The Joking Computer

The Joking Computer:
Computer generated jokes than your third-grade brother would tell. For example:

Q. how is a nude stream different from a reserve legal document?
A. one is a bare spill, the other is a spare bill.

One that made no sense to me until the computer explained the joke:
Q. what do you get when you cross a banquet with a geographical area?
A. a feast africa.
Its reasoning: "east africa is a kind of geographical area". This site lives in the uncanny valley of puns.

Three times a day

Three times a day, on average, I remember that I have bipolar disorder and that I'm getting treatment and that my life is so much better, happier, more pleasant, than it was before I got treatment.

Just now, I was going through some files on my computer, and found "Tea Optimization.numbers", a spreadsheet I used to track how long and at what temperature tea ought to be brewed at. I'm a fastidious person, and always have been, and I do think it's important to brew good tea. I brew loose tea, and I use a timer to make sure I don't stew it. When I saw the spreadsheet file, though, I felt a little silly.

I had distrust in the idea that boiling water should be used to brew tea. This was something that I liked to talk about at parties, I would talk about how the tannins were released if you brewed the tea at above 180 Fahrenheit. (I don't actually know what tannins are.) So, I was brewing my tea very meticulously, measuring time and temperature, trying to get it perfect. I made a spreadsheet to record how I brewed tea because I didn't trust anyone else to have properly experimented with brewing tea.

Before I started treatment, I felt guilty and anxious a lot of the time, even if nothing was wrong. I feel at ease now, not all the time, but most of the time, enough that normal feels normal. I'm not filled with distrust anymore about ultimate truth or tea.

So, that was one of my three or so things for today that remind me that life is better now.

Triceratops and Torosaurus become a thorny issue

I was nervous when I saw the title, Triceratops and Torosaurus become a thorny issue - chicagotribune.com: "Triceratops: Beyond extinct". Triceratops has always been my favorite dinosaur. Triceratops and Torosaurus are likely the same species, at different maturity levels. This quote made me less nervous:

"Triceratops: Beyond extinct"; "You'll get a lot more hits on Google if you type in Triceratops instead of Torosaurus, and if you don't understand why that matters, you're, well, a dinosaur. So let's agree: A Triceratops isn't a baby Torosaurus — a Torosaurus is a grown-up Triceratops."

I got an email thanking me for signing a petition that I didn't sign, regarding bear farming.

I just got the below email in my inbox from the World Society for the Protection of Animals. (Ricky Gervais is on the front page of their webpage. Also, they stopped bullfighting in Catalonia, so I guess that's good. I've never heard of the WSPA before today, and I certainly didn't sign the petition mentioned below.

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Thank you for signing the petition against bear farming in South Korea. Your signature will help us show the government that people around the world are calling for an end to this brutal cruelty.

Right now, thousands of bears are suffering in desperately cruel conditions bear farms across Asia. Most are held in cages the size of a telephone booth, in which they are unable to stand and can hardly turn around.

These bears are confined so bile can be extracted from their gall bladders and sold for use in some Traditional Asian Medicines, even though research has proven that herbal and synthetic alternatives are just as effective for treating ailments.

The World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA) believes that bear farming is cruel, unnecessary and must come to an end. Increasing numbers of Traditional Asian Medicine practitioners agree and are turning to herbal and synthetic alternatives to bear bile.

If you agree that no animal deserves this horrible treatment, support WSPA with a donation today. WSPA is working to end bear farming by: working in partnership with Asian governments — using research, education and diplomacy to work for an end to bear farming; calling for an end to the illegal trade in bear products; and, working with practitioners and consumers of Traditional Asian Medicine to promote alternatives to bear bile.

You can make an online donation, securely through this website: [redacted]

Thank you,
Silia Smith, Regional Director
WSPA Canada