Fear and Loathing on the Learning Curve: Observations on Life, Tech and Web Design from a Slightly Misanthropic Mind
Following the launch of Google’s Maps service, allowing US residents to see maps and satellite imagery of just about everywhere in the country, Wired ran this article on finding hidden surprises in these satellite photos.
Apparently, “notable surprises include a just-erupted volcano, violent scenes from Iraq (a bomb going off in Baghdad and a firefight in Najaf) and even a 747 landing in Tokyo, something difficult to capture given that the satellite is moving at 17,000 mph.” The article also mentions some similar amusing occurences in the past.
Some samples include a packed baseball stadium, and an airliner landing somewhere in California.
“The Manchurian Candidate” (2005)
Denzel Washington is surely a god.
If you come away from this film with one thought, that should be it. Having recently watched (and very much enjoyed) “Man on Fire,” I was only too pleased to serve myself up another helping of dark Washington acting, and while not quite at the level of “Man on Fire,” the quality of “The Manchurian Candidate” certainly approaches it.
The action takes place in present-day America, where Washington’s character, Major Ben Marco, is approached by a former member of his Desert Storm platoon, who tells him of the strange and haunting dreams he has been having of what happened to their platoon in Kuwait in 1991. The platoon was ambushed one night, and Marco knocked unconscious, but he and the rest of the platoon emerged believing that fellow private Raymond Shaw saved their lives, for which he was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honour. He then goes on to run for Vice-President. Through the course of the film however, it emerges that what happened — or didn’t happen — is not so simple.
I can’t say much more without inviting whining accusations of giving away the plot, despite the whole thing being pretty much explained in the first 5 minutes of (and trailer for) the film. Not sticking too rigidly to the lines of the original 1962 film, the plot is not devoid of twists, all of which are expertly carried out. The whole mood of the film is of a dark, terror-wary America, looking to place its trust in a new leader who will fix everything and save the world. From the dimly lit, wet-walled corridors of a New York motel to the gleaming lights of political convention halls, the settings compliment the action brilliantly. Meryl Streep does a good job as the power-queen mother, and Liev Schreiber’s crisp-spoken, smiles-too-much Shaw maintains just the right level of creepy. Little touches, like the subtle way the lights brighten every time the men slip into their hypnotized state, really make this film into an immersive thriller.
If you haven’t seen “Man on Fire,” see it. Then see this, and see what you think. If you enjoyed the first, you’ll certainly enjoy this. It’s also likely to appeal to fans of the original, as it really breaks the remake mould in not being utter garbage.
Piercing P2P Myths — The Canadian Perspective
Slashdot ran a great article yesterday about a recent paper from Canadian professor of law Michael Geist, which systematically examines the recent extravagant loss claims of the Canadian record industry, and emerges with the conclusion that P2P filesharing had little, if any, actual impact on the income of the artists themselves, and that many other factors were to blame.
Many of the principles discussed in the paper hold true for other parts of the world (especially the USA). Additionally, it’s full of great quotes:
“Although loath to discuss the matter publicly, according to an October 2004 Economist article, an internal music label study found that between 2/3 and 3/4 of recent sales declines had nothing to do with Internet music downloads.”
“Given the tens of millions of dollars that the Canadian government spends annually to support the creation of Canadian music, it is apparent that the relative impact of lost royalties due to file-sharing pales by comparison.”
EFF Publishes Guide to Blogging Safely
The Electronic Frontier Foundation has just published a guide on “How to Blog Safely (About Work or Anything Else)”.
The article contains many helpful points on how to speak your mind without losing your job/friends, under sections titled “Blog Anonymously,” “Blog Without Getting Fired,” and “Blog Without Fear”.
As more and more cases come to light of employees being disciplined or ‘let go’ because of blogging activity, it is becoming increasingly important for bloggers to protect their identities.
Although fairly Americanized, the article raises some good points, and is well worth a read.
‘Geek Speak’ Allegedly Confuses Net Users
The BBC is running a story on a recent survey that aimed to establish how much online security-related “technology jargon” the average home user understands.
The survey, helpfully titled ‘Do you speak geek?’ to really enforce the idea of a segregated clique of tech-heads running the Internet, discovered that 84% did not know that phishing referred to fake email scams; 75% did not know what spyware was (though 1 in 10 of those that said they did thought it was something one used to spy on unfaithful partners) and 61% did not know what a trojan was, including, it seems, the BBC, who included an incorrect definition in the article, as well as confusing crackers and virus writers with hackers.
And what bastion of good sense and intelligence was responsible for the survey? None but AOL UK. For people scared of the label “geek,” they needed look no further than their own user base, which appears to be just what they have done. And with that in mind, the figures are hardly surprising.
“Many are often left vulnerable because they have no idea what they are supposed to be protecting themselves against,” revealed the survey, and with all-new dumbing-down operations like the “now even simpler” AOL Security Centre, is it any wonder that the simple-minded sheep rely on the supposed blanket protections offered by their loving ISP, as opposed to taking the time to learn about the threats and countermeasures themselves?