catbird’s world

I don’t think the guy who runs nomarriage.com has to worry about getting married. I doubt any woman would want to be stuck with him. Some words of “wisdom” he imparts:

- “Then later in life, when the shine wears off and you finally see how inferior [women] are to men in every way, you realize that you’ve wasted yourself on a bunch of crap.”

- “Modern woman wants all the benefits of ‘equality’ without any of the responsibilities.”

- “The truth is a large percentage of parents HATE being parents.”

- “Only marry foreign women… Bottom of the barrel—white American chicks. Yecch.”

- “You should be proud if American women call you a ‘loser’”

Although “loser” isn’t the exact word that comes to mind, Mr. NoMarriage, you should be very, very proud right now.

catbird :: Nov.24.2003 :: socio-pop :: 3 Comments »

Although he would prefer me to install a news aggregator, Steve told me back in September about the launch of Yahoo! RSS feeds.

“Woo-hoo!” I thought and the first day I set it up was great. After the first day, though, I noticed that the entries never updated. Thinking maybe I screwed something up, I clicked “edit,” but that led me to a blank page. Well, at least I could still use it as a sort of backward, inconvenient bookmark list.

While early on the blogs block often wouldn’t show up, now it is completely MIA. What gives, Yahoo?

catbird :: Nov.19.2003 :: technology :: Comments Off

After checking out the link to the meatrix on MetaFilter yesterday, I was wondering how I was going to avoid factory farmed meats short of driving around the countryside.

The ASPCA has given me a clue: Humane Farm Animal Care (HFAC) certifies farms with the “Certified Humane Raised & Handled” label. Certification requires “rigorous on-site inspections, which ensured that animals receive a nutritious diet without antibiotics or hormones, and that they have been raised with shelter, resting areas and space sufficient to support natural behavior.”

More information and producers who have received certification can be found at CertifiedHumane.com.

catbird :: Nov.06.2003 :: food :: Comments Off

Here’s a thought: maybe music sales are down because so much new music sucks.

Okay, so people are downloading and burning CDs, but could the downturn in CD sales also be a result of crappy “Instant Pop” generated by television shows and record executives?

Brent Hansen, President and Chief Executive of MTV Networks Europe intelligently points out:

He also points out the the industry “continues to be an art and not a science” and “It is not just about quick burns and quick returns.”

Let’s hope others in the music industry start to see his points.

catbird :: Nov.05.2003 :: music :: Comments Off

Yesterday, the FCC approved rules that would insert a digital marker into the data stream being transmitted. The goal is to block people from sharing movies and TV shows recorded from their televisions. Officials say that the technology will allow people to record for their personal use, just not share.

Consumer groups are concerned:

The rules may also make it impossible to share content that is in the public domain. As icing on the cake, the rules could allow technology to track the viewing habits of consumers.

Hopefully the government, businesses, and technology innovators will figure out effective ways to handle new technology and copyright issues soon. This certainly doesn’t seem like the answer.

catbird :: Nov.05.2003 :: technology :: Comments Off

… Otherwise known as “Something that won’t be happening at the Hatchlet birth.”

[From boingboing.net] Matt sez, “the very cool presence of wi-fi here at the hospital means that I can blog my second daughter’s birth as it happens. Finally my two favorite things (my daughters and my laptop) come together!”

catbird :: Nov.04.2003 :: technology :: 3 Comments »