The Magic Key From Doctor Who to The Secret Diary of a Callgirl

Every London's girl dream, my own front door.

Rose has the same bright, light emitting key
as in Dr Who ,
Secret Diary of a Call Girl S04E01

The Latest Star Trek Movie is not REAL Star Trek

According to Memory Alpha, wiki site for Star Trek, see wiki article for Memory Alpha, the latest Star Trek movie is not real Star Trek it is instead an alternate time line. As proof see the Memory Alpha page for James Kirk as he appeared in the latest movie, as listed in Memory Alpha as James T. Kirk (alternate reality).

Ikea Kit for Stonehenge

From How To Be a Retronaut via Adfreaks.

Machine Gun in Logging

American Dialect Maps

The fictional character Henry Higgins is an expect of of different British dialects and combination thereof. Here is series of American dialect maps derived a survey of internet users in 2002 put together by some linguists then at Harvard. Although it is a billed as a survey of "North American English" only the locations of American participants are mapped. The survey has asks participants questions of pronouncement and usage. The map above is one map for the question "What do you call it when rain falls while the sun is shining?".

Personally, I heard/read of liquid sun(shine) as a metaphor for nuclear fire.

National Stereotypes Displayed on Maps

We all have to deplore national stereotypes these days or be branded as bestial racists. However there are some truth behind such crude caricatures. The above image is from a map Asia Accord to the USA. The designer at Mapping Stereotypes has also made enough maps to fill a calendar highlighting the prejudices of the Swiss, Russia and Poland among others.

I got this link from a thread in AH.com, Maps Of Stereotypes. Naturally some more biased maps were created my favorite of which is Beedok's Canadian view of Europe which lists the Ukraine as Old Saskatchewan and Russia as Hockey Enemies.

The Professional Trolls Who are Congressional Critters

Does anyone else just feel worn out by all political BS in the U.S these days? I mean, it seems like Congress is nothing more than a group of professional trolls at this point. They never, ever seem capable of doing anything useful, or beneficial for the citizens of this country anymore. It's exhausting. Every single time a story pops up (on Slashdot or anywhere else) that involves politics or a political decision, you can basically just assume that it's going to screw over everyone in the country that isn't already a politician.

Being a U.S. citizen today feels just like playing the role of Sisiphus [wikipedia.org], consistently pushing a boulder uphill (trying to improve the world by being a responsible citizen, voting, jury duty, etc.) only to realize that you have to push it up again when you reach the top (Congress critters keep passing bills that fuck things up even more). It's exhausting, to keep reading about how those folks we elect to power just stumble around and fuck things up so badly....It's so consistent that it very nearly serves as a dataset to debunk that old meme of, "Never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by incompetence."

Our leaders are just fucking terrible. It's exhausting.

Bradley C Jackson posting as
BJ Covert Actionin
slashdot thread
House Passes Amendment
To Block Funds For Net Neutrality.

Traveller (De)motivational Posters

As I am getting back into the game Traveller a Traveller fellow traveller Timbo sent me a link to this and other motivation posters based on the Traveller role playing system. The above refers to technique of space travel, low berth, that is about the equivalent to riding under a railway car. The odds of survival is a little less then 3 out of 4, with medical assistance 5 out of 6 passengers survive this sci fi steerage. The scary thing is that from reading accounts of the Atlantic slave trade that this, 3/4 and 5/6, was about survival rate most of the time.

The drawing are from a set from clement777's account, Traveller Motivational Posters.

Here is another one of clement777's Traveller drawing that gets appeal of the game.

In Traveller Earth/Terra is "Earth Like"

Following some of the links at Traveller Map I came across a database of Treveller sectors, subsectors and planets, an Interactive Atlas of the Imperium. When I looked at the entry for Earth/Terra I got the above result as well as a completely different solar system. Admittedly this game is set several millennia in the future.

Home Appliances Fed On Rotting Flesh.

Carnivorous Domestic Entertainment Robots from Auger-Loizeau on Vimeo.

Years ago there was a bug zapper ad featuring Vincent Price. As the bugs were consumed he would chortle an evil laugh. Unfortunately I can't find it on Youtube. These innovative designs are part of an experiment in "predatory cyborg furniture". The only design that seems really gross is the coffee table that eats mice.

This is also got a mention on NPR, Meat-Eating Furniture, and slashdot, Designers Create Meat Eating Furniture.

War is Hell part MDMXVII

They say you find what something is worth when you pay for it. Well, la Difensa was ours now. Not much of a mountain, really. But I never knew a mountain could be so tall or plain rock cost so much.

William Holden as Robert Frederick in 

The Devil's Brigade

People often complain that triumphalist nature of war films of the 50's and 60's encouraged a pro war mentality. People who say his have never seen these films. These are film that were made generation that was scarred by their experience in the WWII, or failing that that Korean War.

How TV Ruined Your Life

I have been on a Charlie Brooker kick lately. He is a TV critic late of the The Guardian who has made some penetrating and insightful TV programs on TV itself. His latest documentary series is How TV Ruined Your Life. Here is the first episode on Youtube. Watch it before it is pulled by the lawyers.

Musicians and Debt

It looked like the kind of music emporium which doubles as a pawnshop, since every musician has at some time in his life has to hand over his instrument if he wants to eat and sleep indoors.

Soul Music, Terry Pratchett

See also Ray's Music Exchange in the Blues Brothers

On the Rarity of Highwaymen

"... This is civilization. They don't rob you on the road in civilization." He glanced down at the satchel again." They wait until you've got into cities. That's why they call it civilization."

Dwarf Horn Player Glob in Soul Music, Terry Pratchett

NASA Needs Cash

"NASA has released plans for a manned mission to Washington D.C. by 2017, in order to beg for funding for manned missions to less toxic locations."

Polish Eagle on
Things that look like alternate history, but aren't
at AH.com

Rome in Histrorical Fiction and Sci Fi

Rome has show up in many different kinds down through the ages. This is not meant to be a complete list but merely my favorites and highlights.

Historical Fiction

• I Claudius/Claudius the God: These are written in the form of the autobiography by the emperor Claudius. The first book is life up to be acclaimed as emperor by soldiers. The second book is his life as emperor as well as the telling of the life of friend Herod Agrippa. Well worth reading.

Sci Fi and Alternative History

• Lest Darkness Falls: An American in Rome stumbles through a hole in"the space time continuum" as they would say and ends up in a post imperial Rome of the 6th century.

How to Survive in Bad Parts of Baltimore

You got to be very polite. Social skills is mandatory. Social skills is MANDATORY.

Inhabitant of a bad part of Baltimore.
In the documentary by Charlie Brooker
Tapping The Wire promoting the worth
of the TV show The Wire.

Upstairs, Downstairs Economics: Junior Maid

What do they pay you?

dissolute artist

Mind your business.

Sarah

₤10 a year and a bed in the basement.

dissolute artist

No, its twice that much and and a room in the attic.

Sarah

Upstairs,Downstairs S01E02

The cost of employing a junior maid in 1904 for a year plus room and board in today's values:

£8,550.00
using the average earnings

£10,100.00
using the per capita GDP

£14,800.00
using the share of GDP

Life is Hard, Get Used to it - Sue Sylvester

Lady, I can't suspend a student because he scares you. High school is a dry run for the rest of your life. Its rough. People can be mean.

and that's how Sue "C"s it, GleeS02E08

Claymate Yourself

Hotels.com is featuring claymation characters in their latest advertising campaign. Now they have created a site to help you clay yourself at a site called http://clayyourself.com/. Found at Ads of the World.

The Reason Why This Blog Exists

This is small detail of a flow chart created by Rosscrott, so you found interesting on the internet. The chart stresses the important of crediting the creators of whatever cool thing you found online. This little detail illustrates the primary reason why I ever blog anything.

Logorama - Animation Through Logos

Logorama from Marc Altshuler - Human Music on Vimeo.

Logorama is a short film made up entirely of logos. The landscape, the flora, the fauna, the people the world are all made up of different logos. In the opening sequence there there is a pan over the city where every building is logo shaped. Most of the story has many pulp fiction elements from both the movie or the genre.

This was posted on Adfreak last February. I only noticed it today.

A Warning from Beyond the Grave

From a link at AH.com.

A famous actor appears in a PSA urging viewers to help donate to research the disease that killed him...while making jokes at his own gravesite*!

Nevadans as Hobos

In the comments of a Paul Krugman blogpost, Ireland = Nevada, a Joseph OShaughnessy offers this interesting comparison between Ireland and Nevada.

Ireland

The Irish are a homogeneous, well educated society. They have lived where they live, give or take 100 miles, likely for at least 500 [more like at least 1000-5000 years].

Nevada

The Nevadans are, by and large, uneducated vagabonds. Their medical system is almost non-existent and where it exists, it should be banned. The oldest and most established citizens are themselves transients.

Russia, Where the Living is Hard

This image of a dead Russian lawyer Sergei Magnitsky was taken 2006 when he was 34. He was on the front page of a NY Times article about a Russian commission that investigates prison conditions and prison deaths, Documents Raise Questions About Russian Case. I showed his picture about half a dozen people and asked them to estimate his age. Most thought he was in his late 50's. The lowest estimate was 40. When this picture was taken he was 32. I wonder just how hard was life to look like this.

Xmas in Heaven

Fuck Xmas - Eric Idle

Bicentennial Acid Trip

Undercover Cops - The Best Liars Ever?

He continued smoking while we continued questioning him carefully and as diplomatically as possible about the aspects of his testimony the previous evening, trying our best not to rile him, but I think it was too late for that. He answered the questions without pause and didn't appear to be lying, but of course you wouldn't be able to tell with a man like him anyway. His whole job was one lie after another...

DI Gallan questioning Stegs
in The Crime Trade by Simon Kernick

Obama - Always Give In To Threats

I think it's tempting not to negotiate with hostage-takers, unless the hostage gets harmed. Then people will question the wisdom of that strategy.

B. Hussein Obama, Noted Kenyan-American

Obama gave the above statement that after making a deal with congressional Republicans on maintaining tax cuts for billionaires. The problem is hostage taking as a crime has died in most countries is that people nad police have learned that dealing with hostage takers encourage them. It also an easy crime to prove since the criminals have to communicate to get the money.

Real Steam Punk or Steam Powered Punk

From a link from Elidor on AH.com's Things that look like Alternate History but Aren't thread.

The American South and Minimum Wages

The above is from a map American minimum wage laws at the US dept of Labor. The colors are for the relative level of each states minimum wage law compared to the US federal rate. Green is for states the have higher rates, blue is for the states that use the federal rate, yellow is for those states that have a minimum wage lower than the federal and red is for those states without a minimum wage law. I found this page because I was watching a video post at Boingboing about the struggles that Disney employees have, Walt Disney World castmembers speak about their search for a living wage.

What is striking is how many off US states that formed the Old Confederacy are still not, even 150 years after they fought a war over it, that keen on paying people who work for them.

Oh, Great, Qatar Gets the 2018 World Cup

Qatar, pronounced catarrh, has won the right to host the 2018 World Cup, Retreat and revenge: England's options after their 2018 World Cup snub. A commenter on Jihadwatcher Droptheveil
has this reaction to sleazy dusty hell of Qatar.

I just can't imagine why ANYONE would want to go to Qatar let alone watch football matches in 50 degrees of heat. No matter how much air conditioning there will be in the stadiums, they will overheat very quickly with all those bodies and the sun throwing out so much heat, most air conditioning units there just cannot cope. English football fans like a pint of beer on such occasions and the only places to buy a drink is in the odd small bar on a top floor in hotels at huge prices, or around the pool of expensive hotels. No guest houses as we are used to in the UK. Drinking is not allowed in public apart from these very few bars. The traffic and driving must be some of the most dangerous in the world and I forecast now that there will be serious road accidents because the locals are idiots behind the wheel and have no road sense, it's them first in the queue and to hell with the rest of us. Car hire is very basic and from experience cars are not serviced to any of our western standards, so good luck. One cannot usually hire a car unless you are a resident and prove such. If a foreigner is involved in such an accident he is automatically the guilty party and the locals can do no wrong, I kid you not. You have been warned. They will need very large numbers of taxis and drivers because currently one cannot get a taxi for love or money unless you get one from a hotel at enormous costs. The place is a dust bucket and with all the building that will be necessary, built on slave labour by the way, it will be so much worse than it is now being a climate where dust hangs in the air. My advice, don't go, it's a dump, nothing to do in the evenings, and a spare day to 'sight-see' is too hot to go out although there are 'glamourous' shopping malls where you will be ripped off further. Sharia law already exists there and the place is half a step up from Saudi Arabia - just. I've lived there for several years so I speak from experience, one I could have done without!! The locals are surly and full of their own piss and importance. How was this country half the size of Wales been awarded the 2022 world football tournament? It beggars belief. Nuf said.

Weird Photo of Emperor Hirohito and British Troops

This image was captured of crown prince Hirohito reviewing troops in May 21, 1921, link . About 20 years, 5 months and 20 days later things were entirely different.

War: Good, Necessary, Just

I don't think that there is such a thing as a "good war". There are sometimes "necessary wars". And I think Some might say "just wars". And that it never, I never questioned the necessary of that war [WWII] and still do not question that it was something that had to be done.

Sam Hynes in Ken Burns' The War

A Swiss Supervillian Datacenter

An anonymous commenter on my blogpost last year, "A Super Villain's Datacenter", sent me a link to another super villain server farm, Mount10. This one is is located in the Alps. In one of the Chung Kuo novels a super villain went to ground at a secret base high in the Alps.

The "Reliable" Criminal

"...They're reliable."

Which was a refrain I'd heard plenty of times before about criminals. They're reliable. The problem was, for most part, they weren't. They tended to be paranoid, highly strung, violent, and often drugged up, which was a pretty lethal combination. In the course of my career I've had two guns pulled on me, four knives, an axe, a tyre iron, even a fake medieval ball and chain. I've been held down by a gang of crazed thugs, flying on a diet of vodka and crack, who doused me in petrol and threatened to burn me alive unless I gave them the drugs I was supposedly carrying (I didn't, and they didn't), and many's the time I've woken up wondering when my luck's going to run out.

Undercover cop Sean Egan
in Simon Kernick's
The Last 10 Seconds.

Life, Death and Dogs

The Commodore Louis Kaestner, from his sickbed, talks on about the sickness and death about his late dog.

Its a fucking dog!

Jimmy Darmody

You're a stony little bastard.

The Commodore Louis Kaestner

I'm what time and circumstance has made me.

Jimmy Darmody

Problems with Paras

You also have the problem that dropping airborne on mountains results in a fair number of them being injured on landing with busted ankles, toes, legs, etc.

I remember my buddy who's actually does a lot of jump training with foreign crews who are qualifying for certain missions saying that it's gotten to the point where the USAF, USMC, and US Army actually have mathematical calculations they can run before each drop in order to figure out a rough estimate of how many people will be injured.

Apparently mountains are...rough on the math.

mmmeee0 on a thread on AH.com
about giant walkers,
Supposing walkers are a feasible craft...

Report From the Ancient Internet

Science Friday on NPR had a rebroadcast of first program that they also simlubroadcast on the "internet", A Trip Back To The Future of The Internet. People called in during the program using their, for the time, bleeding edge internet telephony on $8K UNIX machines. In the middle of program after suffering through internet telephony problems like packet loss and the walkie talkie/half-duplex nature of such early systems, the host Ira Flatow gives this understatement.

It seems to me the Internet is in a very crude stage.

Scary Words from a Vet

It's frightening
really
but you don't feel it
at the time
you want to live

And you want them to die

Sgt Joe Dawson 39th Militia Battalion (Australia)
recounting his experiences on Kokoda Trail
Kokoda: Invasion

You Are Richer Than You Think

The Global Rich List is a calculator designed to show you how rich you are compared with the whole Terran population as opposed to the Jones. Then it hits up for a contribution. In a way it is the reverse of the Total Perspective Vortex because it shows that compared the rest of humanity you are probably doing OK, if you viewing this blog on your own computer. The difference between prosperity and wealth to me is that prosperity depends on living standards whereas wealth is a measure of relative living standards.

Link given by the_lyniezian on AH.com thread Frivolous ASB Ideas Thread.

Latin Wikipedia

From a reference in AH.com thread Things that Look Like Alternate History.

Boardwalk Empire Economy 1920: New Dress

I do so love this.

Candidate Harding's girlfriend

Mademoiselle's taste is excellent.

Madame Jeunet

How much is it?

Candidate Harding's girlfriend

$480

Madame Jeunet

Boardwalk Empire S01E09

in 2009 the relative worth of $480.00 from 1920 is:

	$5,140.00	using the Consumer Price Index
	$4,100.00	using the GDP deflator
	$12,000.00	using the value of consumer bundle
	$17,600.00	using the unskilled wage
	$23,300.00	using the Production Worker Compensation
	$26,800.00	using the nominal GDP per capita
	$77,400.00	using the relative share of GDP

(Measuring Worth)

New Posts on the Relative Values in Boardwalk Empire and hopefully other shows as well

A lot of numbers come up in the new TV series Boardwalk Empire. From now I will post interesting prices that show up in this series. I will also go back and watch earlier episodes. When I have time I will do the same for Madmen the other great period program on TV now.

For relative values I will quote the number in show and give the relative values as provided/calculated from the Measuring Worth.

Politics is Sometimes More Important Than Dying

You son of a bitch, I'm dying. It's no time to be sentimental.

Commodore Louis Kaestne
to Treasure Nucky Thompson
putting politics above mortality or family
in Boardwalk Empire S01E0 9

Churchill Pwns Hitler

Found in the shallower waters
of the time wasting swamp that is
The Cheezburger Netwowork

This could also be
Amateur artist beats failed art student
Battalion commander beats corporal

Dark Tormented Cops

There is a great examination of the genre of hard edged British crime drama in a recent LA Times, British TV cops are a tormented lot.

Reporting from London — Channel-surf almost any night of the week in Britain and chances are you'll come across a gruesome crime drama featuring a dark and tortured soul whose brutal, morally repellent deeds make you recoil in horror.

And that's just the detective.

To this I would also add Judge Dredd, a combination cop, judge, jury and executioner tracking down perps for such crimes as littering, jay walking, theft and murder. Dystopic policing for a distopic world.

Television Archeology

Here are the ruins of set of an ancient TV show, MASH, last used about 2 decades ago. Above is a remaining vehicle left to rot, rust, molder away. Here is map coordinates for the set. Here is a story from the LA Times about the set and the efforts to save the MASH set, Hike to old 'MASH' set launches fundraiser for California parks.

There have been other instances of sets being abandoned in the middle of nowhere. This allows for the possibility for confusing future archeologists. Bits and pieces of movies sets would confuse chronologies and culture references. The more piecemeal future knowledge is the more seriously these sets would be trusted.

Transdimensional Portals and Aussie Beer

Tooheys is a Aussie beer company that previously made an ad about a tongue that goes on a beer run. In this ad a party goer searches too deeply in an ice filled sink and enters a world filled with transdimensional portals to other iced filled sinks/tubs from parties of the now and ever.

This is a beer equivalent of Being John Malkovich

Our Valued Customers: The worst thing about any business

Our Valued Customers is a blog drawn by a guy who runs a comic store about the people who wander into the his store and occasionally buy things. I unfortunately recognized myself in several of the cartoons.

Cute Imperial March

The Matrix Effect

Ah, the early'90's: I was so innocent I barely knew which demographic I was.

Scott Brow in
Wired 2009/09/11 article "Geeky Friday

There is also an old saying that you should never examine too closely how sausages or laws are made. At the end of The Matrix, Neo can only see perceive the programming but not the our constructed reality.  Media training is good but it also robs you of the pleasure of pure consumerism / fandom.

The Financial Industry Lives Off the Stupid

There is an old joke where a prospective brokerage client is shown the impressive yachts owned by the partners. This leads the prospective brokerage client to ask where are clients' yachts. In the context of this strip Hardcastle is a stodgy and generally unsuccessful metal bashing company oop north.

Zombie Dancer

The Least Scary Scene in Dexter

That's either a saint or the most boring action figure I have ever seen.

Dexter
being confronted with Harrison's nanny Catholicism,
Dexter S05e05

One Magic Minivan

The Renault Espace has been sold in Belgium for about 25 years. Renault recent campaign Renault Espace the for suggests that this one minivan is responsible for taller people, larger families and the complete elimination of canine abandonment.

(from Ads of the World)

The Hierarchy of Viewers

Welcome precious prime time viewers, valued internet down loaders and scary digital pirates.

Professor Frink
segmenting the audience on Treehouse of Horror 2010

Is that an Alien in his gut?

Where Polar Bears Come Fromm

Many people looks at myths as explanations for how things have happened. However in my view myths are less explanation than explanation within in a world view, culture and religion. They more stories that stress the importance of a culture's world view, gods and heroes, than flat and culture free science and history. The story of creation is more a story of why "the heavens and the earth" were created, Genesis (1.1), then an explanation of how.

This short flash animation, Drunk Science, explains where polar bears come from.

The Expendables - semi-live blogging

When I first saw ads for The Expendables I was impressed. Line up of cool, super cool action stars. Except that for Stallone, a sad, cowardly, pathetic, draft dodger. Which is ironic since he has based his career, in part, on John Rambo. I am sorry I just hate Stallone, not the least for his horrible portrayal of Judge Dredd.

first action sequence
saving prisoners from the scum of Somalia

What do you know, a greedy pirate.

Lee Christmas (Jason Stratham)

My opinion is that we should go back to tradition, ancient, of punitive raids. Every time Somali pirates raid a pirate castle should be destroyed , That is any nice piece property in Somalia that probably home to a pirate king. No reasoned argument will ever convince them to stop being pirates. In Beirut in the '80's a Soviet was kidnapped. The Soviets promptly went and snatched a relative of some prominent terrorist/jihadi/scum of the earth. They then sent back to the prominent terrorist/jihadi/scum of the earth the relative in bits and pieces. Soviets were off limits from then on.

I got 30 minutes into the film and I couldn't watch anymore. Goddamn you Stallone, destroyer of films.

Changing Definitions of Young & Middle Aged

Jill Clayburgh died today. One of her most notable roles was that of recent divorcee in the movie An Unmarried Women. In that movie was coming out of marriage after being married for 16 years. The character marries out high school, has children at least some of whom get to high school by the time marriage breaks up. In the 19th century most marriages ended after 25 years, people would die. She was 34 when the movie was made in 1978. Now the age of first marriages for upper middle class couples is the middle thirties. Take look at the wedding announcements at the NY Times.

The Expendables Mashup With So Many CGI Toons

Two Cars Too Close Tonight

Downtown Toronto @ Bay & Charles
Friday 05/11/10

Is a Universe Without Rambo That Bleak

Posted by wearedamob in the AH.com thread, US Victory in Vietnam 1972: What Does 2010 Look Like? He follows this up with:

Yup, the future would be a bleak, dark world without Rambo.

But a world without chicken hawks like Sylvester Stallone, George W Bush, Tom Clancy and other sleazy cowards would be a more positive place. For more details and to nominate go to NH Gazette's Chickenhawk Hall of Shame.

The Vacancy Rate by Building and Floor on Bay St

Above is a graphic from an article on the towers in the Toronto financial district, Toronto’s aging office towers losing tenants to new eco-friendly offerings. As many have pointed out before commercial real estate is a trailing economic indicator. The tallest buildings are finished in economic downturns, see Empire State Building. The signature building, the namesake building is often built when a company peaks and begins its decline, see Pan Am and Sears or even fictional Sterling Cooper. Office buildings occupancy rates peak just before a downturn. Vacancy rates then increase as new buildings are finished and businesses reduce their leased space. Then as economic conditions improve office space is taken up until vacancy rates hit new lows. The fact, according to this article, that vacancy rates are still increasing is not a good sign.

This is with our economic system however at other times and places property developers have less constraints placed on them. According Simon Johnson the 3rd world suffers from "financial oligarchy". Only the connected in these societiesget funding/credit. The result is an orgy of overbuilding that exaggerates the boom/bust cycle in commercial real estate as building are built on spec, see Dubai, Texas in the '80s, The SE Asia crash in the '90s.

Years ago I got into an empty, never being occupied, floor at the south end of Eaton's Centre. It was eerie, an eerie aerie, with only the sound of the Peruvian flutes coming from the street below.

Breaking into the Board Game Market and the Reluctance to Learn New Rules

I play different board games with two very different groups of players. I play games like Apples to Apples to Apples or Scrabble with groups of people who only want play games they already know and/or easy to play. With hard core gamers I play much more complicated games. I have played roleplaying games each of which consists of volumes of rules. I have played Avalon Hill games including Advanced Squadleader, ASL "rulebook" is a thick binder with space for future rule expansions. I have played home brew games, variants and beta tests.

That being said there are the hard core gamers might spend more time and money. However there are many people who play games, family games, party games. In the The Globe & Mail's ROB article about a company trying to break into the board game market, How Spin Master learned to play with the giants, there is this explanation of this phenomenon.

“Consumers feel comfortable when they know the rules from a game of the past[and] don’t have to read the rule book.

Trivia Question #1

UPDATE 11/2/2010
answers

What are the only 4 countries in the world with more than 2 timezones? And for bonus points can you name which of these four:

• Is in a different hemisphere? - Australia, in the Southern Hemisphere
  
• Has a different official language? - Russia, Russian
• Was not attacked in WWII? - Canada
  
• Was not a monarchy in August 1914? - USA
  

Remember there is a different answer for each question.

Geography Trivia #3

What is city is home to the greatest number of Saskatchewanians.

(Scroll down and highlight to see


Calgary

Source:
Globe & Mail Tuesday, Nov. 02, 2010,
Saskatchewan goes fishing in Calgary’s labour pool

"...Calgary, which is brimming with Saskatchewan émigrés – as many as 250,000, according to some estimates. If that number is even remotely accurate, greater Calgary would rival Regina (population 200,000) and Saskatoon (250,000) as a home for Saskatchewanians."

Star Wars in 8Bit

This ad is part of a campaign for a Russian movie theatre chain. The use of 8Bit graphics is supposed to make movie fans of a certain think that every thing is improved and technology makes movies better. I thinks the ads are counterproductive. It will make people nostalgic about the great games and great movies in years past. Today there is real crap that is much more technically sophisticated than the kind of fun stuff that entertained us in the past.

This ad depicts a scene from 8Bit Star Wars. I would watch an 8Bit Star Wars. When George Lucas made the secound trilogy, or first inn the timeline, he focusedn more on the movie technology than the actual movie. What distracts filmmakers with a wealth of new technology is the fixation on The medium is the message but sometiimes the message is the message.

(from Ads of the World) <>

USS Enterprise Owner's Workshop Manual

Haynes, American trade/brand name Chilton, is a company that produces detailed technical manuals for just about all makes and models of cars, trucks and motorcycles. The above, the USS Enterprise Owner's Workshop Manual, has a cutaway diagram of the USS Enterprise A. Every Starfleet engineer will wnat one.

You Really Can See Russia From Alaska

This is picture from the top of Little Diomede, Alaska, looking across to Big Diomede, Siberia. They really are that close. The real quote of Sarah Palin: "They're our next-door neighbors and you can actually see Russia from land here in Alaska, from an island in Alaska"? This quote was exaggerated by Tina Fey into "I can see Russia from my house". You can look from the Alaskan Island to the coast of mainland Siberia and from the Siberian island to the coast of mainland Alaska.

You can think dumb Sarah Palin for many reasons but not for this one.

I got to use a new measuring tool on Google Maps.

Oil Depletion in Los Angeles

From the LA Almanac is this charts of the Great Oil Fields of LA County. The first you notice is the last field to be discovered was about 80 years ago. Second is that the oil is gone, mostly gone, with the remaining wells dribbling oil at much less than gusher strength. There are some myopic sorts in the US who believe that the solution for their energy independence is "drill, baby drill". Will it is true that private mineral claim/public royalty systems lead to active prospecting than the statist economic systems that prevail in OPEC. All that means is that resources are found faster not that there are more resources to find.

Also check out this chart of declining oil production in LA.

Briefcase Gun

The Shipping News - Past & Present

The image above is a detail from a Globe & Mail ROB graphic, The Global Shipping News. Three years ago this blog has an entry on Windjammer and East Indiaman Shipping Lanes. The link was from a economic history blog. That map was created by going through ship logs to find relative positions of a couple hundred ships from the 17th to 19th centuries. There is a new crowd source project, Old Weather, out there to look in the same logs, types of logs, to gets weather readings that can be graphed in time and space. This project is also looking at a different collection of ships than the Windjammer one. Old Weather is getting people to transcribe logs from Royal Navy ships from the late 19th and early 20th century. The other project had looked at English, French and Dutch in both commercial and government hands.

Corrupt Atlantic City Cop: Boardwalk Empire

Doesn't wearing a Sam Browne make the sheriff in Boardwalk Empire look like a certain corporal.

The Last Classic Mafia Widow Tells What

While watching Boardwalk Empire S01E03 I was alerted to the existence of Al Capone wife, Mae Capone, an Irish lass, she lived to 1986, Al Capone's widow was around in the '80s.

No TV specials ever.

Meditation On Coolness

There is seems be some sort power that allows cool people to imbue things with cool. Things become cool because the Cool Ones do it, own it, wear it, smoke it. But this is not permanent condition. Uncool people can also destroy cool. It is how things fall out of fashion. The uncool get a hold of it, the it, whatever it that cool did, owned, wore, smoked. At that point it, the it, is uncool. The cool have moved on or the embrace of the cool it by the uncool has transformed it into kitsch. People can not become cool by imitating the cool. Maybe advertising should remember that.

Here is TV Tropes examination of cool.

New Sears Campaign Makes Zombies Boring

Zombies and zombiism is normally such a fun and twisted corner of pop culture. They're kinda of cool. Sure, usually, well usually if the stars align. The above is taken from Sears.com, which in the run up to Halloween is targeting the zombie demographic.

Galaxy Zoo

Galaxy Zoo is crowd sourced project to classify galaxies. In the talk given by Chris Lintott, one the Galaxy Zookeepers explains the image above, watch on Big Ideas, listen on Big Ideas, explains the need for us to help astronomers. The problem is that our technology allows us to many, many, many more galaxy than in the past when galaxy photos could be published, on in thin books,

Zombie Stickers for Halloween

Here are these cool stickers.from the website for a new zombie novel, Rise Again. Here is the full sized PDF for the above. Be the first zombie on the block.

It is interesting how zombism has grown so much in popularity over the past decades.

It's Hard To Be Irish

As far as I'm concerned they can take St Patrick's day and sell it for scrap.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Dad says because you hate being Irish

Elias "Eli" Thompson

I love being Irish. What I hate is the yearly display of crying, arguing and public drunkenness that goes with it.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Centuries of loss. We're a sorrowful people.

Elias "Eli" Thompson

Maybe it will snow.

Enoch "Nucky" Thompson

Boardwalk Empire S01e05