Archive for March 12th, 2012

More South by So What?

Monday, March 12th, 2012

In a wide-ranging talk about the Internet and government, Al Gore urged the techie crowd at South By Southwest to use digital tools to improve government.

Unless Algor’s definition of “improving government” is “getting it out of our lives”, or unless the tools he’s talking about include autonomous Glock and heroin vending robots, he might as well just sit the f–k down and shut the f–k up.

He pushed for the creation and implementation of digital tools and social media to “change the democratic conversation.”

Gore talked of a “Wiki-democracy” of “digital flash mobs calling out the truth” and “a government square that holds people accountable.”

What evidence is there that “Wiki-democracy” will work any better than Wikipedia? “a government square that holds people accountable”? What does that mean?

... Votizen, an online network of voters that leverages social networks to campaign for their issues.

I actually kind of like this idea. Here’s why: the thing about “leveraging social networks” is that it can turn around and bite your ass. Look at “Kony 2012“. Their plan was to “leverage social networks” to get the word out about their film and get donations to Invisible Children. But the social media campaign ended up bringing a lot more attention to Invisible Children’s critics, and a lot more skepticism directed at the project. Remember: this is the Internet. We can fact check your ass.

Posted in Clippings, Geek | Comments Closed

Paging Mark Clifton. Mark Clifton to the white courtesy phone, please.

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Eating red meat — any amount and any type — appears to significantly increase the risk of premature death, according to a long-range study that examined the eating habits and health of more than 110,000 adults for more than 20 years.

I’m sure this study is going to be extensively analyzed, refuted, the refutations refuted, and the refutations of the refutations themselves refuted. I don’t expect any clarity on this before I die in a supermodel’s bed at the age of 115.

However, as soon as I read that headline, the first thing I was reminded of was “The Dread Tomato Addiction”, the essay that taught me “Correlation does not equal causality” before I could even pronounce “correlation” or “causality”. (Okay, that’s a slight exaggeration. But I still commend the essay to your attention. Please note the original publication date.)

(For more about Mark Clifton, you could start with this Wikipedia article. You might also, if you ask Glen real nicely, get him to weigh in on They’d Rather Be Right, “perhaps the most contentious novel ever to win the [Hugo] award.” He’s the only person I know of who has actually made the effort to find a copy and read it; I’m not sure Lawrence has done that, but he can correct me in the comments if I’m wrong Edited: see comments.)

Posted in Beef, Clippings, Food | 2 Comments »

Things I Don’t Like.

Monday, March 12th, 2012

This isn’t intended to be a complete list. Nor is it a random assortment. There’s actually a point to this list; stay to the end.

  1. “Doctor Who”. Sorry. Never got into it when I was young, too old and too much baggage and cannon for me to get into it now. Nothing personal: if that’s your thing, may the good Lord shower blessings upon you and keep you safe in his arms.
  2. PayPal. There’s a market opportunity for someone to come along and say “Look, we’re just like PayPal, except we have real customer service and we’re not as big a bunch of scum sucking dogs.” Seriously, given PayPal’s history (try here, here, and here for some examples) anyone who uses them for anything important might as well be playing Russian Roulette with a .45 automatic.
  3. Alzheimer’s disease. The only thing I can imagine that’s worse than watching someone you care about slowly lose their mind – indeed, their very self, the essence of what makes them human – from Alzheimer’s is having that happen to you personally. I hate Alzheimer’s disease.

So what’s the relationship? A guy named Steve Berry, working with an illustrator named Ben Morris, has put together a book called Behind The Sofa, which is described as containing over 100 celebrity memories of “Doctor Who”. I don’t recognize everyone in it, but Neil Gaiman, Philip Plait, and Rick Wakeman might be selling points for some folks. You can check out the book at their website, here. The hardcovers are apparently sold out (unless you buy the Slitheen package) but the ebook is available for a mere £4.99. Doing the currency conversion online, that’s $7.80. You can just barely, maybe, get a decent lunch in Austin for $7.80; two tacos at Torchy’s and a drink will set you back that much.

And 100% of the profits are going to Alzheimer’s Research UK. (Do I trust these people? Well, I figure anyone who crosses Neil Gaiman is either too stupid to run a proper scam or has a death wish, so yeah, I trust them.)

So if you like “Doctor Who”, or if you’re indifferent to “Doctor Who” but have been touched by Alzheimer’s, this might be something you want to support. It certainly seems to me to be something that deserves wider publicity. I hadn’t heard about it until…well…remember I mentioned PayPal? Yeah. Not good.

(Hattip: @newsycombinator.)

Posted in Books, Geek | Comments Closed

South by So What?

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Mike the Musicologist sent me an email this morning that I hope he doesn’t mind me quoting:

I don’t even live in Austin, and I’m already tired of hearing about South by Southwest. I can’t imagine what it’s like for you…

I responded that it hadn’t gotten that bad yet.

It got that bad around noon.

The two things that sent me over the edge:

  1. Takeru Kobayashi ate 13 grilled cheese sandwiches in 60 seconds. Because someone decided what SXSW needed was a competitive eating contest.
  2. The navel gazing over “Homeless Hotspots”. (Statesman. Read Write Web. Wired.)

Posted in Clippings, Geek | 1 Comment »

Next phase, new wave, dance craze, anyways…

Monday, March 12th, 2012

The rock arrived safely at LACMA.

And the LAT has collected a bunch (but I don’t think all) of their coverage here. Just in case you want to relive the story from the beginning.

Posted in Art, Clippings | Comments Closed

Burn it to the ground and start over. (Part 3)

Monday, March 12th, 2012

For at least six years, the police officers in charge of testing the 20 breathalizyers used by the [San Francisco] Police Department did not carry out any tests on the equipment.

It is possible, according to the linked article, that thousands of drunk driving convictions may be thrown out because the equipment wasn’t properly tested. I wonder if those people are going to get retroactive refunds on their auto insurance premiums?

How and why did this happen?

[District Attorney George] Gascon said there did not appear to be any malicious intent behind the police officers’ actions. He said the coordinators were apparently just too lazy to perform the test required every 10 days.

“just too lazy”.

You may remember, about a year ago, the SFPD had problems with undercover officers lying on reports (among other things), and had to drop charges in dozens of drug arrests. If you don’t, the link above should serve as a reminder.

(Hattip: Insta.)

Posted in California Über Alles, Clippings, Cops, Law | Comments Closed

All these planets are yours except Mars. Attempt no movies there, Disney.

Monday, March 12th, 2012

Now that Lawrence has actually seen the movie and he and Howard have written their review, I feel free to post “John Carter” related content. For example, this NYT article, headlined “‘Ishtar’ Lands on Mars”.

“John Carter,” which cost an estimated $350 million to make and market, and was directed by Mr. Stanton, took in about $30.6 million at the North American box office, according to Rentrak, which compiles box-office data. That result is so poor that analysts estimate that Disney will be forced to take a quarterly write-down of $100 million to $165 million. The amount will depend on ticket sales overseas, where “John Carter” took in about $71 million over the weekend, a better total than Disney had feared.

And:

 The only silver lining for Disney may be a dubious one: last March the studio’s “Mars Needs Moms” flopped so badly that it also required a write-down, making year-on-year performance comparisons less brutal.

Sorry, that just makes me giggle.

Posted in Clippings, Movies | Comments Closed

Now that the bracket is out…

Monday, March 12th, 2012

…I still don’t care about college basketball.

But I am picking Gonzaga to go all the way, again, just because I like saying “Gonzaga”. Try it yourself.

(Actually, I’ve seen some speculation on ESPN that this might just be Gonzaga’s year.)

Posted in Clippings, Sports | 3 Comments »