Weasel Words

Slashdot had an interesting post yesterday about the Attack of the Corporate Weasel Words. It mentions the recent book Death Sentences: How Cliches, Weasel Words and Management-Speak are Strangling Our Public Language and its Australian author’s website, where people can submit examples, such as:

‘Heard on a Virgin flight from Brisbane to Sydney: “for your convenience, the cabin will be pressurised”. How about, “so you don’t die, the cabin will be pressurised” or just, “the cabin will be pressurised”?’

Holy Verification!

My company is planning to release the Java-based hardware design verification environment I created over the last year and a half under an open source license. We’ve been calling it JavaDV internally, but figure we’ll have to pick a new name so that Sun doesn’t jump all over us for infringing on their aggressively protected Java trademark. Of the many names we’ve brainstormed, the one that really makes me chuckle is Jihad, which could stand for something like Java Integrated Hardware Analysis and Debugging. The tagline writes itself: “Declare Holy War on Bugs!”

The Best Page In The Universe

I finally took some time to read Oldag’s favorite site, The Best Page In The Universe. I have to admit that, once I got over my aesthetic differences with the format, it’s a damn entertaining and informative site. In fact, it may well be the purest embodiment of scurrilousness I’ve seen yet. Highlights include:

For those interested in further reading, I’m impressed to note that Wikipedia contains entries for both The Best Page in the Universe and its author.

Adult Netflix

When extolling the virtues of Netflix, I often hear the complaint that Netflix doesn’t carry porn. Well, they still don’t, but IntimateDVD does. Though this might seem like a crushing blow to my entrepreneurial friends that have been scheming about creating such a business, it’s apparently based in Austin (which explains the ads on local radio), so maybe you could work there. Or, since the site isn’t nearly as slick or well-stocked as Netflix, maybe you could do it better.

The Year of Living Rudely

I’m not one to be a fan of very many things, but I am pleased to learn that the Rude Pundit will be performing The Rude Pundit in The Year of Living Rudely at the New York International Fringe Festival, which runs from Friday, August 12th through Sunday, August 28th. From the FringeNYC blurb:

Based on the cult blog with thousands of fans worldwide, the Rude Pundit attacks assholes and pisses on the powerful. In this (very rude) one-man comedy, he gives a scatological skewering and a pornographic wedgie to preachers, politicians, and presidents.

Zombie Dogs

Scientists have brought dead dogs back to life. It’s as easy as 1-2-3-4-5!

  1. Suck all blood out of dog.
  2. Pump ice-cold saline into dog.
  3. Wait 3 hours.
  4. Swap fresh blood back into dog.
  5. Administer electric shocks to restart heart. Arf! Arf!