Friday, April 30, 2004
False Alarm at the Pool
Today at the pool, while I was guarding, a patron that is known for having had a seizure while swimming at our pool a few years ago came into swim. He is a regular at the pool and swims about 80 laps (25 yard laps in this old pool) every time he swims. He has a worker that comes with him just to make sure everything is okay and to help him get around. He was the only swimmer in the pool. After about a half hour of laps while he was in the middle of the pool he suddenly stopped swimming with his face down in the water. It was a little odd because he was vertical to the bottom, but nevertheless he was face down. His aide and I were both alarmed, we both figured he was having some kind of seizure even though it would have been just a "partial" (he wasn't shaking). He lifted his head up for a moment and I called out to him to see if he would respond but then his head went back under. I leaped into the pool -- a pretty good stride entry too I might add, and found myself staring eye to eye with a very confused swimmer. I asked him by name if he was ok. He responded that he was; by the look he gave me I think he wondered if I was. It turned out that he had stopped to look at his water sock that was in the process of falling off. He was standing there face down trying to fix it. He never heard me call to him from the deck. I caused myself a lot of worry for nothing, and got wet too, but in the end I'm really glad it was nothing.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/30/2004 10:50:01 PM
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Thursday, April 29, 2004
Google Files Long Awaited IPO Plans
For a cool 2.7 billion dollars you too could buy Google. Actually google hasn't released a price per share but that is the amount of money Google is hoping to raise in its initial public offering which is slated for availability on the stock market in another seven months. The announcement also let the cat out of the bag as to how much money google is actually making (via informationweek.com):
The Mountain View-based company earned $105.6 million, or 41 cents per share, on revenue of $962 million last year. Google got off to a fast start this year, with a first-quarter profit of $64 million, or 24 cents per share--more than doubling its earnings of $25.8 million, or 10 cents per share, at the same time last year.
I'll bet founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are having a party tonight, aside from all the profit their company is making they have another $2.7 billion heading their way - They've got a lot to be happy about, I know I would be.
If you are interested related information can be found in Google's SEC Filing. Highlights (as determined by John Battelle):
The letter states, among other things, that 1. We don't need to do this for the money; 2. We have no plans to run our business to satisfy Wall Street's need for smooth earnings predictability; 3. We plan to give no earnings guidance, not at least as it's understood on Wall St.; 4. Don't ask us to do so, we'll simply decline the request; 5. We'll do odd things that you won' t understand; 6. We will make big bets on things that may not work out; 7. We run the company as a triumvirate, so there will not be clear leadership from one person like most other companies; 8. We bridge the media and tech industries (interesting), which are in flux, so we've chosen a two-class stock structure similar to the NYT, WashPost, and NYT that helps us avoid being taken over by those forces; 9. We plan using an auction model, as it feels fairer and we understand auctions from AdWords; 10. Don't invest in us if this scares you at all, or the price feels too high; 11. Don't even think about asking us to cut expenses with regard to our employees; 12. We believe in the idea of Don't Be Evil; 13. It's evil to pay for placement or inclusion (a swipe at Yahoo); 14. We hope to bridge the digital divide through Gmail type free services and a foundation with at least 1% of profits and equity to help make the world a better place; 17. Betting on Google is a bet on Sergey and Larry (this was said multiple times, making me wonder if there wasn't some odd future blame being assigned here by the VCs or bankers); 18. This letter is our way of answering the questions we can't answer in the coming months due to the IPO quiet period.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/29/2004 04:09:55 PM
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Polling the Iraqis
In a nationwide CNN/USA Today/Gallup Poll, 3,444 Arabic and Kurdish Iraqis were interviewed face-to-face regarding social and political conditions in Iraq since the war began. The data is raw, but it certainly is interesting.
All interviews were conducted in the residences of the respondents. These poll results are based on interviews conducted in all parts of Iraq, both urban and rural, representing about 93% of the total Iraqi population. Nearly all the interviews were conducted between March 22-April 9, 2004. An extremely small number of interviews were conducted between April 16-22.
See the results.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/29/2004 08:51:34 AM
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Wednesday, April 28, 2004
Jeff Milner Movie Review: In America
I loved this movie. Ok, it's a sappy chic flick - but it's so good. A family comes to the United States seeking a better life and their story is retold in this great film, "In Amerca". Rotten Tomatoes gives it an 89% fresh rating. It definitely gets a high ranking in my book, but don't take my word for it, see "In America" for yourself. I'm not sure but I think having been to New York allowed the movie to bring back that overwhelming feeling that the Big Apple has on small town folk like myself. Oh and if you are at all like my mom you'll need about a box and a half of Kleenex, but I think you'll like the movie anyway.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/28/2004 01:14:15 PM
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Tuesday, April 27, 2004
And on the sixth day God created Man...
Life from inorganic mixture? It's a science project you can do in a high school chemistry lab. Speculation suggests that maybe "God" used clay after all.
"Graham Cairns-Smith, a chemist at the University of Glasgow in Scotland, has speculated for many years that life on our planet may not have started with organic (carbon-based) molecules. He suggests life may have begun with inorganic ingredients, such as clay minerals that can carry heritable information in the stacking sequence of their sheets of atoms. Such 'clay organisms' might be able to replicate, Cairns-Smith argues."
For the serious science geek find out more about "Spontaneous Formation of Cellular Chemical System that Sustains Itself far from Thermodynamic Equilibrium" here (pdf).
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/27/2004 10:58:33 PM
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Law & Order
It looks as though Jerry Orbach has filmed his last scene in the series Law & Order. Don't worry though - a friend of mine discovered that a new Law & Order series is in the works. It's going to be called Law & Order: Trial by Jury and will star Jerry Orbach.
This new drama will feature a kind of ripped-from-the-headlines stories that that franchise has become know for, beginning with a criminal arraignment and continuing through the trial. The show will provide fictional access to prosecutors, defenders, judicial chambers, the jury room and every other nook and cranny of the process.
The show's format is set up to allow for the possibility of cameos from other actors and characters from within the "Law & Order" universe.
I'm not the world's biggest fan, but I really do like the show. I've been pretty disappointed with the spin-offs Special Victims Unit and Criminal Intent, but I'm hoping the new series will be more like the original than these two. Look for it on the air in January 2005.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/27/2004 02:21:52 PM
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Monday, April 26, 2004
Watcha Gonna Do When They Come For You?
The city of Portland just approved a $145,000 settlement stemming from a 2003 incident where the police knocked down, pepper sprayed and tasered a 71 year old blind woman. Her 94 year old mother tried to come to her rescue, but police pinned her up against a wall - thinking that maybe should would use the water she was carrying to help her daughter as a weapon.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/26/2004 11:42:01 PM
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Sunday, April 25, 2004
WATER! WATER! WATER!
There is a lesson in here somewhere.
A bunch of guys decide it would be a good idea to fire roman candles at a human target. (Via Dave Barry)
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/25/2004 10:44:13 AM
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Hey Crackhead, why don't you buy a pipe?
An engineer from San Fransico writes an open letter rant to the Crackhead that vandalized his sparkplugs. (Via all over the blogosphere).
On Wednesday morning I emerged from my girlfriend's building by U.N. Plaza to find that you had sawed the tops off both the sparkplugs on my motorcycle. At the time, I had no idea why anyone would do that. Other than the sparkplugs, the bike was untouched. Some kind of bizarre vandalism? A fraternity prank gone awry? I had no idea. All I knew is that I looked like a huge douchebag riding the Muni to work in a padded motorcycle jacket and helmet.
Because the bike was immobilized I got a $35 street sweeping ticket that night. Thursday I had it towed to the shop ($45) where they replaced the sparkplugs and the boots ($50 including labor). They explained to me that "people" - I use the term loosely here - like you break off the tops of spark plugs and use the porcelain tubes to smoke crack. As an engineer and former MacGyver fan, in a way I think this is kind of cool. But then I remember that I just paid $100 for YOUR crackpipes, and I get angry again.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/25/2004 08:34:50 AM
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Saturday, April 24, 2004
Helpful Hint for Linking to New York Times
Submitting a link to the New York Times website? When you input the link you want into The New York Times Link Generator it gives you a URL to a permanent page. That way, your link will go to the NYT archives, and not to a page asking for money.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/24/2004 04:33:31 PM
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Friday, April 23, 2004
My Essay on Copyright, Creative Commons, and Free Culture
Prepared for my New Media Seminar class; it's called, Creative Commons: Innovating Creation and Culture.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/23/2004 11:59:17 PM
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Thursday, April 22, 2004
Engineered Mouse has Two Moms - Or Why the World Needs Men
Wired magazine has reported that Japanese and Korean scientists working in collaboration have bred a mouse with two female parents and no male parent. While some may speculate that this is the first step to making men obsolete, I must remind them why the world needs men. Without them, who will mow the lawn, reach things off the top shelf, or open jars?
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/22/2004 07:54:59 PM
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Happy Birthday Anna-Maria
I want to say Happy Birthday to my girlfriend Anna-Maria.
She has this worked out... the year is 04, the month is 04, the date is the 22nd (2+2=04) and she turned 22 (2+2=04 again). 04040404 Some crazy sign or much ado about nothing? Either way, Happy Birthday Anna-Maria.
I'm making her a marbled cake (two small ones actually - I guess I should have made her four).
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/22/2004 04:50:34 PM
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Wednesday, April 21, 2004
Vanunu Out of Prison But Definitely Not Free
Mordechai Vanunu was released from prison earlier today, but will have to live under some very restraining rules. The leader of the Israeli Opposition Party and founder of Israel's nuclear weapons program Shimon Peres says the heavy restrictions imposed upon Vanunu are justified.
As I mentioned in an earlier post Vanunu betrayed his country, Israel, by telling the world about its atomic weapons program. Vanunu is not allowed to speak with the media, he is not allowed to release any information about Israel's weapon's programs including information that has already been leaked. He must give 24 hours notice if he wishes to sleep at a different address and he is not allowed to communicate in Internet chatrooms unless specific permission is given. He is not allowed to speak to "foreigners", he has no Israeli passport and Israel's intention is to keep him within their borders preventing him from speaking to anyone about their secrets. Other restrictions will be applied if the government feels he is not cooperating.
After 18 years of prison, nearly 12 of which were in solitary confinement, I hope he's learned that the government means business. It's in his own best interest to go along with the rules that have been setup for him, and just try to start living his life. Given the picture of him here, flashing victory signs, I think he has other plans in mind.
Supporters of Vanunu have put up a special website on his behalf. Meanwhile news organizations like The Moscow Times, Jerusalem Post, and many more are running stories about his release and speculating on what he might do next.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/21/2004 04:03:55 PM
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Google's Web Mail - Gmail
When I signed up for my Gmail account, it mentioned that the special invitation would only be on blogger.com for a month. This leads me to believe that it will be at least another month until they open it up to the public. Perhaps June 1st, or maybe they are shooting for an American holiday - like the 4th of July? As far as the dates go though, it's all speculation on my part. They likely haven't announced a date yet because they are still doing tests. I have noticed a couple of glitches, but they seem to be intermittent and not that critical.
Oh if you have any questions about Gmail that you'd like answered, feel free to ask in the comments. I'll do my best to answer them.
Here is something about Gmail you may not have known:
Gmail has the ability to search for your mail based on the following criteria: From, To, Subject, folder, Has the words, Doesn't have, Has Attachment, and Date (within 1 day to 1 year - you set the term).
I noticed that addresses I emailed are automatically added to my contact book. I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand it makes keeping track of any email addresses a snap, but on the other hand I feel like I just gave Google a copy of all my friends and family's email addresses. (Sorry). I can only justify it by telling myself that it was inevitable anyway, because eventually someone somewhere was going to email them from a Gmail account, besides all the people I emailed were already on my hotmail contacts so its not like one more list is really going to hurt, these contact lists that users create for services like hotmail and yahoo mail haven't been abused in the past - that I'm aware of anyway, so let's just hope Google continues the trend.
I do like the fact that when I go to retype an email address that is in my contacts, Gmail brings up the closest spelling match as I type (the same way autocomplete works in your browser). This system is superior though, in that in brings up not just entries that start with same letters you have already typed, but the entries that start with the same letters you have already typed in the order that you email most frequently. It's complicated but I'll let Google's help page explain:
As you prepare to send a message by typing in an email address, Gmail's auto-completion feature suggests names from your Contacts list based on the letters you type. Keystrokes can add up, and this will save you a few seconds every time you send a message. Gmail orders your auto-complete list by frequency so that the addresses you send messages to most frequently appear at the top of your list. If you would like to view a list of your most frequently mailed contacts, click 'Contacts' at the top of any Gmail page, then click 'Frequently Mailed.'
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/21/2004 12:08:29 AM
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Tuesday, April 20, 2004
Gmail Online!
Because I'm such an active blogger (aren't we all?) Google has invited me to be "one of the first" to use their Gmail service. Are other bloggers getting this gmail invite too, or am I special? I haven't seen posts on my favorite sites that usually keep up to date on this sort of thing. Bloggers please comment.
Here is a screen shot of my first gmail email:
Just for fun I clicked on the Google ads on the right hand side of the page. Either they are fake ads or somebody doesn't have their act together because I got 404'd on all of them.
Here is a little explaination of how gmail works:
A more flexible filing system
--------------------------------------------------------
The old way
You create an elaborate filing system of folders and subfolders, then decide where to file a single message.
The Gmail way
Instead of folders, Gmail uses labels to give you the functionality of folders, but with more flexibility. In Gmail, a single conversation can have several labels, so you're not forced to choose one particular folder for each message you receive. That way, if a conversation covers more than one topic, you can retrieve it with any of the labels that you've applied to it. And, of course, you can always search for it.
You can also "star messages" as a way of categorizing them, probably like putting them on a to do list, that way you can quickly retrieve all starred messaged. "Stars let you give messages a special status to make them easier to find. To star a message, click on the light blue star beside any message or conversation." It seems like a good idea because so often I'll open an email and think I need to deal on that, but not right now and then I just end up forgetting about it.
Other new features include keyboard shortcuts, Personal level indicators (>to my address >> to only me), and Snippets (same style as Google search).
I have a feeling I'm really going to like Gmail. You can now reach me at jeffmilner(at)gmail.com. Let the spam begin.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/20/2004 06:40:35 PM
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World Trade Center - Norad Had Drills
When I visited New York with my dad in 1997, we were amazed at the magnitude of the World Trade Center. The towers were just so much bigger than all of the other gigantic buildings, it was just so amazing to see even one of them, but then to turn around and see two of these unnaturally humongous buildings was unreal.
We had been down in the subway / basement area of one of the towers and wondered why it was filled with scaffolding for support instead of heavily reinforced concrete pillars like you would expect. Well we figured out that they put in the scaffolding as reinforcement after a terrorist bomb went off in the early 90's - a terrorist attempt to collapse the building.
When we were outside looking up at the buildings I asked my dad what he thought would happen if a terrorist used an airplane to crash into them. It seemed like a pretty obvious thing to wonder, just because they were so high in the air and had been the target of previous attacks. Also I remembered hearing about a John Grisham novel that featured terrorists flying a highjacked commercial airliner into the Capital Building.
My dad had heard that a low-flying airplane had crashed into the Empire State Building many years ago and extrapolated from that story, that if a plane did hit one of the towers, likely a similar thing would happen: the plane would crash and smoke would come out. In the end I said I hoped we would never find out for sure.
As it turns out the Empire State Building was hit in 1945 by a B-25 bomber. Thirteen people died, and many were hurt. Interesting details here.
The reason I tell this story is because I find it hard to believe that nobody in their government, could envision flying airplanes into buildings on such a massive scale. (Somebody did, as the article explains). Hell, all you had to do was look at those buildings and think that's the easiest target in New York way up in the sky where they don't belong. Anyway I'm not saying I think they were stupid for being unprepared or for thinking they wouldn't fall, just that I think it's stupid to think nobody thought that it might happen, because I for one thought about it.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/20/2004 01:12:45 AM
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Monday, April 19, 2004
Open Source Movies
While researching Larry Lessig's new book Free Culture, I came across a reference to http://www.archive.org, a site dedicated to archiving everything. This afternoon I downloaded a copy of the now famously ridiculous "Duck and Cover" film from the 50's. It taught kids that the best thing to do in case of a nuclear attack was to duck and cover. There is a myriad of material there waiting to be analyzed in a historical context, or perfect for remixing into multimedia products.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/19/2004 04:30:17 PM
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EFF - The Patent Busting Project
I've been writing an essay (on and off for the last 2 days) on copyright and society and found BoingBoing's link to the EFF and what they are doing to prevent patent abuse:
In light of growing concerns about illegitimate software and Internet patents, the Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF) today announced a new initiative to combat the chilling effects bad patents have on public and consumer interests.
"Patents traditionally only targeted large commercial companies," said EFF Staff Attorney Jason Schultz. "Now bad patents are threatening non-profits, small businesses, and even individuals who use software and Internet technology." These threats target non-commercial personal use, such as building a hobbyist website or streaming a wedding video to your friends.
The new EFF initiative seeks to document these threats and fight back against them. EFF has pledged to file "re-examination" requests with the United States Patent and Trademark Office (PTO), asking the agency to revoke patents that are having negative effects on Internet innovation and free expression.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/19/2004 04:20:12 PM
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Dave Barry's Blog
Dave Barry posted a link to my Stairway to Heaven Backwards page. Cool. He also figures I have a lot of spare time on my hands. I guess that's true.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/19/2004 03:31:19 PM
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Sunday, April 18, 2004
The RIAA Goes Back on its Word
I, for one, am not surprised that the RIAA is going back on it's word to "protect" users that have admitted to copyright infringement. The eligiabilty requirements for entering into the clean slate program with the RIAA were:
1. You delete or destroy all copyrighted sound recordings that you or others illegally downloaded to your computer(s) or devices (including all storage and portable devices) using a P2P Network, and all copies you have of those files in any format (including CD-R).
2. In the future you do not illegally download copyrighted sound recordings using a P2P Network, you do not allow others to illegally download copyrighted sound recordings to your computer(s), you do not make copies of any such downloaded files in any format, and you do not “share†(that is, upload/distribute) such files on P2P Networks.
3. As of the date your Clean Slate Program Affidavit is received, you have not been sued for copyright infringement by an RIAA member company for the activities that are covered by this Clean Slate Program and RIAA has not begun to investigate you by requesting from an Internet Service Provider (“ISPâ€), by subpoena or otherwise, identifying information about you.
4. Any downloading or file-distribution that you engaged in was done on a noncommercial basis. Individuals who undertook these activities for commercial purposes or for payment are not eligible for this Clean Slate Program.
Then through another 4 steps involving signatures in front of a notary public and mailing away the Clean Slate Program Affidavit, you'll be all signed up.
However, for you suckers out there that actually deleted your MP3 collections, you will be sad to learn that:
The RIAA has finally seen the light with regard to its "Clean Slate" program, which offered false amnesty, or shamnesty, to people who admitted to file sharing. Citing the success of its "education" campaign, the group has abruptly cancelled the program.
"Clean Slate" promised that in exchange for a confession, you could gain meaningful protection from lawsuits for copyright infringement. In fact, the program left you vulnerable to lawsuits by record companies and music publishers, as well as bands like Metallica that retain independent control of music rights.
Eric Parke, represented by Ira Rothken, brought suit, charging fraudulent business practices -- and here, perhaps, we can glean the true reason for the RIAA's change of heart. Its attorneys announced during a recent court proceeding that the group had discontinued "Clean Slate" -- and that therefore the case was moot. The announcement took Mr. Parke, his attorney and the judge by surprise.
When music is outlawed, only outlaws will have music. When will music distributors learn that people like downloading music? It's not so much the price as it is the convience. We will pay a reasonable price but please give users a chance.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/18/2004 06:35:10 PM
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Mash-Ups
While researching a paper for school I came across a Creative Commons post that lets you know there is a contest that may end up winning you a car.
Cool: David Bowie has just launched a new mash-up contest. There's a new ad campaign for Audi cars that features two of Bowie's songs mashed-up. They've decided to throw a mash-up contest to capitalize on this, awarding a new car to the best song that uses samples from his new album and any older Bowie song. Voting on entries starts this weekend and the contest ends next month so get your turntables cranking.
Mash-ups are hybrid songs that generally feature one artist's vocal track (or a cappella) electronically grafted to the instrumental track from a different artist's performance of a different song. Digital pitch-shifting and time-stretching ensure that both artists are performing in the same key and at the same tempo; the trick is to find two songs with similar harmonic structures, although their styles may be wildly varying. In this case David Bowie is being mashed with his own music, but in some cases the brave listener can find some really far out mashes.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/18/2004 04:18:49 PM
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Julian Dibbell's Professional Gameplaying Conclusion
Julian Dibbell's goal simply stated was that "On April 15, 2004, I will truthfully report to the IRS that my primary source of income is the sale of imaginary goods -- and that I earn more from it, on a monthly basis, than I have ever earned as a professional writer." April 15th has come and gone and Julian disappointedly admits, "the numbers are in. And as predicted, they are short of the mark. Six hundred and eighty-three dollars short, to be precise."
I've been following Julian Dibbell's Playmoney blog for the last 6 months after I found a link to his site about PayPal's policy on the nature of the intangible. Since then I've kept up with his current posts and read a little out of the archives.
Some of my favorite posts are:
The one about Michael Slavin and how he played a counter-strike nonstop for nine days.
The one about a professional Ultima Online cheater and the clarifying post that followed.
The time Julian almost got scammed out of all the money in his PayPal account (even if it was only $121).
I really liked his post about the ethics of selling stolen virtual goods. In the game, learning to be a good thief is a skill. So the question is, is buying items from someone using that skill and then selling the "stolen merchandise" for cold hard US cash morally wrong?
The break-down of how much money he's actually making per hour. Would you believe it's $85 / hour?
All in all, Julian not only entertains but informs. Oh and when he's not playing video games and blogging about it, he's also a pretty damn good writer. His "Rape in Cyberspace" article was required reading in my Seminar for New Media class.
Update: Wired Magazine has a few words to say about Julian's endeavour, and here are his own concluding thoughts.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/18/2004 11:11:30 AM
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Saturday, April 17, 2004
Brain and Behavior
This article backs up what I have felt happening throughout my life. I don't know if others experience this, but often times when I get an "Aha!" feeling from certain types of art or when I think of something particularly clever I can actually feel the right side of my brain react and send shivers over the rest of my brain and to the rest of my body. Now they have electromagnetic pictures to show what is happening, at least in the brain.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/17/2004 01:31:55 PM
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LethbridgeHouse.Net
Production Management is done. It was the class that has been giving me the most stress this semester that's for sure. The prof. put our website online and it's live at http://www.lethbridgehouse.net. Some of the navigation is tricky at best and downright confusing at other times as well some works are better than others, nonetheless here it is in all its craptacular glory. For my part, I helped make the 3D driving game.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/17/2004 10:58:13 AM
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Long Distance Plans Suck
I just got my phone bill and despite my efforts to reduce the amount of long distance I've been using I realized why the bill has been so high lately. On September 4th somebody, either myself or someone pretending to be me, signed up for a $23.95 long distance plan from Telus. The reason I am so angry about this is that I use the Yak Alternative Long distance service, that is I dial 1015945 before all of my calls so that I only get charged $.05 a minute no matter when I call or where ever I call in North America. Since I was paying for a Telus plan anyway it would have been cheaper had I not used the Yak thing at all! That's eight months of careless bill paying and I imagine about eight months worth of wasted $23.95's. I'm 99.999% sure I wasn't the guy that signed up for that plan. Needless to say I'm pretty pissed off. I wonder if Telus recorded that conversation because I would like to have the voice of that person identified, then brutally punished to the fullest extent of the law. I hope it wasn't me.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/17/2004 10:45:25 AM
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Friday, April 16, 2004
Go Leafs Go - Raise That Interest
I have a fixed mortgage so it doesn't affect me personally but apparently every time the Toronto Maple Leafs do well, the interest rate in Canada goes up.
Again via Plastic QL:
A BMO economist has found some uncanny correlation between the success of the Toronto Maple Leafs and the Bank of Canada interest rate policy.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/16/2004 11:41:12 AM
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Vanilla Ice Finds His Audience
Via Plastic Quicklink:
Does anyone see anything strange about the first stop on Vanilla Ice's new massive five city tour? Those of you unfamiliar with the proud history of Gallaudet University can click on their web page.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/16/2004 11:36:27 AM
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Vandal Captured
Have you ever been splashed by a car while riding your bike or walking out in rainy weather? I hope you didn't do what this guy did, slashing some 2000 tires as pay-back. He'll be cooling his heels in jail for the next 16 months.
Recorder Stephen Lennard said: "In December last year, motivated by frustration and anger at what you considered to be the inconsiderate manner of motorists as experienced by you as a cyclist and a pedestrian, you embarked on your astonishing and extraordinary campaign.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/16/2004 11:13:03 AM
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Wednesday, April 14, 2004
To Blog or Not to Blog?
The New York Times writes about the dangers of careless blogging. Maybe that's why lately I've been refraining from writing too much about my everyday life. Then again maybe I just don't get out much and therefore don't have much to write about - no I like that first reason better.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/14/2004 07:10:30 PM
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Mental Chinook 3D Driving Game
It's finally done. Mental Chinook is 3D driving game made in Macromedia Director for my production management class. Comments are encouraged.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/14/2004 06:02:41 PM
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Tuesday, April 13, 2004
Keith Hollihan's "Reality’s Apprentice"
"Reality TV may seem a world away from real life, but what happens when Donald Trump's The Apprentice moves in upstairs? Worse, what happens when it seems to be a sham? Keith Hollihan reports with a fascinating account of his life's surreal intrusions."
I have only watched one or two episodes of The Apprentice, but as luck would have it I did catch the episode in which the participants had to renovate and rent an apartment in 48 hours. It never occurred to me what the people living below that apartment thought. The people living below were Keith Hollihan, his wife and two children.
"They didn't care that we couldn't sleep. This was the Iraqi invasion of reality TV shoots, and we were embedded - whether we liked it or not."
Keith puts the reality in reality television. If you like the show then you'll love the article.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/13/2004 10:59:23 PM
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Windows has Security Flaws
You may have noticed your Windows operating system telling you it has updates today. This Techweb Article summarizes the revisions.
Microsoft took it on the security chin Tuesday as it released April's round of security vulnerabilities. The total number of vulnerabilities in the four security bulletins tallied an astounding 20 separate flaws in Windows and Outlook Express.
"This is simply an unprecedented number of vulnerabilities," said Vincent Gullotto, the vice president of Network Associates' AVERT research team.
April's mega collection includes 20 new vulnerabilities, 8 of which are rated as "Critical," the most dire assessment in the Redmond, Wash.-based developer's four-level ranking system. Sixteen of the 20 vulnerabilities can be exploited remotely, the most dangerous type of bug because hackers can conduct an attack over the Internet.
I'm in the process of updating right now.
Apparently so is everyone else.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/13/2004 06:27:21 PM
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Spacecraft to measure Earth's drag on space-time
As readers of my blog know, lately I've been reading Stephen Hawkings' book, The Universe in a Nutshell. That's why I was particularly interested in this NASA project which although it has had funding since 1964 is soon to lift-off.
Awaiting the right conditions and containing the world's most accurate gyroscopes, Gravity Probe B is set to test Einstein's General Theory of Relativity. The experiment aims to measure a weaker and even stranger effect called "frame dragging", a warping of space-time by the gravity and angular momentum of a spinning body.
In principle, it is possible to measure [frame dragging] by monitoring the spin axis of a gyroscope orbiting the Earth. The axis should change its orientation relative to that of a distant star.
Once we can measure the effect in the Solar System, says Kip Thorne, a gravitational physicist at the California Institute of Technology, "we can definitely understand how the same phenomena are working in the distant Universe and around black holes," which cause much stronger warping.
I can't say for sure what exactly this project will do for the average Joe, but here is an impressive list of previous NASA spinoff technologies.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/13/2004 03:42:57 PM
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Do You Believe Snopes?
True or False? The Urban Myth's board game thoroughly researches all of its "facts".
False.
I remember reading about the rumor that Mr. Ed was actually a zebra on Snopes.com and finding myself at a loss for words, when it was so obviously not true. But it's SNOPES! They are the best source for urban legend debunking, how can it not be true? Now I know. So the moral of the story is, don't believe everything you hear or read just because it comes from a reliable source - even Snopes.com.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/13/2004 03:29:12 PM
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Sunday, April 11, 2004
A Cure For Crohn's Disease
Via Plastic.com:
A German pharmaceutical company have announced that they've produced a cure for Crohn's Disease. It's a simple concoction made from natural ingredients to be taken twice a month. Here's the downside: the active ingredient is worm eggs. That's right, worm eggs.
"Regular doses of worms really do rid people of inflammatory bowel disease. The first trials of the treatment have been a success, and a drinkable concoction containing thousands of pig whipworm eggs could soon be launched in Europe."
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/11/2004 11:37:04 PM
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Saturday, April 10, 2004
Medicine Hat Easter Weekend
I'm in Medicine Hat for the Easter weekend. I took along Stephen Hawkings book, "The Universe in a Nutshell", which Anna-Maria gave me for my birthday, to read in the car. This morning I was explaining The Twins Paradox to Tracie, my brother's wife - they are also here visiting. The Twins Paradox goes something like this:
In the theory of relativity each observer has his own measure of time... One of a pair of twins (a) leaves on a space journey during which he travels close to the speed of light, while his brother (b) remains on Earth.
Because of (a)'s motion, time runs more slowly in the spacecraft as seen by the earthbound twin. So on his return the space traveler (a2) will find that his brother (b2) has aged more than himself.
Although it seems against common sense, a number of experiments have implied that in this scenario the traveling twin would indeed be younger.
Tracie responded, "So if you fall in love with someone 30 years younger than you, you can use this to come back and be the same age." I told her I was impressed that she so quickly picked up on the most obviously practical application that this concept enables us to do.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/10/2004 12:47:37 PM
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Regular Piercing Just Isn't Good Enough
Eye jewellery? Words can't describe how insane I believe these people to be.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/10/2004 01:07:53 AM
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Friday, April 09, 2004
Nickelback How You Remind Me Someday
Via MeFi:
"What you are hearing is Nickelback's "Someday" in your left speaker and "How you remind me in the right". All of those left shocked please raise their hands."
I've never understood what the big fascination with Nickelback is anyway. I mean I'm happy for them being somewhat of locals making it to the big time, but for some mysterious reason I just don't dig their music. I don't think it's just that their music is formulaic either, it's probably just the old argument that the music from your highschool days is going to end up being your favorite no matter when you grew up.
It also makes me wonder, is a band still a one-hit wonder if all of their next hits are just subtle reworkings of their first hit?
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/9/2004 10:28:27 AM
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$14 Steady Cam
My brother is into photography. He has been the photo-editor at the Gauntlet Newspaper (The University of Calgary's Student Run Paper) for the past few years and always has a few good tips. Anyway he told me that you can really improve your pictures with a steady cam tripod but they usually run between $600 and $1500. Well today I found a site that shows you how to build your own Steady-Cam for about $14 (I'm guessing that's USD).
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/9/2004 10:14:26 AM
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Thursday, April 08, 2004
How Memes Spread Or Why Bloggers Kill Croutons
The Memespread project is a little experiment in the way information travels across the blogosphere.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/8/2004 12:06:50 PM
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Life Doesn't Imitate The Onion (not this time anyway)
A parent group in Canada distributed a pamphlet protesting the expansion of a "safe schools" policy to include gay students... using a photo from The Onion to make their case. Their reasoning? "We knew it was a gay paper."
Sean Mills, president of the Onion, laughed when he heard the news.
"The motto the writers have is we're not going after the right or the left, we're just going after people who are dumb," Mills said.
"We're anti-dumb, we're not anti-anything else . . . They're proving our point. It's a ridiculous notion there'd be recruitment going on. That was the whole point."
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/8/2004 11:47:00 AM
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I'll bet somebody like Jerry Bruckheimer sees a movie in this. During the Sadr militia's Sunday attempt to seize the U.S. government headquarters in Najaf, the building was defended not by U.S. troops but by a small group of Blackwater Security Consulting "employees". The Blackwater commandos, most of whom are former Special Forces troops, are on contract to provide security for the U.S.-led Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA) in Najaf. It turns out that the four men brutally slain Wednesday in Fallujah were also Blackwater employees.
Spectacularly interesting article about the standoff. Hey, if it was a movie, I'd probably go see it.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/8/2004 04:31:41 AM
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Wednesday, April 07, 2004
Croc Hunter Saves 11 Year Old
SYDNEY, Australia - A retired Australian crocodile hunter saved a young girl from the jaws of a 10-foot crocodile when he jumped on top of the man-eating reptile and gouged its eyes, local media said Tuesday.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/7/2004 07:12:00 PM
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All Hail the Database
This article was of particular interest to me, given that I used to work in The City of Medicine Hat's GIS department.
When the 40,000 subscribers to Reason, the monthly libertarian magazine, receive a copy of the June issue, they will see on the cover a satellite photo of a neighborhood - their own neighborhood. And their house will be graphically circled.
Free Registration Required or you could go to Bugmenot.com and pickup a username and password there.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/7/2004 03:38:13 PM
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GMail is Just Around the Corner
Google recently announced they will soon open up a free email service offering users 1 gigabyte of free storage space. They intend to make money off of the service by placing context sensitive ads beside your incoming mail. Some people have privacy concerns but to me if you are worried about privacy then you probably shouldn't be using Hotmail or Yahoo mail because as far as I'm concerned they all have privacy issues. The other thing people have been talking about is just how Google is going to possibly be able to open up and maintain the huge amount of storage space that would be required for millions of users all with 1 gigabyte of storage space. It seems impossible. Anyway here is a news article from ITworld about Google's new mail service.
As for whether Google will be able to deal with the huge demand, whether its search technology and DAS approach to storage will revolutionize Web email or leave a huge black spot on Google's untarnished image, well, only time will tell. But one of the reasons that Google is so popular is that it has a tendency to achieve the unachievable.
Check out GMail now, but beware Google's intense terms of service agreement.
If they allege a "technical issue", including spam filtering, then they can access, read, preserve, and disclose anything in your mailbox. Since they probably do spam filtering for everybody (both for incoming and outgoing mail), then they have the right to read and disclose the contents of your email at any time.
Many spam-filtering services send copies of alleged spams to some central location. If they get N copies of similar messages, they declare it spam and publish the offending messages on the web. Google's right to send your spam to such services gives them the right to send ANY of your email to ANYONE -- for publication.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/7/2004 12:29:28 PM
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Tuesday, April 06, 2004
A Special Sense of Humour
Cbrown posted this little gem via their blog, and I thought it worth mentioning.
I had to share this find. I recently purchased a high-quality computer sleeve from a small boutique manufacturer. I was checking if it could be washed. The photo is the attached tag with the washing instructions in both English and French. The English is exactly what you would expect and so is the French, for the first 6 lines. The last three lines of French are most interesting. "We are sorry that our President is an idiot. We didn't vote for him."
Update: Salon has an article about the french labels.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/6/2004 08:40:58 AM
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Monday, April 05, 2004
The Four Types of Blog Posts
An intesting look at categories of blog posts from BoingBoing's Guest blog:
Informative: short, sweet, linked. Makes a quick point and backs it up with a link to another site. Boing Boing has made this into an art form.
Blisdom (blog wisdom): can be short or long, relies on a narrative to make a subtle point. Often pulled from a life experience. Here's an example from a conversation with my wife:
Wife: I just had the strangest dream. I was on a train...
Me: Coach or First Class?
Wife: Honey, I don't dream in coach.
Vanity Post: Often inane. Represents everything that journalists like to point to and say, "See, blogs are worthless."
‘While the unexamined life may not be worth living the overexamined life is not worth reading.’
--Scott Simon of NPR on “inane weblogsâ€
That doesn't mean these blog entries aren't interesting when read as part of the whole blog...it just means that if there is a point, it is often missed by the casual visitor, like going from Sopranos series 1 to series 4.
Fiction: There is a lot of emerging fiction popping up from blogs. Harder to find, but worth the journey.
Then comes the post that has had the biggest affect on my life. I don't have a clever name for it, so let's just call it the "shoes" post...as in walk a mile in another's shoes. Sometimes it has a clear point, and other times it just resonates inside you. Whatever the author's point behind the post, it takes on new meaning in your own mind. Sometimes you learn something about someone else, but often you learn something about yourself.
I like to think of my posts as a combination of Informative and Blisdom, giving a tiny slice-of-my-life to readers while at the same time posting short sweet links along with my thoughts on the matter.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/5/2004 01:37:20 PM
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I Heart BitTorrent
BitTorrent is the greatest! For example, even though I went to Calgary to watch the BareNaked Ladies last Thursday and Anna forgot to set the VCR, I was able to download her a copy of the newest episode of ER and we could just watch it on the computer. But using BitTorrent gets even better when you use RSS. With an RSS feed you can use your news aggregator to let you know whenever there is a new episode of your favorite show available for download, this way you'll always be up to date on whatever Tony Soprano and/or Homer Simpson are up to. It's the greatest!
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/5/2004 12:52:17 PM
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Jeff Milner Movie Review - Magdalene Sisters
What a movie! Magdalene Sisters takes place in the 1960's in Ireland. It's about the Catholic practice of taking unwedded women who were accused of being sexual active in some way or other and placing them in a kind of laundry slave labour camp. Based on a true story, the last of these asylums was finally shut down in 1996.
The IMDB description:
Ireland in the sixties: Four women are given into the custody of the magdalene sisterhoood asylum to correct their more or less sinful behavior: Crispina and Rose have given birth to a pre-marriage child, Margaret got raped by her cousin and the orphan Bernadette had been repeatedly caught flirting with the boys. All have to work in a laundry under the strict supervision of the nuns, who break their wills through sadistic punishments. Some of the inmates develop countermeasures, while others perish under the treatment.
This is one of those movies that you hate to watch because it's such a miserble fate that has befallen these women. It was a huge relief to see (and while not wanting to ruin the show for you I think it's worth saying) that in the end at least 3 out of the 4 main characters make it out of that place and return to living a somewhat normal life. Very intense show not one that I would recommend to most people, but it's definitely a good independant / Irish production.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/5/2004 12:14:15 PM
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Jeff Milner Movie Review - Something's Gotta Give
At first I thought that "Something's Gotta Give" would only appeal to a much older audience than myself, but I was pleasantly surprised by this quirky and original comedy. Jack Nicholson plays Harry Langer, an aging, wealthy bachelor whom only dates younger women - much younger woman. He is dating the young and beautiful Marin, played by Amanda Peet, and together they go to her parents beach house for a romantic weekend. Her mother and aunt show up unannounced but after some awkward (and funny) moments they decide they can all spend the weekend at the house together. When Jack's character suffers a heart attack he is sentenced to a few days alone at the nearby beach house with Marin's mother Erica as his nurse. Things get interesting as Harry begins to fall in love with the accomplished lady more his age.
The IMDB description:
Harry Langer (Nicholson) is an aged music industry exec with a fondness for younger women like Marin (Peet), his latest trophy girlfriend. Things get a little awkward when Harry suffers a heart attack at the home of Marin's mother Erica (Keaton). Left in the care of Erica and his doctor (Reeves), a love triangle starts to take shape.
It's a cute love story that, while a bit on the chick-flick side, I really liked. It's something that's definitely worth renting.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/5/2004 12:03:43 PM
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Spring Forward
I missed class today because I didn't remember to set my clocks an hour forward. That and I slept in. It was a combination of the two, really.
I guess I'm going to be doing homework all day today. Only about a million more projects to do and then I'll be done for the semester. I can see the light at the end of the tunnel - unfortunately it's probably just the metaphorical headlights of a train because I still have another year and a half of school to go. Cest la vie.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/5/2004 11:40:29 AM
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Saturday, April 03, 2004
I Heart the Ladies
As promised here is my review from the BNL concert on April 1st in Calgary. It was great! As we were getting seated Anna questioned me about the tickets I purchased, "Do people that sit in these seats really get more nosebleeds?" Very funny. :)
The concert itself was a blast. Jason Plumb and Ron Sexsmith were the two opening acts. They seem like unknowns to me but Anna recognized Ron Sexsmith's name and apparently Jason Plumb played for the Waltons - which I vaguely recall.
Anyway it was a great concert in which almost every song they played seemed like my favorite. I know I'm a big geek for this Canadian band, but whatever - it was fun. They played:
Maybe Katie
Too Little Too Late
Enid
Some Adlibing
It's All Been Done
Another Postcard
Celebrity
More Adlib
Never Is Enough
I Live With It Every Day
Roadrunner
For You
One Week
Upside Down
A Bass Solo
Alternative Girlfriend
Testing 1,2,3
Never Do Anything
Blame It On Me
Shopping
Concert Going
Pinch Me
War On Drugs
Beat The Crew
Shoe Box
Old Apartment
Brian Wilson
Rio
If I Had $1,000,000
What A Good Boy
They weren't planning on playing Alternative Girlfriend but got talked into it when someone in the audience held up a big sign that said quote/unquote Please let my husband drum Alternative Girlfriend with you. So they did. Ed told the audience that if he was at least half decent we should really cheer him on, but that if he sucked then we should beat him to a pulp. He was actually pretty good and it was really fun to watch. It's stuff like that that makes a concert so memorable.
They had a fun choreographed shopping cart ballet in which they ran around with shopping carts, passed around boxes of cereal and made snow angels on the stage. They did three encore songs, which was more than the last time they were in Calgary, and I must say it was just a perfect concert.
Ed wrote about the concert tour and specifically about Calgary's show. Ed and Steve are by far my favorite bloggers in BNL - not just because they do the majority of the singing. Oh and one last thing - if a member of the band ever comes across this page, I think it would be nice if you'd just leave a note saying hi. That would be cool.
posted by Jeff Milner at 4/3/2004 12:22:10 PM
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