What I Imagined the People Around Me Were Saying… This is very funny. Unfortunately I can completely relate to the 15- and 16-year-old ones, because I was pretty much dating that guy and that’s pretty much exactly what I was thinking at the time. Good grief. (Link courtesy of PCJM.)

Next thing you know there’ll be a mosque…
Ugh. It was bad enough learning this week that Camden Council had rejected a planned Muslim school in their community and then claimed that it was solely zoning issues – not racism – that motivated the decision. But now to see this idiotic woman parading her ignorance and prejudice in front of the world’s media? I hope the council members are rightly embarrassed for themselves and their constituents. I’ve already run into the stereotype that Australia is somehow more racist than other countries – most notably over on MetaFilter – and people like this aren’t doing our image any favours.

Eileen is taking a poll about sweet corn butter application: Butter roll, yay or nay? I grew up in a “roll” household (where you roll the sweet corn on top of a stick of butter for maximum distribution, but which unfortunately causes a dent in the butter and renders it unfit for any other purpose). But now here in Australia I can’t find butter in long skinny sticks, so I find myself doing the pat. I weep for my youth.

Wow! Does this story remind anybody else of Satomi Tiger?

Hey runners: John “The Penguin” Bingham has a new blog! My friend Susi lent me his book No Need for Speed earlier this year. Very motivating for us plodders…

In the interest of SCIENCE – and because this AskMeFi question is so facinating – I am going to see if Dr. Amy Jones can operate a computer laptop trackpad tonight. Stay tuned for the experiment results.

Later: Well, she moved it a little bit but not much. I think that mashing her whole paw against the trackpad was just too much surface. I would’ve tried it with a single digit but the test subject fled the scene. Hm. You’d think that a DOCTOR CAT would be more interested in science.

The Perils of Working with Socially-Challenged Nerds
My hair’s getting a bit longer, so this morning I decided to try pulling it up with a barrette. The first thing a co-worker said when he saw me: “What’s wrong with your hair?!” Grrr. Thanks. Thanks a lot.

How Microsoft Counts: Let me see if I’ve got this straight. 3, 3.1, 95, 98, ME, 2000, XP, Vista, 7. That is some of the worst product naming I’ve ever heard.

We are officially living in the Bizarro World. I find myself disagreeing strongly with Kevin Rudd… and agreeing with Malcolm Turnbull. And I bet a lot of you are in the same boat!

Edited to add: This is an excellent, excellent editorial on the Henson controversy. Elizabeth Farrelly brings up a lot of the points the Snook and I were making when we debated it at home last night. I fail to see much difference in a kid posing for Bill Henson and one competing in one of those “JonBenet” type beauty pageants. If you’re against the sexualisation of children, fine, but you’re going to be banning a lot more than just an art show.