January 19, 2018

Question about Lets Make a Deal Show

Okay, I've wondered about this for years.

You are on Let's Make A Deal, and Monty Hall asks you to choose Door 1, 2 or 3. You choose Door 2. Monty Hall then shows you what is behind Door 3, and it is a bale of hay. He then asks you if you want to switch to Door 1. You switch to Door 1, and behind that door is a donkey and a cart.

Question: Is that supposed to be a joke, or do you really get to keep the donkey and the cart?

I mean, hey, they said it was your prize, right? I wonder if anyone ever sued them to get the donkey and the cart.

January 12, 2018

What are your favorite password recovery questions and answers?

You know those things like favorite song, favorite movie, and so forth that are used on some websites for security confirmation?

Those things.

For ones that let you choose the question, what question and answers do you use?

I'll start with the one i use for every secure website:


How did your account get hacked?

Because I answered a shedload of 'what's your favorite X' questions on a public website.

Now, I realize many people know this, and treat these as an exercise in "snappy answers to stupid questions" (if you remember that MAD Magazine feature).

But for those who don't, there are some kinds of things that hackers didn't get from Equifax, that they still might need.

January 12, 2018

Don't fall for this trap - it was PEOPLE from shithole countries

Trump's comment wasn't directly about "countries", it was about "people".

In the noun phrase "people from shithole countries", the primary noun is "people". The "from shithole countries" is simply a modifying phrase. As offensive a modifier as that may have been on a standalone basis, it was used to describe PEOPLE.

There are those attempting to explain it away along the lines of "Oh, come on, conditions are bad in Haiti, and one might refer to it as a 'shithole'" miss the point. Have you ever referred to someplace as a "shithole"? Well, it's a recognizable term. SNL once used it during a parody of Joe Biden's somewhat repetitive use of the "tough times in Scranton growing up" stories.

Of course, the president of the US should not denigrate any country (or at least one with which we are not at war).

But this is not some casual reference to general conditions somewhere. This was a statement about PEOPLE.

The larger phrase is about PEOPLE, and the apparent suggestion that the national origin of a person is some sort of measure of worth or value of that person.

The context was not a discussion of "Hey, Donald do you want to go live in Haiti?" The context was a discussion about people seeking to live in the United States.

January 11, 2018

I JUST WON THE LOTTERY!

https://twitter.com/Berryhillj/status/951599844849831937

For those unfamiliar with this educational video:

January 10, 2018

M 7.8 quake off Honduras, tsunami advisories in Caribbean

Check tsunami.gov

January 6, 2018

Hey, Donnie, say something smart

Comedians have a variety of stock answers to the annoying situation of a social occasion at which a new acquaintance says, “So, you’re a comedian. Say something funny.”

“I’m pleased to meet you.” etc.

Someday should ask one of those shouted photo op questions, “Say something really smart.”

I’d love to know what might issue from that provocation.

You are his speechwriter. Prepare a canned answer....

January 5, 2018

Today, I quit wondering how Trump got elected....