Friday, February 29, 2008
Hey! It's leap day. I missed it the last time round.
Maybe you'll be reading another post here on the next one.
Enjoy the extra day!
Labels: hunh?, meta
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
7:05:00 AM
Monday, February 25, 2008
Be Kind Rewind is a paean to creativity and to those that inspire it in ourselves. It can be just a simple bedtime story or the films we watch. Whatever it is it can inspire.
This film follows the path of Cloverfield in making concrete the ideas of the YouTube generation. It is inspired and has inspired other 'sweded' films. You can catch a majority of them on internet video sites. Done by creators for simple, simple reasons. Unlike Cloverfield, it does posit that something magical happens when stories are meant to inspire. Cloverfield as a thesis for the YouTube generation inspires people to film their nuts getting kicked; Be Kind Rewind wants you to make your own movie about your nuts getting kicked.
3 of 5 stars.
Labels: movies, review
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
8:14:00 PM
Sunday, February 24, 2008
Well, the votes have been tallied and the awards have been handed. The curtain has closed on the 1st Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool. And the winner goes to...
riss! Congratulations. Now you have to contact me in order to receive your prize.
Thanks for everyone who participated. Watching was fun. Cheering and booing for my picks. Made the show even better.
Labels: oscar pool, winners
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
11:49:00 PM
Read the rules. Please post your predictions in the comments to this thread
only. Here's the list. If you want to see an official looking one with actual people's names, try
here or
here. Don't forget that some predications account for more points!
- Best Picture: (3) Atonement, Juno, Michael Clayton, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Actor: (3) George Clooney, Daniel Day-Lewis, Johnny Depp, Tommy Lee Jones, Viggo Mortensen
- Actress: (3) Cate Blanchett, Julie Christie, Marion Cotillard, Laura Linney, Ellen Page
- Supporting Actor: (3) Casey Affleck, Javier Bardem, Hal Holbrook, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Tom Wilkinson
- Supporting Actress: (3) Cate Blanchett, Ruby Dee, Saoirse Ronan, Amy Ryan, Tilda Swinton
- Director: (2) Julian Schnabel, Jason Reitman, Tony Gilroy, Joel Coen and Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
- Foreign Film: Beaufort, The Counterfeiters, Katyn, Mongol, 12
- Adapted Screenplay: (2) Christopher Hampton, Sarah Polley, Ronald Harwood, Joel Coen & Ethan Coen, Paul Thomas Anderson
- Original Screenplay: (2) Diablo Cody, Nancy Oliver, Tony Gilroy, Brad Bird et. al., Tamara Jenkins
- Animated Feature Film: (2) Persepolis, Ratatouille, Surfs Up
- Art Direction: (2) American Gangster, Atonement, The Golden Compass, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street, There Will Be Blood
- Cinematography: The Assassination of Jesse James by the Coward Robert Ford, Atonement, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Sound Mixing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma, Transformers
- Sound Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, No Country for Old Men, Ratatouille, There Will Be Blood, Transformers
- Original Score: Atonement, The Kite Runner, Michael Clayton, Ratatouille, 3:10 to Yuma
- Original Song: Falling Slowly from Once, Happy Working Song from Enchanted, Raise It Up from August Rush, So Close from Enchanted, Thats How You Know from Enchanted
- Costume: Across the Universe, Atonement, Elizabeth: The Golden Age, La Vie en Rose, Sweeney Todd the Demon Barber of Fleet Street
- Documentary Feature: No End in Sight, Operation Homecoming: Writing the Wartime Experience, Sicko, Taxi to the Dark Side, War/Dance
- Documentary (short subject): Freeheld, La Corona (The Crown), Salim Baba, Saris Mother
- Film Editing: The Bourne Ultimatum, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly, Into the Wild, No Country for Old Men, There Will Be Blood
- Makeup: La Vie en Rose, Norbit, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End
- Animated Short Film: I Met the Walrus, Madame Tutli-Putli, Meme Les Pigeons Vont au Paradis (Even Pigeons Go to Heaven), My Love (Moya Lyubov), Peter & the Wolf
- Live Action Short Film: At Night, Il Supplente (The Substitute), Le Mozart des Pickpockets (The Mozart of Pickpockets), Tanghi Argentini, The Tonto Woman
- Visual Effects: The Golden Compass, Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, Transformers
TIE BREAKER: The official number of people watching the telecast in the US. Get as close to, but not over that number!
Good luck.
Labels: commerce, movies, oscar pool, polls
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
5:00:00 PM
Saturday, February 23, 2008
AmiAmi makes me happy. I don't know why. I don't read Japanese. Yet, browsing the toy/PVC statue collection, I dig.
Labels: geeked
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
6:52:00 PM
Friday, February 22, 2008
This
slate article, I believe, is wrong. No matter how much you believe in the US form of government, don't believe them.
To account for this difference, the three SM-3's needed new software, hardware, and sensors, and the launching systems had to be given new sensors and software updates. The bulk of this task would have been assigned to high-priced contractors—like Raytheon, the maker of the missile, or Lockheed Martin, maker of the Aegis system. And it would have taken a large crew of engineers to rewrite the code, debug it, and test it over and over again—all within three weeks.
I don't believe this one bit. I don't believe that each of these programs, the SM-3 missile or Aegis, would put anything on their ship in 3 weeks. Maybe, to discuss the need to make the changes, but not to create, debug, integrate and install that stuff. It's as if you had to write your PhD thesis in the last week of your program, and then present it to the board immediately after.
Three weeks is not enough time.
Here's a better explanation.
Last year, China shoots down a
satellite. From here on out with the ballistic missile defense is now geared to shooting down a satellite ourselves. So its one year from the changes to now. A much better timeline for how the navy and its defense contractors work.
Those changes were available last year. It took them three weeks to figure out what to shoot down.
Trust no one.
The truth is out there.
Labels: software development, The X-Files, thoughts
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
3:54:00 PM
iPhone says, "Here you are!"
Originally uploaded by browsermetrics.I'm sitting in my office at home looking for some rental cars. The iPhone's google maps implementation is more pleasurable to use than Google maps itself, because it gives just enough information. So I press the "locate" button.
According to iPhone, this is where I'm at.
For the punch line check out the rest of the series on my flickr page.
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
3:27:00 PM
Thursday, February 21, 2008
Thanks to my three main readers (you know who you are). They've already
voted in the 1st Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool. For the rest of my
regular readers, why haven't you voted. Polls close Sunday at 5pm EST.
Go vote!
UPDATE: Alright, now we're starting to see some action! We've got five participants! Here's
a view of the current predictions in a nice lovely spreadsheet.
Labels: oscar pool, polls
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:07:00 AM
Wednesday, February 20, 2008
This is not a dream.
But I have been having them these last few days. Most likely due to the fact that I am really trying to get my self up early and by just thinking about it, I wander in the nether-dreamworld that occurs minutes before my eyes open. When they do, my most delicious of dreams are just that, dreams.
This is all prelude to me again writing what occurred in them here. And S is in them both. (Here we go again.)
I'm back working in Rubys. I think we both are. We're chatting across the bar. The bartender is there as well. We're flirting with each other. As the bartender, restocks the bar with beer. I take her by the hand. I think I kiss it. I wake up and it's Tuesday at 6:15.
I'm at my friends house. We're waiting for the party to start. S shows up. With some guy friend. I go up stairs and play guitar with my buddy. I go find S. She's in the dining room drinking beer. I go find S. She's on the porch, lounging in a chair, looking every bit as sexy as I remembered. Those feet of hers shod in sneakers, propped up on a table. She's wearing capris and a white blouse. I spy her there through the windows in the door and the entryway. She's talking with some guy. I end up outside. My friend tells me that Petit Louis closed at the location across from his house. They've gone franchise and can be found all over Baltimore. He says they converted the church across the street into a Rubys. I wake up and it's Wednesday at 6:30.
Labels: dreams, nostalgia
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:40:00 PM
Since, I practically do this
every year now. Here's Jessica Alba hosting this year's
Scientific and Technical Academy Awards. She's a hottie amongst the geeks. Fits right in for some of the software people to fantasize about the invisible girl.
Okay, that's just me.
Labels: awards, movies, nerd
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
12:14:00 PM
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
Because Initech is filled with lame people who barely see a movie a year, I have never in my life participated in the
office Oscar® pool. Therefore, I am conducting one here!
Yes, now you have a chance to make your predictions for this year's Oscar® in the comfort of your pajamas. You don't need to shlep to work to do it. So start looking over the prediction punditry. Visit your favorite film blog for insight. Start flipping a coin. You may win the 1st Annual BrowserMetrics Oscar Pool!
But here are the rules:
- One entry per person
- There are officially 24 nominations under consideration during Sunday's telecast. You have 24 chances. Make a prediction in all 24!
- Scoring will be based on who has the most points at the end of the telecast.
- Points will be assigned based on making a correct prediction.
- Best Picture, Best Actor, Best Actress, Supporting Actor, and Supporting Actress are worth 3 points each
- Best Director, Best Animated Feature, Adapted Screenplay, Original Screenplay, and Art Direction are worth 2 points each
- The rest are worth 1 point each
- There is a total of 39 points in play (5x3 + 5x2 + 14)
- In event of a tie, the tie breaker will be the person guessing as close to, but not over, the official number of people watching the telecast in the US.
- If still tied, I will pick a name from a hat
- Post your entry in the official thread
- Entry accepted until Sunday, February 24, 2008 5:00 PM EST as determined by the time stamp in your entry.
I'll try my best to tabulate the score soon after Sunday.
The winner will receive a DVD of any one of the nominated films now or when they get released.
Good luck and have fun!
Labels: movies, oscar pool, the market
Monday, February 18, 2008
Wikileaks, the wiki that tries to provide a little transparency to things that the higher ups don't want you to know about, was ordered off the net. This coming from a judge in the freest of countries, the good ol' US of A. This action against freedom of the press and president fucktard whining for immunity for those assholes at AT&T and Verizon makes me want to take a shiv and stick it in everyone of their throats. Freedom my ass.
Labels: wankers
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
10:10:00 PM
Jumper tries to establish a science fiction realm that could be plausible. Yet, it fails to even establish a coherent story. It's a sad showing by The Bourne Identity's, Doug Liman. It's as if he took this job for the money. He unexpertly relies on the flash of the jump effects to hide the lazy development of the plot. It's got big holes in its logic: how did the Paladins defeat jumpers when there was no means to control electricity to contain them back in the day? Doesn't make sense. And it doesn't make sense that Liman can be so lackadaisical in this movie's execution. He always seems to be prepared. Perhaps not this time around. What's he doing next that got him distracted from this venture?
Diane Lane is in this one too. Another stinker.
2 of 5 stars.
Labels: movies, review
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
8:16:00 PM
Friday, February 15, 2008
I remember this one circulating around a few years ago. Classic.
http://www.khaaan.com/
Now, if only someone made a Botany Bay version, it would be helpful.
Labels: geeked, link fest
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
1:25:00 PM
Thursday, February 14, 2008
Barack Obama is your
new bike. I don't get it but it has a little to do with cycling. Or at least a bike. And that's all good.
(via
BikeHugger)
Labels: cycling, hunh?
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:39:00 PM
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
1:50:00 PM
UPDATE: This is my all time favorite photo of Gillian Anderson. She's so yummy in this.
Labels: love, nostalgia, Scully
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
12:50:00 AM
Tuesday, February 12, 2008
One of the funny things about taking the Web Application development class is that they gave us a virtual server off the loyola domain to use as a test bed. We still develop locally but we have to deploy it on the web.
If you want to see some trivial examples of Java Servlets in action check this out:
Assignment 3I'm asking you, my dear readers, to do my testing for me. Check if things work correctly. If you get a crash, please screen capture it and post in comments problems. You are my beta testers. Its due Thursday. Get this done by then. TIA.
UPDATE: Here's what's up with
assignment 3.
Labels: CS712, software development
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
11:24:00 PM
Found on
Crooked Tmber. And because I haven't posted in a while. Let me do this meme. You can too.
Instructions:
1. Grab the nearest book (that is at least 123 pages long).
2. Open to p. 123.
3. Go down to the 5th sentence.
4. Type in the following 3 sentences.
5. Tag five people.
What books do I have on hand? The absolute nearest to me is The Saga of the Icelanders by some really old Icelanders, I guess. Page 123 is in the middle of Egil's Saga.
"Then he spoke a verse:
I could not stand the ugly
land-claimer's wrath;
no cuckoo will alight knowing
that the squawking eagle prowls.
There, as before, I benefited
from the bear of the hearth-seat.
No one need give up who boasts
such a loyal helper on his travels."
That's more than 3 sentences, but it I can't really tell what 3 sentences are when most of it is in verse. Yikes! Those darn sagas.
Your turn whomever you are.
Labels: bookish, time sink
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
12:24:00 AM
Friday, February 08, 2008
As a follow up to their
897 Greatest Songs of All Time countdown from last year,
WTMD is counting down the
897 Greatest Albums of All Time. It's a chance to hear some tunes you normally don't hear on the radio.
The other day they played some Jethro Tull which probably hasn't been heard on air in a long while. It was side A to an album. I had to change the channel because it felt like a Jazz Odyssey but heavier progrock-like. I went into the harbor tunnel with it playing and came out with it still on and I think it was still the same verse. I don't know if there was a chorus.
Anyhow, you should listen to it as it counts down. You may hear some fine tunes that'll have you rocking out, especially, as it winds down to number one.
Labels: link fest, lists
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
3:24:00 PM
Wednesday, February 06, 2008
If you notice the time stamp of the
previous post, you'll see a time around 4 AM.
I don't know why I was up.
Actually, I do. I acted the fool this morning. Have you ever been amped to get up? Or knew you had the get up that you slept lightly? I had to rise early to be in work by 8 for a training class plus also I am trying to condition myself to get up earlier so that
Jorge Cruise can motivate me. So I was somewhat awake and groggy around 3:30. I thought it was 6:30. The lack of sunlight seemed normal for winter at that time.
I could've actually looked at my alarm clock, but I rushed to take a shower. I didn't feel tired, but underneath the warm water I had a hunch that I didn't sleep the full six hours I normally do.
I didn't. My iPhone told me what the actual time was.
I pondered if I should go back to bed, stay awake and go to work around 5:30, or get breakfast. So I posted that notice about TCM running some fine movies, and went back to sleep shortly thereafter.
I didn't miss getting up. The alarm sounded at the normal time.
Labels: oops, surly
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:25:00 PM
Every year for Oscar month,
TCM hosts
"31 Days of Oscars." They show many films each one a recipient of an Academy Award nomination.
It sounds like lots of good movies, but in practice not so much. There's plenty of head scratchers out there. Check the list. It'll make you wonder how did this get nominated. That tradition lives on til today.
There's still plenty of gems to choose from though. If you've got the time, catch a few. Or at least set your Tivo.
Labels: hunh?, movies, time sink
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
4:12:00 AM
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
I assure you, my readers, that it will.
I'm not talking about those damned
stationary bikes. Those things fixed inside a room are a faux simulation of cycling. They are a means of administering some insidious form of abuse on the mind. Those things will make you really, really sad even if you do get the same endorphin high.
No, cycling in the great out doors will make you happy. If you do
it on a busy thoroughfare, I'm sure you won't be so happy scared about the cars, but you're much better off than indoors on a stationary bike.
Why?
Remember when you first learned to ride a bike? Remember the thrill keeping it upright. Wobbly at first. Then your pedaling smooths out, the front wheel straightens, and then, you're cruising! You probably had a wide grin across your face. You probably also squealed. Nothing as delightful as that moment.
So, why aren't you riding your bike more? You don't have to ride in the road. Ride around your neighborhood. Ride in the woods out back. Ride the
local rail to trail conversion. Just go out and ride.
You'll like the breeze in your face. You'll relish the hill to climb, because of the down hill and the speed to come. You'll enjoy the rush from the exercise. You'll breathe in the fresh air. You'll be invigorated. You'll be
happy. I guarantee it.
Let's go!
Labels: cycling, get off your butt
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
8:08:00 PM
Monday, February 04, 2008
This flickr set of
an uboxing of an Apple Computer is awesome. Can't get over that retro feel.
(link via
DF)
Labels: Apple, geeked, Macs
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:58:00 PM
I don't really write much about politics around here. Every time I do end up calling this president a
fucking fucktard. (There I go again!).
Tomorrow is Super Tuesday when a lot of states hold their primaries for each political party to assign delegates for a particular presidential candidate. I think it's about twenty states that hold these primaries or caucuses. Here in Maryland, we don't have ours until the 12th, but by then the presidential race may have been decided by tomorrow's poll results.
Even if it was Maryland's primary day tomorrow, I can't go because they are not open to registered independents. Thats's right. I am not associated with a particular party. I sit on the fence and perhaps choose who I think is the best which is strange because I pretty much vote a straight Democrat ticket except for the judges who I don't even know how they get on the ballot in the first place.
This is all prelude to letting you know that I am endorsing
Barack Obama for president. For me, he stands the idea of change. We don't need another set of royals running the country. It would be 12 years of Bush rule (excluding 8 years of GHWB VP) and 16 years of Clinton rule if Hilary can get elected twice.
That's too long to see executive power confined to these two families. We need some new blood.
Now, I have some reservations about him. Mostly that he preaches some kind of cross partisan unity. We don't need any of that. We need a Democratic party leader to put the fucking Republicans in their place. Make them a withered, destroyed, desolate party in full rather than just the souless one they currently play. And he doesn't really ask for that. I don't think any Dems are asking for that, but payback is a bitch.
I want change. Perhaps Obama can bring it to us.
Labels: get off your butt, wagers
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
8:43:00 PM
Sunday, February 03, 2008
Is that the biggest upset ever? Giants 17 Patriots 14.
Labels: football, sports, wankers, winners
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
10:04:00 PM
Untraceable is a thriller that tries to make a statement about our media obsession with junk. It tries to equate our fixation for torture porn and sick and disgusting websites with the depravity of a serial killer. It tries to make us, the audience, culpable for the rottenness of society. It doesn't do it very well.
What it has going for it was Diane Lane. She's still a hottie in my book, but this movie seems to be one were she's just in it for the money. I think everyone in it was.
Diane Lane plays an FBI agent (does the fbi hire nothing but hotties) in the cyber crime department. She tracks down the miscreants who use the internet for illegal activities like credit theft and solicitation of minors. She is given a lead for a web site that is set up to deliver torture by the amount of people who view its pages. It starts with a kitten and ends up with several human victims. All for the people who view the site.
Needless to say the site was untraceable and hard to find the owner or where it was being broadcast from. Yet, they do find the perp. And save the day. The final shot is of the sites stats slowly dropping.
It's not a very good film. Everything was telegraphed. Everything. "Here's a present." "Use morse code." "I downloaded a video game from a friend." You could spot that from a mile away.
2 of 5 stars.
Labels: movies, review
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
9:44:00 PM
Saturday, February 02, 2008
It just came on.
Grr.
Labels: hunh?, wankers
Posted by: SoNSo1 |
11:51:00 AM
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