It’s official: Google mows goats – er, mows with goats. Google’s Mountain View headquarters has fields that need to be kept clear of fire hazards. This year instead of mowing them, they took a low-carbon approach: they hired a herd of goats to eat the grass for a week. “It costs us about the same as mowing, and goats are a lot cuter to watch than lawn mowers.”
Category: Strange World
Naming the Flu
Swine flu doesn’t seem to cover it. First of all it’s not a swine flu anymore. Secondly, what do we call influenza that still only infects pigs…or the next flu virus that jumps from pigs to humans? Edit: And then you have morons who think you can get the flu from eating pork.
Mexican Flu, naming it after its country of origin like the Spanish Flu or Hong Kong Flu kind of makes sense, but in today’s politically-charged climate, it ends up sounding less like an identifier and more like blame. Edit: Plus we’ve already got jerkwads scapegoating anyone who might be Mexican. (Comment threads on news sites are depressing.)
The CDC and WHO seem to be going with H1N1, but that doesn’t work either, because people get it confused with the H1N1 human flu virus that’s one of the regular seasonal flu strains.
Yeah, on one hand, what’s in a name? A flu, by any other name, would still get you sick. But there’s something to be said for precision in terminology.
Update: For a less serious take on the subject, check out posts with the #namethatflu tag on Twitter.
Amazon Annoyance, ATM Stupidity
- Grr. Amazon wants to stop paying me because they think I’ve been buying search keywords to link to them. No, I haven’t. Update: Two days later, they responded: it’s a bad form letter, and even if I were buying keywords, they’d only stop paying referral fees on those links.
- More concerned than usual about person sneezing in stairway.
- Bad idea: leaving your pay stub in the brochure holder by the ATM. WTF? Someone’s asking for identity theft.
- Good deed for the day: tearing it into tiny pieces and tossing the confetti in the trash.
Stealth Mime
Today I saw a guy dressed like a mime, standing by an actual glass wall.
We’re Here For You!
A Washington Mutual with a gigantic “Welcome to Chase” banner. Californians, remember those “Elvis Schmiedekamp Is Here For You” ads from ~2001?
WaMu, Bees and Vortex
- WaMu building has taken down its sign. Giant Chase banner at street level.
- Guy w/ sign by side of road: “Homeless kind soul stuck in vortex.” I get the 1st half, but WTF does “stuck in vortex” mean? Downward spiral?
- From @ThisIsTrue: possible cause identified for honey bee colony collapse.
Obsolete
I found this 3.5″ floppy disk on the ground while exploring a section of disused railroad track running through an industrial park.
Update (December 2010): These tracks have since been ripped out and paved over with concrete as a pedestrian walkway to the Tustin Metrolink station.