esmith512's definitions

FrankenMac

A usually fully functional almost-Apple Macintosh computer rebuilt from various dead-Mac pull-out and commodity PC parts to avoid Apple's high prices for similar Apple-sourced but functionally identical parts. A cousin somewhat to the Hackintosh.

Jim got a bunch of Apple and non-Apple parts from some dead Macs, PCs, and his own workbench and cobbled together a little FrankenMac. Not quite as pretty but it works fine.

by esmith512 October 6, 2007

post 9/11 world

A political buzzphrase used as a rhetorical talking-point in a power-grabbing or liberty-destroying attempt to diminish or subvert the civil libertarian, responsible, and democratic character of a community, group, or society.

The honoring of civil liberty, presumption of innocence and good faith, privacy, and freedom of speech and expression cannot be tolerated because we live in a post 9/11 world.

by Esmith512 September 24, 2007

post 9/11 world

A baseless and insulting pseudo-justification for an unqualifiable, destructively irrational, frequently stupid, and nearly psychotically paranoid assumption of the mass culpability and inheirently evil, antisocial character of an entire community, group, society, or world.

Everyone everywhere is assumed to be crazy and evil and must be inspected and watched at all times, with any suspicions real or imagined reported immediately because we live in a post 9/11 world!

by Esmith512 September 24, 2007

island mentality

A psychological state more than a geographic state of a person: a belief in a community's or culture's superiority, correctness, or specialness compared to other communities or cultures. Inspired by positive-minded well-meaning groupthink, increasing homogeniety over time, isolation-induced ignorance of other cultures or communities, fear of the unknown or being outnumbered (and a desire to compensate for their smallness amid the world), and lack of conflict with/lack of destruction by other communities (improving relative progress and social harmony and giving some creedence to their feelings of superiority).

Progressive and possessive attributes of English and Japanese histories show an island mentality.

by esmith512 June 26, 2007

you can't polish a turd

unconvincingly attempt to make an irreconcilably bad situation look good.

They're trying to portray the poor financial reports as positive, but you can't polish a turd.

by esmith512 April 21, 2007