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Click the comic to see it on its original site.

Since Randall Munroe posted the first XKCD webcomic in September 2005, he’s taken themes like computer programming, technology, philosophy, math, science, pop culture, language, and romance and then tosses them into a blender and made some of the web’s sharpest, cleverest, and most poignant observations on and explanations of life, the universe, and everything. But as far as I can recall, he’s stayed pretty far away from politics until today, when he clearly stated that he’s in the Hillary Clinton camp and provided information that’s useful for voters of all stripes.

 

One year ago today — and half a world away!

With a crazy couple of weeks coming up — including trips to SMARTRAC’s Baltimore office for a big-ass town hall meeting and tech evangelism planning and to London to help out with the presentation of some really cool tech — I’ve decided to make this year’s birthday celebrations a little more low-key than last year’s, which was at a Diwali party in Pune, India (pictured above).

I’ve already hit the gym and taken in some of today’s lovely weather. I’m still getting reacquainted with the concept of balmy November birthdays; it’s 28°C / 82°F as I write this.

The view from our yard.

I suppose I could tidy up my home office a little and get some stuff off the floor…

…and then have some lunch:

After lunch, I plan to dive into an ebook I just bought, Unity Games by Tutorials, because I want to try my hand at making 3D games for iOS and Android (especially now that I have a nice new computer and Android phone that SMARTRAC assigned to me), and hey, who doesn’t like programming games?

Here’s a video preview of the games programming tutorials in the ebook…

…and here’s where I’ll be trying out the tutorials in said ebook:

Tonight’s plans: dinner with Anitra at Bollywood Spice in Clearwater, followed by catching this guy’s show:

That’s fellow Canadian Les Stroud, whom you might know better as Survivorman, or the non-poseur Bear Grylls. He’s on tour right now with a band, giving multimedia shows where he performs with his band and tells stories, all with a video backdrop of the films he’s made in the wild.

This is what Sunday will look like — I’ll be at our friend Jerry’s place, celebrating his birthday:

That’ll bring us to Monday, where my morning will look like this…

…and that’s when things get not-so-laid-back.

Last night, Anitra and I went as the Martians from Sesame Street, also known as the “yip yip yip” aliens. Here’s some footage of me testing out the costume after it arrived:

If you’re not familiar with these creatures, here’s a classic skit that dates back to the 1970s:

The world’s most famous undecided voter posted this photo of his Halloween costume last night: Obi-Wan Kenboni. I don’t think he’s settled on whether to be a Jedi or Sith just yet.

If you think that Donald “Orange Julius Caesar” Trump is the first person to turn politics in the United States into a farce featuring fifth-grade insults, bullying, and all-round terrible behavior, you’re wrong. Here’s Adam Conover to run over a quick list of history’s Trumps and forever change the way you say “LBJ”:

Click the screenshot to see it at full size.

The undeserved court victory of Ammon Bundy and his thugs has been parodied in a Craiglist ad with the headline 3br – 1600ft² – Malheur Wildlife Refuge for Rent – $0/month, no deposit!

The Bundys, a.k.a. yet another case of white people getting away with crazy shit.

I think the ad will get taken down soon, so I’m reproducing its for posterity:

Quaint, stone cottage in beautiful, country setting! 3 bed, 1 bath (3 if you count 2 latrines dug out by our last tenants) with spacious patio and breathtaking views!

Comes fully furnished with some chairs and maps, and over 4,000 sacred Native-American artifacts! No deposit necessary so don’t worry about the artifacts (our last tenants didn’t)!

Tenants recently moved – Malheur National Wildlife Refuge is AVAILABLE NOW!

Call FBI to schedule viewing! If no one is there for the open house you can probably just stay.

Rent is $0/month!
No deposit!

All races welcome to apply! But can only guarantee safety for you-know-which-one (wink-wink).

cats – ok
dogs – ok
standoffs w/ FBI – you’re an adult

 

If you’d like some amusing background noise to help you finish off the final hours of the Friday workday, you might want to play this 3.5 hour ad featuring Andy Daly reading all insults directed toward Laphroaig single malt whiskey from its #OpinionsWelcome campaign on Twitter. I’m amazed it even got green-lighted:

For more on how the ad got made, there’s a story about it on AdWeek.

Laphroaig isn’t for everyone. If all your preference is for Glenlivet, Laphroaig is on the other end of the whisky flavor map, which is probably why a number of people liken it to tasting like “a burning hospital”:

Click the flavor map to see it at full size.