Category Archives: Silly

Upcoming Events

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Act like a T-Rex: eat a lawyer.

May 8th is Act Like a T-Rex Day, legal issues permitting.

They have trademarked the word “T-REX”. Any merchandise with the word “T-REX” anywhere on it according to their Opposition, “is likely to cause confusion as to the source or origin” and “mislead consumers” doing damage to their business

I have a meager, lay understanding of copyright law (because I’ve registered a copyright and have a book listing in the copyright office database, so I’ve read a little on the topic), but I don’t understand trademark law at all. You can trademark a term that’s already in public use (T-Rex) and then keep other people from using it. I want to trademark “The” and watch the royalties flood in.

May 8th is also another holiday, but the two aren’t mutually exclusive.

One Big Assumption

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Time-traveler cheat sheet

This basically assumes you have traveled through time because George Carlin handed you a time machine and you’re almost too stupid to breathe, or you went through a time rift, or some topologically similar scenario. Because if you invented a #@&^! time machine, you should know most of what’s there.

A moving electric field produces magnetism, and vice versa. Wrap copper around an iron core and run electricity through it, and you’ve got an electromagnet

What I’d want is an old chemistry book that included descriptions of how to obtain and purify chemicals, because that’s knowledge that’s been outsourced.

More Foolishness

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Missed opportunities for other people.

A few weeks ago, there was a version of “musical towels” going on at the gym. Several people keep their towels on hangers outside their lockers, and apparently somebody forgot to bring their towel in — so they borrowed one (which is pretty gross — this is the guys’ locker room. How often do these get washed?). Then that person finished their workout and discovered that their towel was wet, so they borrowed a towel. And so on …

I thought it would be a great prank to just grab them all and soak them in the shower. But nobody took my suggestion.

And yesterday, some furniture came in for a new employee, but was delivered after he had gone home. Colleagues moved it from the loading dock to his office, but then neglected to stack the boxes to prevent access to his desk. What were they thinking?

Attack of the Killer Dust Bunnies

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I was waylaid by dust bunnies yesterday. It started in the lab; I was exposing the fresh layer of sticky mats as I usually do, and noticed that the air disturbance (quite a flourish if you want to get the sheet up in one motion) had sent some dust bunnies scurrying. I tracked them down and captured them with an unused section of the mat, but they really shouldn’t be in the lab at all — that’s what the mats are for. We don’t let the cleaning crew in, because of safety issues and the potential for damage. But the mats have proven to be stronger than the floor, and the tile has been failing, so there are areas that have been mat-less for a while, and that has helped the bunnies thrive. I bought some frames (non-skid backing rather than adhesive) for the mats, so the mats can be reintroduced. Open season on dust bunnies! My colleague that signed the receipt for the mat frames said, “Mat frames. Cool!” Sure. He’s the one playing with the pulsed laser.

So I get home, and there’s a dreaded “Can’t connect to the internet” error on the computer. So I went searching for the likely suspects — cycle power on the modem and router, and then recheck all of the connections. Which requires some crawling around in places that have more dust bunnies! I had to wield the bunny-buster to ensure I got out alive. Turns out my phone jack had died, so no more DSL from there. I had to move the model and router to another room, and now I’m relying on wireless (and had some trouble with the router. Obviously an ally of the bunnies)

Meat Madness

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The meat playoff bracket champion has been crowned. Bacon fans will not be happy.

Lotta controversy. Pot roast, a 15 seed? Pepperoni and Italian sausage in the same sub-bracket? And the upsets — filet mignon losing to hanger steak? Ooh, that’s tough (not really, it was actually quite tender).

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