Friday9: Alternate Histories, Short Stories and Religious First Contact

It's the weekend, finally. As with most posts I have something to mention about Star Wars. I read an article from someone who watched the entire series back to back and did an honest review. He, like I, grew up on the prequels and there is a soft spot in our hearts for them-even if they are terrible. He was kind to the prequels but is quick to point out how superior and well crafted the sequels are.

I also read a post that talked about the best Expanded Universe stories of Star Wars. Three of them were stories I am very familiar with including, Clone Wars (both versions) and The Knights of the Old Republic. Without boring you with the details, I recommend looking it up.

io9.com does a cool series of posts asking users to come up with 6 word sci-fi stories. They highlighted some of the best so far and they really are brilliant. Unfortunately, I can't remember any off the top of my head, but look it up, it's fun.

Another great, more thought-provoking post was about if humanity is ready to encounter alien life. Psychological studies say no. We are not mentally ready for first contact due to religious beliefs. Most people, when asked how they would analyze a situation with aliens fall first on their religious beliefs before looking to scientific standards or logic. I agree with the psychologist conclusions however I do believe that instead of thinking of religion as a bad, brain-washing or blinding thing, that it can be a frame to the scientific glasses of perception. If we see things through logic and science but put them in context of our own religious beliefs I believe we can confront difficult questions such as E.T. I also feel strongly that the two, namely science and religion can be paired in such a way that is not only functional but also progressive and beneficial.

Remixes of the internet can offer some fun, and interesting entertainment. For example, using the sound board from the new Godzilla trailer and cutting it with clips from Jaws. It really is quite awesome and makes Jaws seem 10x more terrifying.

Another great one is recutting Frozen to appear like a horror movie. Or Dumb and Dumber to look like a romantic drama. It's amazing what you can do with some editing knowledge and context.

Finally, the international news. Brazilian police are threatening to go on strike during the world cup unless they receive higher wages. This could be a very dangerous situation considering the current crime rates in Brazil but also the influx of tourists during that time. Hopefully everyone comes to their senses and things run smoothly for the games.

Have a great weekend!

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.