Best Comic Ever
Calvin and Hobbes has always been my favorite comic strip and I was very sad to see it go. There is one thing that has always bothered me about it, however: that vapid decal of Calvin urinating on anything from the logo of your redneck rival's pickup truck, Osama bin Laden, or whatever else you don't like. I was thrilled to learn today that the comic's creator, Bill Watterson, never licensed that image and he had always tried to stay away from turning his art into crass merchandising. There's an article on Slate that gives a great overview of the strip.Don't shoot students, shoot the messenger . . .
A high school in San Antonio, Texas, was shut down yesterday due to fears of a terroristic attack. The fear was raised by the postings of some students on MySpace.com. So far, the reaction (while it might seem overly cautious) makes sense considering previous student attacks and the liability issues a school would undoubtedly have to face. But the school's administrators are now threatening to sue MySpace, because:
"It just seems to me that if you put up a public web site, and you allow students, teeangers [sic, but fitting, no?], minors to post their thoughts and ideas, and not monitor it in an adult manner, you are asking for trouble," [Pasqual] Gonzales [of the Northside School District] said. "This particular web site has been a pain for all Bexar County schools for a long time now, and it just seems that the owners of MySpace-dot-com should be held accountable."By this absurd standard, even my page, by virtue of being a "public web site," has an obligation to moderate the comments made by minors. You hear that, whippersnappers? No terrorist activity in my comments, please! I'll have to consult with Mr. Gonzales to find out whether this principle applies to the adults who might comment here, too. (via waxy.org)
More stupid policies:
A German IT company has banned grumpiness at work to try to promote a more congenial atmosphere after a female employee was caught wilfully breaking company rules about smiling in the office.Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, but what a German approach to the problem. Personally, I just think somebody must have been suffering a case of the Mondays.
(from The Australian)
