Archive: Posts from June, 2005
June 30th, 2005, 3 Comments »
As locals probably know by now, a BC ferry crashed into Sewell’s Marina when it lost power coming into West Vancouver’s Horseshoe Bay. Happily, it looks like nobody was killed or injured.
I’ve been monitoring the local blogosphere and Flickr to see if there are any first-person accounts, but thus far I’ve come up empty. Has anybody found anything from local residents?
UPDATE: As many of you have noticed, somebody did upload some photos of the accident. A source also emailed me a few images that were taken later in the day. My faith in the blogosphere is restored.
3 Comments »
June 30th, 2005, 4 Comments »
Yesterday, I saw War of the Worlds. It was a well-crafted, ordinary disaster movie. While Tom Cruise’s recent hijinks added a certain meta-cinematic je ne sais quoi, and Dakota Fanning is a frighteningly good young actress, it’s a pretty average summer blockbuster.
With the launch of a summer blockbuster comes the launch of new movie trailers. Yesterday (courtesy of Bree), I watched the trailer for Peter Jackson’s update of King Kong. Not surprisingly, it had a very Lord of the Rings feel to it. And I’m not sure that Adrien Brody is really cracked up to be an action hero.
I also saw the trailer for The Transporter 2. I have a soft spot for the original movie — it was so energetic and had no delusions of grandeur. Plus, Jason Straitham Statham has that Jedi cool.
4 Comments »
June 30th, 2005, 3 Comments »
The good people at Michigan State University have come up with an unusual application for robotics. They’ve devised a robotic arm that enables physicians to give remote breast exams:
Here’s how it will work: A physician or other health-care provider, located in a hospital or clinic, will slip his or her hand into a glove-like instrument. That will allow him or her to move the robotic arm that is with the patient in a remote location.
“That arm, which actually looks like a hand, is equipped with sensors,” said Carol Slomski, chairperson of MSU’s Department of Surgery and co-director of the project. “As the hand touches the patient, the sensation from this touch comes back into my hand. When the robotic fingers feel a lump or some other abnormality, I also feel it.”
While I can see the practical applications of this device, there are some serious social barriers to overcome. After all, who wants to get felt up by a robot? And don’t get me started on the remote prostate exams.
3 Comments »
June 30th, 2005, 6 Comments »
I’m writing this with my text-to-speech software Dragon NaturallySpeaking 8. I’ve had perennial problems with my wrist, and some recent lower back trouble. As such, I’ve decided to try to use in this software to do some of my blogging, e-mailing and general writing activities.
You may recall the last fall I checked in on speech-recognition courtesy of Jon Udell. At that time I was underwhelmed, but I’ve decided to give it another try.
In truth, I’m really impressed with how the software naturally transcribes what I say. it’s not exactly error-free, but it knew the terms ‘blogging’ and ‘Jon Udell’. The biggest problem so far is that I haven’t figured out how to teach it to capitalize the first letter of a sentence. Another issue is that including markup is darned tricky (hey, it knew the word ‘darned’). For example, it’s nearly impossible to say ‘<p>’, or at least I haven’t figured out how yet.
Still, I’m not utterly discouraged. Even if it only permits me to stand up five minutes an hour and saves my wrists 10% wear and tear, then it will be worth the trouble.
6 Comments »
June 29th, 2005, 9 Comments »
While reading this New York Times article on the priorities of online daters, I encountered the following paragraph:
Start with the self-reported characteristics. There was a strong Lake Wobegon effect in the data, with only 1 percent of the population admitting to having “less than average” looks. Even so, only a third actually posted a photo. The reported weights of the women were substantially less than national averages and about 30 percent were blonde. The reported weights of the men were consistent with national averages and only about 12 percent were blonde.
The Lake What-be-gone? I’d never heard of this term before, so I turned to the always-informative Wikipedia:
The Lake Wobegon effect, also called the Lake Wobegon fallacy and the better-than-average effect, is a term used by psychologists to refer to the human tendency to report flattering beliefs about oneself and believe that one is above average. Many experiments have shown that most people believe that they possess more desirable attributes than other people. The term is also related to the tendency to treat all members of a group as above average (a statistical impossibility), particularly with respect to numerical values such as test scores or executive salaries.
Who knew? The term’s origin is apparently explained on this page:
This phrase (sent my way by subscriber James Callan) was inspired by Garrison Keillor’s 1985 novel, Lake Wobegon Days, which described life in fictional Lake Wobegon, Minnesota, where “all the children are above average.”
Truly, you learn something new every day. Someone once told me to try to use a new words three times soon after you learn it, and it will stick in your brain. This usage is a little obscure, but I’ll do my best.
9 Comments »
June 29th, 2005, 4 Comments »
As you probably know, Live 8 is Bob Geldof’s global charity event to raise money and awareness for Third World poverty. Over at Stereogum, there’s a list of line-ups for the cities around the world taking part.
The commenters in that thread–presumably musicphiles and hipsters–sound pretty elitist:
Philly’s show would be a good way to abduct Iraq detainees and torture with. Maroon 5? Destiny’s Child?
The live 8 in Barrie is thoroughly humiliating for Canada…Don’t know why Sam Roberts would put his good name up there…also, wasn’t Stars added to the bill? bands should be boycotting this show.
Yes the Toronto [Barrie] line-up is horrible, but looking over each city…they’re all garbage! I guess Geldof can point to the crowds at the shows and say “they MUST care about eradicating poverty because who in their right mind would show up to hear this shit”
There was some criticism of the Canadian Live 8 line-up in the newspapers–complaints that the artists’ average age was well above 40. They’re right, but if I’m organizing these events, I’m going to choose the same popular, old acts. Why?
- Like it or not, but older audience members have more power and money. Additionally, the older a person is, the more charitable they become.
- The musical tastes of 12 to 25-year-olds have become incredibly balkanized in the past decade. It’s increasingly difficult to find bands that appeal to a wide swath of young North Americans. Don’t believe me? Radio listenership among young people is in sharp decline.
Of course young people’s awareness needs to be raised, but global rock concerts may not appeal to them. I’m not likely to watch a lot of the Live 8 Canada concert (and I’m over 30!), but I’m sure that zillions of other Canadians will.
4 Comments »
June 29th, 2005, No Comments »
This is cross-posted from Geeky Traveller.
I was skeptical at first about Space Island (via the Cool Hunter). It seemed to lack lot of hotel features that I was accustomed to: gravitational acceleration of 9.8 meters per second, regular toilets and attractive grounds.
Yet, after watching the promotional video, I couldn’t help but book the next shuttle up. [more]
Read more…
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June 29th, 2005, 3 Comments »
I play ultimate frisbee. Very badly. I like it because:
- It’s mixed gender. Every men-only team sport I’ve ever played, regardless of how ‘fun’ and ‘recreational’ it’s advertised, ends up in a whose-penis-is-bigger contest among testosteroni men.
- It’s outdoors.
- We only play in summer, and occasionally, the fall.
- It’s high-intensity, meaning I don’t have to spend a ton of time doing it.
I often say that I run more in a game of ultimate than in any other sport I’ve ever played. I’ve thought about this, and I think it comes down to the physics of the frisbee or ‘disk’. In ball sports, because of the ball’s volume-to-mass ratio, the ball only remains in the air for a short period of time. The disk, on the other hand, carries farther and hangs in the air longer. This results in more running.
These videos, from a league far more elite than my own, illustrate my point:
3 Comments »