Friday, March 10, 2006
Salty Egg King Steams the Vegetable Sponge
This might be the worst English Translation of a menu ever.
More Origami
Here's a video of perhaps the worst product demo ever. It's someone showing the Asus R2H Origami device. It has some nice features including TV out and GPS. Watching him use the interface to get to things is painful, but he doesn't seem to be the most skilled user.
This image just frightens me. Ok, the arc'ed keyboard is potentially cool, but I'd have to try it to see. But look at how much space you have to see what you're typing!!! It's one line and it doesn't even span the width of the screen. No wonder I hate Outlook.
This image just frightens me. Ok, the arc'ed keyboard is potentially cool, but I'd have to try it to see. But look at how much space you have to see what you're typing!!! It's one line and it doesn't even span the width of the screen. No wonder I hate Outlook.
Eco-Tourism at Home
Sprol uses Google Earth images to show what they call the "Worst Places In The World". Their about page says "Sprol shows the visual macroscopic effects of the decisions and behavior of our society." What that means is here are photos of the environment changing. Their topics include disasterss, pollution, mining, etc.
Lies and Statistics
This is one the dumbest things I've seen in a while. The article, Cheap watches trouble for Gitmo prisoners, tells how many terrorist bombs use Casio watches as timers so now "The U.S. military cites the digital watches worn by prisoners when they were captured as possible evidence of terrorist ties."
The fact that millions and millions of people wear the popular watches seems lost on them. I bet terrorists use Kleenex too, or maybe they prefer Puffs. Now if someone could find a connection in Casio corporate, that would be something.
To me the most frightening part of the article was:
The watch maker, a division of Casio Computer Co., Ltd. of Japan, declined interview requests, but said in the statement that it is aware of the concerns. "Casio continues to work closely with all government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security to help limit any potential threats and deal with security concerns," the statement said.
what is this "close work" they do?
The fact that millions and millions of people wear the popular watches seems lost on them. I bet terrorists use Kleenex too, or maybe they prefer Puffs. Now if someone could find a connection in Casio corporate, that would be something.
To me the most frightening part of the article was:
The watch maker, a division of Casio Computer Co., Ltd. of Japan, declined interview requests, but said in the statement that it is aware of the concerns. "Casio continues to work closely with all government agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security to help limit any potential threats and deal with security concerns," the statement said.
what is this "close work" they do?
New TiVo Pricing Model
ars Technica has a good article, TiVo just wants to be free on their new pricing model. They are eliminating upfront hardware costs and are going to a pure subscription model with no unit lifetime option.
As a Tivo lover and shareholder I'm not to happy about this. I've been waiting for an HD Tivo for several years and will buy one the moment it's available. But most of my frineds who didn't buy Tivo cite the monthly fee as a barrier. I'd go the other way and raise the box costs and lower the monthly fees dramatically. Makes it easier to give as a gift. TiVo's competition is cable DVR service which is close to half as expensive. If you model is the same, how to do you convince people that the premium is worth it? Particularly when people who are watching less TV are already paying monthly cable bills and monthly netflix service. Being third to this party doesn't sound appealing.
Maybe I'm wrong, people seem will to pay for netflix and they have a good model to give trial memberships as gifts, but they don't have to get a box into your hands.
Update: See this for some more details. Get that lifetime while you can.
As a Tivo lover and shareholder I'm not to happy about this. I've been waiting for an HD Tivo for several years and will buy one the moment it's available. But most of my frineds who didn't buy Tivo cite the monthly fee as a barrier. I'd go the other way and raise the box costs and lower the monthly fees dramatically. Makes it easier to give as a gift. TiVo's competition is cable DVR service which is close to half as expensive. If you model is the same, how to do you convince people that the premium is worth it? Particularly when people who are watching less TV are already paying monthly cable bills and monthly netflix service. Being third to this party doesn't sound appealing.
Maybe I'm wrong, people seem will to pay for netflix and they have a good model to give trial memberships as gifts, but they don't have to get a box into your hands.
Update: See this for some more details. Get that lifetime while you can.
Thursday, March 09, 2006
Microsoft's Origami Mini-Laptop
Microsoft has finally announced their new Origami product which seems to be something between a PDA and laptop. It's got a 7 inch screen and weights about 2 lbs. It runs a "modified version of Microsoft's Windows XP Tablet PC edition."
"Samsung positions the UMPC as a handheld organizer, an MP3 portable music player, a mobile television receiver, a games device and a notebook PC and believes it will be more successful than the full-sized tablet notebook PC with touch screen, launched four years ago."
This seems really dumb to me. As a Palm user for years, the important point was that it fit in a pocket so you could easily take it with you. This thing doesn't, so if you need a briefcase, you'll have your laptop anyway. And they say battery life is a whole 3 hours. Do they think commuters are going to start carrying one of these to watch stuff on a train? Do they think plane travelers are going to watch a movie on this instead of their laptops? If you're going to listen to music why carry one of these instead of a tiny iPod that has 4 times the battery life? With laptops having 15 inch screens who wants to use a spreadsheet on a tiny 7 inch screen? Dumb.
"Samsung positions the UMPC as a handheld organizer, an MP3 portable music player, a mobile television receiver, a games device and a notebook PC and believes it will be more successful than the full-sized tablet notebook PC with touch screen, launched four years ago."
This seems really dumb to me. As a Palm user for years, the important point was that it fit in a pocket so you could easily take it with you. This thing doesn't, so if you need a briefcase, you'll have your laptop anyway. And they say battery life is a whole 3 hours. Do they think commuters are going to start carrying one of these to watch stuff on a train? Do they think plane travelers are going to watch a movie on this instead of their laptops? If you're going to listen to music why carry one of these instead of a tiny iPod that has 4 times the battery life? With laptops having 15 inch screens who wants to use a spreadsheet on a tiny 7 inch screen? Dumb.
Most distant cosmic explosion was a star collapsing into a black hole
Fortunately not everyone rejects science. When I read reports like
this, my faith in humanity is restored. On September 4, 2005 scientists detected the most distant cosmic explosion ever. It was 13 billion light years away which means it happened during the first billion years of the universe.
"We designed Swift to look for faint bursts coming from the edge of the universe," said Neil Gehrels of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Swift's principal investigator. "Now we've got one and it's fascinating. For the first time we can learn about individual stars from near the beginning of time. There are surely many more out there."
this, my faith in humanity is restored. On September 4, 2005 scientists detected the most distant cosmic explosion ever. It was 13 billion light years away which means it happened during the first billion years of the universe.
"We designed Swift to look for faint bursts coming from the edge of the universe," said Neil Gehrels of NASA Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., Swift's principal investigator. "Now we've got one and it's fascinating. For the first time we can learn about individual stars from near the beginning of time. There are surely many more out there."
Most Americans Reject Evolution
I just find this so depressing. "A Gallup Poll released Wednesday suggests about 53 percent of Americans rejects the theory of evolution as the explanation for the origin of humans. About 31 percent of respondents said they believe humans evolved, but God guided the process. Only 1.2 percent said they believe the scientific theory of evolution and 'God had no part'."
"Researchers said people with lower levels of education, those who attend church regularly, those who are 65 or older and those who identify with the Republican Party are more likely to believe in the biblical story of the origin of humans. "
This is just proof that education is a serious nation wide problem in this country. (Ok, proof is a strong word since there was no margin of error figures disclosed about the poll).
"Researchers said people with lower levels of education, those who attend church regularly, those who are 65 or older and those who identify with the Republican Party are more likely to believe in the biblical story of the origin of humans. "
This is just proof that education is a serious nation wide problem in this country. (Ok, proof is a strong word since there was no margin of error figures disclosed about the poll).
Most Americans Reject Evolution
I just find this so depressing. "A Gallup Poll released Wednesday suggests about 53 percent of Americans rejects the theory of evolution as the explanation for the origin of humans. About 31 percent of respondents said they believe humans evolved, but God guided the process. Only 1.2 percent said they believe the scientific theory of evolution and 'God had no part'."
"Researchers said people with lower levels of education, those who attend church regularly, those who are 65 or older and those who identify with the Republican Party are more likely to believe in the biblical story of the origin of humans. "
This is just proof that education is a serious nation wide problem in this country. (Ok, proof is a strong word since there was no margin of error figures disclosed about the poll).
"Researchers said people with lower levels of education, those who attend church regularly, those who are 65 or older and those who identify with the Republican Party are more likely to believe in the biblical story of the origin of humans. "
This is just proof that education is a serious nation wide problem in this country. (Ok, proof is a strong word since there was no margin of error figures disclosed about the poll).
Tuesday, March 07, 2006
The Aristocrats
I've never heard of Tom Gilroy but he wrote this article in the Huffington Post called The Aristocrats that describes the GOP as if they were doing the old time joke (see the movie, it's good). The joke didn't do much for me but I liked the first paragraph as a summary of the Bush administration:
"The shit is so deep with W & Co it's almost dizzying, which is of course the point. You barely have time to focus on one single embarrassing historic catastrophe -- lying about the war, say, or lying about Katrina, or lying about torture -- and suddenly you're blindsided by new scandals, like PlameGate, wiretapping, Abramoff, the Dubai debacle, global warming denial, cutting veteran's benefits or Medicare, Delay, Cunningham, Frist, intelligent design, cash handouts to oil, mining, and natural gas multinationals -- whew."
And I look forward to the where he says he'll "look into what the little people like us in the audience can do to bring down the curtain".
"The shit is so deep with W & Co it's almost dizzying, which is of course the point. You barely have time to focus on one single embarrassing historic catastrophe -- lying about the war, say, or lying about Katrina, or lying about torture -- and suddenly you're blindsided by new scandals, like PlameGate, wiretapping, Abramoff, the Dubai debacle, global warming denial, cutting veteran's benefits or Medicare, Delay, Cunningham, Frist, intelligent design, cash handouts to oil, mining, and natural gas multinationals -- whew."
And I look forward to the where he says he'll "look into what the little people like us in the audience can do to bring down the curtain".
A 19th Century Critique of a 21st Century President
Here's a good Op-ed from the LA Times: A 19th Century Critique of a 21st Century President
Dubai Disclosures
Arianna Huffington writes about How Money Is Clouding the Ports Deal Debate. "Jack Kemp. There he was on Meet the Press on Sunday defending his public support for the Dubai ports deal...What Kemp didn't say is that the UAE has invested millions in Free Market Global, an energy-trading company that he chairs."
Kemp says Gen. Tommy Franks is for the deal too. He didn't say that Franks " is on the advisory board of Free Market Global, and stands to profit from maintaining good relations with the oil-rich emirs."
She goes on to list more including that UAE gave a lot to Bill Clinton and that maybe that influenced him and describes how Kemp had two sons of the President of the UAE over for dinner who spoke with his other guest, Dick Cheney. She doesn't mention anyone getting shot.
Kemp says Gen. Tommy Franks is for the deal too. He didn't say that Franks " is on the advisory board of Free Market Global, and stands to profit from maintaining good relations with the oil-rich emirs."
She goes on to list more including that UAE gave a lot to Bill Clinton and that maybe that influenced him and describes how Kemp had two sons of the President of the UAE over for dinner who spoke with his other guest, Dick Cheney. She doesn't mention anyone getting shot.
Sunday, March 05, 2006
Oscar Results
Well I missed 6. I was going to say it was fairly boring as the big upset was in Documentary Short Film, but then at the end, Crash beat Brokeback Mountain. I'm thrilled.
Jon Stewart I thought did a good job. I didn't love his opening too much though he did have a good line about the films this year that were about journalists and a relentless pursuit of the truth were both period pieces. I also liked him saying "Bjork couldn't be here, she was trying on her oscar dress, and Dick Cheney shot her." He was better throughout the show, having very good lines as things unfolded. He nailed it when he said "Martin Scorcese zero oscars, Three 6 Mafia one". "Itzhak Perlman was finger synching." They also did some funny fake commercials that were lobbying for the nominated films and stars.
I thought Clooney had the best acceptance speech. He started out funny saying that winning meant it would follow him. "Oscar winner, 1997 sexiest man alive, Batman, George Clooney died today in a freak accident." He then commented how he was happy to be a part of a Hollywood that was out of touch of the mainstream. Sometimes that's good to bring up difficult issues. Hollywood gave Hattie McDaniel an oscar while blacks had to sit in the back of theater. It's a good point, and he was a class act. Reese Witherspoon was also good, being very happy and charming.
The show was ok. They only had 3 songs to perform so that was better than usual. Though they did change "bitches" to "witches" in the winning song. But they also did 5 retrospectives: biographies, film noir, issue films, epics, and of course those that died this year. Jon Stewart joked that he's waiting for oscars salute to the montage. The best presenters were Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep who did a tour de'force of overlapping ramblng dialog while presenting Robert Altman with his honorary Oscar.
Until next year.
Jon Stewart I thought did a good job. I didn't love his opening too much though he did have a good line about the films this year that were about journalists and a relentless pursuit of the truth were both period pieces. I also liked him saying "Bjork couldn't be here, she was trying on her oscar dress, and Dick Cheney shot her." He was better throughout the show, having very good lines as things unfolded. He nailed it when he said "Martin Scorcese zero oscars, Three 6 Mafia one". "Itzhak Perlman was finger synching." They also did some funny fake commercials that were lobbying for the nominated films and stars.
I thought Clooney had the best acceptance speech. He started out funny saying that winning meant it would follow him. "Oscar winner, 1997 sexiest man alive, Batman, George Clooney died today in a freak accident." He then commented how he was happy to be a part of a Hollywood that was out of touch of the mainstream. Sometimes that's good to bring up difficult issues. Hollywood gave Hattie McDaniel an oscar while blacks had to sit in the back of theater. It's a good point, and he was a class act. Reese Witherspoon was also good, being very happy and charming.
The show was ok. They only had 3 songs to perform so that was better than usual. Though they did change "bitches" to "witches" in the winning song. But they also did 5 retrospectives: biographies, film noir, issue films, epics, and of course those that died this year. Jon Stewart joked that he's waiting for oscars salute to the montage. The best presenters were Lily Tomlin and Meryl Streep who did a tour de'force of overlapping ramblng dialog while presenting Robert Altman with his honorary Oscar.
Until next year.
Oscars
Well the oscars are about to start and I'm looking forward to them. My pool has 15 entrants so we'll see how things turn out.
I managed to see almost all the movies nominated this year, including many of the shorts. I saw everything but the foreign films, the animated shorts and 3 of the documentaries. Crash was still my favorite for best film of the year, though I don't think it's going to win.
Here are my predictions for the awards:
I managed to see almost all the movies nominated this year, including many of the shorts. I saw everything but the foreign films, the animated shorts and 3 of the documentaries. Crash was still my favorite for best film of the year, though I don't think it's going to win.
Here are my predictions for the awards:
- Picture: Brokeback Mountain
- Director: Ang Lee, Brokeback Mountain
- Actor: Philip Seymour Hoffman, Capote
- Actress: Reese Witherspoon, Walk the Line
- Supporting Actor: George Clooney, Syriana
- Supporting Actress: Rachel Weisz, The Constant Gardener
- Adapted Screenplay: Brokeback Mountain
- Original Screenplay: Crash
- Original Song: "In the Deep", Crash
- Original Score: John Williams, Memoirs of a Geisha
- Cinematography: Brokeback Mountain
- Art Direction: Memoirs of a Geisha
- Film Editing: Crash
- Sound: Walk the Line
- Visual Effects: King Kong
- Sound Effects Editing: King Kong
- Costume Design: Memoirs of a Geisha
- Makeup: The Chronicles of Narnia
- Animated Short Film: The Moon and the Son: An Imagined Conversation
- Live Action Short Film: Six Shooter
- Documentary Feature: March of the Penguins
- Foreign Film: Tsotsi, South Africa
- Documentary Short Film: God Sleeps in Rwanda
- Animated Feature: Wallace & Gromit in the Curse of the Were-Rabbit
Saturday, March 04, 2006
Dubai's Architectural Wonders
Business Week reports on Dubai's Architectural Wonders. Dubai's oil is expected to run out in 2010 so they've been working hard to diversify their industries, including tourism. They have the world's first 7 star hotel and biggest man-made port. They will soon complete the worlds largest mall and tallest building.
"There's Hydropolis, an underwater hotel developed and designed by Germany's Joachim Hauser, scheduled to open at the end of 2007. And there's Palm Islands, a set of man-made resort islands shaped to look like a palm tree when seen from a jet, which will open later this year. This year the same developer will also complete The World, a series of manufactured residential islands that, when seen from above, resemble smaller versions of the seven continents. And speaking of space, the American firm Space Adventures (known for launching the first civilian orbital space flights) is developing the UAE spaceport, the first commercial spacecraft flight center in nearby emirate Ras Al-Khaimah, minutes away from Dubai."Check out the slideshow.
Friday, March 03, 2006
Bush Misspeaks on Pakistan
I got this from Bill Maher on Real Time tonight. Bush speaking today from Delhi said
"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbour for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world.” As Bill Maher pointed out, "Pakistan is neither free nor Arab." Oops.
"I believe that a prosperous, democratic Pakistan will be a steadfast partner for America, a peaceful neighbour for India, and a force for freedom and moderation in the Arab world.” As Bill Maher pointed out, "Pakistan is neither free nor Arab." Oops.
Thursday, March 02, 2006
The Katrina Tapes
So by now you all know that the AP got a hold of some video of meetings Bush and FEMA had before Katrina to prep for the emergency. The LA TImes has links to the videos and some transcripts. Here's what I've managed to find on the topic.
The connection everyone is making is that three days after Katrina, Bush said: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Now we all know that's false as weathermen were fearing it before the storm hit. But what's new is that Bush was in meetings 4 days before saying this where people feared the levees wouldn't hold. This leads some to say: "Bush proves to the world that he is a liar". Some but not all, Media Matters points out the NY Times and Washington Post didn't bother to make the connection and neither did ABC's Elizabeth Vargas or MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell in their reports nor did CBS's Bob Orr in his.
Now MSNBC's Joe Scarborough (who I haven't watched but have the impression he's an idiot, can anyone clue me in?) thinks "these Bush tapes won’t hurt Bush so much" because they show "Chertoff was out to lunch, literally" (apparently he was there and asking questions, he's just not on the tapes) and "Brown was deadly accurate in his predictions". He also asks "why are we just now hearing tapes they told us no longer existed?" which is a legitimate question. Apparenlty some media organizations had these videos for 6 months and did nothing with them.
The connection everyone is making is that three days after Katrina, Bush said: "I don't think anybody anticipated the breach of the levees." Now we all know that's false as weathermen were fearing it before the storm hit. But what's new is that Bush was in meetings 4 days before saying this where people feared the levees wouldn't hold. This leads some to say: "Bush proves to the world that he is a liar". Some but not all, Media Matters points out the NY Times and Washington Post didn't bother to make the connection and neither did ABC's Elizabeth Vargas or MSNBC's Norah O'Donnell in their reports nor did CBS's Bob Orr in his.
Now MSNBC's Joe Scarborough (who I haven't watched but have the impression he's an idiot, can anyone clue me in?) thinks "these Bush tapes won’t hurt Bush so much" because they show "Chertoff was out to lunch, literally" (apparently he was there and asking questions, he's just not on the tapes) and "Brown was deadly accurate in his predictions". He also asks "why are we just now hearing tapes they told us no longer existed?" which is a legitimate question. Apparenlty some media organizations had these videos for 6 months and did nothing with them.
Plush Microbes!
Now you can get microbes! in the form of (gian) stuffed animals. Well the site says they are about a million time actual size but I think that might be rounding. For about $6-$7 you can have your choice of many. To the right is the common cold."Now available: The Common Cold, The Flu, Sore Throat, Stomach Ache, Cough, Ear Ache, Bad Breath, Kissing Disease, Athlete's Foot, Ulcer, Martian Life, Beer & Bread, Black Death, Ebola, Flesh Eating, Sleeping Sickness, Dust Mite, Bed Bug, and Bookworm (and in our Professional line: H.I.V. and Hepatitis)."
Wednesday, March 01, 2006
Video shows Bush, Chertoff clearly warned before Katrina struck
Reading Eagle reports on some new video footage made available of briefings Bush got before Katrina. I'll be lazy, the first 3 paragraphs are below, but the whole article is worth a read. These guys are just incompetent.
"In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: 'We are fully prepared.'"
"The footage - along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press - show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster."
"In dramatic and sometimes agonizing terms, federal disaster officials warned President Bush and his homeland security chief before Hurricane Katrina struck that the storm could breach levees, put lives at risk in New Orleans' Superdome and overwhelm rescuers, according to confidential video footage.
Bush didn't ask a single question during the final briefing before Katrina struck on Aug. 29, but he assured soon-to-be-battered state officials: 'We are fully prepared.'"
"The footage - along with seven days of transcripts of briefings obtained by The Associated Press - show in excruciating detail that while federal officials anticipated the tragedy that unfolded in New Orleans and elsewhere along the Gulf Coast, they were fatally slow to realize they had not mustered enough resources to deal with the unprecedented disaster."
According to Bad Router Omen
I've been having problems with my D-Link DI-524 wireless router. My connection from my powerbook drops, it reboots and I can't do WPA encryption to the AirPort Extreme. So I did a little research and went out to Best Buy and bought a Linksys WRT54GC. I got it home, unpacked it and wanted to install it. No manual, just a CD to run. I remember seeing something about a firmware update so I went to the linksys web site to check. It was down for maintenance, at 2:30 in the afternoon on a wednesday. Not a good sign.
1st Amendment vs The Simpsons
A study by the new McCormick Tribune Freedom Museum found that 22 percent of Americans could name all five Simpson family members, compared with just one in 1,000 people who could name all five First Amendment freedoms.
"It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found."
"The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights."
For the record, I could name 3 freedoms, 5 Simpsons, and 2 Idol judges.
"It also showed that people misidentified First Amendment rights. About one in five people thought the right to own a pet was protected, and 38 percent said they believed the right against self-incrimination contained in the Fifth Amendment was a First Amendment right, the survey found."
"The survey found more people could name the three "American Idol" judges than identify three First Amendment rights."
For the record, I could name 3 freedoms, 5 Simpsons, and 2 Idol judges.
Microsoft iPod Packaging
Here's a funny video showing What if Microsoft redesigned the iPod packaging?. Introducing the new I-pod Pro XP 2005 Human Ear Professional Edition. Be sure your sound is on, the music makes it.
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