Wednesday30: Fractals, Facebook and Time Travel

There's a great video (that you can see on my Google+ profile) of a noir style short video that explains the beauty and complexity of fractals in an entertaining way. It's a story of a private eye who's out to solve a mystery for a "dame" where he is met by a guru that asks him 3 riddles. I won't ruin the rest but it's worth a watch and you might actually learn something.

Facebook held a big developers conference today. The news wasn't terribly interesting but I'm sure we'll feel it's effects in months to come. Facebook will be changing the way we log in to external apps and the way apps communicate to each other. They're also shifting focus to fix bugs quicker and provide a better experience rather than rapid adaptability.

I watched a great sci-fi short video of 2 women on a space ship of some kind that is equipped with a 3 minute time traveling device - reminiscent of Galaxy's Quest's sphere that lets you reverse time for 13 seconds. Without spoiling the ending the two astronauts are in trouble and have to use the device to change the future. The future is certainly changed, but not in how they or we expect.

Another video, I guess I watched a lot today, is about the meaning of auto makers and their cars. I honestly don't remember many of them. Some of them were unique in their meaning or origin, many were simply the founder's name or a factory name.

I read a post about 10 more theories of why the dinosaurs went extinct. It could have been anything from mushrooms to thinning egg shells. Interesting stuff but it still all seemed to start with the meteorite that landed 28 million + years ago.

A cinema analyst has predicted that Star Wars Episode VII will be a very successful and high grossing movie, possibly breaking records. This would put it on par with movies like Titanic and Avatar (both James Cameron films) that made over $1 and $2 billion respectively.

Scientist have figured out how the Egyptians moved the giant stones that made up the pyramid. It was wet sand. It turns out that getting sand just wet enough allows you to slide things across it with half the energy it would usually take. So there you have it, so much for the alien theory and Stargate.

Apple is ridiculously rich. It could buy (I'm trying to remember most of these) Netflix, Amazon, Spotify, Pandora and a few others and still have $54 BILLION left over. Wow.

There was a lot from today, please look into these things and learn from them, or at least correct me. :)

Tuesday29: Star Wars Movie, Copy Machine and Brain Computers

Let's get the exciting news out of the way. You've probably already hear (nearly every company I follow seems to have posted about it at some point) but J.J. Abrams and Disney have announced the official cast of the new Star Wars movie. The movie will take place 30 years after Episode VI and will feature many of the original cast like; Luke, Han, Leia, Chewbacca, C3PO and R2D2. I'm not very familiar with the cast they've chosen but it looks promising. The only name that I can still remember is Andy Serkis aka Gollum of LOTR. That alone has me excited for the possibilities and although he's become known as a CGI an facial expert (like his role as Gollum or Caesar in Planet of the Apes) he makes a great live-action actor as well.

I watched a funny parody-type video that was made from actual Ohio court documents. It goes through a trial hearing that escalates over the definition of a photocopier. It's funny because of how ludicrous it is. Another reason to not study law I guess, too many technicalities.

Scientists have developed a computer chip modeled after the human brain. That alone sounds like science fiction and is kind of awesome. The even more incredible fact is that it can operate (I think these were the numbers, remember I try and pull all of this from memory) at 9,000 times the processing power of current computers. It also uses only needs 20% of the Watts of common computers to function. This could be the first step into a very interesting future.

Microsoft has a fun development on the keyboard. Using infrared scanners and some predictive algorithms they've found a way to eliminate the use of a mouse while using a keyboard. You don't have to take your hands off of home row to zoom, scroll and change pages. It looks like you are operating an iPad but hovering slightly above the keyboard. It actually appears very intuitive and I look forward to the next step in a 70 year+ old user interface for typing.

I learned today that Tesla sells swag, so that's cool. Get a t shirt, bottle or bag with Tesla branding. They even have baby clothing. Honestly it just makes me want to get a car even more.

The new Godzilla trailer reveals some new developments... apparently Godzilla fights another monster, a monster that appears to be Mothera.

And finally fan made videos are awesome and CG effects for the masses have only brought about more coolness to enjoy. See Star Wars vs. Harry Potter which I believe is a just portrayal of the outcome. Look it up.

Monday28: Killer Bugs, Nerds, and Government Suing

Bill Gates, also known as the richest man on earth is also one of the most charitable and "philanthropic" people on the earth as well. He has donated millions (probably billions) of dollars to charity including the foundation he created. His recent efforts have been centered around curing diseases and improving life for 3rd world countries.

He recently tweeted an infographic the most deadly animals on the planet. It charts deaths per year by animals such as the shark (10 deaths), hippopotamus (something like 500!) and more. Humans of course are one of the largest killers of people. But the most deadly animal by far is the mosquito. I think the number was somewhere around 600,000 people die a year due to diseases carried by the mosquito. It's a huge problem and one that Bill Gates has decided to tackle head one. I believe he has what it takes (and not just financially but his ambition and knowledge) to solve it.

Tesla is suing the government. It's nice to be reminded once in a while of a few of the principles of democracy and freedom - such as the right and ability of citizens and corporations to sue their government. Tesla claims that the government unfairly awarded a non-compete contract with a space launch and satellite company - which comes directly in line with Tesla's goals to help NASA in the future. Elon Musk is a fiery guy and he won't back down the face of a battle, especially when he knows he's right. More power to him, I think he deserves the win and the government needs to be put back in it's place.

Happy news, it turn out Utah is the nerdiest state of the country. I feel very proud to be a small part of that, and admittedly I'm a little surprised, I knew we were nerdy, but number 1? That's awesome! A recent chart breaks down about 10 different factors that go into a states nerdiness. It was made by the same people who rated who likely a state was to survive a zombie apocalypse (Utah was raked #5 I believe). The chart also has a map of all the nerdy states and as a warning to all my fellow nerds - the south is to be avoided, it is a nerd wasteland. I highly recommend looking up the chart and seeing all the factors that went into it like Magic the Gathering players, comic book sales, DnD players and so forth. Nerds unite!

Other videos and news: An unpickable bike lock - a little complicated but a fun engineering feat. I don't remember the guys name but he release another video of his mind boggling body. Yep, he's a body builder but not your normal body builder, he's a master of calisthenics and it is awesome to see him practically walk through the air using just his arms.

Happy Monday and good luck for the week ahead.

Friday25: Rockets, Star Wars and Nike

I've talked about SpaceX and their launch of a reusable rocket but I just wanted to confirm the news that they were successful. Despite only predicting a 30% success rate, they were able to deploy the "feet" of the rocket that let it have a soft touchdown in the ocean. This could open up a way to much cheaper space travel and even trips to Mars...

I've been watching Star Wars: Clone Wars and I must say that for a "children's" cartoon, it is quite epic, and often times dark. That being said I read some article about Star Wars today, including a video talking about the Expanded Universe of Star Wars.

This video tell about the many, many pieces of literature and media that have been created around the Star Wars Universe. There is a catalog of all these events, characters and story-lines. Now that Disney controls the franchise they will begin condensing and creating the official canon of all things Star Wars for the shows and other things to come.

I also read a post about some unknown facts about the lightsaber, I'll spare you the nerdy details but basically it's awesome.

Nike recently released an ad for the world cup. It's 4 minutes long but every second of it is gold. It shows a group of kids taking on the roles of some of the biggest names in soccer and playing an intense game. The world cup is the biggest sporting event in the world. If you've never watched it before I highly recommend giving it a try.

There was a humorous anti-bullying video that casts light on a funny reality; The nerds of today are the bosses of tomorrow, so be careful who you bully.

There was a touching video of a older man finding out that he was going to be a grandpa. It has of course gone viral like many of these videos do but it is rather touching. The article attached to the video also discussed why we feel emotional about our offspring and posterity. Evolution has built us to reproduce and our genes are really the only lasting thing that we can pass on. That may sound like a very scientific or emotionless way of viewing it but I belief it's rather profound. Our posterity is our ultimate legacy to the universe.

Thursday24: Disease, Parkour and Movie Changes

In the Middle East there is a celebration which brings many people together for religious reasons. If that isn't a vague statement, I don't know what it is. The point of that statement is to frame some health news. There has been a recent outbreak of the MERS virus. The MERS virus begins with cold-like symptoms that can escalate to death. It is similar to the SARS virus but less contagious, however, more deadly. With the religious gathering coming, scientists are worried that the disease will spread further-already over 200 people have been infected.

I think the idea of a virus destroying the world is not a new one but this certainly makes you pause and think. I don't believe MERS will be a scourge upon humanity but it's interesting to think about how easily it could be to start a pandemic...

Angry Nerd from Wired magazine claims that parkour (aka free running) should become its own movie genre. I hadn't considered this, or it's feasibility but he made a good point. Martial arts become its own genre of film, one that's expanded and grown greatly over the years and produced some amazing films. The movie, District 13 is a great example of a parkour film and even though the plot is a "vehicle to show off parkour" it's still not half bad.

I read an interesting that highlighted original versions of movies before they came to the big screen. For example, Star Wars was going to be more Lawrence of Arabia style, or in other words kind of like Avatar. (Train the locals, in this case wookies, to fight back against the Empire). The Truman show as originally going to be more of a sci-fi thriller than the humorous drama it is. Ghostbusters were originally going to be called ghostsmashers and be much more serious.

The post made me reflect on the creative process and how much things change. The original ideas of these films could still be equal good and may deserve exploring. I guess will have to check it out in a parallel universe.

Wednesday23: Burning Houses, World Cup, and Footprints

I read a relatively long post on Medium today that has stuck with me. It written by a man who started a painting business with his close friend. They were able to land a large deal to paint an expensive mansion in California. The man's friend had all the responsibility for the business including ownership and liabilities. During the course of the project the house's garage caught fire and was destroyed. It spread and became a wildfire that burned 45 acres of land. All of this happened because the man made some foolish mistakes during the project in how he stored the paint etc.

The point of this story is that from the moment he found out about the event and many months after he pondered how someone could forgive their best friend for ruining their future. In the end his friend was able to forgive him, in fact he didn't even need to. When you don't cast blame, you don't need to forgive.

The World Cup is coming in June and there has been a lot of controversy surrounding the politics and allocation of funds for new stadiums in Brasil. I browsed through a post that showed the 12 stadiums in their current stage of completion. For the most part their finished and ready to go - and beautiful. There are a few that are rushing to get chairs and other completions in before test events in May.

Gizmodo (or io9, their similar sources) posted an article with 10 interesting sites that will calculate all kinds of obscure values for you. For example, you can play with the numbers in the equation (I forget the name) that predicts the probability of intelligent alien life in the universe. You can also calculate how many Earth's it would take to support your lifestyle. It's interesting stuff to think about, it's also fun to play with data.

Apparently there's a company in Idaho (Boise) that lets you pay to smash things. In all honesty, I would pay to be able to smash a computer or something else fun with a bat. It could be a great stress reliever.

Tuesday22: Of Writing, Boom Canons, and Bad

Since I am both interested in science fiction as a subject and working towards writing science fiction I read about both the subject and the art of writing.

A humorous post today detailed things sci-fi publishers are tired of seeing in new books. Some of these things include; vampires, fairy tale retellings, controversial events/topics (rape, incest, etc.) time travel, mermaids, zombies, puns and many more. So if you're writing avoid these, and if you're reading, your're probably tired of seeing or hearing about these things already.

Eastern Europe and Russia seems to be more extreme in their fun and craziness. Recent case is a video from somewhere in that region in the world of a couple of young adults making a canon out of a garbage can. The results are awesome, look up the video.

I watched a funny video by College Humor that had a group of friends that were trying to decide on what to do and were having a very difficult time because everything was "bad". That is, every activity that wanted to try was somehow tied to a corporation, practice, product or image that hurt the environment, oppressed the weak or was somehow wrong. It shows some of the irony and silliness in many modern environmental movements - especially the "hipster" culture. That's not saying environmental movement aren't a good and necessary thing, we just need to be careful how far we take it - like anything in the world.

An economist talked about how the internet, in ways, undermined some of the founding principles of capitalism. He suggests that because everything became accessible and free, there were no products of value, that goes against the value trade and creation at the heart of social media.

Monday21: Robots, Cement, Sci-Fi Instruments, and SpaceX

It's been over a week since my last post but since neither of us are here for excuses, we'll jump right in.

A group of students (and professor) have developed a new compound of cement that if used, would last over 100 years before it needed replacing. Not only that, it's flexible (actually bendable) and completely water repellent. Pretty cool stuff.

Today is the 20th anniversary of the popular video games Myst and Doom. I never played Doom but I do understand it's impact on the FPS world of video games. Myst, was fantastic. I loved watching my parents play it as a child and I love the upgraded version as a teen. It was fun to reflect on these games and that it's been 20 years!

There was a fun post today that showcased 3 instruments used to make some of the most recognizable sounds of sci-fi. One of the instruments is used by holding your hands in the air, I believe it was called a Thorimum? Anyway the sounds from this instrument and others are found in movies like the Matrix, Star Wars, Star Trek and many others. The origin of many sound effects and music can be very interesting.

The news that I am personally excited for is the recent Space X launch. Space X is a company owned by Elon Musk (see modern-day Tony Stark) that is the first private organization to send a rocket to space. They recently sent a payload to the ISS but what was different about this launch was that it used a new kind of ignition rocket, one that can be reused. There is a video of a drone filming a test launch and it's quite spectacular to see it boost up and then slowly lower itself down again. It's awesome to see space travel and exploration get more and more attention.

At the Detroit auto show Honda showed off their 14 year old project, not a car, but a robot. I can't remember the name of the robot, but you would recognize it if you saw it. Through the years it's form has stayed relatively the same but it's become more and more versatile and flexible. It kicked a soccer ball, danced on one foot and poured a glass of water. Our robot overlords may be closer than we think.

Occulus Rift will make terrifying horror games, there's a funny video to prove it.
Astronauts have all been using the same watch since the 70s and it's beautiful.

Here's to a week full of mysteries, fun and internet randomness!

Tuesday8: The future of the future, clockworks and monopoly

I enjoy science fiction, more and more as I read and study it. I also enjoy "predictions" of the future. There was a post today that tickled the nerd, techie, and thinker in me. I can't remember the site (or even the name of the article, I may have to break my rule and go find it to put a link in) but it outlines a very in-depth study done on the future of various sectors. Everything from health to energy to neuroscience and more. It uses a wonderfully put together graphic that shows things we can expect in the next 3 years, 15 and 30 (rough numbers). Things like, self healing materials, technology aided telepathy, nano machines building themselves and much, MUCH more. It's awesome and highly thought provoking.

I watched a mesmerizing video about an Swiss watch making company putting together one of their watches. It was elegant, beautiful and very interesting all at the same time. I can't image being of the assemblers (the clocks are handmade) and the steady hands they require.

Comcast has been in the news recently for it's proposed acquisition/buyout of Time Warner Cable. This would create a massive company that would control the majority of all internet subscriptions. They are the two largest providers of internet in the country. The funny part, is that in Comcast's brief about the merger, they claim that it wouldn't create a monopoly, that there's enough competition from "international companies" to justify it. While it's true they don't really compare to ATT or Google, if the merger took place it would lock in millions of customers who are already faced with limited options for an internet service provider. It will be interesting to see how it all turns out.

There's a lot more commentary that can be made on the 1st and 3rd topics today but I'm going to hold back for now.

Map equivalent of Texas's area basically shows how huge Texas is. This is doing nothing for the Texan ego.
For those of you following the Star Wars Tournament bracket (I know, it's a big deal) Obi-Wan-Kenobi is the champion, ending the tournament in a close battle with Darth Vader.

Enjoy your Tuesday (what's left of it) and think about the hump that is tomorrow.



future post, texas, clock, comcast

Monday7: Stocks, Dark Matter and Godzilla

I'll get the less exciting things out of the way. The stock market has apparently, been dropping and/or going wild. Some analysts are comparing graphs of today's situation with other "bubbles" that burst in the financial world. Admittedly it all goes over my head and admittedly I don't care.

Scientists have recently discovered an anomaly at the center of the galaxy that appears to be the first sighting or physical evidence of the theorized dark matter. The center of the galaxy is an extremely happening place. Scientist found a burst of gamma radiation coming from the center after "subtracting" or normalizing regular gamma radiation that can be accounted for by stars, etc. It's not definite as there are possibilities that it could be something else. Either way, it's exciting news.

There's a new Godzilla trailer that came out today. It's over two minutes long and gives us a better glimpse into our characters and the "birth" or "discovery" of Godzilla. I saw lots of radiation signs so that could be fun. The movie will be epic and from the looks of it, humanity does not stand a chance against the lizard from Japan.

A billionaire is selling his mansion somewhere in Utah (it looks like Park City) there are some pretty crazy photos of everything this mansion has to offer including; couch in the bathroom, kitchen and living room that are part of the master suite, 5 bedrooms, full theater room that comes stocked with popcorn and goodies. In short, awesome, it's selling for something around 14 million. Don't forget about me if you buy it.

Today is world health day. Every year the WHO has a theme for world health day. This year's focus is on a particular kind of virus (name escapes me). Basically, mosquitoes are bad, look out and get rid of standing water.

There is a powerful car ad that you will probably see circle around. The message, in short, is don't text and drive. The consequences are deadly.

I caught up on a video posted by the Vlog brothers on YouTube. He got together with some animators (from another fantastic channel whose name is in German so I can't tell you what it is) and put together a video criticing our current prison system. The united states houses 25% of the world's prisoners. We hold more prisoners per person that South Korea and Russia! Yikes! It's serious problem, I recommend looking up the video if you're interested.

We've got another week ahead of us, keep your mind sharp and your brain active.

Friday4: WWII, Aliens and Brainwashing

The end of the week is upon us, and so are the countless, mindless posts of the interweb.

One of the most thought provoking posts I read (here at the end of the day) was about 10 alternate scenarios to WWII. They weren't meant as sci-fi predictions are alternate history fictions, but they certainly could be taken to that extreme. The author briefly outlines events that if they had turned out differently, could have altered the course of the war. Such events like; Germany invading Great Britain. Germany succeeding in taking Moscow, Nazis developing an atomic bomb, Hitlers assassination becoming a success and so forth. Very fascinating article, and I even learned a little about real history.

In a recent interview with Jimmy Kimmel, Bill Clinton said that when he first got into the office he had his aids look into everything about aliens. Specifically, he looked into area 51. When asked if he would tell us (the viewers) if there were aliens there he said he would. There apparently isn't. He made an interesting observation as well; he hopes for an alien invasion. He says that an alien invasion may actually unite humanity. Unity is certainly something we could use right now, and I believe he's right, improbable, but right.

An ad agency (after hearing about a middle school kids idea to save money by switching fonts, see TGIF) created a font that truly does save ink. The name of the agency, which the font is named after, escapes me. But they have a cool little video that accompanies it. The font is legible and pretty cool looking, it uses a series of small lines to make up letters. It may catch on, it probably won't but there's always hope.

Maps are wildly popular these days and I saw one that showed the major international exports of each state. Utah's was gold, which I found interesting. Many, many states were airplanes, which I also thought was a little strange.

Brainwashing is real, and possible, but impossible to test due to humanitarian constraints. (thank goodness) But I did learn that the term "Stockholm Syndrome" originated form an actual incident (not a scientist like I had originally thought) in Sweden. There was a bank robbery that led to a hostage situation that lasted for 6 days. When the police came to rescue everyone the captors fought back and defended the criminals. After everything was done some of the captors even set up a fund to help pay for the robbers legal defense.

You learn something new every day. Every moment can be a learning opportunity. Have a great weekend!

Wednesday2: Government Biotech, Microsoft and English

It's hump day. Really, there's nothing unique about Wednesdays other that the way it's spelled and our infatuation with its camel association (see Geico). I digress.

DARPA, which stands for something about defense and other cool things, is a branch of the defense department dedicated to research into new technologies. (It does more than that I'm sure) The article I read talked about some of the projects its working on which include highly intelligent prosthetic limbs controlled with your mind. They are also researching artificial intelligence. The article claims that if anyone is going to develop progressive AI (an AI that can improve itself) it will be them. They also discussed the possibilities of genetic manipulation to create elite human soldiers that are organisms, but not truly human. If that didn't send chills up your spine then you need to go see a chiropractor.

Microsoft announced some updates to it's operating system "Windows 8." Basically people were lost without the start menu and they had to bring it back. It's probably a smart move but in my opinion people need to get over it. They also announced further developments of their voice assistance "Cortana." This is of course, a reference to the AI in the Xbox game Halo. It is apparently very proficient and functions on par with Siri and Google Now with some added bonus features.

Amazon also had an announcement of it's own. They now offer a $99 streaming box. Basically a Roku but from Amazon and a few additional features. Could be good, look it up if you want to learn more.

I saw a funny video that anyone can appreciate but bi-lingual people may appreciate more, especially ESL learners. It ran through, in a Dr. Suess style, some of the blaring idiosyncrasies of the English language. Like how "brought" rhymes with "lot" and "drought" rhymes with "doubt." Think about that for a minute....

Dawn of the Planet of the Apes is looking more and more interesting.
In N Out, Forever 21 and many others are actually very religious companies. (in addition to the often publicized Hobby Lobby and Chik-fil-a).
NASA broke up with Russia.
The most popular job in Utah (and Idaho) is Forestry Technician. - It's odd, but just as odd as CA being farmers.

That's it for today. I've read and watched a lot more but that's all that's coming or worth mentioning. What did you see today?

Tuesday1: Fools, Lightsabers and Exploding Air Conditioners

It's a snowy day here in paradise valley but it's brought out my nerd, which doesn't take much.

I watched a fun featurette that has recently been posted online detailing the life and times of the Star Wars lightsaber. I love star wars, so this was great stuff to watch. Most people may find it passingly interesting or simply not care. The evolution of the lightsaber is in part, the evolution of special effects. It starts with a vision and an idea, as you try to implement it you come across hurtles and often by accident you find solutions. Your finished product is much more refined than what you began with and the process is as beneficial as the product.

It is, of course, April Fool's day as well. I've read several articles about various tricks that have been played today and in the past. A particularly clever trick that has been unearthed from the past came from a 1957 BBC documentary. The narrator, in all his glorious British enunciation tells us about the recent spaghetti crop, that was very fruitful that year. Spaghetti farming, in case you were wondering, is a long-held family tradition in part of Italy and Sweden where spaghetti noodles are hand picked for freshness.

Other articles discussed how silly or stupid April fools is and another one discussed why so many tech companies get involved with it. Some examples include Honda's DIY car assembly. Yep, 180,000 parts to assemble in your home. Google had over a dozen different pranks. A beer company crafted a new draft made with helium and so forth. I hope your April 1st was enjoyable and fun either way.

Another article that was more mildly related to my work (home security and automation products) came from a discussion about a new YouTube video for the channel "Rated RR", a channel famous for it's propensity to blow up nearly anything- and in high-definition, heart-stopping, slow-motion! They basically demonstrated the ability to hack into everyday household items like a thermostat, video camera etc. While it was interesting the idea of hacking into someone's electronic systems I don't think anyone will be loading their thermostats with C4 like these fellows did. Regardless, explosions are fun.

In other news, Apple is suing Samsung, again. More patent problems, it's billions of dollars worth of stuff, could be fun, or not.
Stephen Colbert almost lost "The Colber Report" but not really.
Russia's economy is on the downhill turn.
Some movies don't need special effects to be awesome. (see Christopher Nolan)
And finally, putting yourself in cryogenic sleep isn't the best idea. It sounds really cool, but don't count on coming back from it.

Happy Spring, Merry April.