Stuff and Nonsense
The 2014 Ig® Nobel Prize Ceremony just started at 6PM EDT [Webcast started at 5:40PM EDT]. I’ll report on the awards later.
For those unfamiliar with the Ig Nobel Prizes – they are annual awards presented for research that is, on the surface, just weird or ridiculous, but may actually provide serious scientific value.
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The voters came out in huge numbers in Scotland to decide the question of possible separation from the United Kingdom. The results won’t be announced until around 7AM local time [2AM CDT].
The voting age in Scotland is now 16, which is the age when many young people start work in the UK if they aren’t continuing to attend university. Given the changes that Cameron has made to the working conditions of young people in the UK and the steep increase in university fees, the young voters are not likely to be supporters of the status quo.
Under British election laws and customs there is a media blackout on election results until the official announcement. There is no exit polling, nor the rush to declare a winner that characterizes US elections.
The Guardian has a video explainer for non-Brits.
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I updated the iPad and it went slowly. The download is 1 Gigabyte and you need about 6 Gigabytes of free space for the installation.
I didn’t need or want any of the spiffy new features, but I figured I had to keep the software current. I assume that all of the apps that I loaded will have updates soon, which will be annoying as the upgrade notices tend to occur when I want to use the thing for something other than to hold papers down on my desk.
10 comments
Hmmm! I had a comment here, seems to have gone AWOL! 😀 Maybe the Anti-SPAM ate it?
Not in the spam folder. It nicked you a couple of days ago, but I got it back. I have no idea what it didn’t like about the post it did zap.
I would love to have a damn ‘white list’ so I wouldn’t have to worry about false positives.
Hmmm! OK. Well, I basically said I like the Ig Nobels.
And that CNN Had their usual wrong and idiotic coverage of the Scottish Election. They calmed in one of their wonderfully flashy graphics that the vote would be:
NO: 52% and YES: 58%!
And people wonder why the average in the USA is: moron! Seriously! CNN make FOX actually seem smart by comparison!
Here’s the latest update on the election:
Results so far after 4 of 32 declarations: No 49,535 (57.8%), Yes 36,097 (42.2%)
Continual live updates on Mashable:
Live Updates: Scotland Is Counting the Votes
looks like only a yes in Glasgow/Dundee can win Scotland independence! 🙁
Here’s a pretty interesting, and long, read on the whole issue. It started with Thatcher, of course! 🙂
I think this is the most accurate take I’ve read so far. There are two other parts to the series (I said it was long!) I think Part 2 get’s to the heart of it. 😀
Scottish Ripples – States of Disunion, Part One
Yeah… going to be interesting, either way! It will be pretty close I think. *shrug* Wait and see I guess. 🙂
No one in the media graphics departments can pass a first year math exam. They do this kind of thing all the time on all the networks. They put up the wrong outline maps for states; they don’t know how many Senators a state has; &ct. They are just pathetic and there is no one in charge checking for accuracy, only for speed.
Actually Fox is even worse than the others, as they do this more often.
With 24 of 32 districts reporting, the BBC is projecting a 55/45 split for NO. Dundee and Glasgow both voted YES, but the rural areas didn’t go along.
The independence movement needs to resolve some of the issues that were used to scare people and provide some reasonable answers.
Ah well… Looks like it’s a NO!
More than half of the 32 declarations are in: Yes = 45.72%; No = 54.28%
I guess too many old fuddies are still scared of any change. Even if for the better. *shrug*
EDIT: Didn’t see your comment. 🙂
They are saying that it was mainly the elderly who voted NO. And given they will be dead soon, was pretty selfish of them IMHO! Oh well… what can one expect?
My Mother would have voted YES just to stir things up and annoy Cameron. I’m old, I would would have voted YES is hopes of improving things for the young people coming up, because the Tories are going to do nothing good for them.
Rural voters tend to be more conservative and opposed to change.
You’re not old. Like me, middle aged! 😀 Though, like me, you probably feel old! 😉
All of my Grandparents would have voted YES. They would have despised Cameron. I know they despised Thatcher! 🙂
I was just reading this article… Absolutely bloody despicable! Trying to force a 16 YO to get breast implants because she wasn’t up to the ‘beauty pageant standards’!! WTF! But good on her for telling them to basically FO! And keeping the expensive crown, which IMHO is rightfully her’s anyway!
Beauty Queen Loses Crown for Refusing to Get Breast Implants
More and more the moronic bastards that make up this World make me wish more and more they would all drop dead! And I wish I could help them archive that!
The BBC noted that the YES vote followed the unemployment numbers in the strongest correlation. It was weird that SNP districts voted NO.
Those Korean beauty pageant organizers would have been indicted in the US for suggesting breast implants. At 16 she would still be considered a minor in the US and the pageant officials would have been charged under child protection laws.
Since she won their competition, they can’t reasonably claim that she didn’t meet the qualifications unless they admit the competition was was rigged. The apologies are the absolute minimum she deserves – a few suicides among the organizers wouldn’t be out of place… 👿