Weird Music Video Of The Week

Actually, this is a video time-delay technique called “slit scanning” invented in the 70’s. Weird stuff:

Michael Moore’s Movie “SICKO”–Available Free (Sort Of) On the Internet

I like Michael Moore’s movies. Yeah, they can be a little manipulative but…so can our friends at FOX NEWS.

There has been much todo in the press about his upcoming new movie SICKO, a documentary about the American health care industry. It is my understanding that it is universally well-reviewed–even by those that think Mr. Moore is the Anti-Christ.

If you object to giving any of your hard-earned dollars to Mr. Moore, you may be pleased to know that the movie is available all over the place on the Internet. Just GOOGLE “SICKO torrent” for the torrent. Don’t know what a torrent is? Ya gotta be kidding me.

The “illegal” (sort of) download has Mr. Moore’s blessing (sort of). No, really! Not saying that his distributor is that wild about the idea, but here is Mr. Moore on the issue:

Personally, I’m going to wait for it to be in the theaters–it’s fun to watch his movies with others around. Not that many movies you go to where there is almost always spontaneous applause at the end.

Grandpa Acting A Little Strange Lately?

  You always wondered about Grandpa, didn’t you?

  Well, now you can learn the family secrets.

  Here’s a website called, of all things, “Get Grandpa’s FBI File”.

  Go there.  Use your prerogative under the Freedom of Information Act to obtain a free copy of his file.

  Use the knowledge wisely.

 

Computer Animation of World Trade Center Collision

You’ve seen the brief animations and reconstructions of plane crashes, etc., on television. Here’s a recently rendered disturbing animation of the jet crashing into the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001–kind of a companion piece to my earlier entry:

Mr. Wizard, R.I.P.

  “Don Herbert, who explained the wonderful world of science to millions of young baby boomers on television in the 1950s and ’60s as “Mr. Wizard” and did the same for another generation of youngsters on the Nickelodeon cable TV channel in the 1980s, died Tuesday. He was 89.

  “Herbert died at his home in Bell Canyon after a long battle with multiple myeloma, said Tom Nikosey, Herbert’s son-in-law.

  “A low-key, avuncular presence who wore a tie and white dress shirt with the sleeves rolled up, Herbert launched his weekly half-hour science show for children on NBC in 1951.

  “Broadcast live from Chicago on Saturdays the first few years and then from New York City, “Watch Mr. Wizard” ran for 14 years.

  “Herbert used basic experiments to teach scientific principles to his TV audience via an in-studio guest boy or girl who assisted in the experiments….[Rest of Obituary]

My “…strong automatic preference for European American compared to African American”

   I just took this Harvard-designed test available here.  (It takes about 10 or 15 minutes–you’ll need at least a double-digit IQ to follow the instructions).

   I don’t want to discuss the methodology here, as I wouldn’t want to effect your own results.

   I was disappointed in mine.  I expected some “slight preference” for associating European American faces with positive images flashed on the screen (what with being European American and all)–but the test results came up with, gulp, a “strong” preference.

Well–good to know.  More to work on.

Better to be aware of that than have the self-delusion of the “not a racist bone in my body”/”why, some of my best friends are…” bunch.

 

Outsourcing Your Life

  This is my day for sharing favored articles with you. 

  I saw this article in the weekend edition of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL this last week and thought it was interesting.  Hope you agree:

  “When David San Filippo decided to create a tribute video in honor of his sister’s wedding, he could have gotten a recommendation from a friend or looked up video editors in the phone book. Instead, he did what big corporations have been doing for more than a decade: sent the work offshore.

  “On the Internet, Mr. San Filippo located a graphic artist in Romania who agreed to do the whole thing for $59. The result was a splashy two-minute video with a space theme and “Star Wars” soundtrack. It won raves at the wedding.

  “Offshore outsourcing has transformed the way U.S. companies do business. Now, some early adopters are figuring out how to tap overseas workers for personal tasks. They’re turning to a vast talent pool in India, China, Bangladesh and elsewhere for jobs ranging from landscape architecture to kitchen remodeling and math tutoring. They’re also outsourcing some surprisingly small jobs, including getting a dress designed, creating address labels for wedding invitations or finding a good deal on a hotel room, for example.

  “Such ‘personal offshoring’ is still new and represents a tiny fraction of the more than $20 billion overseas outsourcing industry. But management consultants and economists say it’s likely to evolve into a larger niche as offshore workers identify the opportunities. Thanks to instant messaging, computer scanners and email attachments, any work that doesn’t require meeting in person has the potential to be done overseas.

  “The approach relies on the same model that drives corporate outsourcing: labor arbitrage, or benefiting from the wage differential between U.S. workers and those in developing countries. In the U.S., tutoring services charge $40 to $60 an hour for math help. Some skilled tutors in India are paid $2 to $3 an hour. In India, $20 is enough to buy a week’s groceries for two people….[Rest of article]

 

Did You Watch The Debate On CNN Last Night?

 Chris Dodd wants you to know that Wolf Blitzer was unfair in how much time was being allowed.  (I was kind of wondering about that myself).

 

Erectile Dysfunction? Eat More Walnuts

  ”PETALING JAYA: It may sound nutty, but walnuts may just be the remedy for erectile dysfunction. 

  “Developed by a team of researchers at Universiti Malaya (UM) for the past two years, a tablet containing walnut extract has shown potential as a local alternative to Viagra. 

  “One of the researchers, UM Faculty of Medicine Physiology Department lecturer Prof Dr Kim Kah Hwi, said that so far 40 volunteers had tried the tablet and responded positively. 

  “On its efficacy, Prof Kim said the new pill was comparable to Viagra and he claimed that it was safer as well, although a person would have to consume about 3.3kg of walnuts for the same effect as one tablet. 

“It takes about an hour for the effects to set in and it will last for about four hours. 

“Furthermore, because it is not a drug, it is safe for those with hypertension or diabetes, or (those) who have recently had heart bypasses,” he said, adding that some of the volunteers had undergone bypass surgeries. 

  “Prof Kim said the active ingredient was arginine, an amino acid that is absorbed into the body and converted into nitric oxide….[Rest of article]

***

My mind is just racing with jokes…

You Think YOU Have Spam Problems?

   On my various email accounts, I get about 100 “spam” emails per day.  I’ve been on the Internet for about 20 years, visited lots of forums and blogs, purchased lots of books and other items, and…spam is just a fact of life.  My wonderful software SpamBayes takes care of 98% of it.

  One of my early entries on this blog was on the occasion of my first “blog spam”.  There are automated programs (bots) out there that log onto blogs and try to leave innocuous messages–usually about, guess what, pharmaceuticals and viagra and online gambling. 

Since then I have had about 50,000 spam attempts, but I have software to take care of that also.  I only have to manually delete a handful per day.  But lately there has been an onslaught.  The last 24 hours: over 1500 spam attempts.  (I only had to deal with half a dozen or so).

  So if you ever see a spammer, punch him/her for me.

  Little known fact: The original spammers were, of all things, lawyers.  So perhaps this is just my cross to bear…

[Update: They got one!]