01-6-2009

[mathematical solutions] stated solidly in the language of Kansas. Alot of pure mathematics either never begins in Kansas or never makes it back to Kansas. And most applied mathematics never leaves Kansas.

Eisenstein

Just read it.

The NASA Mars rovers, Opportunity and Spirit, has far exceeded their 90 days mission by celebrating their 5th anniversary. As an American, I am very proud of their accomplishments. NASA has been a source of amazement and hope for many Americans. They’ve allowed us to lay claims to and take pride in accomplishments that elevates all of humanity. It’s the same sort of pride I feel when people see America as a sign of hope, when Somali pirates tell reporters that the US navy is the most professional in not roughing up the pirates like some countries, when we helped with the recovery efforts after the tsunamis in south east Asia, or when talking about our role in creating the Internet, etc.

Let’s hear it for NASA!

I’m sure everyone has seen it by now. I think I might have even posted it on evilcon.net. Matt Harding’s “Where the Hell is Matt” video, which depicts Matt dancing in various locations around the world, is in fact an elaborate hoax. It was done with Photoshop and robotic puppets and millions of dollars, which doesn’t make sense at all. I think the “confession” is the hoax/sarcasm/fake. Not only does it not make sense to do it fake when doing it for real is cheaper, but doing it in Photoshop would be very difficult.

Still the mere fact that it was the number one viral video of 2008, fake or otherwise, shows that many of us want to believe and at least aspire to live in a world where such things are possible and strangers can connect through dancing and basic humanity.

According to this New York Times op-ed piece, which cites a Pew survey, 65 - 70% of Americans believe that people of other faith can go to heaven and 50% think even atheists can go to heaven. Strange? The op-ed piece thinks that most Americans simply think that heaven is a place for good people, regardless of their believes, and good people go to heaven. Well I glad most people don’t tie being good to a specific religion.

I’m an Obama supporter, maybe even a fan, but the media is getting really ridiculous with their infatuation with Obama. Power is knocked out for everyone on Oahu and the media reports the fact that the Obamas lost power.

Following up on this post, I have finally decided to give those instructions a try.

Wired has a list of the 7 best capers of 2008. The spray can plus Craigslist one is definitely my favorite.

These pictures of British soldiers fighting the Taliban in Christmas hats evokes both a sense of humor and just plain old “badassness”.

Whether your a football fan or not, if you like sports at all you have to be impressed with the miami dolphins this year. After going 1 and 15 last year, and being pretty much a disappointment in the years prior, they are sitting at 9 and 5 right now. Which makes them tied with the patriots and the jets in thier division. The jets have a better divisional record so they have the playoff seat now. Regardless, a turnaround like this has happened only like 3 times in the NFL. Bringing a brand new coach in tony sparano and general manager bill parcells has proved to make a phenomenal difference. They don’t have a superstar quarterback like manning or brady with a super strong arm, but a seasoned vet in Chad pennington who has had several shoulder injuries. He may not have the rocket arm, but he has one of the highest completion percentages in history, is very smart about the game, and doesn’t turn the ball over much (in fact I think they just broke a record for that today). Their defense has been top notch as well, especially with joey porter with a game winning sack today and now leading the league with 17 1/2. Running back Ricky williams has been in and out of the league for years, though is playing well side by side with Ronny brown. The use of the wildcat offense which is something popular in college and not seen in the NFL has been very beneficial, in fact they used it to beat the patriots early in the year with 4 rushing touchdowns by brown and he threw for 1 too! And, of course their draft pick Jake long has been excellent as well on the offensive line. So for brand new coaches to take a team which doesn’t have the superstar line up of say the giants,the patriots, the cowboys, etc… and have them in a position to get in the playoffs is, well, spectacular. They are actually fun to watch this year, and I’ll be very excited if they win the AFC east, or at least get a wildcard seat. Their last game of the season is at the new york jets which could decide the division, and whatever happens, they have done a great job this year!

Last.Fm, previously known as Audioscrobbler, is one of the few useful Web 2.0 companies out there. They have just released the best of 2008 list. Coldplay really dominated the list. As much as I’m a Coldplay fan (actually bought every CD since Parachutes), I am a little annoyed by it. “Viva La Vida” is a good song but I think “Death and All His Friends” is better and that’s nowhere on the list. Some of my favorite songs on the album are the hidden tracks such as “Reign of Love”, which is a very good song that didn’t make the top 10 tracks list.

Overall, “Viva La Vida” is a bit short and quite different from their previous albums. “X & Y” is still my favorite but “Amsterdam” is easily my favorite song. There is something about “Parachutes” that I still like very much and miss in their later albums. Maybe I’m really a Radiohead fan who hasn’t realized it yet.

Anytime you reveal your music choices, especially in front of the music afficiandos that EvilCON has, you run the risk of sounding conformist and shallow. So let’s just get that out of the way. I’m a mainstream whore. I listen to Brit Pop, wear cloth from Gap and Polo, own a Mac and an iPod, and drive a BMW. Cool? Not cool? Go fuck yourself.

I saw a blurb on the news about a thing you can buy now that creates water from the humidity in the air. Sounded pretty interesting. Sounds like the armed forces were funding most of the research and a company called Aqua Sciences has created it, and you can own one yourself! I was reading on the site and apparently you can make your own water for about $.25 a gallon. The machine is pretty large but I’m sure would be ideal for large companies with the environmental movement.

Aqua Sciences dot com

See the whole thing from top to bottom as a cloud unleashes its rain over the Atlantic.

Never thought this would be possible but Miami’s becoming quite the scene for Indie music.

The technique of vacuum sealing the food and then slow cooking it is relatively new but is making waves in professional kitchens. If you watched the videos of Chef Grant Achatz cooking a Thanksgiving dinner, you saw his attempt at imitating the technique in a home kitchen. Unfortunately, to really do it, you need some expensive machinery and precise temperature control. Otherwise, you run the risk of botulism, which is a very deadly toxin.

Here’s a list of the twelve best revenge scenes in movies. I’m not sure if the list is ordered. If so, I don’t agree with the order. The scene in Pulp Fiction is among the best. Man on Fire, however, really takes the prize since it is a movie built entirely around revenge and is executed in the most brutal fashion.

Some girl, I presume girl because of the way she writes and her name is Carol, is trying to cook her way through a cookbook from a famous restaurant, Alinea and blogging about it. Her writing is actually pretty funny and she has pictures posted of her attempts. She also has another blog for the French Laundry cookbook.

Update: I found a video on Alinea and Chef Grant Achatz’s molecular gastronomy way of cooking. It’s a very scientific approach that really appeals to a nerd like me. I’m about to finish the Omnivore’s Dilemma and start on “What Einstein Told His Cook”.

The world’s top 15 most expensive paintings. Might not want to go flashing these around given the economic downturn…

Maybe this will explain things a little better.

In case you haven’t heard, Valve’s latest multiplayer FPS Left 4 Dead was released yesterday. After a two-hour co-op campain of L4D last night with Syxx, Stirge, and Tog, I was seriously blown away by this game. Imagine finding yourself in 28 Days Later or the Dawn of the Dead remake crossed with Resident Evil. The game pits four survivors against hordes of enemies over four multi-stage campaigns.

There are dozens of zombies running full-speed at you at any given time, so teamwork and communication are mandatory, especially since friendly fire is always on. There seems to be a very limited amount of weaponry overall, which is initially disappointing but the game is so balanced that you won’t miss choosing different sub-machinegun models as in Counterstrike. Health packs are few and far between on the higher difficulty levels, not to mention an exponentially higher number of Infected that will seem to come out of nowhere. There were a couple of times where thirty zombies rushed out of an broom closet like a macabre clown car, but the OH SHIT OH SHIT factor more than makes up for some of the odd choices in the game’s Dungeon Master-like AI Director system. There are three or four special enemies that can really change the flow of a game, such as a fat fuck that sprays you with a bile that simultaneously blinds you and attracts fifty billion enemies to run in and overwhelm.

I haven’t tried the VS mode yet but the online co-op is stellar. When a player drops from the game, an AI seamlessly takes its place. There are a ton of achievements and I ended up getting nine in my first play through, including one for blowing up 20 zombies with a single pipe bomb. This game has intense action, creepy sound effect sand music, and balanced gameplay. The downsides include the limited number of maps, guns, and enemy types, though I wouldn’t be surprised if the mod community ate this up in the next six months.

Get it and join the steam group!

This picture and its caption is hilarious.