbotometry. This rates your verboticism based on its spelling, match to existing dictionary-words, and uniqueness.

Your verboticism may be a unique. Or, it may match a verboticism already submitted by another player. Authors of matching verboticism will automatically be joined together as co-creators of the word. (Each co-creator will get equal credit.)

Once you are happy with your verboticism, save it.

VERBOTOMICS:
After you save your verboticism, you can add notes to clairify the pronounciation, show sample use in a sentence, and explain its etymology — the root words or creative inspiration. (Each creator of the verboticism can edit these notes.)

4. Vote for your favorite words

Each player gets two votes, but you cannot vote for your own word.

DEFINITION: An often debilitating condition characterized by compulsive, repetitive and obsessive reading of product documentation and warranties.

Create | Vote

Tags: game, funny, fun, humor, words, writers

The Internet & its Loud Dumb People

Thu, 28 Dec 2006 19:57:02 GMT

clipped by: Djiezes
clipper's remarks: by xkcd,
a webcomic of romance, sacrasm, math and language.

Clip Source: xkcd.com

YouTube

Tags: youtube, internet, comments, humor, fun, funny, cartoon, xkcd

How to punctuate a sentence

Thu, 05 Apr 2007 20:03:29 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: Making simple punctuation rules easy to understand. I can think of quite a few people I'd like to force to read this.

Clip Source: www.lifehack.org

Rule one
If your sentence begins with an introductory element, put a comma after it. Even if it’s a short element, put a comma after it. In time, you’ll be putting this comma in without having to think about it.

Rule five
Complete sentences that are joined without a coordinating conjunction need a semi-colon instead of a comma; the semi-colon shows the end of one sentence and the beginning of the next. Semi-colons are often followed by a connecting word or phrase; however, a connecting word or phrase is not necessary. Sentences joined with only a comma are called comma splices; they’re among the most common errors that come up in college writing.

(Note: In the next-to-last sentence in the previous paragraph, there’s a comma after however because it’s an introductory element in the second sentence.)

Tags: grammar, punctuation

How To Tell A Coder By His Keyboard...

Tue, 06 Mar 2007 19:01:02 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

Clip Source: c2.com

How to tell a person's language of choice by looking at their keyboard.

C Programmer: Their '*' and ';' keys are worn out.
C++ Programmer: Their '>' and '<' keys are worn out.
Lisp Programmer: Their '(' and ')' keys are worn out.

SQL Programmer: Their 's', 'e', 'l', 'c', and 't' keys are worn out. (Actually, 'a','n','d')

Ada Programmer: Their 'i' and 's' keys are worn out.

Java Programmer: Their 'p', 'u', 'b', 'l', 'i', and 'c' keys are worn out.

Data-Entry Clerk: The entire numeric keypad is worn out.

Unlucky Programmer: The 'm', 'o', 'n', 's', 't', 'e', 'r', '.', and 'c' keys are worn out.

Slacking Programmer: The 'n' key is worn out.

Slacking, Opinionated Programmer: The 'n' key and the '!' key are worn out.

Slacking, Opinionated, Obnoxious Programmer: The 'n' key, the '!' key, and the caps-lock key are worn out.

GWBASIC programmer: The ? key and all the number keys are worn out.

Windows(tm) programmer: The Ctrl, Alt and Delete keys are worn out.

Tags: humor, geek, programmer, coder

What To Do If The Internet Goes Down...

Sun, 04 Mar 2007 19:01:58 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: More giggles at the source.

Clip Source: www.thetoque.com

1. Panic!
An excited, agitated state will give you that heightened sense of awareness and will increase your thought processes allowing you to come up with rational solutions. Panic is just nature's way of putting your body into over-drive. It's a defense mechanism that gives you an edge when dealing with potentially harmful situations, such as a severed arm or the loss of your Internet.

7. Read
People in pre-Internet times used to read "books" and "magazines", written materials once created in printable format to pass the time. Some e-books are still available on paper, and may offer a short-term solution until your power is back and your broadband is restored. If reading is not an option, as a last resort, you may wish to try doing "chores," or try your hand at cooking. While these activities cannot replace the Internet, they may be able to make the down-time a little more tolerable.

Tags: humor, satire

Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People

Wed, 31 Jan 2007 04:37:49 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

Clip Source: webhome.idirect.com

The Ten Habits of Emotionally Intelligent People
Copyright 1999 Steve Hein, The EQ Institute - May be copied for educational uses.

High EQ people:

1. Label their feelings, rather than labeling people or situations.	"I feel impatient." vs "This is ridiculous." "I feel hurt and bitter". vs. "You are an insensitive jerk." "I feel afraid." vs. "You are driving like a idiot."
2. Distinguish between thoughts and feelings.	Thoughts: I feel like...& I feel as if.... & I feel that Feelings: I feel: (feeling word)
3. Take responsibility for their feelings.	"I feel jealous." vs. "You are making me jealous."
4. Use their feelings to help them make decisions.	"How will I feel if I do this?" "How will I feel if I don't"
5. Show respect for other people's feelings.	They ask "How will you feel if I do this?" "How will you feel if I don't."
6. Feel energized, not angry.	They use what others call "anger" to help them feel energized to take productive action.
7. Validate other people's feelings.	They show empathy, understanding, and acceptance of other people's feelings.
8. Practice getting a positive value from their negative emotions.	They ask themselves: "How do I feel?" and "What would help me feel better?" They ask others "How do you feel?" and "What would help you feel better?"
9. Don't advise, command, control, criticize, judge or lecture to others.	They realize it doesn't feel good to be on the receiving end of such behavior, so they avoid it.
10. Avoid people who invalidate them, or don't respect their feelings.	As much as possible, they choose to associate only with other people with high EQ.

Tags: eq, emotional intelligence

12 Writing Tips From George Orwell

Thu, 15 Feb 2007 18:14:30 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss

Clip Source: www.writingclasses.com

George Orwell has earned the right to be called one of the finer writers in the English language through such novels as 1984 and Animal Farm, such essays as “Shooting an Elephant,” and his memoir Down and Out in Paris.

George expressed a strong dislike of totalitarian governments in his work, but he was also passionate defender of good writing. Thus, you may want to hear some of George’s writing tips.*

A scrupulous writer, in every sentence that he writes, will ask himself at least four questions, thus:

What am I trying to say?
What words will express it?
What image or idiom will make it clearer?
Is this image fresh enough to have an effect?

And he will probably ask himself two more:

Could I put it more shortly?
Have I said anything that is avoidably ugly?

One can often be in doubt about the effect of a word or a phrase, and one needs rules that one can rely on when instinct fails. I think the following rules will cover most cases:

Never use a metaphor, simile, or other figure of speech which you are used to seeing in print.
Never use a long word where a short one will do.
If it is possible to cut a word out, always cut it out.
Never use the passive where you can use the active.
Never use a foreign phrase, a scientific word, or a jargon word if you can think of an everyday English equivalent.
Break any of these rules sooner than say anything outright barbarous.

* From “Politics and the English Language” by George Orwell.

Back

Tags: writing

Why Did The Chicken Cross The Road?

Sat, 10 Feb 2007 02:45:04 GMT

clipped by: missangelyss
clipper's remarks: I had a gigglefest over this page. So many more at the source.

Clip Source: blog.myspace.com

Why Did the Chicken Cross the Road?

Douglas Adams: Forty-two.

Mohammed Aldouri (Iraqi ambassador): The chicken did not cross the road. This is a complete fabrication. We don't even have a chicken.

Aristotle: To actualize its potential.

George W. Bush: We don't really care why the chicken crossed the road. We just want to know if the chicken is on our side of the road or not. The chicken is either with us or it is against us. There is no middle ground here.

Bill Clinton: I did not cross the road with THAT chicken. What do you mean by chicken? Could you define chicken, please?

Darwin: Chickens, over great periods of time, have been naturally selected in such a way that they are now genetically dispositioned to cross roads.

Einstein: Whether the chicken crossed the road or the road moved beneath the chicken depends upon your frame of reference.

Emily Dickinson: Because it could not stop for death.

Freud: The fact that you are at all concerned that the chicken crossed the road reveals your underlying sexual insecurity.

Bill Gates: I have just released the new Chicken Office 2000, which will not only cross roads, but will lay eggs, file your important documents, and balance your checkbook.

Grandpa: In my day, we didn't ask why the chicken crossed the road. Someone told us that the chicken had crossed the road, and that was good enough for us.

Hemingway: To die. In the rain.

Carl Jung: The confluence of events in the cultural gestalt necessitated that individual chickens cross roads at this historical juncture, and therefore synchronicitously brought such occurrences into being.

Martin Luther King, Jr.: I envision a world where all chickens will be free to cross roads without having their motives called into question.

Timothy Leary: Because that's the only kind of trip the Establishment would let it take.

Karl Marx: It was a historical inevitability.

Agent Mulder: You saw it cross the road with your own eyes. How many more chickens have to cross the road before you believe it?

Tags: humor, philosophy