I’ve got a crablike spiny orb-weaver living in my front yard. I’ve long been interested in spiders, and this is certainly an interesting kind of spider. He/she builds a new web every day, and the webs are pretty big–a few feet across.
I’ve also got a bunch of wolf spiders that hang around the house.
Went and saw About a Boy at Alamo North with Gwen last night. Good movie. Recalls some of the spirit of that last Nick Hornby-derived movie I saw, High Fidelity, both being what you might call “adult male coming-of-age stories.” Despite being more feckless, rootless, and alone, Hugh Grant’s character Will in About a Boy is in some ways more in touch with reality and has a better grasp of other human beings than John Cusack’s Rob in High Fidelity. High Fidelity was funnier, mostly because it has Jack Black in it.
Went and saw Spider-Man this afternoon. It was fun. Good eye-candy, and a better story than mindless summer action movies are expected to have.
You know how all the big theater chains have these computer-generated animations to let you know the trailers are over, that you should go out ot the lobby and buy junk food, and that the feature is about to begin? Well, the theater I saw the movie at is part of some rinky-dink chain that has pathetic, PlayStation 2-grade computer animation. Playstation 2 animation is impressive when it is rendered live on a TV screen, but not when it is pre-rendered and displayed on a movie screen. I had to laugh, especially given the contrast with the excellent CGI in the movie. This theater is also notorious for its mildewy smell and handmade signage that looks like the manager’s kid did it. But, hey, it’s in the neighborhood.
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I like the idea of creating a map between cyberspace and real-space. I ran into NYC Bloggers, which maps, well, bloggers in New York by their subway stop. That led me to the above site, which takes a more macro scale.
It would be nifty if we could overlay a map showing links between blogs (sort of like you’ll see here) with a map of real-world geography. Who knows what unexpected affinities we’d find.
…I’ve always loved the US. The history, the Federalist Papers, science fiction, Hollywood, quirky independent movies, Central Park, bagels, the familiarity of the Upper West Side, the West Wing, the New York Times on a Sunday, New York, all the more after September 11th, drinking places without carpets, strange food and strange sex, landing men on the moon, digital technology, the nations come together, the scale, the presumption of liberty, the sense of possibility, the eager embrace of the future.
I love it all, and not as a phenomenon to be observed from a distance, or contained within the USA. I want the whole planet, the whole solar system, the whole galaxy, to be full of bustling humanity, and if the price of that is a McDonalds on Pluto, I’ll close my eyes, think of a Tuscan trattoria, and order a Big Mac and fries.
There’s more–go read it–but I really like this. Except that I won’t eat at McDonald’s, and the minor point he seems to miss is that I don’t need to, and neither does he.
The Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) filed the “Content Protection Status Report” with the Senate Judiciary Committee last month, laying out its plan to remake the technology world to suit its own ends. The report calls for regulation of analog-to-digital converters (ADCs), generic computing components found in scientific, medical and entertainment devices. Under its proposal, every ADC will be controlled by a “cop-chip” that will shut it down if it is asked to assist in converting copyrighted material — your cellphone would refuse to transmit your voice if you wandered too close to the copyrighted music coming from your stereo.
The report shows that this ADC regulation is part of a larger agenda. The first piece of that agenda, a mandate that would give Hollywood a veto over digital television technology, is weeks away from coming to fruition. Hollywood also proposes a radical redesign of the Internet to assist in controlling the distribution of copyrighted works.
This three-part agenda — controlling digital media devices, controlling analog converters, controlling the Internet — is a frightening peek at Hollywood’s vision of the future.
Just in case there was any doubt left in your mind that these guys are evil.
More test-drive fun yesterday. I drove a couple of Subaru Imprezas–the plain-vanilla RS, and the completely insane WRX.
The RS is a good car–it drives well, and Consumer Reports rates it highly for durability. It’s got a pretty potent engine for a car of its size, good handling, and that all-wheel drive really does make a difference, I think, on iffier maneuvers.
The WRX is another beast entirely. Its engine is considerably more powerful, its handling tighter, brakes stronger, everything. It’s very direct and as subtle as a sledgehammer. Tap the gas and get pushed back in the seat.
Both cars are definitely more on the sporty side–in both, you really hear the engine and are aware of what’s going on. This contrasts with the Jetta, which drives well, but doesn’t constantly remind you of everything that’s going on–it’s a lot more like a luxury car in that regard. Likewise, the Subarus have cheesy interiors, compared to the posh Jetta. Not badly engineered, necessarily, but obvious skimping here and there with vinyl sun visors, that sort of thing.
The RT Impreza is a good deal, and I could certainly content myself with it…but driving the WRX really captured my imagination. It’s more car than I need, and might even prove to be a bit annoying for long road trips. And it’s quite a bit more money, and this is a serious consideration for me. Though the price is reasonable for what it is–basically a race car disguised as a sedan.
This is truly hilarious.
Once upon a time, I was a member of the Japan Association of Translators. In fact, I served for a few years as a director, during which time I helped the group purchase its domain name and set up its website. So my name and address got stuck in Network Solution’s database. At the time, the president of JAT was Jeremy Whipple, a friend who lives in a suburb of Tokyo.
Now, somehow, Jeremy’s name and my address got mis-associated by direct-marketing scumbags, so I get a huge amount of junk mail and telephone solicitations for Jeremy.
But the best piece of junk mail ever just arrived. I’ve taken the liberty of opening it because it obviously isn’t meant for the Jeremy I know–a real human being–it’s meant for some completely fictional Jeremy. It’s from Dick Cheney, inviting him to “a private dinner here in Washington, D.C. [note the superfluous periods] on June 19th and also to ask you to serve as a representative of Austin, Texas at The President’s Dinner…In fact, a special place of honor has already been reserved for you to recognize your steadfast support of President Bush.”
Obviously this is a come-on for money, but the pomp and circumstance, the flourishes, and most importantly, the amounts are really impressive–they want Jeremy to spend $2,500 for a seat at a table. And I’ve never really discussed partisan politics with Jeremy, but something tells me he has not been a steadfast supporter of W.
Roundtrip Translation Script from staggernation. Lots of fun: you give it a web-page URL–it runs the page through a machine translator and back. Hilarity ensues. The round-trip to Korean is especially surreal.
File this one under “web pages that suck.”
I accidentally surfed to the website of a company called IMJ and was blown away at the ingeniously awful navigation bar. It’s flash-based and the items move around under your mouse when you try to click something.