Just now, while trying to get some work done, I got this error from Microsoft's Visual Studio 2005:

Cripes! Grab me that shotgun, Millie! There's a zombie 'neath mah desk!

My Sex ID Test score is... 0.

I have no idea where that comes from. On the majority of the sections, I came out on the "masculine" side of their rankings.

Angles
Your score: 15 out of 20
Average score for men: 15.1 out of 20
Average score for women: 13.3 out of 20

An average man.

Spot the difference
Your score: 43%
Average score for men: 39%
Average score for women: 46%

I did better than most men, but not as well as most women.

Hands
"right brain dominant"

They don't say what that's supposed to mean.

Empathising
Your empathy score is: 6 out of 20
Average score for men: 7.9 out of 20
Average score for women: 10.6 out of 20

Less empathic than the average man, who is already less empathic than the average woman. More manly than most men?

Systemising
Your systemising score is: 17 out of 20
Average score for men: 12.5 out of 20
Average score for women: 8.0 out of 20

Much more 'systemising' than the average man, who is already more 'systemising' than the average woman. Again, more "manly" than the average man.

Eyes
Your score: 7 out of 10
Average score for men: 6.6 out of 10
Average score for women: 6.6 out of 10

There's no difference in the average. So how is this supposed to tell me anything?

Hands
Right Hand: 0.96
Left Hand: 0.96
Average ratio for men: 0.982
Average ratio for women: 0.991

Again, more 'manly' than most men.

Faces
Your choices suggest you prefer more feminine faces.

Mm k.

3D Shapes
Your score: 9 out of 12
Average score for men: 8.2 out of 12
Average score for women: 7.1 out of 12

Better than the average man, who is already better than the average woman. Again, more 'manly' than most men.

Words
Your score: 11+5 = 16 total
Average score for men: 11.4 words total
Average score for women: 12.4 words total

This one measures (kindof) the ability to make a list of synonyms for a given word and another list of words that you associate with a particular color. I wouldn't have thought this skill was particularly sex-biased. Hmmm.

Ultimatum
If you had to split £50 with someone, you said you would demand £25 (50%)
So far on the Sex ID test, men have demanded 51.6% (£25.80) of the pot and women have demanded 51.0% (£25.50), on average.

Hmmm. I'm too generous for either sex?

All that adds up to 0. I'm a zero. Sorry Mrs. Cleek.

I'm not old enough to know if the country needed "healing" or not, after Watergate. I was 5 at the time. But, I surely hope that if i'm ever convicted of a felony, that the governor will step in and pardon me of everything I've ever done, in the name of "healing" the emotional wounds of the great state of North Carolina. Because I'd surely hate that the punishment for my crime would be a burden on anyone. No, i think it'd be best if we all just had a big group hug and then let me scurry off to write my memoirs.

Anyone think I could get that deal ?

Hey, have a happy Christmas. Even if you don't dig the religion part, have a happy couple of days. You're worth it.

A to Z Guide to Political Interference in Science.

(via)

The most expensive chocolate in the world is from a company called Noka. Its price is many times that of other high-end chocolates, because, according to the makers, it's a special, ultra-pure, no-additives blend chosen from "secret" plantations around the world. A website called Dallas Food wanted to find out if Noka's chocolates worth the prices they charge.

Read their fascinating and informative investigation to find out if Noka is really worth $853 per pound.

--

BTW, this is yet another link that I found at Making Light. They find the best stuff. Everyone should read them, every day.

So there's this trend, where someone reads a book and tells the world how it's going, as they go. It's like a semi-real-time progressive book report. Here are the three I'm watching right now:

• Defective Yeti is doing Moby Dick.
• Slacktivist is doing the Christian end-times fantasy series, Left Behind. And he's managing to get literally hundreds of comments after each installment. Impressive.
• The Chumps Of Choice is doing Thomas Pynchon's latest, Against The Day. It's a group effort, and I'm participating in this one. We're only on pages 25-50 (25 pages per week), so it's still not too late to jump in !

(Three makes a trend, right?)
Any others ?

Moths drink the tears of sleeping birds
Moon cries outside the glass
Spiders weave spells from forbidden words
Goth poetry sucks undead ass

Ah, Carl Sagan. By happy coincidence, I was just getting into being a precocious little know-it-all when Cosmos came out (1980). So, I got to watch each episode, first run. And then I watched them in re-runs over and over. And then I got the book, which covers the same stuff as TV series, but with a bit more depth, and I read it over and over again. And then I was the smartest little ten year old in my class! Sure, as a ten year old, some of it was way over my head, but I did my best to remember as much of it as I could, even if I didn't understand it. For example, I learned that ATP (adenosine tri-phosphate) is the molecule our cells use to store and transmit energy - even though I couldn't make any sense of the reaction diagrams in the book's appendix. I learned about I learned about near-light-speed travel, even though I still can't get my head around relativity. I learned about evolution, astronomy, cosmology, physics, biology, mathematics and history. I learned things from that show that none of my high school or college classes even approached. I can't imagine what I'd be like if it wasn't for Cosmos getting me excited about science. Turtle-necked sweaters will always remind me of Sagan. The book will always be on my bookshelf.