So I’ve been using Facebook and Google reader/buzz to share most of my links this past year, but after some folks told me how much they liked what I posted here, thought I’d revisit my old format of those I’ve saved from the month of March.

Some highly entertaining videos!
Cycles from Youtube - What one guy recording a bit of the beach can do with his computer. bwain esplode!

Utah Saints, Something Goood 2008 Remix from vimeo - A hilarious take on the origin of the “running man” dance.

A Galactic Empire State of Mind from Topless Robot - Another example of making my nerdiness semi-public, but this video (& lyrics) rock! All sung by Darth and Leia.

This Was A Triumph, 3rd grade choir sings Portal’s “Still Alive” - Though few of you have actually played the 3-hour long impressive game, Portal, the closing song is often enjoyed by us in Rock Band and elsewhere. This performance made me very proud!

OK Go, This Too Shall Pass, Rube Goldberg Machine from YouTube - This is just pouring out with awesomeness, a must see!

Saturday Night Live Presidential Reunion from Funny or DIE - Incredible gathering of classic comedians for this funny and semi-sound political message (yes, I think we should pull together all of the many consumer protection agencies into one organization, though that’s not mentioned in this skit). Also, Jim Carey was on In Living Color, not SNL - who was the primary Reagan? Phil Hartman?

Trailer from Rabbit Fever movie (that I’m in!) - this went live a month ago. Amy’s done such a great job with it. Check it out!

Some amusing pictures:
Single Ladies comic from xkcd - hilarious take on Sauron from The Lord of the Rings.

Popular Thoughts about Global Climate Change from GraphJam - seems very true to me! I’m surprised at how many folks I’ve met in the “weather business” here despise Al Gore. Yes, they’re all conservative.

Ostrich Win - so much funnier as I think of all the people who try to feed (or punch) the animals at the zoo. Also, I was poked in the head-butted by a baby ostrich when I was in kindergarten, so I have a bit of sympathy, too.

Personal links:

As my previous post mentioned, my grandmother died recently. With the help of my uncles and aunts, I put together several pictures into the following video montage for the funeral. While all her grandkids were pallbearers, I also spoke at her funeral which helped to grieve, remember and celebrate her memory. It was wonderful to see so many family members there. She was truly loved!

I am a volunteer for Project Interfaith, a wonderful organization that promotes education of all faiths. You’ll likely hear more and more about this in the coming months.


And, while not a link, is stolen from my friend Eric’s blog - a nice observation of the incredibly cold and snow-filled winter we’ve had (of course now it feels like summer is here with the temp in high 70s already!):

“Number of the week: 107. That's how many days we went in the Omaha area between days with the high temperature above 50F, December 1 to March 17. I did some checking, and over the last five years, the second longest such streak was 68 days (Nov 19, 2007 to Jan 28, 2008). This year, between December 5 and March 3 (88 days) there were only two days that the temperature got above 40F. During that 68 days referenced above, there were 14 days where the temperature got above 40F.”

It’s a shorter list this time with more commentary. joy!

22 Firefox Extensions to Turn Gmail into a Powerhouse - Google took my gmail down on Friday afternoon. I’ve rarely felt so helpless! Here’s some pointers to customizing Firefox for gmail. Still love it - but may have to pay to get premium reliability. Any personal recommendations from this list or your own?

The dark side of Dubai - Johann Hari, Commentators - The Independent - a completely different look at Dubai from my week trip of last month. Scary stuff, though every place has it’s good/bad sides... just like us. Still, I’d return to visit.

Monopoly Killer: Perfect German Board Game Redefines Genre - I learned how to play Settlers of Catan back in 1996 in Rochester, NY, while at a Star Wars card tournament (I never learned how to play that card game). My UR friend Jeff Hannes taught me & Seth Leamer that Saturday afternoon - he was supposed to be writing about the tournament and was still obsessed with a board game - crazy! Well, 150+ games later, it’s still the one that got me into the hobby. Each of the family members have their favorite version (mine is Cities & Knights), but we rarely play it at game night as it’s almost considered old school by now. This article talks about how it’s gotten so popular in the US in the past 5 years!!! Guess I’m ahead of my time?

Magazine Preview - The Civil Heretic - Freeman Dyson - Profile - NYTimes.com - I have tremendous respect for the aged and legendary Dr. Dyson, though I disagree with him on a few hypotheses.

3-D: The Future of Movies - TIME - since I built the home theater, the only movies I’ve seen in the theaters are 3D or independent. I’m sure 3D home movies aren’t too far away, but they definitely justify the trip/experience now!

Rheumatology Exhibition and Conference 2009 to open doors in Dubai tomorrow | IIR Middle East - has a short interview with me.

Why is there Anti-Intellectualism? - intriguing question. I so often notice the anti-technology/science themes in movies/books that ride this wave of being afraid of what we don’t understand...

Topless Robot - TR Non-Review Review: Watchmen - I read the whole graphic novel and enjoyed the movie more for it, since it’s truly made for the readers/fans in mind (and out to ensure an R rating). Still, not the best movie, but I appreciate what was done to create it. The novel is outstanding.

His and hers: Study examines the role of gender in the stigma of mental illness - may not be new, but still fascinating.

And to close, some statistics humor: xkcd - A Webcomic - Correlation What’s sad is that I love this one - laughed out loud for certain. Oh how I’ve changed.

Well, I forgot to put my sheets in the dryer and so now have some unexpected free time to add to the blog. No full-out organization this time. Enjoy!

Ten Years On, Office Space Returns! - Dallas Observer. Classic movie with some great pictures and stories 10 years later!

Surprising stories behind 20 Muppet characters - CNN.com Can’t leave out a story about Muppets! Here’s a Muppet movie poster a local friend made.

:: THE HUNT FOR GOLLUM :: A Lord Of The Rings Fan Film - Very impressive!

YouTube - Girls on the dance floor - Far East Movement Music Video Contest Submission - My friend, Kristen Chan, made this for a competition. Fun!

ThinkGeek :: I void warranties - Kids :: Action Shots - My friend, Melissa, took this shot of her son. Perfect!

YouTube - WoW Intervention! - Hilarious! Just in case, WoW = World of Warcraft.

The True Stories Behind 5 Famous WTF Images | Cracked.com - Entertaining short piece (w/pics of course!)

Prank War 7: The Half Million Dollar Shot - CollegeHumor Video - OMG! Hilarious practical joke involving Maryland men’s college basketball game.

ABC News: Kinky Sex Is on the Rise, Therapists Say - Hmm... wonder if it’s just on the rise for people who can afford therapists?

Metrogrades: The Best Cities for Recycling: Men's Heath.com - Not surprising, many midwest towns not high up, though Omaha is better than most!

The Daily Show's Best Evolution Moments | Comedy Central - In honor of Darwin’s birthday.

Pharyngula: Louisiana boycotts science; scientists boycott Louisiana - Staying on theme.

Huge gamma-ray blast spotted 12.2 bln light-years from earth - am very curious as to what this could be from.

Testing relativity from the 1919 eclipse— a question of bias - Physics Today March 2009 - Bias?! That’s what I study!

J!NX : Clothing for Gamers & Geeks - Jessica Chobot profile - I’m a fan of this T-shirt site and Jessica’s (who works with a friend of mine at IGN). Two for one!

Paul Harvey - 1918 - 2009 - Listened to him a lot when I was a kid. Usually with grandparents or in the car going to another school for class trips/gifted. Had no idea he’d been around so long. Page 2. That’s the rest of the story. Good day. All quotes I garnered from him. Rest in peace.

Since I haven’t posted in over a month, I decided it should be encouraged to post shorter, more succinct items in order to make this worth subscribing to!

So, last year Angela brought this Tostitos spinach dip along with Tostitos flour tortilla chips. It was a great combination, but didn’t work nearly as well with other chips (corn, potato, etc). Last month I bought a large container of this said dip, but then noticed the store didn’t have the chips anymore. Over the past month I’ve visited the other 4 large grocery store chains here, two local specialty stores, a Mexican grocery and Whole Foods... NONE of them carried any flour tortilla chips! I finally had success with a local Mexican restaurant, but the chips have to be eaten that night as they go bad by the next day.

Who knew this would become such an issue... I can get lots of tropical fruit and items that were grown across the world, but I can’t get flour tortilla chips. Nice to have such problems to worry about.

Be sure to check out the latest picture of the cats in the K...Pics section. Was hard to get them to jump on my lap with the new Christmas decor to distract them (this was one of several taken).

I’ve got to get better categories for these posts!
Anyhew, enjoy!

I really like my xbox 360 (currently playing Jade Empire & Rock Band 2), but I don’t play much with strangers on it, even though it’s got the best online video game system (non-PC). This is one of the reasons why:
Topless Robot - The 10 People You Meet on Xbox Live

The Video Game Revolution: "Eight Myths About Video Games Debunked" by Henry Jenkins | PBS

Mad Geophysics: Magnetic Anomaly Map of the World

Brian Cox on CERN's supercollider | Video on TED.com - more info on the LHC by a great lecturer (very short talk)

Pictured: The 20-stone sumo girl... aged just 14 - Girls just wanna have fu’un! (wedgies are fun, right?) Amazing size for one so young.

ABC News: Exclusive: Inside Account of U.S. Eavesdropping on Americans - I often tease my family members and friends who are very pro-privacy (eg. they don’t use grocery discount cards, prefer cash, and hide their bridge-toll detectors in foil when not going near a toll) as I often use and can understand the reasons for wanting to collect such information. But the phone-tapping by the NSA is way way way over the line. Hasn’t The Dark Knight taught us that this is bad bad?

Official Gmail Blog: New in Labs: Stop sending mail you later regret - I could have used this function during my jet-lagged mornings and nights after returning from Sweden. Doh!

Berkeley Breathed says goodbye to Opus: 'I'm destroying the village to save it' - My favorite long-running comic is gone... again!

Revealed: Plans to build the world's tallest building at 1km high - So, I”m speaking at a conference in Dubai next March and I’m looking forward to seeing all of the crazy skyscrapers that already exist there, but this one... this one is breathtaking!

Topless Robot - Doctor Who Has No Idea What You're Doing Here - Can’t believe I watched the entire video. More to remind myself what all of the Dr. Who characters looked like (why did they get younger with every iteration? Is this like a Mork from Ork thing?)

Topless Robot - Rock Band Needs "The Touch" - Maybe you’re impressed? Maybe you’re just embarrassed, but I sing this song out loud every once in the while when I hit a few buttons to make things work and, of course, while striking a Saturday Night Fever pose.

Can’t Open Your E-Mailbox? Good Luck - NYTimes.com - This actually has me very nervous. Do NOT let someone take over your gmail account. I’ve got redundant accounts just in case this happens, but I hope I never have to deal with it. Be afraid!

OK, it’s been a little over 2 weeks, and we’re back. While I was overseas I didn’t stop collecting links, but I’m using old technology and can’t update this blog until I’m back home.

Technology/Science

Astronauts Return Safely to China - NYTimes.com - Did any of you know about this?

Private Company Launches Its Rocket Into Orbit - NYTimes.com - What about this?

Science News / Snapshot Of A Planet Beyond The Solar System - Or this? Clearly I’m getting excited about the future of space!

YouTube - end of the world?, the Large Hadron Collider ( LHC ) - Educational and entertaining video of what the LHC actually is. Yes, I miss physics, but am happy to be on the outside.

Has the Large Hadron Collider destroyed the earth yet? - related to the above for those of you who want to stay on top of things.

Health/Psych/Personal Improvement/My Job

How to Overcome Resentment | ThinkSimpleNow.com - In case you’re in a resentful kind of mood, here are some pointers to get through it (though when really resentful, do we want to get over it?)

A New Epidemic - YouTube - This is related to my research. Fascinating subject - the idea of disease mongering. Nice BMJ article about non-diseases and how most anything normal these days is treated like an ailment or disease for many reasons, but often to sell drugs/remedies as well.

New study proves that pain is not a symptom of arthritis, pain causes arthritis - Interesting new article on osteoarthritis. Yes, more shop talk, but strange to find an arthritis article on a physics web site.

Going Big - Harlem Renaissance - This American Life - I was recently asked what podcasts I listen to. If you’ve gone through my blog, you’ll only find mention of RadioLab. But I listen to NPR regularly and greatly enjoy This American Life. This week covered a man and his effort to reduce poverty in Harlem and how it led him to teach mothers how to be better parents by talking and reading to their babies. How just the increase in the number of words used and interaction could have such a great impact long-term. Seems also appropriate as a friend told me she thinks anyone who uses corporal punishment on their kids should be locked away. I disagreed and commented that people made too big of a deal about this, but that a quick spank or something to get a kids attention wasn’t so bad. But the more I thought about it, the more I questioned how I would be as a future-father. Let’s just say that I’m not so rigid in my beliefs.

The Incredible Podcast Episode 1: What online gaming parents know that you don't - Sent from Katie. Maybe you’ll all start playing more online games now?

Medicare Drug Premium on Rise - WSJ.com - Grandma, be sure to check out what your new rates will be. You may want to change to something better for you.

UNMC Today Headlines - Dr. Michaud awarded Arthritis Foundation New Investigator Grant - This was top of UNMC daily paper while I was away. I got so much “press” after it, even though I got this grant last July. What a difference some PR makes. Oh, and lots of comments on the new, cheesy smile picture.

Religion: why do people believe in God? - Telegraph - Thought provoking article, but clearly short and overly simplistic (but therefore quick digestible for a mid-day snack )

Politics

Don't Vote - CollegeHumor video - More for the younger peeps (?), but entertaining vid of lots of famous actors trying to get you to vote.

The Great Schlep - More Sarah Silverman trying to get us to get our family members in Florida to vote Obama. Funnay!

Experience 101 - Dick Cavett - Opinion - New York Times Blog - So many articles about the debates and the election, but enjoyed this fellow Nebraskan’s take from a few weeks ago.

Movies/TV/Sports/Games

Wehastrouble - Don’t view picture unless you’ve played any of the Settlers of Catan or CATAN games.

ESPN - There's no argument where the best QBs live: the Big 12 - Columnist - The Big XII in college football has shown it’s got great teams. Now they start to cannibalize each other in the coming weeks. Still, fun games!

Spore’s Piracy Problem - Forbes.com - the biggest computer game to arrive in years has gotten lots of protests from users due to its new copyright management. Revenge of the nerds!

Film - Disney Prepares to Use Its Marketing Magic to Bring Back the Muppets - NYTimes.com - I’ve had several comments about upcoming Muppet events planned and now I see it’s all part of a larger strategy of Disney, but I am concerned since the Muppets were more for adults, their edgy comedy. ABC put them with mindless kid-fare sitcoms back with Muppets Tonight (which was brilliant, btw) in 1991 or so, and it didn’t do well... I’m curious to see how much the brand is altered to make them appealing to the current-day kids.

Geeky Movies' Top 10 Coolest Kids | Geekdad from Wired.com - What happened to SpyKids? At least our geek from Real Genius made the cut.

South Park protest in Russia - remember when I mentioned that Russia wanted to ban South Park, well, some Russians aren’t happy about that. Check out the pics!

Ranking The Films Of The Coen Brothers | Movie Crunch - So many great movies by these guys. Though I haven’t seen their worst two on this list (or the new one).


Misc

Spippo's deviantART Gallery - These aren’t the My Little Pony ponies that we had - I like them even better!

YouTube - Ninja cat comes closer while not moving! - Hilarious cat video!

NIN Dazzles With Lasers, LEDs and Stealth Screens - They’re in town next month and I plan to attend (which is a big deal since I’m not a fan of most concerts, let alone hard alt rock ones).

Hallowindow - Mark Gervais - Amazing video this guy projected on his house’s windows for Halloween. Hmm... giving me ideas.

Enchanting Essentials - a new web site for my cousin’s, Summer’s, soap/care products company out in Oregon.

Wow, maybe I have more time on my hands (no) or just that a lot of interesting things have been happening lately around the world. But after 10 days, here’s a long list for you!

Business/Ecomonics/Politics

Can Diesel Ever Become Fashionable In The U.S.? - BusinessWeek. My family has owned a diesel van of some kind since I was a little kid. You can always hear it coming, but it got relatively good mileage. Here’s a good article about the hurdles of getting the good diesel cars more popular and available in the US. (plus, check out the great Honda diesel commercial narrated by Garrison Keillor!)

Lots of commentary regarding the Freddy/Fannie bailout this week. I’ve heard the pros and cons and believe we needed a bailout but with more serious consequences for the shareholders and decision-makers of the companies. I’m not a fan of having more welfare for the rich, once again. (or is that just a poor perception, Jay? You being 1 of 2 economists who read this blog. )
A $75 trillion fright fest: 8 megahorror debts chilling the U.S. - MarketWatch
US Is "More Communist than China": Jim Rogers - Financials * News * Story - CNBC.com

I was surprised there wasn’t greater coverage of all of the arrests at the RNC last week. Here are a couple interesting videos - one showing how this was reported in Russia (how the rest of the world was hearing about martial law in US, while here it didn’t make much of a splash at ABC).
YouTube - Martial Law at the Republican National Convention (Russian Times)
Political Radar: Police Clash with Demonstrators, Make Arrests at RNC (ABC)
Minnesota Independent: News. » Best of the RNC, outside the ‘green zone’ edition

Op-Ed Columnist - The Resentment Strategy - Op-Ed - NYTimes.com
Angry Amateurs - Swampland - TIME
Well written articles, but I still can’t get over the “Drill! Drill! Drill!” from the RNC. Can’t imagine a sweeter chant to hear by all of the countries that we’re at odds with (Ven, Rus, Iran, etc).

Sarah Palin Gender Card | The Daily Show | Comedy Central - and on the lighter side. A must-see video.

Science/Physics/Tech/Health

The most “important” event this week - CERN’s LHC is up and running! (as of today) Lots of press on it, but here’s a few you may have missed.
Hawking bets CERN mega-machine won't find 'God's Particle' (Update)
AP: This ain’t no jive, particle physics rap is a hit
YouTube - The Large Hadron Rap
xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe (it’s good to dream of a place where such a line could work - I’ll try it tonight before it’s too late. )

Top 10 Amazing Physics Videos | Wired Science from Wired.com- good to have on reserve.

Ok, this may be more appropriate in the politics section, but three related articles on science policy by the 2 main parties.
Cocktail Party Physics: physics politico
Physics Today Campaign 2008 - Where do they stand on science?
Sciencedebate 2008

Looking for Love In All the Right Alleles | Wired Science from Wired.com - waiting for the time when online dating sites will ask for blood to find your best match.
Single Men Want a Child, but the Relationship Can Wait - NYTimes.com - on the same theme - I’ve often wondered since my quest to find a life-partner has not had success, if I would ever choose something like this... probably not.
When sex becomes an addiction - CNN.com - due to Mr. X-files recent newsmaking.

Autism and Vaccines: Why Bad Logic Trumps Science | LiveScience - title explains all. Can’t tell you how many times I was told vaccines caused all of my health problems.

Important work can be done while daydreaming - The Boston Globe - yeah, I knew I was getting important work done!

You may have heard about Google’s new browser. I can’t use it, yet (not for Mac), but two good links among many:
Google Chrome - A nice comic from Google illustrating why they created a new browser
Why Did Google Abandon Firefox? - GigaOM

Why Disasters Are Getting Worse - TIME - another article discussing geography more than climatology.

Invertebrate Astronauts Make Space History | Wired Science - Impressive creature!


Entertainment/Sports/Misc

10 Movies Needing a Muppet Remake | Geekdad from Wired.com - Keeping the muppets theme alive and well.

Bid to ban extremist U.S. cartoon | U.S. | Reuters - We tried banning South Park in the US years ago, interesting to see if Russia does the same (and they’ve only aired through season 3, there are 12 of them so far!)

The curse word 'Battlestar Galactica' created - CNN.com - FRAK! (What about Farscape’s “Frell” and their many words for other private words? Though I still like the made for TV editing of Breakfast Club, “FLIP YOU!” - as we all shouted it out loud at the recent 80s party. )

Topless Robot - The World Is Now Higher Pitched - great little video of the best voice in movie trailers. Farewell Mr. Don LaFontaine.

YouTube - How Lord of The Rings Should Have Ended - one of many hilarious little Youtube videos showing how so many popular movies should have ended.

Believe! — Bernard Pollard Fan Club - Red tee - It’s still a little raw and my NY Giants fan-friend (living in Boston) is walking a fine-line as she mocks the Pats fans, but still, this shirt is funny in it’s bad-taste. Besides, it’s on a Steeler’s fan site. Go Chefs! :-P

A Lingerie League of their Own - SPIKE - Lastly, seems so wrong in so many ways (though of course I’ll have to check it out on TV next year). I alway thought there should be a co-ed or female football leagues, but this wasn’t what I had in mind (clearly I lack imagination/daydreaming). Enjoy the pics!

Whoa, long trips and bad local-only blog software make keeping this up to date hard! Here’s an unloading of the “best” links from the past month (after they make it through the K filter).

The Guinea Pig Olympics - Telegraph - so... darn... cute... can’t resist.
Lupin/Cavy Related: Pet rabbit saves owners from fire.
TB’s long lost cousin? 40lb cat needs a home!

Nice graphic of how US men are predicted to die in 2008 (from Men’s Health, copyrighted pic, so may not be around long)

Interesting research on IQ, evolution, sex and brain size. General Intelligence Factor (Scientific American), Social brain theory (Science), Fluctuating asymmetry and intelligence (journal) (Thanks, Stacie)
Related: Police reject candidate for being too intelligent.

Bernie Mac in the news - he is missed!

Death Star (and other SW ships) over San Francisco - cool video!
Other invasions in the world: Why Russia’s response to Georgie was right. (commentary-Financial Times)
In-depth article of the double life of Karadzic, an infamous Serbian fugitive (NYTimes)

I really enjoyed Firefly (and Serenity, too!) but was disappointed with what they did with Shepherd Book’s character. Now his backstory is coming out in a new comic book.
7 Biggest a-hole computers in Sci-Fi. We all know #1, but what about the rest? (also, we must fear what we don’t understand, right? How about just respect? )

It’s taken me a while, but I’m now following the olympics a bit. Still, America, What About Handball?!
This is now out of date, but reasons why this is the biggest, baddest olympics ever.
The gender trap - issues with women close to losing olympic medals for not being woman-enough.

Desperate climates call for desperate geoengineering? (physics today) - scary and interesting stuff.
Signals travelling faster than speed of light? - never know what’s real in these pop-science articles, but still interesting!
SLAC is being renamed? Ugh, seems ridiculous.
More fabulous Hubble pictures!

CUIL - the Google killer. Um, at least was in the news for a couple days, anyone really use it?

I’m celebrating the 80s this month. How about this: Top 10 delicious extinct candies from the 80s

Chemistry of Sex Drive (health)
Aging is an accident of evolution - says Stanford researcher.
7 Common dreams and what they mean (Divine Caroline)
and 14 reasons you’re not sleeping (Forbes)

When in Japan, drink the “beer” for kids! (really crazy video)

For those who watched Batman - THe Dark Knight (which is now #2 top grossing movie in US all time - just passed Star Wars!), you may have been intrigued by The Watchmen trailer before it. Here’s an intro to that comic book from the 80s. Looks cuil!

Study reports that most corps don’t pay US income taxes. (Reuters)

For an inspirational talk - Randy Pausch Last Lecture: achieving your childhood dreams

Thank you for your support!

Just a few links to add to the list. Thanks to those of you who have given me positive feedback encouraging me to continue posting these! (and glad many of you got to see the adventures of Dr. Horrible last week)

Scientific Method: Relationships Among Scientific Paradigms Interesting algorithmic map showing relationship/connection between all sciences

Senate Approves Bill to Broaden Wiretap Powers - NYTimes.com Argh! I can completely understand why the citizenry has an even lower view of Congress compared to W when they do things like this. Old news by now.

Band Geek Hero! - Brought To You By TorsoPants.com - great shirts, but where is “Bass Clarinet Hero” shirt when I need it?!

ABC News article on aging tires - I wasn’t aware of this, though I’m still unsure how much of a problem it really is.

Muppets head to D.C. for special homecoming - CNN.com - Must go to DC to check this out!

Thinking Outside the Box: 8 Ways The Dark Knight Shines | LifeDev - OK, so I watched this on opening night at the nearby IMAX (yes, they just built it over in Council Bluffs). I was VERY impressed and thought this one of the many articles helped highlight some of the ways it was so good.

While I haven’t played Rock Bank much of late, the newest incarnation (Rock Band 2) was announced for September. So many great songs!

Topless Robot - the 10 Lamest Dr. Who Villains - I haven’t watched this show since I was a kid and no one was as good as Tom Baker, but thought it was still fun to make fun of and to share with you another geeky blog site, Topless Robot!

And, the main video for this time - a 6-min recreation of John Carpenter’s horror movie The Thing done with GIJoes! (plus it’s a music video for Zombie Zombie: Driving)

A shorter list today, but maybe with greater quality?

FORA.tv - Paul Roberts: The End of Food Listened to this 1-hour talk by Paul Roberts, author The End of Oil and The End of Food. Well done and while pessimistic at times, I enjoyed the big-picture view of food, oil, economy, global-warming, etc.

3 Ideas That Are Pushing the Edge of Science | Gadgets | DISCOVER Magazine

Judge Orders YouTube to Give All User Histories to Viacom | Threat Level from Wired.com Old news, but still quite troubling.

Poll: US taxpayers want more funding for scientific research About time!

The 10 Most Awesomely Bad Moments of the Bush Presidency | Election 2008 | AlterNet In case you had forgotten, here's a reminder.

Midwest Teen Sex Show Recommended by local pediatrician - surprising funny AND educational. Good for folks of all ages, though probably not safe for work.

CrunchGear » Archive » AT&T’s text messages cost $1,310 per megabyte I have been planning on getting the new iPhone, but two big issues: 1) range of service here in Omaha is questionable & 2) increase in rates including text messaging - may be enough to save money and not switch over this year either.

Funny t-shirts, Funny shirts, t-shirts, shirts, Cool t-shirts, Cool shirts, tees A funny site by itself, but also a great selection of funny t-shirts. Torsopants.com!

Uno and only -- chicagotribune.com New cross between Segway, motorcycle & Star Wars vehicle.

nsf.gov - Discoveries - Not a Quirk But a Quark ... a Quark Star! - US National Science Foundation

Science News / Citizen Astronomy Story about many astronomy amateurs finding new astronomical findings (that was awkward)

Roberts' record on high court defies '05 pledges of centrism -- chicagotribune.com I have respect for both Obama and McCain, but the latter, similar to Dole in '96, has changed in ways I don't like as he leads his party (actually, so has Obama). Not a fan of Scalia, Thomas and now Roberts and McCain has said he would add others similar to them.

Eppendorf International - It's called epMotion Very funny and real boy-band advert for a machine to do automated Eppendorf pipetting. So many (including myself) have spent so many hours pipetting that the humor and need for this would ring true - enjoy! (especially Kim Smith, Stacie, and the BoxerLab gang) Though the critic in me thinks they could have added a more pertinent 2nd verse.

George Carlin died a few days ago. He was one of the first celebrities I ever met. I had been at college for just a couple weeks and CPB brought him to perform. Great show, great guy and he was on one of my first dorm room posters - the one that had hundreds and hundreds of bad words/phrases on it. I learned how so many phrases could be innuendo for something else that day. But it is something to have a comedian that is so entertaining also be a decent human being when off the stage. His routines have been used to spread anti-government, anti-religion and anti-business by a plethora of groups (some respectable, many not) - but the reason I always enjoyed his humor was that it made you laugh and question things at the same time. The usual "Oh yeah, that's funny, cuz it's true" combined with "does it have to be like that" or "it's sad that it's true" thoughts. No matter, I'll miss him.
Comedy Central Early Tribute
Recent one on America (used by those groups listed above)


Physics/tech links:

Phoenix Mars Mission (great that this project, led by U of Arizona, has gotten so much attention. They've done a good job managing it and setting up PR - maybe a sign that future projects should be outsourced from NASA?)

Fastest-ever flashgun captures image of light wave - tech - 19 June 2008 - New Scientist Tech (I hate it when headlines mislead readers on the science, but it's still cool to see)

IBM's Roadrunner breaks petaflop barrier, tops supercomputer list | Tech news blog - CNET News.com (People wonder what IBM does these days since it's no longer in the PC business... here's one thing it still does well!)

Colliding with nature's best-kept secrets - CNN.com (never heard of this guy before, but it's interesting to see how the scientists get attention)

Earth Will Survive After All, Physicists Say - NYTimes.com (another story on CERN)

The End of Theory: The Data Deluge Makes the Scientific Method Obsolete (curious take on the subject)


Health-Science/Sex links:

Adventures In Science: The Incredible, Inedible Egg (fascinating first-time ever pictures of a woman's ovulation - this should just disturbing enough that the following links about sex won't be as scintillating)

Can’t Find The G-Spot? You’re Not Alone: The Science of Sex (curious - still have a lot to learn about women)

I've had the G-shot...and YES,YES,YES, my sex life has never been better (UK paper)

ABC News: G-Shot Parties: A Shot at Better Sex? (see a theme, yet?)

AskMen.com - The G-Shot (last one, honest)

Baby born with eight limbs takes her first steps after life-saving surgery (whoa! Amazing pics and story)

Morbid thoughts make you reach for the cookies | Health & Fitness | Reuters (this somewhat explains my purchases from the month of less sleep from shoulder pain)

Books - 2 Books on Illness and Wellness Give Opposite Advice - Review - NYTimes.com (Nortin Hadler is a unique rheumatologist. I have his previous book and can usually appreciate his somewhat cynical view of the health system.)


Potpourri:

Re: Neck of the woods. (In Paris I used the phrase "In my neck of the woods" with a Portuguese doctor. I realized after a second that she had no clue what that meant, and then I thought of how those words together didn't make any sense to me, either. Well, this link cleared it up, but I'll have to work harder on not being so difficult to understand. )

Nintendo Wii Fit women and the $41m damage bill | The Daily Telegraph (who knew the Wii could be so expensive after all!? )

Daily Herald - Crazy Horse monument turns 60 with no end in sight (hope this gets completed in my lifetime)

A ROMAN GLASS GAMING DIE (on sale at Christies - I love this line "Modern scholarship has not yet established the game for which these dice were used." How cool is that?! Gamers of the ancients? )

Lego Death Star Exclusive High-Res Pics: 3,800-Piece Death Star Diorama Is Coolest Star Wars Lego (meh, I stil prefer the recent huge Millennium Falcon - though I own none of these!)

Airplane Pilot Shares His Thoughts | Your America | Reader's Digest (tell it like it is!)

Picture of trends in CEO pay from NYTimes. (I could imagine BJ saying that CEOs need to be paid this much to encourage them to do what they do well, etc., but isn't this ridiculous?)

And the fun video to end on - Matt is back with his new higher res video of dancing around the world! Where the Hell is Matt? (2008) on Vimeo

(written on plane back to US)
While trying to figure out which train I should take, a good friend from Switzerland, Axel, ran into me. Made my "winging it alone" approach much easier. But when before I was at the stop where I was supposed to get off, they had a small strike, so I had to find a new route to the hotel (Axel had already left). Once there, I still had to fill 3 hours since my room wasn't ready (they said 10am online for me, but it was 1:30pm). Exhausted, I took a long nap, then headed out to see the Eiffel Tower and surrounding area.

Wow - it's much more impressive than I thought it would be! Which is good 'cuz if I wasn't distracted by it, I would have been by all of the couples there (meh ). Actually met a fellow tourist in line travelling by herself (boyfriend was at Radiohead concert). She's a German med student - which is especially good since the elevator to the top had me in a bit of panic/vertigo! I have a fear of heights, but at the same time I love them - something I crave and find fascinating, especially the vertigo that "tells" me to jump.

I actually went to the meeting every day of the conference. Was nice to visit with my friends and colleagues from all over the world and more relaxed than the American one (this Oct in SF) as I had very little to present and only a couple meetings requiring my attendance. Still was surprised at the lack of very large conference centers in Europe - every year it's bigger and every year it's still not big enough. Next year is Copenhagen which may be less popular of a destination, but I'm excited about it for the physics history!

As for Paris, so many observations. The obvious - very expensive and crowded. So many stores of fashion/style and pastries and so much good food. There were a host of beautiful women of all ages (maybe a requirement of living there?) though less notable attractive men. Fairly dirty in many places - more garbage cans are needed and definitely more recycle areas (they have green pods that look like the scout-probe droid from Star Wars hiding every several blocks). No recycling at the convention center.

In other important observations, they had Coke-zero everywhere - JOY! (even at McDonalds) Yes, I tried Mickie D's on the Champs-Elysees with some friends from Portugal. It was huge with a limited menu and a wide counter with ~15 staffed registers/attendants. I wanted to try some frites in France (French fries), plus there was special pleasure in reliving the scene from Pulp Fiction in my head. AND they had a mayo-salso for fries. Met a group from Vancouver there (yes, I have a habit of talking to strangers when I'm in foreign countries. Similarly 2-years ago I had a nice time (& surprsingly nice food) at a Burger King in Amsterdamn with ~10 Jamaican soldiers. Maybe it's because I have less pressure to behave myself? More likely due to preferring it to talking to the voices in my head. ). A young woman was crying on the flight to France. I gave her a Milky Way. I know, ridiculous, but she was happy to have it, and then told me in a few broken-English words about leaving her boyfriend in the US for 6 months as she went back home to school. The French miltary guy on the flight back who read more about computer RPGs than actually playing them (Josh, sound familiar to us?). So many stories...

Yes, I did try a bunch of nice French restaurants - from small social joints, to deli's, to fast-food (Paul is a nice chain), to some of the finest around (Restaurant L'Angle du Faubourg - over $100 and oh so good!). Also had some Middle-eastern, Italian & east Asian cuisines. I expected to gain weight, but made up for it by drinking coke zero (again, yeah!) and tons of walking.

How much walking? Well, I didn't take the pedometer (a mistake), but easily 10 miles a day. For example, the Louvre, which is HUGE - walked from the Arch de Triumph down to it (my friends wanted to go shopping at the Disney store. Disney is big here - almost went to Euro-Disney just because I'd never been to any of them and thought it would absurd... but I digress). This museum went on and on. So many impressive works (and so many "stolen/recovered" from times of antiquity). Loved the Egyptian writings/sculptures. The French paintings didn't impress me as much - maybe the size of them. You need a place as big as the Louvre to display them! I'm looking forward to returning there and seeing more. On the way back the metro broke down, twice, so we were forced to walk again. This time taking a detour since W was visiting. Security was incredible - makes me wonder the costs of having a disliked world-leader visit anywhere. In so much pain from walking! Also of note that evening - France lost badly (4-1) in Eurocup play, so the town was a bit depressed; I walked through a small alley filled with young lesbians (a bit of a spectacle, but here, like many other times, I couldn't interact much since I didn't know the language). Another sight - was walking to hotel after great food one late evening and discovered 9000 young adults dressed all in white, drinking champagne, and lined up around tables all up the Champs-Elysees. Apparently they meet some place random with only hours of notice every year - still don't know what it's for, but not quite a flash-mob (too well organized), but close!

My hotel room had a bidet. Just seems useless for what people tell me it's for - seems more useful for washing the feet as it's just so damn low (pic taken for Michelle's curiosity). Other notes - spoiled wrotten Americans. Can't help but notice these princes(ses) when nearby. No looks make up for such at-times vile behavior (not just women, but for this trip they stood out). Sun goes down at 10pm - no wonder everyone eats late! I finished my meal last night at 11:30pm. Sun comes up at 5am (wha?! how the hell does this make sense? Oh yeah, we are further north. But hadn't noticed this profound difference since Stockholm in 2002 which was only mostly dark between 11pm-3am). Online told me to expect cold and rain all week - it was so wrong! Yes, clouds, but it was gorgeous most everyday with temps near 70. Couldn't even get the next day's weather correct.

Tried to see Musee d'Orsay, but they had security problems and wouldn't let anyone in. It was my biggest disappointment as it houses some of my favorite paintings (impressionists). Did a walk-by of Notre-Dame. Really want to see the Disney movie again. Walked by Montmartre. Want to see Amelie again. (See the theme, yet? Though have fought away my desire to see French Kiss a 2nd time ).

OK, novella is almost done. Love the public transportation, the views, the food and overall spectacle that was Paris. Plenty more to see some other day, but great trip overall. Spent some down time working but kept it mostly to here on the plane. Body is in a lot of pain, but so it goes. Oh yeah, also saw the new La Defense in the financial center - it's huge! Took the glass elevator to the top and didn't have a med-student to save me from the vertigo/panic - completely took me by surprise! Not much to see on top, but was hilarious to see the small computer museum - I recognized so many of the machines (some of which my father still has hiding at home). Crazy to treat them as historical artifacts when they're so young. They had an Apple Newton & the same model iMac G3 that my grandparents still use! I'll put up pics shortly.

Ok, bod needs me to sleep. Congrats for reading this far!

Wow, seems like only a week, but it's been 3! Here are the links, the life update will come tomorrow. Catchup before I leave for Paris (and before the new iPhone is announced!)

One of my favorite recent movies, the overambitious Donnie Darko. I'll be showing it in the home theater this summer, but if you've seen it, here's a followup article on it. Everything you were afraid to ask about "Donnie Darko" - Salon.com

It's likely not a coincidence of the timing of this announcement - the Phoenix lander on Mars (and uncovering the near-surface ice!), the upcoming X-files movie and relapse to the paranoia of aliens instead of terrorists. It does make me wonder if they know something and are preparing others for an announcement.
Vatican: It's OK to believe in aliens - Yahoo! News

Who Owns the Moon? Lunar Property Rights - Real Estate on the Moon - Popular Mechanics


One of the funniest niche-hobby sites I've seen (that isn't ICHC or theonion) - BEE DOGS! (Bee sure to read the transition text to each page - I was amazed at how many pictures of beedogs there are!)

OK, another funny picture - in fact, I laughed so hard I cried on this one. Neither dog was injured, but it's still so damn funny. Excellent demonstration of conservation of momentum!

Biggest Drawing In the World (also an advertisement for DHL).

A lot of the physicists I worked with at Fermilab came up from TX after this project was canned. It's sad, but I'm glad the LHC at CERN is up in action. USA, don't give up on your basic science research! Super Collider lab now gathering weeds near Dallas | Chron.com - Houston Chronicle

Another link to CERN - YouTube - The Grid (the Internet of the near future?)

Technology Review: Pretty on the Inside ("3D" pictures of cells)

I linked to stories of the strange dieing-off of the honeybees last year. Still a problem! Last flight of the honeybee? Alison Benjamin reports on a very real threat | Environment |

Something closely related to my research in the NYTimes. Personal Health - An Update on Jane E. Brody's Total Knee Replacement Surgery, 3 Years Later

Lovers and liars: How many sex partners have you really had? (Interesting research)

And a couple comics from a wonderful and eclectic online strip, xkcd. Described as xkcd - A webcomic of romance, sarcasm, math, and language - By Randall Munroe - Fortune Cookies (something I often do), and I am also an ex-marching band drum major - this would happen to me as I often walk to the beat in stores.

When shoulder pain has you down, look to the web for distractions!

YouTube - Title Of The Song (fun a cappella generic romance song)

What to do when you're pulled over by a cop while driving (mostly obvious stuff)

I'm a fan of this - making a game out of protein folding. Use human brain power to do what computers can't.

A woman who can literally remember everything (really a curse?).

This one hit home a bit: 30 years of Man's Life disappear in Mysterious 'Kansas Rectangle' - at the Onion

New free album from Nine Inch Nails: The Slip

Barenaked ladies have a new kids album that just came out - actually really fun, it's called Snack Time and you can listen to it free here, temporarily (scroll over to it). I like "The Ninjas" and others - all very short, but here's the first video (cartoon) called "7 8 9".

To my friends getting married this year, a toast from xkcd (an eclectic online comic)

Has anyone used the software SuperMemo? You can get it here. Read a lot about it in Wired and will use it to learn/remember something useful (like French for when I go to Paris next month?). You can practice/learn anything with it, just needs a library to learn from.

Ars technica article entitled "Evolution: what's the real controversy?"

This Scientific American article got me a bit sentimental. The LHC will finally get activated this summer at CERN (in Geneve, Switzerland). Here's initial pics of it on the initial internet web page - something I was using at Fermilab back in 1994 and I actually worked on simulations of the hadron calorimeter in 1995 - only 13 years later it'll finally get activated!

This time I'll keep them organized by theme since there are so many good ones!

Science:
Scientists Unveil High-Res Map of the U.S. Carbon Footprint | Wired Science from Wired.com (go Omaha! )

How Deja Vu Works (seemed appropriate with this month I've been having)

Scientists Now Expect to Find Gravitational Waves (part of LIGO - was once recruited to help with this 11 years ago!)

Physicists model how we form opinions

The $25,000,000,000 Eigenvector (ie. Google's)

Stephen Hawking calls for Moon and Mars colonies

Does the Earth's magnetic field cause suicides?

Recent Events (ie. politics/tech/misc):

NPP INCOME TAX CHART | National Priorities Project (good to be reminded where the US taxpayer money goes)

Expelled Exposed (it's the new Intelligent Design documentary - haven't seen it, but not happy of the messages it's portraying and I've lost all respect for Ben Stein)

On topic: YouTube - Why do people laugh at creationists? (part 22)

Was disgusted by the questions asked at the Penn Democratic debate. Guess I wasn't the only one: MoveOn.org Political Action: Enough Distractions

From friend who recently returned from Africa: Islamic schools lure African boys into begging

Banks meet over £40bn plan to harness power of Congo river and double Africa's electricity

Sub-prime fallout metrics US map (NYTimes)

Nebraska High School Project on Genocide Was a Portent of Real-Life Events - New York Times (similar to my reaction in college when studying Weimar republic of Germany - couldn't we have predicted and done something to prevent the travesty?)

How to Win the War on Global Warming (Time magazine)

Superheroes in Real Life - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul)


Game related:

Mr. Jack. Wonderful 2-person board game that you can play for free in your browser. Feel free to invite me to a game - I'm "Kadorus".

The Best Videogame Stories Ever (not that I fully agree with this, but it does highlight some amazing games from the 90s and more recent - especially loved Planescape: Torment).

Ikariam - The free browser game - haven't played it, but friend recommended it (she's on planet Iota) and says it's similar to a massive multiplayer Civiliation

Grand Theft Auto IV: Dystopian Liberty City - New York Times (don't know if I'll ever play any of these games, but this one definitely has had the buzz the past week/year!)

Humor:

YouTube - Flight of the Conchords Ep 4 If You're Into It - Hilarious short song on this HBO tv show, very catchy!

An Engineer s Guide to Cats on Yahoo! Video (can't forget the always entertaining kittehs!)

Funniest Valedictorian Speech Ever video - probably funnier when thinking back to high school. Ah, those were the days... of mental incarceration.

Sex, Pop Culture, and Misc:

WNYC - Radiolab - back for another wonderful season. Listen to these podcasts! (I know, belongs more in Science)

ABC News: Christian Sex: Holy and Hot!

BBC NEWS | Health | Masturbation 'cuts cancer risk'

Men, women, sex and confusion : Booster Shots : Los Angeles Times - my friend was amazed at this, but every guy told her it was true.

Song about relativistic plasma jets (plus trippy visuals!) Blogs Scientific American - again, another not quite science link

YouTube - We_Are_The_Strange - Don't watch this here, it's trippy and doesn't work in small Youtube format, but you at least get an idea about the fuss. I think this will make a great backdrop to game night.

Six Diseases You Don’t Want - humor and medical science

Guillermo del Toro Chats with TORN About ‘The Hobbit’ Films! - Yes, I'm very excited about the upcoming movies!

Life-changing books: Recommendations from 17 leading scientists

And lastly, the one I've been saving for several of you: Carl Zimmer's Science Tattoo Emporium - yes, look on in surprise, envy, awe and disgust!

That's it for April - let me know what you think!

Fortunately, the new CERN particle detector/accelerator isn't a threat to Earth (something I had to deal with while working at FermiLab years ago).

Entertaining home-made (?) video for a Daft Punk song involving two gals with black markers. Check it out!

Brief news article about the local neighborhood gathering to better local security after an 11-year old boy and his house cleaner were killed (stabbed) while at home last month (<1 mile away).

Story about much better source of fuel (biodiesel) than corn - grows on trees! (just takes a long time to grow)

5 most ridiculous lies we were taught in history class (warning: foul language)

This was April Fool's week - Google didn't let us down with these two gems: New email option & work to travel to Mars!

First ever in US, appendix was removed through a woman's vagina. Seems like a smart way to do surgery - through natural body cavities.

Who wants to join me to Africa for a stay at the Giraffe Manor?!

PBS's Frontline has always been the best news/documentary program on TV. You can watch all episodes for free online and catch the newest and great series: Bush's War.

Who wants to host a party with the International Dance Party? (still not sure if this gadget is for real... guess it is!)

I've got the cold from hell. It first arrived a couple weeks ago, climaxed on Sunday and Monday, and then just got better. Here it is a week later and a new one hits very late on Saturday, and doesn't let go. At least today my head is clear enough that I can think (ie. work), though I'm avoiding work and spreading my lovely cough. Seems that every winter I get a brutal cold that lingers for 10 days or so, but this one has been much longer. Woe!

I decided against putting up techee geek links like The Holographic Principle and M-theory, The Science of Sex: Does the Nose Know?, and an editorial Beware the Child-Man. Oops, guess I did it again!

Actually, there is something to the scent of another. But never would have guessed it could be linked to genetic variety. The scientist in me is aware of these differences, which may be related to my taste in dating partners - they really have no factor in common. Once my nose is working more properly, I'll be extra sensitive to report my findings.

Speaking of Child-man, I finally beat Bioshock last week. Great game! Word is they'll make it into a movie. Definitely an interesting and unique story of man's ego/drive gone awry. Next up is the highly acclaimed Mass Effect. FOX news had a brief show highlighting it for "full digital nudity and sex". It was amazing at how bad this news program was. But what is of note is the heavy backlash FOX and the psychology expert they brought received online afterwards. Here's a NYTimes article that covers the whole story.

The 4th undersea Internet cable was cut in the Middle-East this week. Friends in the area say it's all media hype, whereas others are predicting something dire is about to happen. I'm not sure what's going on and the trusted news groups have been less than helpful, but it's more than suspicious. Here's a more detailed ABC article on it.

The primary vote tallies are almost done. Google maps and Twitter teamed up for this interesting "live" take on it all. Should be more interesting in an hour or two.

Back to work!

A lot has happened in the past 2 weeks, but that requires many new pics, so for now I'll just catch you up on some of the web sites that have educated and/or entertained me recently.

I really like HD-DVDs, in comparison to Bluray Discs. The upconversion on regular DVDs are great (ie. play a regular DVD on an HD-DVD player on HDTV and it looks almost high-def). They're cheaper, easier to make and the technology is mature whereas the only current BD players that will work with the discs that come out next fall is the Playstation3. Plus, it's Sony being all proprietary again (which is why I don't own a Sony camera or TV). Anyway, here's a nice business article about BD winning by Sony buying out Warner and one about HDs price drops (I went ahead and got a few more for just over $10 recently).

So, for those that missed it, MacWorld had their Steve Jobs keynote recently (visit apple to view). Since the future of my HD-DVD player's usefulness is questionable, I'm more interested in downloaded HD video content. Here's a comparison on the main 2 consumer HD download movie rentals (xbox live & apple tv). Still happy with my xbox360. Plus, quick review matrix of MacBook Air. It looks very sleek!

Back to the home cinema theme - check out these! Some day... some day...

Is this (noca) how we'll be making all our future online payments? I would be happy to find a credit-alternative that has no fees for the seller.

News article on kite-powered cargo ship - fuel efficient shipping of the future is here now?

Interesting card-trick video. Something out of psych 101? View it & let me know if you figured it out!

OK, the next two links have a lot of foul language, so don't click if that bothers you.
The 5 most horrifying bugs in the world - while I had heard of all of these at different times, the humor of the article and some of the pics reminded me of the fun I was missing.
From the Onion, pho-editorial by Jimmy Carter called "I Got What America Needs Right Here". Wrong, but hilarious!

Continuing on politics, Legacy table of George W Bush's Presidency - what he started with, where things currently are. Yes, very sad, though biased & silly at places - but short!

Ex-US Congressman Mark Deli Siljander now charged in terror conspiracy (from Kansas City!)

Not quite related, but fascinating map of leading church bodies in the US. Since college I would tell others that in high-school we often differentiated each other by which church we attended. Now I see that KS does have quite the variety where we were!

Sad and long article about where and how Bobby Fischer is festering.

Bloomberg article about a free-sex brothel called Big Sister, that apparently is catching on big time.

Lastly, real-life love story of Chinese couple - man carves 6K steps for his wife.

Been busier with work over the past week than I had hoped to be in a long while. Late nights, weekends... reminds me of graduate school all over again, or that I didn't do much on the days I took off for the holidays and now I pay the price. Today's post is actually thematic, let's see if you can figure it out.

Some great quotes from Einstein - just ignore the blogger's interpretation of them. Though I can't help but think about Einstein and so many other geniuses did their greatest work in their 20s...

Been playing more rock band, but hoping to reduce the loudness of playing the drums this way. Bang your head!

Interesting and impressive application of magnets to create a working motor, reminds me of asymetrical fields I used in grad school to sort membrane proteins... ok, there is a similarity, but it's likely non-obvious.

Hilarious self-mocking video of Bill Gates post-Microsoft, something that gives Steve Jobs and others a run for their money in the humor and coolness department.

The Washington Post just put up McGovern's OpEd. Yes, something I, too, have questioned often as to how we could impeach Clinton and proceed for it with Nixon, but not the current Bush/Cheney duo.

Here's a list of 20 Super Brain Foods. Or, just made me feel good to know that I eat plenty of these. Now, where are the packaged/processed ones that supposedly are even better for the brain? Don't I drink a Coke Zero every afternoon for a reason?

Lastly, second thoughts on life, the universe and everything by the world's best brains. Not sure about world's best brains, but short and some interesting thoughts.

AFI's top 10 movies of 2007. I've seen and enjoyed 4 of them and have the rest on Netflix.

Full review of the redone Blade Runner DVD release. (likely last link to Blade Runner, evah!)

Great fan art of the Simpsons - making them more comic book "realistic" (and her Futurama art, too)

It's finally official - Peter Jackson & Fran Walsh are doing 2 Hobbit movies for New Line Cinema! I often thought it would have to be way too long to get the full book covered in one movie, but where to split it at? Sounds like the first film will be the Hobbit and the 2nd will be the 80 years between it and the LOTR. And who to play Bilbo with Ian Holmes likely a bit too old.

An AP story stating Bioshock game of the year and The Orange Box as best deal & Rock Band best "off-sofa" game. I agree with all except for statement that Bioshock is available fore PS3.

And for the pop scientist in all of us, news about finding tapes by Hugh Everett from the 70's covering his parallel worlds theory which has gained popularity again. I wrote a class paper on this back in '93 - fun to think about. I also like the Eels (band) and Everett is the father of their lead singer - cool!

Two days without setting an alarm and two nights of interesting dreams. The only one worth mentioning here was from the first night. I was at a family gathering (anniversary, birthday, etc) in a large catered room that may have been connected with a shopping center with dozens of relatives. I noticed some people across the large room through a window in a connected small storage room gathering expensive A/V equipment, purses, coats, etc and then taking it out with a couple relatives with them looking distraught. It looked like they were robbing my family right before my eyes! Ok, will skip the rest - it goes on into a chase/action movie and gets blown out of proportion (including driving a car through a Walmart/mall and underground in ventilation/sewers - fun!).

The next dream (same night) I'm at the same party, but this time I'm one of the "robbers". Apparently we came to get the A/V equipment to film another event while some others needed to use this smaller room so they had to move the coats/purses and at the same time a phone call was made that apparently someone who was supposed to attend was in a bad car accident so the people who got that call were upset. We start to leave and on the way out I'm being chased by some crazy people...

Anyway, it was fun as I was convinced in the first dream that something was awry. The second dream gave me a completely different perspective. I love it!

Lastly, I'm suspecting that this is my grandparents' 60th anniversary which is scheduled for next fall - stay tuned. I used to log such dreams in order to show that many of them would come true - also entertaining.

Off to brave the ice outside!

I'll be watching and cheering for the Kansas Jayhawks this weekend as they try for an undefeated miracle season as they take on Missouri. Hope either one of them can go all the way. Interesting article about their relatively short QBs.

Played and beat an incredible game called Portal (part of the Half-Life 2 Orange Box for Xbox 360 and PC). It wasn't very long, and no shooting, all about solving puzzles, but there was incredible narration to the story where you are a guinea pig. The end had me awestruck and throughout the game I was laughing even at the sinister aspects. Apparently it was written by Erik Wolpaw, one of the 2 great minds who wrote my favorite game for the original Xbox, Psychonauts (Tim Schafer is the other). This wonderful interview sheds some life on the great mind at work. Even now I'm listening to the youtube video of the final end-game song that is well-done in its own right - a new ipod addition!

If you were thinking of getting a Playstation3 with 15 free Blu-ray movies, this Saturday's secret sale is your best chance at WalMart. I've debated it, but am sticking with my 360 & HD-DVD player. Both formats will be around for a long while.

And for my future movie theater, here's the chart detailing on when you can tell the differences between 720p & 1080p projectors.

In the more controversial links, here's a 2 hour movie, Zeitgeist, (in three parts) that's entertaining and thought-provoking, though good at making one angry as well. Lots of paranoia in presenting this "documentary", but some aspects I enjoyed debating with others. Each part puts together relatively well-discussed (ie. old) arguments as to 1) Christianity was created for social control, 2) 911 was an inside job & 3) world is run by international bank cartels. Here's a decent review. There's a bit of truth to all of it, but I don't agree with much of the main messages/conclusions. The 2nd part has been what has upset me the most. How we (mankind, US, etc) have gotten into many of our recent wars. Anyway, if it doesn't create some sort of reaction within you, check your pulse.

In a more constructive conversation, there is an interesting series called Beyond Belief: Science, Religion, Reason and Survival. I haven't watched more than one, but will do so bit by bit over the coming weeks.

I'm currently into watching Heroes, season 1. Suspect it may go the way of many popular new drama series (ie. go downhill fast), but here's to hoping. I'm not a fan of the narrator or his character (acting-wise) and I could go on for other criticisms, but the premise and multiple-converging stories are great hooks.

Lastly on the tech theme, the new Beowulf movie is absolutely gorgeous! One to see soon in a digital, IMAX and/or 3D theater. (Sadly none of which are near me - wait, in Olathe, KS!)

And some more help on what to buy this Black Friday.

Too many new links not to share before the weekend. In order, of course.

First, if you listen to NPR, Marketplace or surf the web, you likely have heard that Radiohead's new album, In Rainbows, was released today only by downloading from their site and paying whatever you want to pay them. I gave them 3.45 lbs (~$7) and am happy with the album, though the audiophile in me wishes it was a higher bitrate. (yes, you can download it for free, too)

A Nation of Christians is not a Christian Nation - oped piece in the NYTimes this week. It's a short one, but I couldn't find the better comments I heard recently with the writer of a new book about the history of Christianity in the US. Email from friends/family that talk about how the US was founded upon/within Christianity and how it should be a greater part of our government tire me - and yes, I disagree completely. Not that it didn't influence the founders and many in it now, but we don't need to become a Christian nation/government any more than the world needs another Muslim or Buddhist Theocracy.

This probably shouldn't be on YouTube, and I haven't taken the time to watch it, yet, but I hear good things about this 60 min documentary on The Life of Buddha.

While we're on religion, back to the issues closest to my heart... or at least see an amusing news article on the FSM.

OK, last week I wrote about putting up $ for the incoming SmartUSA car, but anyone going to do the same with this 300 mpg "car"?

Here's an impressive short video from NASA showing a comet getting it's tail ripped off by a solar eruption.

And, finally, a good article about why email and IM aren't so good for communication (at least compared to being in person with someone). I've noticed plenty of times interpreting mood/emotion incorrectly (and being misinterpreted, too).

OK, now I'm free to return back to work.

Though the sun goes down earlier these days, it's still been an absolutely gorgeous late summer/fall. Roses are still in bloom. I've been spoiled by this great weather. Also was spoiled by both K-State and the Chiefs winning last weekend! (not mentioning Nebraska since it was a game they had to win). This Saturday will be something different for all the Big XII. Yeah, I like football.

So the first mystery party of Nebraska will happen this month. Can't believe I couldn't invite all I wanted to - nice that it's so popular! May have to have a re-shot at it come February (assuming it goes well).

Since it's football season, it's the only time I actually watch TV. Here's the full and great video for Feist's 1234 (seen for Apple iPodnano).

As for something scary, how about the brain-eating amoeba in US lakes? (thanks, Katie)

I knew nothing about the fancy ways of tieing shoes back in the 80s, but here's a wonderful site showing LOTS of fun ways of re-lacing your shoes.

Am I the only one curious and interested in getting in on the first set of smartcars when they arrive in the US next year? I'm thinking of getting one in Nebraska colors and if I'm not happy with it, turning it around for 0 to little profit. Definitely a city car.

Mary-Lee sent me this (which I've now discovered was written by Michael Kinsley in the New Republic, NOT Reagan): The following is from Ronald Reagan's recently published diaries (entry dated May 17, 1986):

"A moment I've been dreading. George brought his ne're-do-well son around this morning and asked me to find the kid a job. Not the political one who lives in Florida. The one who hangs around here all the time looking shiftless. This so-called kid is already almost 40 and has never had a real job. Maybe I'll call Kinsley over at The New Republic and see if they'll hire him as a contributing editor or something. That looks like easy work."

Oh my!

BTW, I did finally get Halo 3 in the mail. Simply amazing... and yeah, I'm still not good at it.

I'm a bit irate that my pre-ordered copy of Halo3 has yet to arrive... but in the mean time, here are some items that have gotten my attention.

If I wanted to take on another hobby/collection, it would start with this. The ultimate in Star Wars Legos!

My friends who work at Intel thought this was hilarious (Ok, I thought it was funny, too) and was very accurate as to how dull the work environment is for their employees as Conan O'Brien takes a tour.

There is E85 ethanol in every gas station around here. It's a deceiving "green fuel" - not nearly as good to use as the propaganda would have us believe. I know Dad anticipates more future bio-diesel vehicles. Here's a nice article in The Economist covering future fuels, though there have been plenty of others out there to learn more (the cover of Wired is on switch grass).

While we're at Wired, my favorite movie, Blade Runner, is being "finalized" - yes, I've mentioned this before, and I'm still excited!!!

A lot of news this past week on the release of the transcript of Bush and then Spanish Prime Minister Aznar back in 2003. Here's a more insightful Slate article on it.

How to Accept Criticism with Grace and Appreciation

So another week gone by. Went to Chicago on Wed for an all day ACR meeting, got some press coverage (links 1 & 2) and last night Uncle Mark drove up in a stretched Hummer and we chilled and played cards (though I'm sure more than one neighbor was curious). Bombing the house today to get rid of the fleas and spiders in the basement (perfect weather to be outside with kittens, snacks and book) and working and watching football (yeah!).

Video of amazing homemade "machines" - though the Japanese jingle gets old quickly, the creativity doesn't.

All over the interwebs this week were jokes at Miss Teen South Carolina's expense (though FTLOG, I couldn't believe how horrible her response was!). Here's a web site collecting maps for Us (plus a clip of the teen's statement).

Funny pic (warning, old video game reference).

For those that finished the latest Harry Potter book, here's the best review I've seen written by Stephen King (yes, that Stephen King).

OK, I'm back and I have TONS to write about, but first thing - let's dump off the new links to share.

Frozen smoke as new material to impact our world.

Further evidence that working out helps your brain/smarts.

An incredible and talented member of my family, Tony Sheets (son of Millard Sheets), has worked hard to get a book of much of his fathers paintings in one exhibit at the LA County Fair this month. You can read more about it here.

I'm so excited that football season is almost here again. Of course, living in Nebraska means I have to take this a bit more seriously than I did before (is that possible?), and I'm in a few fantasy football leagues as well. I thought this was one of the more entertaining columns on Nebraska's football team for this season. (plus be sure to check out the embedded brief Family Guy clip about Nebraska - there's a corn eating contest tonight at the local swing dance festival, too! )

So, Blade Runner is coming out in HD this fall for it's 25th anniversary. It's my favorite movie of all time (though LOTR trilogy gives it a good run). Nice article that covers it a bit.

Remember when I got to eat next to Warren Buffett a month ago? Well a guy paid $650K to eat lunch with him on ebay 2 days ago. Here's the news article. I feel like I got a much better deal for my lunch.

Earlier this week when I was sick, Mandi sent me this pic. It was delayed, but laughed my arse off for long time. Good therapy. Though most of you likely won't find it nearly as funny as me (D&D reference).

It's been cloudy a lot lately. Not complaining as the temperature has been perfect and I haven't had to figure out how to use the sprinkler system, yet. Also been wonderful views in morning and night. Then I found these pictures of clouds in Nebraska and wanted to share. Amazing.

Ok, so I really need to find a happy home for 1-2 of these guys. They're so cute and fun! (save me! )

Another radio program, Studio 360, on the arts/music scene in Omaha that I heard on the radio today. They compare it to Seattle, but add that the difference is that the artists are choosing to stay here even after they become big (which in my mind means they can't become too big). The web site above also has maps (including a Bright Eyes live concert that was held at the nearby park) and the program on mp3. This one is similar to the NYTimes article pointed to before, but audio. Enjoy!

Did you hear the news? Coke's profits were up a tremendous amount today thanks to sales in their Coke Zero brand. I go through one of these a day and have been proselytizing this drink since it came out last year (yeah, suppose I owe much of this to Jay... but that's besides the point ). What's sad is that I've recycled so many Coke brand boxes and never entered in any of their codes - one of the few places I don't like sharing my info with.

Have lots of projects due, still. Important one to finish tonight. Was working hard when I got distracted thinking about how many horrible things, important things and items worth taking time to do something about were going on, yet we still manage well by keeping busy with our jobs, keeping the economy going and staying somewhat apathetic or at least resigned to suppress. It was nice to see the large outpouring of flowers in the neighboring memorial park today for those at Virginia Tech. In other notes: Grandpa apparently recovered well from his surgery last Friday and I got to catch up a little with sis last night. Tonight I'm looking forward to getting a call from Mandi out in CA. Yes, another gorgeous day with myself buried behind my computer and repressing my own needs for outside contact (only in small doses). Listening to Hooverphonic, moving right along as this, too, is temporary...

Took a < hour break tonight to witness the Team Omaha Final poetry slam competition that was held at the Omaha Healing Arts Center. What a rush! I've heard that there are several places around town for this, but had no idea of the strong talent and enjoyment I'd get from being a witness/listener. These are poems and performances that I could easily see being on television on pre-NBC Bravo. I feel I missed out a lot living near SF for so long and not spending more time a the Edinburgh Castle or other intellectual/artsy locales. Guess that's while I'll have plenty to see when I visit. But this is another bright note for Omaha - there was so much life and energy in the Old Market section of downtown - quite the place to be!

Back to work - I'll come up for air in May.

No, not a sports reference this time. Just feeling extremely fortunate. Who would have thought that by this time in my life that I'd have spent time in person with 2 of my 3 idols from when I was 16. #2 was Bobby McFerrin and I got to listen with rapt attention tonight at the Holland Center in downtown Omaha. Terrific acoustics and amazing voice. Really blew anything I could create from recordings in an audiofile setup out of the water. Needless to say I was moving to all of his music. Wish I sat down in the orchestra section. I was online and chose "best available seat" and it was in the last row of the orchestra so I called and got a seat in the balcony and didn't think to ask for one near the stage. He had lots of audience participation even up on stage and I wanted to ask him questions which all seemed to be limited to those near him... next time. For those who may get the chance, don't ask him about or to sing "Don't Worry, Be Happy". Crazy that the one song that made him known to the world creates such a negative reaction (though he was still in good humor throughout).

*Still singing after all these years*

So the college basketball season is over and Florida won again, but what really matters. The bracket pools! So for the nth year I hosted a tourney on Yahoo! sports and I usually do ok. This is the first year where anything other than bragging rights was at stake, and with that first came the first time we had someone do so well (picked all of the last 7 games, only missed 11 out of 63) - Tarek, the physics prof at UFlorida - and someone do so poorly - Mandi, who chose mostly teams with feline mascots to win. One got in the top 0.2% and the other bottom 5% out of 2 million teams - very impressive year!

But what blew me away - today I was awarded the booby prize for coming in last place in the chief resident's pool - with over 20 teams! Oh how the "mighty" have fallen! What a crazy month that was. Where I had blizzards and rain and hail and winds and lots of sun in between. Now that it's April it's been mostly 30F daily. Aack! Keeps the wardrobe in constant flux.

First off - Star Wars stamps and voting for stamp to be it's own sheet. All done here. I voted for Boba Fett, but either him or Darth Vader would be cool to have on stamps... actually Yoda, too. Mmm...

Next, this is a great and longer article in the New York Times about Omaha last week. Give it a read to learn more about my new home town - don't you want to live here now, too?

Oh, and here's a mathematical thinking in physics site for those more inclined that way.

Today I had "soul food" for dinner - BBQ ribs on white bread, mashed potatoes, fried okra(!), cornbread and ice cream for desert. Yeah, and I wonder why my gut has been bothering me so much lately. (Though it tasted good!) OK, break's over, back to work!

Loathe IRBs. To better protect us by ensuring 20% of a researcher's time is occupied completing forms and filing paper work that has little if anything to do with the research. Also ensures that tons more trees are killed for consent forms (as you may already have experience with in your doctor visits). Makes me think of the movie Brazil every time I have to interact with one no matter how "kind" they are.

My previous landlord. Mr. Chang could have ended my phone call to him today on a nice note as I was indicating I will no longer seek a return of $65 he took from my security deposit for removal of carpet stains (he already took out $125 for other items). I indicated that these stains existed before I moved in, but after a fuller explanation from him, I realized I wouldn't be getting any of this $ back. Right before hanging up he says "sorry I didn't respond to your email, but it didn't seem worth responding to for only $65". Dude! If it's no big deal, then just send me the check already! :P

Antibiotics. (Mostly) good for the immune system, but wrecks havoc on my GI system. I wonder if I have any e. coli left? Just 12 more hours of this... I hope.

Guess everyone can be glad I stayed local with my rants and didn't carry on to items such as 1) RIAA & Congressionally enacted new exorbitant internet music fees, 2) Gonzalez, Rove, Cheney, & Bush (get rid of em!), & 3) why ethanol for alternative fuel isn't the answer for gas prices, economy or environment (though it'll make a few farmers temporarily wealthier).

On my way to exploring a good Thai restaurant in downtown Lincoln (Blue Orchid), discovered Mr. R2D2 outside in his new job.



Was nice day to visit various family members in Lincoln (much busier than I expected so I didn't get to see everyone). Hope the Michaud clan can meet up soon to celebrate all of the Feb/Mar birthdays next weekend... we'll see.

Good day - Kansas won and got to play Ticket To Ride online with great folks in CA.

as warned, here are some pics from the wonderful Omaha zoo! Oh yeah, it was 80F the other day, now it's freezing - good ole midwest weather!

Got invited by one of my fabulous neighbors to attend Creighton vs Evanston basketball game tonight. Made me dinner and showed me my first ever division I game (something I missed at Stanford). The Qwest arena is impressive! Looks like a pro stadium, not college - and everyone over age seemed to be holding a huge beer at halftime. Had a fun time, as they were down 14 pts at halftime (maybe the reason for the gluttony on beer?) and got the lead within the first 2 minutes of the 2nd half to win.

Before leaving home, I noticed something a bit unusual. A squirrel with incredible balance! Look at the previous pics to see that this critter was keeping a very unstable metal hoop completely still. Goes to show that those with the best tail do win!

Ok, one thing of note while living in Omaha for a week - it's cold! I guess I need to get more of the warm clothes out of the closet and get my hat fixed, but even with a garage it's an adventure to leave the warmth of home. But the snow can be fun to watch come down.

Even more entertaining is the alpha squirrel - go squirrel go! I did catch a rabbit nibbling on the pieces of corn the squirrel didn't eat in the dark of night. Also fun to see all of the animal prints in the snow - ah, I've missed this season!