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14 March 2012
20 May 2011
Color Effect
My old friend Johnny shared this link on his Facebook: really old color photos.
I was struck by how humanizing the color was; these people felt closer than they ever had before.
Here's some black and white photos. Click them to see the color version. Clearly, I have no rights to these.
I was struck by how humanizing the color was; these people felt closer than they ever had before.
Here's some black and white photos. Click them to see the color version. Clearly, I have no rights to these.
03 February 2010
A.I. Artificial Intelligence
I just caught the end of 2001's A.I. Artificial Intelligence on TV. I had completely forgotten about it.
With last night's LOST premiere on my mind, the AI memory that jumped back so strongly was the resentment I had of people who thought the slender ones were aliens.
With last night's LOST premiere on my mind, the AI memory that jumped back so strongly was the resentment I had of people who thought the slender ones were aliens.
01 February 2010
move over Hugh, Michael's the new hair in town
Masculine readers, this post isn't for you. Avert your browsers.
Also, too-cool-for-sci-fi readers, this post isn't for you, either. Avert your wasted browsers.
My favorite Stargate character is Daniel Jackson. When we started watching 'Gate, I was in the middle of growing out my hair, and Daniel and I had some unfortunate similarities.
I could probably mimic that hair pretty well, with some effort. Even less fortunately, however, the resemblance is actually more prominent with Daniel Jackson from the Stargate movie.
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So, I'm leaning toward ✂the cut✂. I can still stick with DJ, however. I like some of his updated cuts.
(I promise not to ever make these last two faces. I've tried with some friends tonight, and can't even do it on purpose.)
And, I mean, if Daniel cuts his hair, then so can I! Right? I'll probably end up with the buzz again.
Also, too-cool-for-sci-fi readers, this post isn't for you, either. Avert your wasted browsers.
My favorite Stargate character is Daniel Jackson. When we started watching 'Gate, I was in the middle of growing out my hair, and Daniel and I had some unfortunate similarities.
I could probably mimic that hair pretty well, with some effort. Even less fortunately, however, the resemblance is actually more prominent with Daniel Jackson from the Stargate movie.
So, I'm leaning toward ✂the cut✂. I can still stick with DJ, however. I like some of his updated cuts.
(I promise not to ever make these last two faces. I've tried with some friends tonight, and can't even do it on purpose.)
And, I mean, if Daniel cuts his hair, then so can I! Right? I'll probably end up with the buzz again.
29 January 2010
25 January 2010
frozen bananas are handy, with one caveat
I've been making Alton's delicious smoothie with some regularity in the mornings. I've learned some things.
The scale I purchased is en route, but I think I've lost a few pounds since focusing on eating both better and less and also starting the EA Sports Six Week Challenge on the Wii. Booyah.
- Frozen fruit is awesome for this. However, peel your bananas before freezing them. Obvious in retrospect – sure, but now I know exactly how difficult it is to peel a frozen banana. Difficult.
- It's a bit much for a single serving. I'm gonna chop the ingredients in twain.
- Frozen fruit deserves the "Ice Crush" button; particularly strawberries. Blenders are whiners.
- It's annoying to clean the blender everyday. Any ideas? A rinse isn't so hard, but all the sugar in there scares me.
The scale I purchased is en route, but I think I've lost a few pounds since focusing on eating both better and less and also starting the EA Sports Six Week Challenge on the Wii. Booyah.
20 January 2010
and now I'm asking for it
Obviously, this is all up for debate. Matt asked for my opinion. This is what I shared. Straighten me out!
Honest opinion: we should not provide "death care" or "slob care". That would change everything. Bonus opinion: focus on and reward people for wellness.
I attended a health care forum hosted by Bob Dole at the Dole Institute. It brought people from various parts of the health care industry (except insurance – that guy didn't show up, and apparently they rarely do). All I remember is that somebody – some expert – quoted a stat that something like 80% of health care costs for a patient's last stay (or maybe all stays?) comes in the last 3 weeks. That's death care, and I don't want to put my buck behind it.
If you don't take reasonable measures to be well, then I don't want to pay for your care. I don't know what those measures need to be, but they should probably be few and straight-forward. "Vegetables" comes to mind. "Corn syrup" comes to mind. Most importantly, they need to be auditable; it should be inexpensive and objective to determine if the guidelines have been met. Too many people develop chronic illness from their lifestyle and then that raises my costs. That's slob care, and I'm ag'in' it.
The government should either compete with, strictly regulate, or obsolete insurance companies. My suggestions above apply in the first two options. I don't know how to obsolete it.
Insurance companies manage risk by randomly pooling its subscribers to disperse costs. That's the origin of employer-provided care; the employer is an easy and (usually) effective way to randomly pool people. I think that model is over-simplified. Insurance costs should be hierarchical based on how healthy I am, right now (yearly re-appraisal?), according to my doctor. This appraisal should not include my medical history – just my current health and the results of that audit I mentioned above.
Primary care physicians should be paid more than specialists. Sure, specialists paid more for their education and are favored by supply-and-demand and such, but this is mucking up the system. It's upside down: specialists have the least contribution to a society's health, and yet they are rewarded the most. GPs are the front-line and need to be treated as such. Their clients-per-day are like students in a classroom and need to be minimized so they can receive the attention and advice needed for wellness.
Basically: reward people for a healthy lifestyle, punish them for an unhealthy lifestyle – deal with it libertarians, if you want insurance. Change the payment/appreciation of GPs versus specialists to reflect that emphasis on wellness. Make a regular check-up more viable and less expensive. Most radically: don't spend tons of money treating dying people or people with extremely rare diseases – it's just not as useful for the society, nor fair to the other people in that risk pool.
Also, reform in the insurance and medical services industries will have non-trivial consequences for any intimately related industries, including pharmaceuticals. Someone needs to research drugs, but that business-model is currently as messed up as the RIAA – it's all about intellectual property, baby.
Honest opinion: we should not provide "death care" or "slob care". That would change everything. Bonus opinion: focus on and reward people for wellness.
I attended a health care forum hosted by Bob Dole at the Dole Institute. It brought people from various parts of the health care industry (except insurance – that guy didn't show up, and apparently they rarely do). All I remember is that somebody – some expert – quoted a stat that something like 80% of health care costs for a patient's last stay (or maybe all stays?) comes in the last 3 weeks. That's death care, and I don't want to put my buck behind it.
If you don't take reasonable measures to be well, then I don't want to pay for your care. I don't know what those measures need to be, but they should probably be few and straight-forward. "Vegetables" comes to mind. "Corn syrup" comes to mind. Most importantly, they need to be auditable; it should be inexpensive and objective to determine if the guidelines have been met. Too many people develop chronic illness from their lifestyle and then that raises my costs. That's slob care, and I'm ag'in' it.
The government should either compete with, strictly regulate, or obsolete insurance companies. My suggestions above apply in the first two options. I don't know how to obsolete it.
Insurance companies manage risk by randomly pooling its subscribers to disperse costs. That's the origin of employer-provided care; the employer is an easy and (usually) effective way to randomly pool people. I think that model is over-simplified. Insurance costs should be hierarchical based on how healthy I am, right now (yearly re-appraisal?), according to my doctor. This appraisal should not include my medical history – just my current health and the results of that audit I mentioned above.
Primary care physicians should be paid more than specialists. Sure, specialists paid more for their education and are favored by supply-and-demand and such, but this is mucking up the system. It's upside down: specialists have the least contribution to a society's health, and yet they are rewarded the most. GPs are the front-line and need to be treated as such. Their clients-per-day are like students in a classroom and need to be minimized so they can receive the attention and advice needed for wellness.
Basically: reward people for a healthy lifestyle, punish them for an unhealthy lifestyle – deal with it libertarians, if you want insurance. Change the payment/appreciation of GPs versus specialists to reflect that emphasis on wellness. Make a regular check-up more viable and less expensive. Most radically: don't spend tons of money treating dying people or people with extremely rare diseases – it's just not as useful for the society, nor fair to the other people in that risk pool.
Also, reform in the insurance and medical services industries will have non-trivial consequences for any intimately related industries, including pharmaceuticals. Someone needs to research drugs, but that business-model is currently as messed up as the RIAA – it's all about intellectual property, baby.
15 January 2010
Good Foods
I made this for dinner again last night. It's been delicious both times. I made it with turkey, which apparently weighs more? 1.5 lbs turkey is too much turkey. I also use frozen vegetables, since peas/corn/carrots come prepped that way. Big time saver. LOTS of glorious leftovers since I quadrupled the recipe. It's also delicious with the vegetarian protein crumbles. Worchestershire sauce is invincible.
And since my bananas finally ripened, I made Alton's smoothie this morning! Also delicious. I gotta recommend that whole episode.
And since my bananas finally ripened, I made Alton's smoothie this morning! Also delicious. I gotta recommend that whole episode.
22 December 2009
Avatar, amendment 1
I forgot two things.
Another flaw with Avatar: Ana Lucia has still not been punched in the face. Help me, Season 6. You're my only hope.
Also, Avatar shares a lot of themes with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Loved that one. Hannah does, too.
Another flaw with Avatar: Ana Lucia has still not been punched in the face. Help me, Season 6. You're my only hope.
Also, Avatar shares a lot of themes with Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind. Loved that one. Hannah does, too.
21 December 2009
I'll read the rest of the poem tomorrow
I caught this quote in a film once.
The quote seems relevant in light of college graduation. "Where to?"
I don't want anyone to leave. And I want everyone to come back.
We shall not cease from explorationI really like it. I find it very compelling. I don't want to leave my family – I don't want to go exploring – I don't need new friends when I've got such good ones in my daily life already. (I suppose I'm taking an optimistic viewpoint on that last line, but that's well within my liberty.)
And the end of all our exploring
Will be to arrive where we started
And know the place for the first time.
T.S. Eliot, LITTLE GIDDING
The quote seems relevant in light of college graduation. "Where to?"
I don't want anyone to leave. And I want everyone to come back.
Avatar
Spoiler warning.
It is a great movie. It noticeably lacked only two things:
I'll say it again. It is a great movie. But not a film. I'd say the two missing pieces above are pretty much pillars of film, but no more than pieces of a movie.
Basically: amidst the simple plot, Cameron effortlessly blends dragon-riders and mecha in the same movie. I can dig that. Layer on the wonderment of being a Na'vi, the invitation for redemption for our greedy ways (demonstrated by Dr. Augustine/Jake connecting with Eywa), the drop-dead gorgeous Pandoran environment, and the most seamless computer animation ever, and you have no excuse to miss this one.
It is a great movie. It noticeably lacked only two things:
An original plot. Reviews I read before watching made this same critique. The avatar thing is a nice speculative fiction twist (and a bit over-played in the title, I think), but doesn't sway the story too considerably from Pocahontas/Dances with Wolves/The Last Samurai: efficient-killing, greedy invaders lend wayward hero to "savages", who turn out to be noble and inspire the hero to switch sides.
Here's the catch: I love this plot. Add in the thoughtful and inter-woven support from the Na'vi culture and Pandoran ecology for the audience's inflamed environmentalism, and Cameron has sharpened-up a very old and very proven story.
Character development. The wittiest critique I read on Rotten Tomatoes was about how the movie looks great in 3D but the characters themselves are trapped in 1D. Nobody really changes.
The closest I'd say was the capitalist Parker; his resentment for his charge and his thin attempts at self-deception become more evident as the movie proceeds. I like that veneer of sympathy the movie allows him. Clearly, Jake changes, but this is a plot element more than character development. Moreover, the lack of information about his past character (=spunky?) leaves us with no trajectory upon which to witness character development.
I'll say it again. It is a great movie. But not a film. I'd say the two missing pieces above are pretty much pillars of film, but no more than pieces of a movie.
Basically: amidst the simple plot, Cameron effortlessly blends dragon-riders and mecha in the same movie. I can dig that. Layer on the wonderment of being a Na'vi, the invitation for redemption for our greedy ways (demonstrated by Dr. Augustine/Jake connecting with Eywa), the drop-dead gorgeous Pandoran environment, and the most seamless computer animation ever, and you have no excuse to miss this one.
19 December 2009
18 December 2009
it was only a matter of time
I saw Phil yesterday and that reminded me that some people change the caps lock key to be other things, since caps lock is so worthless. OS X actually supports this directly in the Keyboard preference pane†, so now my caps lock key is just another option key. My thumb feels better already.
It feels hopeful.
† You can change other "modifier" keys too: control, option, and command.
15 December 2009
a meal
I'm looking at recipes to cook tonight for community dinner, and I think a fun one would be pairing this vegetable hash with one (both!?) of these two breakfast hashes. Mmmm delicious and cryptographic to boot.
14 December 2009
books (for me) to read
RT @duke_sam: Interesting top 20 Sci-Fi books of the decade list: http://is.gd/5n72y
My picks from that list:
My picks from that list:
- Acacia: The War with the Mein
- Glasshouse
- Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell
- Look to Windward
- The Mount (maybe)
- Perdido Street Station
- Rainbows End
- Stories of Your Life And Others
13 December 2009
up all night
Up all night doing no good. I just scraped ABC's site for all of its Lost episode recaps and gathered them into one page for easy access. I'm hosting it on my website, but it's protected because I don't know how mean they will be.
If you want access, let me know. I'm going to read it all, seasons 1-5, before 6 starts on 2 February because I don't remember so much!
If you want access, let me know. I'm going to read it all, seasons 1-5, before 6 starts on 2 February because I don't remember so much!
11 December 2009
glory hallelujah computer-style
So GHC and Snow Leopard do not get along well. That links to an ugly looking page, and I can't really find a nice summary anywhere.
Though I had followed the ragtag instructions and got GHC working as far as I could tell, I was having trouble getting Apache + FastCGI + GHC to work for a web application I had made on my laptop (OS X 10.5). I couldn't really find any error issues and other parts of the web site were working fine, so I just figured the bit mismatch was causing the problem, since IPC can be iffy in the first place. I had given up for a while.
But, I recently installed mod_python and wrote some home-grown python to filter my Google Reader shared items and this blog for my Twitter account (a little more sophisticated than twitterfeed, especially since it is triggered via URL). This put me back in the mood to get Haskell working, since I much prefer it to Python given the choice. I think what it turned out to be was me not noticing that GHC didn't actually rebuild the Haskell executable since I had only changed GHC-system files and not the actual source. Works now. Joy.
Long story short (too late): my online Quoridor program works now, so two people can play over the Internets. En garde! It's password protected because I don't understand the licensing issues and Family Games, Inc. hasn't responded to my inquiry. If you want to try it, let me know.
Though I had followed the ragtag instructions and got GHC working as far as I could tell, I was having trouble getting Apache + FastCGI + GHC to work for a web application I had made on my laptop (OS X 10.5). I couldn't really find any error issues and other parts of the web site were working fine, so I just figured the bit mismatch was causing the problem, since IPC can be iffy in the first place. I had given up for a while.
But, I recently installed mod_python and wrote some home-grown python to filter my Google Reader shared items and this blog for my Twitter account (a little more sophisticated than twitterfeed, especially since it is triggered via URL). This put me back in the mood to get Haskell working, since I much prefer it to Python given the choice. I think what it turned out to be was me not noticing that GHC didn't actually rebuild the Haskell executable since I had only changed GHC-system files and not the actual source. Works now. Joy.
Long story short (too late): my online Quoridor program works now, so two people can play over the Internets. En garde! It's password protected because I don't understand the licensing issues and Family Games, Inc. hasn't responded to my inquiry. If you want to try it, let me know.
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