Phlegma weblog

Back - again

Ok, I'm back. I have been away for quite some time, but hopefully you will appreciate this.

Since the last post, I've taken up a position as a assistant editor for a local newspaper, and thus work for up to 14 hours a day. (I can even get up to 20... But then again - sometimes I can leave at two pm.)

I'll try to post some of my points for the editorials in the blog and try it out for you. I will appreciate every comment you have on these - as well as all the other ones...

Sincerly, Phlegma

Studying the Blogosphere

The University of Minnesota has just released a collection of essays on blog research, entitled Into the Blogosphere: Rhetoric, Community, and Culture of Weblogs. It’s edited by Laura Gurak, Smiljana Antonijevic, Laurie Johnson, Clancy Ratliff, and Jessica Reyman.

The entire collection is online and they’ve enabled comments and trackbacks for the articles (which are also blog entries). They are still working on the copyediting, but worth a read.

Thanks to Many-to-Many and perfect.co.uk

The Underblogs

At the LivingRoom they´re celebrating the underblog. Join the party - and get your thrill.

Water Or Coke ???

Which one is the 'Real Thing' ???

We all know that water is important but you've never seen it written down like this before.

WATER
1. 75% of Americans are chronically dehydrated. (Likely applies to half world population.)
2. In 37% of Americans, the thirst mechanism is so weak that it is often mistaken for hunger.
3. Even MILD dehydration will slow down one's metabolism as much as 3%.
4. One glass of water will shut down midnight hunger pangs for almost 100% of the dieters studied in a University of Washington study.
5. Lack of water, the #1 trigger of daytime fatigue.
6. Preliminary research indicates that 8-10 glasses of water a day could significantly ease back and joint pain for up to 80% of sufferers.
7. A mere 2% drop in body water can trigger fuzzy short-term memory, trouble with basic math, and difficulty focusing on the computer screen or on a printed page.
8. Drinking 5 glasses of water daily decreases the risk of colon cancer by 45%, plus it can slash the risk of breast cancer by 79%, and one is 50%less likely to develop bladder cancer. Are you drinking the amount of water you should every day?

COKE
1. In many states (in the USA) the highway patrol carries two gallons of Coke in the trunk to remove blood from the highway after a car accident.
2. You can put a T-bone steak in a bowl of coke and it will be gone in two days.
3. To clean a toilet: Pour a can of Coca-Cola into the toilet bowl and let the "real thing" sit for one hour, then flush clean. The citric acid in Coke removes stains from vitreous china.
4. To remove rust spots from chrome car bumpers: Rub the bumper with a rumpled-up piece of Reynolds Wrap aluminum foil dipped in Coca-Cola.
5. To clean corrosion from car battery terminals: Pour a can of Coca-Cola over the terminals to bubble away the corrosion.
6. To loosen a rusted bolt: Applying a cloth soaked in Coca-Cola to the rusted bolt for several minutes.
7. To bake a moist ham: Empty a can of Coca-Cola into the baking pan, wrap the ham in aluminum foil, and bake. Thirty minutes before the ham is finished, remove the foil, allowing the drippings to mix with the Coke for a sumptuous brown gravy.
8. To remove grease from clothes: Empty a can of coke into a load of greasy clothes, add detergent, and run through a regular cycle. The Coca-Cola will help loosen grease stains. It will also clean road haze from your windshield.

FOR YOUR INFORMATION:
1. The active ingredient in Coke is phosphoric acid. Its pH is 2.8. It will dissolve a nail in about four days. Phosphoric acid also leaches calcium from bones and is a major contributor to the rising increase in osteoporosis.
2. To carry Coca-Cola syrup (the concentrate) the commercial truck must use the Hazardous Material place cards reserved for highly corrosive materials.
3. The distributors of coke have been using it to clean the engines of their trucks for about 20 years!

Now the question is, would YOU like a glass of water or Coke?

Thanks to Poons for this one. Check out his site regularly.

Seven Deadly Sins

A good post by mypetjava on The Seven Deadly Sins of Blogging.

Read it.

Reading others

I´ll just point you in a general direction:

Mark A. R. Kleiman has got a funny piece on the flip-floping and straddleing president.

Byrd´s brains son have rocket fuel in his vains.

The resumé of George Bush jr. as it really is - though not in his own writing.

Blogroll update

Just thought I should give out some credit to the blogs I read daily. I´ll do them by alphabetical order:

Belle de Jour: The weblog of a London based call girl. She´s actually a very funny read, and she´s now got a book deal.

Bloggerheads: The weblog of Tim Ireland, who after years of campaigning have quit. I´ll keep it here hoping that he´ll return. Meanwhile you can look at his parting shot.

British Politics: A british blog for "the political junkie who finds the issues a distraction from the serious business of power."

Byrd´s Brain: A nice american blog by a man who´s opposed to Bush. A good read all around.

Howlingspoons: A mate of Tim Ireland, and Poons have taken up Tims fight.

Perfect.co.uk: A british blog I enjoy. Several writers - lots of insight.

PoliBlog: I don´t allways agree with Steven Taylor, but the professor has a good pen and is a good read.

Tenkt og opplevd: For those of you who can read norwegian, this site is a must. Isn´t updated often, but the post are very much worth a read.

The UK Today: Another of Tim Irelands friends. Seems a bit extremist at first, but he´s a fine read - and a sharp leftist.

The Washington Monthly: One of my favorits. Check it out, blogroll it and keep it.

VoxPolitics: VoxPolitics is a campaign to explain how new technology changes politics. Fronted by James Crabtree.

Your Lost: I don´t really know what to make of this site, but it´s got it´s days.

Cancelled

She sent me an sms and cancelled. Am a bit disapointed, but it was nice to feel the urge to meet someone again. And our meeting was funny.

Sweet kindness

I'm not sure if our meeting was romantic or the opposite.

I was on my way down to the local store, when I noticed an old man clinging to a sign post. He was gaping and mubeling in my direction. I approached him, and through his mumbeling I understood that he wanted me to follow him a bit towards his appartment. I couldn't say no - even though I kind of wanted to. The old man had salvia running from both his nose and mouth, he smelled, and I was going to a dinner party later on.

I soon understood why he needed me to follow him. He was draging his feet - unable to lift them of the ground. I took a hold of his upper hand and we walked. For a full meter. Then he said he had to sit down. I helped down on the pavement, but when he tried to lie down, I said that he had to get up. (He constantly rejected the idea of me calling for an ambulance, or social sevices.) When I had pulled him on his feet, she came. A beautuful, blond woman.

«What's happening?», she asked. I told her that I really didn't know. I couldn't understand what the old man was saying. Then she ran and fetched a chair from the next door pub, and got som tissue paper and cleaned the mans face. She talked to the man in a gentle way, and after a while we managed to get the man home and in bed.

When we left the 88-year old mans appartment, we talked for a while. She's my age - 28. And she constantly tuched my lower arm. She had an intreging kindness, and I knew I had to try to see her again. So today I called information, called her and asked her out on a caffee. This is so not me, but she said yes. We're meeting each other next monday.

I'm back

I'm back. After a very interesting seminar, an unpleasant devorce, a boring move and an infactuation in the making, I'm back stronger than ever.

I hope that you, my reader, will continue to be provoked and interested by my posts. Please send me your views.

For now I'll just give you something to think about - something that shows that machines allready have an intelligence of their own:

Go to Google, write «miserable failure» and push the «I'm feeling lucky»-button. Notice that neither of the words are in the text.