gdp's Comments

Smashing Telly : WTF happened to Smashing Telly?

Fri, 23 Jul 2010 12:27:28 +0000

@sanktnelson I'm now living in Switzerland so I use VPNUK with a proxy for both UK and US so I can watch Hulu too.

Paul Kedrosky: Infectious Greed : The Rise and Fall of Empires

Thu, 19 Nov 2009 11:20:21 +0000

what the the size criteria - why is australia shown bigger than india?

Paul Kedrosky: Infectious Greed : Reasons to be Optimistic?

Thu, 1 Oct 2009 16:16:49 +0000

The recession is doing a much more effective job at curbing global warming emissions than governments ever could.

Smashing Telly : Paris is Burning

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 19:53:38 +0000

This is great, for a change I have nothing much to say other than that.

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 13:08:18 +0000

[youtube AK4eff3EhOg http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AK4eff3EhOg youtube] Noel Coward

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 13:05:08 +0000

[youtube 16e1msktmI4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=16e1msktmI4 youtube] Rodgers and Hammerstein

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 13:02:43 +0000

[youtube ll1hMym3aMs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ll1hMym3aMs youtube] The head of the Secret Service

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 13:00:08 +0000

[youtube bwykRTPJwoI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwykRTPJwoI youtube] Jimmy Carter

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:59:04 +0000

[youtube 07oJz5qKxFk http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=07oJz5qKxFk youtube] Yves Saint Laurent

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:54:21 +0000

[youtube MYTIMCmemA8 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MYTIMCmemA8 youtube] Joe DiMaggio

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:50:58 +0000

[youtube Of7_K1e_x3Y http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Of7_K1e_x3Y youtube] Walt Disney

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:49:24 +0000

[youtube iXT2E9Ccc8A http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iXT2E9Ccc8A youtube] Salvador Dali

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:47:20 +0000

[youtube qWey8dVXG7c http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qWey8dVXG7c youtube] Gerald Ford

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:45:17 +0000

[youtube YX0wmS3gV0I http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YX0wmS3gV0I youtube] Eleanor Roosevelt

Smashing Telly : Frank Lloyd Wright Game Show Appearance

Mon, 1 Jun 2009 12:43:59 +0000

[youtube p5D6RnMbfHI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5D6RnMbfHI youtube] Ronald Reagan.

Smashing Telly : Susan Boyle, and how to become a celebrity

Thu, 28 May 2009 07:56:24 +0000

It took me a while to translate this to: "I was not suggesting all categorization is relative but that it is a process of categorization. Categorization is a tool, so not always bad, but if it is superficial, i.e. badly done, it is bad. Categorization is useful, but when done superficially on an important topic like the birth of popular culture, it is bad. Relativism is not the same as categorization and its use in arguments, ultimately being relative." As you can see, it doesn't mean anything, repeats itself and is written in a style that emulates Literary Criticism when plain English would have been better. I recommend two things to read: George Orwell's writing tips and Alan Sokal's Intellectual Impostures. Good luck with your studies. Full translation below: "I was not suggesting that all coarse-grained categorization is purely relative. Rather, that it is reductive, and calls for closer and more careful examination." 'The process of reduction and categorization are the same in this context, but not all reductive processes require closer examination - this is a non sequitur i.e. re-written in plain English: "I was not suggesting all categorization is relative but that it is a process of categorization. " "Reductive here being simply diagnostic and not necessarily pejorative. It can, however, often be glib. Glib being certainly pejorative." Why say Pejorative when you could say bad. George Orwell is good on this type of thing. We now have: "I was not suggesting all categorization is relative but that it is a process of categorization. Categorization is a tool, so not always bad, but if it is superficial, i.e. badly done, it is bad." You then say: "Coarse-grained categorization can have its place, but when (mis)used, glibly, in place of more careful and granular analysis on a topic as important and complicated as the "birth" of popular culture, it does a disservice to serious inquiry." i.e. Categorization is useful, but when done superficially on an important topic like the birth of popular culture, it is bad. Giving: "I was not suggesting all categorization is relative but that it is a process of categorization. Categorization is a tool, so not always bad, but if it is superficial, i.e. badly done, it is bad. Categorization is useful, but when done superficially on an important topic like the birth of popular culture, it is bad. The next sentence is a gem: "Pure relativism is not at all the same as close, careful analysis of the fascinating cross-currents and interpenetrations of broad categories and also what such notions represent and how and why they are employed rhetorically (being, after all, rhetorical approximations)." It takes a while to translate to: "Relativism is not the same as categorization and its use in arguments, ultimately being relative."

Smashing Telly : The worlds most awesomest, hella wicked clips of humans in motion

Wed, 20 May 2009 19:34:33 +0000

Oh my! That's made my day.

Smashing Telly : Star Schlock, the Most Excruciating Moments of Star Trek

Fri, 15 May 2009 00:54:20 +0000

Huh? So you are saying that the excuse for the fact that this is crap has nothing to do with the writers but rather the fact that their fictional character has, equally fictitiously, lost his mind. Mickey Mouse is not a real mouse and Leonard Nimoy is not an alien.

Smashing Telly : List of favorite movie endings

Sat, 9 May 2009 19:34:18 +0000

[youtube MNuvveyKA1U http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MNuvveyKA1U youtube]Great find, I'm embedding it.

Smashing Telly : List of favorite movie endings

Sat, 9 May 2009 19:08:40 +0000

Good choice. Amazing to think that Newcastle in the 1970s is globally famous because of Get Carter.