Saturday, December 31, 2011
2011 In News Photographs
Here is a collection of striking images. Be warned, though: a few are gruesome.
10 Words of 2011
Heh. From "bunga bunga" to "Tebowing," these are the words that punctuated the news. For me personally, there was "Nerdpocalypse Now" too.
Friday, December 30, 2011
Nerd Fun: Famous Works of Art Re-Created
Enjoy! Now I really want my friends and me to re-create something. Here is an example of the awesomeness. Can you ID the original painting?
Apparently I'm Gulag Fodder
John Derbyshire identifies a certain sort of person:
Those few all had a certain distinct type of personality: skeptical, contrarian, prickly, stubborn, and antisocial — the Awkward Squad. The first job for anyone serious about being a totalitarian dictator is to identify these people and hustle them off to the camps.Well, CRAP. Add the fact that usually academics, teachers, and nerds get hustled off to the camps too, and I am doubly screwed.
Thursday, December 29, 2011
Movie Review: "Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol"
Disavowed.
Tom Cruise is back as IMF agent Ethan Hunt, and thank goodness he's left all his couch-jumping, Scientological, Katie-Holmesian tabloid lunacy back in his dressing room and given us a fabulous action ride of a film that's the perfect antidote to all the usual holiday sap. Let's go open a can of whoop@$$ on some bad guys!
Wednesday, December 28, 2011
Nerd Journal: What Geeky Siblings Do For Fun
We watch a ton of viral videos together while laughing uproariously. Here's one example that you might enjoy (slight language warning):
Awesome: Dirtbag Gets Magnificent Comeuppance
Mwahahahaha! Here's the headline: "Caught On Tape: Clerk Punches, Knocks Out Armed Robber; Clerk Then Makes Suspect Clean Up His Own Blood." Somebody buy that clerk a beer!
Tuesday, December 27, 2011
Overheard ...
The following just happened as the Cine-Sib and I were out running errands and driving through a neighborhood full of Christmas decorations all lit up.
Me, commenting: "I only like white lights. I don't like all those colored lights that people put up. I think they're ugly."
*a beat*
Cine-Sib, deadpan: "Racist."
Both: LOL!
Me, commenting: "I only like white lights. I don't like all those colored lights that people put up. I think they're ugly."
*a beat*
Cine-Sib, deadpan: "Racist."
Both: LOL!
Movie Review: "Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows"
Elementary.
An uneven but nonetheless diverting romp, the sequel to 2009's "Sherlock Holmes" depends more than ever on the snappy friendship between Holmes and Watson. The villain this time around is none other than Professor Moriarty (Jared Harris), and 2009's Rachel McAdams appears only to be effaced by a much feistier Noomi Rapace (from the Swedish "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo"). Holmes (Robert Downey, Jr.) is as frustrating and brilliant as ever as the manic detective, and Watson (Jude Law) is engaging as Holmes' exasperated but loyal friend. (With friends like Holmes, who needs enemies?) Jared Harris gives us an interesting take on the evil genius that is Moriarty, and even though I personally thought his role could have been richer, it is still worlds better than the bland villain from the first film. In terms of supporting cast, Kelly Reilly gives a nice turn as Mary Watson, Geraldine James is a flustered Mrs. Hudson, and the British institution known as Stephen Fry graces the screen as Mycroft Holmes ... and let's just say that it's Stephen Fry as I'd never seen him before.
The plot is a bit better than the one in the first flick as Moriarty pursues a wicked and complicated scheme, though the Cine-Sib thinks that this movie has a few too many sight gags that add up to too much silliness. I actually didn't mind so much, but YMMV. One more comment, though: Jude Law as Watson is an energetic figure and a beautiful creature. I'm now pretty sure that I only like Jude Law as Dr. Watson.
Mad Minerva gives this film a B.
"Rotten Tomatoes" gives "Sherlock Holmes" a rating of 59%.
The official website is here.
"Sherlock Holmes" runs for 129 minutes and is rated PG-13 for violence and action sequences.
Movie Madness: the Cine-Sib on Opening Sequences of Action Flicks
Thus spake the Cinema-Mad Sibling: "There should at least be a shootout or a fight scene in the first two minutes!"
Nerd Fun: Grad Student Work Never Ends
I somehow missed this glorious comic yesterday, but it's too good not to share! Ah, Nerd Lords!
Contingency Plans for Euro Collapse
Does this sound like a vote of no confidence to you too, or is it just me?
Quote of the Day: Daniel Craig on Politicians
Actor Daniel Craig pretty much nails it:
"Politicians are sh*theads. That's how they become politicians, even the good ones."Indeed. SO GIVE THEM AS LITTLE POWER AS POSSIBLE.
Monday, December 26, 2011
LOL: False Dichotomy Du Jour
Is it better to be hot or to have a college degree? Why choose? What's wrong with being both hot and educated? Isn't that what my buddies and I have been trying to promote? Oh, and let me add this too: during job interviews, it might help to be hot and all, but it also helps to have good social skills -- something that a LOT of people, especially egghead academics, do not have!
Publishers Vs. Libraries in E-Book Battle
Hmmm. You also also borrow e-books on Amazon if you have Amazon Prime (and a Kindle). It's darn spiffy! I've got "Hunger Games" out right now. (Yup, I got a Kindle Fire for Christmas, and I looooove it.)
Sunday, December 25, 2011
LOL: Chinese Food on Christmas
It's time to re-post a comedy classic for all my delightful Jewish friends, many of whom have watched this, laughed, and said "YES, THIS IS EXACTLY WHAT WE DO!" (See this too.)
Saturday, December 24, 2011
Dutch and Swiss Governments: the Anti-SOPA
Satire Alert: Grandma Got Indefinitely Detained (A Very TSA Christmas)
Here's another gem from Remy:
Quote of the Day: On the Persecution of Christians in the Middle East
Hahvahd Eggheads Versus SOPA
Harvard Researchers Explain That SOPA Supporters Are Misusing Their Research To Support SOPA. Read it from Harvard Law School with this at the end:
... our decade-long study of Internet filtering and circumvention has documented the many problems associated with Internet filtering, not its overall effectiveness. DNS filtering is by necessity either overbroad or underbroad; it either blocks too much or too little. Content on the Internet changes its place and nature rapidly, and DNS filtering is ineffective when it comes to keeping up with it. Worse, especially from a First Amendment perspective, DNS filtering ends up blocking access to enormous amounts of perfectly lawful information. We strongly resist the claim that our research, and that of our collaborators, makes the case in favor of DNS-based Internet filtering.
Friday, December 23, 2011
Quirky Asia Files: Best Christmas Tree EVER
This unspeakably glorious creation was apparently on display a couple Christmases ago in the Aqua City Odaiba shopping mall in (where else?) Tokyo, Japan. Have you ever seen any tree this awesome? The Santa hat is a nice touch.
The Search and Seizure of ... Cupcakes
Controlled substance.
I've ranted endlessly about the TSA and security theater. I'm sure this ludicrous war on desserts is really going to protect us from terrorists. Don't touch my junk? DON'T TOUCH MY GORRAM CUPCAKES. Where's my Fourth Amendment?!
Oh, wait! Maybe this is the unholy marriage of TSA overreach with Michelle Obama's annoying preaching that we should all eat healthier things. It's now the Food Police. GEORGE ORWELL, CALL YOUR OFFICE.
Are You Freaking Kidding Me?
A moment of silence for Kim Jong Il at the UN? How about a moment for all the people whom Kim silenced during his life? Disgusting.
UPDATE: This obituary is far better:
UPDATE: This obituary is far better:
Kim Jong-il, the North Korean dictator, who died on Saturday aged 69, presided over the systematic impoverishment and starvation of millions of his people, while enjoying the life of a spoiled playboy – fast cars, fast women, cellars of vintage French wines, and a passion for Rambo and Daffy Duck videos.
Disgustingly Cute: A Christmas Baby
No, that's not a snowball. That's a newly hatched white kiwi chick. White kiwis are rare, and this adorable ball of fluff hatched in New Zealand just in time for Christmas!
Best Buy Is On The Naughty List
Here's a headline that nobody wants to read right now: "Whoops! That Stuff You Ordered Weeks Ago from Best Buy? It’s Not Coming." Yup, Best Buy is ruining Christmas!
Thursday, December 22, 2011
China's Obnoxious 1% and Their Spoiled Brats
The end of the Chinese dream? That's what today's cover of Foreign Policy says. Well, it's certainly something about oligarchic misbehavior and crony capitalism (which is, do I need to say it for the millionth time, not the same thing as actual capitalism).
Awesome: Playable "Angry Birds" Xmas Lights
Some background info:
Help! The pigs are trying to ruin Christmas. Grab the sling shot and fire those birds! From the people who brought you the Guitar Hero Christmas Light game! Running on two computers and 10 Light-o-rama 16 channel controllers, uses more than 20,000 lights and less than one cent of electricity per game. Audio is broadcast on 99.1FM, and the controller has a long enough cord for people to play in their cars on the street. Easier than the iPhone version, and bigger too.
Awesome!
Naming Names: SOPA Supporters
Here's the list with contact information. Tell 'em what you think ... and while you're at it, contact your Congresscritters!
3 More Thoughts on SOPA ... and a Cool Video
One, two, and three. Do read. See too this. Plus evidence that SOPA will never work, because the geeks will fight back.
Wednesday, December 21, 2011
An Englishman's View of American Football
Read the whole thing, especially the glorious conclusion. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME FOOTBALL?!
Movie Trailer: "The Dark Knight Rises"
I'm a bit behind on my movie madness since I've been preoccupied with other things, but a fresh trailer for "The Dark Knight Rises" has been released, and ... OH, YES.
Note the intimation that Catwoman believes the zero sum fallacy. Note too that she's the villain. Hmmmm.
UPDATE: Oh, for crap's sake. Then basically all my friends and I are headed to the slammer. Kill SOPA now!
UPDATE: Oh, for crap's sake. Then basically all my friends and I are headed to the slammer. Kill SOPA now!
Tuesday, December 20, 2011
Anti-Piracy Crusaders Caught ... Pirating
Um ... yeah. Way to go, RIAA. And Homeland Security! Live by BitTorrent, die by BitTorrent.
Nerd News: "Professor claims NYU fired him after he gave James Franco a 'D'"
Hey, and I thought we were all supposed to be fighting grade inflation. Cue the lawyers in 3... 2... 1... UPDATE: Franco's Yale professor defends him.
Vaclav Havel and the Politics of Common Decency
Predictably (and more or less understandably), North Korea is all over the news outlets because of the concern of what's going to happen in the aftermath of Kim Jong Il's demise. Still, it has overshadowed the passing of Havel, a man who did far more good in life. Two more different leaders could scarcely be imagined. So I give you a nice write-up of Havel's life and career. Hail and farewell, sir. Keep on rockin' in the free world!
There Really* IS* a Blog For Everything!
Behold Mondo Fruitcake, the fruitcake review blog. No, really! See its list of top-rated fruitcakes and never settle for awful fruitcake at Christmas again! Oh, and it states that the gold standard for all fruitcake is this one. Still, I just don't like the stuff.
Monday, December 19, 2011
Irony Mingled With Idiocy, Thy Name Is SOPA
Heh. The entire SOPA proposal is a ... what's that word? Oh, yes ... fustercluck.
Three Timely Books to Read
Since we've been inundated with news and and the analyses thereof ... and because as a professional nerd I always reflexively turn to books:
- The Aquariums of Pyongyang: Ten Years in the North Korean Gulag by Chol-hwan Kang (Basic, 2005). A harrowing memoir of a childhood spent in a prison camp.
- Open Letters: Selected Writings 1965-1990 by Vaclav Havel (Vintage, 1992). A collection of Havel's writing on his journey from dissident playwright to president.
- Hitch-22: A Memoir by Christopher Hitchens (Twelve, 2011). A memoir that became a valediction.
MM in the Kitchen: Spiced Apple Cupcakes with Cinnamon Nutmeg Frosting
Some seasonal sweets for you! Consider it a break from all the heavy-hitting news lately.
Nerd Analysis: Law Profs on SOPA
Here's a follow-up to my previous post about SOPA. Law prof Instapundit links to this Stanford Law Review paper by three other law professors. Here's a bit of it:
Two bills now pending in Congress—the PROTECT IP Act of 2011 (Protect IP) in the Senate and the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) in the House—represent the latest legislative attempts to address a serious global problem: large-scale online copyright and trademark infringement. Although the bills differ in certain respects, they share an underlying approach and an enforcement philosophy that pose grave constitutional problems and that could have potentially disastrous consequences for the stability and security of the Internet’s addressing system, for the principle of interconnectivity that has helped drive the Internet’s extraordinary growth, and for free expression.
To begin with, the bills represent an unprecedented, legally sanctioned assault on the Internet’s critical technical infrastructure ...It goes on from there. Read the whole thing. The SOPA mess is basically saying, "hey, let's cure the disease by killing the patient." Part of the problem is that the Congresscritters behind SOPA and Protect IP apparently have absolutely no freaking idea how the Internet works. Oh, and read this .... and this ... and this. If you really want to combat piracy, then make better streaming services for legitimate access, DUH.
Idiocy of the Day: the AP on the Kim Dynasty
AP stands not for "Associated Press" but for "Asinine Puffery." Look at this:
Kim Jong Il inherited power after his father, revered North Korean founder Kim Il Sung, died in 1994.There is nothing to revere about the founder of that brutal totalitarian slave state. Whoever wrote that word gets the "dipstick du jour" tag. Disgusting. Or maybe, just maybe, it's an autocorrect error and that word is really supposed to be "reviled"?
Hitchens on Kim's North Korea
Even in his absence Christopher Hitchens is still on point. See this 2005 piece in which Hitchens visits North Korea and describes it as being worse than Orwell's dystopia from 1984. Read the whole thing.
UPDATE: While we're at it, read Havel on North Korea too.
UPDATE: While we're at it, read Havel on North Korea too.
Sunday, December 18, 2011
China: Land Grabs, Social Unrest, and Wukan
The unrest is Wukan is not going away, particularly now that a local leader has died while in police custody.
Kim Jong-Il Dead at 69
I'm not going to say ave atque vale to this wicked individual who kept North Korea as his enslaved domain.
A related thought: so many high-profile exits lately ... Hitch, Havel, now Kim. Was there a memo ...?
UPDATE 1: The Insta-Prof links to a bon mot for the occasion: "I'd like to think God let Havel and Hitchens pick the third."
By the way, with the exits of both Qaddafi and Kim, this seems more fitting than ever.
UPDATE 2: The aftermath could get messy. I'm reminded of this Atlantic piece from 2006.
A related thought: so many high-profile exits lately ... Hitch, Havel, now Kim. Was there a memo ...?
UPDATE 1: The Insta-Prof links to a bon mot for the occasion: "I'd like to think God let Havel and Hitchens pick the third."
By the way, with the exits of both Qaddafi and Kim, this seems more fitting than ever.
UPDATE 2: The aftermath could get messy. I'm reminded of this Atlantic piece from 2006.
Everybody Hates SOPA (Updated)
The current bill called the "Stop Online Piracy Act" (SOPA) has achieved something that politicians dream of: it has created a massive consensus of all sorts of disparate people groups. Unfortunately for the creators of the bill (though fortunately for folks who don't like the idea of online censorship, much less giving the government vaguely defined and overly broad powers to swoop all over cyberspace and shut down websites), the consensus is that, from engineers to journalists, everybody hates this thing.
UPDATES: Boing Boing is taking no prisoners. Absolutely none at all. Irate mockery is something I believe in. I didn't really need more evidence that plenty of people in Congress are as dim and toxic as CFL bulbs, but they always seem to offer more infuriating/terrifying proof.
OK, read this appeal from the actual inventors of the Internet and watch this:
UPDATES: Boing Boing is taking no prisoners. Absolutely none at all. Irate mockery is something I believe in. I didn't really need more evidence that plenty of people in Congress are as dim and toxic as CFL bulbs, but they always seem to offer more infuriating/terrifying proof.
OK, read this appeal from the actual inventors of the Internet and watch this:
On Missing Christopher Hitchens
La Parisienne and I had a conversation earlier today about the late Christopher Hitchens. It's not that we're fawning fangirls -- not at all. There were plenty of times when Hitchens frustrated, provoked, and even openly enraged us. I remember one famous incident when we, along with the Kamikaze Editor, hated him for opining that women weren't funny -- that Dorothy Parker wasn't funny either. (What, we're all humorless harridans?) On another front, I found his aggressive atheism to be as much a turn-off as any pushy proselytizing by the religious zealots whom he decried and despised.
But the fact remains that Christopher Hitchens was always worth reading, whether you agreed with him or not. As a writer, he was an artist -- relentless, eloquent, colorful, incisive, and bracingly and even shockingly blunt in his opinions. The man possessed a savage wit, and he could wield words as though they were scalpels. But the beauty and the glory of it all was his unwillingness to hold back. He called things as he saw them, political correctness be damned, and for that I raise a glass to his memory. Slate just posted a collection of some of his greatest hits, to which I add his perspective on fundamentalist religious rage, his crime spree in New York City, and even his infamous assault on Mahatma Gandhi. Hitchens was not afraid of taking on secular pieties and sacred cows of every type. In this day and age of people self-censoring, beating around the bush, and fearing to give offense above all else, one reason I found Hitchens so engaging was that he didn't seem to care at all about that. He lived and thought out loud, and if you took offense, then that was just too bad. I wonder if you might forgive my language if, in the end, I salute him for being a magnificent bastard.
Hitchens leaves behind both legions of fans and legions of haters ... a fact that in itself means he must have done something right. He will be sorely missed.
But the fact remains that Christopher Hitchens was always worth reading, whether you agreed with him or not. As a writer, he was an artist -- relentless, eloquent, colorful, incisive, and bracingly and even shockingly blunt in his opinions. The man possessed a savage wit, and he could wield words as though they were scalpels. But the beauty and the glory of it all was his unwillingness to hold back. He called things as he saw them, political correctness be damned, and for that I raise a glass to his memory. Slate just posted a collection of some of his greatest hits, to which I add his perspective on fundamentalist religious rage, his crime spree in New York City, and even his infamous assault on Mahatma Gandhi. Hitchens was not afraid of taking on secular pieties and sacred cows of every type. In this day and age of people self-censoring, beating around the bush, and fearing to give offense above all else, one reason I found Hitchens so engaging was that he didn't seem to care at all about that. He lived and thought out loud, and if you took offense, then that was just too bad. I wonder if you might forgive my language if, in the end, I salute him for being a magnificent bastard.
Hitchens leaves behind both legions of fans and legions of haters ... a fact that in itself means he must have done something right. He will be sorely missed.
Meet Kepler-22b
Amid all the buzz about the discovery of a potential Earth-like exoplanet, let's take a look at what the Department of Physics at Oxford has to say about the intriguing Kepler-22b.
Ave atque Vale, Vaclav Havel
Havel, Czech dissident playwright and the first president of the Czech Republic after the Velvet Revolution, has died at the age of 75. Reason magazine has a number of features on Havel. Oh, and note that Noam Chomsky considers Havel "morally repugnant" -- which means Havel really is all that and a bag of chips. Hail and farewell, sir, and thank you for your efforts to undo Communism in eastern Europe.
Saturday, December 17, 2011
A Song For the End of Exams
Finals are over, and we're all hot messes who are completely out of our right minds. So, in the aftermath of the bouts of sleeplessness, procrastination, panic, toil, existential horror, maniacal giggles, despair, exhaustion, screaming like banshees, howling at the moon, and all other manifestations of general test-time insanity, let's have a song!
This is from the hilariously awful 2007 British flick about bad girls run amok at a school with a horrible reputation, "St. Trinian's" (which somehow managed to cast people like Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry, Lena Headey, Fenella Woolgar, Mischa Barton, and Russell Brand). It's a catchy tune, especially as done by Girls Aloud ... and right now I'm all in favor of the defiant chorus. (Hey, La Parisienne, Alessandra, California Dreamer! Maybe this should be our anthem!)
This is from the hilariously awful 2007 British flick about bad girls run amok at a school with a horrible reputation, "St. Trinian's" (which somehow managed to cast people like Colin Firth, Rupert Everett, Toby Jones, Stephen Fry, Lena Headey, Fenella Woolgar, Mischa Barton, and Russell Brand). It's a catchy tune, especially as done by Girls Aloud ... and right now I'm all in favor of the defiant chorus. (Hey, La Parisienne, Alessandra, California Dreamer! Maybe this should be our anthem!)
Defenders of Anarchy.
Friday, December 16, 2011
History in Photos: Prohibition
Here is a fascinating photo collection by Life magazine. If you haven't had a chance yet to watch the fantastic Ken Burns documentary, please do soon! Recall this too.
J'Accuse: French Leaders Versus Great Britain
Meeeeeeeeeeeeeeeow! It seems all of a piece with this.
A Rebuttal to Christoph Waltz
Here is a German response to Austrian Christoph Waltz's provocative accusation that Germans have no sense of humor. Via gentle German reader Marian, here is the Berlin Laughter Project!
LOL: Christoph Waltz on the Differences Between Germans and Austrians
"Like the difference between a battleship and a waltz."
Oscar-winning actor Waltz is, of course, Austrian (Viennese). He's hilarious. Oh, and if you haven't seen him in "Inglourious Basterds," you really must! He is absolutely fantastic.
The Onion's Tribute to Hitchens
As a response to the sad news, the Onionistas have come up with an exquisite fake headline: "Fumbling, Inarticulate Obituary Writer Somehow Losing Debate To Christopher Hitchens." Hail and farewell, sir.
Friday Fun Video: Dinner Guests
In this season of parties and guests, one should be sure to be a good host/ess:
Well, DUH
An economics professor opines that Europe needs country-by-country fiscal reforms, not a renewed push for political integration. Thanks, Professor Obvious ... and yet nothing is so obvious that it doesn't need to be said often and well.
Ave atque Vale, Christopher Hitchens
Pugnacious but brilliant, Hitchens has died from esophageal cancer. He was 62. I didn't always agree with him, but I shall miss reading his always thought-provoking writing.
Thursday, December 15, 2011
China Lectures Canada On Environmental Policy
Whatever. China's the world's biggest emitter. Go lecture to the mirror, pal.
Euro Notes: Eurocrats Versus the UK?
*Sigh* Are Eurocrats haters? Well, some, maybe. On the other hand, some of the Brits are pushing back. There is something surreally amusing in watching a British MEP wordplaying with the term "FU" as something not meaning "fiscal union." Oh, my.
UPDATE: A defiant Nile Gardiner supports Great Britain standing "in splendid isolation" and accuses Merkel and Sarkozy of "digging Europe's grave." Are things that bad? Wow. I remind you of Niall Ferguson's recent prediction that the collapse of the EU is more likely than the fall of the euro ... but neither will be pretty. I've always been skeptical of the entire EU project, but watching this current slow-motion train wreck is horrifying. Who can blame the Brits for not wanting to be part of it?
UPDATE: A defiant Nile Gardiner supports Great Britain standing "in splendid isolation" and accuses Merkel and Sarkozy of "digging Europe's grave." Are things that bad? Wow. I remind you of Niall Ferguson's recent prediction that the collapse of the EU is more likely than the fall of the euro ... but neither will be pretty. I've always been skeptical of the entire EU project, but watching this current slow-motion train wreck is horrifying. Who can blame the Brits for not wanting to be part of it?
Nerd News: An Extreme Case of "That Guy"
If you've ever taught, you know that just about every class has a student who is "That Guy." Usually this is no more than a persistent classroom annoyance, but here is a troubling case of "That Guy" -- or rather, two of them -- and a professor who resigned. Listen, no instructor should have to put up with deliberately disruptive, hostile behavior from students. Students, if you have a problem with your professor or your class, you do NOT disrupt the class. You go through accepted grievance-filing channels in the administration from the chair of that professor's department through the dean if necessary.