Fantastic Contraption is a challenging physics-based online gap. Doable for children of all ages as they say. You basically have build wheel-based vehicles to achieve certain goals. And if you don't like that you can just run them off cliffs which is equally fun. Good quality time.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Publication incentives
At the Parentonomics book launch, the publishers put out an offer to my children to write up and publish their version of the story (aka Cheaper by The Dozen). Following up from my conversation with Child No.1 last week on the benefits of becoming the next JK Rowling, the book's launcher, Catherine de Fontenay, put the following to Child No.1.
"So when you write your book and become famous will you use the money to buy special treats?"That explains her current extreme savings strategy. She is just holding out to be free of parental controls.
"What difference would that make?" (with the expression, 'what planet you are from?') "I wouldn't be allowed to until I'm 18 and after that I can just use my allowance to buy all the special treats I want."
Want to try out Parentonomics on TV?
Today Tonight, a current affairs TV show in Australia, are doing a story on Parentonomics and are looking for families who would be bold enough to try out economic incentives in the home or talk about how they do it, and to air their experiences on TV. If you are interested, contact Elizabeth right away on 03 9697 7829 (time is short). There is a free copy of the book in it for you.
Sunday Night Video: Creating Arnold Schwartzenegger
With my post earlier this week about how I would rewrite a couple of Arnold Schwartzenegger's underperforming movies, I thought it would be fitting to end the week with another related video.
Basically it is revealing the secret to Arnie's movie success.
It all makes sense now, doesn't it?
Basically it is revealing the secret to Arnie's movie success.
It all makes sense now, doesn't it?
Tags:
Parentonomics (US Version)
Amazon.com have posted a pre-publication link for Parentonomics: An Economist Dad Looks at Parenting to be published by MIT Press in April 2009. Click here to sign up for notification when it is actually available. Interestingly, it is different to Parentonomics: An Economist Dad's Parenting Experiences published by New South in both subtitle and also in language. The international version adopts a US style. So expect diapers rather than nappies and various other things like that.
Saturday, August 30, 2008
Friday, August 29, 2008
Week 16: Pageant of the Transmundane
Hello from the year 2525. Somehow I got caught up in the lyrics of mediocre song for the 1960's and ended up here. Fortunately, they have their stuff together when it comes to wormholes up here, so I am able to transmit this missive before heading back myself... though they do say the process of moving humans this way usually results in your head getting much bigger, black eyes, grey skin and baldness, but I guess that is just the price I am going to have to come back to the present. Especially since I know who wins the Superbowl and the upcoming election (as well as the next 48 winning entries of this particular contest).
This week's winning entry comes from C3Fun, which has always been a repository for the strange.
I'll admit that the description vastly undersells why I chose this week's winner. I mean, it is just a video showing just how bad of a singer Britney Spears was. I know it doesn't sound transmundane at first blush, but wow... it really is stunning. If she came to American Idol with that, they would have stopped her and insulted her as a group.
I don't really consider this kicking her while she is down, because that audio feed and the video that accompanies it were from when she did that HBO special... so I feel guilt free on this one.
And since this week's winning entry is music related, what better way to commemorate it than with a little bit of Homer in Sadgasm from "That 90's Show". What would you have picked for this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award? The Barber Shop Quartet? Rock Camp? I don't think so.
Congrats Michael, and here is your web badge for this win.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
This week's winning entry comes from C3Fun, which has always been a repository for the strange.
I'll admit that the description vastly undersells why I chose this week's winner. I mean, it is just a video showing just how bad of a singer Britney Spears was. I know it doesn't sound transmundane at first blush, but wow... it really is stunning. If she came to American Idol with that, they would have stopped her and insulted her as a group.
I don't really consider this kicking her while she is down, because that audio feed and the video that accompanies it were from when she did that HBO special... so I feel guilt free on this one.
And since this week's winning entry is music related, what better way to commemorate it than with a little bit of Homer in Sadgasm from "That 90's Show". What would you have picked for this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award? The Barber Shop Quartet? Rock Camp? I don't think so.
Congrats Michael, and here is your web badge for this win.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
Tags:
Thursday, August 28, 2008
Principles of Parentonomics
Recently, I recorded a lecture in which I tries to illustrate the 10 Lessons of Economics (from the Australian version of Mankiw's textbook) with parenting examples. It was a challenge but I made it. That said, in watching this I realised that I make typos as I speak. Hopefully no one will transcribe it. (YouTube below or full version here).
What It Would Take For Me To See Disaster Movie
Today, Semaj posted a entry about the upcoming release of another epic from the beautiful mind* of Uwe Boll on DVD, Postal, and I noticed that the cover of the DVD stated that it also came with a copy of the PC game Postal 2.... and it honestly made me want to pick up the movie when it got cheaper just for the game.
It got me to thinking about what it would take for me to see another midden pile of a movie, Disaster Movie (a title that tells you exactly what to expect) at either the theater or on DVD.
At the theater:
To Purchase it on DVD:
* In order not to offend the people who are boycotting Tropic Thunder, Culture Kills has instituted a policy of referring to people who have diminished capacity as having a beautiful mind, especially when referring to a particular German filmmaker, because the word retarded just isn't enough really.
It got me to thinking about what it would take for me to see another midden pile of a movie, Disaster Movie (a title that tells you exactly what to expect) at either the theater or on DVD.
At the theater:
- The movie features an airtight explanation for how the Kennedy Assassination went down.
- Going to see the movie at a theater results in rapid and painless weight loss to their ideal weight within minutes of leaving the theater
- Watching the movie on the big screen imbues you with some form of psychic powers beyond knowing that Disaster Movie is going to suck before you see it.
- Every Person who sees the movie gets a secret part for their car which will allow it to run on anything you put in the tank... ANYTHING.
- If I see the movie, the Church of Scientology admits it is a cult and shuts down immediately.
To Purchase it on DVD:
- A Carmen Electra/Kim Kardasian sex tape
- A credit card that will comp all my future meals to Lionsgate
- A set of pills which will prevent me from getting cancer or heart disease for the rest of my life
- A gift certificate for a free Disaster Movies of the 1970's boxset.
- The explicit promise in writing that if I buy the DVD, they will stop making these movies.
* In order not to offend the people who are boycotting Tropic Thunder, Culture Kills has instituted a policy of referring to people who have diminished capacity as having a beautiful mind, especially when referring to a particular German filmmaker, because the word retarded just isn't enough really.
Tags:
Code Review: JavaScript, Gears, GeoLocation, Android, and more
Code Review is produced in a variety of formats, from text to audio (iTunes) and video.
The last several days have been exciting. We are seeing great new technology that can enable us to do new things, and have old things run a lot better.
Mozilla announced TraceMonkey, which promises large JavaScript performance improvements based on their trace based JIT technique. This, which backs on to the earlier SquirrelFish announcement from Apple and the WebKit team, and IE8 beta 2 arriving today with performance improvements too.
Running a new browser and seeing Gmail get a lot faster is just as good as buying a new computer to get a speed up!
Gears 0.4 has been released and people have picked up on the main points.
One side is Geolocation, and the two new ways to access location data through Gears and the Ajax APIs.
As an experiment, I wrote a shim that would bridge the W3C Geolocation API that Andrei Popescu of the Gears team is editing, and the other APIs. This is shown via a simple Where are you? sample application.
Giving you access to location information is fantastic, but this isn't all Gears 0.4 has to offer.
The new YouTube multi-file upload page gives you the ability to upload many files, with progress on the upload, and the ability to resume uploads after a connectivity problem. Brad Neuberg wrote a sample that ties together the new APIs (Blob, HTTPRequest improvements, Desktop API file system addition) and shows how you could create the experience too.
For more of this content, you can follow our two new series: Open Web Podcast, and the State of HTML 5.
Mobile News
A much awaited SDK update from Android that includes the new Home screen and many UI changes. New applications are also added (Alarm Clock, Calculator, Music player, etc) and new APIs and developer tools.
We also continue to add iPhone-friendly views of the Google world. THe latest is the Google Translate view.
Been playing with Google App Engine? If so, you should be aware of datastore updates that give you the ability to do batch updates, and discussions of indexing improvements. It is fascinating to watch cool new applications: from mini-services, to full applications, to platforms themselves, giving App Engine a go.
Open Source
The Google Summer of Code is moving along, and since we are now in August we get to see the progress that the students that have been flipping bits and not burgers this summer. One example is the work of 6 students working on the Git version control system.
Steve Weis has released Keyczar, a "toolkit that makes cryptography safer and easier to use". We all commonly make mistakes including the wrong cipher modes, bad algorithms, or working with keys incorrectly. Keyczar has got your back, is there to help keep your code secure.
Speaking of security, Thomas Duebendorfer of our Swiss office gave a talk titled Are internet users at risk? that delves into the practices of browsers and plugins, and how they update themselves. This just reaffirmed my desire to have silent updates getting pushed to me to keep me more secure!
Another video that we published that caught my eye was Where the hell is Matt?. Matt Harding is the guy who you may have seen on YouTube dancing badly around the world. We got him to the office and he chatted on his adventures. If you find yourself waiting for a compile (or a Map Reduce) this Friday, give it a watch while you wait.
Finally, registration opened up for the Google Developer Day events in India, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Russia. These join the first wave of events in the UK, France, Germany, and Spain. I really hope that we get to see you at one of those locations!
As always, thanks for reading, listening, or watching, and let us know if there is anything that you would like to see.
Wednesday, August 27, 2008
Bill Shatner takes on Common People
I suspect that something like this is the reason why William Shatner is not in the new Star Trek movie.
Well, maybe the above and the fact that Shatner is a little bit of a primadonna.
Well, maybe the above and the fact that Shatner is a little bit of a primadonna.
Tags:
If I Wrote It: The Schwartzenegger Edition
Back in January, I wrote a post called If I Cast It: Starship Troopers, wherein I took on the mantle of casting director for that movie and discussing what casting changes I would have made.
I decided to take the concept in a different direction by thinking out loud about how I would have changed the plot of a couple of Arnold Schwartzenegger movies to, in my opinion at least, make them a little better.
Last Action Hero: Yes, I know it was a bomb, and thus perhaps not worthy of this kind of thought, but bear with me. If you've never seen the movie, Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a huge fan of Arnold Schwartzenegger movies, in particular, a series of movies based on a character named Jack Slater. The elderly projectionist at the theatre Danny sees most of these movies at decides to give him a treat by allowing him to see Jack Slater IV before its public release, and because Danny is a friend, he also decides to give him a gift that he himself received from Harry Houdini, a golden ticket which allow him to truly experience the movie... as an on-screen participant in the action. With the setup out of the way, I can tell you something I would have changed that would have made the movie a lot better narratively for me. It is revealed that because of a screenwriter's whim, Jack Slater's son was killed at the end of the third movie, an event that terribly wounded him psychically. Now, given the fact that Danny knows this, knows all the movies intimately, and has the means to save his son, it seems sort of cruel for him not to do it. Especially since the villain of the picture essentially uses this exact M.O. as part of his own nefarious plans after he escapes from Jack Slater IV himself. I mean, really, would it have been so hard for Danny and Jack to go back to Slater III (a movie which the projectionist has), and give Jack back his son. It wouldn't have even been that huge of a rewrite given the rest of the plot.
Terminator 3: Two Words... Robert Patrick. To me, having Schwartzenegger and Patrick having to work together to take out the T-X, played by Kristanna Loken. Because to me, while it was satisfying (and admittedly a little funny) to watch the T-X manhandling Arnie's T-101 and just absolutely brawling with her, I think having her taking on a T-1000 at the same time would have made her seem even more menacing. And the presence of another shapeshifting Terminator on the side of good could have been used for good dramatic effect. For instance, since the T-1000 would have touched both of the humans who need protection, he could play them to try to flush out or entrap the evil T-X. But what I think is the huge opportunity in terms of a jaw dropping concept and final fight sequence, having the flesh burned off of Arnie's T-101 and having the T-1000 layer itself on top of that endoskeleton, creating an entity that is indeed an equal to the T-X which possesses both a liquid exoskeleton and an interior structure. To me, that would have been a really good finish to the movie, and as a whole I think it would have taken such a battle to the next level. And unlike the other two movies in the series, the destruction of all the Terminators is not a necessity, their existence in the present time of the movie would allow them to aid the humans in their battle against Skynet and perhaps give them the upper hand we need to survive and win the war.
I have a feeling that there are elements that I've presented which some of you may not agree with, and that is fine. After all, these are just my opinions. But I am curious about what you would have done to improve a particular Schwartenegger movie (aside from him not being in it or the movie not being made period).
I decided to take the concept in a different direction by thinking out loud about how I would have changed the plot of a couple of Arnold Schwartzenegger movies to, in my opinion at least, make them a little better.
Last Action Hero: Yes, I know it was a bomb, and thus perhaps not worthy of this kind of thought, but bear with me. If you've never seen the movie, Danny Madigan (Austin O'Brien) is a huge fan of Arnold Schwartzenegger movies, in particular, a series of movies based on a character named Jack Slater. The elderly projectionist at the theatre Danny sees most of these movies at decides to give him a treat by allowing him to see Jack Slater IV before its public release, and because Danny is a friend, he also decides to give him a gift that he himself received from Harry Houdini, a golden ticket which allow him to truly experience the movie... as an on-screen participant in the action. With the setup out of the way, I can tell you something I would have changed that would have made the movie a lot better narratively for me. It is revealed that because of a screenwriter's whim, Jack Slater's son was killed at the end of the third movie, an event that terribly wounded him psychically. Now, given the fact that Danny knows this, knows all the movies intimately, and has the means to save his son, it seems sort of cruel for him not to do it. Especially since the villain of the picture essentially uses this exact M.O. as part of his own nefarious plans after he escapes from Jack Slater IV himself. I mean, really, would it have been so hard for Danny and Jack to go back to Slater III (a movie which the projectionist has), and give Jack back his son. It wouldn't have even been that huge of a rewrite given the rest of the plot.
Terminator 3: Two Words... Robert Patrick. To me, having Schwartzenegger and Patrick having to work together to take out the T-X, played by Kristanna Loken. Because to me, while it was satisfying (and admittedly a little funny) to watch the T-X manhandling Arnie's T-101 and just absolutely brawling with her, I think having her taking on a T-1000 at the same time would have made her seem even more menacing. And the presence of another shapeshifting Terminator on the side of good could have been used for good dramatic effect. For instance, since the T-1000 would have touched both of the humans who need protection, he could play them to try to flush out or entrap the evil T-X. But what I think is the huge opportunity in terms of a jaw dropping concept and final fight sequence, having the flesh burned off of Arnie's T-101 and having the T-1000 layer itself on top of that endoskeleton, creating an entity that is indeed an equal to the T-X which possesses both a liquid exoskeleton and an interior structure. To me, that would have been a really good finish to the movie, and as a whole I think it would have taken such a battle to the next level. And unlike the other two movies in the series, the destruction of all the Terminators is not a necessity, their existence in the present time of the movie would allow them to aid the humans in their battle against Skynet and perhaps give them the upper hand we need to survive and win the war.
I have a feeling that there are elements that I've presented which some of you may not agree with, and that is fine. After all, these are just my opinions. But I am curious about what you would have done to improve a particular Schwartenegger movie (aside from him not being in it or the movie not being made period).
Tags:
October Google Developer Days Open Registration
We are excited to open registration for four more Google Developer Days in October in India, Italy, the Czech Republic, and Russia.
- October 18th -- Bangalore, India
- October 21st -- Milan, Italy
- October 24th -- Prague, Czech Republic
- October 28th -- Moscow, Russia
As with the other 2008 Google Developer Days, we'll discuss the latest with our APIs and developer tools, diving into topics such as App Engine, OpenSocial, and Maps. We'll have some cool new topics in store, and there will be plenty of time to socialize with fellow developers and Google engineers.
If you are in western Europe, registration for the September Google Developer Days (UK, France, Germany, and Spain) is still open, though we expect to run out of space very soon. We hope you can join us for one of these upcoming eight events.
Update: We've also just opened registration for Google Developer Day Italy.
2008 U.S. Election Site: How did we do that?
Mark Lucovsky of the Google AJAX APIs team has written up a detailed article on how the 2008 U.S. Election site was created and implemented.
A myriad of the AJAX APIs are used here. The election news comes from:
- A News Search:
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/news?v=1.0&q=Barack%20Obama%20unitedstates_uselections - A channel search for the YouTube tab:
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/video?v=1.0&q=ytchannel:barackobamadotcom - And, a Custom Search Engine was created for the blog search:
http://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/services/search/web?v=1.0&q=Barack%20Obama&cx=010222979794876194725:pqldevwuapa.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
Towelhead latest movie targeted for Political Correctness
Arab-American groups are trying to exert pressure on the filmmakers of the movie Towelhead, based on the novel of the same name by Alicia Eran, to coerce them into changing the name of the film before it is released nationally.
The director, Alan Ball has stated that as a gay man, he does understand being referred to in a hateful way through a word or phrase, but nonetheless, he is refusing to change the name of the film.
The movie recounts the story of a 13 year old Muslim girl in Texas during the First Gulf War trying to find herself during a tumultuous time in her life and during a particularly tough time for American Muslims in general.
But here is the little tidbit that I notice has been conspicuously absent from the recent coverage of this controversy.
When the movie was being previewed and shown at Film Festivals, it was titled Nothing is Private, and the IMDB lists the movie under that title first.
So part of me thinks that the filmmakers changed the name to the name of the novel just so they could get some publicity for the movie. I mean, stranger things have happened, haven't they?
The director, Alan Ball has stated that as a gay man, he does understand being referred to in a hateful way through a word or phrase, but nonetheless, he is refusing to change the name of the film.
The movie recounts the story of a 13 year old Muslim girl in Texas during the First Gulf War trying to find herself during a tumultuous time in her life and during a particularly tough time for American Muslims in general.
But here is the little tidbit that I notice has been conspicuously absent from the recent coverage of this controversy.
When the movie was being previewed and shown at Film Festivals, it was titled Nothing is Private, and the IMDB lists the movie under that title first.
So part of me thinks that the filmmakers changed the name to the name of the novel just so they could get some publicity for the movie. I mean, stranger things have happened, haven't they?
Tags:
Table Formatters make Visualization tables even nicer
By Hillel Maoz, Google Visualization Team
We often forget, but the simple table is a visualization too. In fact, all of our visualizations are based on the DataTable structure - a table itself.
In order to make this most basic visualization more appealing and useful, we added formatters to our JS table. Take a look at this arrow-format example, great for visualizing stock quotes or anything else that goes up and down. :-)
For example, to produce this result:
Use this code:
Or this example of Number Formatters, good for accountants and whoever likes numbers:
Which can be generated by this code:
And, lastly, this example of a bar-formatter, which can be used to visually show relative distances from an anchor-point:
Using this code:
For the complete list of currently available formatters, see our Table documentation with included examples. We're working on more formatters, which we will announce on our discussion group when we make them available.
For more info on using and creating visualizations, visit our documentation pages.
We often forget, but the simple table is a visualization too. In fact, all of our visualizations are based on the DataTable structure - a table itself.
In order to make this most basic visualization more appealing and useful, we added formatters to our JS table. Take a look at this arrow-format example, great for visualizing stock quotes or anything else that goes up and down. :-)
For example, to produce this result:
Use this code:
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.google.com/jsapi'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
google.load('visualization', '1.0', {'packages': ['table']});
google.setOnLoadCallback(draw);
function draw() {
// Create a datatable with your data.
var dataTable = new google.visualization.DataTable();
dataTable.addColumn('string', 'Equity / Index');
dataTable.addColumn('number', '% Change');
dataTable.addRows(5);
var r = 0;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Acme.com');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 3.1, '3.1%');
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Brick & Mortar Groceries Inc');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -2.43, '-2.43%');
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'S&P 500');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 0.94, '0.94%');
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Dow Jones');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 1.2, '1.2%');
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Nikkei');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -0.23, '-0.23%');
// Create a table visualization.
var container = document.getElementById('table');
table = new google.visualization.Table(container);
// Apply a number formatter to the 2nd column.
var options = {'allowHtml' : true};
var formatter = new google.visualization.TableArrowFormat();
formatter.format(dataTable, 1);
// Draw the table visualization with the applied formatting.
table.draw(dataTable, options);
}
</script>Or this example of Number Formatters, good for accountants and whoever likes numbers:
Which can be generated by this code:
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.google.com/jsapi'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
google.load('visualization', '1.0', {'packages': ['table']});
google.setOnLoadCallback(draw);
function draw() {
// Create a datatable with your data.
var dataTable = new google.visualization.DataTable();
dataTable.addColumn('string', 'Account', 'account');
dataTable.addColumn('number', 'Balance', 'balance');
dataTable.addRows(5);
var r = 0;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Electronics');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 12000);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Appliances');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -1000);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Gadgets');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -21000);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Accessories');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 5560);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Casings');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 13092);
// Create a table visualization.
var container = document.getElementById('table');
table = new google.visualization.Table(container);
// Apply an number formatter to the 2nd column.
var options = {'allowHtml' : true};
var formatter = new google.visualization.TableNumberFormat(
{prefix: '$', negativeColor: 'red', negativeParens: true});
formatter.format(dataTable, 1);
// Draw the table visualization with the applied formatting.
table.draw(dataTable, options);
}
</script>And, lastly, this example of a bar-formatter, which can be used to visually show relative distances from an anchor-point:
Using this code:
<script type='text/javascript' src='http://www.google.com/jsapi'></script>
<script type='text/javascript'>
google.load('visualization', '1.0', {'packages': ['table']});
google.setOnLoadCallback(draw);
function draw() {
// Create a datatable with your data.
var dataTable = new google.visualization.DataTable();
dataTable.addColumn('string', 'Place', 'place');
dataTable.addColumn('number', 'Altitude', 'altitude');
dataTable.addRows(5);
var r = 0;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Dead Sea');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -420);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Death Valley');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -86);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Mt. Everest');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 8848);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Mt. Kilimangaro');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, 5895);
r++;
dataTable.setCell(r, 0, 'Marianas Trench');
dataTable.setCell(r, 1, -10924);
// Create a table visualization.
var container = document.getElementById('table');
table = new google.visualization.Table(container);
// Apply an arrow formatter to the 2nd column.
var options = {'allowHtml' : true};
var formatter = new google.visualization.TableBarFormat(
{base: 0, showValue: true, min: 12000, max: 12000});
formatter.format(dataTable, 1);
// Draw the table visualization with the applied formatting.
table.draw(dataTable, options);
}
</script>For the complete list of currently available formatters, see our Table documentation with included examples. We're working on more formatters, which we will announce on our discussion group when we make them available.
For more info on using and creating visualizations, visit our documentation pages.
Monday, August 25, 2008
Who does Christopher Nolan want to play Catwoman?
According to rumor, it is Cher.
I'll let that sink in for a minute while I type what my original vocal response to that rumor is.
Cher.
Cher?
CHER!?!
CHER... WTF!?!!?!
I know she has an Oscar, but come on, Nolan can't find someone better than Cher for Catwoman?
And don't get me wrong... I don't object in the slightest to having an older Catwoman, I really don't. It is an interesting direction to go in, and I totally respect that decision. However, I can think of at least 25 older actresses that would make a better Catwoman than Cher.
The one that immediately comes to mind for me is Helen Mirren.
Can't you just picture Christian Bale and Mirren having a tussle. I could believe that she could totally seduce him and that their chemistry on screen would be excellent. I think that particular pairing would work well. I can almost hear her purr now.
But Cher? Really? I just doesn't fit for me. I think Rupaul would make a better Catwoman than Cher. That is not hyperbole either.
I know it is still a rumor, but wow, that if it reflected reality, what a warped movie that would be.
I'll let that sink in for a minute while I type what my original vocal response to that rumor is.
Cher.
Cher?
CHER!?!
CHER... WTF!?!!?!
I know she has an Oscar, but come on, Nolan can't find someone better than Cher for Catwoman?
And don't get me wrong... I don't object in the slightest to having an older Catwoman, I really don't. It is an interesting direction to go in, and I totally respect that decision. However, I can think of at least 25 older actresses that would make a better Catwoman than Cher.
The one that immediately comes to mind for me is Helen Mirren.
Can't you just picture Christian Bale and Mirren having a tussle. I could believe that she could totally seduce him and that their chemistry on screen would be excellent. I think that particular pairing would work well. I can almost hear her purr now.
But Cher? Really? I just doesn't fit for me. I think Rupaul would make a better Catwoman than Cher. That is not hyperbole either.
I know it is still a rumor, but wow, that if it reflected reality, what a warped movie that would be.
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Sunday, August 24, 2008
Sunday Night Video: I Am a Home Alone Legend
The title tells you exactly what this is really.
And if you think about it, the two films in question do go rather well together. They both involve a male who is alone and must fight off forces which seek to destroy them.
And if you think about it, the two films in question do go rather well together. They both involve a male who is alone and must fight off forces which seek to destroy them.
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Friday, August 22, 2008
Week 15: Pageant of the Transmundane
Greetings from a geekosphere far far away and long ago. Drat... just typing that line suddenly made the children's song "Over the River and Through the Woods" run through my head like an Olympic Sprinter.
This week's winning entry arrived early this week at the home of Apropos of Something.
By the intro I gave this week's awards ceremony, I am sure that you have an inkling that Star Wars is somehow involved in this particular entry, and you would not be wrong.
Yes, this week has to do with the wedding ceremony that a couple of ardent fans of the franchise... because everyone involved had to dress up like a character from one of the movies.
And because it has to do with Star Wars, well, this seemed to be the most appropriate image for this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award. I thought about going with Homer as the mislabeled Bigfoot from the earliest days of the series to get some sweet, Chewie action going, but then it made me want a granola bar, and that isn't good for anyone really.
Congrats Jess... you are quite the superstar in the Transmundanity community now.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
This week's winning entry arrived early this week at the home of Apropos of Something.
By the intro I gave this week's awards ceremony, I am sure that you have an inkling that Star Wars is somehow involved in this particular entry, and you would not be wrong.
Yes, this week has to do with the wedding ceremony that a couple of ardent fans of the franchise... because everyone involved had to dress up like a character from one of the movies.
And because it has to do with Star Wars, well, this seemed to be the most appropriate image for this week's Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award. I thought about going with Homer as the mislabeled Bigfoot from the earliest days of the series to get some sweet, Chewie action going, but then it made me want a granola bar, and that isn't good for anyone really.
Congrats Jess... you are quite the superstar in the Transmundanity community now.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
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Some things won't change
So Child No.1 and I were at the local bookstore where I signed a few copies of Parentonomics (Books-In-Print in Malvern if you want one). She pointed out to me that the pile was dwarfed by the Harry Potter display.
"Well, you are no JK Rowling."
"You wish I was JK Rowling. She is the richest author ever. I think if I became that, you would benefit."
"Really? What would that change? I guess we would have a bigger house but I wouldn't get a single extra special treat!"
"True."
"Hardly worth it."
Spooky how things work out: Tropic Thunder Edition
The original Marcia from The Brady Bunch series, Maureen McCormick, is calling for a boycott of Ben Stiller's movie, Tropic Thunder because her brother has mental disabilities.
Ben Stiller is married to the woman who played Marcia in the Brady Bunch movies, Christine Taylor, and she appeared in Tropic Thunder.
Ben Stiller was also in There Is Something About Mary where he played a guy who was pursuing a relationship with an attractive blonde woman who had a brother with mental disabilities.
Ben Stiller is married to the woman who played Marcia in the Brady Bunch movies, Christine Taylor, and she appeared in Tropic Thunder.
Ben Stiller was also in There Is Something About Mary where he played a guy who was pursuing a relationship with an attractive blonde woman who had a brother with mental disabilities.
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Thursday, August 21, 2008
Outsource the night
In the New York Times, an article about the increasing use of 'night nannies' to get up in the middle of the night for young babies. Apparently, they are better than you are at calming a baby and allow you to be a sane person during the day. Of course, it costs money.
If you have a dual career and lots of money this makes glaring sense to me. However, given that we did not do this for our three children, I will go through the standard rationalisations for why we wouldn't have made this choice even if we had thought of it wanted to spend the money.
First, consider this a generic expression of indignation and disgust based on no logical foundation.
Second, let me make some hand-wavy comment about how babies surely bond better with frustrated parents trying to get them back to sleep in the middle of the night.
Third, parents who don't do this won't 'learn' to understand their children's needs. Because we all know 2am is the best time to absorb subtle knowledge about a baby's emotional state.
Fourth, you could be spending that money on educational toys.
Fifth, by doing this you distance yourself from the community of shared experience of other parents. Actually, that one might make sense.
Finally, in the spirit of banging your head against the wall because it is so much better when you stop, you really appreciate it later on when they sleep through the night.
This all brings me back to 4 years ago with our third child. She was just a couple of months old and, guess what, at 2am in the morning we could turn on the television and watch the Olympics, live. We saw all manner of great events -- I can't tell you which ones but I can tell you they were great. What is more, we would put the baby back to bed and keep watching.
So the moral of this story is: time your baby's birth to make sure that during the first three months, it coincides with stuff on television that you would want to watch anyway. The television can be your night nanny.
If you have a dual career and lots of money this makes glaring sense to me. However, given that we did not do this for our three children, I will go through the standard rationalisations for why we wouldn't have made this choice even if we
First, consider this a generic expression of indignation and disgust based on no logical foundation.
Second, let me make some hand-wavy comment about how babies surely bond better with frustrated parents trying to get them back to sleep in the middle of the night.
Third, parents who don't do this won't 'learn' to understand their children's needs. Because we all know 2am is the best time to absorb subtle knowledge about a baby's emotional state.
Fourth, you could be spending that money on educational toys.
Fifth, by doing this you distance yourself from the community of shared experience of other parents. Actually, that one might make sense.
Finally, in the spirit of banging your head against the wall because it is so much better when you stop, you really appreciate it later on when they sleep through the night.
This all brings me back to 4 years ago with our third child. She was just a couple of months old and, guess what, at 2am in the morning we could turn on the television and watch the Olympics, live. We saw all manner of great events -- I can't tell you which ones but I can tell you they were great. What is more, we would put the baby back to bed and keep watching.
So the moral of this story is: time your baby's birth to make sure that during the first three months, it coincides with stuff on television that you would want to watch anyway. The television can be your night nanny.
Two new ways to location-enable your web apps
We just launched two new ways to give your web apps free and secure access to a user's location, without requiring that user to enter it manually.
First, there's the AJAX API property that provides a simple way to get an approximate, region-level estimate of a user's location based on their IP address. It's as simple as referencing google.loader.ClientLocation, which is made available using the Google AJAX API Loader. This API does not require users to install any client-side software. You can see this new AJAX API in action as part of the 2008 US Election gadget -- the "News by State" will show local news for the state associated with the user's IP.
Second, the Gears Geolocation API provides a way to get a more precise estimate of a user's location. On mobile devices with Gears installed, the Geolocation API can use the cell-ID of nearby cell towers or on-board GPS (if either is available) to improve the postion fix. In the near future, we'll be adding data from your WiFi connection to improve accuracy even further, on both desktop and mobile. In all cases, Gears takes care of assimilating the results from each source and returning the best available position estimate.
The Geolocation API has two JavaScript methods: getCurrentPosition() makes a single, one-off attempt to get a position fix, while watchPosition() watches the user's position over time, and provides an update whenever the position changes. Both methods allow you to configure which sources of location information are used. Gears also keeps track of the best position fix obtained from these calls and makes it available as the lastPosition property. This is a simple way to get an approximate position fix with low cost in terms of both network and battery resources.
The privacy of users' location information is extremely important. The first time your site calls the Geolocation API to request a user's location, that user will be shown a permissions dialog where they can choose to allow or deny your site access. Users can change that decision at any time via the "Gears settings" dialog in the browser menu. Google does not keep location information about users when your site uses the Geolocation API.
To use the Geolocation API your users may need to install the Gears browser plugin, a simple process on both desktop and mobile. The Geolocation API is available on platforms currently supported by Gears, including Internet Explorer, Firefox and IE Mobile (selected devices only). For users to be able to use location-enabled features on mobile they will need a Windows Mobile device that supports GPS or cell-ID lookup (for example the Samsung BlackJack II and the HTC Touch Dual, see list of supported device models in our FAQ). We are working hard to bring Gears to more mobile platforms soon. You can download and install Gears at gears.google.com. Or try out some of the first location-enabled mobile web apps using Gears.
Like the rest of Gears, this new Geolocation API is open source. We're also doing our best to work with existing and emerging standards. Gears now implements the current editor's draft of the W3C Geolocation specification, which we've helped to define in collaboration with Microsoft, Mozilla, and others. We're committed to continued collaboration around the emerging HTML5 standard and the APIs specified by the W3C Web Applications Working Group. The goal for Gears is to advance browser capabilities, and part of that is helping define future web standards.
If you're interested in providing feedback or contributing to Gears, there's more info on the project website. There's also an AJAX APIs discussion group -- we're anxious to hear what you think.
Improv Everywhere presents The Best Game Ever
Improv Everywhere, that merry band of pranksters decided it would be fun to crash a Little League game the best way possible... by bringing the trappings of a major league game to a pair of unsuspecting teams.
And I have to say, they did seem to all get a kick out of the whole experience.
And I have to say, they did seem to all get a kick out of the whole experience.
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Wednesday, August 20, 2008
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Don't let your kids know about this
Following up on my review of The Clone Wars and also on some questions I was asked this week regarding whether your children could punish you, don't let them know about the existence of this. It can cause unspeakable suffering. Watch if you dare.
In Praise of Practical/Special Effects
Call me a purist, but to me, I think I will always prefer the fine work of practical effect and miniature artists, stunt people and puppeteers to the majority of the computer-generated special effects work that appears in most of the blockbusters of today.
I recently had a chance to watch a few movies from the mid to late 1970's which were made before computers could ever have an impact on the industry, and the effects hold up today. The ships in Close Encounters of the Third Kind still look damn good, the shark from Jaws for the most part works, and we all know that for the most part, all the effects in Alien work.
Contrast that with the computer generated effects that are now dominating the industry, and these latter day efforts just come off as wanting. I mean, I want to believe in what the movie maker is showing me, but my brain knows that they are computer generated illusions, so no matter how realistic the effect is, it is like my mind can't fully suspend disbelief in those situations. And I think this fact was brought home to me after I watched Casino Royale with its excellent action sequences, which felt so real and immediate... and after watching the special features on the DVD, I discovered that for the most part, those amazing sequences were well-choreographed stunt sequences with little to no CGI in them. They felt thrilling because there was really some sense of danger involved, and if the spectacle you are watching doesn't feel that way, then where is the excitement.
And I think many of you reading this will agree that while the first generation of quality CGI effects wowed you when you saw them, seeing them now, they don't seem so impressive and the little flaws have become much more apparent. There are notable exceptions of course... for instance, I think the T-1000 from Terminator 2 holds up remarkably well, and it was an excellent use of the technology, probably because I can't really see how that effect would have been accomplished otherwise. But it seems like film makers are using computer effects as a crutch, when they should in some cases be the icing on a mechanical effects shot rather than the entire basis for an effect.
Now, don't get me wrong... I've seen a lot of bad practical effects in my day... bad miniatures, bad animatronics and bad stunts which have somewhat taken me out of a particular scene or even a movie (King Kong from 1976 stands out) but to me, even when they aren't working 100 percent, I'd take a practical effect any day of the week over most of the work being done by computers for the simple fact that even when it is a puppet or miniature, it is a real object, so it actually has some weight and tangibility. And I don't care what other people say... to me, Yoda and ET work far better as puppets than they do as purely digital entities.
Will there be a day when CG creations will be able to completely usurp the duties of the traditional and time-honored aspects of practical effects? Perhaps... but I don't think that day will be anytime soon. And for that, I am grateful.
I recently had a chance to watch a few movies from the mid to late 1970's which were made before computers could ever have an impact on the industry, and the effects hold up today. The ships in Close Encounters of the Third Kind still look damn good, the shark from Jaws for the most part works, and we all know that for the most part, all the effects in Alien work.
Contrast that with the computer generated effects that are now dominating the industry, and these latter day efforts just come off as wanting. I mean, I want to believe in what the movie maker is showing me, but my brain knows that they are computer generated illusions, so no matter how realistic the effect is, it is like my mind can't fully suspend disbelief in those situations. And I think this fact was brought home to me after I watched Casino Royale with its excellent action sequences, which felt so real and immediate... and after watching the special features on the DVD, I discovered that for the most part, those amazing sequences were well-choreographed stunt sequences with little to no CGI in them. They felt thrilling because there was really some sense of danger involved, and if the spectacle you are watching doesn't feel that way, then where is the excitement.
And I think many of you reading this will agree that while the first generation of quality CGI effects wowed you when you saw them, seeing them now, they don't seem so impressive and the little flaws have become much more apparent. There are notable exceptions of course... for instance, I think the T-1000 from Terminator 2 holds up remarkably well, and it was an excellent use of the technology, probably because I can't really see how that effect would have been accomplished otherwise. But it seems like film makers are using computer effects as a crutch, when they should in some cases be the icing on a mechanical effects shot rather than the entire basis for an effect.
Now, don't get me wrong... I've seen a lot of bad practical effects in my day... bad miniatures, bad animatronics and bad stunts which have somewhat taken me out of a particular scene or even a movie (King Kong from 1976 stands out) but to me, even when they aren't working 100 percent, I'd take a practical effect any day of the week over most of the work being done by computers for the simple fact that even when it is a puppet or miniature, it is a real object, so it actually has some weight and tangibility. And I don't care what other people say... to me, Yoda and ET work far better as puppets than they do as purely digital entities.
Will there be a day when CG creations will be able to completely usurp the duties of the traditional and time-honored aspects of practical effects? Perhaps... but I don't think that day will be anytime soon. And for that, I am grateful.
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Google Visualization API now in PHP
By Nir Bar-Lev, Product Management
Here at the Google Visualization HQ we focus hard on making the Visualization API the easiest and simplest platform for visualizing and reporting data on the web. We're always excited to see the community uptake and develop our product, making it even more useful and accessible to other developers. One such initiative is the PHP wrapper class that Thomas Schaefer wrote for the Visualization API.
The class wraps the API and enables PHP application developers to quickly integrate visualizations into their code. Thomas even published reference applications that enable you to get started even quicker.
We love your work Thomas, keep it up!
Here at the Google Visualization HQ we focus hard on making the Visualization API the easiest and simplest platform for visualizing and reporting data on the web. We're always excited to see the community uptake and develop our product, making it even more useful and accessible to other developers. One such initiative is the PHP wrapper class that Thomas Schaefer wrote for the Visualization API.
The class wraps the API and enables PHP application developers to quickly integrate visualizations into their code. Thomas even published reference applications that enable you to get started even quicker.
We love your work Thomas, keep it up!
Monday, August 18, 2008
Oh, to be a fly on the wall for these conversations
I don't know which of these conversation I would rather be a witness to:
a) A Parent telling their child that they can't go to see one of the two concluding episodes of the Harry Potter saga because Daniel Radcliffe is naked in it, and that just isn't kosher.
b) Former Christian Rocker Katy Hudson talking to her evangelical pastor parents about the first time she heard her new song on mainstream radio after she changed her name to Katy Perry. I will not link to that song because it is horrific trash, but her parents don't like "I Kissed a Girl" for other, more spiritual reasons.
c) A representative from the NDSS (National Down Syndrome Society) being told that a prominent Youtube entertainer with Down Syndrome has called for a boycott of the organization over their own call for a boycott of the movie Tropic Thunder because of the use of the word retard and variations therein.
a) A Parent telling their child that they can't go to see one of the two concluding episodes of the Harry Potter saga because Daniel Radcliffe is naked in it, and that just isn't kosher.
b) Former Christian Rocker Katy Hudson talking to her evangelical pastor parents about the first time she heard her new song on mainstream radio after she changed her name to Katy Perry. I will not link to that song because it is horrific trash, but her parents don't like "I Kissed a Girl" for other, more spiritual reasons.
c) A representative from the NDSS (National Down Syndrome Society) being told that a prominent Youtube entertainer with Down Syndrome has called for a boycott of the organization over their own call for a boycott of the movie Tropic Thunder because of the use of the word retard and variations therein.
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Sunday, August 17, 2008
Sunday Night Video: The Hip Hopak
Well, we all knew the Hopak was good for something... we just didn't know what. At least, not until today.
Yes, Run DMC and Russian dancing... so good together.
Yes, Run DMC and Russian dancing... so good together.
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Saturday, August 16, 2008
Clone Wars
If you loved The Ewok Adventures Caravan of Courage and the Battle of Endor or the Star Wars animated series (Ewoks and Droids), well then you would pretty much like anything. And if you managed to sit through the Star Wars Holiday Special, then that will pretty much explain those psychiatric bills. And if you have never heard of the Star Wars Holiday Special (which made Wookies look like cuter Ewoks!) it is because of the greatest information suppression strategy by George Lucas ever and you should thank him for it.
It was on that basis that I took the entire family to see The Clone Wars animated Star Wars movie. Of course, this was the more sophisticated cousin of the Clone Wars series that was released prior to Episode III but with the indulgence of a new dimension to Jabba the Hut as a loving father of a son who squirmed his way around with Ewok-like cuteness. Suffice it to say, expectations were so low it would be hard not to exceed them.
And exceed them marginally this movie did. Indeed, I would go as far to say that on some levels the movie exceeded elements of the prequel trilogy. For instance, the acting was much better, the directing made sense, and there was far more consistent and continual carnage and less foreboding character development than Episodes I-III. The plot, of course, was ridiculous but not by Star Wars standards. I never bought the premise that Jabba the Hut would have or care about a family. I also don't know what became of his son in later movies but feel confident that the Jedi helped save someone who ultimately came up to no good.
On the level of a good movie to take kids to see, The Clone Wars is worth the ticket price. And I am sure they haven't finished milking that avenue yet. It even gives Anakin a padawan learner who somehow is gone by Episode III and so we can look forward to a tragic end in a future movie. So on the metric 'how many bad Star Wars movies do there have to be before you don't see another one,' this one keeps that count constant. LucasFilm has more reputation capital in the bank left to blow yet. Now that is foreboding.
It was on that basis that I took the entire family to see The Clone Wars animated Star Wars movie. Of course, this was the more sophisticated cousin of the Clone Wars series that was released prior to Episode III but with the indulgence of a new dimension to Jabba the Hut as a loving father of a son who squirmed his way around with Ewok-like cuteness. Suffice it to say, expectations were so low it would be hard not to exceed them.
And exceed them marginally this movie did. Indeed, I would go as far to say that on some levels the movie exceeded elements of the prequel trilogy. For instance, the acting was much better, the directing made sense, and there was far more consistent and continual carnage and less foreboding character development than Episodes I-III. The plot, of course, was ridiculous but not by Star Wars standards. I never bought the premise that Jabba the Hut would have or care about a family. I also don't know what became of his son in later movies but feel confident that the Jedi helped save someone who ultimately came up to no good.
On the level of a good movie to take kids to see, The Clone Wars is worth the ticket price. And I am sure they haven't finished milking that avenue yet. It even gives Anakin a padawan learner who somehow is gone by Episode III and so we can look forward to a tragic end in a future movie. So on the metric 'how many bad Star Wars movies do there have to be before you don't see another one,' this one keeps that count constant. LucasFilm has more reputation capital in the bank left to blow yet. Now that is foreboding.
Conditioning toughness
From The Onion, "Johnson & Johnson introduces 'Nothing but Tears' Shampoo to Toughen Up Newborns."
After rigorous product testing at the company's research headquarters in New Jersey, the new "Nothing But Tears" shampoo was found to give newborns up to three times greater resilience than the leading competitor, as well as a stronger grasp on the crushing disappointment that is life. In addition, when combined with Johnson & Johnson's new line of bleach-based conditioners, the shampoo resulted in noticeably thicker skin after only six uses.
Related: Most Children Strongly Opposed to Children's Healthcare ...In recent years, a growing number of parents have begun looking for ways to raise more adequately jaded toddlers, and Johnson & Johnson is not the first company to respond to the rising demand. In 2003, Fisher-Price unveiled a new adventure play set containing 85 easy-to-choke-on pieces, and in 2006, the Walt Disney Company introduced an interactive DVD entitled Baby's First Brush With A Cruel And Unforgiving World.
Whether or not Johnson & Johnson's new move will ultimately pay off remains to be seen. However, reaction to the tantrum-provoking shampoo has thus far been positive.
"My 13-month-old used to be a total pushover," said new mother Catherine Smith. "But ever since I started washing her hair with 'Nothing But Tears' shampoo, not only does my little Debra kick and scream and wail, but yesterday she said her first words: 'No, Mommy, don't.'"
Study: Most Children Strongly Opposed To Children�s Healthcare
Friday, August 15, 2008
Week 14: Pageant of the Transmundane
Ahoy Hoy from the republic of Latveria. I don't like all these menacing statues of a masked and caped man lurking in all the public spaces, but what are you going to do.
This week's winning entry comes from the humor blog Blame it on the Voices.
Now there is a lot of quality material available from this site, and there were a few other entries which could have made the cut, but alas, there can be only one winner, and I chose a post featuring a series of photographs depicting various tenants of one particular hotel room. I thought it was a well-thought out premise, and it had a lot of narrative angles which intrigued me, and a lot of small details which made the images well worth exploring on subsequent viewings.
And to celebrate this week's winning entry, well, I could think of no more fitting tribute than Homer Simpson and Mindy sitting on a bed, tempting each other with food and sexual chemistry. To the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Awards! Huzzah!
Congrats to xco for astonishing me this week. Here is the requisite badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
This week's winning entry comes from the humor blog Blame it on the Voices.
Now there is a lot of quality material available from this site, and there were a few other entries which could have made the cut, but alas, there can be only one winner, and I chose a post featuring a series of photographs depicting various tenants of one particular hotel room. I thought it was a well-thought out premise, and it had a lot of narrative angles which intrigued me, and a lot of small details which made the images well worth exploring on subsequent viewings.
And to celebrate this week's winning entry, well, I could think of no more fitting tribute than Homer Simpson and Mindy sitting on a bed, tempting each other with food and sexual chemistry. To the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Awards! Huzzah!
Congrats to xco for astonishing me this week. Here is the requisite badge.
The rules of this little contest: Every week I will be selecting one blog post that I have seen from the vast reaches of the blogosphere to bestow with the Homer Simpson Transmundanity Award for being one of the freakiest(in a funny way) things I've seen or read during a 7 day period. It doesn't necessarily have to have been written during the week, I just had to have encountered it. That means that if you find something interesting and repost it like a movie or whatever, if I saw it at your blog first, you get the prize. Of course, creating your own content is also a very good way to win.
Now, if you see a post that you think is worthy of this illustrious prize, just drop me a line at campybeaver@gmail.com and we'll see if we can't get your suggestion up and award-ready while giving you some credit and a link to your own blog.
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iPhone Apps for Parents
A while ago I had an idea for a great iPhone application -- a one button locator of baby changing facilities that would take into account where you are and direct you to the nearest place -- by driving or walking. Sadly, that idea, and its more general toilet finder application, fell down for lack of data which was held in a non-useful form by the Australian government. Hopefully, someone else will work out how to cut through the bureaucracy and find us some relief.
But there are a few iPhone applications arising that are targetting parents or soon to be parents. For fun, as I no longer have to care about these issues myself, I thought I'd list the ones I know of here:
But there are a few iPhone applications arising that are targetting parents or soon to be parents. For fun, as I no longer have to care about these issues myself, I thought I'd list the ones I know of here:
- Baby Tracker: Nursing -- this application keeps track of a baby's feeds, whether it is right side or left and for how long. I guess you could integrate the data with Trixie Tracker and you would be all set. (There is also a version of this that is 10 times cheaper called BBuddy but I couldn't work out how to link to it).
- Bishop's Score Calc: this one calculates the probability of an impending ability as well as various possible complications. I guess if you are sitting there pregnant with nothing better to do ...
- Pregnancy Kick Counter: you can use this application to count how often your baby is kicking as if (a) you can't tell and (b) you need yet another thing to worry about. Thank goodness no one recommended to us to do that.
- OB Counter: That said, if you are trying to time deliveries and plan ahead, this free app will calculate you due date. Of course, this thing has been around online forever but I guess if you are out and about and want to make sure you are not busy in 38 weeks time so as to assess risks, the iPhone app is for you.
- Food Additives: If you are managing the stuff going into your child, this application is for you. Enter the food you are thinking of feeding your child and it tells you just how bad it is. In our preservative-free house, I won't be able to sneak stuff in even when we are out and about.
A review
A short review of Parentonomics appeared in The Age today. It summarises pretty much what the book is all about.
Also today is a feature in the Sydney Morning Herald. In it I was paraphrased:
Also today is a feature in the Sydney Morning Herald. In it I was paraphrased:
Professor Gans, who says his book should be taken as seriously as any other parenting manual, is already considering a Parentonomics II, tackling dilemmas for parents of primary school-age children, but is too terrified to contemplate the teen years yet.In case anyone is wondering, by "seriously" I mean that most parenting manuals are just as useless on advice as my writing here and in the book. Not all, but most.
Winning is everything
Well, not quite but it is really much better than not winning. And I am not talking here about the participants. It is all about the interested parties; specifically, myself as a parent watching my children compete in sports. Now I have mentioned my newfound bias when it comes to my eldest daughter in Taekwondo competitions. But yesterday she competed in her school's Athletics Day and it all crystallised for me. You know all of that stuff they feed you -- that "it is just great to watch them being out there and trying their best" -- you know, the stuff they must have fed my parents. I am here to tell you it is all a big lie. Well, pretty much. Just watching them might be satisfying but watching them actually win is much much better.
But first some context. The Athletics Day is a day where they grab a few classes at a time -- in this case, my son was in 2nd grade at some other competition that didn't bother inviting parents while my daughter was at the 3rd through 4th grade one that did invite parents -- and truck them out somewhere to a real track and have them run a mini-olympics type thing pitting houses (yes, this is Australia, just like Hogwarts) against one another. My kids were decked out in green for the day (I think they are in Slytherin) and off they went.
Then came the other thing about Athletics Day; because I presume someone has booked and paid for a track, it would happen come rain or sun. And, of course, raining it came. The problem for we parents was that where there was seating was a sun-shield. Near as I can tell this had frightened away the sun but for rain this acted imperfectly and in places like a giant funnel of water onto the seating area. No doubt some architect had decided that since no one would surely compete when it is raining, no one would be watching either so there was no point in creating a rain-shield or as it is commonly called elsewhere, a roof. This was not lost on the parents standing there as they tried to convince themselves that it is satisfying just to "watch the kids participate."
You may be thinking at this point: what about the kids? Surely they were not happy about running around in the rain. Well, you don't know Australia. We are made of tougher stuff when it comes to sport. For instance, just today as I was driving around delivering Child No.1 to some Saturday morning (thankfully inside) activity, we saw hundreds of kids at a sports ground learning Australian Rules Football in the pouring rain. She remarked: "That training company is not good. They don't allow you to tackle other people there. I mean, what is the point? That makes it just like soccer but where you can use your hands. Actually, in real football they don't even allow tackles above the head. At lunchtime we are free to play for real." You could hear the disdain. And she went on: "and they are playing there on grass. How soft is that? We play on the ground." Of course, they had to do that because until recently there was a drought and no grass. But that also explains the sheer volume of cuts and torn uniforms she comes home with.
But drought was not the issue yesterday. And as I stood there wet and in the cold, my daughter flew past her classmates in the 100m hurdles and won by a mile. They gave out ribbons based on their place and so, unlike other events, had the incentives right. Suffice it to say, it was all worth it. I as thrilled and excited and as I looked around at the other parents it is pretty clear to me that they were wishing they had a daughter such as mine. Too bad for them. The jig was up: winning is really great.
You know, between events I tried to empathise with the other parents but I have to tell you, it didn't happen. Let's face it, no one apologises for watching their team win at the Olympics or anywhere else. My daughter is my team and that was just how it was going to be. If I felt sad for anyone it was for my own parents who never got any similar joy from myself or my brother. Then again, they should just come out and watch the grandkids.
Actually, I should say grandchild. Child No.1 came home with ribbons for every event she competed in. I did watch in anguish as another, similarly competitive girl, pipped her at the end of the 200m. Child No.1 was in the outside lane and kept looking around and that cost her precious time. The two of them were miles ahead of the others as they killed themselves in getting over the line first. So if you find my gushing a bit much now, imagine what this post would have been like had she won that battle.
Child No.2 came home with a 'Well done' ribbon. That is what they give to those who didn't get a placed ribbon. He didn't mind. These sporting competitions aren't very interesting for him and so our expectations weren't high. We had to resort to the usual parenting encouragement.
[Update: See Emily Bazelon for a more balanced view of competition and winning.]
But first some context. The Athletics Day is a day where they grab a few classes at a time -- in this case, my son was in 2nd grade at some other competition that didn't bother inviting parents while my daughter was at the 3rd through 4th grade one that did invite parents -- and truck them out somewhere to a real track and have them run a mini-olympics type thing pitting houses (yes, this is Australia, just like Hogwarts) against one another. My kids were decked out in green for the day (I think they are in Slytherin) and off they went.
Then came the other thing about Athletics Day; because I presume someone has booked and paid for a track, it would happen come rain or sun. And, of course, raining it came. The problem for we parents was that where there was seating was a sun-shield. Near as I can tell this had frightened away the sun but for rain this acted imperfectly and in places like a giant funnel of water onto the seating area. No doubt some architect had decided that since no one would surely compete when it is raining, no one would be watching either so there was no point in creating a rain-shield or as it is commonly called elsewhere, a roof. This was not lost on the parents standing there as they tried to convince themselves that it is satisfying just to "watch the kids participate."
You may be thinking at this point: what about the kids? Surely they were not happy about running around in the rain. Well, you don't know Australia. We are made of tougher stuff when it comes to sport. For instance, just today as I was driving around delivering Child No.1 to some Saturday morning (thankfully inside) activity, we saw hundreds of kids at a sports ground learning Australian Rules Football in the pouring rain. She remarked: "That training company is not good. They don't allow you to tackle other people there. I mean, what is the point? That makes it just like soccer but where you can use your hands. Actually, in real football they don't even allow tackles above the head. At lunchtime we are free to play for real." You could hear the disdain. And she went on: "and they are playing there on grass. How soft is that? We play on the ground." Of course, they had to do that because until recently there was a drought and no grass. But that also explains the sheer volume of cuts and torn uniforms she comes home with.
But drought was not the issue yesterday. And as I stood there wet and in the cold, my daughter flew past her classmates in the 100m hurdles and won by a mile. They gave out ribbons based on their place and so, unlike other events, had the incentives right. Suffice it to say, it was all worth it. I as thrilled and excited and as I looked around at the other parents it is pretty clear to me that they were wishing they had a daughter such as mine. Too bad for them. The jig was up: winning is really great.
You know, between events I tried to empathise with the other parents but I have to tell you, it didn't happen. Let's face it, no one apologises for watching their team win at the Olympics or anywhere else. My daughter is my team and that was just how it was going to be. If I felt sad for anyone it was for my own parents who never got any similar joy from myself or my brother. Then again, they should just come out and watch the grandkids.
Actually, I should say grandchild. Child No.1 came home with ribbons for every event she competed in. I did watch in anguish as another, similarly competitive girl, pipped her at the end of the 200m. Child No.1 was in the outside lane and kept looking around and that cost her precious time. The two of them were miles ahead of the others as they killed themselves in getting over the line first. So if you find my gushing a bit much now, imagine what this post would have been like had she won that battle.
Child No.2 came home with a 'Well done' ribbon. That is what they give to those who didn't get a placed ribbon. He didn't mind. These sporting competitions aren't very interesting for him and so our expectations weren't high. We had to resort to the usual parenting encouragement.
"It's good that you had fun."Now I don't want to suggest any asymmetry of love. But let me tell you, if faced with a choice of whom I am going to stand in the rain and watch, my choice is clear.
"Dad, it was raining and normal people would be inside."
"But at least you got that colour ribbon. No one in this house has got one of them before."
"Actually, I think I have lost the ribbon."
"Oh"
[Update: See Emily Bazelon for a more balanced view of competition and winning.]
The Best and Worst Aspects of Gaming
A friend of mine wrote a short entry about elements in Games that click for them, and it was such an intriguing premise that I thought that I would also take the plunge on that line of internal inquiry.
What I love in games:
Sandbox design elements: If you've read this blog for any length of time, you have noticed that there are certain games that I've mentioned more than others, particularly Grand Theft Auto. When I was a kid, I had always wanted to play an open-ended, automotively-based game, and that is what Grand Theft Auto provides me, and there are scores of other games that also feature the ability to just explore and do things outside the main mission structure of the game that makes them playable even after completion (Mercenaries, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Bully).
A Quality Narrative: I used to play a lot of Square/Enix roleplaying games because when I was younger, I was looking for solid and overarching story lines in the games I played. However, after I got a Playstation 2, I discovered that strong narratives had moved beyond the confines of that small subgenre of games. I've played platformers and flight sims that are presenting interesting characters, engaging plots and even some wonderful moral ambiguity in the story telling.
Multiple ways to solve a problem/puzzle: The first game that I remember that had a feature like this was Maniac Mansion... where depending on the people you took into the house, you can win the game in a variety of different ways. Of course, I didn't really come to admire this trait in a game until I started playing the Hitman games. I was reading a thread on the IMDB about the Hitman: Blood Money where people were talking about their favorite hit, and even on the same mission, no one did the same thing(I hadn't approached them the same way either)... they had all figured out a different way of accomplishing the goal with the materials at hand. This even comes into play with games that allow for both stealth and gun-blazing tactics to finish missions.
Character Customization/Role Playing Elements: I made these two items one entry because they are related to each other. I am talking not just the ability for the character you are playing as to get better at tasks by gaining experience and/or permanent power-ups, but to do such simple things as creating new characters or adorning preexisting characters to make them more personalized. I also place such features as being able to pick what you are going to take into the field in mission-based games like SOCOM in this category.
Stats: Now, this one may seem like a weird one at first, but hear me out. Since my library is generally pretty balanced, I do have quite a few sports titles as well, and one of the things that I always appreciate when the people who designed them actually gave thought to the presentation and record keeping of the stats that you and the computer are racking up over not just a game, or a season, but over a career. This means the use of situational stats too, because to me, that enhances the experience for me greatly. (Truth be told, I have reams of statistical information that I've written down from the various Football and basketball games I've played over the years).
And things that seriously bother me in games:
Purely digital controls in the Analog age: I am looking at Tekken and King of Fighters in particular. I remember playing fighting games when I was in my teens with the 8-way joystick, and somehow you are telling me that Namco and SNK couldn't get their act together enough to make their fighting series compatible with the analog sticks. I mean, Namco was able to get it right for Soul Calibur by giving people the option to use either control scheme if they chose. And really what puts this into clear perspective is the fact that in its Arcade Classics packages, Capcom was able to make their entire library analog controller compatible. There are very few games that I am willing to accept a purely digital approach, so in most cases, it is a really bad idea going in, even if it is meant to convey some sort of nostalgia to a console game that used that control scheme.
Finicky Puzzles: I think we've all experienced this one. You know, when you are playing a game that won't allow you to advance because you didn't do the steps fast enough, or in a multiroom puzzle, you didn't do the steps in the exact order the designers intended you to do, despite the fact that there is no logical reason why they must be done in that precise order. Or my favorite... puzzles where the solution is determined by the placement of an item, and it has to be positioned pixel perfect to be solved or to even move to the next step.
Needless Back Tracking/Repetitive Gameplay: In an effort to make their game seem longer, some game developers set up their world so that as you advance through the plot, you must keep plowing through waves of the same enemies while going through areas you have previously explored so you can get to a new area with a recently acquired key or other such device. And of course, everyone just loves grinding through those kinds of situations for hours on end. I'd rather play a shorter game than have to deal with that kind of design decision. (Now, if a designer makes areas available for exploration outside the main plot for people to collect unlockables and such, that is a different matter entirely).
What I love in games:
Sandbox design elements: If you've read this blog for any length of time, you have noticed that there are certain games that I've mentioned more than others, particularly Grand Theft Auto. When I was a kid, I had always wanted to play an open-ended, automotively-based game, and that is what Grand Theft Auto provides me, and there are scores of other games that also feature the ability to just explore and do things outside the main mission structure of the game that makes them playable even after completion (Mercenaries, The Incredible Hulk: Ultimate Destruction, Bully).
A Quality Narrative: I used to play a lot of Square/Enix roleplaying games because when I was younger, I was looking for solid and overarching story lines in the games I played. However, after I got a Playstation 2, I discovered that strong narratives had moved beyond the confines of that small subgenre of games. I've played platformers and flight sims that are presenting interesting characters, engaging plots and even some wonderful moral ambiguity in the story telling.
Multiple ways to solve a problem/puzzle: The first game that I remember that had a feature like this was Maniac Mansion... where depending on the people you took into the house, you can win the game in a variety of different ways. Of course, I didn't really come to admire this trait in a game until I started playing the Hitman games. I was reading a thread on the IMDB about the Hitman: Blood Money where people were talking about their favorite hit, and even on the same mission, no one did the same thing(I hadn't approached them the same way either)... they had all figured out a different way of accomplishing the goal with the materials at hand. This even comes into play with games that allow for both stealth and gun-blazing tactics to finish missions.
Character Customization/Role Playing Elements: I made these two items one entry because they are related to each other. I am talking not just the ability for the character you are playing as to get better at tasks by gaining experience and/or permanent power-ups, but to do such simple things as creating new characters or adorning preexisting characters to make them more personalized. I also place such features as being able to pick what you are going to take into the field in mission-based games like SOCOM in this category.
Stats: Now, this one may seem like a weird one at first, but hear me out. Since my library is generally pretty balanced, I do have quite a few sports titles as well, and one of the things that I always appreciate when the people who designed them actually gave thought to the presentation and record keeping of the stats that you and the computer are racking up over not just a game, or a season, but over a career. This means the use of situational stats too, because to me, that enhances the experience for me greatly. (Truth be told, I have reams of statistical information that I've written down from the various Football and basketball games I've played over the years).
And things that seriously bother me in games:
Purely digital controls in the Analog age: I am looking at Tekken and King of Fighters in particular. I remember playing fighting games when I was in my teens with the 8-way joystick, and somehow you are telling me that Namco and SNK couldn't get their act together enough to make their fighting series compatible with the analog sticks. I mean, Namco was able to get it right for Soul Calibur by giving people the option to use either control scheme if they chose. And really what puts this into clear perspective is the fact that in its Arcade Classics packages, Capcom was able to make their entire library analog controller compatible. There are very few games that I am willing to accept a purely digital approach, so in most cases, it is a really bad idea going in, even if it is meant to convey some sort of nostalgia to a console game that used that control scheme.
Finicky Puzzles: I think we've all experienced this one. You know, when you are playing a game that won't allow you to advance because you didn't do the steps fast enough, or in a multiroom puzzle, you didn't do the steps in the exact order the designers intended you to do, despite the fact that there is no logical reason why they must be done in that precise order. Or my favorite... puzzles where the solution is determined by the placement of an item, and it has to be positioned pixel perfect to be solved or to even move to the next step.
Needless Back Tracking/Repetitive Gameplay: In an effort to make their game seem longer, some game developers set up their world so that as you advance through the plot, you must keep plowing through waves of the same enemies while going through areas you have previously explored so you can get to a new area with a recently acquired key or other such device. And of course, everyone just loves grinding through those kinds of situations for hours on end. I'd rather play a shorter game than have to deal with that kind of design decision. (Now, if a designer makes areas available for exploration outside the main plot for people to collect unlockables and such, that is a different matter entirely).
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Thursday, August 14, 2008
Celebrity Break-Ups/Affairs: It's just not news
I wrote about the breakup of Justin Long and Drew Barrymore a few weeks ago in a mocking, sarcastically-serious manner, which many of you found entertaining. I think some of you likely guessed the fact that when I am looking through news sources to find things that are interesting to comment upon here at Culture Kills, a particular kind of story just irks me.
Yes, I am referring to the celebrity breakup story.
Why is it news at all? Really, we all know that in the parlance of our time a celebrity relationship lasts about as long as a fart in the wind, and yet, that's not what the media would lead you to believe. They make it seem like every time a couple breaks up, it is somehow this huge cataclysmic event.
Most relationships don't work out. I know it, you know it... why does it seem like the media doesn't get that, or perhaps more accurately doesn't want to get that. I don't have anything invested in their relationship, so why are they telling me about it. I don't care at all. News about an upcoming remake, or that an actor just signed up for a particular movie or television show, or that a musician is working on new material... that affects me, and thus, that interests me.
And the fact that this kind of information actually worms its way out of entertainment pages and onto the front pages of news sites sort of sickens me. I mean on Election Day 2006, the fact that Britney Spears had filed for divorce from Kevin Federline was "Breaking News" in a huge banner at all the major media news sites above stories about faulty voting machines, charges of corruption, crimes, disasters... all those things which are much more important stories that day.
However, I do make one glaring exception in my disdain for this type of coverage.
If a politician or celebrity has been particular sanctimonious about extra-marital affairs, premarital sex, homosexuality or a similar subject and they get caught being a complete hypocrite, well, then they should rightfully be called out for that. If someone says that they are all about family values, and then it turns out that they divorced a wife who was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment or was a survivor of a bad car accident, well, they should be confronted for their seeming hypocrisy and generally shitty behavior. If they were someone who demonized gays and smeared them with all sorts of awful names and then got caught in a men's room soliciting for sex or a skeleton came out of that particular closet, well, they should be roundly criticized for being a hypocrite. And if an actor or actress states they don't want to kiss other actors who are not their husband or wife, well, that's fine... but if they have an affair after making such comments, they had better expect a huge backlash, and rightfully so. But in all these cases, it isn't the actual event that is the newsworthy item... it is character questions they open up... especially with politicians, because really I couldn't care if they were unfaithful to a partner or were into kinky stuff, but it really bothers me when someone demonizes another person for supposed sins that they themselves are guilty of.
Yes, I am referring to the celebrity breakup story.
Why is it news at all? Really, we all know that in the parlance of our time a celebrity relationship lasts about as long as a fart in the wind, and yet, that's not what the media would lead you to believe. They make it seem like every time a couple breaks up, it is somehow this huge cataclysmic event.
Most relationships don't work out. I know it, you know it... why does it seem like the media doesn't get that, or perhaps more accurately doesn't want to get that. I don't have anything invested in their relationship, so why are they telling me about it. I don't care at all. News about an upcoming remake, or that an actor just signed up for a particular movie or television show, or that a musician is working on new material... that affects me, and thus, that interests me.
And the fact that this kind of information actually worms its way out of entertainment pages and onto the front pages of news sites sort of sickens me. I mean on Election Day 2006, the fact that Britney Spears had filed for divorce from Kevin Federline was "Breaking News" in a huge banner at all the major media news sites above stories about faulty voting machines, charges of corruption, crimes, disasters... all those things which are much more important stories that day.
However, I do make one glaring exception in my disdain for this type of coverage.
If a politician or celebrity has been particular sanctimonious about extra-marital affairs, premarital sex, homosexuality or a similar subject and they get caught being a complete hypocrite, well, then they should rightfully be called out for that. If someone says that they are all about family values, and then it turns out that they divorced a wife who was in the hospital undergoing cancer treatment or was a survivor of a bad car accident, well, they should be confronted for their seeming hypocrisy and generally shitty behavior. If they were someone who demonized gays and smeared them with all sorts of awful names and then got caught in a men's room soliciting for sex or a skeleton came out of that particular closet, well, they should be roundly criticized for being a hypocrite. And if an actor or actress states they don't want to kiss other actors who are not their husband or wife, well, that's fine... but if they have an affair after making such comments, they had better expect a huge backlash, and rightfully so. But in all these cases, it isn't the actual event that is the newsworthy item... it is character questions they open up... especially with politicians, because really I couldn't care if they were unfaithful to a partner or were into kinky stuff, but it really bothers me when someone demonizes another person for supposed sins that they themselves are guilty of.
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