News on the March

BBT / SBMwS mashup

2009-07-25T12:50:00.000-05:00

Teachable moment or GOP attack ad for 2010?

2009-07-24T23:01:00.006-05:00

If all three of these men can manage to be humble and see things from each others' perspective, something great could happen.

(P.S. - Tell Al Sharpton and Bill O'Reilly to stay out of it.)

Bonestell art on YouTube

2009-07-18T23:27:00.001-05:00

Related to the previous post on "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow" - Check out this video of the art of Chesley Bonestell:

Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow? - Recommended!

2009-07-18T21:15:00.011-05:00

I have said before that I am a short-term pessimist but a long-term optimist. In other words, no matter what the weatherman says, I always take my raincoat to work; However, I think that North Koreans will enjoy the benefits of a free-market, liberal democracy in my lifetime. (Classical liberal, that is.) One of the pillars of that optimism is our society's (and our species's) embrace of technology.

So, let me commemorate the2 ~~recent~~ upcoming 40th anniversary of the first Apollo moon landing and the recent passing of the always-optimistic-about-America Walter Cronkite by strongly recommending a new graphic novel, "Whatever Happened to the World of Tomorrow?".

This is by a guy named Brian Fies, who obviously loves science fiction and comic books (you can find references to Flash/Buck Gordon/Rogers, Galactus, the cover of Batman #1, Fantastic Voyage, the ubiquity of super-powered monkeys, and 100 toy soldiers made of durable plastic, each with its own base!) He also loves technology and the oomph that we as a society feel to try new things. The New York World's Fair of 1939, Ed White's spacewalk, The Experimental Prototype Community of Tommorow, Richard Feynman's ideas about nanotechnology, and the illustrations of Chesley Bonestell all feature in the narrative.

Broken Frontier interview here.
8-page preview here (One panel shown below)
Blast Magazine interview here. Excerpt: “There is a slight sense of disappointment from my generation and anyone who hoped for the promise of the space age,” said Fies. “But there is also a many new ideas, both actual and hypothetical, that seem to be taking the world into a better tomorrow. I want this book to show that it’s a good thing to hope and think that tomorrow might actually be better than today.”

Couldn't figure out the red noses for a minute...

2009-07-04T23:28:00.003-05:00

...but didn't care!

Then I found this.

This is the sort of thing that makes this country great! (Oh, wait - They're not from this country. Whatever.)

Misc. items from around the Web

2009-06-27T15:32:00.005-05:00

Several things of interest that I don't think I have posted yet:

Seven robots that would be cool to see fight the Terminator. My bet would be on Deathlok or Death's Head.
Awful Library Books.
Toronto Globe and Mail series, The Download Decade. Excerpt: Despite the rapid growth of technology over the past decade, only about one in six human beings on Earth has access to the Internet. When the next billion come online, many of them will not experience the Web through a PC, but rather through smart phones and handheld devices. That new influx of ideas and perspectives is bound to have a profound impact on the next decade of Internet innovation and change how information is disseminated and consumed.
Alternate covers of Billie Jean:

Veuillez installer Flash Player pour lire la vidéo

The Bates - Billy Jean (Michael Jackson Punk Cover) sélectionné dans Musique

Watch more Sessions Under Cover videos on AOL Video

Looking forward to Green Lantern animated feature

2009-06-27T15:26:00.000-05:00

Started Wikipedia stub for Girl 27

2009-06-27T09:47:00.005-05:00

So last week we watched a very very interesting documentary called "Girl 27" about a 1937 rape case involving an MGM sales rep and an underage dance extra. (The young lady's name was the 27th listed on the call sheet for the dance extras that were unknowingly sent out as "entertainment" for the MGM sales convention.)

The other day I started a Wikipedia stub for the film; I was surprised to see that there wasn't anything about the movie, the movie's writer/director/researcher, or the incident itself there already.

One of the big points about this film was that even though it was banner front-page news for a while in 1937, MGM fixers managed to arrange it so that the incident was practically erased from Hollywood's memory, so that today, even film historians had no idea that it happened.

I really have to recommend this movie... It sounds salacious, and certainly by definition it dives deep into salacious material. (It seems like something that James Ellroy would have written about, though I don't believe he has.) My thought was "Well, what if they're just blowing things out of proportion?" - You can never be totally sure, but they present quite a bit of evidence in the doc, and also I see that when writer/director David Stenn wrote his biography of Clara Bow, that he actually debunked as urban legend a certain rumor about Ms. Bow and the entire 1927 USC football team. This suggests to me that he is not one to make explosive claims lightly.

You can watch the whole documentary here on Snagfilms. (Make sure to watch the part at about 29:30 where they show the girls dancing in the 1930s and intercut it w/ J. Lo.)

John Hodgman at Obama dinner

2009-06-21T00:07:00.003-05:00

Watch this now!

I love the distinctions Hodgman draws between Nerds and Jocks, and the specification that actual athletes are not Jocks. Kind of reminds me of this recent article about a study on how people tend to place their trust. Excerpt: Don Moore of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, has argued that in competitive situations, such blind confidence could drive those offering advice to increasingly exaggerate how sure they are. And it spells bad news for scientists who try to be honest about gaps in their knowledge, reports New Scientist magazine.

Wiki Wiki Wiki!

2009-06-13T21:51:00.003-05:00

New-ish blog: The Wikipedian.

Also - reading "The Wikipedia Revolution" by Andrew Lih.

Check out Google logo for today!

2009-06-06T14:52:00.001-05:00

Happy 25th birthday, Tetris!

Two Tarantino remixes you have to watch

2009-05-25T16:24:00.001-05:00

This is who James Hyman is, btw.

4-20 rolls around again...

2009-04-20T21:52:00.005-05:00

Another year, another April 20th, and another president who used the stuff, and yet marijuana use and possession is still a crime in practically all circumstances in this country. I will repeat myself from a couple years ago:

Now we just need to think of clever double-entendre annual dates for protests in favor of minimal restrictions on immigration, abolishment of tariffs, allowances for gay marriage, and decriminalization of prostitution, and then we'll be getting somewhere.

What they need is to make Ron Paul the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

I admire this Obama response

2009-03-24T23:11:00.003-05:00

From tonight's news conference:

It took us a couple of days [to respond to the outrage du jour] because I like to know what I’m talking about before I speak.

I'm surprised Obama didn't follow up with "He can go about his business. Move along."

The Story of O ('Reilly)

2009-03-18T06:53:00.004-05:00

Bill O'Reilly, you old devil!.

Speaking of Mr. Welles...

2009-03-15T23:18:00.002-05:00

You have to check out this clip from the pilot of Orson Welles's 1978 interview show, never aired or released:

"How do you do, Mr. Welles."

Beware the itemized lists of March

2009-03-15T22:10:00.005-05:00

A beautiful weekend in Chicago! The ♥G♥ and I took Gilbert on two walks. Items:

Grown up Calvin & Hobbes. Make sure to check out the essay on Fight Club.
Visual and Interactive Guides to the Economic Crisis, from 10,000 Words.
Check out the Perfect Magic Cube.
Spring coming - Want to sit on back deck with Gilbert and a cigar and read: Orson Welles at Work, What Would Google Do?, and The Wikipedia Revolution. (Here's a bunch of podcasts featuring TWR author Andrew Lih.)
Snag Films - Lots of documentaries. Excerpt: SnagFilms is committed to finding the world‘s most compelling documentaries, whether from established heavyweights or first-time filmmakers, and making them available to the wide audience these titles deserve. SnagFilms.com is a website where you can watch full-length documentary films for free, but we’re also a platform that lets you “snag” a film and put it anywhere on the web.
If you have never seen Grey Gardens, you need to. If you have seen it, check out this interview:
Mark Ford: Cartoon Genius

Been working on Wikipedia page on Booknotes interviews

2009-03-15T15:34:00.004-05:00

For almost 20 years, I have admired C-Span founder Brian Lamb tremendously, and I anticipate that he will remain one of my heroes for the rest of my life. He is such an excellent interviewer, and his whole philosophy is about making ideas and information available to any who are interested. He is very much a demythologizer of political and media processes, and treats Joe Schmoe American with the same respect as he treats heads of state and Nobel laureates.

Lamb hosted the unique author interview show Booknotes for 15 years. The questions and discussion were and are head and shoulders above those of practically any other show -- One full hour (sometimes two), no commercials, serious non-fiction books, no repeats of guests. A good number of the books and authors that I delved into during those years (and in the years since) I was introduced to by C-Span and Booknotes. It occurred to me a while ago (last June, actually) that it would be great to incorporate a list of these authors, books, and topics into Wikipedia, where much has been written about most of them, but never assembled in this context. Soooo... the article List of Booknotes interviews was born. It has taken a bunch of doing (fitting in edits and organization when I had time) but it's actually in pretty decent shape now. You also can see the to-do list at the article's discussion page if you want to pitch in on anything.

Happy Pi Day! (tomorrow)

2009-03-13T21:13:00.001-05:00

The same thing would happen with an article about the Mayor of Uckerby

2009-02-26T21:11:00.004-06:00

Something I cited a few months ago about Crystal on Survivor: Gabon --

Here's the Gutenburg of a short story called "Unspecialist", by Murray F. Yaco. This blogpost sums it up: A machine can be built to do any accurately described job better than any man. The superiority of a man is that he can do an unexpected, undescribed, and emergency job... provided he hasn't been especially trained to be a machine.

Now ask anybody, especially anybody at work , and they will tell you that I am a fan of automation when possible. But, as I mentioned the other day, sometimes silly things happen when you rely on algorithms.

So, here's what happens when you tell a computer not to allow swear words:

Happy Valentine's Day

2009-02-14T22:14:00.002-06:00

West Bank Story shows true love conquering all.

When you rely on too much on algorithms...

2009-02-10T22:10:00.002-06:00

Take a look at the text of the first sentence of the Reuters article on Intel.

Wiki White House

2009-01-31T08:17:00.003-06:00

A couple weeks ago, The New America Foundation hosted a panel called "Wiki White House" -- (Comments here from the panel's "token conservative").

Star Trek videos

2009-01-28T20:57:00.004-06:00

Commenter Sebastiaan van M. has a site with a bunch of Star Trek music videos... Check it out.

I don't know if this one is in that batch, but it sure made me laugh out loud:

Star Trek Rhapsody (Ditto) - The best bloopers are a click away

The 100 Greatest (Non-Fiction) Adventure Books of All Time

2009-01-25T09:59:00.004-06:00

Scanning through some stacks of old magazines to purge from my belongings to see what interesting things I might glean from them before they go to the recycle bin or the resale shop -- Here's a good one: The 100 Greatest Adventure Books of All Time as ranked by National Geographic Adventure about five years ago. (Better late than never.) The adjective "adventure" does not mean Allan Quartermain, for instance, but rather IRL figures like T.E. Lawrence, Charles Darwin, Charles Lindbergh, Robert Falcon Scott, Sir Richard Burton, Mark Twain, Ernest Shackleton, Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Jacques Cousteau, Theodore Roosevelt, and others. For example:

17. Kon-Tiki, by Thor Heyerdahl (1950) Nine balsa-wood logs, a big square sail, a bamboo "cabin" with a roof made of banana leaves—thus did Norwegian Heyerdahl and his companions set sail from Peru toward Polynesia to prove a point: that the South Pacific was settled from the east. Point proved? Maybe not, but it's one hell of a ride—a daring tale, dramatically told.

(Here's a clip from the Academy Award-winning documentary about the Kon-Tiki)

Simple Complexity

2009-01-23T21:46:00.005-06:00

I love stuff like this. Simple Complexity: An Information Visualization Blog.

Where your bailout money is going:

The odds that you will die of (fill in the blank):

What were those oil prices again?

Obama images (Obamages?)

2009-01-23T20:13:00.007-06:00

So things have settled down a little bit and now Mr. Obama has been hard at work for several days. Like I have been saying, I think this has been a historic event, one that many many many people across America and around the world will remember and reflect back upon for the rest of their lives. However, as I also have been saying, he doesn't get a free pass from me and I am going to be liberal with criticisms when I feel they are merited.

Here are some cool images of our new Chief Executive:

First, the action figure (if you ever want something and you can't imagine that anyone would ever have created it, check Japan first.)

The inspirational leader:

Ready for al-Qaeda:

Now, more conventional shots from the Boston Globe -- More conventional, perhaps, but they are excellent and fascinating -- make sure to check the rest of them out!

Here are some of the famous shots from outer space 9example below).

Here's a good point: ...the GeoEye-1 satellite would be taking images of President Obama’s inauguration from 423 miles up — in space. This could only have worked on a clear day so clouds didn’t block the view. Good news: It was a clear day, and the pictures (above and below) look great.

You know, this guy just seems like he can not lose on the weather... Remember this yahoo who wanted everyone to pray for rain on the night of his DNC speech at Mile High Stadium? It couldn't have been a lovelier summer night. And I can tell you first hand that when he gave his acceptance speech in Grant Park Nov. 4th, it was fantastic weather in the Chicago area... a week later it was freezing.

Open letter to Barack Obama on what to do about Harry Nicolaides

2009-01-19T22:00:00.006-06:00

Open message to Barack Obama (for whom I voted) about how he can deal with the problem of Harry Nicolaides.

The facts:
*Tomorrow is inauguration day, which the entire world will be watching.
*In Thailand, it is a jailable offense to insult the King of Thailand. (On which I have commented previously.)
*News reports have surfaced today that Australian writer Harry Nicolaides has been sentenced to three years in prison for insulting the King of Thailand.

Here's what I have to say to the King of Thailand:
*Fuck You! You're a fucking punk! This is the 21st fucking century motherfucker!

Here's what I have to say to President-elect Obama:
*Tomorrow is one of the most important days in the history of our country because of what you have accomplished. You have been a unifying force during some very difficult times.
*Despite this, some people don't like you or trust you. (I wish you would ixnay the tariff talk, but I still like you.) Some people don't like you because they think you are a socialist, and let's be honest -- Some people don't like you because you are black.

Here's what you could do about the above situation:
*Invite the Thai ambassador to accompany you all day Tuesday, sitting right next to you.
*Have somebody start calling every NewsMax contributor they can get their hands on, have them take turns accompanying you all day, and every hour or so give them a microphone for a few minutes. Maybe invite that "Barack the Magic Negro" guy.
*After they've had the mike for a few minutes, read aloud the full text of the First Amendment; maybe invite the ambassador to read it aloud a few times as well.
*Hopefully he will get the message.
*If not, you could always invade Thailand.

OK, maybe I've been too hard on the King of Thailand and the laws about not insulting him. Tell you what - Here's a traditional way of showing respect in my country. I've added some wings on to the side of the Thai Royal Seal. The golden ring is only for added for people we really want to impress.

What Will Change Everything?

2009-01-11T20:47:00.005-06:00

"What game-changing scientific ideas and developments do you expect to live to see?"

That's the question posed here, and you should see all the respondents -- Brian Eno (quite the pessimist), Chris Anderson, Howard Gardner, Kevin Kelly, Michael Shermer, Freeman Dyson, George Dyson, and many many more -- Including the guy whose book I have been reading off and on for past six months, Nassim Nicholas Taleb. Taleb response excerpt: I will conclude with the following statement: you cannot do anything with knowledge unless you know where it stops, and the costs of using it. Post enlightenment science, and its daughter superstar science, were lucky to have done well in (linear) physics, chemistry and engineering. But, at some point we need give up on elegance to focus on something that was given the short shrift for a very long time: the maps showing what current knowledge and current methods do not do for us; and a rigorous study of generalized scientific iatrogenics, what harm can be caused by science (or, better, an exposition of what harm has been done by science). I find it the most respectable of pursuits.

Part of me bristles at that (the notion that having them come to put a chip in my head might actually not be something that is all the way a positive) but then I substitute the phrase "economics" for "science" and I swallow it more easily.

In addition to the index at the Edge site, see my own Wikipedia user page for wiki links to all the participants. (All of the participants who have Wikipedia articles, that is.) I haven't fread all the responses by any means, and I may not end up reading every single one. But, if I find some that jump out, I will excerpt and comment on them here.

Schrödinger's LOLcat

2009-01-11T16:12:00.003-06:00

Clay Shirky talk

2009-01-11T16:03:00.002-06:00

From a few months ago (?) - Clay Shirky talks about these kids these days and where do they get all this time to do all this stuff on teh Internet. Very insightful.

Part 1:

Part 2:

Johnny Cash, Johnny Sokko, Dante's Inferno, History of Internet; State Dept. e-mail

2009-01-11T10:33:00.001-06:00

Items:

Punk covers of Johnny Cash, including streams of the full songs. (WTF! No "Ring of Fire"!)
Speaking of which, maybe you can help develop the Johnny Cash idea at Uncyclopedia: Johnny Cash is a smartcard, used pay for entry to any restroom in the North American Union that charges an entry fee.
Check out this excerpt of this far out adaptation of Dante's Inferno.
AWESOME! - Via Omni-Monster -- A bunch of episodes of Johnny Sokko and His Flying Robot on Hulu!
Here's an animated documentary on the History of the Internet.
LBNL, looks like certain people at the State Department need to start using Diplopedia a bit more. Excerpt: "Department staff hitting 'reply to all' on an e-mail with a large distribution list is causing an e-mail storm on the department's OpenNet e-mail system," says the unclassified cable... ...the result was "effectively a denial of service as e-mail queues, especially between posts, back up while processing the extra volume of e-mails." The cable orders employees to "take immediate action" to ensure they and their colleagues are "aware of the negative impact of hitting 'reply all'" and to delete e-mails addressed to large numbers of people that they might receive in error... ...Officials said the storm started when some diplomats used the 'reply all' function to respond to a blank e-mail sent recently to many people on the department's global address list. Most demanded to be removed from the list while others used 'reply all' to tell their co-workers, in often less than diplomatic language, to stop responding to the entire group, the officials said. Some then compounded the problem by trying to recall their initial replies, which generated another round of messages to the group, they said. We have this same dynamic occur sometimes at my work; I'm not sure if I am comforted or agitated that the State Department does the same thing.

Reason #127 why I love my iPhone

2009-01-03T20:20:00.005-06:00

Because if Superman, Dr. Mid-Nite, and myself ever run into hostile aliens, we won't have to dig through our pockets looking for a quarter.

The tail end of 2008

2008-12-31T23:07:00.003-06:00

Be Kind Rewind = Movie for people who love movies

2008-12-31T22:15:00.004-06:00

Be Kind Rewind is a little sappy in some parts, to be sure, but its a movie for people who love the creative process of the cinema. It's directed by Michel Gondry, of whose work I am a fan, and stars Jack Black and Mos Def as the lovable losers with a mission to fix everything that they have screwed up. (You know the pattern.)

Plot summary is easy: Black accidentally erases all of the VHS tapes in Danny Glover's video store while Glover is out of town, and the guys decide to recreate those movies that people want to rent themselves, which leads to JB and MD playing all the parts in Ghostbusters and filming at their local library, etc. They call this "Sweding" -- More on this pracitce here.

I love their sheer exuberance. Way back in one of my very first blogposts, I talked about Raiders: The Adaptation, which I still hope to see someday. This exuberance is reflected in some other films I like, including Ed Wood, Boogie Nights, American Movie, and Day for Night -- all of which are about people who just plain love to make movies.

Here's Jack B. and Michel G. explaining the concept of Sweding:

This is the trailer of BKR itself, but Sweded:

Ghostbusters, as mentioned above:

Fan contributions -- Star Wars Ep. 4:

The Shining:

The Matrix:

And just for the heck of it, here's Fats Waller:

Catching up on a few things

2008-12-23T21:57:00.006-06:00

Snowed in!

Practically the whole freaking country north and east of Hawaii has been experiencing major winter weather for the past few days, and we are no exception. So, time to clean out a few links that have been sitting around for a while.

Here's where you can download the Gr*y *lb*m. Here's where you can get the holiday-inspired Santastic Four.
An essay from the Boston Globe from a while ago discussing the connections between Iron Man the song and Iron Man the superhero.
Bands I Useta Like
Here are a TON of documentaries to watch.
T-shirt: Veni Vidi Wiki
The Rudiments of Wisdom: Thousands of cartoons covering almost everything there is to know! (This one should go on the sidebar.) Same with The Secret Life of Machines. (Videos here.)
Evolution of movie credits. (Prob. has to do with union demands...)

Bob = Winner

2008-12-14T21:43:00.004-06:00

Bob is the exact kind of guy that I love seeing win in this. I'm surprised that Sugar got zero votes, and the three that Susie got I perceive to have been given to her because people were pissed at Sugar and Bob.

Above is how I see a competition between Bob and Yau-man - Evenly matched powerhouses.

And the votes are in...

2008-12-14T21:34:00.001-06:00

Bob: IIII

Susie: III

Sugar: 0

Just started Wiki pages for Bob and Sugar

2008-12-14T21:09:00.002-06:00

OK, let's hope nobody wipes these out... I think they are justified at this point.

The Final Three

2008-12-14T20:55:00.003-06:00

So... It's Susie, Sugar, and Bob. Susie's screwed now, and not in a good way. The only one on the jury who might vote in her favor is Randy, who might do so just to spite Bob and Sugar. (The ♥G♥ thinks Randy is a M*JOR D*CK.)

Sugar might actually use the fact that she forced a tie to get the mega-popular Bob into the final three to her favor, by selling everyone on the idea that they should vote for her because she stayed loyal to Bob.

Susie! Builds a House of Cards

2008-12-14T20:33:00.003-06:00

Susie beat out physics whiz Bob at building a house of cards, proving that the whole thing is a metaphorical house of cards.

Things are not looking good for our friend Bob.

Props to Jean-Baptiste-Siméon Chardin.

Sugar's spiritual godmother

2008-12-14T20:20:00.005-06:00

However, speaking of remembering those who have come before, let me take a moment to pay tribute to one of pin-up girl Sugar's notable predecessors: The recently departed Bettie Page.

Paying respect to those who went before

2008-12-14T20:11:00.004-06:00

This part of Survivor is such total bullshit. Totally lame. The only other thing that compares is when they have "loved ones" visit and they are get all teary and emo. (Like we don't have hundreds of thousands of troops in Iraq and Afghanistan who aren't getting a chance for a million bucks who would like to see their loved ones and who do have to worry about getting their arm or their leg or their head blown off.) Plus, spiritualizing their experiences is dumb.

Bob wins again.

2008-12-14T19:52:00.002-06:00

Bob wins another logic puzzle. Imagine that! Meanwhile, Matty runs around a maze with the equivalent of 25 untied shoelaces hanging on this decorative tribal thingy tied around his lower leg.

Our predictions (immediately after Bob's maze-challenge win) for the final three:

Me: Bob, Sugar, Susie

The ♥G♥: Bob, Sugar, Matty.

For the Final winner:

Me: Bob

The ♥G♥: Bob

Finally!

2008-12-14T19:29:00.002-06:00

OK, finally started. Let me suggest, if you haven't already, that you read pages 90 through 100 (here in Google Books) or so of Everything Bad Is Good for You.

The Game

2008-12-14T19:08:00.003-06:00

First problem with liveblogging. Survivor has been pushed back so that they can show all of 60 Minutes, which itself was pushed back because of The Game.

Note: Whenever we see any sort of sporting event on TV, from high school football on local cable through the Super Bowl, we refer to it (with emphasis) as "The Game" (proper noun). This is a term of derision, but whenever we use it in public, most people are too dim to catch on. How can it be a proper noun when there are so many different sporting events going on all the time? Because all that stuff is pretty much the same thing.

Also, the Super Bowl is coming up in about a month I guess. Don't forget: Football is gay.

P.S. - Guess what the 60 Minutes segment is about? A football coach. (He seems like a nice guy, though.)

Liveblogging Survivor: Gabon finale

2008-12-14T18:56:00.003-06:00

OK, so we're getting ready to watch the finale of Survivor: Gabon. Let's see what happens!

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time

2008-12-13T21:53:00.006-06:00

Hot off the presses... I haven't even had a chance to watch the whole thing yet (it's 45 minutes long) but I like what I have seen so far. Here's the guy's blog who ~~wrote it~~ directed and animated it.

UPDATE: This is fucking awesome! It's funny, it's bloody, and best of all, it rewards people who have been reading comic books and watching superhero programs for the past 30 years.

The Greatest Fan Film of All Time
Uploaded by Bullcrank

We're both rooting for Bob or Sugar to win Survivor; Crystal demonstrates the perils of over-specialization

2008-12-11T21:01:00.007-06:00

Just got done watching 2004 Olympic Gold-Medal track athlete Crystal get voted out of Survivor. The interesting thing about Crystal is that in the whole season, she demonstrated not one single ounce of athletic ability.

Here's my take on this: Hers is an example of over-specialization. If the only thing the Survivors had to do was spend several months getting ready for some sprints down a straight length of track, before which they would train, eat, drink, and sleep in certain specific ways, and would wear certain shoes and clothing and run on a certain surface, then she'd probably do pretty good. But, unfortunately for her, they haven't had to do that yet.

Here's the Gutenburg of a short story called "Unspecialist", by Murray F. Yaco. This blogpost sums it up: A machine can be built to do any accurately described job better than any man. The superiority of a man is that he can do an unexpected, undescribed, and emergency job... provided he hasn't been especially trained to be a machine.

They say that if a heart surgeon and an Emergency Medical Technician are in the two cars behind you when you are in a bad car accident, that you are better off with the EMT. The rationale being that the surgeon is very well-trained to fix you up if he has a fully staffed operating room, but the EMT can just slap you back together with some duct tape and an old T-shirt and get you on your way to the surgeon.

Now Bob, who reminds me a lot of Bill Nye (has anyone ever seen them in the same room together?) is very much a generalist. He's a high school physics teacher, which means he has to embrace the methodical and rational, and also be savvy enough about relating to other human beings that he can put up with being in a building full of teenagers all day. Plus, he's from Maine and does all these outdoorsy things just for fun anyway. He's an interesting successor to Yau-man, whom The ♥G♥ and I both hoped would win a few seasons ago.

If not Bob, then maybe his sometime ally Sugar? She is a gushing fountain of emotion, but she seems to know exactly how to harness it to her advantage. (Note -- She's a fountain of emotion; Crybaby Crystal was a volcano.)

We're number one!

2008-12-11T20:32:00.003-06:00

And just like that... This blog becomes the number one Google hit for the terms Blagosphere + Obama.

Obama gets BotD r.e. Blagosphere, but watch out for Car Czar

2008-12-10T21:05:00.010-06:00

So by now, everyone outside of the state of Illinois knows what those of us who live here have intuitively known for years -- That Rod Blagojevich is a fucking prick. I mean, how fucking dare he? It's like he had an inferiority complex bestowed upon him by his father-in-law, and decided show the world that he could out-clout Dick Mell. Everybody knew he was shady, but few if any imagined the extent. Did his wife push him, à la Lady Macbeth, as the Chicago Tribune suggests?

And you just know that he heard about those laid-off Chicago factory workers striking and said to himself "Self, now's your time to shake down the Bank of America."

I have no reason to believe that Obama was mixed up in the Blagosphere.

However, here's something that Mr. Obama, for whom I voted, needs to think about: The more we lean towards solutions with influence- (or as we call it here, "clout-") heavy individuals who have federal (or other governmental) authority over industries with huge amounts of money flying around, the more likely we are to have more Blagojeviches (Blagojevichi?), Kilpatricks, and Cunninghams. The last thing I want to see is some "Car Czar" still in office five years from now... All we need is some RFK Jr.-style do-gooder in there looking for ways to expand government influence in the private sector and you will have another (possibly more subtle) Blago on that guy's coattails looking for some angles to cash in on.

I said this a few weeks ago: More on my pessimism and optimism about Obama later. OK, "later" is now. I am still excited about his upcoming presidency (although he could have been a maverick and gone with Chuck Hagel for Secretary of State) but that doesn't mean that he gets my unconditional support on everything.

Now I love my job; I really do and I say that without a hint of sarcasm. My company went through a lot of changes in the past couple of years, and one personal regret was that I didn't voice skepticism about certain things more vigorously and clearly. (You can't always look at the silver linings, you also need to look at the clouds.) Because I love my company and it has enabled me do some very cool things, I feel I owe it my skepticism; not so I can have an excuse to complain, but because I want to contribute to making it better. I hope I can make good on that debt.

The same thing goes for the United States, and for Barack Obama. Because I am hopeful and excited about his presidency, and because I love this country and want the best for its citizens and guests, I feel obligated to throw out criticism when I think it is merited.

Back to the Car Czar thing, Barack (and yes, I know the Bush Administration is throwing that idea around too) -- I drove Fords almost my whole life, and they would alternate between nickel-and-diming me to death, and clearing out my savings account at one fell swoop when they needed major engine work. Then, a few years ago, I got a Kia. I drive it 20 miles to and 20 miles from work every day, and it now has 60,000+ miles on it. Guess how many problems I've had with it? Exactly one, when the circuit breaker for the windshield wipers was defective. This was replaced for free as soon as I brought it in, and that was it.

Instead of those auto execs driving to Washington to testify before Congress, they need to drive to South Korea, stay there for six months, and then go back to Detroit and imitate whatever they saw.

Love my new iPhone!

2008-12-04T22:22:00.002-06:00

The ♥G♥ got me an iPhone for my birthday last week. Awesome! I hope something important happens while I'm out somewhere so I can take a picture of it right away and post it to my blog and then add the picture to a Wikipedia page.

Mashups for this week

2008-11-16T21:58:00.003-06:00

Got these from keyword searches for VJ Brewski:

Luda + Scorpions, et al.:

KISS + Tone Loc:

Doobie Brothers + Talib Kweli (I think I might like this one the best out of this batch!):

Free ("All Right Now") + Black-Eyed:

Obama front pages

2008-11-07T21:18:00.004-06:00

Via Kottke, check out this video of Wednesday-morning front pages from newspapers from around the country:

Here they are in more static form. Here are a bunch more.

Caribou Barbie strikes again!

2008-11-06T21:30:00.008-06:00

Here's an (almost) exact copy/paste of something I posted last December.

SF Chronicle interview with Wikipedia founder* Jimmy Wales on the move of the Wikioffices to San Francisco. Q: Do you worry that people at some point will feel like their work here is done? A: I used to worry. Part of the appeal in the early days of Wikipedia (was that) you could click on Africa and there (would be) nothing there and you (could be) the first person to type, "Africa is a continent." Whereas now to write a brand new article on something that does not already exist is kind of hard in English. You're writing about fairly obscure topics. But we haven't seen participation decline at all. It continues to grow.

It looks like certain people would have done well to have paid attention. (The advantage of a wiki is of course that if you-know-who gets to it first, you can easily change the inquiry "Is Africa a continent?" into a statement of fact.) On the other hand, maybe she was just a very early Wikipedia reader, and hasn't had a chance to go back and look for that particular article?

* -- Co-founder.

My thoughts on pan & scan

2008-11-05T23:31:00.002-06:00

What Book Would You Give Barack Obama?

2008-11-05T23:16:00.002-06:00

Publishers Weekly asks "What Book Would You Give Barack Obama?" The first commenter wanted him to read "Nickel and Dimed" by Barbara Ehrenreich and somebody else said anything by Jonathan Kozol.

(Somebody else suggested a book on how to take care of your new puppy. Maybe The ♥G♥ and I can bring Gilbert over to play with the new First Labradoodle.)

Look, he's got Ehrenreich and Kozol coming out the wazoo and beyond, as we used to say. Here's what he ought to be reading if he only has one book: "The Mystery of Capitol" by Hernando de Soto. Read it yourself here at Google Books. If he grasps the concepts in there, then the Ehrenreich and Kozol stuff will fall into line by itself.

South Park brilliant tonight!

2008-11-05T21:59:00.003-06:00

They don't have the full episode posted yet, but I hope they will soon - It was AWESOME. Check out the clip here.

Also, side note - I will say this in favor of Sarah P.: She is more attractive than her porn doppelgänger.

We call him Emma Emma

2008-11-02T13:40:00.001-06:00

President Palin

2008-11-02T00:04:00.001-05:00

By the way, if you haven't seen this yet, check it out.

Just saw the Big McC on SNL...

2008-11-01T22:36:00.005-05:00

See, as a long-time C-Span watcher, I know that John McCain is a really funny guy with an excellent sense of humor... and, I have admired him for a long time. I still do. But, I'm not voting for him. When Obama gave his big speech in Denver, I was groaning at about half the stuff he said. But, I am voting for him.

Here's an excerpt from The Economist's endorsement of Obama that I like:

The selection of Mr McCain as the Republicans’ candidate was a powerful reason to reconsider. Mr McCain has his faults: he is an instinctive politician, quick to judge and with a sharp temper. And his age has long been a concern (how many global companies in distress would bring in a new 72-year-old boss?). Yet he has bravely taken unpopular positions—for free trade, immigration reform, the surge in Iraq, tackling climate change and campaign-finance reform. A western Republican in the Reagan mould, he has a long record of working with both Democrats and America’s allies.

If only the real John McCain had been running

That, however, was Senator McCain; the Candidate McCain of the past six months has too often seemed the victim of political sorcery, his good features magically inverted, his bad ones exaggerated. The fiscal conservative who once tackled Mr Bush over his unaffordable tax cuts now proposes not just to keep the cuts, but to deepen them. The man who denounced the religious right as “agents of intolerance” now embraces theocratic culture warriors. The campaigner against ethanol subsidies (who had a better record on global warming than most Democrats) came out in favour of a petrol-tax holiday. It has not all disappeared: his support for free trade has never wavered. Yet rather than heading towards the centre after he won the nomination, Mr McCain moved to the right.

I wish we had the old McCain back, the guy I admired so much after reading The Nightingale's Song. (BTW - I'm pleased to say that I started the Wikipedia article for that book and added it to the McCain banner.) This is the guy who would go on TV ten years ago when all anyone would want to talk about was Monica Lewinsky, and patiently point out that the development of nuclear rivalry between Pakistan and India was much more significant and deserving of America's attention.

My simplified hypothesis (and I know that this is way too unsophisticated an analysis): The Svengalian Karl Rove and his ilk got hold of him, and we end up with Joe the Plumber fulfilling the prophecy of a 1993 Onion headline. I think that plain and simple, McCain entered into a Faustian bargain with the high-rollers of the GOP establishment, and (hopefully only temporarily) lost some of that which made him McCain in the first place. Maybe he was never the guy to be president? What's so horrible about being the loyal opposition, the guy that keeps the president on his toes? Check out this Daily Beast link, What Happened to the McCain We Liked?

My theory was that people like Mitt Romney and Tim Pawlenty saw the Obama rally and decided they wanted no part of the 2008 GOP ticket. But come on, John... Sarah Palin? She's cute and sperky, no doubt, and has probably personified the archetype of the MILF for years to come (or at least some subset of the archetypes, at any rate). Believe it or not, I don't say that to be demeaning to her, but I don't have anything else to go on besides the last two months of seeing her be cute and sperky and mavericky.

John McCain, if you are reading this, you are a great American, but there are numerous great Americans who did not become president.

More on my pessimism and optimism about Obama later. (Hint: I want him to drink the Grape Kool-Aid on Free Trade.)

Videos about Intellipedia

2008-11-01T20:48:00.003-05:00

If you haven't heard about Intellipedia...

Thomas Fingar at the CFR:

Burke and Dennehy, Intellipedia gurus:

(Couldn't figure out how to embed code for this one.)

Also, you can read the CIA document "The Wiki and the Blog" by Calvin Andrus here.

Excellent Chris Rasmussen PowerPoint (even though he says he doesn't like to use PowerPoint anymore.)

The Missives of October

2008-10-12T20:01:00.006-05:00

Wow - Last post was at the end of August. Look, here's the thing -- Stuff needs doing at work, stuff needs doing around the house, so guess what? Sometimes I don't get around to blogging.

That said, several things of interest:

Jay-Z plus Weezer? Jay-Zeezer! First I needed some sample material. Albums with colors in their names were definitely the way to go, so I started to make a list. How about REM's "Green?" Nah, not ironic enough. King Crimson's "Red?" No way! Everyone hates that prog rock shit. What about Weezer's "Blue Album?" It's really just named "Weezer", but everyone calls it by it's jacket color to distinguish it from the other one they released with the same name. With rap-esque lyrics like, "What's with these homies dissin' my girl?", it practically remixed itself. Paydirt. "Jay-Zeezer" was born.
Christopher Buckley's endorsement of Obama. Excerpt: This campaign has changed John McCain. It has made him inauthentic. A once-first class temperament has become irascible and snarly; his positions change, and lack coherence; he makes unrealistic promises, such as balancing the federal budget “by the end of my first term.” Who, really, believes that? Then there was the self-dramatizing and feckless suspension of his campaign over the financial crisis. His ninth-inning attack ads are mean-spirited and pointless. And finally, not to belabor it, there was the Palin nomination. What on earth can he have been thinking? All this is genuinely saddening, and for the country is perhaps even tragic, for America ought, really, to be governed by men like John McCain—who have spent their entire lives in its service, even willing to give the last full measure of their devotion to it. If he goes out losing ugly, it will be beyond tragic, graffiti on a marble bust.
Lynda Carter's anti-endorsement of you-know-who: (Q: Okay, last question. I'm sure you've seen all the comparisons in the media and among Republicans of Sarah Palin to Wonder Woman. How do you feel about that?) A: Don’t get me started. She’s the anti-Wonder Woman. She’s judgmental and dictatorial, telling people how they’ve got to live their lives. And a superior religious self-righteousness ... that’s just not what Wonder Woman is about. Hillary Clinton is a lot more like Wonder Woman than Mrs. Palin. She did it all, didn’t she?
Good slideshow on wikis.
Recently watched a documentary on the typeface Helvetica. Recommended if you like that sort of thing.

What to make of this?

2008-08-30T09:23:00.003-05:00

Update: This prophetic post was written over a year ago! Excerpt: Look, up in the sky! Who is that woman with both grace and a sense of humor in the face of tragedy! Why, it's future Vice President Sarah Palin!

ZZ P!nk

2008-08-03T21:58:00.000-05:00

Sharp Dressed Party:

Dre-C/D(-O-Double G) C

2008-08-03T20:52:00.003-05:00

Also, Led Snooppelin:

Found on Toothpaste for Dinner

2008-08-03T15:47:00.002-05:00

As I have mentioned before, I am an ISTJ. (See also: The Terrible Storm.)

toothpastefordinner.com

ST:TAS / Pulp's Common People mashup

2008-08-03T15:41:00.002-05:00

Mr. Shatner did a cover version of the band Pulp's song Common People. Throw in some of The Animated Series and a little bit of slash, and you get something like this:

Siskel & Ebert reviews of great 80s and 90s films

2008-07-26T14:22:00.003-05:00

Googling about the last post, I came across these postings of Siskel & Ebert reviews. All of these ae now known to be modern classics, but what did the guys think at the time? Awesome!

Reservoir Dogs:

Pulp Fiction:

Full Metal Jacket:

Goodfellas:

Fargo (Ebert fell for the "true story" thing.):

Silence of the Lambs (Siskel hated it!):

Terminator 2:

Tarantino's Mind

2008-07-26T13:35:00.002-05:00

A lot of these theories and ties and observations have been floating around for quite some time (to say the least) but check out this Brazilian short film about two film geeks discussing the ties within the Tarantinoverse.

Two fun neologisms about Senator Obama

2008-07-09T20:41:00.004-05:00

(BTW, I've decided to experiment with using lower case more in my post titles than I had previously.)

Obamacon n. A conservative voter who supports Democratic candidate Barack Obama in the 2008 U.S. presidential election. Also: obama-con. [Shortening of Obama conservative.]
Baracknophobia n. Negative feelings about U.S. presidential candidate Barack Obama, particularly those based on racism or unfounded rumors. [cf. arachnophobia.]

Monsters of Rock are gonna tear your heads off!

2008-07-06T20:36:00.001-05:00

Great interview with Van Halen and AC/DC from when they were about to play a festival in the U.K. in 1984!

URGENT! If you only watch/listen to ONE of the mashups I posted today, make it this one!

2008-07-06T20:23:00.003-05:00

Sgt. Pepper's Paradise City

Galvanize the Empire

2008-07-06T20:17:00.002-05:00

The non-John Williams music is The Chemical Brothers.

Items

2008-07-06T19:40:00.001-05:00

Things from around:

I spent a number of years working in the mental health field. However, I never bumped into any clients who were mathematicians who specialized in prime numbers, as Mental Nurse did.
Some fun geeky gadget sites: Technabob, Geekologie, Geekalerts.
Sweet Home Country Grammar -- Nelly + Skynyrd:

Did I post this before? Jay-Z and Neunundneunzig Luftballoonen?

Great movie collage

2008-07-05T13:43:00.002-05:00

Huge collage of the history of film. Original link here.

Take your passion, and make it happen.

2008-07-05T10:40:00.002-05:00

Via Gizmodo, Boba Fett flashdancing.

Mandalorian Dance
by PatrickBoivin

Jesse Helms - Dead. About 40 years too late.

2008-07-04T21:31:00.005-05:00

White people, wake up before it is too late. Do you want Negroes working beside you, your wife and your daughters, in your mills and factories? -- One of Jesse Helms's contributions to the 1950 North Carolina race for U.S. Senate.

There's a guy named MC Hawking, whose shtick is that he is Stephen Hawking doing hip-hop (actually, nerdcore is the more specific term). He is well-known in certain circles for a song that is probably getting quite a spike in downloads right now -- Why Won't Jesse Helms Just Hurry Up and Die? (Click to listen.)

I hope his last coherent thought was that a black man was poised to become President of the United States in a matter of months. (Helms's last thought, that is -- Not MC H.)

Not only that, but for someone who was such an anti-communist, Helms didn't have a lot of faith in free-market capitalism. He vigorously opposed (with liberal Minnesota Senator Paul Wellstone) opening up new avenues for trade with China, and his name is plastered on the Helms-Burton Act, which essentially says that the best way to fight communism is by withholding capitalism from a communist society. Methinks he was more interested in protecting North Carolina tobacco from Cuban tobacco. In other words, he wanted me to never smoke a Cuban cigar just so his constituents wouldn't have to worry about competition.

And, not only that, but he hung on to the chairmanship of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee for years when my main man Richard Lugar should have had that job. (Can you imagine what might have not happened on 9/11 and then in Iraq if we had spent the mid- to late-1990s with someone steering that committee who was interested in things like practical plans for cooperating with other countries to account for and control weapons of mass destruction and preventing terrorist cells from capturing the hearts and minds of large populations?) Lugar, who is no doubt the most respected U.S. Senator on foreign policy questions in the second half of the 20th Century was kept from the job he should have had by this grouchy old asshole who got publicly confused over whether the visiting Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto was from Pakistan or India, and then couldn't remember how to pronounce the dictator of North Korea's name. (First, he was calling him "King Jong the Second." Then, his staff spelled out the suffix "-Ill" so he started calling him "Kim Jong the Third.) Sorry, no link for reference, that just comes from memories of many hours of C-SPAN watching during that era.

And, make sure to check out the documentary Dear Jesse about a gay guy from the same small town in North Carolina as the late senator. Trailer below.

My Favorite Illustration So Far This Year

2008-06-18T07:29:00.004-05:00

This was made by a guy named Chris Rasmussen who works for this Defense Department agency called the National Geospatal-Intelligence Agency. It illustrates the futility of e-mail strings to multiple parties of the "everybody let me know what you think about this" sort. Bravissimo!

Excellent Web Cartoons

2008-05-30T14:46:00.003-05:00

Everyone has got to check out The Rut. Sister sites: Pencils at Dawn, See Mike Draw.

What I've Been Reading Lately and Will Be Reading Shortly

2008-05-30T07:52:00.004-05:00

One of my resolutions this year (actually, my only resolution this year, and one that may stretch to two or three years) is to read the three volumes of Shelby Foote's Civil War trilogy cover to cover to cover to cover to cover to cover. We are 5/12th of the way though the year, and I am about 5/16th of the way through the first 1/3. That's OK; lots of time to read and smoke cigars on our new deck. Here are some comments I made on the occasion of Mr. Foote's death.

I got some books out of the library the other day, too.

Glut, by Alex Wright, which I am about 1/2 way through right now. This is about the way that information has been organized and disseminated from prehistoric times through the present. So far so good! I'm a sucker for this kind of stuff. It sort of reminds me of a book I read years ago, A History of Knowledge by Charles Van Doren. (Proofing note: First full paragraph of page 11, you have "scrict" instead of "strict.")
The Black Swan, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. I like the quote on his site: "My major hobby is teasing people who take themselves & the quality of their knowledge too seriously & those who don’t have the courage to sometimes say: I don’t know...." Here's a separate Wikipedia page on the Black Swan theory.
Gilligan's Wake, by Tom Carson. Here's it is on Google Book. About dot com review here.
Two of the "Southland Tales" graphic novels. Saw the movie a few weeks ago, watched it twice in a row. It's one of those movies (like Videodrome, which I just watched last night for the first time in years) that I know I will be coming back to over the course of coming decades and finding new ideas and content. Side note -- Interesting category on the Videodrome page -- Motif of harmful sensation.

Third Blog Birthday

2008-05-28T22:34:00.000-05:00

Three years ago today, I entered the Blogosphere! Here's the entirety of my first post:

Well, I'm taking advantage of a little extra time over the Memorial Day weekend to do some things I've been meaning to get around to: cut down some nuisance trees in the backyard, finish two books that I started over a year ago (reading, that is, not writing), clean more junk out of the garage, and start a blog. Instapundit, Wonkette, Sullivan, Volokh -- move it on over.

I'm not planning on anything earth-shattering, just kind of commenting on stuff big and small as it strikes me. I have opinions but most of them start out with "Well on the one hand, X but on the other hand Y" so don't be surprised by inconsitency and seeming wishy-washiness.

So, I guess we'll see how long this lasts; There's only one way to find out how obsessive or neglectful I will be about blog maintenance, and that starts with clicking the big red "publish post" button.

Take a Look at Darkon If You Have the Chance

2008-05-23T21:50:00.007-05:00

I got the movie Darkon from Netflix the other day, and it's real good! It's about these LARPers from Maryland who philosophize about their weekend antics. Two different commentaries! I was reminded of the magnificent obsessions of those featured in the documentary Trekkies, and I see that the folks at Film Threat thought the same thing. I like this quote from their review:

They’re a really smart, charming bunch (okay, some of these dudes are a little spooky), constantly using their imaginations and creating and that’s quite a bit more than you can say for many other people out there leading dull existences with no creative outlet. So in the end, you’re not laughing at these guys because they’re a bunch of weirdos, you’re laughing in celebration of their unbridled passion.

Here's the question I pose to ~~narrow-minded conformists~~ "regular" people who roll their eyes at such things:

Why is this stupid, but football isn't?

Full 90+ minute movie below:

And, JFTHOI, here's a couple of minutes from Trekkies:

Update, 5-26-08: Thanks to commenter Fantasy Freak for pointing me towards Monster Camp.

Allman / Stones Pianist Chuck Leavell on Marian McPartlnad's NPR Jazz Show

2008-05-16T21:49:00.005-05:00

A few weeks ago I was driving home and caught part of the charming and talented Marian McPartland's NPR show Piano Jazz and an interview she was doing with Chuck Leavell of The Allman Brothers. It's really good! Interview here; note that it is in two parts. If you do nothing else, make sure to check out the live jazz rendition of Jessica that starts at about 23:00 on part one.

(Then, compare it to this cover of the same song by They Might Be Giants!)

	They Might Be Giants - Jessica

	Found at bee mp3 search engine

Open Memo to Netflix

2008-05-10T11:29:00.003-05:00

To whom it may concern at Netflix,

First, I LOVE your service. You have absolutely revolutionized the way I watch and keep track of movies.

One suggestion: Fix your "Queue" feature so that it can hold more than 500 titles at a time. Currently, I have a queue, and so do my girlfriend and two of our cats. The cats let me keep some of my movies on their queues. It would be much easier to manage the total number of titles that I want to keep track of if I could have them all on one list.

What's the magic about the number 500?

Many thanks.

Clearing Out Some Links

2008-05-03T15:49:00.004-05:00

Here are a bunch of links (some of which my friend SSMW showed me) that have been stacking up, patiently waiting to be posted:

Stephen King's 24 greatest rock songs ever. I have to admit, a number of these were new to me -- For instance, 'I Want to Help You Ann'' by The Lyres.
A great wiki for the Marvel Universe.
Free Documentaries dot org: Q: Who are you guys? A: We are just a few people that want to make a difference and thought putting all these films in one place would make a cool website and a good resource.
"Baby Got Books" --

I like big books and I can not lie
You other brothers can't deny
That when a girl walks in with an big fat book
And glasses on her face
You're all thrilled, wanna talk to her quick
Cause you notice she's reading Dickens

The What on Earth catalog has some fun stuff, like this voodoo doll knife set and holder.
The Parallel Information Universe: What's out there and what it means for libraries: Regardless of type—public, academic, school, or special—libraries increasingly provide more people with improved access to a wider range of resources and services. Beyond the improved catalog, for example, electronic databases are superior to printed periodical indexes, digital reference provides expanded availability to assistance by librarians, and networked computer workstations in the library provide users with access to global multimedia resources. There's much more potential. That's the purpose of this article: to take a look at what's out there (WOT) and do a brief analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats (SWOTs) in terms of what's good, interesting, or desirable for users (including those whom we might currently label nonusers), libraries, and librarians and the implications for library and information science education.
Looking forward to seeing "Fog City Mavericks" about the cadre of directors from the San Francisco Bay area, including George Lucas, Clint Eastwood, and Francis Ford Coppola. After I get a look at it, I am going to have to help bulk up its Wikipedia page.
Here's where you can buy a T-shirt with a Venn Diagram that explains the vowel/consonant situation of the letter "Y."

Google criticisms; The Nature of Math; Digital Careers

2008-04-26T20:42:00.005-05:00

Items:

I love Google -- It's changed the way the entire world can access information. But, there's always room for improvement. Eleven items here, plus comments.
Was math discovered or invented? Science News article here, Wikipedia articles on Philosophy of Mathematics and History of Mathematics. Science News excerpt: Those who espouse discovery note that mathematical statements are true or false regardless of personal beliefs, suggesting that they have some external reality. But this leads to some odd notions. Where, exactly, do these mathematical truths exist? Can a mathematical truth really exist before anyone has ever imagined it? On the other hand, if math is invented, then why can’t a mathematician legitimately invent that 2 + 2 = 5?
Three Emerging Digital Careers to Watch. -- The Chief Customer Experience Officer (and those who work for her); Digital Storytellers; Super Crunchers. Last year I read two of the three books referred (Made to Stick and Super Crunchers) and I have to recommend them both. Excerpt: The digital space is the most addressable media and marketing platform ever. However, most marketers are not “quants” and data is largely under utilized by many companies. Data mining and visualization tools reduce risk, make business more efficient and measurable. Great rewards will come to those who know how to dig into data and make sense of it all and can parse that into insights that help companies optimize the dollars they put online. Be that guy or gal.

Redshirts Bite the Dust

2008-04-26T11:46:00.002-05:00

I think this has been around for a while, but it's great. (Redshirts on Wikipedia.)

Not Dead Yet!

2008-04-26T09:52:00.004-05:00

Geez Louise - Two months since posting. Not the blogospheric death knell, I don't think, just that work has been absorbing 95% of my brainpower for the last long while. About a year ago we got a ton of new responsibilities at work, and (not to belittle 9/11) it kind of reminds me of the phrase that came into some usage after 9/11: "The New Normal."

Here's the thing: I don't feel guilty about not getting around to blogposting. I would have felt guilty had I not devoted my attention to personal and work matters that needed attention, and so my little observations and links and jokes and opinions and things just had to hold on for a little while. I'll be posting a bunch of stuff that has come my way over the last few months that I thought were interesting but didn't get around to posting.

Meantime, here's a Star Wars/Simpsons mashup to enjoy:

Wikipatterns; Falco; Movie Posters; Books That Make You Dumb

2008-02-16T19:41:00.004-06:00

Been a while since I got some blogging in; No time like the present.

Items:

I just finished reading Wikipatterns, Stuart Mader's book based on this website (or maybe the site is based on the book, or both go hand in hand, or whatever). Blog here. Excellent summaries of wiki philosophy and practice, but obviously in my case it was preaching to the choir. Two things the book did introduce me to: Geek and Poke -- Very funny! It's kind of like Dilbert, but geekier. And, the screencast of Heavy Metal Umlaut: The Movie. Also, the author has a blog hosted by Amazon -- interesting.
Remember Falco? (The "Rock Me Amadeus" guy?) Check out Falco Reloaded. Very entertaining!
Check out the 100 greatest movie posters of all time. Lists like this are made to be argued about, and this list doesn't disappoint in that regard. (For instance, if person "A" doesn't think movie posters should feature attractive women in various states of undress, and person "B" does...)
Virgil Griffith is the guy who developed the revolutionary Wikiscanner. Now, he has put together a visual study of Books That Make You Dumb. I'm glad to see that my favorite American novel of the 20th Century, Catch-22, was one of the closest to the not-dumb side. And, we were just talking the other day at work about 100 Years of Solitude, which I have never read but would like to. I thought it was interesting that people who listed The Bible as their favorite book scored 150 points higher than those who listed The Holy Bible.

A Poignant Plea from Ghostface

2008-02-04T20:52:00.000-06:00

Ghostface Killah -- You've just got to watch it yourself.

The Scottish Falsetto Sock Puppet Theatre Presents Reservoir Dogs

2008-01-13T22:31:00.000-06:00

Snow Pictures

2008-01-08T22:30:00.000-06:00

Here's the baby in his snow. We watched Dr. Zhivago the other day, so now I call him "Comrade Gilbertovich" and when he goes out to poop I call it "being exiled to Siberia."

(Side note: If you get a chance to watch the commentary tracks on the Zhivago DVD, keep an eye (ear) out for Rod Steiger. OMFG, he kills! A dirty old man! As he describes the scene where his character is about to assault Lara, he says things like "Oh, you sly, sly Devil...." and (when he grabs Lara and starts to kiss her) "I Strike! Bwah hah hah hah hah!". He describes the instance where he tells director David Lean that he is going to fake-kiss Julie Christie and then get his desired surprised look from the actress by kissing her again (without her prior knowledge) and slipping her some tongue. He comments "But of course, you know I'd kiss her twice for free!")

Here are some shots of some X-mas lights that The ♥G♥ put up on our fence that got covered in last week's precipitation. I thought it was kind of cool how they glowed under the snow.

Henry Ford Museum Pics

2008-01-08T21:49:00.000-06:00

Over Christmas, we went to the Henry Ford Museum in Dearborn, Michigan. Lots of nifty stuff. Here's the bus Rosa Parks sat in the front of. Someone in Birmingham must have been a GL fan.

Cool old Harley:

Here's a poem about Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion House:

Happy Birthday David Bowie

2008-01-08T19:52:00.000-06:00

Happy B-Day David Bowie. In honor, here's Thuggy Stardust -- A bunch of Ziggy/Hip-hop mashups.

The Dot and the Line

2008-01-07T22:47:00.000-06:00

The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics is a very clever cartoon short by the great Chuck "Not just Bugs Bunny" Jones, based on a book by the great Norton "Phantom Tollbooth" Juster. See for yourself:

Here it is performed live:

Nerds Book

2008-01-07T21:19:00.000-06:00

This book looks good -- Nerds: Who They Are and Why We Need More of Them. Excerpt from WaPo review: The nerd stereotype is a peculiarly American prejudice, which Anderegg (with substantial help from historian Richard Hofstadter's "Anti-Intellectualism in American Life") traces back to our nascent literary days. Indeed, he places the blame for American nerd aversion squarely on the shoulders of Washington Irving and Ralph Waldo Emerson. Emerson, in the seminal 1837 speech titled "The American Scholar," gave "voice in the loftiest academic diction to a repeated theme in American history: that Americans are, first and foremost, men of action, not men of reflection." Irving had already put imaginary flesh on those bones, in the person of Ichabod Crane, the awkward scholarly schoolteacher scared out of town by his romantic rival, the pretend pumpkin-head Brom Bones, "a new American type: the anti-intellectual hero." Anderegg very seriously advises that "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow" should not be taught until college for the damage it could cause to young psyches.

From the author's website:

The Last Nerd Self-Test You’ll Ever Need!

1. Are you sometimes so enthusiastic about your interests that you get carried away, and lose your self-consciousness in your passion for your subject?

2. Do you believe that people can be beautiful and smart at the same time?

3. Do you sometimes get interested in a book or a hobby that’s really difficult to get into, but you do it anyway because it seems like such a cool thing to learn?

4. Do you like precision or exactitude, maybe even so much that a right answer is an aesthetically pleasing experience?

5. Do you find tracking what’s fashionable just a teensy bit boring?

6. Do you admire people who are very knowledgeable even if their topic is a little arcane?

7. Don't you just love the word “arcane”?

8. Do you enjoy vivid imaginative accounts of alternatives to mundane reality?

9. Are you comfortable with the fact that Harry Potter wears big spectacles and is also a big athletic hero?

10. Do you find anti-intellectualism just a little bit….stupid?

Among the reviews of his book:

Publishers' Weekly, 12/17/07:

"In this intriguing treatise, child therapist and psychology professor Anderegg takes a wry and well-rounded look at the legacy of everyone’s (least) favorite schoolyard epithet, getting deep into the history of an idea as well as the nuts and bolts of childhood 'stereotype acquisition.'

Now here's the thing: There is no apostrophe in Publishers Weekly!

How to Become a Famous Blogger

2007-12-31T23:43:00.000-06:00

Cartoon by Dave Walker. Find more cartoons you can freely re-use on your blog at We Blog Cartoons.

New(ish) Band I Like: The Bird and the Bee

2007-12-31T23:05:00.001-06:00

I came across this two-person indie band recently, The Bird and the Bee. Here's a video profile.

Polite Dance Song:

F*cking Boyfriend:

F*cking Boyfriend remix:

LOVED Tin Man

2007-12-31T08:47:00.000-06:00

I thought the recent Sci-Fi Channel series Tin Man was awesome! At least I thought part one was awesome; I haven't watched the rest (yet). I've been interested in learning more about the Oz Universe, at least ever since we saw Wicked, and this is yet another prompt to do so.