It Came From My Brain...

From the "Well, duh! FIiles"

2005-06-28T10:48:00.000-04:00

"Energy prices are way too high," Snow said on CNBC television. "Clearly, it's hurting."

Programming Note

2005-06-27T11:20:00.000-04:00

As of today, all of my science, technology, media and paranormal news will be found on the Variance Press blog. Political and personal stuff will remain right here. Hope to see you both places!

So, we're on Flag Burning again...

2005-06-24T10:10:00.000-04:00

So, once again, legislation passes the House of Representatives to ban flag burning. While we're in the midst of a fuel price crisis, two wars (mustn't forget Afghanistan) in which the soldiers aren't adequately armed and armored, and we're being told by the Supreme Court that it is within the rights of localities to TAKE OUR HOMES, the US Congress decides that what really needs protection is the flag. An inanimate object that you can buy for literally a dime a dozen requires more protection than the American worker, our soldiers and our right to private property.

What's really funny to me is that most people who support this proposed anti-flag-burning amendment are the same people who don't understand why Muslims were angered by reports of quran desecration.

At what point do we just say "Enough?"

Now THIS is Science!

2005-06-20T11:45:00.000-04:00

A group of scientists have published a paper stating that the Einsteinian model of space-time allows for time travel to the past. They also make the case that quantum mechanics will prevent you from doing anything to change that which you are 100% certain is fact. I don't know enough about quantum physics to fully fathom the implications of this, but they appear to be using the old Schroedinger's Cat model.

This whole story could be dead i nthe water if Peter Lynds is ever proven right.

Knock 'em out the box, Luke.

2005-06-14T16:16:00.000-04:00

Offered without comment:
http://darkmolive.free.fr/animationrapstarwars.htm

It's going to BE my brain...

2005-06-14T10:13:00.000-04:00

Everyone who knows me should be well acquainted with my fascination with enhancing humanity through electronics. This interview with Marvin Minsky, Brian Cantwell Smith, and Paul Davies discusses IBM's plans to (IMNSIO) completely bypass the "enhancing" part and create a digital version of the human mind. A better version of the brain. "Human Brain 2.0," if you will. This project, while exciting, gives me the willies somehow.

I suppose it's 'cause I saw the Animatrix. I know how this ends. :)

If Someone Doesn't Buy Me This for Xmas, I Will be Very Sad...

2005-06-09T10:38:00.000-04:00

Japan unveils "robot suit" that enhances human power

Tue Jun 7,10:14 AM ET

Japan has taken a step into the science-fiction world with the release of a "robot suit" that can help workers lift heavy loads or assist people with disabilities climb stairs.

"Humans may be able to mutate into supermen in the near future," said Yoshiyuki Sankai, professor and engineer at Tsukuba University who led the project.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/afplifestylejapantechnologyrobotelderly&printer=1

And the sad part is...

2005-06-08T07:18:00.000-04:00

...Bush will never know about this unless someone tells him because he never reads the newspaper.

June 8, 2005

Bush Aide Softened Greenhouse Gas Links to Global Warming

By ANDREW C. REVKIN

A White House official who once led the oil industry's fight against limits on greenhouse gases has repeatedly edited government climate reports in ways that play down links between such emissions and global warming, according to internal documents.

In handwritten notes on drafts of several reports issued in 2002 and 2003, the official, Philip A. Cooney, removed or adjusted descriptions of climate research that government scientists and their supervisors, including some senior Bush administration officials, had already approved. In many cases, the changes appeared in the final reports.

The dozens of changes, while sometimes as subtle as the insertion of the phrase "significant and fundamental" before the word "uncertainties," tend to produce an air of doubt about findings that most climate experts say are robust.

Mr. Cooney is chief of staff for the White House Council on Environmental Quality, the office that helps devise and promote administration policies on environmental issues.

This is the "memo" the media should be reading.

The Huffington Post: Crack!

2005-06-07T17:46:00.000-04:00

Oh my God, this place is like crack! It's a bunch of liberals, most of whom are famous and most of whom aren't the brightest bulbs in the box (of course there's the occasional exception, like Gary Hart or Harry Shearer). Forget arguing with nerds on Delphi! This is where I must go!

www.huffingtonpost.com

Incredible!

2005-06-06T11:44:00.000-04:00

It's amazing to me. One one hand the world seems like it's coming closer and closer to a whimpering end. High prices, over-population, environmental degradation, rogue nations and terrorist organizations getting nuclear weapons ...whatever. Nothing seems like it's going well.

Then, you read things like this and you think that it's entirely possible we're going to come out of it after all.

The machine that can copy anything
By Simon Hooper for CNN
Thursday, June 2, 2005 Posted: 10:48 AM EDT (1448 GMT)
LONDON, England (CNN) -- A revolutionary machine that can copy itself and manufacture everyday objects quickly and cheaply could transform industry in the developing world, according to its creator.

The "self-replicating rapid prototyper," or "RepRap" is the brainchild of Dr. Adrian Bowyer, a senior lecturer in mechanical engineering at the University of Bath in the UK.
http://www.cnn.com/2005/TECH/06/02/tech.reprap/index.html

I'm 30.

2005-06-03T09:53:00.000-04:00

So, yesterday I officially turned 30. I celebrated by beating Episode III Revenge of the Sith on PS2 (easy game actually, but loads of fun for fans of the movie. Plus this is the final, SECRET MISSION) and by completely wrecking my back.

If there's a better metaphor for leaving your 20s, I don't what it is.

E-Mail Re: Christian Challenge

2005-05-27T08:20:00.000-04:00

I received this e-mail in response to my post about the Christian Right's efforts to hold back medical progress. Every sentence in the e-mail was enlightening and broadened my opinion a little about the subject. Thanks "Anonymous E-mailer."

Travis,
Just a comment to an entry you made on your blog. I didn't want to comment publicly. It concerns the southern Baptist thing and the conservatives resistance to approving a vaccine for cervical cancer.

This has nothing to do with the Bible, but I just wanted to say that I am not wholly in favor of vaccinating young women for HPV. Simply put, scientists have isolated a possible vaccine for 2 strains of HPV, the most common strains that lead to cervical dysplasia and later, carcinoma. However, there are over 80 strains of HPV known to us. Approximately 80% of the sexually active population has had a strain of HPV at one time or another. This is because HPV is easily transmitted skin-to-skin. Most of the time, your body's natural defenses fight it off. In cases where it doesn't, it can lead to genital warts (both men and women) and dysplasia, or lesions (in women). Once your body fights it off, you will become resistant to that strain and never get it again. But, you could always get one of the 80 other strains.

My point is, vaccines are often seen as pollyannas. Getting vaccinated prior to having sex would lead many to have a false sense of security. In addition, because the vaccine only lasts 4 years, one would have to be vaccinated every 3 years or so. If a girl is vaccinated, on the pill, and using condoms as supplemental protection, she may be less inclined to receive annual exams and pap smears.

The real problem is, we aren't emphasizing the importance of annual exams and pap smears. Further, parents are not communicating with their children concerning sexual issues. Teens today are having sex earlier. Due to the focus on HIV and AIDS (which is transmitted via bodily fluids), less emphasis has been placed on protection in general, e.g., HPV transmission through oral sex or even petting. I learned in high school about HIV and AIDS and pregnancy. I didn't even know what HPV was until a year ago.

The rest is personal and I was asked to edit it out. Let me know what you think.

It was Good!

2005-05-23T12:03:00.000-04:00

I'll write a full review when I have time, but...wow. Best of all six in my opinion.

I still haven't seen it, but...

2005-05-20T16:03:00.000-04:00

'Sith' scores $50 million on first day in theaters (NWS) By Russ Britt
LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) -- "Star Wars: Episode III -- Revenge of the Sith" scored $50 million in first-day receipts at 3,661 theaters across the nation on Thursday, box-office tracker Exhibitor Relations said Friday. The take handily beats the one-day record of $44.8 million set last year by "Shrek 2." "Sith" is distributed by News Corp.'s (NWS) 20th Century Fox film unit. (COURTESY NEWSWATCH)

PLEASE LET IT BE GOOD PLEASE LET IT BE GOOD PLEASE LET IT BE GOOD....

CHALLENGE TO CHRISTIAN READERS!

2005-05-20T10:47:00.000-04:00

If anyone can show me (chapter, verse and quote) where in the Bible the Southern Baptists are getting this, I will send the first person to do so, a shiny new quarter:

Dr. Richard Land, the president of the Southern Baptist Convention's ethics and religious liberty commission, said his group, for one, would not be assuaged.
"We believe a cloned embryo is a human being," he said. "We should not be the kind of society that kills our tiniest human beings in order to seek a treatment for older and bigger human beings."

Between this and conservatives coming out AGAINST (I say again...AGAINST) a vaccine for cervical CANCER I'm starting to believe that they're not PRO-LIFE. They're anti-progress.

What do you think?

PERFECT CASTING

2005-05-18T11:47:00.000-04:00

Kelsey Grammar has been cast to play Beast in X-Men 3. Good choice!

New Technological Paradigm

2005-05-18T09:48:00.000-04:00

This article speaks to two subjects that are near and dear to my heart: transportation and the efficient use of technology. It lays out a future in which many of government's biggest headaches are take care of by automation, giving human legislators and administrators the freedom to focus on more pressing concerns (no, I'm not talking about Britney and Kevin. ::shudder::).

I'm pessimistic that this future will ever come to pass, though. Here's why:

Without inspired leaders and an active citizenry, digital government can't end turf fights among agencies, make bad regulations disappear or change the irrational incentives that fail to reward good performers or punish poor ones.

Capitol Hill is home to more turf battles than South Central LA during the height of the war between Bloods and Crips. Can anyone really imagine a day petty bureaucrats stop fighting over turf in order to mak our lives...gasp...easier? Neither can I.

"You May Fire When Ready, Commander."

2005-05-18T09:38:00.000-04:00

Oh, how far we have come in 25 years! First there was a push to build a space-based missile defense system called "Star Wars." Now scientists are calling the Bush administration's plans to build weapons in space, "Death Stars." I'm looking forward to the day the US develops an army of genetically engineered miniature bears code-named E.W.O.K.

The Black Helicopters is Comin'!

2005-05-17T17:55:00.000-04:00

I was listening to Coast to Coast AM on the internet and heard a woman talk about newswatch magazine. Out of curiosity, I navigated there.

Holy crap.

http://www.newswatchmagazine.org/

Top Ten Things...

2005-05-17T15:27:00.000-04:00

From last night's Letterman.

Top Ten Things Never Before Said By A "Star Wars" Character

10. C-3PO: "May the Force be with the Miami Heat--daddy's got 20 large riding on them."

9. Storm Trooper: "Ask your doctor or pharmacist if Cialis is right for you."

8. Ewok: "Seacrest, out!"

7. Darth Maul: "The only good thing ever to come from planet Earth is fish sticks."

6. R2-D2: "I just hooked up backstage with an ice machine."

5. Imperial Guard: "The only people more powerful than I are Emperor Palpatine and Oprah."

4. Chewbacca: "We got spaceships and lightsabers, but nobody can find me a damn razor."

3. Jango Fett: "Let's put on some Al Jarreau so me and you can get freaky."

2. Tuscan Raider: "How bad is CBS screwed without 'Everybody Loves Raymond'?"

1. Darth Vader: "I once used the force to open a jar of Vlasic kosher pickles."

Conservatism, Dead: Bucahanan

2005-05-17T14:58:00.000-04:00

I worked for Pat's Presidential campaign for one day. I agreed with him about many issues and thought he had the perfect intellectual temperament to occupy the White House. Bold and completely willing to question conventional wisdom.

I could not stand the other people who worked there. Out of mere coincidence, my first (and only) day at the campaign was also the day the Unabomber released his Manifesto. The guy in cubicle next to me, when he was finished reading the document said, with a straight face, mind you: "There is no doubt in my mind. That man is a homosexual."

Sigh. Between him and the guy who (God's honest truth) wanted me to help rganize "The Bucanhan Youth," I knew there was no way I could go back there. I fled to the Dole campaign and did not look back.

But, like I said, I really dug Pat. He knew what it meant to be a conservative. I guess it's fitting that he be the one to announce the movement's death.

Pat Buchanan speaks of American conservatism in the past tense.
"The conservative movement has passed into history," says the one-time White House aide, three-time presidential candidate, commentator and magazine publisher.
"It doesn't exist anymore as a unifying force," he says in an interview with The Washington Times. "There are still a lot of people who are conservative, but the movement is now broken up, crumbled, dismantled."

Poor Christopher Reeve...

2005-05-17T14:41:00.000-04:00

A few more years and his extremely tasteless investment banking ad may have come true...

Researchers studying embryonic stem cells have published long-awaited data in a peer-reviewed journal, revealing how they enabled rats with crushed spinal cords to walk again. Spinal cord injury patients are hopeful, but they're not all celebrating just yet.
The publication is certainly a step in a promising direction for the treatment of patients with damaged spinal cords. But the study found that the technique worked only on recently injured rats, not those with chronic injuries...

Shame

2005-05-12T14:54:00.000-04:00

For years I've followed the party line. The Powers That Be said it and I have found some way to make them right no matter how ridiculous it may seem. But no more. I have to say it.

I love Attack of the Clones.

I really, really do.

Yet Another Hit from Right on Big Gv't Conservatives

2005-05-11T21:16:00.000-04:00

I think this is going to hit critical mass very, very soon. It's
depressingly obvious, though, that they were just waiting for the 2004
election to finish up before making their stands against the current
leadership's debasement of our Party's traditional stands. Proof that
winning was more important than principle.

Check out this article in the Weekly Standard:

That philosophy has become known, with appropriate clumsiness, as "big government conservatism," and its intricacies, such as they are, have been laid out with customary self-congratulation by one White House triumphalist after another, most recently by Karl Rove in a speech to the Conservative Political Action Conference. "We are seizing the mantle of idealism," Rove said. A lot of this idealism is vague and cottony in the Clinton manner, with empty, harmless vows to "foster" a "culture of service" in a "new generation," and so on.
But a lot of it requires tremendous amounts of mobilization and hectoring. In foreign affairs, of course, there is the president's spectacular pledge to end tyranny in our world, which has entailed two wars so far. Domestically, Rove said, the president's idealism has targeted "the tax code, health care, pension plans, legal system, public education, worker training," and, he threatened, even more. In the old days, conservatism was "largely reactionary," Rove noted. Under Bush, on the other hand, conservatives have become "agents of reform," just as liberals used to be. And if we have to stay up late to fix America, fine.

PREDICTION: The 2006 elections are going to be bloody.

Downward Spiral

2005-05-11T11:30:00.000-04:00

Is it just me, or does everything in the world seem like it's degerating faster and faster? Is this just an artifact of a 24 hour TV/internet/print news cycle that loves to run bad news or is the world (read: America) really going down the toilet?

Talk at me.

Washington Times Lashes out at "Conservatives"

2005-05-10T15:05:00.000-04:00

I've been saying fro quite sometime, particularly when I decided not to vote for President Bush last year, that the national Republican Party has nothing to do with the one President Reagan led. Heck, it doesn't even resemble the party of Newt Gingrich. Now, it looks like the Washington Times is starting to notice the difference:

Without a crumb of authority, Republicans enacted the Partial-Birth Abortion Ban Act of 2003, a flagrant invasion of state jurisdiction over abortions. In 2005, a Republican Congress reinforced by President Bush passed the notorious Terri Schiavo legislation in disregard of a final state court ruling interpreting state law issued in scrupulous compliance with due process. Championed by Mr. Bush and congressional Republicans, the Federal Marriage Amendment and the Victims' Rights Amendment equally slight federalism. Ditto for the proposed Common Sense Medical Malpractice Reform Act; proposed legislation (S.397) to shield gun manufacturers or distributors from civil liability based on gun misuse by others; and, a provision in the pending Energy Policy Act shielding MTBE manufacturers from state tort liability for distributing an allegedly defective product.

Yes, Mr. Ballmer, cheaper computers would help, but...

2005-05-10T12:04:00.000-04:00

...piracy wouldn't be such a problem if MS wasn't gouging its customers. CEO Steve Ballmer discussed his position in Orlando recently:

"The biggest problem we have right now is that people who should be paying for software aren't," Ballmer told an audience of technology executives at an industry conference here sponsored by market researcher Gartner.
One way to stem piracy is to offer consumers in emerging countries a low-cost PC, Ballmer said. "There has to be...a $100 computer to go down-market in some of these countries. We have to engineer (PCs) to be lighter and cheaper," he said.

Well, yeah. Cheap computers would be awesome. But what would make more sense is cheaper software! Let's take a look at MS Software vs everyone else's (All prices found on AtomicPark.com):

Microsoft Windows XP: $ 206
Mac OS X 10.4 (Tiger): $118
Linux: $ 0

Microsoft Office XP: $314
StarOffice 7: $59.95
OpenOffice: $0

This isn't rocket science, folks.

"I Want More Life..."

2005-05-06T14:51:00.000-04:00

It's too bad we couldn't tell Roy Batty about this.

A mouse with the ability to mop up free radicals at the cellular level - and live longer as a result - has been created by scientists.

The research is a boost for the free radical theory of ageing. This proposes that reactive oxygen species damage cells and tissues, leading to declining health and, eventually, death. [LINK]

Please let it be good... please let it be good...

2005-05-06T13:43:00.000-04:00

According to the Hollywood Reporter:

The final episode of George Lucas' cinematic epic "Star Wars" ends the six-movie series on such a high note that one feels like yelling out, "Rewind!"

Oh dear.

Welcome!

2005-05-06T13:28:00.000-04:00

To everyone that came over based on my e-mail. Hope you stick around.

Nerds Make Me Happy

2005-05-06T10:44:00.000-04:00

You don't know this about me, but I love the whole concept of Time Travel. The Back to the Future Trilogy is one of my favorite sets of films. Episodes of Star Trek involving time travel are tedious to most viewers, but I think everyone of them has been fantastic. I'm still waiting for Scott Bakula to look in a mirror on Enterprise and say "Oh boy."

It's because of this, an event thrown by the wonderful nerds at MIT has warmed the remnants of my cold-heart. Check this out:

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., May 5 - Suppose it is the future - maybe a thousand years from now. There is no static cling, diapers change themselves, and everyone who is anyone summers on Mars.

What's more, it is possible to travel back in time, to any place, any era. Where would people go? Would they zoom to a 2005 Saturday night for chips and burgers in a college courtyard, eager to schmooze with computer science majors possessing way too many brain cells?

Why not, say some students at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who have organized what they call the first convention for time travelers.

Actually, they contend that theirs is the only time traveler convention the world needs, because people from the future can travel to it anytime they want.

Nerds. Is there anything they can't do?

George Will's (Career) Suicide Note

2005-05-05T13:04:00.000-04:00

I love George Will (except when he starts going on...and on...and on about baseball. We get it already! You like the game!) and wish him continued success. Will's a brilliant man who brings some well-needed realism to the Washington, DC political discourse. His recent piece in the Washington Post about the Christian Right's martyr complex, hit every point it should have and included an enlightening set of statistics about the portion of the American populace who considers itself non-religious. I fear, though, that he's called down the wrath of the Dobsonites. Check out this quote:

Some Christians should practice the magnanimity of the strong rather than cultivate the grievances of the weak. But many Christians are joining today's scramble for the status of victims. There is much lamentation about various "assaults" on "people of faith." Christians are indeed experiencing some petty insults and indignities concerning things such as restrictions on school Christmas observances. But their persecution complex is unbecoming because it is unrealistic. [LINK]

Ouch. I wonder how many insults and threats of violence he's gotten from the (Self-) Righteous.

My God...it's full of cheese...

2005-05-03T13:13:00.000-04:00

This is wrong on so many levels...

Dubbed the Beer Barrel Belly Buster, the burger comes with 10.5 pounds of ground beef, 25 slices of cheese, a head of lettuce, three tomatoes, two onions, a cup-and-a-half each of mayonnaise, relish, ketchup, mustard and banana peppers - and a bun.

As soon as I have a minute I'll post the story of "Travis vs.. Steak Oscar."

Fan Fiction/Films in the World of New Media

2005-05-02T16:45:00.000-04:00

Fantastic interview with Henry Jenkins, director of the Comparative Media Center at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, on the topic of Sci-Fi Fan Communities. Salient quote:

What if companies don't encourage those fan bases, or actively discourage them?
Jenkins: You can damage that excitement. The classic example is Viacom going after "Star Trek" fans. And what happens to your franchise? "Star Trek" is going off the air. They killed their golden cow by being so aggressive in going after their fan base, and people went elsewhere where they found fan systems that were more accommodating. So "Star Trek" fandom has been dying over the last decade because Viacom was so aggressive in trying to control its intellectual property, closing off any chance of participation or engagement.

Maybe a future franchise will find a way to balance things out between the license holders and the fans.

Vets from Iraq on the Streets

2004-12-08T16:52:00.000-05:00

Found this on Drudge. The Administration should be ashamed that this is happening to any of the bravemen and women who are giving their lives to protect this nation. This has to be corrected immediately:

Homeless Iraq vets showing up at shelters
By Mark Benjamin
Washington, DC, Dec. 7 (UPI) -- U.S. veterans from the war in Iraq are beginning to show up at homeless shelters around the country, and advocates fear they are the leading edge of a new generation of homeless vets not seen since the Vietnam era. [more in link]

So, Blade Trinity...

2004-12-08T13:22:00.000-05:00

My friend, noted film cognoscenti, Jeremy Love tells me Blade: Trinity smells of poo. Usually, I take his word as law in matters of a filmic nature. This time, however, my unnatural (yet manly) affection for Wesley Snipes' depiction of Bladey, the Vampire Slayer, as well as a fantastic review in my favorite nerd magazine, Wired, is leading me to throw caution to the wind and go see it anyway. Just read this quote:

These spontaneously combusting vampires and Blade: Trinity's narrative structure seem lifted from video games. Goyer uses what amounts to cut scenes -- where characters are introduced and the plot is advanced -- to set up the film's very elaborate action sequences. These action montages, the meat of the movie, are fueled by testosterone and dark, throbbing urban music by RZA, from Wu-TangClan.

EEEEE!