Sunday Morning Book Thread 04-06-2014: Burn the Heretic! [OregonMuse]

Mozilla: "We Believe In Openness & That No One Should Be Persecuted For The Beliefs They Hold, No Matter What They Are."

Yes, that's an actual quote. It's from the official Mozilla Twitter feed earlier this week.

Good morning morons and moronettes and welcome to AoSHQ's prestigious Sunday Morning Book Thread. Please direct all non-book conversation to Andy's open thread below this one. Thanks.

You May Not Be Interested In Gay Marriage, But Gay Marriage Is Interested In YOU

Now that Brendan Eich has been purged and driven out by the howling mob, I'm remembering these Genesis lyrics from one of their early LPs:

I'll give you the names of those you must kill,
All must die with their children.
Carry their heads to the palace of old,
Hang them high, let the blood flow.
Now, in this ugly world
break all the chains around us,
Now, the crusade has begun
give us a land fit for heroes,
Now

So I guess maybe he's lucky it's just him and not his entire family.

So, the events of this week caused me to start moving away from Firefox. My goal is to dump it altogether. This is something I've been wanting to do for awhile. There's something about how it's installed on my computer, or the add-ons I'm using, or some combination of the two, that causes it to eat up memory like Michael Moore at a Chinese buffet. If I leave the AoSHQ link open all night, the firefox.exe process will be using over 1.2GB of RAM (according to the windows task manager) by morning.

So I'm trying to move everything over to Opera, and we'll see how that goes. Opera uses a lot of memory, too (I guess all browsers are memory hogs), but at least it appears to be stable. Hopefully soon, I'll be able to uninstall Firefox and be done with it.

I'm trying to think of an appropriate book for this, this being the book thread and all. I don't know, perhaps this one. No, maybe not. This book by Ben Shapiro is more to the point, I think.

Literary Hoaxes

Here's an April Fool's quiz about famous literary hoaxes. I scored 5 out of 10, which they say is better than the average, but that's only because I guessed right a couple of times.

Too bad this hoax wasn't included. Of course, 'hoaxes' and 'out-and-out plagiarism' are two different things.

Although it did make it onto this list.

If you found the hoax quiz hard, here's a poetry quiz that's a bit easier. At least it was for me. You should be able to get more than a few.

More Classics

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned a video game based on the works of Franz Kafka. Well, Buzzfeed found 9 more video games based on classic novels, including Fahrenheit 451, Tom Sawyer, and Les Misérables. Wait, Les Misérables? What's that about? Do you spend the entire game running away from some creepy French policeman? Actually, no, even though that would make sense, and could actually work. This version of Les Miz is a Street Fighter type single-combat fighting game, using characters from the book.

And speaking of classic works, I like this:

6 Writers Who Accidentally Crapped Out Masterpieces

I hate the Cracked site, because it really knows how to push my buttons: every time I click on one of their links, I always get sucked into clicking on more of their links and pretty soon I have 8 or 9 browser windows open and I've wasted several hours. I feel like one of those experimental monkeys they give crack to when they press a button. Anyway, this is an interesting list of some well-known works whose authors didn't consider good, or put very little effort into writing, or perhaps wrote them just to get paid.

They're all pretty interesting, but the Franz Kafka's story is the one I wish I knew more about:

[Kafka] had little to no faith in his writing ability, considering very little of it to be worthy of publication, and asked for it to be destroyed upon his death.

...his best friend and executor of his estate Max Brod promised to carry out Kafka's wishes, and then immediately turned around and published then hell out of everything he had been specifically told not even to read himself.

So my question is, if Kafka hated what he wrote and didn't want it published, then why didn't he destroy it all himself? Perhaps this is like a suicide note written by a teen-aged girl, i.e. not serious. Perhaps he didn't hate his writing as much as he thought.

Oh, and another thing: Despite all of the hinting around and sniggering about Alice in Wonderstand, there is absolutely no evidence that Lewis Carroll was a pedophile. He was an odd duck, and no mistake, but certainly no predator. It is difficult for us in our current hypersexualized atmosphere to understand this.

And on the same page, I see they put a link to another list, 6 Musicians Who Accidentally Crapped Out Masterpieces. Those bastards. How can I not click on that?

(and all of the music stories are worth reading, by the way)

Hwæt!

From the HuffPo:

For the first time ever, Christopher Tolkien will release his father’s translation of the tale. It will be published as a book titled Beowulf: A Translation And Commentary and will include lectures J.R.R. Tolkien gave on the poem. According to The Guardian, which originally reported the news, the younger Tolkien edited the work, which his father wrote back in 1926. HarperCollins will release the translation May 22.

Available for preordering on Amazon.

Note: "Hwæt!" can be roughly translated as "listen up, jack-wagons!"

Quickies

If you have a few extra minutes to kill, you might want to select one of these 15 Short Stories You Can Read in Under 15 Minutes to fill the time.

Or, if you're into something retro, you can take a few seconds to peruse this collection of manly action paperback covers from the 1970s. Some of these are mildly NSFW, and what I find amusing is that, in a strange sort of way, they remind me of cheesy covers on women's romance novels.

Also, I can't believe there's an action hero named "Coxeman". I mean, c'mon...

Moron Recommendations

Last week, moronette 'Kathy from Kansas' wrote a fulsome review of Uncle Tom's Cabin. I'm also reading this book and finding it very enjoyable. And as Kathy said last week, Uncle Tom is not some cringing, traitorous boot-licker. His primary motivation for saying the things that he says, and doing the things that he does, comes from him consciously trying to put his Christian faith into practice.

So I'm enjoying the book quite a bit.

Books of Note

The LA Times reports that 'Breaking Bad' star Bryan Cranston will be writing his memoirs:

“With this book, I want to tell the stories of my life and reveal the secrets and lies that I lived with for six years shooting ‘Breaking Bad,’ ” Bryan Cranston said in the press release announcing his upcoming memoir. The as-yet-untitled book will be published by Scribner in 2015.

Meh. Generally, these things never live up to the advertising.

Books by Morons

The Dragon's Fury is a book by moron David Mickelson I mentioned a while back. David e-mailed me this week to let me know it will be on sale for a few days:

I wanted to let you know that there will be a "Kindle Countdown Deal" for my book starting Sunday, April 13 and running for a week. For the first two days it will be available for download for just 99 cents.

So there you are.

___________

So that's all for this week. As always, book thread tips, suggestions, rumors, threats, and insults may be sent to OregonMuse, Proprietor, AoSHQ Book Thread, at aoshqbookthread, followed by the 'at' sign, and then 'G' mail, and then dot cee oh emm.

What have you all been reading this week? Hopefully something good, because, as I keep saying, life is too short to be reading lousy books.

Posted by: Open Blogger at 10:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Still working on re-read of the 1632 series on the Kindle.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 10:00 AM (T2V/1)

2 I have 1632 on my stack. Won't get to to it for awhile, though.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 10:02 AM (fTJ5O)

3 If you haven't deleted Mozilla software from your computer, then you need to shut up and go along, junior brownshirt!

Posted by: M. Murcek at April 06, 2014 10:03 AM (GJUgF)

4 There's something about how it's installed on my computer, or the
add-ons I'm using, or some combination of the two, that causes it to eat
up memory like Michael Moore at a Chinese buffet. If I leave the AoSHQ
link open all night, the firefox.exe process will be using over 1.2GB of
RAM (according to the windows task manager) by morning.

After I changed my anti-virus software to Kaspersky I ran into that problem. I got rid of that and downloaded the free version of AVG and no longer a memory hog. (running XP)

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 10:05 AM (T2V/1)

5 Content!

Posted by: Y-not at April 06, 2014 10:06 AM (zDsvJ)

6 Hey there's always Google Chrome! Don't worry it totally won't log your keystrokes or turn on your webcam or anything creepy like that.

Posted by: espanostifer at April 06, 2014 10:08 AM (lPI05)

7
As the late great Samuel Goldwyn once said, "I hate yes-men. I want everyone to tell me the truth, even if it costs them their jobs!"

Posted by: J.J. Sefton at April 06, 2014 10:08 AM (CMkNk)

8 Superstitious village people don't know they won. Take your trophy and go home and live your life.

Posted by: redenzo at April 06, 2014 10:13 AM (WCnJW)

9 Haha, retro paperbacks include the Destroyer series. I loved those books and I have picked up the first three for the Kindle. They are now available at Amazon.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 10:14 AM (T2V/1)

10 yeah i left firefox go day before yesterday, If they won't stand up for the 1st amendment and actually allow punishment because of a religious or political contribution or philosophy , all considered mainstream rights a few short years ago , whether pressured or not.
if they can't stand up to lgbt and explain coherently WHY Eich is good for their company and WHY freedom of speech is a amazing wonderful 1st ! amendment in a!Free Country! why should i believe they could stand up to GOVT apparatchicks if govt wants to come after me for being a conservative?

Posted by: willow at April 06, 2014 10:16 AM (nqBYe)

11 B'Gal's obsession with the TV show Castle caused her to order Naked Heat and Heat Wave.

I can't wait to read the steamy secks scene on pg. 105.

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at April 06, 2014 10:17 AM (0HooB)

12
Yes, Mozilla must go. But given that in most cases it's given away for free, where does Mozilla's money come from? *That's* what must be addressed. My uninstalling the Firefox browser will affect them not at all; my boycotting their revenue sources, and making sure that said sources *know* that their support for a enterprise with a fascist corporate style (and I do mean "fascist", literally) means that they will not receive my dollars.

Follow the money: always good advice.

On books, the Tolkien translation has me very excited. I hope it's interlinear with the original, like the Haney translation is. By the way, I strongly recommend to anyone who has the slightest interest in "Beowulf" to read Tolkien's essay, "Beowulf: The Monsters and the Critics", which is available in a variety of sources. It is the single most important piece of analysis of Beowulf published in the 20th century; more to the point for most readers, it illuminates Tolkien's thinking on literature and on the themes that animated his own work. At the risk of sounding bombastic, you can read it in an evening, and it will color your thinking for the rest of your life.

Posted by: Brown Line at April 06, 2014 10:18 AM (a5bF3)

13
Superstitious village people don't know they won. Take your trophy and go home and live your life.
Posted by: redenzo at April 06, 2014 10:13 AM (WCnJW)
They haven't won until we've reached collectivist utopia. The illusion of a civil rights struggle against persecution is critical to the revolution. Oops there I go talking politics.

Posted by: espanostifer at April 06, 2014 10:19 AM (lPI05)

14 and that all of this is on the Internet , where the standard Used to be exchange of thoughts,ideas and discourse was a bonus for all people!

Posted by: willow at April 06, 2014 10:20 AM (nqBYe)

15 Started reading Gates of Fire. Haven't got very far into it but like it so far.

Posted by: Adam at April 06, 2014 10:21 AM (Aif/5)

16 Insty has a link to the code for a redirect for FF users. It sends them to a page that explains the problem and 'raises awareness.'

I just may have to do that with my little slice of Intarwebz Heaven. Internet activism FTW!

Posted by: BackwardsBoy, who did not vote for this shit at April 06, 2014 10:22 AM (0HooB)

17 I'm using Safari, so I don't feel an immediate need to switch browsers. I haven't tried it myself, but Instapundit linked to the Epic browser yesterday. It looks interesting:

https://www.epicbrowser.com/

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 10:22 AM (sdi6R)

18

While Charles Moore is hawking his book:

Margaret Thatcher: From Grantham to the Falklands

He does ask some important questions.

Why has no Thatcher or Reagan emerged for our troubled times?

Charles Moore believes that, a year after the Iron Lady’s death, leaders appear to have learnt little from her legacy

http://tinyurl.com/kz4f6xt

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at April 06, 2014 10:23 AM (IXrOn)

19 anyway i thought i'd re-read Gulags of Archipelago, because it seems fitting and it has 20 years since i last tackled it.

Hey and btw shouldn't we start burning books that are unfit for this brave new world?

Posted by: willow at April 06, 2014 10:23 AM (nqBYe)

20 Instapundit has a link to several alternative browsers. I'm test driving The Epic browser right now. It's Chrome based and had all the Google tracking crap stripped out and also blocks all trackers and blocks all the trackers and beacons. It includes a built-in proxy that you can toggle on and off. So far, it appears to be working pretty well.

Posted by: Beer Ninja at April 06, 2014 10:25 AM (vRCaC)

21 I ditched Firefox as well, having had it as my back-up to IE when I got the new computer. I wonder how soon someone in Hollywood is going to drag out the ghost of Joe McCarthy and wave it around, yelling boo! Blacklist! OOooooga-booga! one more time.

I spent all of yesterday at an exhibitor booth for Watercress Press at the San Antonio Book Festival - it's only the second time they have had the festival, sponsored by the SA Public Library association. Didn't sell too many of my own books, and the Watercress authors who came didn't sell too many, either - but we made some interesting connections between us, including with a consortium of Texas indy authors, the Texas Association of Authors. They make the scene at a wide range of book festivals and events, and will sell the members' books at their booth. It may be worthwhile for me to join as an author ... since I can't afford a table at some of the very big events, or to travel to them.
Returned last night, totally exhausted - we haven't even unpacked the car, yet.
Still working my way through Sharon McCrumb's The Devil Amongst the Lawyers. My daughter picked up a copy of Michelle Moran's Nefertiti, at a book sale on Friday, and has been totally entranced - she finished it up late last night.

Posted by: Sgt. Mom at April 06, 2014 10:26 AM (Asjr7)

22 The Knife!!!!

It wasn't a proper Genesis show unless that was the closer. Last time was October 1982 at the Gabriel reunion show.

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 06, 2014 10:26 AM (i+Fm3)

23 Have started reading "Master and Commander" with my book group and am enjoying it a great deal. Having a book on nautical terms at that time and a map of just where the fuck they are is helping my enjoyment of it a great deal, as is having seen a DVD of the movie with Russell Crowe (while knowing full well that the movie was based on at least 2 books in the series).

In Red Fortress, it's a time when the first of the Romanovs were tsars and the people were totally pissed off at being taxed so much; so upset that they beheaded a few of his cronies and then soaked the headless body with vodka and burned it. I'd like to send some of those people to Searchlight, Nevada.

In Gibbon I'm at the point where the Turks are kicking ass in Asia Minor. Gibbon gives some really snarky anti-Christian garbage where he contrasts the moooooooslims not worshipping idols, completely ignoring that fossilized dinosaur shit in Mecca that they base their fucked up cult upon. I'm almost to the point where he starts talking about the Crusades, at which point I might begin jointly reading a book on it by Zoe Oldenbourg which I picked up at a book sale a few years ago, I'm not so sure how well that's written so any alternate recs by the Horde would be appreciated.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 06, 2014 10:27 AM (e/MRg)

24 Enjoying Neal Stephenson's "REAMDE." Only 933 pages to go. And I will finish it as I have his other books. Not skimmable, either.

Want to get fired from your job for serious thought crimes (TM)? I'm reading "The Triple Package: How Three Unlikely Traits Explain the Rise and Fall of Cultural Groups in America" by Amy Chua (Tiger Mother) and Jed Rubenfeld.

The triple package is 1) a superiority complex, 2) insecurity, and 3) impulse control. The authors cite such unpersons as Mormons, the Jooooos, Cubans, Asians, and the Amish. Even worse, they compare African-Americans to immigrant Africans. Double-plus ungood! I should fire myself immediately.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 10:28 AM (O4p89)

25 so i'm hoping my out of country scandia browser will do a better job of protecting my rights than silicon valley an America company does.
guess we'll see.

Posted by: willow at April 06, 2014 10:29 AM (nqBYe)

26 Anyway, this is an interesting list ...

I think the link is missing the http://

Posted by: me, just passing by at April 06, 2014 10:30 AM (sY62r)

27 Used to be a Firefox fan when I tired of all the drama with Microsoft Internet Exploder. Was an early convert to Chrome and have never regretted making the switch. More secure because of the sandboxing and captive (automatically updated) version of Adobe Flash and frequently updated to apply patches. Probably the safest way to browse the web.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 10:31 AM (O4p89)

28 Finally found the local library. Got a John Ringo book, the second after "There Will be Dragons" in whatever series that is and what I think is the latest Dresden book by Jim Butcher. Now I need to actually *read* them as I'm afraid I've gotten very spoiled by text-to-speech on Kindle.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette, assault Hobbit at April 06, 2014 10:32 AM (GDulk)

29 Where does Mozilla's funding come from? Most is from Google. Check the Wikipedia article.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 10:32 AM (O4p89)

30 OK, literate morons, help me out. When I was younger I heard a word that described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic name, like "Hand me a kleenex" instead of "tissue", or "I need a band-aid" instead of "adhesive bandage", or "We're out of q-tips", not "cotton swabs." I can't for the life of me remember the word, and I've Googled it to no avail.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 06, 2014 10:33 AM (celt+)

31 Odd, Mozilla claims to make its money from its search function, and from donations. Mmmmm. If everyone dumps Firefox, they turn into NPR.

Posted by: Kindletot at April 06, 2014 10:34 AM (NUMLx)

32 Just a heads up for anyone who likes using Firefox:

I canned Firefox last night and switched to Pale Moon (Vox Day suggested it). It's based on Mozilla's core browser engine (which is open source) but is in not related to Mozilla corporation. Pale Moon works with most add-ons for Firefox too (at least the ones I use). So far, it's just like using Firefox, except that it runs faster (even with my add-ons). Firefox has become so bloated over the years, I would've switched earlier if I knew about it.

Unfortunately, it only works in Windows (Mac users are stuck, but there's supposedly a way to run it on Ubuntu).

Posted by: Craig Allen at April 06, 2014 10:35 AM (s5wm7)

33 When I was younger I heard a word that described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic name

Xerox?

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 10:38 AM (sdi6R)

34 30 OK, literate morons, help me out. When I was younger I heard a word that described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic name, like "Hand me a kleenex" instead of "tissue", or "I need a band-aid" instead of "adhesive bandage", or "We're out of q-tips", not "cotton swabs." I can't for the life of me remember the word, and I've Googled it to no avail.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 06, 2014 10:33 AM (celt+)

Eponym

Posted by: eman at April 06, 2014 10:39 AM (AO9UG)

35 If you like your Firefox, you can keep your Firefox...

From yesterday...
I just downloaded the Pale Moon browser too based on the early morning comments above; from the death penalty open thread...

Here's the web page...
http://www.palemoon.org/

I had no problem using the automatic install button through Firefox although I can't recall now if it "ran" automatically or if I had to click the .exe file separately (even though I just did it 10 minutes ago!) to get it to fully install, but nothing more than that.

It showed check-boxes to import items from Internet Explorer that I checked; and when it fully loaded and I first accessed the desktop icon, the Pale Moon homepage that appeared had a link to an app by a secondary source to import my full Firefox bookmarks, passwords etc.

So I downloaded it and followed the instructions to close both the Firefox and Pale Moon browsers before running the app; then ran the app from my Downloads file by the usual double-clicking the .exe file icon and it ran just fine including a popup question to answer about the importing. Then when the app had run completely, I opened the Pale Moon browser and it had indeed copied all of my bookmarks etc. over without a hitch (as far as I can tell so far)---and I have a ton of them.

I even did a quick check to see if all of my sockpuppets were stored in the HQ's "Name:*" field and it looks like they're all there too.

Addendum: and I just accessed a couple of accounts that I had to register for and my Hotmail account and they're all working fine too. Disqus is fine too.

Posted by: andycanuck at April 05, 2014 01:22 PM (hn5v5)

Posted by: andycanuck at April 06, 2014 10:39 AM (hn5v5)

36 Eh, both sides play 'burn the heretic.' At the moment, the lefties are ahead on points.

It's just a matter of time until one side is putting the other on buses and trains and shipping them off to the camps.

Posted by: MrRedNeckParadise. at April 06, 2014 10:39 AM (q6kaG)

37 Those lyrics are scary like something out if the Old Testsment

Posted by: Rightrt at April 06, 2014 10:40 AM (hgoUH)

38 The end of the Kentucky game was incredible.

I should read 1632. Somehow I had never heard of it before I saw it here.

Just watched an H2 documentary on the Rwandan genocide. Pretty well done. Lots and lots of dead bodies.

I use my Kindle Fire for movies, but use a Kindle Paperwhite for books. The Paperwhite is technologically inferior (esp. b&w), but has a much longer battery life and is easier to book-navigate.

George Patton learned guerrilla warfare tactics from John 'the Grey Ghost" Mosby?! I did not know that.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 10:41 AM (bS6uW)

39 Eponym

Posted by: eman

---------------

That's the one I always come across, but it refers to people and place names, not corporate trademark product names.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 06, 2014 10:43 AM (celt+)

40 Brown Line, I wondered the same thing. How does Mozilla make money? By selling us and our data, I'd bet. Like in the Twilight Zone episode of serving man...

BTW the CEO's statement is incomprehensible, Orwellian. It sounds like she's apologizing for firing him but of course she isn't. She must be nuts.

I want to use something other than Firefox too, with its Shockwave annoyances, but IE lets in viruses. I bet Chrome does too. So I dunno...

Posted by: PJ at April 06, 2014 10:43 AM (ZWaLo)

41 38 Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 10:41 AM (bS6uW)

The first book is outstanding. The next two or good. But after that it starts to sag.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 10:44 AM (T2V/1)

42 BTW, the first book, 1632, is available from Amazon free.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 10:45 AM (T2V/1)

43 When I was younger I heard a word that described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic name

Wiki (yeah, I know) uses the term 'genericized' for terms like kleenex and xerox. I had never heard that term before.

Could the word you are looking for be 'nonproprietary'?

Posted by: Seamus M. at April 06, 2014 10:46 AM (g4TxM)

44 Firefox blows anyway. Chrome is far better, though they are of course capturing my every key stroke and selling the data to the government.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (bS6uW)

45 Started the first Elvis Cole book last night. My library has the entire series in eBook. I should be able to burn through the 15 in a month or so. ;-)

Any recommendations for Elvis Cole / Repairman Jack / Reacher type books until the new releases come out in the next few books? It's always fun to find an old series I didn't know about to catch up on.

Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (/8qpd)

46 Enjoying Neal Stephenson's "REAMDE." Only 933 pages to go. And I will finish it as I have his other books. Not skimmable, either.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 10:28 AM (O4p89)

Thanks for reminder.
I'm reading this next.

Posted by: artisanal 'ette at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (IXrOn)

47 Finished Raising Steam by Terry Prachett. Highly recommended. Moist von Lupwig returns as high technology hits Diskworld. And Diskworld hits back.

Also finished After America: Get Ready for Armageddon by Mark Styen. Prescient and depressing. The very dark comedy helped a tad.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (u82oZ)

48 I think the link is missing the http://

Thank you, link is now fixed.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (fTJ5O)

49 Thx Vic

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 10:48 AM (bS6uW)

50
As a libertarian, (more or less) I don't really care if the gays marry. No skin off my nose.

But what really gives me pause about that issue is knowing that gay marriage per se is not really the objective. ( I doubt there are really all that many real homosexuals to begin with or that those who are really care much about getting married.) So, if its not about marriage or civil rights then it must be about ... power. It's about rolling over Christians and other people of faith. It's about tearing down tradition and institutions.

This business with the Mozilla CEO should scare the shit out of everyone.

Sooner than later, these compassion fascists (H/T, P.J.) will get to something I DO care about, like the First Amendment or the Second, or the right to contract and have private property, or jury trials....)

Oppose these fascists now on all fronts or later you won't be able to fight them on any.

Posted by: Powderhouse Rules at April 06, 2014 10:48 AM (YBusZ)

51 Hey there's always Google Chrome!

Not a big fan of Chrome. Not sure why, I just don't enjoy using it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 10:49 AM (fTJ5O)

52 Well said, Powderhouse Rules.

Posted by: andycanuck at April 06, 2014 10:50 AM (hn5v5)

53 proprietary eponym?

Posted by: Seamus M. at April 06, 2014 10:52 AM (g4TxM)

54 >>OK, literate morons, help me out. When I was younger I heard a word that described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic name, like "Hand me a kleenex" instead of "tissue", or "I need a band-aid" instead of "adhesive bandage", or "We're out of q-tips", not "cotton swabs." I can't for the life of me remember the word, and I've Googled it to no avail.

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto

generic trademark, genericised trademark, proprietary eponym or synonym

Posted by: Aviator at April 06, 2014 10:53 AM (3rrMW)

55 So now Breitbart has a login? Is this why it was down yesterday?

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 06, 2014 10:53 AM (QBm1P)

56 Interlinear translations of Old and Middle English works are the coolest. Read Beowulf and Canterbury Tales that way. Didn't know about the Tolkien Beowulf, but I'll watch for it.
All dry technical reading this week; consciously avoided the library to stay on-task, there is nothing I would rather do than distract myself with a good read.

Posted by: sock_rat_eez at April 06, 2014 10:54 AM (gUoN4)

57 12. The Mozilla IRS Form 990 is a good place to start. Lots of info in there. Starting with the names of the Directors of the Foundation and some donors.

Make them feel some heat.

Posted by: Powderhouse Rules at April 06, 2014 10:56 AM (YBusZ)

58 The Cracked writers article link is fubar.

I won't be buying any Destroyer books for my Kindle, as the parents have books 1-100 all nicely organized in a box. At the rate I'm reading books these days, I estimate I can complete the series by 2032.

I used to read 50-100 books per year; now I read the same number of words or more but most are from the Net.

Posted by: GnuBreed at April 06, 2014 10:56 AM (cHZB7)

59 23 Captain Hate at April 06, 2014 10:27 AM (e/MRg)

The First Crusade: A New History (2004) by Thomas Asbridge starts slowly, but is excellent on describing actions after Constantinople. Very well written, and entertaining.

Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 06, 2014 11:00 AM (u82oZ)

60 Finished the Divergent series.
First book is good.
Second is ok.
Third kinda falls down, like she didn't spend enough time figuring out where she was going with it.
Series started out talking political science, shifted to bioethics, which weakened the previous points.
A few too many times skimmed past what could have been interesting intellectual discussions for action.
But, does provide some good starting points for interesting concepts.

I'd recommend reading the series.

You'll have to ignore the teenage lurve stuff, as it it targeted at the YA market. Though, she did keep it PG.

Posted by: RoyalOil at April 06, 2014 11:02 AM (VjL9S)

61 Since it is the rare Open Book Thread where I am not in church during it; let me flog my little e-book.

http://tinyurl.com/ksf9cau

Worlds Apart Book 09: Gethsemane

The inhabitants of the planet Gethsemane, knowing their world was doomed, constructed The Gateway; a device that transport people directly to the Afterlife, and allows them to return. They have evacuated nearly their entire population through The Gateway. But where does it go, really? Prime Commander Keeler and TyroCommander Redfire are determined to find out. Once they reach the other side, they come face to face with... themselves; and confront uncomfortable truths about their lives. Also, there is a dark secret about The Gateway the authorities on Gethsemane have tried to keep hidden. This secret will change Pegasus and its mission irrevocably and for all time.

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at April 06, 2014 11:02 AM (6GRz5)

62 I don't know about Opera, but all of the most popular browsers (Firefox, Chrome, Internet Explorer and Safari) are products of smirking, pro-gay mafia, privacy-invading, pro-illegal immigration, American worker replacing, totalitarian douches.

I used to use Firefox, but was fed up with the memory issues you mentioned, so I switched to Chrome. Chrome was pretty good, but lately whenever I open something in a new window I get an empty black box, so I switched back to Firefox before this latest nonsense. Firefox still has memory issues - the other day I had two windows open and the process was using 3.2Gb. But I really like Firefox's add-ins and customization. IE spins uselessly for a minute every time I open it - I have no idea what it's doing, but Microsoft has a talent for bringing the fastest computer to its knees. I may have to continue using Firefox and just go scowl at a gay person.

Posted by: whoever at April 06, 2014 11:02 AM (pjMym)

63 30:
OK, literate morons, help me out. When I was younger I heard a word that
described a trademark name that was commonly used in place of a generic
name, like "Hand me a kleenex" instead of "tissue", or "I need a
band-aid" instead of "adhesive bandage", or "We're out of q-tips", not
"cotton swabs." I can't for the life of me remember the word, and I've
Googled it to no avail.

Generic trademark

Posted by: RightWingProf at April 06, 2014 11:04 AM (RtR5I)

64 For those uninstalling Firefascist, here is a handy comparison of alternative browsers.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_web_browsers

FWIW, my tablet is running faster with Opera instead of Firefox.

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at April 06, 2014 11:04 AM (6GRz5)

65 62 Posted by: whoever at April 06, 2014 11:02 AM (pjMym)

If you like the add-ins switch to Pale Moon. After installing Pale Moon then download the "migrate" tool which will bring over all the FF add-ins. You litterally can not tell the difference and it is an entirely different company.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:07 AM (T2V/1)

66 I must have read 60-70 of the Destroyer books. I used to take my students to a conference in Dayton every year. I'd usually skip out of it one afternoon and go to an old-school used bookstore about 1 mile from the conference. You know the type - stacks and stacks of musty, ill-organized books. But they'd always have a half-dozen of the Destroyer ones.

Got to know the owner, and he'd save them for me. So, I had stuff to read in the evening at the conference and on the way back.

Posted by: RightWingProf at April 06, 2014 11:07 AM (RtR5I)

67 BTW, I tried to install Chrome when it first came out. It crashed my system and it took me all day and most of the night to get rid of it and get the system running again.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:08 AM (T2V/1)

68 Re: Pratchett/Diskworld -- Must one start at the beginning? There are so many...

I avoid much SF/F series because I don't want to have to get caught up in a huge series. One of the reasons I gave up on Turtledove.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 11:08 AM (O4p89)

69 @47 NaCly Dog,I just started Pratchett's "Raising Steam". It seems to be as clever as most Discworld usually are.

Thanks to OregonMuse(and Monty before him) for this book thread. I have discovered so many wonderful reads from the recommendations by all you 'rons and 'ettes. Your collective knowledge of literature and history is astounding. Thank you all for sharing!

Posted by: SnowyBits at April 06, 2014 11:09 AM (NqhG2)

70 Firefox sucks, but IE sucks even worse. If it sucked any more it would be Netscape.

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 11:10 AM (bS6uW)

71 58 Cracked link. Copy link into editor. Look to left and remove crud, change "ww" to "www" and go. I enjoyed the linked article.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 11:11 AM (O4p89)

72 I guess I've made my last visit to Breitbart. Wth? Not signing in, screw it.

Posted by: weirdflunky at April 06, 2014 11:11 AM (m5EXk)

73 Re: Pratchett/Diskworld -- Must one start at the beginning? There are so many...

'Witches Abroad' is my favorite. It doesn't rely on knowledge of any earlier book in the series. And the 'Kitteh versus Vampire' scene is... awesome.

Posted by: Gregory of Yardale at April 06, 2014 11:11 AM (6GRz5)

74 I'm now viewing this on Pale Moon. That was easy. Thanks!

Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 06, 2014 11:13 AM (celt+)

75 I don't know if that login screen for breitbart is real. I was on earlier this morning, and it wasn't there. There is also no registration ability. Hijacked maybe?

Posted by: no good deed at April 06, 2014 11:15 AM (ILBCY)

76 Wrt Mozilla, I think their entire user base was more apt to be conservative, with younger people having gone to Opera or Chrome.

OKCupid is who really needs to feel the heat from this. They collect people's info. What's to stop then from trying to get their users fired for ungood thoughts?

Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at April 06, 2014 11:16 AM (NvZnr)

77 Currently reading The Axmann Conspiracy: The Nazi Plan for a Fourth Reich and How the U.S. Army Defeated It, by Scott Andrew Selby. Artur Axmann was the leader of the Hitler Youth and a trusted member of Hitler's inner circle. After his escape from the bunker while the Soviets overran Berlin, he and other HJ leadership attempted to reestablish the regime and undermine Allied efforts in postwar Germany. CIC agent Jack Hunter, fluent in German, posed as a black marketeer to help root out saboteurs.

There's always something new to learn about WWII.

Child soldiers, "wehrwolves" -- it's screaming for the pulp treatment, complete with lurid cover (see above).

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 06, 2014 11:16 AM (QBm1P)

78 62 - Browsers as product of lefties. Get over it. Almost all high tech products are designed by "libertarian" (really knee-jerk lefties) young people who have extremely little experience in the non-bubble world.

By non-bubble, I mean not upper middle class suburbia/academic. Like "real" fly-over country folks. Mike Rowe's kind of people. Morons/ettes.

I don't care if a product is designed by lefties; it is a given. Rush Limbaugh is a huge Apple fan and they are the darlings of the left.

When they go "thought police" like Mozilla, I pay attention. Screw the Liberal Fascists, as Jonah Goldberg described them so brilliantly.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 11:18 AM (O4p89)

79 75 Yeah ngd, I was on BB earlier also. Sister site truth revolt still has no registration, we shall see.

Posted by: weirdflunky at April 06, 2014 11:18 AM (m5EXk)

80 Well Friday afternoon finally mustered up the nerve and after three rewrites submitted a short story to Liberty Island. Also created an account on their site. Almost setup a Creators Page until I read the EULA and found this nestled near the bottom.

Should Liberty Island's promotion of your work lead to publication or licensing of the Work or a Derivative Work (Derivative Works include but are not limited to edited versions, abridged versions, excerpts, film treatments, screenplays or scripts, and character licenses) Liberty Island shall receive a 15% fee of all proceeds any such publication agreements or licenses.

Until I hear back from them on whether they like the story or not, I decided to hold back on this step. Far more broad than I recall the 30% Amazon skims for the Kindle publication which only applies to the book and nothing else.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 06, 2014 11:20 AM (kPHyB)

81 For those who like anime-

"Psycho Pass" Season One is very well done.

Set in a world where your "psycho pass" on general psychological condition is monitored to eliminate crime. If it falls out of acceptable range, you can be arrested as a latent criminal or executed if too far outside the norm.

It's done by the same folks who did the "Ghost in the Shell" series. So good animation and strong discussion of ideas about freedom, safety, human nature, etc. Very relevant in it's own way to today's events.

Strong characters that you actually care about, some nice plot twists, some shocking deaths that bring everything to a nice climax in which the stakes matter.

It's definitely worth your time.

Check it out.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 06, 2014 11:20 AM (KBvAm)

82 Posted by: NaCly Dog at April 06, 2014 11:00 AM (u82oZ)

Thanks for the rec; I'll get on it.

Posted by: Captain Hate at April 06, 2014 11:20 AM (e/MRg)

83 75 Posted by: no good deed

Yup! Managed to get there
now. Huh.

Posted by: All Hail Eris at April 06, 2014 11:20 AM (QBm1P)

84 #68

You don't have to but there are threads within the series that it helps to have read. For instance, 'Raising Steam' is the third book with Moist von Leipwig as the main character. The first is 'Going Postal' and then 'Making Money.'

Likewise, many Discworld books revolve around Commander Sam Vimes of the Night Watch. He appears as a supporting character in other volumes, such as 'Raising Steam.'

The other main threads start with the failed wizard Rincewind. Another is the witch Granny Weatherwax and her colleagues. Then there is Death. Tiffany Aching is a very young witch who stars in three of the more recent books

This article lays it out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discworld

I recommend reading the whole lot in order. Because it isn't some massive epic but rather a lot of individual stories in a shared universe, it like taking on some Turtledove collection of door stops. It's more a matter of having something reliably enjoyable for a good while, depending on your reading speed.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:21 AM (bPxS6)

85 @37 Rightrt:

Not so much OT, much more current day rabble-rousers. Here's the full lyrics:

Genesis - The Knife

For Those that Trespass against us

Tell me my life is about to begin
Tell me that I am a hero,
Promise me all of your violent dreams
Light up your body with anger.
Now, in this ugly world
it is time to destroy all this evil.
Now, when I give the word
get ready to fight for your freedom
Now -

Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds.
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve.
Some of you are going to die -
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide.

I'll give you the names of those you must kill,
All must die with their children.
Carry their heads to the palace of old,
Hang them high, let the blood flow.
Now, in this ugly world
break all the chains around us,
Now, the crusade has begun
give us a land fit for heroes,
Now -

Stand up and fight, for you know we are right
We must strike at the lies
That have spread like disease through our minds.
Soon we'll have power, every soldier will rest
And we'll spread out our kindness
To all who our love now deserve.
Some of you are going to die -
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide.

We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom
We are only wanting freedom ("Freedom, freedom, freedom, freedom...")
We are only wanting freedom ("Things are getting out of control here today")
We are only wanting freedom ("OK men - fire over their heads!")
We are only wanting freedom

--- WE HAVE WON ---

Some of you are going to die,
Martyrs of course to the freedom that I shall provide.

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 06, 2014 11:22 AM (i+Fm3)

86 67 - Chrome crashed at beginning. I had the same experience. It really sucked.

They have come a very long way. They run the pwn to own contests and work very hard (spend serious $$$$) at finding weaknesses in their products. Really worth a second try.

I've used IE, Firefox/Iceweasel, Opera, Midori, and several others. Chrome is my favorite, despite the large memory footprint.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 11:22 AM (O4p89)

87 Crap. Lack of a preview function is a PITA, as I didn't catch the extra line breaks.

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 06, 2014 11:23 AM (i+Fm3)

88 58 The Cracked writers article link is fubar

Try it again, I fixed it.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 11:23 AM (fTJ5O)

89 Went to BB, everything looked normal, clicked on the Kerry story, was able to see it, then it flashed to a register/login screen. Kind of think they'd put some sort of announcement on the site, Twitter, Facebook, etc. if they were changing formats.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 06, 2014 11:24 AM (ZshNr)

90 Now BB has no registration page. Somebody's messing with them.

Posted by: weirdflunky at April 06, 2014 11:26 AM (m5EXk)

91 Pale Moon--unless I'm wrong, has no sidebar bookmark menu; uses the same stupid drop-down menu concept as Chrome.

That automatically disqualifies it.

I'm not grandma visiting only Cat Fancy, Fancy Cat and the weather website--I have more than 3 bookmarks.

Posted by: RoyalOil at April 06, 2014 11:27 AM (VjL9S)

92 I just downloaded and installed Epic. It imported my bookmarks from Safari. It also gave me a new hash.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:27 AM (WUm4Q)

93 I've downloaded and installed Pale Moon. The only options I had for importing bookmarks, history, etc from other browsers was "IE, Chrome or Don't Import". Didn't give me the option of 'Firefox' which is my current browser.

Posted by: Tami at April 06, 2014 11:28 AM (bCEmE)

94 Whoa. This is a different hash than I have on the open thread, where I just posted. It must have something to do with the built-in IP proxy that Epic uses.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:29 AM (mSyua)

95 39 Eponym

Posted by: eman

---------------

That's the one I always come across, but it refers to people and place names, not corporate trademark product names.
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto at April 06, 2014 10:43 AM (celt+)

It applies in all cases.

Posted by: eman at April 06, 2014 11:29 AM (AO9UG)

96 #84

Lost a word there:

I recommend reading the whole lot in order. Because it isn't some
massive epic but rather a lot of individual stories in a shared
universe, it ISN'T like taking on some Turtledove collection of door stops.
It's more a matter of having something reliably enjoyable for a good
while, depending on your reading speed.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:29 AM (bPxS6)

97 Yikes!

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:30 AM (59U5Q)

98 93
I've downloaded and installed Pale Moon. The only options I had for
importing bookmarks, history, etc from other browsers was "IE, Chrome
or Don't Import". Didn't give me the option of 'Firefox' which is my
current browser.

Posted by: Tami at April 06, 2014 11:28 AM (bCEmE)

You have to use the migration tool after downloading it.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:30 AM (T2V/1)

99 Thanks to whoever recommended The Martian. Fun, funny, interesting read. Done in two days over Spring Break.

Posted by: Far Post at April 06, 2014 11:31 AM (HHTXF)

100 rickl, you're swapping out hashes like a monkey on crack.

That means you're getting a new IP every time you post a comment. How are you managing that?

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 11:33 AM (fTJ5O)

101 It's a built-in feature of the Epic browser!

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:36 AM (VMQPa)

102 ~~ I scored 5 out of 10, which they say is better than the average, but that's only because I guessed right a couple of times.~~

Pssh, 4 of 10 by selecting the first option...

Posted by: My 2cents. at April 06, 2014 11:38 AM (vHlQ5)

103 It's a built-in feature of the Epic browser!

Is it a feature or bug? I wonder if it's part of some sort of 'non-trackability' function for secure browsing.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 11:39 AM (fTJ5O)

104 I'm already looking at this on IE, which I keep on my PC for content testing. Firefox can go fuck itself.

BTW, now that I've got that guitar Solo stuck in my head I have to go play that ancient LP - just have to decide if it's Trespass or the Hackett solo on Live.

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at April 06, 2014 11:40 AM (pgQxn)

105 Baen came out with multiple volumes of the works of Christopher Anvil, including Strangers in Paradise and Pandora's Legion. He also had a story that talked about what the highway system would look like if the builders had had as many fights over standard formats and accessibility as Apple, Microsoft and the rest.
I believe it is also available from the Baen site in EBook

Posted by: Kindletot at April 06, 2014 11:41 AM (NUMLx)

106 Great three-paragraph article describing why the choice of browser is mostly irrelevant to privacy. The real issue is ad tracking cookies. Unless you refuse to accept any cookies (most pages won't work) or use TOR routing, you have very little privacy on the web.

bit.ly/1jKTlEb

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 11:41 AM (O4p89)

107 Books read this week. Only one of those of some length. That was Cauldron of Ghosts by David Weber and Eric Flint. Epub format. 67 chapters.

This book is the third of the Torch books. Which is not the main Honor Harrington arc. So you can truthfully skip this book and not really miss much. One chapter is recycled from another book in series.

Instead its more about Anton and Victor. Going back to Mesa and ferreting out more information about the Mesan Alignment. One chapter of the new book will cause your eyes to cross and skip as Princess Ruth and Anton babble about three different computer analysis of some data. A good chunk of the book, re about the last third, is all about the Seccies with support from Anton and friends re-fighting the Warsaw Uprising in one of the multi-story residential buildings.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 06, 2014 11:41 AM (kPHyB)

108 Just uninstalled FlashFox from my tablet. I had never used it, but now I'm extra pissed because it looked pretty good when I was giving it a once-over before killing it.

Posted by: Lincolntf at April 06, 2014 11:42 AM (ZshNr)

109 OKCupid is who really needs to feel the heat from this. They collect people's info. What's to stop then from trying to get their users fired for ungood thoughts?

Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at April 06, 2014 11:16 AM (NvZnr)

I once spent six months on the county work farm due to a conviction for ungood thoughts.

Posted by: Dack Thrombosis at April 06, 2014 11:42 AM (oFCZn)

110 103
I wonder if it's part of some sort of 'non-trackability' function for secure browsing.
Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 11:39 AM (fTJ5O)

That's exactly what it is.

I just tried quitting and relaunching it. It kept my bookmarks, but I had to re-enter my name and e-mail before commenting here. It deletes that kind of stuff when quitting.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:43 AM (jBHvk)

111 BTW, why would you want to use Pale Moon if it's powered by Mozilla?

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at April 06, 2014 11:43 AM (pgQxn)

112 #103

It's a randomized proxy. There are a bunch of far flung locations, any one of which might make the connection to the site. Every time a new connection is established it passes through a different node on the proxy network and thus has a different hash.

Good for privacy but could be a problem for certain types of sites. I would hope the browser has a place to create a list of place to not use the function.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:43 AM (bPxS6)

113 Mozilla: "We Believe In Openness That No One Should Be Persecuted For The Beliefs They Hold, No Matter What They Are."

Unless they don't blindly support leftist causes then they will be out of a job

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 06, 2014 11:47 AM (FE/sZ)

114 112
Good for privacy but could be a problem for certain types of sites. I would hope the browser has a place to create a list of place to not use the function.
Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:43 AM (bPxS6)

I don't know about that, but I can turn it on and off by clicking on an icon. I just turned it off, so we'll see what happens.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:47 AM (sdi6R)

115 I have recommended The Martian to many folks online and in person, but I always caution them that it really goes to shit once the plight of the protagonist is resolved (trying to avoid spoilers here).

You get caught up in a funny and technically neat read, and really liking the plucky hero, and then... it's like the author looked up at the calendar on the wall and said "Oh shit, this puppy is due at the publishers day after tomorrow - time to wrap it up!"

Posted by: Ray Van Dune at April 06, 2014 11:47 AM (qIFL7)

116 "I doubt there are really all that many real homosexuals to begin with or
that those who are really care much about getting married."

Anecdote: at a SoCal No on 8 rally, all the gays and supporters were crazy cheering. Then the guy at the podium said, "And who is going to be getting married as soon as we defeat this thing?" Not one person raised a hand.

Marriage for thee, but not for me?

Yes, the goal is just to destroy tradition.

Posted by: PJ at April 06, 2014 11:47 AM (ZWaLo)

117 #111

It uses the core code base but doesn't have the same search function that provides most of Mozilla's income. Only by diminishing the revenue can you make them understand what they've done is wrong.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:48 AM (bPxS6)

118 And now I've got my old hash back! This is cool.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 11:48 AM (sdi6R)

119 rickl has more hashes than Sybil had personalities.

Posted by: Anna Puma (+SmuD) at April 06, 2014 11:48 AM (kPHyB)

120 OKCupid is who really needs to feel the heat from
this. They collect people's info. What's to stop then from trying to
get their users fired for ungood thoughts?

Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at April 06, 2014 11:16 AM (NvZnr)

Yes, they really need to take it in the teeth too

Posted by: TheQuietMan at April 06, 2014 11:49 AM (FE/sZ)

121 #116

That is why the OKCupid business is such a joke. That site is not for people looking to form long term relationships.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 11:49 AM (bPxS6)

122 111
BTW, why would you want to use Pale Moon if it's powered by Mozilla?

Posted by: Clutch Cargo at April 06, 2014 11:43 AM (pgQxn)

Both are open source engines. Pale Moon uses the same engine with a few modifications to make it run more efficiently and faster, but they are to separate companies.

People are not dumping Mozilla because FF is a crappy browser, they are dumping it because the caved to the Gaystapo.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:50 AM (T2V/1)

123 I may have to continue using Firefox and just go scowl at a gay person.
Posted by: whoever at April 06, 2014 11:02 AM (pjMym)

LOL.

I used Pale Moon for a couple of days and it really isn't much different than Firefox. It does seem a little faster, but that's based on 'seems like' rather than objective speed comparisons.

I just installed Epic based on the comments above and it looks very bare bones but imported my FF bookmarks without trouble. I like the fact it claims not to allow tracking. No extensions allowed though.

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 11:52 AM (cHwk5)

124 Gun thread

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:53 AM (T2V/1)

125 This week I read Neil Gaiman's "The Ocean at the End of the Lane," which is about a young boy who is threatened by a creature from another dimension. Short, sweet, and damn I love the way that guy writes.

I also started on Dean Koontz' "Frankenstein" series. I'm not sure why I avoided them in the past, but they are entertaining and like most of his books, very quick reads. They showcase his traditionalist, libertarian beliefs like his other books and that is one reason why I like him.

Posted by: huerfano at April 06, 2014 11:55 AM (bAGA/)

126 19 anyway i thought i'd re-read Gulags of Archipelago, because it seems fitting and it has 20 years since i last tackled it.

Speaking of gulags, whoever did the Russian signs in the gulag in the new Muppets movie had a bit of fun. The big finale takes place with a sign in the background that says "улибайся иначе", smile or else. Granted, it should have said улибайтесь (plural), but whatever.

Posted by: Anachronda at April 06, 2014 11:58 AM (U82Km)

127 You have to use the migration tool after downloading it.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 11:30 AM (T2V/1)

Which is accessed how?

Posted by: Tami at April 06, 2014 12:02 PM (bCEmE)

128 "And who is going to be getting married as soon as we defeat this thing?" Not one person raised a hand.

The data is very limited because of how new a phenomenon it is, but the overwhelming bulk of gay marriages are lesbian couples. Gay males don't really marry.

And those lesbian marriages are far, far more likely to end in divorce. Is that because it was new and people wanted to try it? Not sure yet. Women are more apt to seek a divorce than men, so if you double up the number of women it only makes sense.

In a few decades, like gun control and promiscuity, we'll have hard numbers as to how ruinous or not this experiment has been.

In European countries which introduced civil unions, they found that heterosexual couples who didn't want marriage but wanted legal protections were the main group to get them, by far.

The movement is really about equating heterosexuality with homosexuality, so it will be easier to groom new recruits.

Posted by: Bevel Lemelisk at April 06, 2014 12:02 PM (5M5r7)

129 From a recently discovered unpublished memoir by George MacDonald Fraser (known for Flashman but his MacAuslan novels were very good):

quote
But then, political correctness is by definition dishonest and is, I believe, the most insidious doctrine to plague the Western world since those abominable soul mates communism and fascism with which it has more in common than its dupes seem to realize.

It cannot face truth; it rejects what is, simply because what is does not suit what the politically correct thinking ought to be. close quote

Posted by: throughtheravenglass at April 06, 2014 12:03 PM (SOZXR)

130 Morning all. Its good to be home. I justread Victor Hanson's "A War Like No Other:How the Athenians and Spartans fought the Peloponnesian War. Its interesting the comparisons n contrasts he makes of that war to otjer events in world and American history. Really good stuff. He goes beyond the tactics discussion and essentially uses the framework of elements of national power DIME to analyise actions and outcomes on both sides of that war. Really good stuff.

Posted by: fastfreefall at April 06, 2014 12:06 PM (Tz35j)

131 Any chance of a link for the Fraser memoir quote?

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 12:06 PM (cHwk5)

132 127 Which is accessed how?

Posted by: Tami at April 06, 2014 12:02 PM (bCEmE)

It is a separate download on the same site as the main program.

Posted by: Vic at April 06, 2014 12:08 PM (T2V/1)

133 #128

It goes back to the 'born this way' issue. If this is truly the case for the majority of homosexuals, it is only a matter of time before it becomes a detectable pre-natal factor. At which point gays suddenly develop a very different stance on abortion.

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 12:08 PM (bPxS6)

134 &&&

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 12:09 PM (cHwk5)

135 Ha! Epic has ampersands.

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 12:09 PM (cHwk5)

136 128 Rush Limbaugh said that Elton John (played at his wedding) favored civil unions and opposed gay marriage. Of course, Elton John recently got married.

It appears that gay marriage might, at least partially, be just a fad.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:10 PM (O4p89)

137 Yeah, just found it. Thanks.

Posted by: Tami at April 06, 2014 12:10 PM (bCEmE)

138 Wonder whether Pale Moon will be identified as Mozilla/Firefox or "other" in browser usage reports. I suspect the former, but haven't tested.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:14 PM (O4p89)

139 This being a book thread, if you are dumping Mozilla Firefox because of bugs, their "Burn the Heretic" stance, or whatever, make sure you write a very short story yourself and let them know why. Their site has a feedback and comments page, so give 'em some feedback.

Posted by: Rolf at April 06, 2014 12:14 PM (41Kyj)

140 Epic allowed me to import my bookmarks from Safari. I just checked again, and that was the only choice. It must have detected that Safari was the only browser I had installed. I don't know whether that will work with Firefox.

So far I like Epic. I've had to play around a little with font sizes. The only thing I don't like is that a new tab opens behind the current window, which is not what I'm used to. I haven't found a way to change that and make the new tab the current window.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 12:18 PM (sdi6R)

141 #138

http://user-agent-string.info/list-of-ua/browser-detail?browser=Pale%20Moon

Posted by: Epobirs at April 06, 2014 12:19 PM (bPxS6)

142 141 Good, thank you.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:21 PM (O4p89)

143 For 131 at 12:06
I can't remember how to do condensed links. It is the Daily Mail, article 2597921.

Posted by: throughtheravenglass at April 06, 2014 12:23 PM (SOZXR)

144 139 Feedback to Mozilla. I did and encourage others to do so. I don't think it will do any good, as they have painted themselves into a corner, but I wanted to do my bit to pop their intellectual "bubble".

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:23 PM (O4p89)

145
Eh, both sides play 'burn the heretic.' At the moment, the lefties are ahead on points.

It's just a matter of time until one side is putting the other on buses and trains and shipping them off to the camps.

Posted by: MrRedNeckParadise. at April 06, 2014 10:39 AM (q6kaG)

Both sides?

Sure, we have the RINO Wars and such, but they're limited wars, with each side generally adhering to a minimal ROE (although that seems to be changing somewhat recently). The battlefield is almost always within the realm of ideas and elections. Even in our battles with the left, the right leaves families and jobs alone, often to our detriment.

Leftists ALWAYS go scorched earth. "Fuck you, I'm gonna get your spouse fired from their job because I don't like YOUR politics". "Fuck you, I'm gonna spread rumors to your friends about how you beat your kids because you voted for The Shub". "Fuck you, I'm gonna key your car because you have a Romney/Ryan bumper sticker". "Fuck you, I'm reporting you to Child Services because you allowed your son got a target shooting merit badge in Boy Scouts".

Posted by: IllTemperedCur at April 06, 2014 12:25 PM (c2oll)

146 143 Daily Mail article link http://dailym.ai/1lIS8zu

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:28 PM (O4p89)

147 Epic allowed me to import my bookmarks from Safari. I just checked again, and that was the only choice. It must have detected that Safari was the only browser I had installed. I don't know whether that will work with Firefox.

Epic imported my bookmarks from FF. I had to set the homepage manually, but everything else looks fine.

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 12:28 PM (cHwk5)

148 Genesis Lyrics?

That's a Barrelin'.

Posted by: garrett at April 06, 2014 12:32 PM (3vkf/)

149 "Mozart," by Paul Johnson this week. Finally finished "The Borgias," by Clemente Fusero.

Posted by: mnw at April 06, 2014 12:36 PM (MipG2)

150 148 Genesis Lyrics?

That's a Barrelin'.

It's old Genesis, so it's OK

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 12:41 PM (fTJ5O)

151 Finish listening to Pratchett's "Raising Steam" I admit I had some fear it would be another book in the line of Moving Pictures and Soul Music ( on the bottom of my list of Pratchett novel). The story was great with many familiar characters, Moist Von Lipwig aka Mr Slightly damp, from previous works.
Also listen to Ringo "Last Centurion"
Reading now Jay Lake " Mainspring" A seventeen year boy is visited By the Archangel Gabriel and given a mission to save the clockwork earth.

Posted by: Kyon at April 06, 2014 12:43 PM (mT+TO)

152 Don't know if this is common knowledge, but Opera is just another flavor of Chrome now. They ditched their own engine last year in favor of their own branded version built on the open source Chromium Blink engine. In fact, most "alternative" browsers these days are merely different flavors of Chrome, although some -- like Comodo Dragon -- remove a lot of the tracking shit that Google adds to Chrome.

I'm giving the SlimBoat browser a try at the moment. It's built on the WebKit engine, which was developed by Apple and powers Safari. My initial reaction is that I like Comodo Dragon more, but we shall see.

Posted by: holygoat at April 06, 2014 12:46 PM (5Y+A+)

153
It's old Genesis...

Still, no excuse. Though JeffB is a fan.

Posted by: garrett at April 06, 2014 12:47 PM (3vkf/)

154 Let me second the thanks above for the recommendation for "The Martian."

Very engaging and a hoot at times too. Could have used more hot sex though. I gave my copy to the retired JPL engineer who lives next door.

Just finished "1177 BC" on the Kindle. Meh. Over-rated in my opinion. He spills a lot of facts then dismisses all the current theories of the cause of the First Dark Ages. Earthquakes? Na. Sea Peoples invasion? Hardly, Drought? Happens all the time. What were the Dark Ages like? Did the population shrink?

But when it comes to useful facts, like what a ship of the time could transport, how fact could it go, or the agrarian population needed to support a city-state, he's empty-handed. For example, if one Bronze Age farmer could support himself and his family, plus one city dweller, than a capital of 8,000 needed a rural farming population of well over three million (farmer plus family plus city.) How much farm land would that take?

He falls back on some vague ideas about "system failure" and mumbles about complexity theory but does seem to understand the concept well or to offer any persuasive speculation.

Math must be hard for archeologists.

Posted by: Whitehall at April 06, 2014 12:48 PM (SexDa)

155 150 148 Genesis Lyrics?

That's a Barrelin'.

It's old Genesis, so it's OK
---------------------
As in second album released in 1970 before Phil was even a member. I won't even get into Harold the Barrel (1971).

Posted by: Captain Ned at April 06, 2014 12:48 PM (i+Fm3)

156 Or, if you're into something retro, you can take a few seconds to peruse this collection of manly action paperback covers from the 1970s. Some of these are mildly NSFW, and what I find amusing is that, in a strange sort of way, they remind me of cheesy covers on women's romance novels.

I checked it out and there wasn't even one NSFW cover. You made me waste one of my precious clicks for nothing! You're going on my list buddy.

Posted by: Anon Y. Mous at April 06, 2014 01:01 PM (IN7k+)

157 152 Chrome's rendering engine was WebKit until recently, when they "forked" and started to remove cruft to form the Blink rendering engine, now used by Opera and others.

Whatever rendering engine is used, there is a lot more to a browser than the rendering engine.

Even removing the Google "tracking shit" doesn't really protect you from ad tracking cookies. Comodo (and Chrome incognito mode or Safari private mode) delete cookies after a session, but don't prevent tracking during a session. See #106 for link.

Ironically, the easiest way for moderately technical folks to have real privacy on the net is to boot (from USB or CD) "tails" (The Amnesic Incognito Live System), which uses the Iceweasel variant of Firefox. Unfortunately, the NSA has said that the use of TOR routing or encryption are flags to indicate that the traffic deserves special attention.

About tails -- bit.ly/PLR0gW

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 01:04 PM (O4p89)

158 Posted by: MrRedNeckParadise. at April 06, 2014 10:39 AM (q6kaG)

Please give some examples from the right side of the aisle of this type of behavior.

Please be specific.

Thanks, though I suspect you're a moby and cannot.

Posted by: naturalfake at April 06, 2014 01:06 PM (KBvAm)

159 158
It's the classic leftist lies and projection tactic.

Posted by: votermom at April 06, 2014 01:11 PM (AfmS7)

160 157
Unfortunately, the NSA has said that the use of TOR routing or encryption are flags to indicate that the traffic deserves special attention.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 01:04 PM (O4p89)

Why do you want privacy, if you've got nothing to hide? Eh, comrade?

/sarc tag should be unnecessary

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 01:13 PM (Lfoau)

161 @153-

But JeffB is a total homo ....

Posted by: Blacksheep at April 06, 2014 01:18 PM (bS6uW)

162 138
Wonder whether Pale Moon will be identified as Mozilla/Firefox or "other" in browser usage reports. I suspect the former, but haven't tested.

Posted by: doug at April 06, 2014 12:14 PM (O4p89)

It gets identified as Firefox. I used it to go to a page which rejects Firefox and it got rejected as well.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot Jr. at April 06, 2014 01:19 PM (4tAp3)

163 Epic is apparently based on Chrome.

Not that I know what that means or anything.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 01:23 PM (CJ19G)

164 Just wanted to throw out there, because the Horde seems to have a good collective memory --

Does anyone know how far the gaystapo and associated lynch/flash mobs went against Orson Scott Card? Last I heard, he was in trouble because of his religion. Any further on that front?

For some reason that writer came to mind when reading about the 'zilla drama; so how many other successful creative types have been subject to this nonsense that maybe we should have a central list.

Posted by: Mustbequantum at April 06, 2014 01:27 PM (MIKMs)

165 Whitehall: Robert Drews's 1992 book on the Bronze Age collapse was good, in that Drews took the time to investigate chariot warfare (which is tank warfare) and its strengths and weaknesses.

It seems to me that the real bulwark of civilisation then was Anatolia. The Hittites were not vulnerable to seaborne raiders in the least. I'd like to know what brought *them* down. More discoveries will be needed I think.

Posted by: boulder toilet hobo at April 06, 2014 01:44 PM (8SGxa)

166 "Pale Moon--unless I'm wrong, has no sidebar bookmark menu; uses the same stupid drop-down menu concept as Chrome.

That automatically disqualifies it."

I'm on Pale Moon x64 right now, and it does have a bookmark sidebar. View/Side Bar/Bookmark.

Posted by: whoever at April 06, 2014 01:45 PM (pjMym)

167 i think BY FAR the most relevant book regarding the firefox/eich is 'kindly inquisitors'. written by a gay man, partly warning the gaystapo will go too far and hurt its cause.

Posted by: obamuh at April 06, 2014 01:46 PM (1oxug)

168 I finished Boundary yesterday and promptly downloaded the other two booki in that series. I'm currently 90% done with the second, Threshold, and if the weather forecast holds, I expect to read Portal tomorrow.

Pale Dawn is working just fine for me, and yes, I have all my Firefox add-ons too. Plus I have my bookmarks in their usual place just on the left of the screen. Looks like Firefox will be exiting this computer later today or early tomorrow, and my older computer when I get a wireless adapter for it so I can download Pale Dawn to it.

Posted by: Empire1 at April 06, 2014 02:04 PM (xhbSe)

169 "I hate the Cracked site, because it
really knows how to push my buttons: every time I click on one of their
links, I always get sucked into clicking on more of their links and
pretty soon I have 8 or 9 browser windows open and I've wasted several
hours."

That's why I try to avoid TV Tropes...one time I was at my desk almost 24 hours with 50 tabs open. Oy.

Posted by: cheshirecat at April 06, 2014 02:04 PM (wfEsq)

170 Thanks, as always for your thread, Oregon Muse. I look forward to them. I got 4 out of five on the literary hoaxes and 64% on the poets. I enjoy these quizzes. However, I didn't even know who some of those more modern women poets were. Yikes!

Posted by: FenelonSpoke at April 06, 2014 02:33 PM (XyM/Y)

171

Normal
0

This week I finished Vegas and the Mob by Al W. Moe. This
independently published book was available as a free loan for amazon prime
members. I enjoyed the book, but the organization was a bit confusing at times,
and it could have used another run-through by the editor.

Late in the book, the author briefly mentions something that
may be of interest to the horde. In June 1978, Frank Lefty Rosenthal of the
Stardust had some interaction with the then chairman of the Nevada Gaming
Control Commission, one Harry Reid.

This incident may have been dramatized in the 1995 film,
Casino. The author later mentions that Mrs. Reid a few years later found a
crude bomb under the hood of their car.

Yes, that Harry Reid. He was chairman of the Nevada Gaming
Commission from 1977 to 1982. He was also inducted into the UNLV Gaming Hall of
Fame in 2001. Interesting?

Posted by: long time lurker at April 06, 2014 02:56 PM (ok7Un)

172
"action paperback covers from the 1970s."

Ahhh - true confession, I used to read the Western version of these, the Slocum books by "Jake Logan", back when I still had my Padawan braid.

"He rides wherever chance takes him, evading the law, following his own code, setting women's hearts afire, and making a name for himself as a man to be reckoned with."

http://tinyurl.com/l78vhy7

Also: "The books claimed to be adult oriented, due to the presence of three explicitly described sex scenes in each of the books."

Tee hee....

Posted by: Laurie David's Cervix at April 06, 2014 02:56 PM (kdS6q)

173 So it's the Browser/Bookthread?

Not switching from Mozilla at the moment, although between reading yesterday and today here in the HQ I can see who to go to.

Been reading a very strange book. It's called 'The 13 1/2 Lives of Captain BlueBear. Very funny novel about some sort of bear who has all sorts of weird adventures. And I do mean weird. Haven't come across something this different since I first read 'Who Framed Roger Rabbit?'.

And it's quite heavily illustrated. The author is Walter Moers, who also does the drawings.

Oh, and still working on 'The Neverending Story'....

.

Posted by: HH at April 06, 2014 03:18 PM (XXwdv)

174 re: Pale Moon browser. Been using it for a few weeks now. WONDERFUL!
Very fast. Very easy migration from FF. My new browser.

To make it even better, in extensions (tools>add-ons>extensions) Download Bluhell Firewall, install it, then disable Addon+. (for a few weeks until you're comfortable)
Now you will see a noticeable increase in browsing speed, with no difference (that I could tell) with the blocking adblock + did before.

enjoy

Posted by: Mikey at April 06, 2014 03:22 PM (PyN8j)

175 4 out of 10 on the hoax quiz. Not bad, since I really had no idea about any of them.

Posted by: rickl at April 06, 2014 03:29 PM (sdi6R)

176 Actually, now that I think about it, I think the name of the book was 'Who Censored Roger Rabbit?'

Fitting for these times...

Posted by: HH at April 06, 2014 03:30 PM (XXwdv)

177 Daughter and Son In Law took me to an awesome place today in Raleigh where they are selling used books, hard covers for a dollar and paperbacks 5 for a buck, kids books 10 bucks for a plastic shopping bag full. They are only open on the first weekend of each month.

I will be going back. Oh yes, I will be going back.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at April 06, 2014 03:35 PM (yh0zB)

178 Pale Moon. Powered by Mozilla.

Posted by: GGE of the Moron Horde, NC Chapter at April 06, 2014 03:42 PM (yh0zB)

179 Looking for some tech help. Moving from Firefox to Opera, trying to move my many Bookmarks over. In the Opera menu, the move Bookmark command is grey, not black, (I can't select it), how did y'all import/export your Bookmarks? (I really am a moron, sometimes.)

Posted by: Bones at April 06, 2014 04:07 PM (48jYe)

180 GGE, read the FAQ on the Help tab at Pale Moon. I don't know why the Powered by Mozilla appears at the bottom of the home page, but the guy appears to be completely separate from Mozilla.

Posted by: Retread at April 06, 2014 04:10 PM (cHwk5)

181 I switched from firefox to pale moon and told firefox to go pound sand after I uninstalled them . If you used firefox before you will have absolutely no problem with pale moon. They have a migration tool that will move your entire firefox profile into their browser with your previous add-ons. I been using pale moon for over 4 days now and it's actually better than firefox ever was in my opinion. Loads fast, easy to use and most importantly from their FAQ:

Pale Moon (and Moonchild Productions) is in no way associated or affiliated with the Mozilla Corporation or Mozilla Foundation. Pale Moon nor the developer have any ties with Mozilla, financially or otherwise. Mozilla does not benefit from people using Pale Moon.

Pale Moon is a fully independent product.

So what link is there with Mozilla?

Only one: I use the freely available Open Source code of Firefox to base Pale Moon on.

http://www.palemoon.org/

Posted by: sailwind at April 06, 2014 04:40 PM (wbUBF)

182 Think I figured it out...

Posted by: Bones at April 06, 2014 04:51 PM (48jYe)

183 Think I figured it out...

Tell me how you did it. I had to resort to using an add-on...

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 04:54 PM (fTJ5O)

184 The book that made the NYT best sellers list before it was written.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Libertine

Posted by: Bones pvt at April 06, 2014 06:10 PM (VRgwb)

185 54-
Posted by: Taro Tsujimoto

Masterbrand

Posted by: BarneyOffal at April 06, 2014 07:09 PM (ul4Lc)

186 183 Think I figured it out...

Tell me how you did it. I had to resort to using an add-on...

--------------------------------------------------

To give credit where it's due...

http://forums.opera.com/discussion/1832554/bookmark-importer-under-more-tools-is-grayed-out

Posted by: Bones at April 06, 2014 07:31 PM (48jYe)

187 Thanks for the link. Looks like there's no fix, only one work-around or another. I installed the Bookmarks Manager add-on, seems to work ok.

Posted by: OregonMuse at April 06, 2014 09:54 PM (fTJ5O)

188 45 Started the first Elvis Cole book last night. My library has the entire series in eBook. I should be able to burn through the 15 in a month or so. ;-)
Posted by: Emile Antoon Khadaji at April 06, 2014 10:47 AM (/8qpd)

For a second there I thought you wrote "Erevis Cale" and was going to ask if Paul S. Kemp is as good as I'd heard.

Posted by: BornLib at April 07, 2014 08:28 PM (zpNwC)

189 81 For those who like anime-

"Psycho Pass" Season One is very well done.

Set in a world where your "psycho pass" on general psychological condition is monitored to eliminate crime. If it falls out of acceptable range, you can be arrested as a latent criminal or executed if too far outside the norm.

It's done by the same folks who did the "Ghost in the Shell" series. So good animation and strong discussion of ideas about freedom, safety, human nature, etc. Very relevant in it's own way to today's events.

Strong characters that you actually care about, some nice plot twists, some shocking deaths that bring everything to a nice climax in which the stakes matter.

It's definitely worth your time.

Check it out.
Posted by: naturalfake at April 06, 2014 11:20 AM (KBvAm)

Oh my yes. Psycho-pass is brilliant stuff.

Posted by: BornLib at April 07, 2014 08:40 PM (zpNwC)

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