Elink Pic:: happiness at work.
rePost::13*. Daybreakers: the Malthusiastic vampires | JessicarulestheUniverse
How do you know you and your friends are geeky? When after watching a movie you debate what happens in the world after the movie, specifically how the population would be affected sans in malthusian terms. I enjoyed this film because its a film that I believed started with a concept and not the stars. Although better acting and a more developed story (I don’t remember but I believe the film was little over 1hour 40 mins, they had more time if they really wanted to). It’s also commendable that they didn’t go the B-movie route of a little more nudity than was really warranted by the story (half-lie, the movie lover in me commends, the man does not, you had isabel lucas and you didn’t even try? come on…). Another weak point of the film is the relationship between sam oniel and her daughter. (spoiler alert)You’d save your daughter by turning her to a vamp, but you didn’t think about force feeding her he blood rations? All in all I went with little expectations and was thus delightfully surprised with what I saw.
What we have here is a high-concept film that brings up existential questions, Malthusian economics, and parasite biology (For a parasite to be successful, it must not only refrain from killing off its host but also ensure that the host thrives. See the toxo that lives in cats. Compared to toxo the vampire organism is greedy and stupid). However the filmmakers’ skills are strictly B-grade: cheap shock tactics from the Salem’s Lot school, blood and gore splattered across the screen, and ham acting from Neill and Willem Dafoe as the human rebel leader. Ethan at least takes the movie seriously (We still love him, even if one shot caused Noel and I to gasp, “Malaki na ang balakang ni Ethan!”)
So Daybreakers is an entertaining mix of the clever and the cheesy; we’ll call it Camembert. My rating: If you can spot existentialism, Malthusian economics, and parasite biology in a B-movie, String! (The best way to enjoy the movies is to entertain yourself.) If you like fangs, blood, gore, Kibble. If you expect a prestige project, Litterbox.
via 13*. Daybreakers: the Malthusiastic vampires | JessicarulestheUniverse.
rePost:Missed Opportunity:Google's China problem (and ours)
Too bad. Because if the tech industry really wants China to change the way it does business, a unified front might have been more effective. If the big U.S. tech companies all elected to stop aiding and abetting the Chinese in their attempts to rewrite history as it happens — and tacitly condone attempts to steal our nation’s intellectual property, one of the few areas where we still lead the world — it would be that much harder for them to do it.
via Google’s China problem (and ours).
rePost:Things To Ponder: Other people's privacy
Privacy is not only essential to life and liberty; it’s essential to the pursuit of happiness, in the broadest and deepest sense of that phrase. It’s essential, as Schneier implies, to the development of individuality, of unique personality. We human beings are not just social creatures; we’re also private creatures. What we don’t share is as important as what we do share. The way that we choose to define the boundary between our public self and our private self will vary greatly from person to person, which is exactly why it’s so important to be ever vigilant in defending everyone’s ability and power to set that boundary as he or she sees fit.Today, online services and databases play increasingly important roles in our public and our private lives – and in the way we choose to distinguish between them. Many of those services and databases are under corporate control, operated for profit by companies like Google and Facebook. If those companies can’t be trusted to respect and defend the privacy rights of their users, they should be spurned.
via Rough Type: Nicholas Carr’s Blog: Other people’s privacy.
Funny:: Conan Sells The Tonight Show in Craigslist!!!
4 SALE: BARELY-USED LATE NIGHT TALK SHOW – MAKE ME AN OFFER!!! (Universal Studios)
Date: 2010-01-13, 3:48PM PST
Reply to: sale-tntdd-1551463643@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]
This is a chance of a lifetime to own your very own late night talk show–guaranteed to last for up to seven months!! Really must see to appreciate.
Information for potential buyers:
– Measures 100’ x 100’ x 32’ – plenty of room for a futon!
– Designed for 11:35 but can be easily moved
– Band can be sold separately
– Buyer must honor Barry Manilow booking next Thursday
MAKE ME YOUR BEST OFFER!!!!! (Also willing to trade for Coldplay tickets.)
Information for potential buyers:
– Measures 100’ x 100’ x 32’ – plenty of room for a futon!
– Designed for 11:35 but can be easily moved
– Band can be sold separately
– Buyer must honor Barry Manilow booking next Thursday
MAKE ME YOUR BEST OFFER!!!!! (Also willing to trade for Coldplay tickets.)
- Location: Universal Studios
- it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
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PostingID: 1551463643
from here
Elink Pix:: How To Make A Michael Cera Movie
How To Make A Michael Cera Movie
Quote:: Does Travel Make You Smarter?
So let’s not pretend that travel is always fun, or that we endure the jet lag for pleasure. We don’t spend ten hours lost in the Louvre because we like it, and the view from the top of Machu Picchu probably doesn’t make up for the hassle of lost luggage. (More often than not, I need a vacation after my vacation.) We travel because we need to, because distance and difference are the secret tonic of creativity. When we get home, home is still the same. But something in our mind has been changed, and that changes everything.
via Ben Casnocha: The Blog: Does Travel Make You Smarter?.
rePost::Analytics X Prize – Home
must file in the maybe part of my to do list!!!!
Welcome to the Analytics X Prize
The Analytics X Prize is an ongoing contest to apply analytics, modeling, and statistics to solve the social problems that affect our cities. It combines the fields of statistics, mathematics, and social science to understand the root causes of dysfunction in our neighborhoods. Understanding these relationships and discovering the most highly correlated variables allows us to deploy our limited resources more effectively and target the variables that will have the greatest positive impact on improvement.
Current Contest – 2010 – Predicting Homicides in Philadelphia
Philadelphia is a city with 5.8 million people spread out over 47 zip codes and, like any major city, it has its share of crime. The goal of the Analytics X Prize is to use statistical techniques and any data sets you can find to predict where crime, specifically homicides, will occur in the city. The ability to accurately predict where crime is likely to occur allows us to deploy our limited city resources more effectively. Full rules can be found on the Rules & FAQ page.
via Analytics X Prize – Home.
rePost::“A Message of Modern Politics” by Randy David | Filipino Voices
David makes a difficult admission – EDSA Dos was a mistake. It was a mistake because Arroyo shouldn’t have been sworn in as president and that Joseph Estrada didn’t resign. He says there should have been snap elections.
via “A Message of Modern Politics” by Randy David | Filipino Voices.
As someone who was in Edsa during Edsa 3, I’ve heard this less often than I believe I should.
rePost::Midnight appointments : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose
A well written article that explains to non lawyers the current issue being faced by the Aquino Campaign vs the Arroyo Palace and their tiff with Presidential Appointments. Some people have no shame. Imagine if this was done by someone good. I am reminded always of The Movie Hero by Jet Li . When will someone who has no shame with the balls to do change for the good.
Benigno Aquino III has thrown down the gauntlet in light of the President’s toying with appointing the next Chief Justice when the current Chief Justice retires on May 17 (ideally, by that time, the public would already know who the next President is, and the date falls about a month and a half before the official term of the incumbent expires, when there is a blanket prohibition on appointments from the time the last two months of a president’s term starts). The Palace is suitably miffed.
via Midnight appointments : Manuel L. Quezon III: The Daily Dose.