Definitions by Grinning Cat
snail
(from snail mail)
(v.) to send (a letter, card, or package) via physical mail; to mail or post (a tangible object) using a postal service. Bills and junk mail are perhaps the most common items snailed, but people snail personal letters and items as well.
(v.) to send (a letter, card, or package) via physical mail; to mail or post (a tangible object) using a postal service. Bills and junk mail are perhaps the most common items snailed, but people snail personal letters and items as well.
snail by Grinning Cat December 27, 2010
Christmahannukwanzadan
A term that, while an attempt to be inclusive of various winter holidays and "festivals of light", also displays ignorance that Ramadan has no connection with the seasons of the solar year. Ramadan (a month of major religious observances within the Islamic lunar calendar) moves backwards through the solar calendar about eleven days every year.
In some years Ramadan gains visibility as it is coincidentally observed near the winter "holiday season", but it actually keeps cycling through the seasons.
In some years Ramadan gains visibility as it is coincidentally observed near the winter "holiday season", but it actually keeps cycling through the seasons.
In 2010 Ramadan spanned parts of August and September.
In 2011 Ramadan will fall approximately between August 1 and August 29 or 30.
This demonstrates that "Christmahannukwanzadan" illogically groups Ramadan with winter holidays.
In 2011 Ramadan will fall approximately between August 1 and August 29 or 30.
This demonstrates that "Christmahannukwanzadan" illogically groups Ramadan with winter holidays.
Christmahannukwanzadan by Grinning Cat December 27, 2010
bokeh
The specific quality of the blur in out-of-focus areas of the picture; "the way the lens renders out-of-focus points of light." Small highlights, especially, in the blurry areas of a photo can be rendered dramatically differently by different lenses (or "faux bokeh" photoshopping techniques).
Some examples of different types of bokeh are at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
Some examples of different types of bokeh are at en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bokeh
bokeh by Grinning Cat March 6, 2010
election
"The turnout for the election wasn't even 40% of eligible voters. The winner got a slight majority of that, so four out of five people DIDN'T vote for him. So from that he concludes he has a popular 'mandate'?!"
election by Grinning Cat January 5, 2009
congresscritter
A congresswoman or congressman: an elected official who serves in the House of Representatives, the lower house of the United States Congress. "Congresscritters" can also, loosely, include U.S. Senators. The term is gender-neutral, and also attempts to remove these elected representatives from their pedestals.
"Writing to your congresscritters about an issue may seem pointless, but when enough people -- you and your friends and their friends and THEIR friends -- make their voices heard, the congresscritters will realize that their chances of reelection ARE affected by doing the right thing."
congresscritter by Grinning Cat January 5, 2009
IRS
"Infernal Revenue Service", how many Americans feel about the Internal Revenue Service, the U.S. federal tax collection agency.
Legend has it that IRS employees scrutinize handwritten envelopes containing tax returns, and any addressed to the "Infernal" Revenue Service are flagged for audits.
IRS by Grinning Cat April 18, 2008
voting machine
A device that records the choices of voters in an election. It can take several forms:
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1. A mechanical device, where the voter flips small levers next to the candidates' names to indicate their choices, then pulls a big lever to record the votes. Considered very difficult to hack.
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2. A direct-recording electronic (DRE) machine. May print vote totals on paper, but there is no way for a voter to verify that his/her votes were accurately recorded. Unlike mechanical voting machines, DRE machines are extremely vulnerable to fraud and malware that can steal a percentage of votes, reassigning them to the rigged candidate.
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3. An electronic machine that lets the voter make choices, then PRINTS AN ACTUAL FILLED-OUT PAPER BALLOT, which the voter can review and either discard (and start over) or cast. THE PAPER BALLOT IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE VOTE.
Ballots can be quickly counted by optical scanning technology. (Voters could also choose to fill in a blank ballot by hand.) Importantly, ballots can be RECOUNTED, by hand if necessary.
Counts from the voting machines need not be trusted as anything more than quick estimates or "exit polls". This scheme makes it difficult to commit the large-scale fraud so easy to do invisibly with paperless DRE machines.
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1. A mechanical device, where the voter flips small levers next to the candidates' names to indicate their choices, then pulls a big lever to record the votes. Considered very difficult to hack.
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2. A direct-recording electronic (DRE) machine. May print vote totals on paper, but there is no way for a voter to verify that his/her votes were accurately recorded. Unlike mechanical voting machines, DRE machines are extremely vulnerable to fraud and malware that can steal a percentage of votes, reassigning them to the rigged candidate.
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3. An electronic machine that lets the voter make choices, then PRINTS AN ACTUAL FILLED-OUT PAPER BALLOT, which the voter can review and either discard (and start over) or cast. THE PAPER BALLOT IS THE OFFICIAL RECORD OF THE VOTE.
Ballots can be quickly counted by optical scanning technology. (Voters could also choose to fill in a blank ballot by hand.) Importantly, ballots can be RECOUNTED, by hand if necessary.
Counts from the voting machines need not be trusted as anything more than quick estimates or "exit polls". This scheme makes it difficult to commit the large-scale fraud so easy to do invisibly with paperless DRE machines.
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A number of Diebold electronic voting machines have been in the news, first for criminally incompetent software and database design, leaving vote records wide open to undetectable tampering, more recently for vulnerability to "computer virus" style malware that can spread from machine to machine through the data cards used to collect voting data.
Making such electronic voting machines widespread is the perfect way to lay the groundwork for large-scale, invisible voter fraud.
There's plenty of information on this on the Web. A good place to start: the Coalition for Voting Integrity, www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org .
Making such electronic voting machines widespread is the perfect way to lay the groundwork for large-scale, invisible voter fraud.
There's plenty of information on this on the Web. A good place to start: the Coalition for Voting Integrity, www.coalitionforvotingintegrity.org .
voting machine by Grinning Cat April 18, 2008