6th May 2005, 8:09 PM
How interesting...
Yes, it is true, that site though often dead on accurate in a lot of info does take time to tell a good joke now and again. That's fine, but I think that it's best made clear that it IS a joke. It's not a matter of "if they are stupid enough to believe it they deserve it", so much as "this meme will spread rapidly like wildfire and will never be stomped out completely".
The only issue I take with that site is their unadulterated blatent advertising. Sometimes they explain stuff like "How Microsoft works" or something else that doesn't exactly make sense just to get those advertisements in there. I understand they need to pay for it and all, but they can be informative AND not sell out so completely. Just stop writing those stupid articles, or at least label them AS advertisements. The rest is fine...
I like The Bad Astronomer, namely because he actually takes the time to point out exactly how STUPID some of the advertising that pays for the site is. He uses Google advertising, which attempts to "target" with similar ads that SHOULD relate to that. Too bad he's the bad astronomer, because that means half the ads are for horoscopes, the very thing he believes is a major downfall of society (and it is, it really doesn't make any logical sense, and this is by doing favors like going with the idea of a force that isn't effected by size or distance). http://www.badastronomy.com/
Anyway, other than that it's a pretty informative site. I just hope their "selling out" doesn't go too far. I'll know it has when they start supporting "batter life extending foil" or some clap trap like that. The key will be when they only say how in theory something SHOULD work, instead of going into the actual proofs.
Yes, it is true, that site though often dead on accurate in a lot of info does take time to tell a good joke now and again. That's fine, but I think that it's best made clear that it IS a joke. It's not a matter of "if they are stupid enough to believe it they deserve it", so much as "this meme will spread rapidly like wildfire and will never be stomped out completely".
The only issue I take with that site is their unadulterated blatent advertising. Sometimes they explain stuff like "How Microsoft works" or something else that doesn't exactly make sense just to get those advertisements in there. I understand they need to pay for it and all, but they can be informative AND not sell out so completely. Just stop writing those stupid articles, or at least label them AS advertisements. The rest is fine...
I like The Bad Astronomer, namely because he actually takes the time to point out exactly how STUPID some of the advertising that pays for the site is. He uses Google advertising, which attempts to "target" with similar ads that SHOULD relate to that. Too bad he's the bad astronomer, because that means half the ads are for horoscopes, the very thing he believes is a major downfall of society (and it is, it really doesn't make any logical sense, and this is by doing favors like going with the idea of a force that isn't effected by size or distance). http://www.badastronomy.com/
Anyway, other than that it's a pretty informative site. I just hope their "selling out" doesn't go too far. I'll know it has when they start supporting "batter life extending foil" or some clap trap like that. The key will be when they only say how in theory something SHOULD work, instead of going into the actual proofs.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)