Friday Miscellany: Illusions and Points of View

[cahwyguy]

Well, it’s Friday around lunch time, and by now you know what that means — it’s time to clear out most of the accumulated links. So grab your sandwich or salad, and enjoy this food for thought:

• Items of Interest. What better way to start out a post with some random stuff than with a post about random stuff. Two articles fall into this category. The first, from Gizmodo, presents a variety of optical illusions for your enjoyment. The second, from LA Observe, links to a bunch of random factoids.
• Changing Your View. In what some might call a waste of virtual newsprint, the former media editor for George W. Bush writes about how they came up with the Barney-cam. No, I’m not talking about the purple dinosaur; I’m talking about George Bush’s dog, who just passed away.
• Doing It On Wheels. Here’s another interesting point of view: This time, from a VIP host at a club in Las Vegas… who does it successfully from a wheelchair. This goes to show that it is the person, not the physical limitations, that makes the success.
• Microsoft vs. Google. Microsoft has embarked on a campaign against Google. This time their target of attack is Gmail, and the fact that Google scans emails to put up relevant ads. What Microsoft seems to forget is that people probably prefer relevant ads to irrelevant ads, and most people have gotten so focused they ignore the ads anyway. As for Google seeing the data anyway, Microsoft also seems to have forgotten that SMTP is a plaintext protocol, and unless steps are taken to encrypt email, anyone can read it at any transfer point.
• Mine Is Bigger Than Yours. Reports have come out that the new hotel/building replacing the Wilshire Grand will be the tallest building on the west coast. Now, normally I wouldn’t write about this, but one paragraph caught my eye: “The 71st floor will be a restaurant. The floor above that will house window-washing gear and engineering equipment, clearing the top floor for an “infinity” swimming pool and recreation area.” Wow. Would you want to swim in an infinity pool on the 73rd floor?

 

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