Discrimi-Nav. Coming to a car near you.
[To the tune of Linda Ronstadt, “Someone to Lay Down Beside Me,” from the album “Hasten Down the Wind”.]
Technorati Tags: geoweb, humor
Alex Soojung-Kim Pang, Ph.D.
I study people, technology, and the worlds they make
Month: October 2006 (page 1 of 5)
This year, my son is going to be R2-D2.
Yes, my wife made the costume.
Technorati Tags: children, halloween
Today- yesterday, by now- my wife and I went to see The Prestige. She thought it was terrible (though her reaction immediately after the movie was, “I wasn’t crazy about it” and ratcheted up with each person she told). In contrast, I thought it was absolutely brilliant: the story, the acting, the crazy Victorian machine-work magic- it all worked fabulously. (The obligatory Ricky Jay appearance did not disappoint.)
About the title: as Michael Caine (who is reunited with two other Batman Begins alumni, actor Christian Bale and director Christopher Nolan) explains in the opening, every good magic trick starts with “the pledge,” which sets up the illusion; “the take turn,” in which the object disappears; and “the prestige,” in which it reappears.
To say that the movie has twists and turns is a vast understatement. I thought I had it figured out, but was blown away by the end.
My wife had one objection that I agree with: you don’t really like either of the main characters, and don’t feel like rooting for them. It’s more like watching two scorpions: you’re interested in the outcome, but not invested in either side.
Though I’m going to be a sucker for any movie featuring Victorian London, Nikola Tesla (played by a very good but unrecognizable David Bowie), and professional obsession.
How did I miss this?
Clearly I need to check Alex Halavais' blog more often.
Technorati Tags: movies, science_fiction
The Muppet Matrix:
Clearly I need to check Alex Halavais’ blog more often.
Technorati Tags: movies, science_fiction
My wife and I are looking for a movie to see this weekend, and so I hit Fandango. Between the films I don’t want to see (Flicka) she doesn’t want to see (The Departed), and neither of us want to see (just about everything else), we’re having a hard time finding anything. [Update: For the record, Heather declares that Flicka is a kids’ movie. In my defense, the preview looked like they’d updated it some- I think Flicka is now captured by terrorists, and that country singer Ali McGraw goes to save her.]
But I came across this, and can’t decide if the synopsis reflects bad translation, shoddy work by a resentful freelancer- or, most frightening of all, actually is an accurate description of what the movie is about.
DON
Cast: Shahrukh Khan, Priyanka Chopra, Arjun Rampal
Director: Farhan Akhtar
Genre: Action/Adventure, Art House/Foreign
Synopsis: A huge Indian group embarks on a dangerous mission to capture Don - the drug mafia king in Malaysia. When Don is severly wounded in a police encounter, word spreads that he is dead. The secret is that Don is held captive in a secret location, while Vijay, his bumbling look a like, is made-up and sent to take down Don’s gang.
Is it just the Provigil wearing off, or does that make no sense?
I think the new Christopher Nolan movie about competing magicians in late Victorian London, or the one where Helen Mirren plays Queen Elizabeth, are probably the best compromise candidates.
The chain starts with this bullet in Wonkette-
South Korean panic over North Korean nuclear ambitions being assuaged by copious amounts of life-affirming sex.
-with a link to a post on Outside the Beltway. That post, in turns, references the Foreign Policy blog post noting that
South Koreans are taking to the sheets to relieve stress triggered by Kim Jong-Il’s nuclear test. Condom sales and motel bookings are way up
this month south of the DMZ. South Koreans are also flocking to stock
up on butane gas and ramen noodle packs. Turns out a nuclear date is a
cheap one.
That, in turn, takes you to the original article in the Daily Chosun Ilbo: "Motel Bookings, Condom Sales Surge Post Nuke Test." Which turns out to be absolutely hilarious in its earnest depth:
On Oct. 9-15, the average daily sales of condoms across all Family
Mart convenience stores was 1,930, a 19.9 percent increase over
September’s daily average of 1,610. Compared to the year’s average
until September of 1,508, that is an incredible 28 percent increase.
Even when the sample period widened from Oct. 9-21, the average stood
at a high 1,857. Amazingly, even now more condoms are sold than during
the World Cup, which even at its zenith in June only brought daily
averages only to 1,751.Things were no different at other convenience store chains
like GS25. Oct. 9-15 daily sales revenues from condoms stood at W3.54
million, a 14.8 percent increase over September and a 12 percent
increase over the year’s average through September. Expanding again the
sample period to Oct. 9-21, there was an 8.2 percent increase in sales.
On days of the World Cup matches against Togo, France and Switzerland,
sales figures from condoms were at an average of W3.18 million, only
slightly above the norm.Sales of butane gas and packs of instant noodles — a sign
that people are stockpiling — also increased, but not to the same
extent as condom sales. Year-on-year, sales of butane and ramen jumped
9.6 percent year-on-year and 7.2 percent during the same Oct. 9-15
period….In another interesting twist, it has been reported that the hardest
place to get a room is the favorite haunt of stock-traders, Yeouido.
The tiny island on the Han River has the highest concentration of
securities firms most sensitive to the North’s nuke tests. Company
chief Kwak says, "Specifically the business hotels in the Yeouido area
that run at about W50,000-70,000(US$1=W958) per night are completely
booked since last week through Oct. 27."
I have to wonder: is all Korean journalism like this? Or was this written by someone who’s hoping to get a permanent job at the paper? Did they just happen to have figures for condom sales during the World Cup lying around? Is there someone at Digital Chosun who considers this their beat?
This e-greeting card, which presumably was written by someone who actually wishes to increase revenues at American Greetings, is astounding. When did stalking become cute?
[via womenhavingitall]
Today I saw the new Sony Mylo. They had a stack of them at Frys (aka, the world’s most hostile store), and I spent a little time playing around with one.
Perhaps if it had been charged up, and I had been able to really try it out, my impression would be different; but as it is, when I put it back down, what I thought was, “Almost.” Almost brilliant. Almost too expensive. Probably will be related to whatever we call Internet-enabled portable personal media/communications devices as the Apple Newton is to the PDA.
I’ve been playing around with Skype a little, and that experience is one of the things that made me look more seriously at Mylo. The sound quality of Skype (and several other Internet audio tools I use) is really excellent now: my friends sound like they’re being interviewed on NPR, not shouting from the bottom of the well. However, I already have a cell phone, and am rarely without my laptop; and given the kind of writing I do, the handheld device- which really is more for chatting than for sustained engagement with any kind of text- is probably not such a good fit.
But if I were young, getting my first place in a new city, and expected to spend most of my day at work, home, or various other unwired places, I’d think seriously about getting it, and ditching the cell phone. Maybe forget the iPod until I had some more money, while I’m at it. The difference between paying $350 for a device that you can essentially use for free (or add another $40 a year for a Skype phone number), and paying $50 a month for a cell phone, is huge if you’re struggling. On the other hand, shelling out $350 all at once may feel a lot more painful than the monthly fee.
When my kids are old enough to ask for cell phones, they’re going to want the descendant of Mylo.
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The End of Cyberspace and Other Surprises — Thomas 12 (4): 383 — Convergence [sub req]The concepts "Web 2.0, the end of cyberspace, and the internet of things… have synergies both with the current fashion for modifying physical objects with the features of virtual objects…and with the potential technologies for collective intelligence.
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Behind the 'Great Firewall': Decoding China's Internet Media Policies from the Inside — Zhang 12 (3): 271 — Convergence [sub req]"This study examines China's current internet media policy in terms of the nature of the policy, the policymaking process, major forces driving the policy and future trends."
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"[H]ow has the Web‘s potential for communication and its accessible information infrastructure affected [knowledge workers'] strategies for acquiring and spreading professional information?"
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Convergence: The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies
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Kathleen K. Olson, "Cyberspace as Place and the Limits of Metaphor," Convergence 11:1 (2005) [sub req]Examines "the use of the ’cyberspace as place’ metaphor in the creation of the legal concept of ’cybertrespass’, examines the consequences of… that metaphor to the free flow of information on the internet, and evaluates alternative metaphors."
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Happy birthday, iPod (MercuryNews.com, 10/21/2006)"Five years ago Monday, Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs unveiled the iPod, the company's most important product since the original Macintosh and one of the most successful consumer electronics products ever."
Add REST: WHY YOU GET MORE DONE WHEN YOU WORK LESS to your Goodreads shelf
My books on Goodreads
The Distraction Addiction: Getting the Information You Need and the Communication You Want, Without Enraging Your Family, Annoying Your Colleagues, and Destroying Your Soul
reviews: 78
ratings: 316 (avg rating 3.53)
ratings: 316 (avg rating 3.53)
