http://www.distracto.net Short-lived Obsessions with Interesting Things Fri, 06 Nov 2009 16:10:16 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en In the wake of Maine rejecting same-sex marriage, here's a math problem for you: Given a 53% to 47% split, and the fact that, statistically speaking, the older you are, the more likely you are to be bigoted*, how long will it take before same-sex marriage remains legal (or, at least, ... http://www.distracto.net/2009/11/a-totally-gay-math-problem/ California voters approve gay-marriage ban, along with Florida and Arizona. Phew, good thing my marriage is no longer under attack. May the generations to come look back on us and be ashamed. http://www.distracto.net/2008/11/if-only-we-could-get-separate-water-fountains-too/ (click for larger version) I'd always thought that our local Safeway (Rivermark Plaza in Santa Clara, actually a fairly "nice" area) was pretty lax in keeping their milk coolers clean, because of the vile smell of rotten milk when opening the doors. It's a little hard to see in the BlackBerry ... http://www.distracto.net/2008/09/disgusting-safeway-milk-coolers/ "Al Qaeda terrorists still plot to inflict catastrophic harm on America ... he's worried that someone won't read them their rights? " - Sarah Palin "Those who would give up Essential Liberty to purchase a little Temporary Safety deserve neither Liberty nor Safety" - Benjamin Franklin I've kind of stayed away from ... http://www.distracto.net/2008/09/sarah-palins-speech/ Brian finally got around to posting his old film projects on YouTube. This is the both beginning and end of my glamorous (if not exactly lucrative) acting career: http://www.distracto.net/2008/05/i-was-a-child-star/ So you want to know what it's like to be Distracto? As I was preparing for work this morning, I entered the bathroom to get my deodorant. As I started to reach into the medicine cabinet, a thought struck me. I don't remember what it was. ... Halfway through flossing my teeth, I ... http://www.distracto.net/2007/11/you-dont-know-what-its-like-to-be-me/ (I was going to title this "me == Googler", but I figured that kind of code would never fly at Google.) Yup, this is the exciting news I hinted at last time! As of September 17, I am joining the ranks of software engineers at Google. To say I'm excited would ... http://www.distracto.net/2007/08/me-instanceof-googler/ Welcome to the all new Distracto, now running Wordpress! My old Movable Type installation had been broken for a while, and I've been really growing to like Wordpress recently. I'd also been meaning to switch Distracto's web host for a while, so I took the opportunity to get it all ... http://www.distracto.net/2007/07/up-and-running-with-wordpress/ I know, I haven't updated in longer than forever... But if you're interested in a quick story that's updated every day, check out my new project: Word Plus One. From the about page: Word Plus One is an experiment in very short stories, called "micro fiction" or "flash fiction". Starting November 1, 2006, ... http://www.distracto.net/2006/11/word-plus-one/ Kristen and I arrived back in San Francisco last night after nearly three weeks in Binghamton spent buying and working on our new house. The whole house has a new coat of paint, and is getting new laminate floors and carpet installed throughout. I have all of our "before" photos (we ... http://www.distracto.net/2006/04/back-in-sf/