Urbis Romae

I while back, I wrote about the project going on at Stanford whereas the ancient stone map of the city once hanging in the public forum, was found crumbled, but mostly complete.  Well, like a large puzzle, it was slowly put together, using the help of 3d scanners, and there are suggested solutions available.  Well, so what?  It serves our left side geeky brain, but that is really it. We now just have a vision of the city as some biased, imprecise mapmakers thought it in the year 42 or whatever.  There is so much beyond to think about, to understand (such as the 1400 years that the city survived to the renaissance) that it may be helpful to understand the top down thinking at the start, but I'm more interested in bottom up.  See, for example (only conceptually) these procedural texture methods are fascinating.  Using Free agents, can one generate Rome, pardon the phrasing, in a day? Hey, it's an idea.

I didn't write this, but somebody did...

Perhaps one of the most interesting and colorful phrases in the English language today is the phrase "Snakes on a Plane". It is the one magical phrase, which, just by its sound, can describe pain, pleasure, love, and Samuel L. Jackson.

In language, "Snakes on a Plane" falls into many grammatical categories. It can be used as a verb, both transitive (John snaked Mary on a plane) and intransitive (Mary was snaked on a plane by John). It can be an action verb (John really snakes on a plane), a passive verb (Mary really doesn't snake on a plane), an adverb (Mary is snaking-on-a-plane interested in John), or as a noun (Mary is a terrific snake on a plane). It can also be used as an adjective (Mary is snaking-on-a-plane beautiful) or an interjection (Snakes on a Plane! I'm late for my date with Mary). It can even be used as a conjunction (John is ugly, SNAKES ON A PLANE, he's also stupid). As you can see, there are very few words with the overall versatility of the phrase "Snakes on a Plane."

Aside from its R-rated-because-that's-what-the-fans-demanded connotations, this incredible word can be used to describe many situations:

1) Surprise -- "What the snakes on a plane are you doing here?"
2) Fraud -- "I got snaked on a plane by the car dealer."
3) Resignation -- "Oh, snakes on a plane!"
4) Trouble -- "I guess I'm snakes on a plane now."
5) Aggression -- "GO SNAKE YOURSELF ON A PLANE!"
6) Disgust -- "Snake me on a motherfucking plane."
7) Confusion -- "What the...snakes on a plane...?"
8) Difficulty -- "I don't understand these snakes on a plane!"
9) Despair -- "Snakes on a plane again...."
10) Pleasure -- "I couldn't be happier if I had snakes on a plane."
11) Displeasure -- "What the motherfuck is going on here, snakes on a plane?"
12) Lost -- "Where are we going and why are there snakes on a plane?"
13) Disbelief -- "UN-SNAKES-ON-A-PLANE-BELIEVABLE!"
14) Retaliation -- "Up your fucking snakes on a plane!"
15) Denial -- "I didn't do it. The snakes did. On a plane."
16) Perplexity -- "I know everything to do with it, if it has anything to do with Snakes On A Plane."
17) Apathy -- "Who really gives a snake on a plane, anyhow?"
18) Greetings -- "How the snakes on a plane are ya?"
19) Suspicion -- "Who the fuck are you, snakes on a plane?"
20) Panic -- "Let's get the snakes on a plane out of here."
21) Directions -- "Fuck off, snakes on a plane."
22) Awe -- "How the snakes on a plane did you do that?"

It can be used in an anatomical description -- "He's got a motherfucking snake up his motherfucking plane." It can be used to tell time -- "It's five snakes on a plane thirty." It can be used in business -- "How did I wind up with this job? It's snakes on a plane!" And of course, it can be maternal -- "Motherfucking snakes on a motherfucking plane."

The mind fairly boggles at the many creative uses of the phrase! How can anyone be offended when you say, "Snakes on a Plane"? Use it frequently in your daily speech! It adds to your prestige.

Pandora is great, but...

I hadn't realized the seriousness of listening to streaming music before, until I was trying to get my Pandora web player to skip a few songs ahead.  Well, apparently, you can only do this a couple times per hour, due to "licensing" restrictions.  The FAQ tells me this:

Our music licenses do not allow us to let you back up the music to replay a specific song.

Oh, and don't try to game the system by repeatedly opening and closing the window, because the following language appears in the EULA:
 

6. SECURITY
The Pandora Services utilize technology to protect transmitted digital information. Your use of the Pandora Services may be limited by such technology. You acknowledge that, from time to time, Pandora may modify or discontinue using such technology. Security modifications made by Pandora may from time to time include required or automated updates, modifications, patches, and/or reinstallations of software. IF YOU ATTEMPT TO VIOLATE OR CIRCUMVENT ANY SYSTEM OR NETWORK SECURITY COMPONENTS OR TECHNOLOGY, YOU MAY BE SUBJECT TO CIVIL OR CRIMINAL LIABILITY.

What gives? Because I can't really decide what I listen to, this is OK?  Thank you sir, may I have another?