Nobody Knows Anything

Welcome to Diane Patterson's eclectic blog about what strikes her fancy

Your BSG post of the day

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Via, of all things, First Draft: Things I Am Not Allowed To Do About Galactica

1. Not allowed to refer to Samuel Anders as “Mr. Kara Thrace.”
* Not allowed to refer to Major Adama as “Mr. Kara Thrace.”
* Especially in front of his wife.
* Not allowed to suggest to Major Adama’s wife that she “do the cheating frakhead one better” by joining me in the rear cargo bay after hours.
2. Not allowed to refer to Admiral Adama as “Mr. Laura Roslin.”
3. Not allowed to spell Colonel Tigh’s name “T-G-H” and claim “the Cylons took the I,” as it is cruel and not remotely funny.
* Okay, so it’s hilarious. It’s still cruel.
…
36. Not allowed, under any circumstances, to ask President Roslin who died and put her in charge.
37. The time has passed for the joke about the Cylon, the pyramid team, the elevator, and Ellen Tigh.
* Or any of its variants.
38. There is no such thing as “recreational gun use.”
* No, not even if Captain Thrace did it first.
* Oh my gods, especially not if Admiral Cain did it first.
* Not allowed to mention Admiral Cain. Ever.
39. Captain Thrace is not a pre- or post-op ANYTHING.
40. Not allowed to utter the phrase “Save a Viper! Fly a pilot!” ever, ever again.
…
373. I cannot plug my laptop into Hera.
*Even if the battery is about to die.
*I cannot “borrow” her to replace my Viper battery.

374. If I see Gaeta glaring at Colonel Tigh, I cannot offer him a pen and “see what happens.”
*You can poke an(other) eye out with those things.

375. A glower from the Admiral cannot be alleviated with an offering of Metamucil.
376. The Admiral, The Vice President, and the President’s relationships cannot be explained by substituting in characters from “Dawson’s Creek.”
*Likewise regarding Lee, Dee, Kara, & Anders and the show “Passions.”
*I am not a soap star.
*I am not a porn star.
*I am not allowed to ask Anders or Apollo to costar in any video ventures.
*Captain Thrace and Major Apollo’s relationship may also not be explained by “OK, imagine if Han Solo slept with Luke Skywalker.”

377. “Awww,” is not an acceptable reaction when the President and Admiral walk into a room together.
*The same goes for Baltar and Gaeta.
*Or Tigh and Cottle.

Hands off the coffee

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Today I ran across this article, which notes the attempt by Nestle in Australia to copyright two images of coffee in a mug:

At stake are two images of coffee; one is a cup of black coffee in a white cup viewed from above.

The other is an image of a red coffee mug, viewed from the front.

If Nestle is successful coffee roasters, sellers and even cafes risk breaching copyright if they use images similar to Nestle’s.

And you just wanna say, Are you kidding? Of course they are not: companies are not screwing around with this stuff, because every tiny victory they win pushes the envelope for exactly how far they can go in owning every image, word, thought. Copyrighting a particular instance of coffee in a mug? Hey, have at it. (Although, that would be a trademark, wouldn’t it? Damn, I can never remember this stuff.) But to own the actual concept of coffee in a white or red mug?

Ye Gods. The sheer gall.

Walk Score

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There’s a website named Walk Score, which rates how walkable your house is. That is, “Walk Score calculates the walkability of an address by locating nearby stores, restaurants, schools, parks, etc.”

Yes, the downside is typing your address in. However, I tried an intersection fairly near my house, and that worked just fine.

My house rated 60. (The intersection rated 69. What a few feet can do…)

Via Commute by Bike.