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Subject:Grammarmisms
Time:11:04 am
Also I noticed yesterday that the new version of Word recognizes and automatically capitalizes "Wikipedia."

Poll #1181387 Grammarmisms
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Capitalized?

View Answers

Internet
8 (47.1%)

internet
9 (52.9%)

One word or two?

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website
15 (83.3%)

web site
3 (16.7%)

Oxford comma?

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Yes: That skull is cursed with evil, scurvy, and the blood of a thousand sailors
12 (66.7%)

No: That skull is cursed with evil, scurvy and the blood of a thousand sailors
6 (33.3%)

comments: 6 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:VERY IMPORTANT
Time:09:43 am
Did you know that all artifical flavors come from a few factories in New Jersey? It's true.

Poll #951644
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What's your favorite artificial flavor (among those which approximate fruit)?

View Answers

Cherry
1 (7.7%)

Strawberry
0 (0.0%)

Orange
0 (0.0%)

Lemon
1 (7.7%)

Banana
0 (0.0%)

Lime
3 (23.1%)

Grape
3 (23.1%)

"Blue"
0 (0.0%)

Watermelon
1 (7.7%)

Bubblegum
0 (0.0%)

Root beer
1 (7.7%)

Cinnamon
0 (0.0%)

Peppermint
1 (7.7%)

One of the innumerable "exotic" flavors you can get in Skittles, Lifesavers, jellybeans, etc.
0 (0.0%)

Something else, which I will mention in the comments
2 (15.4%)

Often popsicles come in two "packs." One contains cherry, orange, and grape flavors. The other contains banana, lime, and root beer flavors. This necessitates a decision to maximize preference while minimizing dislike. Which is your choice?

View Answers

Cherry-orange-grape
8 (66.7%)

Banana-lime-root beer
4 (33.3%)

You are confronted with a bowl of ambiguous candy and must select a piece to eat based solely on color.

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Red
6 (46.2%)

Orange
0 (0.0%)

Yellow
1 (7.7%)

Green
3 (23.1%)

Purple
2 (15.4%)

Black
1 (7.7%)

Has the existence of the vomit-flavored Harry Potter jellybean had the same affect on your life as it has on mine?

View Answers

Yes. I will also never eat a Jelly Belly jellybean again just to avoid any possibility of consuming this creation.
1 (7.7%)

Not really. The risk seems minimal. I will eat these jellybeans at the same frequency as before.
10 (76.9%)

No. I endorse the willful production of things flavored like vomit, and look forward to sampling.
2 (15.4%)

I have already tried this and will report my story in the comments.
0 (0.0%)

comments: 9 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Getting scraped from the upper crust
Time:09:25 am
Tonight is Tennis Class #2. Class 1 was quite a success. All the other students are adult yuppies like me, no kids to show us up, no cranky seniors to get mad at us for showing them up. Everyone is nice and equally humble about their complete lack of ability (this class is Level 1, no experience required, so equal footing is expected).

I do have a dilemma, however. We're having a cocktail party at work to celebrate the re-opening of one wing of the building. Two free drinks and unlimited snack food for all. How to balance this with tennis class, which immediately follows? I will have access to both alcohol and unhealthy food, yet both contribute adversely to tennis greatness. Free consumption then skipping class is not an option.

Poll #942455
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

How many drinks can I have and still play tennis adequately?

View Answers

Zero. You need all your faculties to mask your hilariously poor play.
0 (0.0%)

One. You can blame mistakes on being a beginner.
2 (16.7%)

Two. You can still blame mistakes on inexperience, only you'll have to do a lot more of it.
4 (33.3%)

No limit. In fact, strive to drink a lot so your terrible play will endear you to the rest of the class.
6 (50.0%)

How much greasy cocktail food can I have and still play tennis adequately?

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Little or none. You risk vomiting on the court and never getting a doubles partner again.
2 (16.7%)

Some is ok. In fact, consumption of mini-quiches is likely a pre-requisite for good tennis play.
3 (25.0%)

Load up! Food means energy, so lots of food probably means superpowers!
7 (58.3%)

Tennis?

View Answers

I only recognize tennis sports which I can play indoors and loom over the table like a Roman God.
2 (20.0%)

Hilarious yuppie sport. What are you thinking?
2 (20.0%)

Hilarious yuppie sport. Yet I am also a yuppie, so it sounds fun.
3 (30.0%)

Fun, decent exercise, and a way to avoid spending two evenings a week watching college basketball and playing Half-Life.
5 (50.0%)

OMG, Roger Federer! Oh wait...no. No, it's just you, Josh.
1 (10.0%)

I have my own unique thoughts about tennis, which I will share in the comments.
2 (20.0%)

comments: 8 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:What I think is, this is a dumb poll, but I have smart pals who will know
Time:10:31 am
I've picked up this questionable writing habit, I think from reading too much Chuck Palahniuk, although I've definitely seen it elsewhere, where I put a comma in a really weird place to indicate sort of a pause, where I in speech I might say "like" or "sort of." Often follows the word "is."

Example. In my last post, I wrote:

What I'm also saying is don't make me angry, I guess.

What I had originally written was:

What I'm also saying is, don't make me angry, I guess.

Obviously, if you speak English, there is no call for that first comma. I'm no expert or nitpicker, but come on, no way. Stylistically, however, sure, I can dig that. I think it makes me read the sentence differently. Seems more like the way one would say something rather than the way one would write it. I've always felt it works well for Palahniuk, anyway.

Whaddya think?

Poll #930553 Grammarmisms
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Possibly superfluous comma?

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Get it out of there. It's punctuationally wrong and does nothing stylistically useful.
0 (0.0%)

I don't think it ruins anything, but it doesn't add much, either.
2 (16.7%)

Keep it. It's more interesting that way.
9 (75.0%)

Are you STILL mad about your English score on the GRE?
1 (8.3%)

Bonus question: Name something that you like that not enough of your friends care about, and it makes you sad.

comments: 10 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Die Kraftwerk Übersicht
Time:10:38 am
I've been listening to some Kraftwerk lately, because I am a hugely shameful nerd.

Poll #854406
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which Kraftwerk album cover do you dig the most? (Click the name to see the cover)

View Answers

1974's Autobahn, illustrating efficient German transportation.
0 (0.0%)

1978's The Man-Machine, illustrating terrifying late-'70s German fashion.
1 (14.3%)

1981's Computer World, demonstrating their advanced technological prowess with a Tandy TRS-80.
1 (14.3%)

1975's goofy Radio-Activity in which they draw comparisons to John Cage, so you know it's pretty weak on ideas.
2 (28.6%)

1977's Trans-Europe Express, which raises the question of why they need four people in a band where all the songs are synthesized loops and one guy whispering.
3 (42.9%)

Is Kraftwerk the nerdiest band ever?

View Answers

Oh, my, yes
3 (42.9%)

Nope: Devo
0 (0.0%)

Nope: They Might Be Giants
4 (57.1%)

Nope: Gary Numan, even solo, trumps them all
0 (0.0%)

Nope: Someone else, who I will mention in the comments
0 (0.0%)

comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:DEATHDEATHDEATH
Time:01:15 pm
The thoroughly inane Sprint company, which I have foolishly agreed to pay to provide me cell phone service for two years, has decided that a good marketing strategy is to place daily telemarketing calls to my number. The calls are automated, so I cannot answer without being hung up on. If I call the number back, a pre-recorded voice answers and thanks me for calling back Sprint, now with Nextel. Then I wait on hold for some dreary length of time until someone picks up and offers me extra services. Despite my protests, complaints, and outright refusal to buy anything else, Sprint continues their daily annoyance routine. Cursing is no longer enough. I've also created a poll.

Poll #778692 Sprint is the devil
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

How lame is this?

View Answers

Totally, irrepressibly lame
6 (50.0%)

Not so much lame but sadistic
1 (8.3%)

Not so much sadistic but like experimental psychology in which I am the unwitting victim
5 (41.7%)

It's not lame at all. Also, I work for Sprint.
0 (0.0%)

Is there any chance on earth I can get out of my contract with Sprint without paying several hundred dollars in penalties?

View Answers

Oh, good lord, no!
4 (33.3%)

Do you have millions of dollars and a phalanx of lawyers at your disposal? 'Cause then, maybe.
1 (8.3%)

And crawl to another wireless carrier that will treat you like garbage? Do let us know how that turns out.
6 (50.0%)

I am also small and afraid.
1 (8.3%)

Which of the following schemes (or combination thereof) might work to escape from Sprint?

View Answers

Call customer service hotline, wait on hold no matter how long it takes, pointlessly bitch at underpaid operators
2 (18.2%)

Futile stream of passionate e-mails to Sprint customer service robots
0 (0.0%)

Get hired at Sprint. Work long enough to earn $200. Quit immediately, use $200 to pay contract cancellation fee
5 (45.5%)

Daring midnight raid on Sprint headquarters to hack into computers
2 (18.2%)

Sue company. Lose badly, but in the meantime the contract will have expired.
1 (9.1%)

Arrange hostile takeover of Sprint company
3 (27.3%)

Move to forest, communicate only by smoke signals and telepathy
8 (72.7%)

Compose snarky polls. Hope Sprint executives find them and realize the error of their ways.
6 (54.5%)

Fake death
4 (36.4%)

Real death
5 (45.5%)

comments: 3 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Easier than Rubber chicken vs. Pie in the face
Time:10:40 pm
I like stupid signs. Here are two.

A sticker found on the back of my sidetable
A sign outside the National Aquarium in Baltimore

Poll #742720
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which of these is funny?

View Answers

Built with care by BUILDER 49
0 (0.0%)

An Aquarium Ticket does not guarantee a Dolphin Presentation
1 (11.1%)

Both of these are gems of abstract comedy
2 (22.2%)

Neither of these are funny. Good effort, though.
0 (0.0%)

This doesn't even make any sense. What the hell is wrong with you?
0 (0.0%)

I like your polls better when you let us name your furniture
6 (66.7%)

comments: Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Attention, quitters!
Time:11:51 am
Poll #705977
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Do you ever give up reading a book?

View Answers

Never! If it takes the rest of my days, I will finish every book I start
0 (0.0%)

Rarely! Only in the most extreme circumstances of hating the book
7 (63.6%)

Sometimes! I think I have a healthy book-giving-up attitude
2 (18.2%)

Regularly! I don't mind abandoning a book that's not good enough for me
1 (9.1%)

A better question would be "Do I ever FINISH a book?"
1 (9.1%)

Under what circumstances do you give up reading a book?

View Answers

I told you I will NEVER give up on a book! NEVER! You'll have to kill me first.
0 (0.0%)

We're just not on the same wavelength and I'm hopelessly lost
4 (40.0%)

I'm generally starting to think it's a stupid book
7 (70.0%)

I put it down for too long, and I'd have to re-read too much to recall what's happening
7 (70.0%)

I'm getting too excited about some other book and would rather read that
4 (40.0%)

It's, like, really long, and I'm not in the mood any more
4 (40.0%)

I was reading it to impress someone and they stopped caring
0 (0.0%)

I start a lot of books. Only those I deem worthy get finished.
3 (30.0%)

It is written by Thomas Pynchon
1 (10.0%)

It is written by David Foster Wallace
2 (20.0%)

It's baseball season
1 (10.0%)

Other reason(s), which I will explain in the comments
0 (0.0%)

How do you feel when you give up on a book?

View Answers

I don't know. I never give up. Never! Everyone else is quitters
0 (0.0%)

I fall into the dark abyss of shame
2 (18.2%)

I feel more dumber
0 (0.0%)

We both knew it was time to move on
3 (27.3%)

The AUTHOR is the one who should feel bad
5 (45.5%)

It happens so often, I am numb to it
1 (9.1%)

If you do give up on a book, will you ever try it again?

View Answers

There is no giving up. There are only pauses until I finish. Which I will. Quit asking already.
0 (0.0%)

Yes, probably. I am an intellectual masochist
2 (18.2%)

Yes, maybe. I might understand better some other time
6 (54.5%)

Unlikely. Too much else to read
2 (18.2%)

Hey, it had its chance. This isn't a charity. Leave me alone.
1 (9.1%)

comments: 1 comment or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:I'm a'scared
Time:01:12 pm
Poll #695888 The Poll of Fear
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Which of the following do you frequently have bad dreams about?

View Answers

Being seen naked
3 (42.9%)

Speaking in public
1 (14.3%)

Falling (well, landing, actually)
1 (14.3%)

Bad animals (snakes, spiders, etc.)
1 (14.3%)

Traffic accidents
2 (28.6%)

Having parts of your body mutilated
2 (28.6%)

Something chasing you
2 (28.6%)

You're in a restaurant, and you order tofu, but they're out!!
0 (0.0%)

Being chased by animals while naked, and later, having to give a speech about it
0 (0.0%)

Other (elaborate in comments)
3 (42.9%)

Which of the following are actually frightening to you in conscious life, such as you understand conscious life?

View Answers

Being seen naked
5 (62.5%)

Speaking in public
5 (62.5%)

Falling (well, landing, actually)
6 (75.0%)

Bad animals (snakes, spiders, etc.)
3 (37.5%)

Traffic accidents
5 (62.5%)

Having parts of your body mutilated
5 (62.5%)

Something chasing you
5 (62.5%)

You're in a restaurant, and you order tofu, but they're out!!
2 (25.0%)

Being chased by animals while naked, and later, having to give a speech about it
4 (50.0%)

Other (elaborate in comments)
1 (12.5%)

comments: 7 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Another poll, like a filthy chewed up sock
Time:04:31 pm
Poll #672546 Que bark-bark?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

Dog shows?

View Answers

Beautiful animals at their most beautifulest
0 (0.0%)

I watch it to annoy my cats
1 (7.7%)

Hey, this looks like something that will distract me from doing my taxes...
4 (30.8%)

Puppies!
3 (23.1%)

I like my ugly mutt better than any of these stuffy dogs
5 (38.5%)

Kind of dull to watch them run around
6 (46.2%)

Hey look, bored rich people!
6 (46.2%)

Best in Show is like, the entertaining version of this
6 (46.2%)

Yet another symptom of an inevitable armaggedon
4 (30.8%)

None of these options express my feelings about dog shows. Once again, you disappoint me
2 (15.4%)

Cat shows?

View Answers

You have GOT to be kidding me
6 (46.2%)

Some of those things are seriously the ugliest creatures I've ever seen
5 (38.5%)

As if cats aren't arrogant enough
7 (53.8%)

Man, cats!
5 (38.5%)

None of these options express my feelings about cat shows. Once again, you disappoint me
3 (23.1%)

comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:The highlight of my day, by Josh W., age 6
Time:01:02 pm
I just noticed something about this icon. It's from a Philip K Dick novel entitled A Glass of Darkness that appeared in an old issue of Satellite magazine. I'm fond of the guy manipulating the planets solely with his mind. (A full version is here.)

However...when I cropped the image I managed to slice off the title text at, well, pretty much the most ironically humorous place possible. Quite by accident, really, I hadn't been paying attention to the words at all.

Poll #635078
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

How should I fix this icon?

View Answers

Leave it as-is. No way you could make it better. Hee-hee-hee. "Ass of darkness"
5 (62.5%)

Photoshop out the text, leave just the creepy dude and his planets
2 (25.0%)

Use your mad p-shop skillz to put alternate text in there
0 (0.0%)

Actually, you should fix ALL your icons so they feature some variation of the word "poo"
1 (12.5%)

comments: 4 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Shame. Shame and ignorance.
Time:01:48 pm
I am stupid. Please help.

What is my piece of furniture called? It looks sort of like this, except not yet stained or finished.

Poll #617298 What is this piece of furniture called?
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

What is this piece of furniture called?

View Answers

Buffet
1 (10.0%)

Sidetable
2 (20.0%)

Credenza
1 (10.0%)

Cabinet
3 (30.0%)

Yuppie table
0 (0.0%)

Mini-sarcophagus
1 (10.0%)

Short person's wardrobe
0 (0.0%)

Hideous skewing of nature
0 (0.0%)

Wooden robot superpal
0 (0.0%)

Unfathomable waste of cash
1 (10.0%)

You have wasted our time. Thank you!
0 (0.0%)

Something else, which I will share in the comments
1 (10.0%)

comments: 17 comments or Leave a comment Add to Memories Tell a Friend

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Subject:Tell me how great you are!
Time:11:11 am
Because I care about you and your self-esteem:

Poll #582981
Open to: All, detailed results viewable to: All

How good does your hair look today?

View Answers

My hair looks fantastic as usual
1 (7.7%)

Not perfect, but pretty swell
5 (38.5%)

I'm somewhat disappointed by the hair today, it just doesn't look quite right
3 (23.1%)

Today, I am filled with shame