Recently in Weirdness Category

A bit of chatter today about http://www.4colorvision.com/:

This site presents the new, and COMPREHENSIVE ELECTROLYTIC THEORY OF THE VISUAL PROCESS.... The theory shows that the ARCHITECTURE OF ALL VISION IS TETRACHROMATIC. Although traditionally called trichromats, it is shown that HUMANS ARE BLOCKED TETRACHROMATS.

Etc., etc., etc.

Apparently, this theory says that the human retina is sensitive to ultraviolet light, but the lens is opaque to ultraviolet. Except for the lucky(?) few who've had one or both lenses removed, we're all UV-blind.

I'm UV-blind? I never knew. I'm just devastated.

There may be some interesting or useful science behind http://www.4colorvision.com/, but to me it smells more like just another crackpot site, like http://www.aspartamekills.com/.

The other day, over on FaceBook, I got a friend request from Corinne Valenzuela.

Who's that? thought I.

Her profile says she's 24, and lives in Georgia. She has five friends, of which three live in Georgia, one lives in Arkansas, and the last is some kind of job-hunter pseudo. Her profile picture is a bit racy:

So I sent her a message: I fear I am not who you think I am.

Days passed, with no reply from Ms. Valenzuela.

In the end, I decided she was just another spambot, trolling for email addresses, and declined her friend request.

CNN says:

CHICAGO, Illinois (AP) -- Two sisters from Virginia sold their Illinois-shaped cornflake on eBay Friday night for $1,350.

"We were biting our nails all the way up to the finish, seeing what would happen," said Melissa McIntire, 23. "There's a lot of relief involved."

I suppose if you're half-blind - or half-witted - the cornflake in question might look like the state of Illinois.

But anyone who'd pay $1,350 for the thing is a fool.

No, I don't know how twenty copies of the previous post ended up here. I can only hope that I managed to delete them all before anyone noticed.

For those who have outgrown the ordinary:

Google is a bit suspicious of dear old WRI this morning:

We're sorry...

... but your query looks similar to automated requests from a computer virus or spyware application. To protect our users, we can't process your request right now.

We'll restore your access as quickly as possible, so try again soon. In the meantime, if you suspect that your computer or network has been infected, you might want to run a virus checker or spyware remover to make sure that your systems are free of viruses and other spurious software.

We apologize for the inconvenience, and hope we'll see you again on Google.

I am not a spyware application, I am a human being!

MSNBC says the Vatican has been digging in St. Paul's Outside the Walls Basilica (which is a goofy name for a church). I was amused by this quote:

"These excavations give us the full certainty and knowledge that the sarcophagus is St. Paul's tomb, whether it contains his remains or not," said Cardinal Andrea Cordero Lanza di Montezemolo, head of the basilica.

Um...okay, then. I guess the box of Kleenex on my desk is also the tomb of St. Paul. I have full certainty and knowledge that this is so, whether it contains his remains or not.

Rummaged around in the iPhoto library this evening, and gathered all eighty-two pictures from the Illinois Counties project into their own album. (Handy things, albums. I should use more of them.)

I had the notion to start uploading them to Flickr, but - alas - free accounts like mine are limited to three photo sets. I already have three, so it's decision time: pay the $25 for a one-year pro membership, or not?

I do like Flickr. It's certainly worth $25. Hm....

Jeff Duntemann's online diary page, http://www.duntemann.com/Diary.htm, has a row of Google ads in the sidebar. The current set:

• Mormon Ringtone
• Sex Offender Registry
• Instant Criminal Records
• Registered Sex Offenders

Is Google trying to tell me something about Mormons?

The head of System Administration at Wolfram Research bears an uncanny resemblance to the fella in the Apple commercials who says, "Hi, I'm a PC."

On the other hand, many of the System Adminstration staff bear a certain resemblance to the other guy....