This entry was published at least two years ago (originally posted on August 19, 2008). Since that time the information may have become outdated or my beliefs may have changed (in general, assume a more open and liberal current viewpoint). A fuller disclaimer is available.
Sometime between 06:33 and 18:38, I thought this stuff was interesting. You might think so too!
- The Real Tr2n Trailer: Tron 2 Trailer Video Makes Pants Wet Worldwide: It's a tiny bootleg video, but I don't care. You can see that the 3D looks amazing, the new lightcycles are stunning (and move like real bikes), the world and the whole mood is Batman-like dark. And Jeff Bridges… well, he is Jeff Bridges. What can I say, he looks like a badass version of the Dude. "It's just a game!" he shouts. No, it's not. It's Tr2n. At last. (I'd completely missed that there's finally a sequel being worked on! Crossing my fingers that it's worthwhile….)
- Jack Cafferty: Is McCain another George W. Bush?: John McCain graduated 894th in a class of 899 at the Naval Academy at Annapolis. His father and grandfather were four star admirals in the Navy…that might have played a role in McCain being admitted. His academic record was awful. And it shows over and over again whenever McCain is called upon to think on his feet. He no longer allows reporters unfettered access to him aboard the "Straight Talk Express" for a reason. He simply makes too many mistakes. Unless he's reciting talking points or reading from notes or a TelePrompTer, John McCain is lost. He can drop bon mots at a bowling alley or diner — short glib responses that get a chuckle, but beyond that McCain gets in over his head very quickly. I am sick and tired of the president of the United States embarrassing me. The world we live in is too complex to entrust it to someone else whose idea of intellectual curiosity and grasp of foreign policy issues is to tell us he can look into Vladimir Putin's eyes and see into his soul.
- Why You Should Turn Gmail’s SSL Feature On Now: Because without it, anyone can easily hack someone’s account and in two weeks it is going to get even easier. Mike Perry, a reverse engineer from San Francisco, announced his intention to release his Gmail Account Hacking Tool to the public. According to a quote at Hacking Truths, Perry mentioned he was unimpressed with how Google presented the SSL feature as less-than-urgent. It is urgent, and here’s why. (I enabled SSL for my Gmail account today. If you're using Gmail, you should too.)
- Black & White Cheatsheet For Photoshop: Have you ever converted any image to black and white? If yes, do you remember how many different ways and settings are there? Photoshop itself has several ways (filters) how to make b&w images and each filter has many presets… Wouldn't it be great if you could have quick preview with different filters and presets? Well, You can.
- Olympics: Seeing More Than Medals: What is there besides the winners and the losers? What can I see beyond the peak action? Here's some of what I found… (Some nice photography a bit different than most of what's coming out of Beijing these days.)
- Three serious class acts:: When he died, Heath Ledger was working on Terrry Gilliam's next film, "The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus." Johnny Depp, Colin Farrell and Jude Law are stepping in to finish the scenes Heath hadn't filmed yet — each appearing as his character in a different dimension — and all three are donating their earnings to Heath's daughter Matilda. Terry Gilliam: "They came, they did the work, they allowed the movie to be finished, they didn’t take money – the money goes to Heath’s daughter. That’s extraordinary! I am so glad these guys are so humble. That’s why they make a great addition to the film. It will be bittersweet seeing this movie knowing he was filming it only days before he died. "
- How many atoms of Jesus do you eat every day?: Taking the Catholic doctrine of transubstantiation into account, where the eucharist actually becomes the body and blood of Christ: 3.06*10^18 atoms of Jesus per day. Also, the earth's _entire_ biomass will be made of Jesus in approximately 4.91 billion years.