ball of lightning [dot] com

Scientists at Manchester University believe they have worked out a formula to calculate how “beer goggles” affect a drinker’s vision.

where:
An = number of units of alcohol consumed
S = smokiness of the room (graded from 0-10, where 0 clear air; 10 extremely smoky)
L = luminance of ‘person of interest’ (candelas per square meter; typically 1 pitch black; 150 as seen in normal room lighting)
Vo = Snellen visual acuity (6/6 normal; 6/12 just meets driving standard)
d = distance from ‘person of interest’ (meters; 0.5 to 3 meters)

From an Associated Press article… Emphasis mine.

Having suffered a heart attack back in September, Allen had asked prison authorities to let him die if he went into cardiac arrest before his execution, a request prison officials said they would not honor.

“At no point are we not going to value the sanctity of life,” said prison spokesman Vernell Crittendon. “We would resuscitate him,” then execute him.

Insomnia blows.

That is all.

User submissions:

Shawn:

Girlfriend pranks boyfriend with hilarious consequences - Alright, so I feel a little pity. But this just proves my “human race is doomed” theory. One stupid person at a time, that’s why I say!

Some crazy ass face morpher - Look ma! I’m Asian!

Gnome:

[12:23 AM] Gnome: yo here suttin for ur blog

Rubik’s cube SPEED! - Some kid broke the world record for Rubik’s cube solving. Now, that SEEMS kinda boring, but go to SpeedCubing.com and go to the multimedia page. Yeah… I fucking thought so…

My keyboard is losing some of the “paint” or “ink” or whatever the hell is used to print on the numerals/letters/symbols on a few of the keys. My period has disappeared along with portions of my “L,” “N,” and “S.” The keys used to have a matte finish as well, but extended use has worn that away (in essence polishing up some keys). For instance, the extreme right portion of my space bar is now glossy and reflective thanks to prolonged use in that region by my right thumb.

Interesting.

Irrelevant, but interesting.

I was lying down in my bed today; I believe I was imagining something happening that’s likely completely out of the question, when I looked at my door. It still has a giant hole/crack in it from like sophomore year (high school) where I got in some big fight with my mom about going to a Sox game with friends (this was still in the “I don’t want you driving with sixteen year olds to Boston who just got their license” phase). We fought, I punched the door, like I punched many other things (walls and ball returns especially) but surprisingly the door gave. Whoops.

I’m a lot calmer now than I used to be. A lot less yelling and fighting and swearing and fighting.

(As a side note, I eventually got to go to the game, and while the Sox lost to the Orioles, we had a grand old time reviling a Cal Ripken fan sitting about five rows in front of us– bald and shiny, we nicknamed him “Mr. Clean” and let’s just say it was a bad time for the Sox to have “free calendar day.”)

Dammit. I’m setting myself up again. For a potentially significant freefall– sans a parachute, as always. I don’t really know where it’s coming from. Have I repressed it? Is it different? Is it me being old me or is me being a new me? It’s the same, but different. I have no precident; following my heart isn’t usually a good idea, I’m just confused this time. What do I do? Nothing? Something? Everything? How do I figure out the right answer? One misstep can ruin everything, moreso than I’ve ever risked before. I’m content? High-risk, high reward proposition?

It’s 4:30 AM. I don’t know. I need to post something though. I guess I did something right, huh?

——–
Dear “Former astronomy major who realized he is far too dumb to compete with the lifetime Star Wars fans and people who already have six years of advanced astrophysics under their belts,”

Congratulations! Your application for intra-University transfer into the Atmospheric Sciences major has been approved for the Spring 2006 semester.

All new students to the College, including internal transfers, must take a math proficiency and placement exam unless you have taken a math course at Cornell (except Educ 005, Math 103 or Math 109) or you are a Biological and Environmental Engineering (BEE) student. The Math Placement and Proficiency exam will take place on Wednesday, January 18th from 11:00am ­ 2:00pm in 345 Warren Hall. The score on this exam determines whether you must take additional math courses at Cornell. Please note that AP credit in math does not exempt students from taking the math exam.

A tentative credit evaluation based on courses completed at your previous college(s) will be prepared for you and should be available at the time of college check-in. It is important to note that all students who transfer into the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences must spend at least two semesters enrolled in the college to graduate.

Spring 2006 college mandatory orientation is scheduled for 9:00am , Wednesday, January 18th, 2006 in 401 Warren Hall. At the briefing you will receive pertinent information regarding being a CALS student, including course enrollment, and advising. If you have pre-registered for courses inappropriate for your new major, you can change the selections by using the add/drop process or Course Exchange.

We welcome you to the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and wish you success in your new program. You will be receiving an official letter in the mail in the next week.

Sincerely,

CALS Admissions

—

Shit. I don’t like that “mandatory” meeting line.

Victory was ours at the hobby shop poker game this evening. Not spectacular poker by any means, but solid– very, very solid play. We now have a first place finish to go along with like four second-place finishes and a couple thirds and fourths. Huzzah for finally winning heads up.

By the way, I actually watched NBC’s “The Book of Daniel” for I was curious to see what all the fuss was about…

The mini-review:

The show is not really as offensive to me as other people have made it out to be (though I do acknowledge that the entire subliminal construct might indeed (or at least construed to) be Christian bashing, and some of the pundits have made very valid points regarding this double-edged sword– that if any other race or religion was portrayed in this light, everyone in America would be up in arms).

What I did find quite amusing is how the show tries to be so fucking edgy, it sucks… A drug addicted Episcopal priest? An alcoholic wife? A homosexual right-wing son? A 16 year-old drug dealing daughter? An adopted Chinese son who has sex with the Bishop’s daughter? A sister-in-law sleeping with a lesbian secretary? You’re kidding me right?

I’m all for watching shows with edgy characters– but seriously? Is this some sort of joke? I am actually going to admit that I am disappointed that it appears the writers of the show are merely going for shock value. That’s it and that’s all. NBC said this would be witty, hard-hitting, and *gulp* watchable. It isn’t realistic. It isn’t even concievable. It is just a couple writers throwing social no-no’s out at you every three and a half minutes so you go “oohhhhh.” It is “Desperate Housewives,” just ten times worse. I understand that NBC is likely attempting to grab headlines and stir up media attention (successful!), but personally, I have to believe that they are actually losing money on the show– after all, they isolated a Christian audience (a large demographic). They have also made it so “offensive” that networks are refusing to air it. Not to mention millions in lost advertising fees for companies that don’t want to be associated with supporting the show.

Of course, the main reason it sucked was that it promised to be witty. And I don’t think I laughed out loud once during the whole show. And if you know me, you know I like laughing. If I’m going to watch something on Fridays it’s going to be Bernie Mac, not NBC.