Quakers, Amish and Menintights

About a week ago I posted a link to an article about a computer program that solves problems without running. My friend Zimbo was nice enough to point me to this post which does a not-so-great job of explaining why the original article stunk.

Which led me to read another of his posts (this about Olympic skater, Sasha Cohen) and the associated comments which I give you the highlights below:

Greg Kuperberg said...

Do you think that she would date a complexity theorist? :-)

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 7:50:17 PM

Scott said...

Not unless he did something like derandomize polynomial identity testing.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 7:52:47 PM

Greg Kuperberg said...

Hmmm...I suppose that she isn't your type after all. Except for her looks, which ought to be anyone's type.

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 8:42:53 PM

Scott said...

I have a girlfriend now anyway. Come to think of it, we were going to go ice skating at some point...

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 9:07:51 PM

Anonymous said...

I thought Lance's blog was the dorky one...

Tuesday, February 21, 2006 10:42:28 PM

Scott said...

I was thinking: it must warm feminists' hearts to see these spunky young women breaking into the male-dominated world of sports. First football and boxing, now figure skating in skintight dresses ... what's next?

Nagesh Adluru said...

Cool Scott, you have a girlfriend now! Can you suggest any tips on how to get one?

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 12:20:18 PM

Scott said...

Maybe that'll be a topic for a future post: Dating Secrets of the Quantum Complexity Theorists.

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 12:23:35 PM

Anonymous said...

One "schoene maidel," that Sasha.

Nagesh Adluru said...

That's great! Thank you. Though I am not a Quantum Complexity Theorist, your views should be helpful:)

Wednesday, February 22, 2006 2:06:45 PM

BTW - for those who don't know Yiddish or German, shayna maidel (schoene maidel) means pretty girl.

Sales Of Used Microwaves Plummet

Let me explain. No, there is too much. Let me sum up.

[...] a man and a woman entered the store and the man asked the clerk, "Can you microwave something for me? It's a life-or-death situation"

The man asked for paper towels, wrapped an object in them, and had the clerk microwave the item for 20 seconds

When it was finished, the clerk handed the item back to the man and saw what she thought was a severed penis

The clerk at the store outside Pittsburgh actually microwaved a prosthetic device used to cheat on drug tests

According to the woman, the couple stopped to warm the device in the microwave so the urine would "pass the body temperature test"

Giant Eagle, which owns the convenience store, said the microwave will be discarded.

Doesn't this sound like a Farrelly brothers movie?

Give Me An Asperger With Cheese

I visited a friend this weekend. His wife and 2-year-old daughter were out of town visiting family. We were on our way to see a movie (Firewall, meh) when my friend pointed out a place and said that they had taken their daughter there for a haircut, though he realizes she is only two and this doesn't matter much, they had given her a bowl cut and it was horrible. His beautiful little daughter. How could they do that? He added that now they have to take her to another place where the haircuts are more expensive. I sympathized as best I could with his predicament.

After the movie, he was showing me some pictures of his daughter. Then this dialogue transpired:
Me: So this was after the bowl haircut, huh?
Friend: Lemme see? Uhhh, no.
{cringe}

I'll put that right up there with the infamous "So, when are you due?" "I'm not pregnant."

Thank God For Rubber Chickens

Any doubt that curling has arrived was removed when the event was interrupted by a streaker.

Do You Have A Dirty Mind?

My friend, Zimbo, pointed me toward this interesting set of pictures.

Black, White and Tan

Are you reading New York Hack yet?

This guy had a sign on his hat that read "Free Tan." I'm wondering if he was offering a tan for free, or if he was protesting to win a person named Tan's freedom.

I Just Started To Read A New Book

The first line is

"It has been reported that Tanuki fell from the sky using his scrotum as a parachute."

Yep. There aren't too many people on the fence about Tom Robbins. You either love him or hate him.