Evidently flying a chartered flight back from the Vatican does not entitle you to carrying more than 100ml of liquid. Even the Vatican travel agent did not try to argue with TSA officials as several Madonna-shaped bottles of holy water were abandoned at security.
Having just decided to drive around the country to avoid connections, delays, and detainment, I'm starting to get a little tired of the security charade which does little to actually change the probability of an accident.
Friday, August 31, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
chinese pollution - growing faster than its economy
Based on a recent article in the New York Times, As China Roars, China is setting new records not only in economic expansion but also in pollution levels. By the end of this year, China will be producing more annual pollution than the United States (holder of the title for, well, forever).
So the article is worth a glance, though the NYT take is a bit tree-huggery. My real question is about sustainable development - what would it look like compared to the current paradigm? What is a sustainable growth rate, given today's endowment of natural resources and available green technology? It's preposterous to develop policy that precludes growth ... what we really need are policy recommendations that encourage sustainable growth and restrict consumption of natural resources through progressive taxation, not quotas. I'm a firm believer in minimizing deadweight loss - I'd love to take a survey on the "value of trees" to the global population and just tax at that rate. It would be so pretty.
So the article is worth a glance, though the NYT take is a bit tree-huggery. My real question is about sustainable development - what would it look like compared to the current paradigm? What is a sustainable growth rate, given today's endowment of natural resources and available green technology? It's preposterous to develop policy that precludes growth ... what we really need are policy recommendations that encourage sustainable growth and restrict consumption of natural resources through progressive taxation, not quotas. I'm a firm believer in minimizing deadweight loss - I'd love to take a survey on the "value of trees" to the global population and just tax at that rate. It would be so pretty.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
when you need a full-size keyboard on a moment's notice..
Engadget brings us news of the lovely keyboard quiver - a pack you can carry on your back, so you'll always be prepared with your keyboard.
I'm so getting one... I hate laptop keyboards.
I'm so getting one... I hate laptop keyboards.
wal-mart and drm free music ...
Looks like Wal-Mart has joined the movement and is now offering DRM-free music online. For $.94 per track.
Eat that, Apple.
Wal-Mart has debuted with DRM-free tracks from both EMI and Universal. Likely, this is part of Universal's trial program set to run through January 2008.
I have to say I completely support DRM-free. DRM is a terrible way to try to enforce copyright, completely violating any concept of fair use.
Eat that, Apple.
Wal-Mart has debuted with DRM-free tracks from both EMI and Universal. Likely, this is part of Universal's trial program set to run through January 2008.
I have to say I completely support DRM-free. DRM is a terrible way to try to enforce copyright, completely violating any concept of fair use.
Sunday, August 19, 2007
a movie you should not see
Sunshine (2007), directed by Danny Boyle of 28 Days Later and Trainspotting fame, is probably the worst movie I have ever seen. No, it is the worst movie I have ever seen. Stop reading now, the rest is spoilers because there is no other way to explain the horror.
First, the plot basis. The sun is about to die, so Earth (all of Earth I suppose ... no commentary on what country, whose initiative, anything like that - essentially, zero context) is sending a giant bomb "the size of Manhattan island" to "restart the sun." There was a previous, seemingly identical mission 7 years ago that failed. This is discussed extensively.
No surprise, immediately after communication with the Earth is interrupted by solar waves (a week early, mind you), they hear the distress signal from the Icarus I original voyage. Since they are only carrying a single payload, they decide to go and get the original payload as well by adjusting their slingshot around Mercury.
Up until this point, it's hokey, but fine. Whatever. I can take it. Someone manually calculates the new trajectory, forgets to adjust the shields. Fine. Idiot, but fine. It's about time something moved the plot along anyway, or this would just be "Apollo 14: to the Sun!" There's an elegant oxygen garden fire, some argument, the forgetful guy goes suicidal. Fine. They link up with Icarus I. Oddly, everything is covered in an inch of literal dust. Ok, a vacuum sealed spaceship is full of dust now and they find the whole ship to be in operational order. This is about where my bent belief systems snap from the strain. Then they find a mass suicide in the main room. Uh, that's just weird, guys. Next, somehow the airlock in between the two ships blows apart and four astronauts have to make a dramatic, suitless space flight back to their ship. Naturally, someone has to stay behind to open the door. Less weird.
Foreshadowing dialogue: "There's no way the airlock broke - someone must have detached the ships manually!" (The dialogue is almost as great as the plot, really). Everyone looks around, pointing fingers and assessing alibis. No one trusts anyone, though luckily there are now few enough people to survive on the available oxygen (see fire, above). Then, while the physicist astronaut asks the ubiquitous ship computer questions, realization comes smashing through. A short take of the amazing, dramatic dialog punctuated by computer pauses:
Icarus (computer) to Capa (astronaut): "Capa, you are in a critical state. There is only enough oxygen left for .. 12 .. hours."
Capa: "Icarus, there is enough O2 left for 19 hours. We calculated this."
I: "No. The crew of .. 5 .. will only survive .. 12 .. hours."
C: "Icarus, there are only 4 crew alive."
I: "No. There are .. 5 .. crew."
C: "Icarus, who are the 5 people in the crew?"
I: "Capa, Cassie, Corazon, Searle, and unknown."
Now, yes, you guessed it. The airlock was indeed detached manually by an INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER. Yes, I did just say that. After convincing everyone on Icarus I to commit mass-suicide, the INTERSTELLAR PYSCHOKILLER stayed alive in the inch-thick dust, shed all of his skin and decided it was his mission to be the last man alive so that he could speak with G-d. Oh yes, he's not just an INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER, he is a RELIGIOUS ZEALOT INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER.
The rest of the plot really is elementary - once you've unleashed RZIT, you just watch people run around and get brutally murdered ... this time, in space.
Somehow, they manage to deliver the payload despite the RZIT and the final scene is a bright sun rising over a wintered Earth, two children making a snowman. Lovely, really.
First, the plot basis. The sun is about to die, so Earth (all of Earth I suppose ... no commentary on what country, whose initiative, anything like that - essentially, zero context) is sending a giant bomb "the size of Manhattan island" to "restart the sun." There was a previous, seemingly identical mission 7 years ago that failed. This is discussed extensively.
No surprise, immediately after communication with the Earth is interrupted by solar waves (a week early, mind you), they hear the distress signal from the Icarus I original voyage. Since they are only carrying a single payload, they decide to go and get the original payload as well by adjusting their slingshot around Mercury.
Up until this point, it's hokey, but fine. Whatever. I can take it. Someone manually calculates the new trajectory, forgets to adjust the shields. Fine. Idiot, but fine. It's about time something moved the plot along anyway, or this would just be "Apollo 14: to the Sun!" There's an elegant oxygen garden fire, some argument, the forgetful guy goes suicidal. Fine. They link up with Icarus I. Oddly, everything is covered in an inch of literal dust. Ok, a vacuum sealed spaceship is full of dust now and they find the whole ship to be in operational order. This is about where my bent belief systems snap from the strain. Then they find a mass suicide in the main room. Uh, that's just weird, guys. Next, somehow the airlock in between the two ships blows apart and four astronauts have to make a dramatic, suitless space flight back to their ship. Naturally, someone has to stay behind to open the door. Less weird.
Foreshadowing dialogue: "There's no way the airlock broke - someone must have detached the ships manually!" (The dialogue is almost as great as the plot, really). Everyone looks around, pointing fingers and assessing alibis. No one trusts anyone, though luckily there are now few enough people to survive on the available oxygen (see fire, above). Then, while the physicist astronaut asks the ubiquitous ship computer questions, realization comes smashing through. A short take of the amazing, dramatic dialog punctuated by computer pauses:
Icarus (computer) to Capa (astronaut): "Capa, you are in a critical state. There is only enough oxygen left for .. 12 .. hours."
Capa: "Icarus, there is enough O2 left for 19 hours. We calculated this."
I: "No. The crew of .. 5 .. will only survive .. 12 .. hours."
C: "Icarus, there are only 4 crew alive."
I: "No. There are .. 5 .. crew."
C: "Icarus, who are the 5 people in the crew?"
I: "Capa, Cassie, Corazon, Searle, and unknown."
Now, yes, you guessed it. The airlock was indeed detached manually by an INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER. Yes, I did just say that. After convincing everyone on Icarus I to commit mass-suicide, the INTERSTELLAR PYSCHOKILLER stayed alive in the inch-thick dust, shed all of his skin and decided it was his mission to be the last man alive so that he could speak with G-d. Oh yes, he's not just an INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER, he is a RELIGIOUS ZEALOT INTERSTELLAR PSYCHOKILLER.
The rest of the plot really is elementary - once you've unleashed RZIT, you just watch people run around and get brutally murdered ... this time, in space.
Somehow, they manage to deliver the payload despite the RZIT and the final scene is a bright sun rising over a wintered Earth, two children making a snowman. Lovely, really.
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