December 23, 2005
The Vice President's iPod
Two days ago, we learned a bit about George W. Bush's iPod. Now it's time for Dick Cheney.
I found a tidbit from the J-Walk blog about the VP's visits to Iraq and Afghanistan. According to the AP, "Cheney Flies In Comfort":
Vice President Dick Cheney didn't suffer for comfort on the cavernous cargo plane that he rode into Iraq and Afghanistan this week.
The Air Force loaded the plane with the "silver bullet," a mobile home in the sky strapped down in the middle of the belly. The accommodations included sleeping and working quarters that protected him from the noise and cold of the cargo hold during a more than five-hour flight into Baghdad.
The rest of his traveling party was not so lucky. Cheney's senior staff and junior aides were assigned to a cramped three rows of seats in front of the bullet, while reporters and Secret Service agents had to sit in jump seats along the side with a view of Cheney's stainless steel exterior walls.
And then comes this:
The vice president is an iPod fan, and keeping it charged is a priority for his staff.
Normally that isn't an issue, even when he's flying around the world. Air Force II is equipped with outlets in each row of seats.
But when Dick Cheney was traveling home overnight Wednesday from his diplomatic mission, most of the outlets went on the fritz.
Working passengers began lining up their laptops to share the power from a couple of working outlets — particularly the reporters who urgently needed to prepare their articles to transmit during a quick refueling stop in England.
But when Cheney said his iPod needed to be recharged, it took precedent above all else and dominated one precious outlet for several hours. The vice president's press staff intervened so a reporter could use the outlet for 15 minutes to charge a dead laptop, but then the digital music device was plugged back in.
That way, Cheney got his press coverage and his music, too.
I doubt Cheney had any idea the trouble his iPod was causing - it was probably just an overeager aide - but it's still pretty unbelievable.
23 Dec 11:48 | Link | Category: Humor, Music, Technology & Computing
'Lazy Sunday' free from iTunes
A few days ago, I linked to a funny SNL short called 'Lazy Sunday' in the Quick Links section. Now Apple is giving it away as a free video download (for how long I don't know). If you use iTunes, grab it while you can.
23 Dec 11:31 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment, Video
December 21, 2005
The President's iPod
Somehow it doesn't surprise me that Brit Hume ended up asking George W. Bush about what's on his iPod. (Apparently they just ran out of important topics to discuss.) What followed was downright painful. A transcript, courtesy of the Washington Post:
Bush: Beach Boys, Beatles, let's see, Alan Jackson, Alan Jackson, Alejandro, Alison Krauss, the Angels, the Archies, Aretha Franklin, the Beatles, Dan McLean. Remember him?
Hume: Don McLean.
Bush: I mean, Don McLean.
Hume: Does "American Pie," right?
Bush: Great song.
Hume: Yes, yes, great song.
Unidentified male: . . . which ones do you play?
Bush: All of these. I put it on shuffle. Dwight Yoakam. I've got the Shuffle, the, what is it called? The little.
Hume: Shuffle.
Bush: It looks like.
Hume: The Shuffle. That is the name of one of the models.
Bush: Yes, the Shuffle.
Hume: Called the Shuffle.
Bush: Lightweight, and crank it on, and you shuffle the Shuffle.
Hume: So you -- it plays . . .
Bush: Put it in my pocket, got the ear things on.
Hume: So it plays them in a random order.
Bush: Yes.
Hume: So you don't know what you're going to going to get.
Bush: No.
Hume: But you know --
Bush: And if you don't like it, you have got your little advance button. It's pretty high-tech stuff.
Hume: . . . be good to have one of those at home, wouldn't it?
Bush: Oh?
Hume: Yes, hit the button and whatever it is that's in your head -- gone.
Bush: . . . it's a bad day, just say, get out of here.
Hume: Well, that probably is pretty . . .
Bush: That works, too. ( Laughter )
Hume: Yes, right.
It reminds me a bit of my parents. My dad won an iPod mini, but I don't think he uses it very much because he complains about having to put his glasses on to read the display (see the picture of Bush). My mom actually loves her iPod and uses it all the time, mostly to listen to audiobooks from Audible. But I'm pretty sure if I interviewed either of them about it, they would sound a lot like Hume and Bush.
21 Dec 1:09 | Link | Category: Humor, Music, Technology & Computing
December 20, 2005
'Breathtaking inanity'
Finally some good news showing that, occasionally, reason and common sense prevail. A judge today ruled against a requirement for high school science teachers to teach "intelligent design" as an alternative to the theory of evolution.
Earlier today, I was watching that CNN show where Wolf Blitzer stands in front of a distracting wall of televisions and sensationalizes things, and I heard him say that the decision is "inflaming the culture wars," or something along those lines. I guess it's easy to describe it that way, but I'm not sure it's accurate. I guess I'll pontificate on that another time.
All I know is that "intelligent design" might be an interesting philosophical argument (and very reasonable pre-Darwin)... but it isn't science. Those who advocate teaching ID in science classes apparently believe that 'science' includes natural and supernatural explanations of phenomena. But how can views of a supernatural role in the origin (and/or expansion) of life be science (unless you redefine science like the folks in Kansas)? ID can't be tested through the scientific method. Even the claims of folks like Behe and Dembski offer few details, have no testable consequences, and make no predictions. With all apologies to fundamentalist Christians, Pastafarians, and others, such views should be taught in subjects like theology, philosophy, history, cultural anthropology, and the like. Not biology. It's a relief to see the courts upholding that.
Of course, critics are already decrying the decision and probably planning to appeal. They're calling the judge an "activist judge" (see this ridiculous Discovery Institute press release). To refute that, I'll just cut and paste part of the CNN story:
Jones -- an appointee of President Bush, who backs the teaching of intelligent design -- defended his decision in personal terms.
"Those who disagree with our holding will likely mark it as the product of an activist judge. If so, they will have erred as this is manifestly not an activist court," Jones writes.
"Rather, this case came to us as the result of the activism of an ill-informed faction on a school board, aided by a national public interest law firm eager to find a constitutional test case on intelligent design, who in combination drove the board to adopt an imprudent and ultimately unconstitutional policy," he said.
Barry Lynn, executive director of Americans United for Separation of Church and State, said, "Children in public schools deserve top quality science education and freedom from religious indoctrination and today they were granted both."
You can read the judge's opinion online (or here). It's lengthy (139 pages), but pretty interesting to read. It's well-reasoned, and he's not shy about saying what he thinks (calling the school board's decision "breathtaking inanity," for example).
For more, see John Hawks, PZ Myers, and The Panda's Thumb.
20 Dec 23:36 | Link | Category: Current Events, Science
Current Playlist
Another month, another disjointed hour of listening...
| John Lennon - Working Class Hero >> |
| Pernice Brothers - Baby in Two >> |
| Calla - Stumble >> |
| The Stills - Animals + Insects >> |
| Luna - Rainbow Babe >> |
| Brian Eno - Weightless >> |
| Gillian Welch - Revelator >> |
| Cat Power - Moonshiner >> |
| Cat Power - American Flag >> |
| Radiohead - Lucky >> |
| U2 - Zooropa >> |
| Bob Dylan - I And I >> |
| Jimi Hendrix - Little Wing >> |
20 Dec 23:05 | Link | Category: Music
Unveil the fraud
This link has been on just about every site lately, but I'm still posting it for those of you who might not have seen it. It's basically the same as some of the other 'before and after retouching' examples I've linked to before (like this one), but it uses Flash to make the process a little more interactive and highlight all the small changes. If nothing else, it will hopefully make you chuckle when you see those stupid magazines in supermarket lines created by businesses that search for the most physically attractive people in the entire population, fix them up, photograph them, and then run them through Photoshop to make them look even better.
20 Dec 2:13 | Link | Category: Cool Links
National Smiles
A little over a week ago, you might have caught a story in the New York Times about a psychologist who says Americans smile differently than British people do. (According to the article, English smiles "telegraph an acknowledgment of hierarchy rather than just expressing pleasure.")
Well, whatever. I think it's a pretty silly thing to report on. But what is interesting is something pointed out by a reader on BoingBoing, who noted that American and British papers had completely different spins on the story. The NYT (see link above) explains how the 'English smile' is a "suppressed grimace", "sickly" and "deferential." An article reporting on the same thing in the UK's Sunday Times describes the English smile as "more sincere" and "hard-to-fake" than the "far less expressive" American "Botox smile."
Since I'm on the subject, here are three other smile-related links that were cluttering my bookmarks list:
- BBC - Spot The Fake Smile
- Study: Gummy smiles are less attractive
- Does it take fewer muscles to smile than it does to frown?
20 Dec 1:25 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
Automatic Family Fun
From Google Video, a clip entitled Oklahoma Full Auto Shoot. It's... well, I think the video speaks for itself.
20 Dec 1:08 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
December 18, 2005
Insect Pendants
This might prove me to be a bit of a freak, but I think these are really cool: Specimen Pendants. You can choose from a variety of insects and arachnids (as well as a starfish or rat skull) to grace a significant other's neck. (Sadly, I don't have an entomologist girlfriend... in fact, I don't think I know anyone except myself who would really take a liking to these items.)
(via Jaf Project)
18 Dec 23:36 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits, Science
A new clip of Ferrell as Bush
Will Ferrell's George W. Bush impressions on SNL were usually very funny. Occasionally, he reprises the role. In the latest clip, he addresses us from Crawford (much as he did last year) with a message on global warming.
18 Dec 0:20 | Link | Category: Humor
December 17, 2005
The Pope Wears Prada
Apparently it's not just the devil wearing Prada anymore. Now it's Pope Benedict XVI, too. He rides "in the Popemobile with red Prada loafers under his cassock and Gucci shades." He also ditched the papal tailors who have been dressing popes for more than 200 years, favoring "his tailor from his days as cardinal, Alessandro Cattaneo, and the 20-year-old religious-fashion house of Raniero Mancinelli, which has provided the pope with dazzling new vestments (some with shimmering, sequinlike details)." Jesus would be proud.
I found the above photo of the erstwhile Mr. Ratzinger in his fancy shoes from this page. Also, J-Walk posted a link to a store selling similar red Prada shoes. (If I ever get to be the pope, I will insist on red Converse All-Stars like I had when I was six.)
I'm not sure why popes always wear red shoes, though I did find a thread on catholic.com where a few people took a stab at it.
Finally, a related item... someone from Fark saw the headline for this Reuters story - "Pope says materialism pollutes Christmas spirit" - and spruced it up a bit: "Pope denounces materialism from balcony of marble, gold-domed building in midst of jewel-encrusted religious icons while wearing giant gold cross"
17 Dec 23:29 | Link | Category: Humor, Misc. Tidbits
Country Classics
The latest lineup over at DavidByrne.com is full of old classic country tunes. I detest the pop-ified country music that fills the airwaves today, but I have a real affinity for the old classics. It's funny... my dad used to make us listen to old country music on road trips and we'd always complain and make fun of it. (My brother still does a hilarious Willie Nelson impression.) And then at some point much later in time, I realized it was actually good music.
Bryne writes:
I'm defining classic country as pre-hippie-country, pre-alt-country, pre-outlaw-country — before Graham Parsons, Bob Dylan, Emmylou, Willie, the Flatlanders and scores of others made the genre accessible to folks who usually associated country music solely with rednecks, racists and reactionaries (hey, that would have made a good album title!) Those changes began in the late 60s and early 70s, so most of this stuff was done before that. I haven't gone back to the real early rootsy stuff either, and there's lots of incredible stuff left out, but it's a pretty good sampling.
... the people of North America have produced an amazing body of popular music — and this is only a sampling of one genre during one era! Something to be truly patriotic about — well, if you like this music, which I do.
He includes some of my old favorites, including Hank Williams, Merle Haggard, Johnny Cash, and Willie Nelson... Definitely worth a listen if you think country music is only for rednecks, racists and reactionaries.
17 Dec 11:12 | Link | Category: Music
Photography Links
- Nikon Small World Gallery
- Unembedded
- Earth Pilgrim - Sacha Dean Bïyan
17 Dec 10:58 | Link | Category: Photography
December 16, 2005
iTunes Signature Maker
This is pretty useless, but also fairly cool: Jason Freeman's iTunes Signature Maker. It analyzes your iTunes library and, based on preferences you can set, mixes your most played/highest rated/most recently added songs into a 'signature' of tunes.
Here's a signature from some of my highly rated songs (4 MB WAV).
16 Dec 23:38 | Link | Category: Cool Links, Interactive, Music, Technology & Computing
December 10, 2005
Google Earth / Windows Live Local
If you haven't used Google Earth yet, you're missing out on one of the coolest little apps in quite a while. There are a number of other similar products, but I haven't yet seen one that's quite as nicely done as Google Earth. I've been eagerly awaiting a Mac version of Google Earth for months, and finally it has arrived! (Well, sort of. It hasn't been officially released yet, but if you're resourceful you should be able to find a copy floating around the internets. I downloaded a copy and it runs perfectly on my G5. Hopefully an official release will come shortly.)
In related news, Microsoft's Virtual Earth has become Windows Live Local (also still in beta). I can't say I understand the name change, and the interface isn't very usable yet (in Firefox, at least) -- but there are some cool features. The Birds Eye Images are extremely cool. There's also an interesting "locate me" feature (that has caused some concern among privacy advocates).
I've wasted entirely too much time looking at maps and aerial photos today. The silence shall now resume.
10 Dec 17:39 | Link | Category: Interactive, Libraries & Digital Information, Technology & Computing
December 2, 2005
Tranquility Base
The site design of Tranquility Base isn't easy on the eyes, but some of Robert Magginetti's collages are hypnotizing (and some not so hypnotizing). I liked Cretaceous Ocean, Sedan De Ville, Star Soup, and Television.
(via Jaf Project)
02 Dec 15:13 | Link | Category: Art & Entertainment
December 1, 2005
The Best Word Book Ever, 1963 vs. 1991
Somebody uploaded scans of the 1963 and 1991 editions of Richard Scarry's 'The Best Word Book Ever' to flickr. It's pretty interesting to see what changes were made.
01 Dec 13:20 | Link | Category: Misc. Tidbits
40,000 year old footprints revisited
Some of you (OK, maybe two of you) might remember a story I mentioned back in August about some researchers who claimed to have found footprints in Mexico that dated to nearly 40,000 years ago.
As far as I know, there are no skeletal remains in the New World older than about 11,000 years. And many archaeologists are still skeptical of archaeological evidence for pre-Clovis colonization. (Pre-Clovis sites like Monte Verde and Meadowcroft Rock Shelter remain controversial.) But others are convinced that evidence (genetic, cultural, even linguistic) shows there might also have been an earlier colonization (or colonizations). Lots of theories and lots of arguments.
When I posted the item about the footprints, I wondered if the evidence would "stand up to scrutiny" and thought it would "be interesting to see how this story shakes out."
Well, the story is shaking. Other researchers contend the footprints probably aren't even footprints at all. In fact, they dated the rock to 1.3 million years. So much for that evidence. Still, I think there's every reason (I won't get into the details) to believe there's much more to the picture than the traditional simple land-bridge crossing 12,000 years ago. As to whether there will be sufficient evidence found... who knows.
I've been taking a class about the biology of Native Americans. The other day, I jotted down a few quotes from my professor's slides that seem relevant. The first was from Lord Bryce:
No branches of historical inquiry have suffered more from fanciful speculation than those which relate to [origins] . . . the more obscure a subject is, so much the more fascinating. Hypotheses are tempting, because though it may be impossible to verify them, it is, in the paucity of data, almost equally impossible to refute them.
The other was from the ever-quotable HL Mencken:
There is always an easy solution to every human problem — neat, plausible and wrong.
We're growing more and more certain about the basic details of New World settlement... but I wonder if we'll ever have enough reliable data to adequately fill in the many many important and fascinating details.
01 Dec 10:18 | Link | Category: Human/Primate Evolution & Behavior