This PhD student dedicated his dissertation to his parents, Peter and
Dicky. What a couple! Apparently her name is Dicky Marie. If your
name was Dicky Marie, would you go by Dicky or Marie? Use the
comments to vote.
Friday, July 16, 2010
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Booty Pop is Stranger than Fiction
This is an actual product called Booty Pop. For $19.95 (plus $6.95 shipping and handling) you can buy a pair of panties that makes your butt look bigger. You can see the TV commercial on YouTube. "Strategically placed pads" add bulk to your derrière. They shamelessly advertise it as "a padded bra for your backside."
No thanks, my butt is big enough already.
Photo courtesy of DemocraticUndergroud.com
No thanks, my butt is big enough already.
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Real Estate is Scarier than Fiction
Las Vegas has been named the #1 Riskiest City for Homeowners in the U.S. In Las Vegas, 8.70% of the homes are in foreclosure. That's terrible enough, but what's worse is the additional 9.86% of home loans that are 90+ days delinquent. That's more than double the average delinquency rate (4.4%) in the 100 biggest cities in the U.S. Almost 1 in 5 homes in Las Vegas is in foreclosure or soon will be. The real estate double dip is officially underway.
Monday, July 12, 2010
Multi-Tasking Doesn't Always Save Time
This guy wants to put a flat-screen TV in his backyard so he can prune his fruit trees while he watches sports on TV. He thinks he is multi-tasking and saving time. Sure, it's a time saver if you don't count the hours spent in the ER after he severs a few fingers with the pruning shears and breaks a rib falling off the ladder while straining to see the game-winning play.
Maybe he realizes this and the pruning is just an alibi to tell his wife while he escapes to the backyard for some screen time.
Maybe he realizes this and the pruning is just an alibi to tell his wife while he escapes to the backyard for some screen time.
Royalty: A Recession-Proof Occupation
In this recession, even the British Royal Family has to tighten its belt. However, Parliament member Edward Leigh says that the Royal Family provides an excellent return-on-investment, even in this economy. Leigh says, "Compared with the gross waste in the public sector, this is small stuff. The Queen is a lot cheaper than tedious republics like Germany. Her boost to tourism, to tradition, to heritage, to the country, is enormous. There is no doubt that the Royal family provides excellent value for money."
In fact, each British taxpayer pays only 62 pence ($0.91 in US Dollars) to support the Queen for a whole year. Sounds like a good deal to me. Now I just need to convince Americans that a figurehead monarchy could do for the U.S. economy what Queen Elizabeth does for the U.K. If everyone in the U.S. contributed 91 cents per year, I'm sure I could provide plenty of economy-boosting pomp and pageantry on the $281.8 million per year. Where do I sign up?
In fact, each British taxpayer pays only 62 pence ($0.91 in US Dollars) to support the Queen for a whole year. Sounds like a good deal to me. Now I just need to convince Americans that a figurehead monarchy could do for the U.S. economy what Queen Elizabeth does for the U.K. If everyone in the U.S. contributed 91 cents per year, I'm sure I could provide plenty of economy-boosting pomp and pageantry on the $281.8 million per year. Where do I sign up?
Unfortunate Surnames
More strange surnames:
- Toker, as in Cem Toker, leader of the Liberal Democratic Party of Turkey. (Wow...In the US, the politicians have to promise not to inhale.)
- Liberator, as in Sergeant Michael Liberator of the NYPD (who, ironically, puts people behind bars)
- Zizzo, as in Sal Zizzo, professional soccer player. (pronounced ZEET-zo, but you know the kids on the playground called him zit-zo)
- Nora Hongsdusit Haripotepornkul, MD, Ob/Gyn. (How do you pronounce that?)
Practice What You Preach
College professors like to complain that their students copy the content of their papers off of the Internet. Plagiarism has become a major problem in higher education. To answer the need for plagiarism-detection, a company called iParadigms created software called Turnitin, which compares student papers with a database of 130 million previously-submitted student papers, 13.5 billion web pages, and 90,000 journals and books.
Now, iParadigms has found a new market for its "originality checking" software. They have come out with a new product called CrossCheck to see if professors are plagiarizing. Scholarly journal publishers are using CrossCheck to detect plagiarism in manuscripts. One journal had to reject 23% of the papers it received due to plagiarism. Yikes! Our tax dollars are funding these "scholars."
Disclaimer: This blog always links to sources, not just to avoid plagiarism, but also because we don't think you'd believe most of what we post if we didn't provide a link to the evidence!
Now, iParadigms has found a new market for its "originality checking" software. They have come out with a new product called CrossCheck to see if professors are plagiarizing. Scholarly journal publishers are using CrossCheck to detect plagiarism in manuscripts. One journal had to reject 23% of the papers it received due to plagiarism. Yikes! Our tax dollars are funding these "scholars."
Disclaimer: This blog always links to sources, not just to avoid plagiarism, but also because we don't think you'd believe most of what we post if we didn't provide a link to the evidence!
Strange Warnings
Today we revisit paper shredders. Some paper shredders have unusual warnings. For example, this one forbids neckties. I know this is a disappointment for all of you who need to shred your confidential neckties, but you'll just have to find a different shredder.
I guess you'll have to find an alternative way to dispose of your post-holiday leftovers.
This shredder was manufactured by a bunch of "Bah, humbug" scrooges. They do not like the Christmas season at all. In addition to neckties, they forbid gingerbread boys and wreaths.
I guess you'll have to find an alternative way to dispose of your post-holiday leftovers.
World's Ugliest Car
What luck! Of all the cars in the world, I happened upon the ugliest today. This thing makes Pepto-Bismol look like a neutral earth tone. Note the 8AR8IE license plate.
Also, notice that it is parked in a disabled-accessible parking spot. Maybe the owner's disability is colorblindness.
Disclaimer: Strange N. Stranger is not responsible for headaches resulting from looking at this blog post.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Rejected License Plates
We've seen that there is not much off-limits when it comes to naming your child in the United States. You can name your child Aryan Nation. However, the DMV is much stricter about what you can put on a personalized license plate.
Here are some license plates that have been rejected in the US:
Here are some license plates that have been rejected in the US:
- ARYAN (You can name your kid Aryan, but you can't put it on your car...as if the car is going to get teased on the playground.)
- GO POSTAL (Hey, maybe they were just advertising for the USPS)
- PACKN1 (apparently a member of the NRA)
- GWBUSH (no impersonating the president)
- REDRUM (murder backwards--who at the DMV figures these out?)
- IHAV2P (where's a rest stop when you need one?)
- IPOOPD (did we need to know that?)
- IAMHIGH (are you sure you want the cops to know?)
- KLN4U (no advertising your hitman services)
- H8VICK (no dissing Michael Vick)
- TBAGGER (no announcing that you are a member of the Tea Party)
More Strange City Names
Generic Places
Boring Places
And, just so we can end on a positive note:
Pleasant Places
Boring Places
- Plain City, UT
- Ordinary, KY
- Plainville, IN
- Boring, OR
- Big Ugly Creek, WV
- Little Hope, PA
- Imalone, WI
- Defeated, TN
- Embarrass, MN
- Bummerville, CA
- Wimp, CA
- Roads End, CA
- Hardup, UT
- Last Chance, CO
And, just so we can end on a positive note:
Pleasant Places
And finally, the smart aleck award goes to the citizens of
- George, WA.
Strange City Names
If you are travelling from Hell, MI to Paradise, PA, you might want to make a side-trip through Purgatory, ME on the way. This unfortunate traveller started at Paradise and ended in Hell. Someone should have told him he was going the wrong way.
And remember, the road to Good Intent, NJ, will only get you to Hellhole, ID.
And remember, the road to Good Intent, NJ, will only get you to Hellhole, ID.
Non-Productivity Software
How did we ever get anything done without computers and "productivity software"? Pretty well, apparently. With email, blogs, ebay and Facebook, it's hard to focus on what you should be doing. Now people are using software to disable their computers so that they can get some work done. Programs can block email and web browsing or even completely incapacitate your computer. Now stop reading this blog and get back to work!
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