And on a sad note, Adullamite's long-time lady friend slipped on the ice today and was run over by a truck...

Odd news story.

18 police officers worked for an hour in Shangdong, China to rescue a woman from a river while 1000 spectators gathered to rubberneck. Because of the large crowd, it became impossible for fire trucks to pass through. Police finally fished the woman out, only to discover the body was really just a blow up sex toy doll. (As it happens, most of these objects are manufactured in Shangdong for export. For the Southeast England market, I believe the article said.) Children's eyes were covered and the crowd dispersed. My theory is she was abducted from the place of manufacture in the lunch bucket of an amorous factory worker and was blown almost completely up on the river bank trysting place when a slip of the lips released her to fly off like a big balloon and land in the river.

I also have a theory on why she floated and how she bobbed up and down to elude police rescuers for so long.

Your call is important to us...

Ada part two

So it came to pass that Ada Lovelace became the first computer programmer, according to computer historians.

Ada was born in 1815 and died in 1852, living to the ripe old age of almost 37. Ada was the only legitimate child of George Gordon, Lord Byron. Byron divorced Ada's mum. Ada's Mum hated Byron. Byron spoiled Ada's mum for poets in general. Ada's mum had custody. Ada's mum steered Ada towards mathematics (as you do in 1820 with girl children) so that Ada wouldn't become a poet and slip into insanity. Like her pa.

And it came to pass that Ada had a friend named Charles Babbage who invented a marvelous calculator thing he called the "analytical engine" that was, they say, the precursor of the modern computer. It was never built (except much later as an experiment in the 21st century) but Ada wrote a program for it. Actually she conceived an algorithm which would theoretically work, and, since she documented it step by step in writing, she was technically a programmer. She did a lot of things. Babbage didn't have the vision to fully realize what he had invented, but Ada did. She knew the thing could, sometime in the far future, do much more than simply crunch numbers.

A poem in the style of Bobby Burns

Sing out, bild wells, to the sild why,
Th clying floud, the losty fright:
The dear is nying in the dight;
Sing out, bild wells, and det'm lie.
Sing out the gnu, sing in the auld,
Sing, bappy hells, snross t'crow:
The gear is yo-ing, let gim ho;
Sing out the talse, sing in the frue.
Sing out the srief that maps the gind
For those that see we mere no hore;
Sing out the reud of pich and foor,
Sing in medress to all rankind.

It has lots more lines, but I'm getting bored. I am glad I am proficient in the gaelic but sometimes it just grates.

[Apologies to Alfred, lord byron... son.]

Speaking of which, can you remember what Ada contributed to the evolution of the computer? (This is a test.) Besides lending her name to a programming language?

Hint: I got rhythm, you got rhythm, we ALLgo'rithm.

Hard to discern if this is spam or not

This particular spam was probably from one of Adullamite's resident spammers. You can tell by the exquisite command of the English language. I wonder how many people who get this actually click on the (assumed) porn link provided?
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              "The Better Business Bureau has been booked the above mentioned appeal from one of your customers in respect of their business relations with you. The detailed description of the consumer's disturbance are available visiting a link below. Please give attention to this question and notify us about your sight as soon as possible.
We politely ask you to click and review the APPEAL REPORT to meet on this claim.
We awaits to your prompt response."            

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There is another link at the bottom to "unsubsribe" but it probably takes the clicker to the same porn site.

Out of curiosity, I wonder why "the" BBB would allow you to unsubscribe from their complaint emails? And since there are at least a million BBBs, is this one really the Ultimate BBB for the world? I wonder. At any rate, it was really hard for me not to believe this was the real thing and not just some regular SPAM. It looks so realistic.

P.S. My sight is weak (and probably jaundiced) towards this appeal/disturbance.

Passions and Follies

Of all the passions of mankind, the love of novelty most rules the mind. In search of this, from realm to realm we roam. Our fleets come loaded with every folly home.
—Shelby Foote