Cold, Octopoid Goodness

Bethesda Softworks has released Call of Cthulhu: Dark Corners of the Earth for XBox and PC. Methinks I need to pick a copy of that up. Nice and spoooooky.

Radiant Vista Daily Critique

I added a link in the sidebar to the Radiant Vista Daily Critique site. Every day a photography instructor (from the rest of the site it looks like he teaches classes as well) critiques a user submitted photo. The critique is presented as a Quicktime movie. The ones I've seen so far have first discussed what he likes about the photo followed by some suggestions for improvement. I don't always agree with him, but it's good to hear some different viewpoints even so. Very cool site.

Note To Self

When smoking crack with no pants on, stay at home. Do not do it in a truck out on the street. [article]

A Fair Question

A friend of mine sent me something he found on The Worst of Myspace (it was Valeris Draconis, aka B-Rad, if you must know). The obvious question that comes to my mind is: What is not the worst on myspace? That site has the lamest, the absolute worst pages I've ever seen. Terrible layout, crazy fonts, blink tags, you name it. And they all seem to have some shitty midi track on them too. It's as if I've been time warped back to 1995, except that every asshole on earth has discovered teh Interweb.

D'oh of the Day

A german newspaper apologized for running an ad for a utility company proclaiming that it has "The Gas of Tomorrow" in the middle of a full page article about the murder of gypsies at Auschwitz. Evidently they received a lot of complaints. Doh. For those who were out, Zyklon B (The Gas of Yesterday?) was the poison the Nazis used to kill Jews, Gypsies, etc. [article]

Must... Restrain... Fist of Death

Jesus.
Tap dancing.
Christ.

It's 8:40am and on the street in front of my house there appears to be some jackass with a leaf blower doing whatever it is one does with a leaf blower. On the street behind me, a construction crew appears to be breaking up concrete with a jackhammer. Well, on the bright side, I guess I don't need an alarm clock for the next year or however long it takes them.
Fuck.

OMG Chewbacca's Blog!

I laughed myself silly looking at this blog. Thanks Kristi, you made my night.

Brain Scans As Lie Detectors

Researchers in South Carolina are investigating the utility of using fMRI machines to detect lies. If it's accurate, the technique could be used in trials in the future. Welcome to the future. [article]

UK Govt Report On Global Warning: We're Boned

The UK's Meteorological Office has published a report indicating that there is only a small chance that greenhouse gas emissions can be kept below dangerous levels. Further, there is some chance that the Greenland ice sheet could melt, raising sea levels by 7m (that's over 20 feet, folks) in the next 1000 years. [article]

Augustine Gears Up

(click to see images)

The Augustine Volcano in Alaska has started spewing out even more ash and has been upgraded to condidtion RED (significant eruption in progress) by the USGS. The ash cloud is now over 25,000 feet high and pyroclastic flows have been observed. The USGS reports that the volcano has been in a state of continuous eruption for 24 hours now.

Funny Slashdot Rant (Giant Octopuses!)

I got a good laugh out of this post on our need to be vigilant against the growing threat posed by giant octopuses. It's either a joke or someone channeling their paranoid schizophrenia effectively. The slashdot post itself is somewhat less interesting.

Fear of Girls

OMG, it's like the Spinal Tap guys did a short film about gamers. Check out Fear of Girls. Sadly, I must confess that somewhere I have the Dragon t-shirt Raymond is wearing. Although in my defense, I'm not sure I have ever worn it.

Happy Year of the Dog

So it appears I'm finishing my third cycle, born under the sign of the Dog. Hopefully it'll be a good one. Best wishes to the world in this year of the Dog!

Jesus, Grant Me Strength

Cingular (from Hell's heart I strike at thee...) has applied for a patent that covers emoticons. Yes, that's right, emoticons. Smilies. This thing: :-O

WTF is the matter with these people? Hello, Prior Art, Hello! If they get a patent on emoticons, this is surely a sign of the end times. [article]

Another Record Year in 2005

For global temperatures, anyway. NASA data shows that on average, 2005 was the hottest year ever. Some interesting nuggets in this report. The previous hottest year (1998) was an el Nino year, but 2005 was not. However, if one factored out the temperatures about 75N, 1998 was the hotter year. Yep, it was extra hot in the Arctic. You polar bears better brush up on the swimming lessons! Seriously though, 75% of the temperature change of the past century has occurred in the past three decades. Not good. [article]

BBC: 39% of Britons Disbelieve Evolution

According to a survey conducted by the BBC, 39% of Britons surveyed believed that life arose either from Creationism or Intelligent Design, while 48% believe Evolution is the origin of the species. The rest weren't sure. Over 40% of those surveyed felt that Creationism or Intelligent Design should be taught in British science classes. This is surprising to me, since I thought Europeans were a little more forward looking. [article]

Fly to the Angels?

I always though Slaughter (or whomever) was singing "Try Not To Be Hated" when it appears that that song is actually "Fly to the Angels." Not quite as entertaining, I guess.

Funniest Thing of the Day

So, the TV is on and a commercial for Underworld Evolution (which is inexplicably #1 in the theaters) comes on which proclaims: "Even better than the first one!" This put me in stitches.

Weird Science With Magnetism and Microwaves Links

http://205.243.100.155/frames/Shrinking_History.htm
http://amasci.com/amateur/neodymium.html
http://www.dansdata.com/magnets.htm
http://amasci.com/weird/microwave/voltage2.html

Alaska Volcano Eruption

(click to go to Alaska Volcano Observatory site)

It appears that the Augustine volcano began an active eruption January 24 yesterday. The volcano has been active since the beginning of the month, although I haven't heard anything about it in the news. There are some cool images here.

Coachella Movie

Went to Dublin last night to see the Coachella movie, which is sort of a mini-Woodstock of the modern era. I was largely impressed, although there were a few acts I could have lived without. Some acts were especially notable. The Polyphonic Spree looked like a gospel choir and I was really surprised (and amused) when they started their song. It was like a bunch of hippies transported to the 21st century. I was saddened to think that I had missed Iggy Pop, because he still has it. The Flaming Lips song was funny too because the singer went out in the crowd in a giant plastic bubble. Kinda makes me want to go again this year.

Garden City Supply Going Out of Business

If you are interested in commercial grade cooking utensils, you might check out Garden City Supply, which is sadly going out of business. On the bright side, most stuff is at least 10% off. They officially close 2/28, but they'll be out of stock way before then, I'm sure.

New Horizons Gets Off the Launchpad

NASA's New Horizons mission to Pluto in nine short years has made it off the ground after a series of delays. [article]

Happy Birthday David Lynch

David Lynch turns 60 today, it appears.

Word of the Day

Apophenia - humans are pattern matching monkeys.

The MP3s Are Talking to Me Again

So, I heard the Elliot Smith song "Coast to Coast" twice tonight, on two different MP3 players, within about an hour. What can this mean? Paging Dr. Jung, paging Dr. Jung!

Is there anything that I could do
That someone doesn't do for you
That someone didn't do for you
That I haven't already done for you

Wow, Konica/Minolta to Exit Camera Business

Konica/Minolta announced that they're getting out of the film and digital camera business as March of this year. Existing camera technology will transferred to Sony. <spit> I've never been a Konica or Minolta guy, but competition is good, so I think this is pretty sad news. I'm not sure what else it is they do, that is, are they going out of business altogether or not? Maybe they're just going to make lenses like Leica. Although Leica does make cameras, too, I believe. Very sad. [article] [konica/minolta press release]

Yay, Toys!

Tonight was great. I got a whole bunch of toys to fill the void where my soul should be!
As I mentioned in an earlier post, I got a squeezebox from Slim Devices at Macworld the other day. Tonight I stopped at Fry's and got a 320GB external firewire drive, onto which I have been furiously ripping MP3s.

Then, when I got home I found I had not one, but two packages from Amazon waiting for me, including my new Speedlite. Maybe life isn't so bad after all. Anyway, back to the ripping.

Where Are We Going?

Planet IX!
When are we going?
Real soon!

Sorry, couldn't resist. [NASA postpones Pluto probe again]

At Last, A Garfield That Speaks To Me

Thank you, Jim Davis, you made my morning.

Winter Wonderland

(click to see more images)

Some pictures I took back in Maine at Christmas time.

Macworld

So I went up to Macworld in SF on Friday, to see what was going on and well, saw a lot of stuff.

• iPod cases/covers - these were everywhere! You'd think it was iPodWorld or something
• The coolest covers, by far IMO, were the ones from iFace, who have hit on the brilliant (brilliant I tell you!) idea of making removable covers for the iPod. The covers appear to attach to an inner cover with a velcro fastener and are made of a leather-like substance. Even more brilliant, they have some really cool artwork in their Hotwave collection. Check those out! I got some stickers from them, so I was extra jazzed. I hope they do well.
• ETCHamac was doing some nice engraving work on the back of iPods.
• One booth went a step farther and was doing mac case mods. The Necromac (think army of darkness Necronomicon) G4 case was really sweet.
• Freeverse had a cool looking product called Comic Life that lets you make comics out of your photos. Could be fun. The demo they were showing of Wingnuts 2 (which looks suspiciously like Time Pilot to my eye) also looked very fun. Grabbed some games from them.
• Chatted with a guy at the Panic software booth. They make a very good usenet client called Unison.
• A company called Solio had a snazzy little solar charger for your gps, iPod, PDA, cell phone, etc. Too bad they can't charge a laptop.
• Dropped in on the Epson folks so I could finally find out what the difference is between the R1800 and the R2400, which are roughly equivalent on paper, but the latter costs $300 more. It turns out that the R2400 is designed to do a better job at making black and white prints. The R1800 supposedly makes better glossy color prints. So if you need both, you're kind of screwed. Neither, it turns out, has a roll paper cutter (like my 2200). So much for progress.
• Yes, I looked at a Macbook (man I hate that name). It looks pretty much like a powerbook. They didn't have anything beefy loaded on it so that I could test it out. Nevertheless, I think I shall be getting one of these next month.
• Watched a demo of iWeb, which looked pretty neat. Not sure how quickly one runs up against a wall with it, but kind of a cool idea nonetheless.
• The guy at OWC was showing how easy it is to install a replacement iPod battery, that he did a demo of the process with his eyes blindfolded. Color me impressed.
• Oh, and I finally broke down and got a squeezebox from Slim Devices. I am currently listening to tunes streamed from my laptop to my stereo. I forgot that the Phono jack on my stereo has a different impedence than the other inputs, so that was momentarily unpleasant. But now things are going nicely. Thinking I might turn the tower machine in the office into a music server.

Spreadshirt.com

Spreadshirt.com offers the ability to do low print run (they advertise no minimum orders) t-shirts and gifts, for folks who are interested in that sort of thing. Not sure how cost effective they are, but looks interesting. Now I just need a witty saying.

Levis Brand iPod Jeans

Levi's announced at Macworld SF that they'll be offering (this fall) a new iPod compatible pair of jeans with docking cradle, joystick, and headphones. I think they're trying just a little too hard. My favorite bit from the article: "The jeans are machine washable once the iPod has been removed." [article]

Skating

Noelle somehow convinced me that going ice skating tonight would be a good idea. This is a pretty good trick given my childhood trauma with skating and general lack of physical coordination. I had a pretty good time, falls and swollen ankle notwithstanding.

Best Question of the Evening: Do you want to get between us? [Noelle and Esther]

Worst Question of the Evening: Are you gay?

Hmm, guess I did twist that ankle a bit.

New William Orbit Album in February!

As I mentioned briefly in the last post, there's a new William Orbit album coming out February 21 called Hello Waveform. You can preview the songs at the William Orbit site. Mmmmmm.

Current Hot Tracks

Highly recommend the following albums:

• Playing the Angel - Depeche Mode: I find almost all of the tracks incredibly catchy. Dark and beautiful. Sweet, gothic goodness.
• Toward the Unknown Region - Torch Song: This sadly out of print William Orbit project is filled with with the ambient sounds I've come to love from WO. If you like the Strange Cargo albums, this one's for you. Hopefully this will keep me busy until the new WO album comes out in February.
• Aeon Flux Soundtrack - Graeme Revell - Lots of percussion and strings. Sorta (vaguely, kinda) reminds me of the Battlestar Galactica soundtrack, but not quite the same. I enjoy the mood a lot though. Perhaps the best thing to come out of this movie. :-)

Paranoia Agent

My Paranoia Agent box set arrived at long last from Amazon, so I got to watch the whole series from end to end. The show is about a growing number of attacks by a mysterious, rollerblading figure known as L'il Slugger, who finds people who have been pushed to the edge (many one might charitably describe as looney toons) and whacks them over the head with a golden bat. It's a pretty bizarre show, but it slowly starts making more sense (such as things are) as the series progresses. Great animation, interesting story, no mecha: overall, a great series.

V For Vendetta

Finished the Alan Moore/David Lloyd comic today. I am curious to see how the movie turns out. There are some ideas in it that I think American audiences will have a hard time accepting. We used to be a people who believed that liberty was something worth fighting and dying for. I'm not sure that is the case any more. I particularly look forward to see how people react to the idea of a "terrorist" who blows up buildings, kills people, etc in fighting an authoritarian regime.

Solaris:

Chris: Am I alive, or am I dead?

Rheya: We don't have to think like that any more. We're together now. Everything we've done is forgiven. Everything.

RIP Fred

Fred the cat, age unknown (maybe 20??), has passed away. Heart disease and a kidney infection conspired to lay Fred low and end a long and presumably happy life sneaking into people's houses, killing and dismembering rodents and birds (of which he would bring pieces home in tribute), head butting, generally living the life of a cat of the world. Fred survived a motorcycle accident on Frenchman's Island in Old Town in 1994, after which he was confined indoors. A large and gregarious cat, Fred was beloved of all humans who met him, with the possible exception of the people into whose homes he stole to beg for food. Fred was also polydactyl and would have no doubt spawned a race of meowing, tool making cats had he been allowed to procreate. Fred is survived by Kitten (who probably is glad he's gone) and Heidi and all the other humans that had the pleasure of his company. He will be sorely missed.

Fred enjoying some Dr. Pussums and head butting my knee:






Ok, I'm going to go be sad now.

Playing the Angel in 5.1

Wow, this is really cool! I am listening to I Want It All from the Depeche Mode album Playing the Angel in Dolby Digital 5.1 surround. I had to hunt around last night for the CD/DVD combo before I found a used one, but it's totally worth it! They use the center channel a lot and the rest of the mix appears mostly to be mirroring the stereo mix in the rear speakers. Although not always. Gonna have to give this more of a listen. Groovy.

Oh, and I like this album a lot so far.

Oh No, Not Again

So I turned on 104.9 on the radio this morning and they appear to have changed from alternative rock to spanish love songs. One less station for me to listen to in the Bay Area. Maybe I should get XM or Sirius.

C'mon People

You've had a week to get rid of your gift cards now. I dropped into the mall today to get some last minute gifts for me and the parking situation was totally nuts. Maybe people are trying to escape the torrential rain or something. The $cientologists have a kiosk in the mall to give "free stress tests." I've never seen an actual e-meter before. I darted away before anyone tried to sell me some crazy (plenty at home, thanks!).

Ok, I'm now stocked up on comics and DVDs and am settling in for comics, Aeon Flux on the stereo, and some chinese take out. Bliss.

Happy New Year, World!

Got back from Maine last night. Pretty uneventful flight, although I made my way through security after a couple pints of beer, so that was fun! Also my friend Ophelia saw me off, which is nice, because I hardly ever have anyone sending me off on a flight any more.

Maine was good. Weather was typically wacky. It would snow one day, rain the next, then freeze up. Repeat. Spent a lot of time with family members whom I haven't seen since last Christmas, which made me happy. Also saw a couple friends I haven't seen in years. It was low key, but I never seemed to get much sleep. I think the whole landing on Christmas Eve day and rolling from there set the tone.

Waterville (which is a podunk little town) seems to becoming very urbanized, to my chagrin. Since I was there last year, they've filled in a shopping center right by the highway with (among other things) a Super Wal-Mart (aka a fucking aircraft hangar with all manner of shit in it, including a grocery store) and a Starbucks. When I saw the Starbucks, I knew it was game over man, game over. Also, some jackass approved this project which added another stoplight 100 feet from an existing one that goes into this new strip mall. Which has the effect of blocking up traffic even on non-pre-Christmas shopping days. And the people in the area don't seem to have figured out urban driving very well. Which means they drive like Massholes. Bleh.