Off Topic Rant

I just got home. Traffic was horrible. The proposal for my thesis remains a scattered jumble of ideas that don't seem to come together in the sentence I write.

Anyways, to get out of the monotony of thinking about Lacan this morning I browsed on over to digg.com and saw an entry for Best Colleges of 2008. I had to check where my school ranks and what chances I have of getting into a good PhD program.

Haha. I might as well discard my futile attempts at writing a thesis because there doesn't seem to be much hopes in the way of me getting into a good program and later a good job.

Here's some of the verbiage from the U.S. News & World Report website on how they breakdown their ranking system. See what you think about it.

Student selectivity (15 percent). A school's academic atmosphere is determined in part by the abilities and ambitions of the student body. We therefore factor in test scores of enrollees on the Critical Reading and Math portions of the SAT or Composite ACT score (50 percent of the selectivity score); the proportion of enrolled freshmen (for all national universities and liberal arts colleges) who graduated in the top 10 percent of their high school classes and (for institutions in the universities-master's and baccalaureate colleges) the top 25 percent (40 percent); and the acceptance rate, or the ratio of students admitted to applicants (10 percent). The data are for the fall 2006 entering class. (source)

Can SAT and ACT scores really measure ambition? Wow! I had no idea!

So, any schools or employers who take this crap into consideration when looking at applicants can assume that any prospective students who previously attended a low ranking school will have less ability and less ambition than someone who attends a higher ranking school?

Hey, I can do that!

I'm supposed to be writing my thesis right now. There are over fifty library books sitting all over my floor and I need to sort through them between today and tomorrow. I much rather read stuff on the internet and catch up with all of the feeds I have neglected in the past weeks than tackle the gargantuan task of thesis writing that lays before me.

Anyways, in honor of useful and insightful procrastination here is another article from another great blog, Critical Miami, which relates both to my thesis in writing and Miami.

How, you ask--simple. This article exposes the elusive art of editing a la Miami Herald!

A little off topic...

This isn't about travel or things to do, but I just read a well-written article on Stuck On The Palmetto that I think everyone should read.

The article is not cheerful or uplifting--in fact, I hate thinking that such a thing is possible in this world.

Danger! Perpetual Road Construction

Well, as any true Miami native knows--it's not Miami unless the roadway you are driving on is under some kind of construction. The epidemic of constant roadway construction only seems to get worse and worse as the time goes on.

Here's an example of what happened to Tony and I returning home after a fun night out at a local restaurant this past Friday. We are driving north on LeJeune/8th Avenue when we hit some major traffic and come to a complete stop. We know there is heavy construction on LeJeune in front of MIA, but that's been the case for years. Nothing new. Well, we eventually see that LeJeune is closed to all through traffic. There were no signs warning us of the road closure up ahead and subsequently we are forced to reroute onto the 836, which is void of detour signs.

Ok...no biggie. We're natives. We know our way around. But what about tourists?

It was appalling that on a Friday night, whoever is in charge of deciding when construction gets done, would actually choose that time to close such a major thoroughfare.

It's ridiculous.

Well...we continue on our way and the exit off of the 836 that we wanted to take was also closed. Imagine that.

We had to drive all the way to the Palmetto Expressway and come back towards LeJeune via the NW 36th Street exit--which is sort of like driving in a "u" then cutting across the top part--a HUGE detour!

I'm not sure if these closures were announced ahead of time, but there still should have been plenty of signs giving drivers enough forewarning in order to allow them to decide on alternates. Instead, the lack of signs just dumped drivers on a highway with additional closures in the middle of the night. What a wonderful situation to find oneself in.

Oh...and it was raining!

My advice, get one of those GPS systems in your car, if you're a tourist--and even for people that live here that might not be a bad idea--or just be aware of different routes you can use to get to your destination.

Disturbing...

I was at the beach recently with Tony and we were just sitting and relaxing when all of a sudden I heard some loud screams and yells coming from the water. It was accompanied by violent splashing, so I looked up from my reading.

There was a group of guys (maybe five) playing with a soccer ball in the water, throwing it back and forth...but the screams were the result of one guy throwing the soccer ball at another guy. The ball hit him hard.

This scene repeated a few times about twenty feet in front of us. Then, it ended when one guy missed and the ball rolled far off down the shore coming to rest near a little girl making her way into the ocean. Luckily, the ball didn't hit anyone because he threw it with ferocious force

These guys were playing around, obviously--but why does their play have to involve violence and pain? How fun can that be? I don't want friends that try to hit me or attack me with soccer balls at the beach.

Anyways...this got me thinking...and I just came across a video on YouTube which disturbs me for much of the same reasons why watching those "friends" at the beach abuse each other with a soccer ball disturbs me.



Obviously, the guys in the video think what they are doing is funny, that they aren't hurting anyone, and even most of the comments on the video agree with the hilarity of the subject matter. But, any time I see violence (in any form) associated with fun or something funny--it just turns my stomach.

And to those that say that men are wired that way--pick up a copy of Violence: Reflections on a National Epidemic by James Gilligan--it's more of a social/cultural problem than just a biological one.

Asses to Asses

Trying on jeans is annoying for women for various reasons. For me it's the fact that sizes come in the all too ambiguous 8, 10, 12 series--which really doesn't mean much. Guys, it seems, have it much easier with their pant, jeans, and even dress-shirt sizes measured in inches. Who whoulda thought?

Well, my rant on men's versus women's clothing sizes will have to wait for another day... right now it's nice to know that a store called Hub Clothing in Scottsdale has installed The Butt Cam with the belief that "[a] lot of people dread trying on jeans and so any more entertaining you can make it the better. A lot of people compare it to trying on bathing suits, you know something they just don't like to do, we're trying to make it painless," (Hub Clothing Partner Tom Simon).

Oh, yes. That's what I want! I want an unnatural view of my ass that no one will have unless they stick their nose up my crack. I'll be an informed consumer this way! Thanks, Tom Simon! Thanks for reinforcing that women's asses and how they look are the most important consideration women have when shopping for jeans.

But, of course, there's more to this story.... According to Tom Simon, he and his associates are "even thinking of doing a best of and putting it on DVD for the year, 'Best Butts of '08' or whatever, yeah."

Yeah...brilliant!

Full Article
Gizmodo Review

Sand is sand is sand...

Well...not really.

I've visited, spent the day at, and passed by many a beach in South Florida. I've never really found a beach that I've enjoyed completely. There's always been some feature or characteristic of the beach that kept me from enjoying my time there completely. For instance, the beach might have been too crowded, the shoreline was rocky, the waves were nonexistent--whatever--you get the idea.

Well, I recently visited a beach that I had heard of my whole life, but which I had never had the chance to visit. It is now my new favorite beach (maybe another day I will write about the beach this new favorite has replaced).

Bill Baggs Cape Florida State Park in Key Biscayne (otherwise known by the Hispanic community as "El Farito") is a wonderful place to spend the day with your family, with your significant other, or even alone.

It is listed in Frommer's as one of the Best Beaches and the TravelChannel website refers to it. There are loads of other web references about this park, most of them positive.

My favorite aspects of the park:

• beautiful sandy beaches
• not crowded (granted, weekdays in the early morning are the best time to visit...but most people will visit the free beaches nearby)
• sand dunes
• little or no shell shards or rocks to hurt your feet
• bike and nature trails
• lighthouse you can climb up
• snorkeling is possible
• nice little waves (not too big/not too small)
• lots of tables, benches, and gazebos available for rent
• affordable admission prices
• pets are allowed (in certain areas, not on the beach though)
• two places to get food

Also, one more thing that made me enjoy my time there, but probably won't matter to most people, is that the place reminded me so much of the beaches in St. Augustine, Florida where I felt very peaceful, removed from the hectic city-life, and I was surrounded by nature.

This is a great place to visit and I plan on going there often. I can't believe I've never been before. I suppose most people that go to the area opt for the free beaches which abound. That's what my family and I used to do, but thankfully, Tony and I like to try new things. So we checked this place out. We're planning to go back soon!

Here's the addy and the official webpage...
1200 S. Crandon Blvd.
Key Biscayne, Florida 33149
Phone: 305-361-5811

Remember though...if you're in Miami and want to visit, but forget the address or get lost (which happens to us locals) just ask for "El Farito." You'll get strange looks if you say "Bill Baggs".

(Picture taken from http://mpancier.blogspot.com/ who has a nice entry about the Hispanic ties to "El Farito" that I, unfortunately, never had the opportunity to participate in...give it a read.)

Because this world isn't complete without...

...Boob Pillows. Yup. I subscribe to gizmodo.com so I can read about the new gadgets, but it seems that I more often find things that piss me off.

*Sigh* First Pussy Feet, now Boob Pillows... Can some Japanese company make a joystick out of a penis, please? I mean, c'mon!

Oh, wait... there is a penis joystick--sort of.

Levitation

Not much to do with robots, unfortunately, but amazing nonetheless.

**Update** Apparently, this link is no longer working, and thanks to my very vague post here, I have no idea what this was about. Oh well...

Fem-text-astic

This is what gets my feminist taste-buds working!

A nice little collection of feminist writing available in full-text on the internet! Yey!

Thought I would share.

**UPDATE: Crap, this link is dead too. Curse you, changeable internet, and your unlinking ways!

Foot Fetish Anyone?

The SiFeet Pussy Foot is a silicone foot with a "fully functional and totally fuck-able silicone vagina" on the underside of the foot. While I wonder what the "fully functional" aspects of the vagina are, the fact that it is obviously "fuck-able" isn't the only thing that disturbs me--the feet are disembodied (in a crude manner) and bound together by a rope, hanging like a piece of meat.


But why am I surprised? Foot fetishes are behind Chinese Foot Binding. The objectification and fragmentation of female bodies through sexualization is the main reason why women are still seen and treated as disposable and consumable material objects.


Stockroom.com describes "[t]his silicone sex toy is also a convenient practice tool for preparing to get hot and kinky with actual feet." Well, maybe their customers should practice with these feet--and get intimate with the destructive history men's foot fetish has had on women throughout the centuries.

Mind Control

Follow this link for a few words and a very interesting video on the future of mind-controlled mechanical objects.

This, of course, is technological advancement at its height. It would make any geek wet his/her pants, but what are some of the implications of this new technology?

NeuroSky develops the gizmo that reads your emotions with different algorithms.

The idea of mappable emotions and the subsequent quantitative value that could be placed on them is one of my concerns. Turning something as organic as feelings into what may become our new analytic understanding of them may have some repercussions in the future of criminal investigations, perhaps. Maybe I'm wrong--or stretching this too far--but it was one of the first things that sprang into my mind as I watched the video. Can the technology they use to read and guage certain types of thoughts be applied to the rest of the vast array of human emotions? It may be possible to strap one of these nifty mind contraptions on someone and mathematically gauge someone's hatred or love of another person by showing them a picture of that person.

The idea of applying this technology for the physically impaired is wonderful, as Ologic would like to do in the future, but how will this technology limit exactly who can control certain objects? What if two people with the gizmo on their head, presumably, want to make the same object do two different things? Will one person's thoughts be more powerful than another?

And finally, my last thought about this new technology... The military may have vast applications for technology like this; but, in our gun-ho society it is also dangerous to apply, let's say, mind control capabilities on firearms. There would be no physical evidence left behind if something was fired in that manner.

I know that I'm pretty morbid and this technology is fairly new, but still, I think these things are worth thinking about.