randomwalks/dj

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Originally posted by Erik Ruin from Just Seeds, on December 20, 2008 6:06 PM

Hundreds of thousands of orders pour in for Turkish shoe thrown at President Bush.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 20, 2008 12:03 PM

At the Program For the Future event commemorating the 40th anniversary of Doug Englebart's "mother of all demos" in 1968, I was privileged to hear an inspired rant by Alan Kay about the unwillingness of people to work hard to learn new skills. I'm quoting from memory, so the lines below are not exact, and there's no way I can convey the wonderful sense of outrage expressed in Alan's voice, but I hope you can imagine it:

If some entrepreneur introduced the bicycle today, no one would fund him. You have to actually learn how to use it! ...I saw a controller for Guitar Hero that costs a couple of hundred dollars. You can get a decent electric guitar for that price. But you'd have to actually learn something to play it!

There's a long arc in computing that teaches us how much we gain through advances in ease-of-use, with the iPhone being the latest breakthrough success. But it's important to remember how much we lose when we think that ease of use is everything. Many things worth doing are hard, requiring a great deal of practice before you achieve mastery.

Shortly thereafter, I was intrigued to see an interview entitled Bjarne Stroustrup on Educating Software Developers (via Slashdot) sounding the same theme:

High schools could teach students to work hard at something (just about anything), to search out information as needed, and learn to express their ideas in writing and orally. Project-based work is good for that. Exactly which programming language is used for software is less important, but the aim should not be to make tasks as simple as possible but to challenge students.

And of course, practice, specifically "10,000 hours of practice" during childhood, is one of the themes of Malcolm Gladwell's new book, Outliers.

The interview with Stroustrup provoked a great discussion on the O'Reilly editors' backchannel. It was so juicy that I wanted to share it with all of you.

Simon St. Laurent: "One aspect of learning programming that often eludes both students and teachers alike is the importance of practice, of actually working through all of these formal structures we teach. Most of our books, in a way, offer a promise of learning that avoids the slow repetition of practice.

I've worked in other fields where practice really mattered. I hated to practice exercises on trumpet as a kid, but as I return to it as an adult, I'm actively seeking exercise books to play. It's the only way to get the skills back, even though I "know" how to play all of these things. In woodworking, it's painfully clear that the best way to learn is to do, and do a lot, preferably without taking a long time in between projects. (And watching little Sungiva figuring things out and trying them repeatedly gives a new sense of the importance of practice.)

In computing, though, we often assume that readers will learn by reading, trying, and a bit of fiddling. We even assume a whole category of readers who will assemble applications by cutting and pasting code together without much understanding of what they're doing and how to smooth the rough edges.

Some of our books incorporate practicing the kinds of thought we're teaching. Head First even incorporates repetition, though it tries hard to give readers variation as they go over the same territory. Our Learning books sometimes have exercises, though resistance from authors (myself included) and a belief that readers aren't likely to actually use them limits their value.

The most interesting place I've seen this kind of practice is in the "homework" for the O'Reilly School of Technology's Java course. It's one detailed exercise per lesson, and then it gets "handed in". There's a lot to think about in each of those exercises, and given the context, learners will actually do them.

"According to Dizzy Gillespie, it takes ten years of practicing your butt off to achieve Mastery. His statement has been backed up by scientific research which shows that to reach a very high state of mastery, a task should be repeated about a million times, which takes about ten years. Better get busy!" (Sound the Trumpet, pp 67-68)"

Mike Loukides: "That's a good point. One of the things I noticed when [my daughter] Alexandra got into the 9th grade math class was the emphasis on practice. I had been teaching her algebra, but I'd explain some concept and give her 3 or 4 problems to solve and say, "Good, you understand that."

The Algebra 1 class that she's in is doing more or less the same concepts, but they'll do something like solving equations with absolute values, and she'll come home with a homework set of 25 problems. The next night, there'll be 25 slightly more complex problems. The next night there'll be 25 more slightly more complex problems, with some simpler problems thrown in for review.

There are a number of things I don't like about the way mathematics is taught, but I think they're profoundly right about this. You've got to do these things until they become second nature."

Beth Freeman: "We are actively working on related ideas in Head First now - looking at ways we can extend the book experience with online experiences that will include many ways to continue the practice that readers begin in the books. And, as you identify, making it fun, making it feel like playing is an important part of the motivation to get people to practice. Game elements can really encourage this - the whole idea of getting to the next level in a game is basically promoting practice at that game until you get good enough to get to the next level. This idea applies to learning anything, and making those levels explicit in a way that is fun and motivates people is key. (e.g. the various colored belt levels in martial arts). What are the equivalent ways of measuring competence in programming and technology that encourage and motivate (and don't feel exclusionary or too hard to even try)?

We have a few ways that Head First readers can continue their practice online at the Head First Labs site now, but it's pretty limited.

One aspect of practice that is really important that I think is worth mentioning is that most true creativity comes from people who have done a lot of work in their field. (See Explaining Creativity by Sawyer and On Intelligence by Hawkins). Most of that work is "practice" - getting to a level of expertise so that we can think more abstractly about whatever the topic is and combine old ideas in new ways, which is the heart of creativity. In other words, if you're focused on learning the little details because you haven't practiced enough, it's unlikely that you will be able to see the big picture in a way that will allow you to invent / create new ways of doing or thinking about that topic."

Brett McLaughlin: "I think there are two key points that Beth mentioned that, in my opinion, have to enter any real discussion of practice (I speak as a pedagogical fanatic, but also as a musician who still manages two or three hours a day on his instrument):

1. Practice must be proportional to the goal. Practice itself is rarely fun, especially in the early days. I disagree a bit with Beth that the practice itself is fun; but where we do agree is that the goal is crucial. I will play a lick at a speed so unwieldy that it stops being music, and play it at that speed until my entire family is yelling at me... IF and ONLY if the lick at performance speed is truly exciting. So the practice itself is awful, and boring, and terrible in many cases, but the end result is proportionate with the goal.

   But with most of us, the goal -- passing a class, or getting a better job, or playing like Jimi or Mayer or Miles or Rachmaninov -- has to be within reach, and attainable, or we'll give up. And yes, practice is one of the trickiest things to encourage and/or simulate because repetition is something technology is great at DOING, not PRODUCING. Think about it: technology ultimately came into being to help us AVOID repetition. So it's a big problem, and one I have ideas about, but am still formulating enough to write and speak on.

2. Practice must, over time, simulate deeper understanding. Good practice, over time, connects ideas. Bad practice, over time, only creates muscle/mind memory. Practice structured correctly will eventually create a fluidity with the mechanical components of [insert discipline here], and free the mind up to consider the bigger picture. Practicing a scale in a particular configuration enough reinforces tones that are appropriate over certain chords, the rhythmic patterns available, and allows the mind to create melodies and play those melodies with little forethought. Repetition without a correct structure, though, will leave a musician hobbled and trapped within a pattern, unable to be creative.

   Alexandra's successively complex problems are creating a mental landscape of absolute value. By problem 20 (or 10, or 5), she's stopped thinking about mechanically solving the problem, but is instead connecting the methods she's using with the methods she used for the last problem set -- and the ones before that -- and is creating a math understanding that's deeper than how to solve a particular problem.

   Think about it this way: give a student enough structured binomials to multiply, with a reinforcing organization, and they will at some point come up with FOIL on their own. It's simply a fact... if the practice is correctly structured, and if the repetition is great enough to allow the mind to wander a bit, and make deeper connections.

   Mini-conclusion: Repetition MUST be connected to a deeper understanding

It's my opinion that we often think we can reach the second goal (deeper understanding) through purely qualitative means: better writing, better speaking, better visuals. But there's got to be SOME element of quantitive means, too. I think we can reduce the number of repetitions through careful structuring and reinforcement, but that's reduce, not eliminate."

Mike Loukides: "That's a really interesting insight: technology is all about *avoiding* repetition. I don't write a program until I've done something a few times, and don't want to do it again. So at some level, we're talking about technology that forces us to do what we usually use technology to avoid. Which means we're making technology do what it really doesn't want to do, what it wasn't designed to do."

Simon St. Laurent: "While there is a fundamental problem there - technology teaches us that repetition is bad - I don't think that it's a matter of misusing technology."

It's mistaking facts about technology for facts about us. It's true: teach a program once, and it will do what it does forever, the same way, until the context changes and it breaks. Teach a person once, and you're nowhere near done. Of course, we tend to adapt better to context...

chromatic: "The question is *what* you're practicing. The Art of Agile Development has a concept of etudes, which should be familiar to anyone who's played piano or recognizes Chopin. They're small exercises suitable for repetition and reflection as a whole team during a lunch hour. Unlike the potential (and silly) exercise of writing a for loop or a fold or an iterator a hundred times, they study how you communicate as a team, how you consider design problems, and how you prioritize and reflect.

You could consider the retrospective portion of agile development -- performed each week at the end of an iteration -- an opportunity to reflect on the week's practice and make the higher connections more explicit. In one sense, reflective iterations are a way to turn the often unorganized and chaotic activity of software development into structured practice. That's not a coincidence.

Beth Freeman: "This is a great way to describe Design Patterns, which are essentially patterns that emerge after a lot of experience solving similar problems in similar ways (ie, practice)."

Scott Gray: "So, I think we'd all agree that you can't learn to program without actually programming. Just like you can't learn to drive without actually driving. You can't learn math without doing math. Yet, one of the hardest things to accomplish in teaching is to get students (end users) to actually program or do math or work on the skill it is they are trying to acquire.

Of course, there is a set of people who who inherently understand that they need to program and practice in order to learn. Evidently some or most of O'Reilly's book customers understand this. If they are buying the book but not actually working on a computer then I guarantee they aren't learning to program....they might be learning something, but it isn't programming. Until they actually have built something and gone through the entire process of building something they simply aren't a programmer and aren't likely to be. I disagree with Bret here. Programming and practice can and should be rewarding. If it isn't rewarding to students to make programs then they are not likely to become good at that skill (same goes with Mathematics, Physics, etc.)

So, what Simon didn't tell you is that what we do [at the O'Reilly School of Technology, which Scott leads] is set up situations where we get students to do work and at first do small programs that demonstrate the concepts being talked about in the content. We don't discuss anything without them doing an example. It also turns out that if you set up the situation just right, you can get close to 100% of the people DOING programming in order to learn programming. When they build these programs and see it work and know they created it, then they gain a sense of ownership over the skill they are learning which prepares them to do a project without our guidance which is what Simon was telling you about.

It's also important to have instructors there to help students through the frustrations they are likely to encounter when learning. Our instructors are their coaches. They coach them through the process, motivate them to work it out themselves and solve that problem they're having because isn't that what a programmer is someone who can deal with a situation and work on it until the program does what it's designed to do.

People who can go from novice to expert with books are actually quite rare. It doesn't seem like they are rare to O'Reilly since these are the types of people you've been selling to all along. However, if you've ever taught at a University you know that maybe 2% of the students you teach can learn themselves from nothing but a book. It's not that this other 98% are dumb it's that they haven't learned how to learn a skill like programming or mathematics and have to be motivated to do kind of work they need to do to learn. Unfortunately, in most courses students do the minimum amount of actual practice that they can get away with because it's not been made available in a form that gives them *ownership* over the process.

What we learned at the University of Illinois Math & Mathematica project was that properly used the computer can be used to not only get students working and practicing but give them ownership over the material as well. OST is basically replicating this same pedagogy that works for those Mathematics courses. The recipe is to merge content and tools in a way that fosters student activity, and to provide coaches to give students positive feedback and to help them through the rough spots.

At this point I could go into the business aspect of this and discuss the need for credits in order to hit the price point per student to pay for this process and also to motivate students to actually take these courses and work hard to finish them. Let me just say that for courses the extrinsic motivation of certificates and degrees makes it all come together so that both the students and the institution are happy and successful.

The nice thing about the book business, is that you don't have to deal much with end users or observe whether they are actually accomplishing your instructional goals. The only types of feedback you get are reviews, sales, and anecdotes. Once you start teaching courses and adding assessments and feedback the expectations change. When you sell someone a book, if they don't read it or they don't pick up the skill they generally don't hold the book responsible, it's probably their own fault. However if they take your course, and they don't learn it's your fault. There are much higher expectations with courses, so you better get it right.

So far over the last five years we're getting 80% of our students through these courses. The industry standard for online courses is 30%. We're doing something right.

Allison Randal: "I've been deeply impressed by Scratch in this respect. The real magic of learning is to practice without realizing you're practicing. My son is learning to program not because he dutifully sits down to work through exercises, but because he's having fun creating games and animations to share with his friends.

We don't learn applications like Word because we set regular practice sessions, we learn them because there's something we want or need to get done, and this tool helps us do it.

The same is true of natural language, you can drill and drill and drill (and should, to build vocabulary), but will never really get the language until you use it in active communication. And putting yourself in a situation where the language you're learning is the *only* possible language you can use to communicate with those around you leads to exponential leaps and bounds in language skills.

There's a fantastic book on language learning around this subject, that doesn't teach you a specific language, it teaches you how to learn any language (Language Acquisition Made Practical.) It includes exercises that are more suggestions than drills, like "Have a conversation with your neighbor about the weather", so you gradually start to integrate the skills into your life.

Scott Gray: "By the way, 'practice' brings up all kinds of negative connotations like 'drill'. Nobody likes drills do they?

Practice can and should be part of the process of creating something, like Allision pointed out.

Again, I hate to seem like I'm plugging my stuff too much, but it seems relevant to the discussion. Just this month one of our students won a Yahoo! Hack day by adapting a project he created in one of our courses. A lot of our assignments that they do and hand-in for feedback are "Build something cool that incorporates X".

Kurt Kagle: "I'm watching my eight year old daughter go through a distance learning curriculum, and its been something of an eye opener from a number of perspectives. Jennie is a natural on computers - she figured out the level editor for SuperTux at the age of six, was navigating through web pages by the age of five, even though she wasn't really "reading" yet (which says something very profound and disturbing about our assumptions about reading, I suspect) and has reached a point where she's gaming the cheat codes in Sims, without really realizing that she's actually using the programmer's interface into the program and beginning to learn LUA. She also does most of the practice math exercises in the GCompris quickly and usually enthusiastically ... especially if there is a game context associated with it.

The problems she face with this, however, are two-fold. She gets easily bored when forced into the school tempo, she finds physical writing to be frustrating (partially due to an abysmal first grade teacher, partially because of disgraphia) and overall she finds that repetition without some kind of contextual framework to be tedious in the extreme. My wife and I also tend to be at odds about the degree of computer interaction that Jennie should have; to me, what's important is the conceptual practice that she could get just as easily with a computer, with Anne, what's more important is that she do the repetition on the worksheets because she'll have to do them that way in real life.

While I'm not sure what the resolution of this particular conundrum will end up being, I think it does point out a somewhat bigger picture. I like computer-based "practice" precisely because it both gives you a stronger mastery with a shorter feedback time and it provides a way to easily test that mastery, especially in areas where repetition is significant. Moreover, it provides a way to build simulations that can help you work through a problem.

This doesn't mean that I approve of all educational software ... I've written educational software for Fisher Price, Microsoft and works such as The Oregon Trail over the years, and some of it (the stuff I usually didn't have a design hand in, generally, though I would think that) was pretty dreadful. On the other hand, the ones that worked well were the ones that provided an enjoyable context, a compelling narrative and enough awareness to determine when someone just wasn't getting it, and all the repetition in the world wouldn't help the student make the conceptual leap.

Yet this short feedback loop is very much at odds with the way that teachers currently teach - in part because they have 30+ kids to track typically, and as such,individually they can give these kids only a small percentage of time spent specifically with them. I think there's also been this emphasis in recent years away from repetition, both because it forces everyone to move at the pace of the slowest student and because in an age of media bombardment, kids lose patience with boring repetition that has no context and a non-contextual feedback loop (the students get back their homework two or three days after they complete it, typically long after they've moved onto new work and only with an indication showing them that they got the answer wrong, not why). This is especially true in areas like mathematics.

There's still a very strong Calvinistic ethic that permeates the educational culture, with one of the most insidious beliefs being that in order for something to be educational, it must not be pleasurable - that said pleasure actually distracts from the process of learning. The O'Reilly Head First books are a prime counterpoint to that - engaging, relevant, and generally fun, I think they are some of the best educational books out there, but there are a few people know who have told me that they don't seem like real teaching books precisely because they are flip and irreverent. Teaching is best done with massive tomes set in thick type with few examples, interspersed with deep theory, according to this viewpoint, though I've noticed that while books like these may get bought, they also have a tendency to sit on the shelves.

While I'm not a huge fan of a lot of computer games (way too much violence) I do recognize that there are games out there that challenge people to think, that justify the onerousness of repetition with a tangible reward (achieving the next level) and that provide a context and narrative in a way that "story problems" usually can't or don't.

Case in point. One of my eldest daughter Kate's teachers assigned a homework problem - design a simple floorplan for a house that had to fit within a lot (i.e., take up a certain area), one that had to include two bathrooms and two bedrooms at a minimum, then calculate the total surface area involved. Kate's solution was actually pretty inspired - she powered up Sims, created a building from scratch, then began putting in the various walls, fixtures and appliances, working within the constraints that each of these occupied both square footage and had implications for plumbing and the like. Once she'd done this, she printed up the floorplan, measured the dimensions, converted the units into meters and calculated the area from there.

What I find interesting here was that she used the simulation to help turn what could have been a very boring exercise into an engaging one, and one that also showed that there was much more to the particular context than just finding a number. She still had to do the math (my insistence), but with the same simulation she could also determine a significant amount of other information that she wouldn't have been able to do with the previous exercise (how much would such a house cost to build, how much to carpet, how much area did a staircase take up, and so forth).

To tie this back into the thread - she was playing, within the parameters established for that play. She gained immediate feedback that let her see when something worked or didn't (a hallway that was too thin for people to pass, a bathroom that was shaped wrong for a bathtub, etc.), and in the end, she had something that she could not only play with but also share with her friends (Kate's my social butterfly). She was problem solving (the use of a Sims game for laying out a house was not something I would have thought of), and she was practicing not just one skill, but several that were likely to be used in concert together.

Consider, for instance, the last time that you needed to just calculate the area of a plot of land. In the last several years, I think I've spent perhaps twenty minutes total involved in that particular exercise, after an investment of several years worth of learning the math to get me there. If I was an architect or a construction manager, I'd have done it on a computer using some kind of 3D rendering package, and if I was hiring that architect or construction manager, I'd probably fire them if I found that they were doing all of these calculations by hand.

Practice is necessary to learn a skill (it takes about a million repetitions, typically around ten years to master any given skill), but I think that we have become so fixated upon this necessity that we have to question if the skills that we are spending so much of our time and resource educating them are ones that they truly need.

If our children are going to live in a world heavily dominated by computer technology, is it worthwhile for us to be practicing skills that we'll only use a handful of times in our life? When we have the means to make learning subtasks engaging and fun, does it really behoove us to make them dull, pedantic (funny how that has become a synonym for dull) and time-consuming?

My own belief is that our children are growing up having to adapt to a world of information bombardment. Children generally learn to adapt to their world despite our best intentions in trying to teach them how to live in ours. This growing disconnect is going to eventually rupture as the mission of the school system becomes fundamentally incompatible with their needs. I think we are now in a position to start doing something about that, to recognizing that practice, while necessary, can be readily disguised as play, and that learning should be challenging but engaging, not repetitious and dull.

Scott Gray: "Repetition and drill sucks. Creation and discovery rocks.

I once saw a show on new learning techniques. They took a first or second grade music class and told the students they were going to play them a song and that they should come up with a way of remembering the tune. Each of the children came up with a different method mostly using crayons and construction paper. They created different ways to designate the notes and loudness and spaced things to indicate the timing, etc.

Then they showed each student how the method they came up with mapped to sheet music. According to the program I was watching this was really effective in teaching children how to read sheet music.

What I've seen and first learned while teaching was that instead of telling students things and explaining everything we can set up situations where they discover what we want them to. For example, I taught students about differentiation and integration by giving them a problem about driving to the store and figuring out their speed without a speedometer. (all written up in Mathematica so they could follow along and experiment). Eventually they each came up with the main idea about differentiation. When they were done....I'd say "oh yeah, what you just discovered is what Isaac Newton discovered in the 1600's, it's called 'Differentiation'". It's quite a powerful thing to create and discover ideas whether or not it was created and discovered previously. After all, Mathematics is about creating and discovering.

Computers and the internet can be used to scale the learning by discovery paradigm."

Simon: "Scott said 'Repetition and drill sucks. Creation and discovery rocks.'

Now we're starting to reach the opposite of what I was thinking this morning, which is always a great thing in a conversation. My point this morning was in large part that repetition and drill matter, and that once you've figured out that they're actually helping you, they 'suck' a lot less.

It's not just a matter of Calvinist ethics (sorry, Kurt) - it's an opportunity for learners to move forward by doing things a lot, shifting ahead a bit at a time. The great leaps are fun as well, but build on smaller steps.

My concern with this is that while letting kids figure out what works for them is a good idea and that different kids will figure out different things, actually becoming good at things is about a lot more than discovering them or creating them.

Reading sheet music is one thing - learning to play an instrument is another. And I figured out what integration and differentiation were about long before I got to calculus, but I probably should have flunked my second semester of calculus because I just couldn't wrap my head around how to actually make it work. (Which shocked me, because math up to then had just flowed naturally for me.)

Ideally I'd love to have discovery and creativity motivate learners' actions - but they still need to motivate learners into a tremendous amount of repetition to get there.

Kurt said 'Computers and the internet can be used to scale the learning by discovery paradigm.' Yes, and they can also be used to manage, moderate, and fine-tune repetition. Hopefully we can combine all of that into something that gives people instruction at a pace they can maintain, thrilled by their progress, but also in a way that sticks with them."

I hope you all found that discussion as thought-provoking as I did. I'd love your thoughts. How have you found practice to be important in your programming -- or in other aspects of your life?

Originally posted by Tim O'Reilly from O'Reilly Radar - Insight, analysis, and research about emerging technologies, on December 20, 2008 8:41 AM

Here's a little pattern I've discovered while hacking away at a board game implementation in Perl 6.

I had a subroutine called input_valid_move, whose job it was to read a move from $*IN, and return the move if it was valid according to the rules of the game. Easy enough.

repeat {
    print "\n", $player, ': ';
} until my $move = input_valid_move(...);

Now, there are several ways a move can be illegal, and I found myself printing and returning a lot from the sub:

unless $row_diff == 2 && $column_diff == 0
    || $row_diff == 0 && $column_diff == 2 {

    say 'Must be exactly two cells apart';
    return;
}

unless @heights[$row_1][$column_1]
    == @heights[$row_2][$column_2] {

    say 'Must be supported at both ends';
    return;
}

Notice the repetition? There were many (7) such tests for move correctness, and all of them made a boolean test, printed something and then returned from the sub:

if ( ... ) { # or 'unless'; depends
    say '...';
    return;
}

Repetition is a sign that there there is an abstraction just waiting to be created. I wanted to make an abstraction flunk_move that closed over the say '...'; return part of the above pattern, parametrizing the message printed. That way, I could just write this instead:

    flunk_move 'Must be exactly two cells apart'
        unless $row_diff == 2 && $column_diff == 0
            || $row_diff == 0 && $column_diff == 2;

    flunk_move 'Must be supported at both ends'
        unless @heights[$row_1][$column_1]
            == @heights[$row_2][$column_2];

Each move correctness test now became a single statement, instead of an if/unless statement containing two statements. As an added bonus, the most important part of the statement (the disqualification of the move) is now leftmost in the statement, something Damian Conway talks about in his book "Perl Best Practices".

But a new subroutine would not do as a repetition-reducing abstraction. The return statement in such a new sub, having moved from its original environment would be a no-op. I wanted to eat the cake and have it, too.

S06 states that the return function throws a control exception that is caught by the current lexically enclosing Routine, and this fact turned out to be just what I needed. To decipher the Perl 6 designese, the return in a sub returns from that sub, but the return in a bare block returns from the sub (or whatever) it was called from.

  # not what I want -- the return does nothing
  sub flunk_move($reason) { say $reason; return };

  # what I want, using pointy block
  -> $reason { say $reason; return };

  # what I want, using placeholder variables
  { say $^reason; return };

Think of it in biological terms: a sub is like a "eukaryote: a little more complex, handles advanced things like return when necessary. A bare block doesn't have all that advanced piping, and has to delegate its return calls to its surrounding host cell. In other words, a bare block is a bit like an endosymbiont prokaryote, a simple organism that in the course of evolutionary history ended up in a symbiotic relationship inside a larger eukaryotic cell.

Biological analogies aside, what it meant to me was that I could do this in my sub input_valid_move:

my &flunk_move = { say $^reason; return };

(There's the endosymbiont, right there! It can't return from itself, because it's just a humble code block, so it returns from its surrounding subroutine instead, which happens to be input_valid_move.)

After that, I could use &flunk_move just as I wanted, as if it were a return statement with side effects. (Same code as above.)

    flunk_move 'Must be exactly two cells apart'
        unless $row_diff == 2 && $column_diff == 0
            || $row_diff == 0 && $column_diff == 2;

    flunk_move 'Must be supported at both ends'
        unless @heights[$row_1][$column_1]
            == @heights[$row_2][$column_2];

Some Smalltalk people extol the power in being able to define things like the if statement from within the language, without any magical trickery to make it work. The pattern I discovered above uses the same kind of strengths, the ability to define my own slightly fancy return statement, and have it look like a built-in in subsequent code.

That kind of power is what makes Perl 6 a joy to use.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Planet Perl Six, on December 20, 2008 8:34 AM

She's walking her walk. We all have a walk in life, we have hard and difficult times, and going through that chaos often leads to clarity. We have to have that room and that space, that privacy time, to be able to walk your walk.

- Chaka Khan on Amy Winehouse according to this Powell's Blog entry

Originally posted by Valarie Smith from Crazed Teacups, on December 20, 2008 7:46 AM

Michael Bywater's "My Dad had the best death" (via Andy):

We brought his bed downstairs towards the end, and there he lay, fading peaceably in his own sitting room, surrounded by his dogs and grandchildren and cats and people coming in and out.

I say "peaceably", but there were episodes of purest tyranny. My sister had given him one of those wireless dingdong doorbells to summon her, and he exercised it to the limit. But although he had been denunciatory, condemning her to me, and me to her, and his doctors (who had actually called everything perfectly) to anyone who'd listen, once he was on his deathbed he became affable and loving.

Right until the end, when it just dwindled to a tiny white spot, like an old television, before going out entirely with an inaudible plink, his personality was entire.

Originally posted by btrott from Stupidfool.org, on December 19, 2008 6:59 PM

Shared by David
Well, it was 12th grade for me.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from xkcd.com, on December 19, 2008 10:57 AM

A beautiful heart-shaped map of the NYC subway system is among the several such maps done by a pair of Korean graphic designers calling themselves Zero Per Zero.

A portable map version is available for sale, but the shipping cost from Korea to the US is a bit steep.

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Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 19, 2008 9:56 AM

With snowstorms swirling throughout much of the country this week, the idea of hunkering down with a good book is certainly appealing to many of us.  With that in mind, I thought it might be a good time to touch upon reading lists and the best books of 2008.

Rather than going through everything I read this year, I’ll just mention a few that stood out or that I hope to catch up with in the near future [and yes, I am certain that after I’ve posted this, I’ll have multiple, “Oh, crap, how did I forget to mention…” moments.]  No less important are your own lists, so perhaps this can serve as a starting point for opinions in the comments section?

As I have a strong interest in baseball history, it will come as no surprise that Rob Neyer’s ‘Big Book of Baseball Legends’ is one that I found notable.  Ditto a pair of collaborative biographical efforts by SABR members: ‘Sock it to ‘em Tigers: The Incredible Story of the 1968 Detroit Tigers’ and ‘Spahn and Sain and Teddy Ballgame: Boston’s (almost) Perfect Summer of 1948.’  I also enjoyed ‘Ed Barrow: The Bulldog Who Built the Yankees First Dynasty, by Daniel Levitt’ My Sweet-Swinging Lifetime with the Cubs’ by Billy Williams, and ‘The 33-Year-Old Rookie’ by Chris Coste.  Living in the shadow of Fenway Park, I also liked ‘100 Things Red Sox Fans Should Know Before They Die’ by Nick Cafardo, and ‘Red Sox Threads: Odds and Ends from Red Sox History’ by Bill Nowlin.

In the non-baseball-book category, three on my “to read” list are by authors who are huge baseball fans: ‘The Given Day’ by Dennis Lehane, ‘Songs for the Missing’ by Stewart O’Nan, and ‘On the Laps of Gods: The Red Summer of 1919 and the Struggle for Justice that Remade a Nation’ by Robert Whitaker.

With a reminder to pre-order ‘Baseball Prospectus 2009,’ I’ll now ask: Which books published in 2008 did you find notable, and which will keep you company as you ride out the dark and snowy days between now and spring training?

Originally posted by David Laurila from Baseball Prospectus: Unfiltered, on December 19, 2008 9:31 AM

Pouring milk designs in espresso drinks has become a specialty coffee signature. "Latte art" is not only being more widely practiced, but has even gained enough admirers to spawn a whole genre of online photo galleries and videos. What is less well known is that crisp, clear, and creative designs can only be poured under the conditions which create delicious coffee drinks. Heart, rosetta, or tulip... whatever adorned the top of your latte this morning was simply a confident artisinal flourish with which your barista signified the care taken in its preparation.

- - - - - - - - -

When texturing the milk, a barista uses the force and heat of steam pressure to incorporate air into the film formed by denaturing protein strands. These air bubbles are then spun in the pitcher into the tiniest possible bubbles, creating the silky texture of microfoam. During this process, an espresso shot is running which must be neither too syrupy and underdeveloped nor thin and bitter. In the first stage of the pour above, some textured milk is carefully incorporated into the espresso, preserving the crema and forming the background for the design.

Perfectly textured milk will begin to appear against the background just as the barista is finishing the pour. By manipulating the pitcher, a signature design is formed. The velvety texture of the resulting drink also maximizes the perception of the espresso's flavors and the milk's natural sweetness. Just watch your barista next time, or pick up Barista Manual 1.0 to get all the details. Then try it yourself in one of our new Italian ceramics!

Originally posted by Jeremy Gauger from Gimme! Coffee News, on December 19, 2008 9:00 AM

William Langewiesche wrote a long piece for the January 2009 issue of Vanity Fair about the September 2006 collision of a Legacy 600 private jet and Gol Flight 1907 over the Amazon basin in Brazil. It is a tale of "a paradox associated with progress and modern times".

Navigational precision poses dangers not immediately apparent. In the Legacy, it was based on three systems. The first was an ultra-accurate altimeter, capable of measuring the atmosphere with such finesse that at Flight Level 370 it could distinguish the Legacy's altitude within perhaps five feet. The second was almost as accurate. It was the airplane's satellite-based G.P.S. receiver, a positioning system that kept track of the airplane's geographic location within a distance of half of its wingspan, and that, linked to a navigational database, defined the assigned airway with equal precision. The third was an autopilot that flew better than its human masters, and, however mindlessly, worked with the altimeter and G.P.S. to keep the airplane spot-on. Such capability is relatively new. Until recently, head-on airplanes mistakenly assigned the same altitude and route by Air Traffic Control would almost certainly have passed some distance apart, due to the navigation slop inherent in their systems. But this is no longer true. The problem for the Legacy was that the Boeing coming at them on the same assigned flight path had equipment that was every bit as precise.

Interesting throughout, it becomes downright gripping about 2/3rds of the way through. The interplay between and the eventual reversal of the pilot and co-pilot of the Legacy is fascinating.

Update: Joe Sharkey, who was on the Legacy jet when it collided with the 737, doesn't like Langewiesche's article very much, calling it a "journalistically disgraceful article".

I'm not a pilot but my dad was and I flew all the time with him when I was a kid. I know what Sharkey is talking about when he says that flying a plane is not like driving a car; once you get in the air and are pointed in the right direction with the autopilot on, there's not a whole lot the pilot is required to do. But in my reading of the article, I don't think Langewiesche was saying that the two Legacy pilots in particular were screwing around or negligent. They were acting pretty much how any other two pilots in the same situation might act. Langewiesche's point seems to be: the experience of flying a plane like the Legacy, with all the technology that's there to help pilots -- good and bad -- do their jobs, might actually be made worse and more dangerous by that technology. Also that, as he stated at the beginning of the article, there were a whole lot of different decisions and non-decisions that converged to make that event happen...a huge pile of bad luck.

As for not talking to any of the people on the Legacy for the article, I don't think that's as significant as Sharkey asserts. Everyone who was aboard the Legacy jet that day is likely feeling pretty defensive about the whole thing given the intense reaction against them by the Brazilian government, the pilots doubly so given that they're involved in a lawsuit. A prudent journalist would rightly be worried about the veracity of a narrative offered up in these circumstances, almost two years after the fact. Instead, Langewiesche chose to rely not on opinions and recollections but on the available data -- the cockpit voice recordings, air traffic control records, etc....how people actually behaved in the situation, not how they say they acted or what they thought about it. Put it this way: if Sharkey and Langewiesche were to write competing books about the collision, the former based on extensive interviews with those involved and the latter based only on the available evidence, neither would be much closer to "the truth" than the other. (thx, scott)

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Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 19, 2008 8:39 AM

To quote my brother-in-law, Tom, I really dodged a bullet getting home to Pennsylvania this year. In fact, I dodged quite a few bullets. The weather in Portland has been, as they say, frightful, with forecasts for freezing rain and snow early Thursday morning, when I was due to fly out.

I called Radio Cab and Broadway Cab on Tuesday to get a ride to the airport, and neither of them would take reservations because of the weather. They said I should call an hour before I needed them, and I'd just have to hope for the best, but there's no way I was leaving it to that much chance. I broke down and called a towncar service, and they wouldn't take reservations for at least 24 hours because they, too, wanted to see what the weather was doing first.

I then tried a coworker of mine who has to coordinate a lot of VIP schedules, so I knew he had experience getting people to the airport. He recommended Around the Town car service, and I'd like to just pause for a moment to give a colossal shout-out to Brandon at Around the Town. Brandon assured me that they have chains, some SUVs with four-wheel drive, and drivers who can handle themselves in any weather. "Don't worry," he said. "We'll get you there."

It turned out that the weather was fine - just rain - when I had to go to the airport, but Brandon's reassurances gave me great peace of mind, and kept me from the truly last resorts of either staying the night at an airport hotel or just sleeping in the airport, as I saw others had done. The driver I had also told me that their drivers are very capable in the snow, so even though it's a lot more expensive than a regular cab ($45 vs $25 for a cab), I highly recommend Around the Town if you get in a similar crunch.

I'd armed myself as best I could against the possibility of waiting 24 hours in the airport, or being bumped all around the country for two days (another coworker of mine told me it took her 24 hours to get from Portland to Florida because of bad weather across the country): I wore sweats and sneakers, I had cash, and I brought a 1,000 page biography of Bobby Kennedy that I'd only just started. But we left PDX on time (7:25am) without incident. (And, in fact, landed 15 mins early.  Thanks, Continental!)

Brian told me that by 8:30 there was freezing rain and snow in Portland. Even though that wore off after a few hours, that felt like a second (or third) bullet I dodged. What I didn't know was that the east coast was also expecting terrible weather. They were calling for it to start last night, which could've affected our drive home from the airport, but it didn't start until early this morning. Another bullet dodged.

I offer these photos as proof that I made it back to PA. (And if you don't know what kiffles, tossies and nut rolls are, A-you just haven't lived and B-you can see them here.)

Originally posted by Valarie Smith from Crazed Teacups, on December 19, 2008 8:18 AM

2008 has been an eventful year to say the least - it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I've done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008 in photographs. It's not the story of 2008, it's certainly not all stories, but as a collection it does show a good portion of what life has been like over the past 12 months. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Look for part 1 and part 2 earlier. (40 photos total)

Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama waves to the crowd at a rally in the rain at the University of Mary Washington in Fredericksburg, Va. Saturday, Sept. 27, 2008. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from The Big Picture, on December 19, 2008 7:40 AM

This is what it looks like at State Street right now. The buzz at the counter is that we're getting 10-16 inches of snow today.

- - - - - - - - -

One of our faithful regulars waits outside for a friend.  He may look sad, but that's just his way of saying hello.  He's actually pretty thrilled: it's much warmer out than it looks, and it's big fun to run around in the snow.

Look out tonight for cross-country skiers making their way down the middle of this road.  Yay Ithaca!

Originally posted by Amina Omari from Gimme! Coffee News, on December 19, 2008 7:35 AM

So we’re off! On Monday night at around 6pm EST, the NYPL took its first steps into the Flickr Commons.

About a year ago, Flickr launched the Commons to share and communally describe the public photo collections of the world’s great cultural heritage institutions. Starting in January with The Library of Congress, and continuing in the months that followed with contributions from the likes of The Smithsonian Institution, The Brooklyn Museum, The National Maritime Museum, The National Library of New Zealand, the Nationaal Archief of the Netherlands and others, the Commons has grown steadily over the past year into a truly remarkable, and probably unprecedented, public photography resource. All images are posted with “no known copyright restrictions,” which essentially means public domain, but with a few caveats.

The NYPL has stepped up with an initial contribution — a sort of sampler, or appetizer, course — of 1,300 images culled from various areas of our diverse photographic collections. Here’s a snap of our photostream, organized in sets, which should give you some sense of the variety:

Public response so far has been fantastic. We’ve been Boing Boing’d, Kottke’d, and greeted with generally open arms around the blogosphere. But it’s on Flickr itself that the truly exciting stuff is happening. Here are some quick stats from our first full day live (Tuesday, December 16):

53,220 image views
123 comments
1,112 favorites
121 images tagged
380 *new* tags

You’ll note the qualified *new*…

When Flickr launched the Commons in January with LOC as pilot partner, they went for a blank slate approach. Photos were posted with tag fields intentionally unpopulated (except for the basic “Library of Congress”) and they sat back and watched closely to see how users would respond. From the LOC’s report (PDF) on the project (bottom of p.7):

On Flickr, selected elements of the PPOC MARC records were loaded as descriptions with user-friendly labels. We could have turned the subject terms in the MARC records into Flickr tags, but the idea was discarded in an effort to reduce any unintended influence on the tagging suggestions of the Flickr community.

Things went well after that.

In addition to thousands of comments, favorites and image annotations, 67,176 tags were added by 2,518 unique Flickr accounts. Later, in the culmination of this first experimental phase, more than 500 LOC catalog records ended up being updated and enhanced with information provided by the Flickr community. Amazing.

Having studied the results of the LOC experiment, and the participation of subsequent Flickr partners, we decided to tweak the conditions slightly. (more…)

Originally posted by Ben Vershbow from NYPL Labs, on December 19, 2008 7:28 AM

There are more slaves in the world today than at any time in human history. Buying a slave in Haiti takes just a few minutes and is only a short plane ride away.

But the deal isn't done. Benavil leans in close. "This is a rather delicate question. Is this someone you want as just a worker? Or also someone who will be a 'partner'? You understand what I mean?"

You don't blink at being asked if you want the child for sex. "I mean, is it possible to have someone that could be both?"

"Oui!" Benavil responds enthusiastically.

If you're interested in taking your purchase back to the United States, Benavil tells you that he can "arrange" the proper papers to make it look as though you've adopted the child.

This article is adapted from E. Benjamin Skinner's A Crime So Monstrous: Face-to-Face with Modern-Day Slavery.

Update: I believe I've linked to Free the Slaves before but it's always worth another look.

Free the Slaves liberates slaves around the world, helps them rebuild their lives and researches real world solutions to eradicate slavery forever. We use world class research and compelling stories from the frontlines of slavery to convince the powerful and the powerless that we can end slavery.

(thx, jacob)

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Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 19, 2008 7:16 AM

George Oates, on finding out she was laid off from Flickr:

Sent a quick, unsatisfying goodbye to the team. I watched as my access to various parts of the guts of Flickr fell away. I noticed how naturally I searched for any and all bits I could think of, just in the hope that it still existed. But no. I was shut out entirely within about 14 hours of the phone call.

 ★ 

Originally posted by John Gruber from Daring Fireball, on December 19, 2008 7:06 AM

On Fridays, Deb Harkness of Good Wine Under $20 drops by with Serious Grape. This week, the best in bubbles.

Photograph from Gaetan Lee on Flickr

I can't seem to get my fill of bubbles this time of year.

The holidays seem a bit more special with some sparkle in them.

Just in time for pre-dinner sipping, post-shopping relaxing, holiday brunch mixing—and of course toasting the New Year—I've got my buying guide for the very best, affordable bubbles in the market. None of these sparklers should be hard to find, and they will add a festive note to whatever you're doing, even if it's just wrapping gifts.

NV Soligo Prosecco Brut (find this wine for $11-$18) Really well made with a superb balance between toast and citrus notes. No harsh or bitter elements, and lots of creamy froth with a medium size bubble. Many steps up from most prosecco, and a bargain at around $15.

NV Roederer Estate Brut Anderson Valley (find this wine for $15-$30). Amazing value for the price. Pale straw in color, abundant froth, small bubbles. Aromas of brioche and Meyer lemon, and flavors of apples and toast with a firm, nutty edge. Just terrific.

NV Mumm Napa Brut Prestige (find this wine for $11-$27) Nicely biscuity, with fresh yeast and citrus notes. Medium to large size bubbles give it a rough feeling in the mouth. Certainly a widely available and good value domestic bubbly.

NV Gruet Blanc de Noirs (find this wine for $11-$20) Pale copper in color, with small bubbles and lots of froth. There are nutty and apple aromas, with hazelnut, apple, and a touch of berry in the flavors. Not harsh, and more complexity than many at this price point.

NV Blason de Bourgogne Crémant de Bourgogne Cuvée Brut (available at Trader Joe's, usually for under $10) A Veuve Clicquot knock-off, this is straw colored, with fine froth and tiny bubbles. Aromas of pears, toast, and apples, with apple and nut flavors. Aftertaste has a slight, pithy bitterness to it.

NV Freixenet Cava Cordon Negro Brut (find this wine for $7-$24) Excellent value on this nutty, frothy, and citrusy sparkler. Not a harsh, unpleasant note to be found. Definitely a bargain.

NV Tarantas Cava (available at many Whole Foods stores for $10-$14) Good, citrusy Cava that is refreshing and well-balanced.

Originally posted by Deb Harkness from Serious Eats, on December 19, 2008 6:00 AM

Vanity Fair has gotten ahold of a few menus to be served at the White House before George W. Bush leaves office. Here are a few of the dishes:

Gored hearts of Palm Beach, with hanging chard
Chateau Petreas, Iraqi Riserva (bold start with a long, nutty finish)
Utter tripe, with Crawford ranch dressing
Deep-fried Halliburton, in Saddam Hoisin Sauce
New Orleans flounder

And for dessert, coalition crumble.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 19, 2008 5:44 AM

I'm kind of embarrassed about this, but that trade I made with Nachos Grande actually finished off my 2008 Allen & Ginter set. That Randy Johnson card I mentioned? The only one in the package I didn't scan? Well, that was the last one I needed. I was thrown by a couple of empty slots in the binder at first which is why I thought it wasn't completed. One of those holes was an AJ Burnett card I pulled to scan for a Hot Stove League post. The other was a Joey Votto card that I pulled out of my doubles box for someone in a trade, promptly lost the thing and ended up sendint them the one out of my set instead. I found the two cards in a box of stuff and now the set is officially complete. Time to work on filling holes in my 2006 set.

That's not the only set I completed this week, the past package from my Masterpieces begging post came in the mail yesterday. I now have the complete 90 card base set and the only short print I wanted, Warren Spahn. My '07 and '08 Masterpieces sets are now safely in their binder and I've got a year to wait for an '09 version. I don't mind the wait, just keep the quality up and ease up on the impossible short prints and I'll be happy. Each of the five readers who finished off my set sent soem extra stuff with them, so this is a good time to show 'em off. I picked 2 cards from each package to showcase.

grcl - sent Jake Peavy

1973 Topps Dave Lopes rookie

I'm honored that someone with Davey Lopes in their handle would send me one of his rookie cards! I've got it already, but I'm going to pass it on to someone in the Xmas giveaway. '73 had some neat triple rookie cards, the best of which has to be the Cey/Schmidt.

2002 Topps Super Teams Warren Spahn

2002 Super Teams was a one off set that featured cards from a handful of World Series winning teams. The '57 Braves were one of those teams. I tried to get a team set, but I'm not sure if I have the Spahn already or not. I kind of wish I had collected the entire set now. The cards are on an Archives-style clay card stock and it's sort of a retro precursor to the '04 Timeless Teams I'm so interested in now.

2008 Legendary Cuts Jeff Francouer

I really like the way the SP Legendary Cuts sets looks this year. I hate the way they short printed all the legendary players to hell. It's too damn expensive to boot. Luckily, I think I have the complete non-short printed Braves team set thanks to Jim. I included three cards from this package because it's pretty huge. Here are the rest:

23 1990 Topps cards including Glavine, Smoltz and Avery
28 more Glavines
3 more Smoltz
3 more Avery
12 Chippers
3 Lemmers
2 Murph (in Phillies and Rockies unis, ugh)
3 more McCanns
3 Andruws
5 Javys
4 Kleskos
4 Great Justice
6 Galarragas
and 46 more Braves that I'm not going to list out

Dan Wood - Jay Bruce

2008 Topps Updates & Highlights Brian McCann jersey

I really like this insert set. The foil Yankee stadium facade is neat and the oval design is different. I've got both Braves now so I'm feeling good.

2005 Topps Updates & Highlight Jair Jurrjens rookie card

I probably have at least a half dozen of this card, one of which I recently pulled out of a penny box. I'll take 'em all though, Jurrjens is the closest thing we have to an ace and I'm optimistic about his future. Sophomore years scare me for young pitchers though. I've seen too many Horacio Ramirez and Chuck James flops. I think he'll turn out all right though.

Also:
7 Chippers including: 08 UDX die cut (with notches intact), 08 Chrome trading card history, 08 Topps Stars, 07SP Authentic Power, 07 Fleer Perfect 10, 06 Bowman Heritage jersey and foil parallel.
08 Donruss threads Murphy & Aaron
06 '52 Rookies Tom Glavine retro
93 Upper Deck Strike Force Maddux Glavine Smoltz and Avery
89 Fleer Zane Smith
4 extremely crisp 1986 Fleer cards of Horner, Smith nad two combo cards featuring Murph. These must have come straight out of a pack!

jacobmrly - Gary Sheffield & A-Rod

2006 SP Authentic Chipper Jones #618/899

Ah, parallel cards. Simultaneously the bane and joy of player collectors. A bane when you're hunting 'em down, a joy when they fall in your lap. This one is from 2006 SP and it quite frankly is lazy. The card is the exact same as the base cards just with a serial number stamped on it. I always saw SP as a signature brand for Upper Deck, but they're really mailed it in the past few years. If they're going to abuse the brand like that UD should just discontinue it. I likey getting a Chipper I didn't have for the collection though.

2004 Playoff Prestige Chipper Jones Stars of MLB #70/100

Speaking of parallels, here's some Donruss. I'm not sure what flavor insert this is, but it's numbered to 100. I'm almost positive it's a parallel. I'm sure glad I'm not obsessive compulsive about having every one of Chipper's cards or these weirdo inserts and parallels numbered to a hundred or less would drive me to drink. It's a nice looking card though, even though the scan does not do it justice.

Max sent 15 other chippers including:
2007 UD Jersey, 07 Moments & Milestones black #7/29, 00 Finest Dreamcast, 98 SPX Star Force #2204/6500m 97 Finest uncommon, 03 Fleer Lumber Company, 98 Gallery auction card, 98 Pacific Crown Royale Pillars of the Game, 99 Powerdeck, 97 UD Predictor and five base cards.

Scott - Michael Young

2008 Upper Deck SP Chipper Jones .400 batting average

Scott send over some extra goodies with my spoils from the Updates and Highlights blaster break. I still think the SP set from this year is kind of boring, but this Chipper insert commemorating Chipper's run at .400 is pretty sweet. I'm looking forward to a few more of those kind of inserts next year.

Legends Masterpieces jersey of Joey Freaking Mullen!!!

I drooled over this card when it was first pulled in his Legends Masterpieces box break. The Flames, as you may know, were originally stationed in Atlanta before they were cruelly stolen by invading mounties. Man, it killed me when they won the Cup in '89. Joey, MacInnis, Otto, Gilmour, Fleury, Vernon... they should have been winning that cup for Atlanta! Now Atlanta has a new team whose terminal ineptness is killing my love for the sport. I need to buy a blaster of Legends, pull out the Super Nintendo and my EA Hockey cartridges and play a Stanley Cup tourney while ripping packs in between games to get me a good hockey fix.

Also: 08 SP Frenchy, 08Topps U&H gotay, Gold Ridgway

Chris - Warren Spahn SP

While there are other Masterpiece short prints I wouldn't mind having (Fisk for one) but Spahn is the only one I had to have. If I can just find a Chipper framed parallel I'll be golden.

2006 Ultimate Brian McCann 778/799

You know, Ultimate is one of those products I'd never give a second look to, but I have to admit the cards are really nice. Super thick, clean design and just a little bit of shiny. McCann in the catcher's gear is pretty cool too.

1997 Upper Deck Memorable Moments Andruw Jones

These die cut cards scan interestingly and were inserted into special packs of Collector's Choice back in '97. I got quite a few of those packs but I don't think I pulled this Andruw card commemorating his two World Series home runs. How the hell did we win two games in Yankee Stadium and then get swept? Why? How? Ugh.

Thanks everyone for the cool schtuff, some cards care coming back your way too. For the record the last card needed for the sets was a Randy Johnson and Warren Spahn. Not a bad pair of lefties.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on December 19, 2008 2:28 AM

Alan Greenspan, writing in the current issue of the Economist, argues that in the future banks will need more of a capital cushion than they needed before the crisis because holders of bank liabilities will require them to hold more capital. "Today, fearful investors clearly require a far larger capital cushion to lend" to financial intermediaries. In other words, there's no need for additional regulations requiring banks to have more capital. The financial market will take care of itself. Greenspan has learned nothing at all.

In 2004 and 2005, when many economists warned that a speculative bubble in home prices and home construction posed a risk to the financial system, Greenspan brushed aside such worries, saying housing prices never declined. Before that he had resisted calls for tighter regulation of subprime mortgages and other instruments which allowed people to borrow far more than they could afford. He had also opposed tougher regulation of derivatives. Almost a decade earlier, Greenspan had urged Congress to knock down the regulatory walls that separated investment and commercial banks, thereby inviting investment banks to place huge bets with other peoples’ money.

Barely two months ago, when Greenspan appeared before Congress to explain what had happened to the economy, Representative Henry Waxman asked him pointedly: "Were you wrong?"


"Partially," Greenspan responded. "This crisis has turned out to be much broader than anything I could have imagined."

It might be argued that Alan Greenspan’s failure of imagination was not just about the scale of the crisis. More basically, his ideology had made it difficult for him to imagine what could happen when financial markets are left to themselves. He had supposed that the interplay of millions of self-seeking individuals would make government regulation unnecessary – except to prevent outright fraud or theft. To Greenspan and others like him, the global financial market represented the almost perfect form of the free market, because buyers and sellers were could gather almost unlimited information about one another, at almost instantaneous speed, at very low cost. Not only would the financial market be self-correcting, but it would automatically give us everything we might reasonably wish from it.

Greenspan’s real failure of imagination was his inability to believe there are useful market rules beyond those that protect private property and prevent outright fraud. This, presumably, was why he kept insisting for so long that government be held at bay.

But now the United States has chosen to deal with the financial crisis by buying up a significant fraction of the shares of the nation’s major banks and its largest insurance company, underwriting the loans of a large portion of the nation’s home-lending industry, and is on the verge of underwriting the nation’s largest automobile makers. Yet little if any of this largesse has found its way to the broader public – to homeowners in danger of defaulting on their mortgages and losing their homes, small businesses close to insolvency, state and local governments cutting public services because of budget shortfalls, families unable to afford health insurance, or young people unable to obtain loans to finance university tuition.

The ideology of a perfectly self-correctly free market has given way to what might be described as a raid by America’s biggest banks and corporations on the public purse, supposedly justified by benefits to the broader public which seem never to materialize. What happened to the ideology? On closer inspection, it turned out to be something of a cover all along.

During the same years Greenspan called for deregulation of financial markets, Wall Street was accelerating its bankrolling of the U.S. Congress. Securities and investment firms contributed larger and larger amounts of money – not just to conservative Republicans who might expect such support but also to Democrats who had never been so graced before. According to Center for Responsive Politics, Wall Street firms dramatically increased their contributions to both parties during these years. Their share of total donations to the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, for example, rose continuously, from 5 percent during the 1999-2000 election cycle to 15 percent by the 2007-2008 cycle.

The money was accompanied, and often raised, by Wall Street lobbyists who pushed Congress in the same direction Greenspan urged – blocking regulation of derivatives, weakening oversight of subprime mortgage lending, and preventing the Securities and Exchange Commission from doing its job.

To take but one example, the collapses of Enron, WorldCom, and several other giant corporations in 2002 revealed a troubling pattern of credit-rating agencies repeatedly assuring investors that such companies were good investments until just before they went under. When the Securities and Exchange Commission asked Congress for additional authority to oversee the credit-rating agencies, Wall Street and its lobbyists blocked the measure. With hindsight, it’s clear why. Wall Street investment banks were paying the agencies to rate various mortgage backed securities after first advising the firms that issued them – and collecting fees – on how to package them to get high ratings. Years later many of these same securities, based on risky loans, would prove to be worthless, threatening financial institutions worldwide.

Apparently Greenspan hasn't learned anything from all this, but the rest of us have no excuse. The real choice ahead is between democratic capitalism and authoritarian capitalism. China is perfecting the latter. But unless we are careful we – the citizens of democratic capitalist nations – will discover that our form of capitalism has become more authoritarian than democratic. The current economic crisis surely poses a test for capitalism. But it is also a test of democracy.

Originally posted by Robert Reich from Robert Reich's Blog, on December 18, 2008 12:21 PM

The Onion AV Club has an interview with Darren Aronofsky about his new film, The Wrestler.

The more we thought about it, the more we realized the connections between the stripper and the wrestler were really significant. They both have fake stage names, they both put on costumes, they both charm an audience and create a fantasy for the audience, and they both use their body as their art, so time is their biggest enemy.

Toddler or not, I'm getting out of the damn house to see this movie.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 18, 2008 11:55 AM

Photograph from mary pcb on Flickr

Want to explore Seattle while being super caffeinated? Seattle By Foot offers walking tours specific to the city's coffee culture, as the Seattle Times reports this week.

Vicki Schuman, a former airline business analyst, leads the 1.6 mile tour, which includes pit stops for a peppermint mocha from Seattle's Best Coffee, Panamanian and Colombian roasts from Seattle Coffee Works, Ephemere hot chocolate from Dilettante Mocha Café, and a demitasse of Clover machine-brewed Ethiopian Yirgacheffe at Trabant Coffee & Chai.

While brewing, baristas at the stops explain the bean's history and filtration techniques. According to the FAQ page, the amount of coffee you drink is at your discretion and restroom breaks will be provided at several locations en route. The two-hour tours are $15.

Related: Best Non-Starbucks Seattle Coffeeshops

Originally posted by Erin Zimmer from Serious Eats, on December 18, 2008 11:00 AM

I have no idea how to describe the Chef programing language to you, but here is its Hello World program, in the form of a souffle:

Ingredients.
72 g haricot beans
101 eggs
108 g lard
111 cups oil
32 zucchinis
119 ml water
114 g red salmon
100 g dijon mustard
33 potatoes

Method.
Put potatoes into the mixing bowl. Put dijon mustard into the mixing bowl. Put lard into the mixing bowl. Put red salmon into the mixing bowl. Put oil into the mixing bowl. Put water into the mixing bowl. Put zucchinis into the mixing bowl. Put oil into the mixing bowl. Put lard into the mixing bowl. Put lard into the mixing bowl. Put eggs into the mixing bowl. Put haricot beans into the mixing bowl. Liquefy contents of the mixing bowl. Pour contents of the mixing bowl into the baking dish.

Serves 1.

Ok, I think I get it now...the programs look like food recipes but act like code when run through the proper interpreter. Mmmm, fibonacci with caramel sauce! (via ben fry)

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 18, 2008 10:34 AM

-Photo by Getty Images-
This is weird.

Jeremy Piven, who has been starring on Broadway in Speed-the-Plow, has quit the play due to an illness.

Does he have the flu? The chicken pox? Laryngitis?

Nope, none of that. The actor has been diagnosed with a high mercury count. Whatever that means. According to the Piv's publicist, The Entourage star wanted to continue with his role in the play, but the doctors ordered him to quit.

The producers of Plow issued this statement: "We have been advised by Jeremy Piven's medical representatives that he is seriously ill and is unable to fulfill his contractual obligation to Speed-the-Plow. Consequently, he has left the production 10 weeks early."

If it sounds suspicious to you, well, you're not the only one. The show's writer, David Mamet, didn't sound too convinced.

"I talked to Jeremy on the phone, and he told me that he discovered that he had a very high level of mercury," he told Daily Variety. "So my understanding is that he is leaving show business to pursue a career as a thermometer."

Ouch!

Fortunately, if you already have tickets, there are big names taking his Jeremy's place. Dirty Rotten Scoundrels Tony-winner Norbert Leo Butz and Fargo Oscar nominee William H. Macy will be hitting the stage for the remaining shows.

High levels of mercury, huh? Is it he glowing in the dark as we speak?

Originally posted by Tracy Pepey from iVillage - Daily Blabber, on December 18, 2008 10:03 AM

google recently updated the google earth views of new york city. the update features 3-d images of
thousands of new buildings covering the entire island of manhattan. only a few buildings had be given
the 3-d treatment at this time last year, as you can see from the second image below. the project hints
at a future where all cities and even the whole world are navigable in three dimensions. the new york
update is all in high resolution and allows users to literally walk the virtual streets of new york. this is
perfect for those who want to visit new york in spite of the financial crisis.

http://earth.google.com



via the raw feed

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Designboom - Weblog, on December 18, 2008 8:42 AM

DB here:

Hong Kong films constantly shift their shapes. Both film prints and video versions circulate in a bewildering variety of forms. A movie shot in Cantonese (the vernacular of the locals) may be dubbed into Mandarin, the language of the Mainland and of Taiwan. But it may also be dubbed into English, French, or other Western languages; such was the fate of many kung-fu films of the 1970s, as well as later productions like The Killer (1989). I have seen Happy Together in Italian and In the Mood for Love in Spanish. When a movie is exported, it may also be recut to suit the local market. Typically Hong Kong producers have sold films under terms that allowed foreign distributors to do pretty much what they liked with both theatrical and video releases.

Alternatively, the filmmaker may cooperate and remake the film to fit foreign tastes. During the boom years of the 1980s and early 1990s, when many films were funded through presales to Taiwan, it was common to have both a Taiwanese version (usually longer) and a Hong Kong one. Jackie Chan’s Police Story (1985) included extra scenes of Jackie’s antics to satisfy Japanese audiences, and the directors of Infernal Affairs (2002) provided a less desolate ending to satisfy Chinese censors. In addition, filmmakers began circulating “international versions” that would play film festivals, and these might not accord with what was released locally. I’ve discussed one instance earlier on this blog: a version of Days of Being Wild  that includes opening material not visible in the international print. My current supposition is that this is a local release print that may have circulated in Western Chinatowns too.

To complicate things further there was the institution of the midnight show. Instead of holding test screenings, Hong Kong producers would preview their films at a few theatres late on weekend nights. Audiences knew that they were acting as guinea pigs and weren’t shy about expressing their displeasure. While filmmakers cringed in the back, viewers might shout insults at the screen. The producers and the director would meet to settle on what changes should be made. Then they would hustle to prepare new versions for the official release in the next week or two.

On top of this, add the next layer of revision: the post-festival rethink. Western directors have redone their movies after discouraging festival response. Probably the most famous instance is the death and resurrection of Vincent Gallo’s The Brown Bunny (2003). Now that Hong Kong and Taiwanese directors circulate on the fest scene, they too have tinkered with their work after premieres, notably Hou Hsiao-hsien, who has reworked films following less than enthusiastic Cannes screenings.

 

A director’s job is never done?

Like many Hong Kong movies, nearly every one of Wong Kar-wai’s films went through multiple versions. But unlike many directors he seems to enjoy tweaking and rethinking his work. In production he shoots scenes, watches them, reshoots them, recuts them, and reshoots again. Editing and mixing involve the same play with variants. He adds different shots, juggles the order, adds or subtracts music at will.

The process may seem to betray an uncertainty about what he wants his movie to be. For In the Mood for Love, he shot scenes of the central couple making love but didn’t use them, playing with the possibility that the affair is chaste. 2046 began as a high-concept project, based on the fifty-year expiration of the 1997 handover accords, and it went through many different incarnations. At one point it was to be a tale of the intertwining lives of different Hong Kong citizens whose addresses were 2046 on their streets. Even the actors may not know what’s up. At the Cannes premiere of 2046, Maggie Cheung was startled to learn that she was barely in the movie.

Of course most filmmakers rediscover their films at each stage of production, but for Wong the idea of a “locked” version is fairly indeterminate. Virtually everyone now acknowledges that a Wong festival premiere is a first approximation. Delivered in the nick of time (sometimes embarrassingly late), the film is likely to be reworked after initial screenings. Venice and Cannes, Tony Rayns points out, have served as counterparts to the local midnight shows.

In Planet Hong Kong I suggested that Wong became a shrewd guardian of his brand. He has created high-end ancillary products, not only CD soundtracks but posters, T-shirts, glossy photo books, and limited-edition DVD sets. The Happy Together anniversary box (limited to 2046 units) includes a model of the spinning Iguazu Falls lamp and a pair of men’s briefs. The spinoffs are issued with fancy packaging, and they have usually sold briskly in upscale Asian shops, particularly in Japan. It’s characteristic that Wong’s aborted project Summer in Beijing could serve as a corporate travel logo. At once cult filmmaker and luxury franchise, Wong has every reason to refresh, and re-market, his content at intervals.

Yet I don’t maintain that he’s insincere. His drive to redo his films seems to go beyond indecision or commercial calculation. Wong seems to have taken to heart his central theme of the transient moment, the fact that love can be extinguished at any instant. So why not change your films to match your mood today? Further, like Warhol, he seems to enjoy prodigality for its own sake. He enjoys conjuring up one variation after another, multiplying just barely different avatars, and draping in mist the notion of any original text. His films’ basic constructive principle—the constant repetitions that create parallels and slight differences, loops of vaguely familiar images and sounds and situations—gets enacted in his very mode of production.

So he rebuilds even after release. The DVD release lets him tack on unused materials, extra scenes and different endings. That’s enough for most directors, but Wong has long harbored the dream of compiling vast swatches of unused footage in a sort of variorum DVD set of all his films. But why should he have all the fun? He once announced plans to put his footage for Happy Together on the Internet and let anyone make a personal version of it. That didn’t happen, but he did allow his assistants to make Buenos Aires Zero Degree (1999): not only an essayistic making-of but also a handsome reliquary of discarded material, including a gorgeous sequence of two taxis arcing away from each other.

 

Evil East, Malicious West, and their posse

Now we have Ashes of Time Redux, premiered at Cannes and showing in the US. The most apparent analogies, the oft-revised Blade Runner and the other redux, Apocalypse Now, don’t do justice to Wong’s fussbudget impulses.

For the original Ashes Wong assembled a high-wattage cast that included two of the Heavenly Kings of Cantopop and three glamorous female stars. He spreads out their duties by means of an ensemble plot. At the center stands Ouyang Feng (Leslie Cheung Kwok-wing), a swordsman who has set up a way station on the edge of the desert. He acts as a broker for people who want to hire killers. Another swordsman, Huang Yaoshi (Tony Leung Kar-fai) visits him every year. Ouyang nurses unrequited love for his brother’s wife (usually known as the Woman, played by Maggie Cheung Man-yuk), who lives far away. Huang is also subject to the Woman’s charms, but he is more deeply in love with Peach Blossom (Carina Lau Kar-ling), a woman he saw bathing her horse in a river. Peach Blossom is the wife of yet another wandering swordsman, who is gradually growing blind (Tony Leung Chiu-wai). He too fetches up at Ouyang’s outpost. Huang also runs afoul of the Murongs, a brother and sister who may be the same person (Brigitte Lin Ching-hsia). Meanwhile, a young girl (Charlie Yeung Choi-nei), fortified only with a mule and a basket of eggs, waits at Ouyang’s cabin to hire someone to avenge her brother’s death. Finally, there is Hong Qi (Jacky Cheung Hok-lau), a down-at-heel young killer for hire, who is followed across the desert by his wife.

The interlocking love triangles around a narcissistic man recall Wong’s breakthrough film, Days of Being Wild (1990), although here the parallels and connections are fleshed out through kinship too. The basic relations are at first hard to parse, though a Western viewer who didn’t recognize these stars will have more trouble than a Chinese one. Wong complicates the exposition by fragmenting his scenes and inserting flashbacks, though most of the latter are easy to follow.

He also helps the audience by following a common Hong Kong storytelling principle: reel-by-reel plotting. This breaks the movie into fairly discrete chunks of ten minutes (about a reel) or twenty minutes (about two reels). The first reel sets up the central relation of Ouyang Feng and Huang Yaoshi. Then two reels are devoted to the Murongs and their efforts to trap Huang. The next two reels are spent on the Blind Swordsman, followed by two reels devoted to Hong Qi and the Egg Girl. The last two reels unearth the long-simmering relationship among Ouyang, the Woman, and the despairing Huang. So the plot is actually a bit tidier than it seems at first, although each of these chunks is marbeled with references to other story lines. Wong has also divided the film by seasons, a strategy that accentuates the multipart structure.

Now about all those versions. Preliminary confession: These comments are based on one 35mm screening, and my analytical points are based on a DVD screener.

 

Keeping it unreal

Before Redux, there were at least two versions of Ashes of Time. One premiered at the Venice festival of 1994, the other became the international standard version. The differences are striking.

The international version has several hyperactive swordfights quite early. In a prologue before the title credit, Ouyang Feng and Huang Yaoshi fight a duel. After that, each is given a combat sequence in which he takes on hordes of assailants. These sequences are rapidly cut, with exaggerated angles, accelerated or slowed motion, and pulsing freeze frames. At the end of the international version comes a brief, parallel epilogue showing the surviving warriors (Ouyang, Huang, Hong Qi, and Murong) in the midst of combat. This epilogue includes a tableau of Yin, the female Murong, writhing ecstatically on a bed of red blossoms.

It’s widely believed among Hong Kong film people that this international version was initially created for the regional market and overseas Chinatowns. Wong added swordplay sequences at the beginning and end in order to satisfy his Taiwanese producers, who wanted more action in this otherwise talky and moody movie. How this version, running about ninety-five minutes without credits, became the standard one I don’t know, but evidently Wong did not control the international rights on the film. In any case, we have the evidence of Derek Elley’s Variety review that these passages were not in the Venice copy.

I’ve seen Ashes in 35mm in several countries, and it’s always been the international version. That is the version available on Hong Kong laserdisc and video, as well as on Japanese DVD (as near as I can tell from my imperfect disc). But the French DVD, released by TF1, is quite different. It runs 87:30 without credits (and assuming 24 fps). This version lacks several scenes, including the opening brawls, and ends with a close-up of the pale face of the Woman looking out to sea. It may be that this French version, billed on the packaging as the “original” one, is close to the Venice print.

Wong reports that he rescued original material, both positive and negative, from various sources. Since some of it was in poor condition, digital versions were made. In the final result, a few shots have been replaced with alternate takes. Yet the film is not simply restored but “reimagined,” as the title Redux indicates.

By and large, the sequence of story events, the shot-by-shot progression, and the monologues and dialogues are the same in both the international version and this new one. What, then, has Wong changed? He has kept nearly all of the brief prologue showing a rapid-fire combat between Ouyang and Huang. He has eliminated the approximately three minutes of the two fights that establish the solo prowess of the fighters. He has also cut the epilogue’s burst of action, retaining only a shot of Ouyang slashing in slow-motion and swiveling in a freeze frame that gradually fades out. In other fight scenes, he has trimmed some elaborate action and at least one gory bit, showing Murong impaling a cat.

Which is to say that he has deleted several conventional displays of the wuxia pian, or “heroic chivalry” film, of the 1990s. In Planet Hong Kong, I argued that Wong’s films often play off the mainstream conventions of his moment. He embraces pop music, pop stars, and pop genres: the triad movie (As Tears Go By, 1988), the melodrama (Days of Being Wild, Happy Together), and the romantic comedy/ cop movie (Chungking Express). But the films rework those conventions too. Wong subtracts a bit of glossiness by emphasizing the grubbiness of location shooting and by mussing up his stars, but then he re-beautifies things through his lustrous images and his unashamed interest in romantic longing. His men alternate between impulsive action and moody withdrawal, and his women mostly lounge about waiting for their men to make a move. (You could do a whole essay on the figure of the Waiting Woman in his work.) The sheer conviction of his style and sentiment can redeem quite hoary clichés, such as the woman’s inevitable complaint that her man never told her he loved her (a crucial turning point in Ashes of Time).

By the early 1990s, the wuxia pian had become a fantasy extravaganza, packed with flying swordsmen, magic potions, special effects, dynamic visuals, pounding music, and play with gender identity. The second and third installments of Tsui Hark’s Swordsman trilogy, a phantasmagoric treatment of the genre, present Brigitte Lin as the bi-gendered Invincible Asia, a vessel of both martial and erotic fantasies.

In part Ashes cites these current formulas in order to rework them. Conventional props like magic wine become tied to themes of memory and regret for missed chances. Discussions of combat strategy are replaced by monologues musing on lost loves. The male/ female masquerade of The East Is Red becomes, in Ashes, a hallucinatory shift of identity (are the Murongs two people or one person?) and forms one point of a thematic continuum centering on men’s desire to possess other men’s women.

Visually as well, Wong borrows and reworks fantasy wuxia conventions. One of the women warriors in The East Is Red (1993) unleashes her volcanic sword skills while standing on the surface of the sea.

Something quite similar happens in Ashes. But once Wong has turned Murong’s ambidextrous gender into a question of identity, you could argue that the geysers of water she unleashes make a broad thematic point: the primal force of a character named both Yin and Yang.

So the original Ashes reworks motifs to be found in Tsui’s extravaganzas, and for all I know in others as well. But apart from the Murong waterworks, these moments of dialogue with the fantasy wuxia pian entries are muffled in Redux.

From the original action scenes Wong has trimmed the turbocharged leaps and swoops, the blasts of “palm power,” and the possibility that a slashing blade can make a hillside explode. Perhaps Wong wanted to leave behind the overwrought world of wuxia fantasy—popular in 1994 but likely to seem cartoonish to Western audiences now. I wonder, though, why he has retained the opening clash between Ouyang and Huang, since the rest of the film presents them as friends. The answer may lie in the original Louis Cha novel, The Eagle-Shooting Heroes, a multi-volume saga that inspired both Ashes and the 1993 Jeff Lau film (co-produced by Wong) called by the novel’s title.

Other changes serve to create greater nuance or lyricism. The synthesizer score has been replaced by a spacious orchestral one, enhanced by stereo. Other stretches of music have been dropped altogether. There is a little less of the Morricone flavor now; the music coaxes rather than hammers. We get more shots of the moon, some fresh landscape vistas, a few more pools of water. Sometimes blood splashes out at us, but at one point an out-of-focus spray of blood is replaced by an optical effect showing wafting dark red billows.

The most pervasive change has involved the color tonalities. The 35mm prints of Ashes I’ve seen have favored a vivid orange-brown palette, with strong blues (sky and water), red accents, and very little green. The video copies vary, but the most commonly available DVD version is notably more russet and lower contrast than the 35mm. Redux, though, is a total rethink. Interiors have lost most of their hard-edged chiaroscuro and become softer and paler. Exteriors, and some interiors, have been keyed toward a hard yellow. The vivid browns and oranges have gone a bit gray, and the blacks verge on green. In addition, some highlights have burned out.

Consider these three frames. The first is a scanned Fujichrome slide that was photographed from a 35mm print. The second frame is from the Hong Kong DVD release. The third is from the Redux screener DVD. None has been photographically adjusted for reproduction here.

All of these are some distance from their sources; for instance, the 35mm slide can’t really capture the range of tonalities of the original, especially in the dark areas. Still, I think the relationship is a fair reflection of the differences. In 35mm, Redux looks a lot more crisp, rich, and detailed than in this DVD frame-grab, but the lemon yellows and pale greens are fairly faithful to my memory of the print.

Wong has taken advantage of ways to improve the film. Seeing the international version in 35mm, I was struck by problems in color matching. Shots apparently taken on different days didn’t always cut smoothly together, and sometimes shot/ reverse-shot passages displayed varying color grades and levels of graininess. By adding fairly consistent tints and by softening certain sequences, Wong has given the film greater tonal consistency. Further, he has upped the artificiality of the film’s look, creating a neutral ground against which certain colors, such as the wan face and ruby lips of the Woman, stand out even more vividly. With its softening and tinting, the film now looks more like a recent release–portions of Soderbergh’s Traffic, say, or some of the tamer stretches of a Tony Scott movie. 

Once Redux appears on DVD, admirers will be kept busy plotting some minute differences in shot order and alternate takes. They will marvel at the way that Wong has inserted a few more images (e.g., during the fantasy caressing of Ouyang) but has kept the overall sequence the same length. There will also be intriguing questions. Why the choice of yellow as a key tone? Why the occasional and blatantly video-derived image, such as the pan shots that enframe the central story, and perversely run the opposite direction of their counterparts in the other versions? And why the digitized banks and foliage—maybe just because they look wonderful? 

In case you wonder, this frame is not inverted.

I’m still getting accustomed to the film’s new look, and I need to see a print again to verify these general impressions. Still, I like to think that by recasting his film so markedly, Wong has brought his masterpiece back under his control. In this sense, his changes remind me of Stravinsky’s reorchestration of Petrushka and other early ballets. Stravinsky rewrote the scores in order to win performance rights, but he also brought his latest thinking to the task. In the same way, Wong has made Ashes of Time new all over again—available to many more viewers now and hereafter. This daring, fourteen-year-old exercise in avant-pop moviemaking is miles ahead of nearly everything on view right now.

 

For more on Wong Kar-wai product lines, go here. Wong talks about the restoration of Ashes here and here and in a video interview at the New York Film Festival. For more on reel-by-reel plotting in Hong Kong film, and a broader discussion of Wong’s films, see my Planet Hong Kong: Popular Cinema and the Art of Entertainment, 180-182, 271-281. For other critical discussions of Ashes of Time, see Steven Teo, Wong Kar-wai (London: British Film Institute, 2005) and Peter Brunette, Wong Kar-wai (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 2005). Unless otherwise noted, the frame enlargements in this entry are taken from a 35mm print of the 1994 international version of Ashes.

Thanks to Michael Barker of Sony Pictures Classics and Sarah Simonds and Jacob Rust of Sundance 608, Madison, Wisconsin, where Ashes of Time Redux is scheduled to open on 30 January.

Top: WKW and the Hong Kong Film Critics Society, which awarded its Best Film honor to Ashes of Time, spring 1995. Below: DB presents WKW with the award.

Originally posted by bordwellblog from Observations on film art and FILM ART, on December 18, 2008 7:58 AM

2008 has been an eventful year to say the least - it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I've done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008 in photographs. It's not the story of 2008, it's certainly not all stories, but as a collection it does show a good portion of what life has been like over the past 12 months. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Look for part 1 from yesterday and part 3 tomorrow. (40 photos total)

Imam Hashim Raza leads mourners in prayer during a funeral for Mohsin Naqvi at al-Fatima Islamic Center in Colonie, N.Y., Monday, Sept. 22, 2008. Naqvi was a Muslim, a native of Pakistan (he emigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 8 years old and became a citizen at 16) and a U.S. Army officer. He was killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol in Afghanistan. (AP Photo/Mike Groll)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from The Big Picture, on December 18, 2008 7:30 AM

The Fridrich Method is a collection of more than 50 algorithms for solving the Rubik's Cube. Developed by Dr. Jessica Fridrich, a Binghamton University electrical engineering professor, it is currently the fastest way to solve the Cube.

Cubing is a deep rabbit hole on the web so just two additional things. Here's Dr. Fridrich solving the Cube in 16 seconds, which is actually 2 seconds slower than the one-handed world record holder. And this...this is just amazing: 7 cube moves in just 0.7 seconds (same move, a lot slower).

Ok, I lied, one more. Will Smith can solve the Cube in less than a minute.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 18, 2008 6:38 AM

But today, I see within us all (myself included) the replacement of complex inner density with a new kind of self-evolving under the pressure of information overload and the technology of the "instantly available". A new self that needs to contain less and less of an inner repertory of dense cultural inheritance -- as we all become "pancake people" -- spread wide and thin as we connect with that vast network of information accessed by the mere touch of a button.

-- Richard Foreman

Originally posted by caterina from Caterina.net, on December 18, 2008 6:31 AM

The wonderful Big Picture presents part one of the year 2008 in photographs. I'll say it again, seeing these fantastic photos large is a whole 'nother ball game. Parts two and three to come later today and tomorrow.

Update: Part two.

Update: And part three.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 18, 2008 4:00 AM

plus, a much larger player for HD videos  

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Waxy.org Links, on December 17, 2008 8:16 PM

It’s with great pleasure we point you to an innovative project from Arcade Fire, Miroir Noir, a 70-minute documentary from what Rolling Stone dubbed one of “the best live bands playing right now,” and whose shows are “a religious experience”. If you’ve never seen them live (I missed ‘em), now’s your chance.

Not only can you now see them immediately via a DRM-free digital download without waiting for a DVD to come in the mail, and not only is the quality of the video better than what you would get from an online video store like iTunes, the quality is actually BETTER THAN DVD (1280×720 to DVD’s 720×480 — MOAR pixels == better resolution). As far as we know, this is the first time an artist has done a direct-to-fan digital movie release, and as far as we know it’s the first one to be done in better than DVD quality. Please correct us if we’re wrong about that. If we’re not, h0tn355.

Head on over to Miroir-Noir.com now to grab one of the digital-only versions relatively cheaply, or go for one of the “get a DVD in the mail” versions, including a limited edition in a numbered box. Support Arcade Fire in their first release since the seminal Neon Bible in March 2007.

I want to offer a sincere apology to the fans who tried to download and had problems in the first five or so hours the site was live. We had some issues with our CDN (content delivery network), due to the extraordinarily large file size, that took us a few hours to remedy. All is smooth sailing now though, so long as your Internet connection and hard drive can handle downloading a 2.4GB file.

Enjoy, and thank you to Arcade Fire for inviting us to be a part of something historic and important!

ian c rogers
Topspin

Originally posted by iancr from Topspin, on December 17, 2008 7:59 PM

Shared by anildash
My wife shared this because it's like she can see into my soul.

Check the comments section of a post I did Sept. 19th 2007.
It was a post about GQ's Best-Dressed List. In the comments section I remarked that I voted for Morris Day.

I grew up in the early to mid 80's and Prince and The Time were a huge music and style influence (ask my sister).
When I see a gentleman like the the Deacon I shot in Harlem yesterday I don't see him as an "exotic" but as someone that brings up very fond memories of that time in my life.

The start of my style education was with those guys in The Time. Just because I never wore a Zoot Suit or Stacy Adams (I did have baggies - ask my sister, she might have pictures) doesn't mean that I wasn't heavily influenced by the concept. Again, and I hate to use the term, but it was a case of abstract inspiration.

These guys were all about style with a capital "S". Style for them was all about getting women, and as a teenage boy in Indianapolis that sounded pretty good to me. As a result, I never thought that fashion wasn't something most straight guys talked about. If I felt totally comfortable talking about clothes with my guy friends it's because it was so normal in the music I was listening to at the time. I'm sure that is a part of why I like Kanye now.

If you are embarrassed by the image I posted today or see no value (aesthetic or educational) then you really need to ask a few questions before you attack. This gentleman is as basic to my personal catalog of style as any old Italian gent that I have ever shot. I hold him no higher or lower on the style scale, he just is what he is and I accept it and delight in it.



I had a lot of fun finding these pictures for this post.
I always dreamed that one day I would be that guy standing behind Morris Day. No, not the white guy, the other guy with the red tie - Jesse Johnson.

Really, can you doubt that I would become The Sartorialist if this was the music I was listening to at 14 or 15.

None of my high school friends were surprised when they learned what I was doing now.

Look at those pocket squares!!


"The Walk", the style anthem for this whole look.


PS. Thank God I just missed that whole Cameo sensation.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from The Sartorialist, on December 17, 2008 5:58 PM

Someone once asked Rogers Hornsby what he did in the off-season and he famously said “I’ll tell you what I do. I stare out the window and wait for spring.” What I do is follow along with new logos for teams and follow my passion for funky ballparks.

The Charlotte Stone Crabs debuted their new logo today, as did the Buffalo Bisons. The Crabs have the “burst” that helped carry the Rays to the World Series, but aside from that, I really like the new logo and color scheme. The Bisons, besides being redundant, is a bit more modern, but I’m not sure I like it. I’ll wait to see the unis, or rather, wait to see what Paul Lukas says. (They’re all just chasing the Montgomery Biscuits, anyway!)

As for funky ballparks, I’m still looking for good pictures of two of my favorites. One, still in use, is at Benedictine University in Kansas. The NAIA school’s park is near a river and right field actually plays uphill on the levee. It can regularly come into play and I’d bet makes for one heck of a home field advantage. If anyone has a good picture or knows the dimensions, please let me know in comments. I’ve also heard tales forever about a ballpark in Texas - usually in or around Austin - where there was a small dropoff in left field. I’ve heard that it dropped off going back (lower as you go back) and that it was more like a wall behind the left side of the infield with a raised playing surface beyond it. Again, any info in comments would be appreciated.

But what new logos (including the new “hanging Sox” Boston logo) and funky parks are you thinking of while you stare out the window, waiting for the UPS guy to bring your copy of BP 2009?

Originally posted by Will Carroll from Baseball Prospectus: Unfiltered, on December 17, 2008 5:25 PM

Barack Obama's team announced today that pastor Rick Warren will be offering the invocation at Obama's Jan. 20 inauguration. The choice is making news. If you'd like to see Pastor Warren in action, watch his TEDTalk, where he talks about his own crisis of purpose, and asks how TEDsters -- and how all curious, high-achieving people -- can give back. Or watch Dan Dennett's TEDalk in which he debates Warren's approach to a purpose-driven life.

(Obama also announced his choice to sing at the swearing-in: the still-fabulous Aretha Franklin.)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from TED | TEDBlog, on December 17, 2008 3:00 PM

Here it is: Unless the signal-to-noise ratio improves dramatically (and soon) this period in marketing will be mocked for its complete lack of focus and ability to get any lasting results.Of course, my only real experience thus far has been with blogging and Twitter. I do believe that Twitter is ...

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Thingnamer, on December 17, 2008 12:05 PM

Bad Astronomy has its list of the top 10 astronomy pictures of 2008 up. It includes this video of the moon orbiting the earth, comprised of a series of photos taken by a reassigned space probe.

There has never been a generation of humans in all of history who could see such an event. If you ever get a little depressed, or lonely, or think like there's nothing going on that's interesting any more, think on that for a moment or two. A thousand generations of people could only imagine such a thing, but we can actually do it.

(thx, amos)

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 17, 2008 10:18 AM

We're excited to launch a new site feature today: favoriting. You can now add any blog post, recipe, talk topic, or Photograzing photo to your favorites by clicking "Favorite this!" Your favorites are saved to the "favorites" tab on your profile page so you can easily find them again. Think of it as your virtual Serious Eats recipe box. If you don't see "Favorite this!" next to an item you'd like to favorite, don't fret, it's coming! We'll be rolling this out across all the Serious Eats blogs over the course of the day. You'll need to be signed in to your Serious Eats account to save your favorites. If you don't have a Serious Eats account yet, go ahead and create one—it's fast and free.

Originally posted by Alaina Browne from Serious Eats: Posts and Comments by Alaina Browne, on December 17, 2008 10:15 AM

Not too long ago New York's tap water hit the marketplace; bottled and labeled TAP'D NY, the company even suggested refilling the $1.50 bottle from a tap when its empty. Craig Zucker is the man behind the idea, a for-profit business that gets its product from the city's public water system "to source the world's best tasting tap water, purify it through reverse osmosis and bottle it locally, leaving out ludicrous transportation miles." Zucker told us a little bit about his idea, future "water pairings" taking place around the city, and Philip Seymour Hoffman.

How did you come up with the idea for Tap'dNY? It started with the idea that, contrary to what Coke/Pepsi/Fiji and the rest would want you to believe, there's nothing wrong with our local water (certainly nothing worth shipping in someone else's water from 8000+ miles away, or sending your dollars to Fiji and France $2 at a time for). Add to that the question "what would a completely honest bottled water look like?" and all of the sudden people getting really excited.

How do you purify the water before bottling it? You think I'm filling them at my sink, don't you? We're bottling 100s per minute at a local bottler. The purification process is called reverse osmosis. It's a wee bit scientific, but essentially we start with award winning water (New York's) then purify the hell out of it.

Do you think that bottled water has a different taste from NYC tap water? NYC tap water has chlorine in it. You can taste it. By the time we're done though people can't seem to work out which is ours and which is Fiji. Try it for yourself. If you can't tell the difference, isn't it better to buy local?

What are some of the biggest myths about tap water? The main myth is that it's dirty. New York City is one of only 5 major cities in the country that comes from such a pure source that the EPA doesn't require filtering at all. It comes from upstate, on it's own power (the whole system is on a slope) and it's pretty good. If you're seeing discoloration or other impurities, it's probably taking place in the last 100 feet. The pipes inside your building aren't always the best.Is there any state/city's tap water that you'd rather not drink? People should check with their local water authorities to see if there are any issues. The good news is 95% of the US has fantastic water. And personally I drink tap water whenever it's available.

What has been the general response to Tap'dNY? Really great. People seem to understand the concept. I get calls all day every day from people looking to buy it elsewhere, but I'm not willing to ship. If Tap'dNY winds up in LA (and it probably will) it will be because we're purifying their water for them, not shipping them ours.

There has been an event featuring "water pairings" at a restaurant using Tap'dNY, can you tell us how that idea came to fruition? And do you have any more events in the future? Essentially, we wanted to bring together some local-minded locals and introduce them to their local food and drink to get them thinking local… and we wanted to do it free of charge. Our first was hosted by Dogmatic Restaurant (home of a unique and locally sourced gourmet sausage system) and was really fun. Next up, we've got a mystery restaurant (too many crashers the last time for us to just post the details now), Tap'dNY and a few other local treats on the menu. All of it free. Hungry? Sign up at locallytapd.tumblr.com, we've only got 50 seats, but we'd love to have you.

Please share your strangest "only in New York" story. No joke, I saw a squirrel and a pigeon fighting over a piece of chewing gum. This recession is hitting everyone hard. But we're all in it together and we'll all get out of it together if we support our own.

Which New Yorker do you most admire? Philip Seymour Hoffman. Incredible actor. But also everyone I know who sees him on the street has overwhelming good luck come their way immediately after. Really. I've got 6 friends with stories that prove that the Hoffman Effect is real. I'm starting to think there's a book in it some place. If Tap'dNY had a celebrity spokesperson, I'd love for it to be him. Think he reads Gothamist?

Given the opportunity, how would you change New York? We're talking about giving the city the money to turn back on all of the broken water fountains so everyone can have access to water again… but I've got a lot of ideas beyond that. I'm an idea guy. Ooh, here's a fun one I did the other day, text "where is" and the name of a bottled water to 30644, and my system texts you back how far that bottle traveled to get to you. We're still working out the kinks, but it's free and fun, give it a go.

Under what circumstance have you thought about leaving New York? Every time the Giants play across the river. Other than that, not all that often.

Do you have a favorite New York celebrity sighting or encounter? I told you about Philip Seymour Hoffman, right? What I might not have said was that I saw him too. It was the day Tap'dNY got funded.

What's your current soundtrack? Kanye West is on the stereo now, but the jury's still out. Bill Withers is my heart.

Best cheap eat in the city. Dogmatic is a good place to start. You can get a whole meal, made with gourmet, locally sourced ingredients, for less than $10. I'm also partial to Katz's deli, the Chinatown Ice Cream Factory (taro is amazing), and Rosario's Pizza.

Best venue to see music. If you ever get the chance to see anything at Radio City Music Hall do it. They only get great acts once in a blue moon, but if you see Philip Seymour Hoffman on the street, your next stop should probably be Radio City to find out who's there. Odds are they're your favorite band and they've got one seat left. It's the Hoffman effect! That guy is amazing.

Originally posted by Jen Carlson from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on December 17, 2008 9:51 AM

From a done deal yesterday to who knows what the hell's going on today. Stories of the Braves' imminent signing of Furcal still pepper the feeds on my Google home page, but the reality is he's probably staying in LA. I was all ready to have a fookgasm (I scanned thirty freaking Furcal cards!) but now I'm left with Dodger Blue balls. Who knows, Wren might up the ante, Furcal might have a change of heart, maybe even the A's jump in with a last minute offer. Still, it looks like Furcal is about to leave this group of beloved ex-Braves:

and join this group of former Atlantans in the hearts of Brave fans:

There's already talk of a boo fest or a pitch in the earflap for Furcal at the Dodgers' first game on July 31st at the Ted by irked Braves fans on the forums. Braves fans are too laid back for any Philly-style violence, but I'm pretty sure he won't get a warm reception ever again.

This whole offseason has been really disheartening. Absolutley NO ONE will go with Frank Wren and his $40 million to the prom and he's asked every girl in flag corps, 4H and the chess club. It's about time to circle the wagons, sign an innings eater or that Japanese pitcher, try to snag a cheap batfor left field, let the prospects marinate a little longer and focus on 2010. The important thing is to stay calm and maintain a sense of humor about these things.

Calmer than you are, Dude... Calmer than you are.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on December 17, 2008 8:47 AM

A.A. Gill goes on a Sex and the City tour and loves to hate it.

You remember the episode where Carrie spills the cappuccino because she's looking after the dog and has lost the manuscript with a description of oral sex with the Russian and then oh my God she bumps into Big who she hasn't seen since that time with the martini olives and the hemorrhoids? Well, if you look to the right, that's the cafe, and it's like oh my God bad hair dog blow job cappuccino hell. You remember that of course.

Oh, just one more excerpt:

I suppose a vibrator might be an impulse buy, and buying yourself one in front of 50 strangers with whom you then have to share a bus journey might be considered the height of liberated insouciance. But buying a sex aid because some actress has faked an orgasm on TV with it is evidence that there's more wrong with your social life than can be fixed by a dildo.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 17, 2008 8:20 AM

2008 has been an eventful year to say the least - it is difficult to sum up the thousands of stories in just a handful of photographs. That said, I will try to do what I've done with other photo narratives here, and tell a story of 2008 in photographs. It's not the story of 2008, it's certainly not all stories, but as a collection it does show a good portion of what life has been like over the past 12 months. This is a multi-entry story, 120 photographs over three days. Watch for part 2 and part 3 tomorrow and the next day. (40 photos total)

Lightning bolts appear above and around the Chaiten volcano as seen from Chana, some 30 kms (19 miles) north of the volcano, as it began its first eruption in thousands of years, in southern Chile May 2, 2008. Cases of electrical storms breaking out directly above erupting volcanoes are well documented, although scientists differ on what causes them. Picture taken May 2, 2008. (REUTERS/Carlos Gutierrez)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from The Big Picture, on December 17, 2008 6:59 AM

In an obvious move, Time named Barack Obama their Person of the Year for 2008. But give Time credit; they got Shepard Fairey to do the cover based on his iconic poster of Obama.

Update: They've also compiled some of the best photos of Obama from Flickr.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 17, 2008 6:52 AM

Yesterday, during step one hundred of Britt-Cleans-Out-Her-Closet week, I found a giant bag full of tote bags.

I felt like Mary Poppins pulling them out - the never ending stream included bags from Bumble, from Charlotte Ronson and Alexandre Herchcovitch, one from Preen and another from Eley Kishimoto - the tangible fruits of my Fashion Week labors.

But I'd trade them all in for this one from Christopher Deane.

I've always been a sucker for the traditional I Heart logo and this thick, cotton, made in the USA tote looks sturdier than any of the paper thin bags I've garnered from the runways.

The only trouble is that I have to decide what exactly I heart. And while today I might write The Grinch or Kate Moss, tomorrow I might want to write Candy Canes or Doutzen.

What will you heart?

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Fashionista, on December 17, 2008 6:49 AM

I hate watches. What a waste of wrist space. Who needs 'em? We have phones for time telling. Watches are silly. Oh wait. Asteroids watch.

WANT.

(Thank you Boing Boing Gadgets)

Originally posted by Alice from Wonderland, on December 17, 2008 6:30 AM

Over the last few days, as we've been devoting a lot of coverage to the Bernard Madoff story, a number of readers have written in to say, "You're saying all this stuff about how he kept his scheme hidden. But you haven't been clear enough on what he actually did."

So let me try to clear this up, or explain why I don't think we really can clear it up yet.

The truth is that as yet we know very, very little about just what Madoff was doing or where the money went. One of the few official reports was in yesterday's statement from SEC Chairman Christopher Cox which noted that Madoff kept several sets of false books, etc. But that's hardly surprising.

Most of the assumptions stem from Madoff's own words describing it as a "Ponzi scheme" and his confession that he'd swindled some $50 billion. But calling something a Ponzi scheme covers a lot of territory. And it doesn't tell us that much in terms of where all the money went, whether it was a scam from the git-go or evolved into one, or much of any detail, etc.

I would also suggest one further note of caution, though this is much more speculative.

On its face Madoff is confessing to everything. He's saying he's a fraud and he swindled people out of $50 billion. So it's hard to see what he's holding back. That said, he appears to be maintaining the pretense that he managed the entire swindle on his own -- that none of the family members who were intimately involved in running the fraudulent part of his operation had any idea what he was doing. And that seems preposterous on its face.

It's understandable that he wouldn't want to pull his whole family down, and that his family wouldn't want to be pulled either. But I think it's worth keeping open the possibility that behind Madoff's maximal confession of guilt -- and in addition to wanting to protect his family -- there's more people he's trying to protect or secrets he's trying to hide.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 17, 2008 6:01 AM

spot.us. What will happen to investigative journalism when news is free and the old newsprint conglomerates have evaporated? Spot.us is one interesting, simple trial in “citizen-funded community journalism”: 1. People submit tips. 2. Journalists pitch stories based on the tips. 3. Community members share the cost of reporting with micro-donations. 4. Spot.Us will work with local news organizations to get the story published in as many places as possible, or will give exclusive rights to a news organization that is willing to reimburse the original donors. The pilot is focused on the San Francisco Bay Area, but it easily be adapted to other areas.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Social Design Notes, on December 17, 2008 4:55 AM

Four months before the opening of The Empire Strikes Back, Luke Skywalker, C-3PO, R2-D2, and Chewbacca appeared as the special guest stars on The Muppet Show. Mark Hamill's first line as Skywalker is:

It seems we've landed on some sort of comedy variety show planet.

...and it goes downhill from there. The whole show is available on YouTube in three parts:

The appearance was probably orchestrated as a promotional crossover. Frank Oz voiced Yoda in Empire and was a lead puppeteer for The Muppet Show, performing Missy Piggy and Fozzie, among others.

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 17, 2008 4:21 AM

in 1968, andy warhol famously forecasted, 'in the future, everyone will be… famous for 15 minutes.'
of course, he was right. personal computers and the web have democratized the tools of media so that
most anyone can create and distribute their own content without the need for deep-pocketed middlemen.
can’t get on TV? start your own network. create your own reality TV show starring you.
flickr already abounds with users who unabashedly post steady streams of self-portraits shot
with phonecams held at arm’s length, and fans who praise them. and at microblogging hub twitter,
there are thousands of people delighted to share what they’re eating for dinner or that they’re stuck in traffic,
and many thousands more who seem to care.

read more: http://www.good.is

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Designboom - Weblog, on December 17, 2008 1:32 AM

“We’re on track for a terrific show this year,” said Paul Kent, IDG’s general manager for Macworld, when asked to comment on the news that Steve Jobs won’t be keynoting January’s event and that Apple will be pulling out of the event after 2009.

Perhaps he meant the archaic definition of terrific?

Originally posted by Michael Sippey from this is sippey.typepad.com, on December 16, 2008 11:39 PM

Gizmodo covers the speculation on an Apple netbook for Macworld; but I’m fairly certain that the post was an excuse to publish the best artist’s rendition of an unreleased Apple product evar. It’s so good I won’t swipe it for myself — they deserve all the page views they can get for this one so click, dammit. Click.

Originally posted by Michael Sippey from this is sippey.typepad.com, on December 16, 2008 7:29 PM

The holidays are upon us, and if you’re anything like me, you’ve put off buying gifts for your friends and loved ones until almost the last minute!

I hope you won’t overlook the possibility of sending the gift of software this year. Thanks to a new feature in the Red Sweater Store, it’s finally easy to order any of our applications as a gift license for somebody you care about.

Just make your purchase as usual, but when you get to the checkout page, fill in the lucky recipient’s name:

The license information will be sent to you by email, so you can package it up in your own charming way, before passing it on.

One of the “problems” of gifting software these days is that most of the best applications are sold as purely electronic downloads from the web. I have to admit that the old-fashioned boxes made it easier to stick something under the tree, but with a little creativity you can give software gifts that are thoughtful and also have an element of “hand assembled” uniqueness to them.

For the puzzle lover in your life, may I suggest Black Ink bundled with a crossword solving dictionary, and a nice pen?

Know somebody who has talked about blogging for years, but never manages to get started? Perhaps a copy of MarsEdit, a copy of Strunk & White, and some encouraging words will be just the nudge they need.

These ideas are the tip of the iceberg. Perhaps the person on your gift list isn’t suited to my products at all. There are hundreds of independent Mac developers whose excellent products could bring a smile to your loved ones this holiday season. Take a look around!

Enjoy the holiday season, and I hope you all have a very happy new year!

Originally posted by Daniel Jalkut from Red Sweater Blog, on December 16, 2008 5:14 PM

Today we officially announce our new storage engine, "Percona XtraDB", which is based on the InnoDB storage engine. It's 100% backwards-compatible with standard InnoDB, so you can use it as a drop-in replacement in your current environment. It is designed to scale better on modern hardware, and includes a variety of other features useful in high performance environments.

Percona XtraDB includes all of InnoDB's ACID-compliant design and advanced MVCC architecture, and adds features, more tunability, more metrics, more scalability on many cores, and better memory usage. We choose features and fixes based on customer requests and on our best judgment of real-world needs. We have not included all the InnoDB patches available. For example Google's well-known InnoDB patch set is omitted (at least for now).

The first version of our new storage engine is 1.0.2-1, which is forked from InnoDB-plugin-1.0.2. Percona XtraDB is released under GPL v2, as is InnoDB-plugin base source code. Percona XtraDB is released only under the GPL v2 with no dual-licensing, and commercial support is available from Percona.

So what's new in the engine? Here is a list of new features and enhancements:

• INFORMATION_SCHEMA.XTRADB_ENHANCEMENTS. This table contains information about the differences between the Percona XtraDB and the same version number of standard InnoDB, so you can always learn what your engine can do. documentation
• Improvements to SHOW INNODB STATUS. We've added more memory information and lock information, and fixed problems with lock information. documentation
• Improvements to InnoDB IO. Improvements of InnoDB IO subsystem, such as multiple read and write threads, read-ahead control, control io capacity and adaptive checkpointing. documentation
• InnoDB RW-lock fixes Improvements to scalability for systems with 8+ cores. documentation
• Buffer pool fixes Improvements of buffer_pool scalability. documentation
• innodb_buffer_pool_pages Information about content of buffer_pool pages. documentation

Documentation is on http://www.percona.com/docs/wiki/percona-xtradb:start.

Percona XtraDB available :
* in source code from Launchpad https://launchpad.net/percona-xtradb, the version 1.0.2-1 you can get as bzr branch lp:percona-xtradb -r tag:percona-xtradb-1.0.2-1 percona-xtradb-1.0.2-1
* as source code in tar.gz http://www.percona.com/mysql/5.1.30/source/percona-xtradb-1.0.2-1.tar.gz
* as binaries, percona xtradb is compiled in into MySQL-5.1.30 RPMS
* as separated shared library, to use as drop-in plugin for existing MySQL-5.1.30 installation http://www.percona.com/mysql/5.1.30/binary/percona-xtradb-1.0.2-1-5.1.30.x86_64.tar.gz
* OurDelta will also be using Percona XtraDB for its upcoming 5.1 builds.

XtraDB is fully compatible with existing InnoDB tables and we are going to keep compatibility in further releases.

We are open for features requests for new engine and ready to accept community patches. You can monitor Percona's current tasks and further plans on https://bugs.launchpad.net/percona-xtradb. You can also report bugs there. Also have setup two maillists http://groups.google.com/group/percona-discussion for General discussions and http://groups.google.com/group/percona-dev for development related questions.

We are looking for 6-month release cycle of XtraDB. First several releases may come faster, as many features are planned.

Why do we say it's a new storage engine, and not just a patchset? Because we are taking this as a serious project to evolve a new storage engine that will eventually become much more than just small variations from standard InnoDB. Percona will improve this storage engine using our own ideas, as well as incorporate improvements specifically sponsored by customers. Please contact us if you would like to sponsor any specific features. Contact form: http://www.percona.com/contacts.html

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Originally posted by Vadim from MySQL Performance Blog, on December 16, 2008 4:34 PM

Back on April 8th, I showed off this. I've accumulated a lot of crazy stuff, but that's the best single piece that I have, or probably ever will have. I said back then I'd save the story of how I got it for later and this is as good a time as any.

Bookworms who have lived in the Southeast for a long time might remember the Goodwill book sale at Northlake Mall in Atlanta. This was a gigantic book sale right in the middle of the mall consisting of the books that Goodwill collected in donations throughout the year. This thing was absolutely massive. Huge bookshelves all up and down the aisles of the mall on the top and bottom levels. They had every kind of book there. Romance, horror, cookbooks, westerns, music, philosophy, art, business, encyclopedias, any kind of book you could think of they had a shelf or table filled with 'em. There was even some oddball stuff like collectibles, rare first editions, comics and even some records and magazines. I would go with my grandmother every year and I would usually stock up on humor, horror, sci-fi and sports books. Goodwill moved the sale to their distribution plant in the 90's and discontinued the sale altogether in favor of selling books at their retail outlets a few years ago. I still miss that sale, I had a lot of good times picking thorugh books for hours on end.

One time in the '80s, maybe around '87 or so, I was at the sale and I started picking through a box full of sports magazines. I liked reading magazines when I was a kid, I got used to them with Mad Magazine and never really stopped reading them until the internet came along. I had a subscription to Sports Illustrated back then and I liked looking through old issues for cool covers. I found one magazine with a really cool cover - Hank Aaron and a little dude. I snagged that one right off without even looking inside it. I got it home and found out it contained all this. And yes you have to click on that link, I'm not going to spoil the surprise just for lazy people who couldn't bother to click on it the first time. I have no idea how that ended up getting donated to Goodwill, packed up in boxes, shipped to the mall and displayed without all that stuff being discovered or falling out along the way. Anyway, that's the best thing in my collection and I got it for twenty-five cents at the Goodwill book sale in the late '80s.

That's the best thing in the collection, but it's not really the centerpiece. It's not even about cards, really. That's more like a secret special collector porn stash that I only take out when my closest friends come over so we can gawk at it and drool. No, a centerpiece is something that you place right in the middle of the dining table when you invite everyone over and they all ooh and ahh over how pretty it is. It's a central unifying principle. That for me is a nondescript while three inch binder with nothing on it and some ominous cracks starting to show in the seams. I took a picture of it, but it was boring. I'll show off some of the stuff inside instead. It's my vintage Braves binder. Here's a scan of the first page:

There's not much there on the first page so you can actually see back to the fourth or fifth page. This book has all my Braves cards from 1909 to 1969 save a few oddballs that live in the oddball binder. Here are my three T206es, two T205's, a couple of strip cards and a Caramel card from the '20s. That reminds me, I have a couple more strip cards that belong in here. I'll put them in later tonight. I consider this to be the centerpiece for a couple of reasons. It embodies the two things that really kept me in this hobby when there were times I could have gotten out: Braves cards and vintage cards. I've always been fascinated by old stuff and vintage cards hit the sweet spot of cool and old that I like so much. The Braves, well, you know about that already. The other reason is this the one thing I would really have a hard time getting over if it were lost. I've lost cards before, that's not that bad. My 1995 Topps set is still missing from a move in college. My box of Fleer Ultra cards from 1991-2005 got slightly water damaged by a leak. Not bad enough that they were ruined, but they sure ain't mint no more. This summer a can of soda exploded in my car and wiped out about a blaster and a half of '08 Upper Deck cards (that I thankfully had already taken the good cards out of). None of these things fazed me, but losing this thing would likely cause me to seriously think it was time to switch to some other hobby. This is the one part of my collection that I've really invested some serious time and money into and it would be hard to give up.

Here's a page of '33 Goudeys. No, I don't actually have all those cards. The Brandt, Zachary and Maranville cards I ganked images off of eBay, printed them on my color printer and cut out to use as fillers. It's cheating, sure, but I think it looks nice and it really feels good to replace them with a real card. The first page in the book actually filled with real cards is the next one in the book.

Yeah, that's all vintage, baby! No color copies there! Ok, so a few look like hell, the Hargrave is a disaster and Shanty Hogan has no back to his card, but who cares. If I wanted all PSA 8s, I would have bought PSA 8s. The Russell Rollings card is the only one in the binder who is not a Brave. He's actually the only Atlanta Cracker card in my collection but he's allowed in the Big Book. That Indian Gum card I got at the card show lives in the book as well:

As you can see some of the cards I haven't managed to find a good image online yet, so they have a slip of paper indicating what goes in that slot. When I put the binder together I didn't think about the '49 Leaf cards so I had no slot assigned for poor Bob Elliott. I put the Elliot and the Indian card in those slots for the '41 Goudey card because I will probably never even see those two short printed cards from a notoriously tough set, let alone be able to buy one. I might move them up front with the Caramel card where there's more room but I'm picky about keeping things in their own eras. I'll probably just shuffle around the cards one rainy afternoon eventually anyway to fit in the Goudey and the Leaf cards. For the record the two Al Lopez Heads up cards are fake place holders.

The binder far precedes the color printer so a lot of the place holders are in black and white. I don't mind this for the postwar cards as it's a reminder to me that I should go out and find these suckers. Cards from the '50s and '60s are much easier to find than ones from the '30s and '40s. It provides a visual aid, but isn't as pretty so I don't get complacent. The binder originally was only for my Topps cards but the Bowmans and the Pre-war cards snuck in there eventually. To save space, I started the '48 Bowmans at the top of a 9 pocket page and continued the '49s on the same page so there wouldn't be a lot of empty pockets and extra sheets. As a result, there were two empty packets at the end of the '52s when Bowman went to the large size in 1953. My Berk Ross Hit Parade of Champions cards (yep, the ones in this year's Goudey) filled that space nicely.

The Topps cards are really the focus of the binder though. Another indicator on how this and not my vintage Topps collection is really the centerpiece of my collection is evident in the fact that the Braves cards ended up in here and not with the 6 monster boxes that hold all my Topps sets. I've got all the large size sets from 1952-1956 in pages in their own binders and to fill out the holes in those books I made color copies of these sheets and cut them out for placeholders. I don't only use copies for placeholders though as you can see from the Chrome Hank rookie reprint I have in his spot. That is the only card I need for the full 1954 Braves Team set, which will likely not get completed unless I find another Goodwill miracle somewhere. Of course I could always look to upgrade the ones I have like poor Jim Pendleton with a hole punch through his face.

One good thing about being a Braves fan is that it is challenging for a team collector, but not impossible. there are cards of Braves (or Red Stockings back in those days) dating back to the late 1800s, but reprints are readily available of many of them. They are an original National League club, so you can find old tobacco and gum cards of Braves. When Topps came into the mix, the Braves were really good so there are stars like Aaron, Spahn and Mathews, but they played in Milwaukee and not New York so they aren't prohibitively expensive. I don't think I paid more than 30 bucks for any single card in this binder and the vast majority cost under a buck or two. If I grew up a Yankee fan, my collecting habits would like be vastly different. Just try to find a vintage Mantle card on the cheap, I dare you. Like this dang Aaron/Mantle combo card that is going to be the bane of my '58 team set. Dangit Mickey!

Like I said, this binder is all about the Topps, so Fleer and Leaf get short shrift. I didn't even bother to straighten the scan. I'm obsessive about eras though so these '60-'63 Fleer and '60 Leaf live inbetween my '60 and '61 team sets.

1961 high numbers and a weird Billy Martin insert from that year make up the most desolate page in the book.

Most of these cards I've picked up here and there in the past 10 years or so but a lot of them I've had since I was a little kid. This Tommy Aaron card was one of the first vintage Braves I ever had. I was fascinated by the name AARON even if it was Hank's brother and not Hank. Topps really liked that photo too, they were still using it in 1969. And yes, I do include multi-team rookies, League Leader cards and subsets when considering something a 'true' team set. If it's got a Brave on it somewhere, it goes in the Braves team set. On an unrelated note, that goddamn Bob Uecker card is going to haunt my soul for eternity. I passed it up one time when I was a kid. Later on I went back to the card shop asking about it and the guy behind the counter looked at me like I was speaking Russian. Bob who?? Since then I have bid on the damn thing a dozen times and had my bids all blown out of the water. I can't even win the reprint. I don't mind not having his rookie card since that's a '62 high numbered card and impossible to find, but this one really burns me.

Here's some more Topps oddball cards who have made their way into this binder. This page is right after the '64 set. Joe Torre is actually a '64 Topps Giant card. The rest are Topps Supers from '70 and '71 and shouldn't even be in this binder. Joe must have invited them over for a poker game and they just never left.

See? Here's Tommy again. The '53 and '69 team sets are the only ones I have completed in this book. This bugs me. I should have had a few more of them completed by now even with Aarons and high numbers to chase. The '68 set is really shameful, how hard is it to find a '68 Felipe Alou? I'll bet if I check out the local card shops one of them has one hiding somewhere. Still, It's something to work on in the future. There's plenty of holes in this binder so I'll have a good chase for a long time to come. And the chase is half the fun...

Well, there's my centerpiece. It just occurred to me that this is probably the most I've shown it off on this blog. Maybe I'll have to work on changing that in 2009.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on December 16, 2008 4:31 PM

Examiner column for December 17.

    One of the perks of attending college is access to study abroad programs. As a past faculty advisor of George Mason University’s summer program in English at the University of Cambridge, and as the future advisor for Oxford Summer School in 2009, I think more college students should take advantage of these life-changing opportunities.

    Only 5% of college students graduate with study abroad experience. As the workplace becomes increasingly globalized, employers often look for international experience on student resumes. That one line addition of University of Madrid or Oxford University Summer School just might make the difference in getting a job with an office in Spain or England.

    One of the biggest deterrents to study abroad is cost. What students often aren’t aware of is the large number of scholarships and grants specifically for study abroad. It helps that this is a well-kept secret since there are few competing for this money!

    Plus the sponsoring university grants credits for all courses taken abroad. Students from other colleges usually find they are able to use those credits in their home institutions. At Cambridge, a student from Bryn Mawr College came two summers in a row, and those four courses equaled a full semester towards her graduation.

    Yet I’ve left out the most important reason to study abroad, and that’s the magic of getting to know one place well. We all know what it feels like to return home from anywhere---work or vacation. In an extended stay abroad, you develop an attachment to place that gives you a second home.

    When my husband advised GMU students attending a program in Florence, Italy, I went to the Mercato Centrale so often that the artichoke man recognized me! I knew where to buy the handmade porcini ravioli, and which wine store gave me the best advice.

    In Cambridge, I grew to love going to bell-ringing rehearsals at the local church. Most bells are rung from bell towers, but in this church the bells were rung by long ropes from the floor of the chapel. I learned that there was a particular family who had done the ringing for years, and I watched over two summers as they trained their youngest child, a girl, to ring a bell that weighed many times what she did.

    For Oxford, there is the added attraction of attending the school where many of the scenes were shot in the Harry Potter films. There is even a website that links the onsite spots with the films: (http://www.bbc.co.uk/oxford/harry_potter/mainlocations.shtml.) For $5970 (less with grant or scholarship help), students can live at Exeter College, J.R.R. Tolkien’s alma mater, earn 6 credits, and develop an appreciation of a place removed from the ones they know well. They can dine three times a day in a hall reminiscent of Hogwarts. That global experience: priceless.

    Information on study abroad programs is on GMU’s website (http://globaled.gmu.edu). Many other universities sponsor similar programs that welcome applicants from any college. Some website research may lead students to an invaluable line on their resumes that shows they’ve drawn their boundaries a bit broader. In this job market, that could make all the difference.

Originally posted by Erica Jacobs from TeacherTalk, on December 16, 2008 4:08 PM

[UPDATE BELOW] A reader sent us this photo, taken by a friend, of a special edition Starbucks menorah cup, which supposedly contained the chain's "Hanukkah Blend." This individual claims he bought it at an unspecified location on the Upper West Side, where the barista told him "we're serving it at Starbucks in Jewish neighborhoods for the next two weeks."

We've spent over an hour calling around to Starbucks across the city and even corporate headquarters, and though we're told there is a "Holiday Blend," nobody knows squat about any Jewish-themed coffee or beverage receptacle. (Other than this mug.) Guess what? The more the menorah cup eludes us, the more we're starting, inexplicably, to care.

At the Starbucks on 76th and Broadway, a manager tells us that while they have no Hanukkah themed paper cups, they will sell you the "Christmas Blend" (her words!) in a blue and gold Hanukkah themed bag. Not good enough! We're beginning to think the Hanukkah Blend could be the new Shamrock Shake. Also, if this is supposed to be a Hanukkah menorah, shouldn't it have a couple more candles?

UPDATE: Well, we were hoping for a Hanukkah miracle, but it looks like the skeptics have won the day. A press liaison for Starbucks writes: "We are dedicated to serving every customer regardless of how they choose to mark the holiday season. For our customers celebrating Hanukkah, we offer a selection of Hanukkah themed merchandise including mugs and tumblers. We do not offer Hanukkah blend coffee, nor do we carry blue to-go cups in our stores."

Originally posted by John Del Signore from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on December 16, 2008 2:19 PM

Photo by Tien Mao.

Giant snowflakes are coming down on the city. Why are these suckers so big? According to this meteorologist, "Whether snow is more dry or more wet depends on the snow to liquid equivalent. When the temperature throughout the troposphere is well below freezing the snow is termed a 'dry snow'. A dry snow has little to no liquid within the snowflakes. During a dry snow, snowflakes tend to be smaller. Also, when trying to make a snowball, it falls apart for the most part." Our very own Joe Schumacher adds: "the flakes are really wet so they don't bounce off each other like they do when it is cold and they are completely frozen."

But let's back up for a second: this is good snowball-making snow? Get thee outside!

Originally posted by Jen Carlson from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on December 16, 2008 2:19 PM

The holiday season is upon us and nothing makes a better gift for a friend, colleague or loved one than offering a deeper insight and connection to the world. And there is no better way to experience these offerings than by viewing a well-made documentary. In the spirit of the season, the staff at Arts Engine is happy to share our Shortlist films - ones that express the strength of documentaries to change the world.

So what films make the Arts Engine holiday gift guide Shortlist? Keep reading to find out.

Street Fight

This is one of my favorite documentaries, in part because of all unexpected elements to the story as it unfolds. It's also a great example of an independent filmmaker observing current events and showing them to us in a way we would never have seen otherwise.

It follows the ambitious campaign of a young, talented, brainiac black man running for office --- long before Obama's historical presidential run.

Moreover, the fact that Corey Booker is running for Mayor of Newark against another African-American, Sharpe James, gives us a nuanced view of the racial dynamics set against the backdrop of generational differences and the rebuilding of urban communities.

What puts it over the top, for me, is the selective use of the filmmaker's voice - it's never intrusive, and it offers a vivid illustration of the obstacles that a camera seeking the truth may encounter.

-- Katy Chevigny

Our Brand Is Crisis

You thought the 2008 presidential campaigns were rough? This film looks into the disturbing psychology dominating traditional US political campaigns.

James Carville, of Clinton campaign fame and his fellow strategists travel to Bolivia, where the population has not yet been subjected to one of the US' most prized political weapons: negative campaigning.

The catastrophic results on a country that has undergone endlessly tough times are even more disturbing, as the film shows how the aims behind winning a campaign and fairly winning the trust of a country are rarely aligned.

-- Leah Sapin

Bigger Stronger Faster*

As a lifelong student of masculinity, it has been fascinating to observe its constant redefinition in the face of imminent crisis (see: metrosexuals, serial killers, Rogaine customers, etc.).

In Bigger Stronger Faster*, filmmaker Christopher Bell posits that there is nothing un-American about anabolic steroid use in sports and bodybuilding.

In fact, he argues that it is precisely the American credo of individualism and overachievement that drives men to supplement the testosterone that their bodies produce naturally with synthetic forms of the hormone.

The extra "juice" allows them to work out for longer periods of time and recover faster from these grueling workouts. He draws on his own experience using steroids, as well as on the lives of his two brothers, a failed wrestler and an amateur bodybuilder.

Bell's project, though, goes beyond family therapy, and aims to indict a system that pushes men to be bigger, stronger, and faster at any cost and by any means necessary.

-- Felix Endara

Surfwise: The Amazing True Odyssey of the Paskowitz Family

If there's one thing I can't resist, it's a good old-fashioned, roiling-in-the-waves surf film. Naturally, the name alone of Doug Pray's documentary had me hooked.

With a flashy, impressionistic style, Pray tells the truly stranger-than-fiction story of the Paskowitz family.

The pater of the Paskowitz clan leaves his thriving medical career behind for a life on the open road and raging seas with his wife and nine children.

With a 24-foot camper serving as home base, the family lives off of surfing, oatmeal and "Doc" Paskowitz's homegrown philosophy.

-- Jolene Pinder

Century of Self

Adam Curtis' Century of Self traces the history of advertising beginning with Edward Bernays the, ironiclly, 'little known' father of the field of public relations from the beginning of the mass production era to the present day.

The four hour documentary is a deep socio-economic exploration of advertising and the tools used to persuade us.

If you liked The Corporation you will love Century Self.

-- Ryann Scypion

Helvetica

If only all the words spoken and written around the world could be as easily expressed and understood as the universal font of Helvetica.

-- Maia Ermita

The King of Kong: A Fistful of Quarters

The economy is tanking, war is still waging in Iraq - need a break? Follow the film's protagonist, Steve Weibs as he steers Mario over barrels and up all those ladders.

The King of Kong: a Fistful of Quarters follows one guy's painstaking efforts to earn the world's highest score in the classic arcade game, "Donkey Kong."

This is documentary storytelling at it's best and will have you glued to the screen even if video games don't.

-- Beth Davenport

The God Who Wasn't There

Well I just saw Bill Maher's Religulous and I must say, I will surely add this DVD to my collection. This piece of work is excellent in posing the never ending question: Is there really a God? And does he have a son named Jesus that has powers like a modern day magician? (at least the christian version)

Religulousreminded me of another excellent doc on this very same topic, The God Who Wasn't There by Brian Flemming (www.thegodmovie.com)

While Maher's take was a little on the light side sprinkled with pure common sense, Flemming's version is straight hardcore in your face splendidness. The both of them share a similar premise - "In today's day and age the thought of a saviour coming in our lifetime to rescue us from ourselves is simply ridiculous."

-- David Wright

Human Remains

A unique filmmaking perspective of some of the 20th century's more notorious dictators.

-- Phil Lane

Heavy Petting

A humorous,yet sensitive,exploration of sexuality in the 1950's. Interviewees include David Byrne, Allen Ginsburg, Sandra Bernhard and John Oates. Enough said.

-- Phil Lane

Complaints of a Dutiful Daughter

This doc is a filmmaker's personal account of dealing with her mother's battle with Alzheimer's. The film tackles some of the more difficult and painful issues with this disease - as it pertains to family.

-- Phil Lane

The Weather Underground

If you're in the mood to pal around with terrorists, watching Sam Green and Bill Siegel's film The Weather Underground (2003) might be just the ticket.

You can fit right in if you watch the film in a basement, make speeches filled with denouncements of imperialism and wear a beret or some moccasins.

Don't forget that it's all part of the bigger picture for peace, as Bill Ayers recently reminded us. The film was nominated for an Oscar and the Grand Jury Prize at Sundance.

In two-part harmony, there is a previous film about the Weather Underground called, simply, Underground (1976). I haven't seen it, but the tagline is a classic, "The Film the FBI didn't want you to see."

Then, of course, there's the great narrative epic by Emir Kusterica, also called Underground (1995), and well worth the watch. Flamboyant and cowboy-ish, and unrelated to the Weathermen, the film paints a picture of Yugoslavia from WWII through communism.

Buy these for your sweetie and the two of you could easily spend at least a day underground debating the great political ideas of our age.

-- Enrico Cullen

What Would Jesus Buy?

Supporting the "Shopocalypse" isn't the only way to celebrate this holiday season. Instead, consider cuddling up with your family to watch Morgan Spurlock's What Would Jesus Buy?

From "retail interventions" to exorcisms in Wal-Mart, "Reverend Billy" Talen and the Church of Stop Shopping travel across the country preaching that you needn't buy buy buy to show your love.

As a bonus, read Shira Golding's interview, "Change-a-lujah!", with filmmakers Spurlock and Rob VanAlkemade as they talk about what it was like following the antics of Rev. Billy.

-- Austra Zubkovs

Planet B-Boy

Growing up in the Hip Hop generation, schooled on films like Beat Street, Breakin' and Krush Groove, it was fun to see how break dancing, has crossed the globe and taken root in various cultures without loosing its authentic "put up or shut up" Bronx, NYC flavor.

Planet B-Boy makes my short list for 2008 for its amazing dance footage and intimate view of five different international Breakdancing teams as they prepare for the "Battle of the Year" competition in Germany.

The film allows you to view a living culture - one that honors it's past but still looks forward - by showing how the artform readily addresses the current living situation of various youth around the world.

-- Kasmore Rhedrick

Originally posted by (author unknown) from MediaRights: News, on December 16, 2008 12:56 PM

alexbalk:

Watching romantic comedies can spoil your love life, a study by a university in Edinburgh has claimed.

Rom-coms have been blamed by relationship experts at Heriot Watt University for promoting unrealistic expectations when it comes to love.

They found fans of films such as Runaway Bride and Notting Hill often fail to communicate with their partner.

Many held the view if someone is meant to be with you, then they should know what you want without you telling them.

(BBC)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from the real janelle, on December 16, 2008 10:13 AM

From The New York Times: As newspapers lose readers and advertisers, local news seems to be dying a long, slow death. The debate over what to do about it took on new urgency last week, when the Tribune Company filed for bankruptcy protection.

Some Web entrepreneurs are starting companies to try to resuscitate local news. One of those start-ups, Outside.In, announced its latest round of financing Monday.

The Brooklyn-based start-up raised about $2 million to add to the $5.5 million it has already raised, primarily from the existing investors, Union Square Ventures, the New York City Investment Fund and Betaworks. Angel investors who have backed Outside.In include big Silicon Valley names like Marc Andreessen and Esther Dyson.

Outside.In labels information from across the Web with geographical tags, categorizing it by city, neighborhood, intersection or street address. The site can then provide readers with 'hyper-local' news from news outlets, blogs and even Twitter. It helps small publishers find an audience and helps big publishers find local stories. By serving up all this local content, it hopes to help advertisers aim at the reader on precise streets.

Outside.In can tell advertisers where a reader is and affirm that they are reading about their neighborhood. That means an ad for a bookstore that is 50 feet from the reader will be more useful for the advertiser and the reader.

'Our whole premise is that these traditional media companies need to evolve to something that's more sustainable,' said Mark Josephson, Outside.In's chief executive officer. 'They're getting squeezed at the top by the national news organizations, and their customers are expecting really granular, specific, local information, but you can't put a reporter on every corner.'

Keep Reading at the NYT

Originally posted by Claire Cain Miller from Silicon Alley Insider, on December 16, 2008 9:11 AM

Like with children, I don't like to play favorites with the Book Clubs we host over at TPMCafe. But this one, because of the personnel and the especially because of the timeliness of the subject matter is one you really don't want to miss. We're discussing the rereleased version Paul Krugman's The Return of Depression Economics and Crisis of 2008. We're discussing it with Krugman, Bob Reich, Brad DeLong, Mark Thoma, Susan Feiner, Jo-Ann Mort, Dana Chasin and Dean Baker. Click here to join the conversation.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 16, 2008 7:53 AM

Originally posted by (author unknown) from garfield minus garfield, on December 16, 2008 7:00 AM

I Am Sitting in a Room is a piece by composer Alvin Lucier. It consists of an audio recording of Lucier sitting in a room reciting a few lines. That recording is played in the same room and recorded. Then that recording is recorded. And so on.

I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.

Here's an mp3 of the original performance. Listening to it, I wonder how much of the distortion at the end is due to the "resonant frequencies of the room" and how much is just artifacts of the rerecording process. (via djacobs)

Upgrade: It's the Larsen effect in action.

The frequency of the resulting sound is determined by resonant frequencies in the microphone, amplifier, and loudspeaker, the acoustics of the room, the directional pick-up and emission patterns of the microphone and loudspeaker, and the distance between them.

(thx, eric)

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 16, 2008 6:25 AM

Upper Deck has now added a checklist to their website for what they call the “2008 MLB MLB MMOG Digital Set.”

I get that MLB is major league baseball.  MMOG stands for massively multiplayer online game. Digital seems pretty self explanitory.   Put it all together, and it seems that Upper Deck’s developing an online MMOG.

There’s more proof out there.  A google search turns up this, a now inactive job opening at Upper Deck seeking someone who “(w)ill assist in the strategy, planning and execution of social media efforts for a new sports card MMOG as well as other sports and entertainment online efforts.”  There are other references contained in the job posting as well. 

I have no other clue here, folks.  I’d say this is Upper Deck’s answer to Toppstown, but it appears to be something much more involved and complex then codes and games.  Anyone out there have any more info?

      

Originally posted by handcollated from Hand Collated, on December 15, 2008 10:55 PM

George Oates, on a nonsensical exit: "I watched as my access to various parts of the guts of Flickr fell away. I noticed how naturally I searched for any and all bits I could think of, just in the hope that it still existed. But no. I was shut out entirely within about 14 hours of the phone call."

Originally posted by Michal Migurski from tecznotes links, on December 15, 2008 10:25 PM

Sprinklers that shoot out sprinkles! It's a new shirt by Threadless. (Thanks to Serious Eats.)

Originally posted by Valarie Smith from Crazed Teacups, on December 15, 2008 7:45 PM

This time of year sort of makes me grumpy.  I am always burnt out from work.  The holidays sort of depress me.  I am weary of awkward conversations and the general sadness I feel.  Also, I am a total slob around this time.  I just .. can't .. get it together.  Plus, the economy makes everything harder this year.  

Blah, blah, blah.  

In my email today was a request from one of those marketing companies that approach bloggers.  For those of you who don't have blogs or who just don't know what I am talking about, these people somehow find you and want you to blog about an artist, writer, event, whatever.  I have no idea how they found me especially because I've been such an infrequent blogger in the past few months.  

I usually ignore these emails but this one caught my eye because it featured an artist I have a little crush on:  Matt Nathanson.His music is very Grey's Anatomy meets Scrubs.  I have his live CD which was given to me as a gift.  He is just so funny and irreverent (and a little adorable) in concert.  I usually find the live CD banter to be an annoying somewhat awkward endeavor (see Lauryn Hill's live MTV Unplugged CD for an example of this -- scary) where singers try really hard to be funny or deep or something.  Matt is just right.  He's really funny but doesn't talk too much and has a great voice.

The marketing emailer actually wanted me to blog about some initiative that MTV was doing but I wasn't that into it.  I did go to You Tube to hear Matt Nathanson's most recent song, Car Crash.  It is a great song about wanting to feel more alive and I am a sucker for those kinds of songs.  (2008 was a really great year in terms of taking more control of my life/happiness and I feel like 2009 has even more in store! More love and creativity for sure.  For sure.  I had to bring it back to me.  Couldn't help myself.)

In the comments for the YouTube video, one user wrote the following:  "i was looking for a car crash! and i found this! IT WAS GOD LEADING ME TO AWESOMENESS"    That line just moved me. Imagine doing some google search to find info about a car crash that someone you knew was in or figuring out how to deal with car crashes or something difficult like that.  And all of a sudden you were brought to this song about feeling more alive and having faith that if you give in to something, you'll be all right. That is really a gift.  Good things can come along when you need them.  

So here's to more good things coming along when you need them.  Enjoy!

Originally posted by Angela Tucker from tuckergurl, on December 15, 2008 7:01 PM

The HD trailer for Wolverine (or, more formally, X-Men Origins: Wolverine). Looks mighty sweet. (via airbag)

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 15, 2008 4:25 PM

Sen. Ken Salazar (D-CO) will be President-Elect Obama's nominee for the Interior Department.

(To be clear, Interior is a very big deal for Western states like Colorado. I'm well aware of that. But I continue to be surprised how many relatively young senators -- Salazar is 53 and he was elected in 2004 -- are willing to give up their seats to serve in Obama's cabinet.)

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 15, 2008 3:30 PM

I'm wiping old files from my computer and trying not to be too sentimental.  But I'm struggling with "Notes," a file that I created a few years ago and in which I stored numerous text clippings.  Half of them don't open any more.  The rest belong to some train of thought that I can no longer reconstruct:

"It has become apparent to me that my son will not be walking out of the river. It is now time to make plans to celebrate a life that was golden." No such memorial details have yet been announced.

but how many roles are out

A small jewel

This lovely little thing is like a perfect shell you find on the beach. It had been advertised as a "modern musical." I tried to think of a musical it owed anything to. No luck. It took a couple of days but then it came to me. It's a reach, and for some of you, a reach too far, but to find the same simple, fragile story, a story touches your heart, you have to go all the way back to City Lights. Amazing. Now I have not only the simple little tune from Once in my head, but it seems to be mixed in with "Who'll buy my violets."

I pray you, recommend me unto my good lady of Salisbury, and pray her to have a good heart, for we never come to the kingdom of Heaven but by troubles.

Daughter, whatsoever you come, take no pain to send unto me, for if I may, I will send to you.

Your loving mother,

Katharine the Queen.

I think I was 8 or 9 when I had a f*cking mad thing for Marilyn Monroe. I used to leave Smarties, the Irish equivalent of M&M's, under my pillow with a little note saying, "I know you're dead, but these are very f*cking tasty, and you should come have a few. I won't tell anyone."

He Fortells His Passing

Lastly, I make this vow, that mine eyes desire you above all things.

Katharine the Quene.

Once you get it, you don't want to be without it again

The fact that "it worked before and doesn't now" of course suggests that "something new has happened" since you upgraded. But the thing that has happened could be any of a vast array of issues, 

The Man at the Wheel. The Fisherman was sculpted by Leonard Crask and dedicated in 1923 and states: "They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters: These see the works of the Lord and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like drunken men and are at their wits end. Then they cry unto the lord in their trouble, and he bringeth out of their distress. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves there of are still. Then are they glad because they be {quiet;} so he bringeth unto their desired haven. Oh that man would praise the lord, for his goodness and for his wonderful work to the children of men."

Take a deep breath and persevere - you'll get it working. 

Originally posted by Adriana from Stingy Kids, on December 15, 2008 3:16 PM

Ruhlman.com: Salt!.

"So, you, home cooks, even you home cooks with access only to a Safeway or Kroger, a 5-by-4-foot kitchen in a fifth floor walk up and an hour’s spare time between work, sleep, errands, kids, laundry and bill paying: Buy a duck breast and pack it in kosher salt and refrigerate it for a day and then rinse it off and enfold it in cheesecloth (or anything that can breath, a clean handkerchief will do in a pinch) and let it dry for a week on a rack on the counter or dangling from a string—then, slice it and taste. Suddenly you will see. Buy a side of salmon—no, buy a piece of salmon—pack it in an equal mixture of salt and sugar and some citrus zest or fennel, wrap it in foil for 24 hours, rinse it and taste a paper thin slice. A cooking miracle."

Originally posted by Alaina Browne from A Full Belly, on December 15, 2008 2:24 PM

I'm not really big on holiday music, but there are a few songs I more than tolerate this time of year so I thought I'd share them with you. Happy Christmas!

Last Christmas - Wham -

The first Christmas song I really loved. Yeah, seriously. I wasn't allowed to watch MTV when I was kid, so I hadn't seen this video until now. It may be the most boring music video ever produced, not worth waiting 20+ years to watch for the first time. 

Shonen Knife - Space Christmas

I love listening to this song, and not just at Christmas. It makes me want to hop around.  "HOPPY HOPPY CHRISTMAS!!!" 

Just Like Christmas

I am a sucker for jingles bells and low. Don't listen to the lyrics or you will be totally bummed out. Stay focused on the jingle and you'll be fine.

The Raveonettes 'Christmas Song'

Again with the jingle bells and pop-y goodness. This one's new to me.

James Brown's Funky Christmas

James Brown

Also on my playlist but not available on Youtube: James Brown's Santa Goes Straight the Ghetto. The funkiness Christmas song ever. 

Enjoy!

Originally posted on alaina.vox.com

Originally posted by Alaina from alaina browne lives here, on December 15, 2008 2:10 PM

From Serious Eats

There are sprinklers that shoot out jets of water, and there are sprinklers that shoot out...sprinkles. Playin' In The Sprinkler is a new t-shirt from Threadless featuring a soft serve cone and a doughnut happily frolicking through a sprinkler of the decorative sort.

Related
Serious Eats Gift Guide: Food You Can Wear
Serious Eats and Neighborhoodies Think Ups T-Shirt #1
Serious Eats Gift Guide: Apparel

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats, on December 15, 2008 1:30 PM

To open, a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson about a limbo of libraries…

In a library we are surrounded by many hundreds of dear friends, but they are imprisoned by an enchanter in these paper and leathern boxes; and though they know us, and have been waiting two, ten, or twenty centuries for us,—some of them,—and are eager to give us a sign and unbosom themselves, it is the law of their limbo that they must not speak until spoken to; and as the enchanter has dressed them, like battalions of infantry, in coat and jacket of one cut, by the thousand and ten thousand, your chance of hitting on the right one is to be computed by the arithmetical rule of Permutation and Combination,—not a choice out of three caskets, but out of half a million caskets, all alike.

We’d like to welcome the New York Public Library to The Commons on Flickr today, joining with a curious selection from its collection; opening up 16 “caskets” for us to see!

Apart from all the beautiful photos that the Library is sharing in the Commons today, we’re also trying an experiment: NYPL librarians have already spent a ton of time describing many of these photos, particularly with subject headings that describe the contents of the images. Rather than discarding this information, we’ve added a selection of these tags as a nucleus for everyone else to build from; the hope is that this will provoke rather than stifle activity on the Commons, with librarians and non-librarians collaborating on the description of this material. Time will tell, though, so check back in a few months for some analysis.

This release of around 1,200 photographs include a collection taken of Ellis Island in the early 1900s, by Lewis Hine and others…

Beautiful documentary of a “Changing New York” in the 1930s, photographed by Berenice Abbott for the Federal Art Project (FAP) around 1935…

  

The contents of an “Album of Photographs of Japan”…

  

A “landmark in the histories both of photography and of publishing: the first photographic work by a woman - Anna Atkins (1799-1871) - and the first book produced entirely by photographic means”, Cyanotypes of British Algae…

 

There is a lot more to look through, 16 sets in all, from the Civil War to early modern dance to images of Egypt and Syria that compliment the Brooklyn Museum’s lantern slides beautifully, to a selection of their Farm Security Administration Collection, that also compliments the FSA photographs from The Library of Congress and more! Make sure you’ve finished work before you dive in ;)

And in other Commons news, The Library of Congress has released a report called “For The Common Good: The Library of Congress Flickr Pilot Project” (PDF) about their experience in The Commons and it’s a fascinating read. There’s also a summary version, in addition to the full report.

A very big THANK YOU to everyone who contributed a tag, added a note, or posted a comment. What a thrill to have helped improve the data in the Library’s catalog!

      

Originally posted by George Oates from Flickr Blog, on December 15, 2008 1:11 PM

From Serious Eats: New York

Not only was NYC's Calexico Cart a favorite among judges at this year's Vendy Awards, type-design team Nick and Adam Hayes name it as one of their favorites—but for reasons other than its food:

We’ve also found this strange use of Monark for a street vendor selling Mexican food [in Soho, New York City]. They used Monark for the menu and the logotype. I have no idea why a street vendor would use Monark to promote their services, because it was a typeface originally designed for a magazine. We love waiting and watching for our typefaces to pop up in the strangest places. This has got to be one of our favorites!

This item, from Print magazine's "Good Type Gone Bad" column (which analyzes strange typeface choices) also has designer Sami Kortemäki talking about McDonald's use of a typeface he co-designed. [Fourth and seventh items.]

Related: Calexico Cart Review

Calexico Cart

SE Corner of Prince and Wooster Streets, New York NY 10012 (map)
calexicocart.com

Originally posted by Adam Kuban from Serious Eats, on December 15, 2008 1:00 PM

Seed Magazine has collected some of the wonderful science-themed photography which appears in the pages of the magazine into an online portfolio.

Bacteria photo by Eshel Ben-Jacob.

(link)

Originally posted by jason@kottke.org from kottke.org, on December 15, 2008 12:48 PM

It's been pointed out dozens of times that it's pretty cool to have an adult coming in as president, and today's Obama press conference -- now underway -- is a case in point.

At the presser, Obama made his "green team" official: Steven Chu, a physics Nobel laureate, is his new energy secretary. Carol Browner, the former head of the Environmental Protection Agency, is the head of a new policy council to coordinate climate, environment and energy issues. And Lisa Jackson, the chief of staff for New Jersey's governor, is head of the EPA.

"My administration will value science," Obama said, in what sounded like a pointed reference to his predecessor. "We will make decisions based on facts."

Obama went on to describe combating global warming as "a leading priority of my presidency and a defining test of our time."

The glowing praise from liberals of Chu would seem to constitute yet another blow to the "angry left" meme. More broadly, Obama's lines today will encapsulate for liberals as strongly as anything Obama has said just how big the potential of the moment feels right now, since the previous administration's disdain for "science" and "facts" contributed perhaps as much as anything else to the nightmarish quality the last eight years held for them.

Originally posted by Greg Sargent from TPM Election Central, on December 15, 2008 12:23 PM

At Entertainment Gathering, I happened to win a Hans Wegner Wishbone Chair. I asked conference attendee Matt Groening to sign my "winner" card. He graciously doodled Lisa Simpson on it for me. Best win, ever! Thanks Steelcase/Coalesse, thanks Mr. Simpsons Creator, and thanks EG 2008 for the opportunity!

Originally posted by hustler of culture from hustler of culture, on December 15, 2008 12:20 PM

That will be quite a book. David Remnick is writing on Obama, race and American politics.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 15, 2008 12:15 PM

Shackwire from the Twitter: "Whoa. Madison Square Park is full of really fat squirrels. Blame Shake Shack." [Twitter]

Originally posted by Amanda from Eater, on December 15, 2008 11:05 AM

Originally posted by (author unknown) from the real janelle, on December 15, 2008 10:55 AM

John “Red” Murray, 1911.

(via

flickr commons

)

Originally posted by ry from Modcult, on December 15, 2008 9:29 AM

I'm trying to get rady to go to the post office, so no time for a real post right now. Instead, let's take the lazy blogger's way out and link to a bunch of other people's stuff.

First up, the best post of the year:

Casey At The Bat

If you haven't clicked on that already, there's really no use clicking on anything else on this site. Go check out Drudge or TMZ or Fark or something.

Next up, some year-end polls:

2008 Waxies

Mario at Wax Heaven has some awards to give out, so go vote!

2008 Gummie Nominations
New Categories

Chris Harris is taking nominations for baseball card awards. Voting is scheduled for January.

Here's some new blogs I wandered into recently:

Chuck's Used Cards

Nice twist on the title, plus where else will you find a Shea Stadium postcard, a Tommy Agee highlight, Broadway Joe, the Beatles and an England football stamp all in the same post?

Green Monster

Red Sox centric, plus more poetry!

Ok, here's some linky dinks for you all:

If not for Ben Henry's swan song, THIS might very well be the post of the year.

The second Blog Bat Around deadline is Wednesday. No, I haven't written mine yet. I am a slacker.

Joey at SqueezeplayCards completes a tough set.

I love Timelines, but Upper Deck filled me with burning seething rage with this one.

And why the heck is is snowing at a bunch of WordPress sites anyway? It's too cold to be blogging outdoors.

Blue Heaven always finds neat stuff. I want that hat.

Sad times at the Negro League Baseball Museum as a bureaucrat is about to wreck Buck O'Neil's legacy.

This has nothing to do with cards. Step 1: Weave bacon.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on December 15, 2008 8:16 AM

I think I’ve discovered a microtrend: reviews of things that aren’t new. There’s reviewing things everyone else has read but you haven’t, or there’s reviewing things you’ve already read…and maybe some of your readers haven’t. Example: Cynthia Crossen reviews John le Carré’s 1986 A Perfect Spy in today’s Wall Street Journal.

Generally, I don’t reread because so often the books disappoint me, and I feel as if I’ve lost an old friend. With the element of surprise gone, most books seem less powerful to me on a second read. It’s as though I’ve developed scar tissue.

You can buy the paperback edition of A Perfect Spy for a shade under $11, or if you have a le Carré fan on your Christmas list, a first edition first printing for just under $33.

Originally posted by Michael Sippey from this is sippey.typepad.com, on December 15, 2008 8:14 AM

"Can Eric Ripert be the conductor on the F train? I mean, really, I would just love to see one train every 20-30 minutes that isn't packed to the gills." [Eater Giveaways]

Originally posted by Amanda from Eater, on December 15, 2008 7:00 AM

less is more.

Extra trailing spaces are junk that clobber files.

• It takes room for nothing
• It can cause unwanted diff when you add or remove them, though there are not significant
• It's annoying moving around with the carret...

I use vim, but I'm sure emacs knows how to do this (and might provide builtins to do it out of the box).
So here is what I've added to my .vimrc:

" hilight withspaces
" http://vim.wikia.com/wiki/Highlight_unwanted_spaces

highlight ExtraWhitespace ctermbg=darkgreen guibg=darkgreen
match ExtraWhitespace /\s\+\%#\@

The last line is my own addition to what I've found on wikia

But remember: don't check in significant changes along with unsignificant changes, otherwise it confuses people looking at history and staring at your commit. One change should just be formatting and the changelog should advertise that, and the other should be the real significant change.


update: I've found a better way to remove spaces:





nnoremap   :let _s=@/:%s/\s\+$//e:let @/=_s:nohl

This has the nice benefit of recovering the previous search you were doing, otherwise if you press 'n', then you would only search for the next trailing space in the file.

Originally posted by Yann from Yann Kerhervé's blog, on December 15, 2008 6:45 AM

In honor of Menu for Hope's fifth anniversary, as well as the 2008 release of Au Pied de Cochon: The Album in paperback (the original hardback edition was published in 2006 to celebrate Au Pied de Cochon's fifth anniversary), "...an endless banquet" would like to present its DIY Sugar Shack Special for this year's Menu for Hope.

fig. a: PDC Sugar Shack

Of course, sugaring off season is still a few months off, but this do-it-yourself sugar shack kit will allow you to brave the winter of 2009 with plenty of genuine Québécois joie de vivre wherever you live, from Kitchener to Kathmandu.

You'll get one copy of Martin Picard & Co.'s indie cookbook sensation, Au Pied de Cochon: The Album (now published in paperback by the venerable firm of Douglas & McIntyre), plus all the basics to throw your own DIY Sugar Shack Party. It's fun, it's heart-warming, it's seasonal, and it'll stick to your bones!

fig. b: find out why they call him The Greatest

What exactly is in AEB's DIY Sugar Shack Special? Well, here's an itemized list of the contents:

1 x copy Au Pied de Cochon: The Album, paperback edition ($40 CAN)

1 x can real Quebec maple syrup ($7)

1 x jar AEB ketchup aux fruits ($6)

1 x maple candy lollipop ($1)

1 x Sugar Shack Party mix CD, by DJ Oreilles de Crisse (priceless)

estimated retail value: you do the math.

AND we will ship anywhere in the world.

Interested? The prize code for our DIY Sugar Shack Special is: CA03

Remember, it only costs $10 to enter the draw, and all proceeds go to the UN World Food Programme.

Want to see all the other Canadian prizes? Visit Meena at Hooked on Heat.

Want to see the complete list of Menu for Hope prize packs from around the world? Not familiar with Menu for Hope and how it works? See Chez Pim for all the details.

Once you've selected the prize or prizes you want to bid on, just go to the First Giving's webpage and it's easy as 1-2-3.

Still don't get it? Here are the official donation Instructions:

1. Choose a prize or prizes of your choice from our Menu for Hope at Chez Pim


2. Go to the donation site at http://www.firstgiving.com/menuforhope5 and make a donation.

3. Each $10 you donate will give you one raffle ticket toward a prize of your choice. Please specify which prize you'd like in the 'Personal Message' section in the donation form when confirming your donation. You must write-in how many tickets per prize, and please use the prize code.

For example, a donation of $50 can be 2 tickets for EU01 and 3 tickets for EU02. Please write 2xEU01, 3xEU02

4. If your company matches your charity donation, please check the box and fill in the information so we could claim the corporate match.

5. Please allow us to see your email address so that we could contact you in case you win. Your email address will not be shared with anyone.

Happy holidays and give giving a chance.

am/km

Originally posted by aj kinik from ...an endless banquet, on December 15, 2008 5:35 AM

Shared by colin
This is good. Now we need a way to carry and share these in public tap water places beyond London out into the rest of the world.

Neil Barron's winning carafe design Image source: Interior Design

Leave it to Londoners to make the relatively mundane act of drinking tap water into a stylish, fabulous brand experience.

London Mayor Boris Johnson and local utility Thames Water recently announced the results of a design contest to create the signature serving vessel for London On Tap, an initiative meant to encourage Londoners to choose tap water over bottled.

As David Owens, chief executive of Thames Water, proudly told Interior Design:

Now [Londoners] will be able identify our tap water with Neil’s stunning design, and drink the best water from the best bottle.

Contest winner Neil Barron received a prize of £5,000 from Thames Water for his design, called "Tap Top" (pictured above). According to Interior Design, the carafe will be manufactured in England and available for sale to the hospitality industry in spring 2009, with potential plans for selling it to the public under discussion as well.

Though a gimmick for sure, the contest is a smart way to bring high style and sophistication to simple tap water, which is both less expensive and less wasteful than bottled water. And we think it's only fair: slick branding is, after all, one of the tricks that the bottled water industry has always used to its own advantage. (My personal favorite detail? The four slender spouts neatly trap ice cubes inside the carafe...)

More about tap water and bottled water in our archives here, here and here.

Thanks to Worldchanger Morgan Greenseth for the tip!

Help us change the world - DONATE NOW!

(Posted by Julia Levitt in Stuff at 2:29 PM)

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Worldchanging, on December 15, 2008 5:29 AM

Which CEO took the subway for the first time in twenty years on Friday as his answer to the recession? He had to take three of his buyers with him just to show him the way.

Originally posted by (author unknown) from Fashionista, on December 15, 2008 5:03 AM

From Slice

"Domino's not responsible for pizzas ruined reading this message."

Feistyfoodie said:

Did no one notice Adam's comment about having funny messages printed on the bottom of the boxes? Somewhere, some poor sap is excitedly clutching his computer-ordered pizza box, flipping it upside down to read this message, and shrieking in idiotic horror as the pizza flies out and lands on the floor, cheese-side down.

akk328 replied:

@feisty - I noticed, and I couldn't believe Adam didn't say what it was!! It's a trick...now we all have to order. =)

No one has to order, because I did it for you. Look no further than above. I was originally going to link to a photo of the bottom of a Domino's box but couldn't find any on the web. So I broke down and ordered a pizza on Friday to document it. More photos, after the jump.

Medium D-style hexagon box, Domino's. Two-color ink on corrugated cardboard. December 12, 2008.

This also gave me an excuse to do the first of what I hope will be an ongoing series of "Pizza Box Museum" posts on Slice. There's quite a range of pizza boxes out there, and, one night while staring at a rather interesting box, it hit me that I've never really documented the packaging end of the pizza scene—at least not with the obsessiveness I've devoted to slice shots and "pizza upskirt" shots.

I fully understand that this will be of interest to not many of you. If not, feel free to click on outta here. But for the rest of you, here are shots of the other "wacky" snippets of box copy on the current crop of Domino's boxes.

I first mentioned on Thursday that Domino's seemed to be trying to use humor as part of its brand identity and that this strategy even carried over to its pizza boxes.

Corru-Skeletal Technology: This box has been engineered to protect the pizza inside against crushing forces.

Since 1995, Domino's uses what John Correll of Correll Concepts calls a D-style hexagon box. It's an offshoot of the octagonal "Octabox" design that Domino's first adopted in 1988. The cut corners do a couple things—they keep the pizza from sliding around in the package, thus reducing slice separation, and minimize trapped dead-air space, which can lead to faster cool-down.

Delivery Vehicle Fuel Source: Gas, Nitrous, Electric, Pedal Power.

I have no idea how my delieveryman got the pizza to me, since Domino's neglected to mark off this part of the box.

Fill Factor: The pizza within this box has been designed for optimal stomach-fillng gratification.

By this point, the humorous little bits on the box began to go from funny and well-meaning to "enough is enough, already."

Anti-Theft Technology: Box surface has been fortified to increase grippage in the event of an attemped pizza pilfer.

Funny, one of my fears is having my pizza stolen from me by rowdy teenagers.

Caution: Steam Exhaust Port.

Isn't that what Luke fired his proton torpedos down to destroy the first Death Star?

While I wanted to document this box, I didn't want this mini project to cost a fortune, so I checked out the "online coupons" section of the Domino's site and found a coupon good for any of the new Oven Baked Sandwich line and a 10-inch one-topping pie.

For some reason, I thought banana peppers (aka pepperoncini) would be good for my one topping. They weren't. This was the worst pizza topping I've had in a while. The peppers weren't spicy, as I expected they would be, and instead tasted pickley and sour. I could only get through one piece before trying to foist the rest of this stuff on coworkers (who, wisely, were having none of it).

About the Oven Baked Sandwich—I'll get to that tomorrow. Stay tuned.

Originally posted by Adam Kuban from Serious Eats, on December 15, 2008 5:00 AM

More holiday shopping ...

Rita at Cemetarian suggests these wonderful things ...

I love this old dress ad -- an inexpensive frame from the craft store and you have a fun present:



This vintage knitting book would make a great gift for, well, knitters. If you're feeling flush, included the recommended amount of yarn ...



I *really* want the guy's sweater in this booklet, shown here (but not enough to learn how to knit, sadly):



And if you still need a dramatic holiday dress, I bet you could get this in time ... I would make it in tartan, myself. (Because, yes, I *enjoy* looking like a sofa ...)



Rita is offering 10% off with the code adad ...

AND: Kathleen at Little Hunting Creek is offering a free handmade baggage tag (and they are CUTE) with every purchase over $25. And if you buy three or more patterns, you still get free shipping! (Put "Dressaday" in the comments.)

Originally posted by Erin from A Dress A Day, on December 15, 2008 3:33 AM

A few years back, I was working on a film that had a camera position on the roof of a building just south of Central Park. The position required some construction, about two weeks of prep work, and I was assigned to “babysit” the crew - basically let them in, keep an eye on them while they worked, hold down the fort when they took their lunch break, and close up when they finished. Very, very simple stuff.

The building whose roof we were using would only let us work at night, so I had the graveyard shift. Personally, I love working at night in the summer - the city is a lot more manageable, the temperature is way more pleasant than during the sweltering days, and work tends to move at a more relaxed pace.

What made this job special was the location. The roof had an unrivaled view of Central Park:

I basically spent 12 hours a day up there, and it’s probably one of my favorite film job experiences ever. The weather was beautiful (warm summer breezes at 80 stories up are something special), the work was easy, and I was on top of Manhattan.  Occasionally, there would be a summer heat lightening storm, which was amazing from this vantage point (I have a video somewhere of lightening striking across the city that I’ll post someday).

Every morning as the sun came up, mist and fog would rise off the park through the trees, obscuring the city in a soft haze…

Here’s a pan I took, which looks more impressive if you click to see the full image.

Finally, after a few hours, the mist disappears to reveal the park in all its glory.

And then it was time to go home and get some sleep. I think back to jobs like this nostalgically when I’m out scouting on bitter winter days…

-SCOUT

Originally posted by Scout from Scouting NY, on December 15, 2008 3:02 AM

Originally posted by (author unknown) from the real janelle, on December 15, 2008 2:39 AM

They had lied to each other so many times, over so many years, that deceptions between them had become commonplace, practically repertoire. Everyone knew this about them--it wasn’t news among their friends. That night, they had dinner reservations with Elliot and Susan, who were accustomed to following the shifts . . .

Originally posted by Donald Antrim from The New Yorker, on December 14, 2008 7:00 PM

In the twilight of his presidency, President Bush made a surprise trip to Iraq today—and he had to deal with a journalist who threw shoes at him. Seriously. During a press conference of Iraqi Prime Minister Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, Al Baghadadia reporter Muntadar al-Zaidi, seated 12 feet away, threw both his shoes—one right after the other—at President Bush while yelling "This is the end!" See the video:

According to the Washington Post, "The incident lent an air of chaos and farce to a trip intended to highlight improving security conditions in the war-torn country." The WaPo also reported Zaidi, who was eventually tackled by a "security agents...and removed" from the room," was kidnapped by Shiite militiamen last year: "Throwing a shoe at someone is considered the worst possible insult in Iraq, and is meant to show extreme disrespect and hatred towards someone."

Bush, who was not injured, seemed to shrug it off, "All I can report is it is a size 10."

Originally posted by Jen Chung from Gothamist Weekly Favorites, on December 14, 2008 6:05 PM

I was at the Gimme Coffee roastery today, and was shocked to find two of the employees have a disgusting brown tongue disease. Beware of this; apparently it is highly contagious at roasteries and coffee shops.




Many people say the disease is incurable, although the Gimme folks showed me a machine that they claim somehow makes the suffering easier to bear:

Originally posted by AndyS from portafilter.net, on December 14, 2008 4:21 PM

One of my coworkers, Scott, recently pointed me towards Jacob Kaplan–Moss’s comments on programming languages and thought. In “Syntactic Sugar”, Jacob addresses the canard that “all Turing complete language differ solely on syntactic sugar.” He first concedes that this is technically true, in terms of reduction to machine instructions and register manipulation. At the same time, he says, this view ignores the important effect qualitative differences in the syntactic structure of different programming languages have on the way we as programmers solve problems. In support of this, he introduces the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis from linguistics, which states that, rather than simply being a vehicle for thought, language in fact determines the limits of what is thinkable. He argues that this applies equally to programming languages, and concludes that “we’ll always be more productive in a language that promotes a type of thought with which we’re already familiar.”

Jacob’s initial concession is meant to let him get straight to the point: syntax matters, regardless of whether that syntax is purely “sugar” from the compiler writer’s point of view or not. You could go ahead and look at vocabulary (standard libraries) as well as semantics, but I’d like to look a bit more closely at Jacob’s argument and conclusions.

First off, let me say that I agree with what I see as the most important point of Jacob’s article: Syntax does matter. Unfortunately, I have to disagree with how he gets to that point and the conclusion he draws from it.
Throughout the article hides the assumption that a programming language is a Turing complete language. I believe this definition is overly restrictive. Pretty much any programming language you’ll pick up is Turing complete, but that’s not a necessity. TeX was originally not intended to be Turing complete; that it ended up so was due partly to lobbying by Guy L. Steele and partly to necessity (typesetting is not an easy problem!). Because it is Turing complete, you can (very painfully) abuse it to do things it was never meant to do. But even were it not, it would still have been a useful language for typesetting. I haven’t looked at other typesetting languages, such as eqn, roff, and pic, but it’s likely they were not Turing complete. These languages are used to program how a device should layout and style text. They might also allow you to define and apply function-macros. Maybe you’d want to call these markup languages and not programming languages, but that’s perhaps because you have defined programming language to require Turing completeness.

I also don’t think I can accept his initial concession that all Turing complete languages are the same when reduced to the level of the machine. Even Turing complete languages differ much more fundamentally than in syntactic sugar alone. The very ideas of computation that Prolog, Haskell, and C (or assembler) bring to the table are fundamentally different. That these ideas are basically equivalent comes down to the Church–Turing thesis.

At the same time, reduction to CPU or machine instructions is an insufficient reduction to establish equivalence. Even for the same machine, different compilers can produce different machine code given the same source. Even a single compiler can produce different machine code for the same source – this is why we have switches like -O[0..3] and -Osize for GCC. Further, all machine codes are not alike. Look at how x86 has been extended to accommodate the move from 16-bit to 32-bit computing (one very visible example: in the assembly language, a bunch of registers go from names like AX to EAX, where E stands for “extended”). There’s also the difference between RISC versus CISC instruction sets.

So we can extend Jacob’s claim: not only does syntax matters, but differences in syntax can even be caused by technically significant differences between programming languages. For the same reasons, though, I can’t embrace Jacob’s ultimate conclusion that, in light of the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis,  “we’ll always be more productive in a language that promotes a type of thought with which we’re already familiar.”

Jacob sees programming languages as influencing programmer productivity. I would like to suggest a further programming language parallel of Sapir–Whorf. If you look at the similarities between the von Neumann machine and “von Neumann languages” like FORTRAN, C, and the bulk of languages widely deployed in computing’s brief history, you’ll start to think that hardware and languages influence each other, and possibly not for the best. (See “Can Programming Be Liberated from the von Neumann Style?”, an address by one of the creators of FORTRAN, for more on the limitations introduced by this style.)

Hardware influences the programming languages available to us as programmers. The type of algorithmic thought we’re accustomed to will then be determined by the programming languages we are most familiar with, so that hardware transitively determines our problem-solving approach. When we add this hardware–language parallel to the mix, hardware becomes, through historic accident, the driving factor behind programmer productivity (or the lack thereof).

Jacob’s conclusion that familiarity with a language’s “type of thought” guarantees the highest programmer productivity relies on a fundamental equality of languages being skewed in terms of productivity by each language’s similarity to our problem solving approach. But there are languages rooted in types of thought that might provide sufficient increases in productivity to be worth the trouble of learning to think a bit differently. That’s what Jane Street Capital is betting on in its use of Objective Caml in preference to any other language. (See Wadler’s brief remarks on a paper discussing this, “Caml Trading: Experiences with Functional Programming on Wall Street”. I don’t know where I read this, but I also recall something about it taking a company about 1–2 weeks to retrain Java/C++ programmers as (here my memory grows fuzzier) OCaml/Haskell/Erlang programmers.) That’s what the computer science community as a whole bet on when it made the move from navigational databases to relational databases. People still have trouble grokking the relational approach, but we’ve made the move nevertheless, as working with relational databases is much more productive in many cases than working with navigational databases.

Just because you’re most comfortable working with a language shouldn’t stop you from taking a long, hard look at what else is lurking in the wings and whether you might be able to be much more productive with an utterly different sort of language. If nothing else, the experience will be broadening. Jacob’s been looking into Scheme – what have you been doing?

Originally posted by Jeremy W. Sherman from Big Nerd Ranch Weblog, on December 14, 2008 4:15 PM

Like most of us, if I'm honest with myself, I really only know how Secret Service protection works from the movies or how, going on my own common sense, I figure it works. The folks who protect the president are professionals. So I want to be extremely tentative and cautious about second-guessing their work from a bit of news video that leaves many key details unanswered.

But watching the video of the Iraqi journalist throwing his shoes at President Bush, I could not help but notice that it took an uncomfortably long period of time for anyone to get to the assailant and, even more, much longer than I would have expected for anyone who looked like Secret Service to get to the president and block his body or get him out of harm's way.

I guess the point here is that this was a very confined space. Presumably the Secret Service controlled access to the degree that they were confident there were no unauthorized weapons in the room. And they wouldn't have to worry about someone with a gun at a greater distance. So they may have been less worried about jumping in front of the president, etc.

Maybe I'm just over-analyzing this. And obviously a president can't be under lock and key at all moments, with Secret Service agents ready to throw him to the floor at a moment's notice. But for an American president, any moment in Iraq has to be considered a very high risk situation. So it did make me wonder.

On a totally unrelated note, I was genuinely impressed by the president's quick ducking response. In all seriousness, if you watch the video, the guy was extremely close to the president (maybe fifteen feet?). He threw the shoe very hard and very accurately. Given how out of the blue the whole bizarre incident was I think the reporter would have beaned most other folks in that situation.

Originally posted by Josh Marshall from Talking Points Memo, on December 14, 2008 1:32 PM

From Serious Eats: New York

When Momofuku master David Chang goes to culinary bookstore Kitchen Arts & Letters (1435 Lexington Avenue, New York NY 10128; 212-876-5550; map), he unleashes his love for cookbooks. My favorite string of Chang words: "I mean, this is just crazy. Look at this guy. Come on—he's the fucking man. Look at that. Dude, check this out!" Like a kid in a candy store. Watch the video at men.style.com.

Related
Do You Agree with Frank Bruni's Three Stars to Ssam Bar?
Momofuku Bakery & Milk Bar: It's Damn Good, Damn It!
Meet & Eat: David Chang, Momofuku's 'Overrated Pseudo Chef'

Originally posted by Robyn Lee from Serious Eats, on December 14, 2008 12:00 PM

I am sitting in a room different from the one you are in now. I am recording the sound of my speaking voice and I am going to play it back into the room again and again until the resonant frequencies of the room reinforce themselves so that any semblance of my speech, with perhaps the exception of rhythm, is destroyed. What you will hear, then, are the natural resonant frequencies of the room articulated by speech. I regard this activity not so much as a demonstration of a physical fact, but more as a way to smooth out any irregularities my speech might have.

Originally posted by David Jacobs from hello, typepad, on December 14, 2008 11:48 AM

What a fitting end to his last visit to Iraq.

Originally posted by Administrator from Turbanhead, on December 14, 2008 11:39 AM

As Guiseppe just reminded MySQL 4.0 is reaching its end of life in about 2 weeks from now. When it becomes unsupported by MySQL together with 3.23 version.

At Percona we do not have such restriction and we will continue to support your environment even if you’re still on MySQL 4 or 3.23 (we indeed do have customers which are still using 3.23 now)

What does it mean for you in practice ? This means we will continue helping you with issues you’re having with MySQL 3.23 or 4.0 and will be happy to backport bug fixes to MySQL 3.23 and 4.0

Supporting MySQL 3.23 and MySQL 4.0 environment is indeed more expensive than current MySQL versions because we can’t relay on Sun/MySQL doing any work with bug fixes plus more work is often needed because these versions have lower transparency than later versions. It also often takes more time to do things because we have to have an extra care to remember all limitations of these versions correctly. For example remember to use set-variable in MySQL 3.23 or remembering all optimizer issues which were fixed more recently.

It costs more to support environments based on 3.23 and 4.0 these days so we would typically recommend to upgrade, however if it is not instantly possible we continue to do support your envinronment. With our simple pricing model of “you pay for consultants true time” we can naturally afford to do it.

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Originally posted by peter from MySQL Performance Blog, on December 14, 2008 10:07 AM

An espresso blend is a unique creation which unites the distinct qualities of individual coffees. Our Leftist blend combines flavors deriving from such peculiarities of origin as climate, varietal, soil type, or process. Because of the seasonal nature of agricultural products and our desire for better quality, these component coffees change periodically and are under constant evaluation for their contributions to the blend. It is our job to learn them individually before we put it all together. Here, baristas cup single origin blend components in the training lab at our Manhattan location.

Originally posted by Jeremy Gauger from Gimme! Coffee News, on December 14, 2008 10:05 AM

Just like pretty much everyone else. And I found the last card before the Inauguration! Hooray!


Not bothering with the fights, the pulled Hillary, the veeps, the super duper short prints, the R-rated ones or the phantom Hobby store giveaway card that no one seems to have.

I have a completed page and that's enough candidate cards 'til 2012.

Originally posted by dayf from Cardboard Junkie, on December 14, 2008 9:47 AM

From Serious Eats

Photograph from clayirving on Flickr

Fennel is a sight for sore eyes during the potato-filled winter months. Crunchy like celery and and slightly sweet like licorice or anise, it'll brighten your plate right up. Fennel loses its flavor as it ages so be sure to eat it right away. It'll keep in your crisper for about four days.

Fennel Recipes

• Fennel, Arugula and Green Apple Salad
• Miso Soup with Fennel and Ginger
• Fennel Soup with Parmesan Cream
• Ridiculously Easy and Insanely Delicious Fennel Sausage
• Crunchy Baked Fennel
• Lidia Bastianich's Baked Fennel with Prosciutto
• Roasted Halibut with Grapefruit Fennel Salsa

Originally posted by Alaina Browne from Serious Eats, on December 14, 2008 5:30 AM