Friday, June 08, 2007
Be Like Howard
I managed to work out 5 times this week. I also did well eating this week. Mostly cooked myself and lots of fruits and vegetables. Finally after 5 weeks I've seen a few pounds come off. I also feel pretty good and am not wiped out after the gym. In fact on the walk home yesterday after weight training and half hour of cardio I felt like I actually had some upper body strength. :)
The 2012 Olympic Logo is Fugly
The 2012 Olympics will be in London. They just announced the new logo. They say: "The new emblem is dynamic, modern and flexible. It will work with new technology and across traditional and new media networks." I and just about everyone else says it's ugly. It comes in the four colors above, but I don't think those are the official colors of the Olympic Rings.
They have a page called About our new look with a completely boring 4 minute film that's not really about the "new look". They also encourage people to create their own designs but you have to use their ugly templates. Here's a random sampling (click it to see the gallery).
Maybe we're misjudging it, Lord Seb Coe, chairman of the London 2012 organising committee, said "It's not a logo, it's a brand that will take us forward for the next five years." Or not.
Utterly Groovy Bubble House
jwz had this post called utterly groovy bubble house. He described it well, "I just would not feel right inviting Derek Flint, Diabolik and Barbarella over for cocktails without a pad of at least this level of swankness." I was happy I got all the references.
His source was Ken Sparkes who I think misnamed it Maison Bulle which is a different house near Nice by same the Finnish architect Antti Lovag.
No, this house is Palais Bulles which (I gather) in english is Bubbles Dream Castle and was created for Pierre Cardin near Cannes. I bet my architect friends know all about it.
His source was Ken Sparkes who I think misnamed it Maison Bulle which is a different house near Nice by same the Finnish architect Antti Lovag.
No, this house is Palais Bulles which (I gather) in english is Bubbles Dream Castle and was created for Pierre Cardin near Cannes. I bet my architect friends know all about it.
The Creation Museum
The Creation Museum opened in Kentucky on Memorial Day. Ars technica took a tour/a> . Ugh.
Steampunk
If you don't know Steampunk is a sci-fi genre that I think of as Jules Verne tech. Steamboy was a really crappy (well incoherent) steampunk anime from a couple of years ago. But geeks who want their stuff to look cool, mod them to lock retro-steam powered. This is a working computer:
Here are some posts tagged Steampunk at Engadget.
Here are some posts tagged Steampunk at Engadget.
Rodovid Family Tree Wiki
Rodovid is a free wiki-based family tree site. Enter your own info and see if or when it connects up. Interesting idea, though I'm not sure it will reach critical mass.
Thursday, June 07, 2007
Why the iPhone Looks Amazing
To me, the amazing thing about the iPhone Calamari Ad is the number of taps. From watching the movie to looking up seafood restaurants and dialing them is 13 clicks (Home, maps, searchbar, s e a f o o d, search, select, dial). Compare that to the number of clicks with your current phone if you knew the number, (1 4 1 5 4 4 0 1 9 5 0, talk), that would be 12. That's pretty amazing.
Bloomberg On JFK Plot
Mayor Michael Bloomberg makes the most sense on the JFK plot, Stop Worrying, Get A Life.
"There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life. You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist."
Sure there's still a threat, and I just assume there will be another attack. But all this plot and the Fort Dix plot show is that there are stupid terrorists too and our police forces are at work. As DailyKos says after pointing out this wasn't al Qaida, didn't need illegal wiretaps or torture and invalidates the fighting-them-over-there garbage:
"Now the usual suspects praying for more terrorist attacks to justify their apocalyptic world view seem to be pouncing on this case as some sort of validation. In reality, everything about this plot rejects their views on handling terrorism. And this isn't an isolated case -- the morons who were going to take down the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch and the "Fort Dix Six" were taken down by traditional law enforcement activities. While terrorism is bound to be a low-grade threat to our nation for pretty much ever, this is all proof that bombing them over there isn't doing anything to stop that that threat over here and that law enforcement can handle the task without surrendering our Constitutional liberties to authoritarian fear-mongers."
"There are lots of threats to you in the world. There's the threat of a heart attack for genetic reasons. You can't sit there and worry about everything. Get a life. You have a much greater danger of being hit by lightning than being struck by a terrorist."
Sure there's still a threat, and I just assume there will be another attack. But all this plot and the Fort Dix plot show is that there are stupid terrorists too and our police forces are at work. As DailyKos says after pointing out this wasn't al Qaida, didn't need illegal wiretaps or torture and invalidates the fighting-them-over-there garbage:
"Now the usual suspects praying for more terrorist attacks to justify their apocalyptic world view seem to be pouncing on this case as some sort of validation. In reality, everything about this plot rejects their views on handling terrorism. And this isn't an isolated case -- the morons who were going to take down the Brooklyn Bridge with a blowtorch and the "Fort Dix Six" were taken down by traditional law enforcement activities. While terrorism is bound to be a low-grade threat to our nation for pretty much ever, this is all proof that bombing them over there isn't doing anything to stop that that threat over here and that law enforcement can handle the task without surrendering our Constitutional liberties to authoritarian fear-mongers."
William Jefferson Circus
I've written before about William Jefferson (D-LA). He's finally been indicted. I'm baffled as to why it took 2 years of investigation to get to this point. I wrote a year ago:
"Jefferson was video-taped last August [2005] accepting a $100,000 bribe, $90,000 of the same money was found in his freezer. They have two people who have pled guity to bribing him. He was subpoenaed then (9 months ago) and ignored it so they got a warrant to get the documents they wanted."
The DailyKos asks Why is Jefferson still in the House?. Republicans hypocritically want him expelled but apparently since it's only an indictment and not a conviction, what's common practice is that the House Ethics Committee begins an investigation. One was announced yesterday. Honestly, they found the bribe money in his freezer almost 2 years ago, shouldn't it have begun then!?!?
Meanwhile, Fox News while covering the indictment shows video tape of the wrong black Congressman.
"Jefferson was video-taped last August [2005] accepting a $100,000 bribe, $90,000 of the same money was found in his freezer. They have two people who have pled guity to bribing him. He was subpoenaed then (9 months ago) and ignored it so they got a warrant to get the documents they wanted."
The DailyKos asks Why is Jefferson still in the House?. Republicans hypocritically want him expelled but apparently since it's only an indictment and not a conviction, what's common practice is that the House Ethics Committee begins an investigation. One was announced yesterday. Honestly, they found the bribe money in his freezer almost 2 years ago, shouldn't it have begun then!?!?
Meanwhile, Fox News while covering the indictment shows video tape of the wrong black Congressman.
Our oceans are turning into plastic...are we?
I thought we were turning into corn (according to The Omnivore's Dilemma), apparently we might also be turning into plastic "A vast swath of the Pacific, twice the size of Texas, is full of a plastic stew that is entering the food chain. Scientists say these toxins are causing obesity, infertility...and worse."
Barack Obama's Health Care Plan
I haven't yet read Obama's health care plan but this article I Like Barack Obama's Health Care Plan from Brad DeLong gives me some hope.
Speed Racer's Mach 5
I don't have much interest in the Transformers movie opening July 3rd. It must be a generational thing because I'm really looking forward to the Wachowski brothers live action version of Speed Racer coming out in a year. USA Today has an article, 'Speed Racer's' demon on wheels and here's a video of an interview, including the unveiling of the Mark 5.
I've never heard of Emile Hirsch who's playing Speed, but the rest of the cast looks good: Matthew Fox as Racer X, Christina Ricci as Trixie, Susan Sarandon as Mom and Johh Goodman as Pops.
I've never heard of Emile Hirsch who's playing Speed, but the rest of the cast looks good: Matthew Fox as Racer X, Christina Ricci as Trixie, Susan Sarandon as Mom and Johh Goodman as Pops.
Wednesday, June 06, 2007
The Art of Wikigroaning
The Art of Wikigroaning:
"The premise is quite simple. First, find a useful Wikipedia article that normal people might read. For example, the article called 'Knight.' Then, find a somehow similar article that is longer, but at the same time, useless to a very large fraction of the population. In this case, we'll go with 'Jedi Knight.' Open both of the links and compare the lengths of the two articles. Compare not only that, but how well concepts are explored, and the greater professionalism with which the longer article was likely created. Are you looking yet? Get a good, long look. Yeah. Yeeaaah, we know, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. (We're calling it Wikigroaning for a reason.) The next step is to find your own article pair and share it with your friends, who will usually look for their own pairs and you end up spending a good hour or two in a groaning arms race. The game ends after that, usually without any clear winners... but hey, it beats doing work."
See the linked article for many more examples.
"The premise is quite simple. First, find a useful Wikipedia article that normal people might read. For example, the article called 'Knight.' Then, find a somehow similar article that is longer, but at the same time, useless to a very large fraction of the population. In this case, we'll go with 'Jedi Knight.' Open both of the links and compare the lengths of the two articles. Compare not only that, but how well concepts are explored, and the greater professionalism with which the longer article was likely created. Are you looking yet? Get a good, long look. Yeah. Yeeaaah, we know, but that is just the tip of the iceberg. (We're calling it Wikigroaning for a reason.) The next step is to find your own article pair and share it with your friends, who will usually look for their own pairs and you end up spending a good hour or two in a groaning arms race. The game ends after that, usually without any clear winners... but hey, it beats doing work."
See the linked article for many more examples.
Tuesday, June 05, 2007
Movie Review: Away From Her
The little girl from The Adventures of Baron Munchausen, Sarah Polley is all grown up and has written and directed a film about the affects of Alzheimer’s disease. Based on a short story by Alice Munro, Away from Her follows Fiona and Grant Anderson as they cope with her progressing memory loss and her admittance into a nursing home.
The progression of the story is not at all what I was expecting. Thankfully, none of the events leading up to her decision to move to a home were sensationalized, nothing particularly dangerous and no huge arguments between this couple that have been married for 44 years. Fiona realized what was happening to her and wanted to move to a home. Grant was the one that couldn't bear to see her go; particularly with the home's policy of not allowing visitors for the first 30 days. But then the bulk of the film takes place after that, when he visits her and the unexpected turns she takes.
The story structure forces the audience to be confused at points, obviously to relate to the Alzheimer's. The beginning of the film has some flash forward moments that are a bit mysterious but ultimately serve to break up some story elements from the latter part of the film from being too concentrated. Also when Fiona talks a bit about their past, you're not sure if it's true or not until later scenes when Grant confirms it.
There are a few unexpected funny moments, usually involving another patient who's a former hockey play-by-play announcer who now announces his daily life in the home. They are not overdone and when he passes Grant in the hallway and says "this man's heart is breaking into a million pieces" you're laughing and crying at the same time.
The film is very and a poignant love story, however the ending is ambiguous. It's not clear if the final situation is temporary or permanent, what happens with two of the characters, and as such it's not clear what the motivations are (yes I'm being deliberately vague). Maybe that's also modeled after real life, but I wanted it a little clearer.
The progression of the story is not at all what I was expecting. Thankfully, none of the events leading up to her decision to move to a home were sensationalized, nothing particularly dangerous and no huge arguments between this couple that have been married for 44 years. Fiona realized what was happening to her and wanted to move to a home. Grant was the one that couldn't bear to see her go; particularly with the home's policy of not allowing visitors for the first 30 days. But then the bulk of the film takes place after that, when he visits her and the unexpected turns she takes.
The story structure forces the audience to be confused at points, obviously to relate to the Alzheimer's. The beginning of the film has some flash forward moments that are a bit mysterious but ultimately serve to break up some story elements from the latter part of the film from being too concentrated. Also when Fiona talks a bit about their past, you're not sure if it's true or not until later scenes when Grant confirms it.
There are a few unexpected funny moments, usually involving another patient who's a former hockey play-by-play announcer who now announces his daily life in the home. They are not overdone and when he passes Grant in the hallway and says "this man's heart is breaking into a million pieces" you're laughing and crying at the same time.
The film is very and a poignant love story, however the ending is ambiguous. It's not clear if the final situation is temporary or permanent, what happens with two of the characters, and as such it's not clear what the motivations are (yes I'm being deliberately vague). Maybe that's also modeled after real life, but I wanted it a little clearer.
Monday, June 04, 2007
Dasher, input without typing Inference Group: Dasher Project: Home
Dasher is a new input mechanism that doesn't involve a keyboard or clicking a mouse. By positioning the mouse left, right, up or down, various letters scroll by ordered by their frequency in the language, so if t scrolls by then h and e are easy to get to as well. Here's an animated gif of it in use.
I saw this from the Red Sweater Blog and Daniel Jalkut has a flash movie of him using it.
Seems pretty interesting for words, but I'm not sure how well it deals with non-words (scotus is short for Supreme Court of the United States) or technical words.
I saw this from the Red Sweater Blog and Daniel Jalkut has a flash movie of him using it.
Seems pretty interesting for words, but I'm not sure how well it deals with non-words (scotus is short for Supreme Court of the United States) or technical words.
Putin's Agenda
Interesting article from the Guardian A force to be reckoned with "Vladimir Putin's aim could have been achieved in collaboration with the west; instead Russia's reassertive power is now defined in opposition to it."
A Visual Guide to 15 Healthy Snacks
A Visual Guide to 15 Healthy Snacks. Nope, no Oreo's or ice cream included. I actually have been doing pretty good at this. I snack on nuts, fruits (bananas, apples, clementines, homemade fruit salad) and the occasional microwave popcorn.
Lawful vs Unlawful Enemy Combatants
I honestly don't understand this AP report Judge Dismisses Charges Against Detainee.
Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen being held at Guantanamo. He was captured in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002 at the age of 15 while fighting US troops. "Khadr's father has been described as one of bin Laden's senior lieutenants." The charges against Khadr are very serious.
"Khadr had been classified as an 'enemy combatant' by a military panel years earlier at Guantanamo Bay, but because he was not classified as an 'alien unlawful enemy combatant,' Army Col. Peter Brownback said he had no choice but to throw the case out. The Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last year after the Supreme Court threw out the previous war-crimes trial system, says specifically that only those classified as 'unlawful' enemy combatants can face war trials here. The dismissal of the charges does not mean he will be freed from Guantanamo."
Huh? Maybe this is a reason we shouldn't be calling this war on terror but that this should be treated as an international police action (I'm making this term up). When a war ends, the prisoners are released unless they face war crimes. Since this war on terror isn't going to end, we can't just keep these people prisoners indefinately so we should have trials (after all we think they are breaking laws and doing bad things) and if found guilty, imprisoned. Figuring out if they are lawful or unlawful enemy combatants and having charges dismissed but prisoners not released is way too 1984 for me.
Omar Khadr is a Canadian citizen being held at Guantanamo. He was captured in Afghanistan on July 27, 2002 at the age of 15 while fighting US troops. "Khadr's father has been described as one of bin Laden's senior lieutenants." The charges against Khadr are very serious.
"Khadr had been classified as an 'enemy combatant' by a military panel years earlier at Guantanamo Bay, but because he was not classified as an 'alien unlawful enemy combatant,' Army Col. Peter Brownback said he had no choice but to throw the case out. The Military Commissions Act, signed by President Bush last year after the Supreme Court threw out the previous war-crimes trial system, says specifically that only those classified as 'unlawful' enemy combatants can face war trials here. The dismissal of the charges does not mean he will be freed from Guantanamo."
Huh? Maybe this is a reason we shouldn't be calling this war on terror but that this should be treated as an international police action (I'm making this term up). When a war ends, the prisoners are released unless they face war crimes. Since this war on terror isn't going to end, we can't just keep these people prisoners indefinately so we should have trials (after all we think they are breaking laws and doing bad things) and if found guilty, imprisoned. Figuring out if they are lawful or unlawful enemy combatants and having charges dismissed but prisoners not released is way too 1984 for me.
Sunday, June 03, 2007
Predicting Democrats Wimpiness
Cleaning out old bookmarks I came across this post from Robert Reich's Blog made back in January, Why Dems Won't Stop Bush's "Surge" in Iraq
"As long as Dems remain opposed to Bush’s policies and the Democratic leadership offers some semblance of unity in opposition – while at the same time giving Bush the money he wants to carry out his policies – the Dem candidate in 2008 can blame Bush and the Republicans, and no Republican candidate who supports Bush will have a comeback. McCain’s strategy of distancing himself from Bush by arguing for more troops is about to backfire on him, because he’s going to get what he wants – and America will see just how tragically wrong he is (Edwards has already, adeptly, labeled it the 'McCain doctrine.')"
He certainly wasn't the only one to predict it, but he said it clearly.
"As long as Dems remain opposed to Bush’s policies and the Democratic leadership offers some semblance of unity in opposition – while at the same time giving Bush the money he wants to carry out his policies – the Dem candidate in 2008 can blame Bush and the Republicans, and no Republican candidate who supports Bush will have a comeback. McCain’s strategy of distancing himself from Bush by arguing for more troops is about to backfire on him, because he’s going to get what he wants – and America will see just how tragically wrong he is (Edwards has already, adeptly, labeled it the 'McCain doctrine.')"
He certainly wasn't the only one to predict it, but he said it clearly.
Rove's Strategy
digby writes in Majority Of The Majority of Karl Rove's plans to keep the Republicans in power.
"What Rove had in mind was something much more insidious --- and much more revolutionary. The Bush machine intended to build a permanent governing majority not by persuading new adherents --- the whole thing was to design an unbeatable political machine by demobilizing the center and the left."
"What Rove had in mind was something much more insidious --- and much more revolutionary. The Bush machine intended to build a permanent governing majority not by persuading new adherents --- the whole thing was to design an unbeatable political machine by demobilizing the center and the left."
Cheney and Iran
Kevin Drum wrote "Remember that report from Steve Clemons last week about how Dick Cheney is hoping to get Israel to attack Iran in order to provoke a shooting war that will suck in the United States? Today in the New York Times, Helene Cooper confirms it:"
digby comments: "Think about that. Until recently, the Vice President was a second rate funtionary who went to funerals. Now he's so powerful that he's running a shadow presidency and nobody really knows what to do about it"
digby comments: "Think about that. Until recently, the Vice President was a second rate funtionary who went to funerals. Now he's so powerful that he's running a shadow presidency and nobody really knows what to do about it"
What Happened to the Bees?
Daily Kos in Bee Season provides a nice summary of possible theories for the collapse of many Bee colonies which might actually threaten our food supply.
Surgeon General Nominee
Think Progress reports that Bush's nominee for Surgeon General, James Holsinger, has quite the history of being anti-gay. Should make for fun confirmation hearings.
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