Patrick unscripted

Watch this space

Trick — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 02:11:43 +0000

I never got around to finishing this website, and I won’t be updating it from overseas, so follow me on twitter or flickr if you care to know what I’m up to. See you in ‘09.

The Next Goldwater

Trick — Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:21:03 +0000

Image stolen from Shepard Fairey, text from some hippies that Tom Wolfe was hanging out with in the 60s.

Using Photographs to Enhance Videos of a Static Scene

Trick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:43:17 +0000

Using Photographs to enhance videos of a static scene (via Daring Fireball). I can’t wait for the Final Cut plugin.

An Inconvenient Thesaurus Entry

Trick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:26:58 +0000

Climate change is too benign a term to impel emission reduction. How about climApocalypse or thermageddon?

It’s Trilogy Time

Trick — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 00:07:44 +0000

Since it’s a slow news month, I don’t care about the olympics and the conventions aren’t for another two weeks, I think I’ll kill time by watching some of my favorite fantasy and sci-fi trilogies.

I’ve started with history’s longest New Zealand travel advert, which has remained improbably high on IMDB’s top 250 for the last 5–7 years. Although each movie improved on its prequel, the SFX are beginning to show their age. Characters are still wooden and prone to make absurd non-sequitur pronouncements.

Speaking of non sequiturs, digital travel guide publisher Schmap selected my photo of the Pavillon Colbert for their Paris travel guide (hover over the Musée du Louvre and cycle through the photos if you don’t see it right away). I’m also happy to see creative commons licensing for making content sharing simple.

Lastly, some wanton math humor:

Images of the Day: Science!

Trick — Sun, 10 Aug 2008 18:56:29 +0000

Click through for more nerdy goodness.

Speaking of hadrons

Trick — Sat, 09 Aug 2008 01:31:16 +0000

While we’re talking about the LHC, Sean at Cosmic Variance discusses some of the discoveries it might yield. After reading that I had to spend a good half hour on Wikipedia reminding myself what elementary particles are bouncing around these days.

Hors d’œuvre

Trick — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 02:16:24 +0000

Because every new WordPress upgrade breaks K2, my previous theme, I’m working on a new home-grown alternative. Until it’s ready for prime time, here are some random items of interest:

Some people still believe the earth is flat. Oddly, this misconception isn’t as old as many think.
NYT’s Solzhenitsyn obit is 8 pages long.
McCain makes his first visit to the internet, which, according to corrupt Senator Ted Stevens, is a series of tubes.
Iran’s scientists may be on the verge of developing nuclear ballistic missiles, but they suck at photoshop.
And in case you missed Trinity Day, here’s some background information on the detonation of the first atomic bomb.
Beginning 9 August, The Orwell Trust will publish George Orwell’s diaries online, 70 years to the day after he wrote each entry.
Bowser’s minions stage a mutiny.
Typefaces have a conference to discuss membership requirements. Much funnier than it sounds.

I for one welcome our new hadron overlords

Trick — Sun, 03 Aug 2008 01:23:22 +0000

Even if the LHC doesn’t create an earth-consuming black hole, photographs reveal it to be the most sinister-looking technological artifact in Switzerland.

Better Food through Advertising

Trick — Tue, 24 Jun 2008 00:27:59 +0000

If advertising or research is funded by the producer of a potentially dangerous item, it should probably be regarded with increased suspicion. Witness Corn Product International’s High-Fructose Corn Syrup advertising campaign: whereas refined sugar and HFCS have been implicated in the rise of obesity and diabetes in developed countries, the adverts visually imply that HFCS is as healthy as corn. Sure, help yourself to another ear of corn, but avoid the thousands of processed foods containing the stuff.

Inked

Trick — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 00:41:40 +0000

Over the last few months both of my Hewlett-Packard printers have failed. I’ll admit they were loss leader inexpensive and thus quite likely to break after I had already purchased additional absurdly expensive cartridges. I don’t mind running down to the business center to print things out (for free); in fact, since the average cost of my inkjet printer probably exceeded $1/page over the last year of ownership, perhaps I shouldn’t have bought it in the first place. (On the other hand, my old B&W laser printer certainly paid for itself by allowing me to avoid the exorbitant fees at the university library.)

The Truth about Obama

Trick — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:28:45 +0000

The Truth about Barack Obama: “Barack Obama says that Americans cling to GUNS and RELIGION because they are AWESOME.”

Obama Gets Gored

Trick — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:32:21 +0000

Gore endorses Obama. Wonkette’s analysis: “One thing is clear: You can take anybody and stick them in front of that Obama background and they will look 10 percent leaner, more youthful, and Hopier.”

Stuck Between Stations

Trick — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 21:14:11 +0000

Where’s the good music this year? I’ve only acquired 4 new albums this year (Colin Meloy, Jack Johnson, The Magnetic Fields and Vampire Weekend) and will probably buy the new Sigur Rós when it’s released next week. Death Cab got mixed reviews last month, so I haven’t picked that one up yet. Recommendations, anyone?

Taxing Stupidity

Trick — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 15:33:39 +0000

“A household with income under $13,000 spends, on average, $645 a year on lottery tickets, about 9 percent of all income” (via kottke.org)

Perish the Thought

Trick — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 21:18:05 +0000

Whether you’ve been avidly following the Democratic primary excitement over the last several aeons or not, this video is supremely informative and surprisingly funny.

Edit: Belated hat tip to Kristina, who noticed this ages before I did and included an anecdote about how left-leaning the WaPo is.

What I Learned Today: In Defense of Food II

Trick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:55:51 +0000

If you find the quantity and variety of available nutritional advice frustrating, find relief in Michael Pollan’s simplified rules: Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.

In the last 50 pages of In Defense of Food, he parses this guidance into an only slightly more complicated algorithm, the highlights of which are:

Avoid food products containing ingredients that are unfamiliar, unpronounceable, more than five in number or that include high-fructose corn syrup. I’ve been unable to find any bread in the supermarket that meets these criteria; the Whole Grain White Bread Pollan excoriates in the book contains over forty ingredients.
Avoid food products that make health claims. The AHA seal of approval decorates the packaging of Lucky Charms, Cocoa Puffs and Trix, yet no sane person would consider these to be healthy breakfast options.
Shop the peripheries of the supermarket and stay out of the middle. Meaning, stick to minimally-processed produce, meat, dairy and the like.

I’ve taken a few steps in this direction recently, and I may become even more drastic by going to farmers markets.

McCain Golf Gear

Trick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 20:12:18 +0000

Nothing says “I love you, Dad” like a John McCain Golf Pack. Unsurprisingly, Golf Gear shares equal importance with “Strategy” and “General Election” on McCain’s website.

Stunning Photos of Saturn from NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft

Trick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 17:21:17 +0000

The Big Picture recently showcased some amazing photos of Saturn from NASA’s Cassini Spacecraft.

Back by Unpopular Demand

Trick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 16:29:13 +0000

So now you can comment directly on digressions (the short posts with no title) by clicking on the little date/comment combo directly following the entry. This totally breaks my film review system, which I probably need to take out of the digressions category anyways. ALSO, if you want an avatar to display next to your comments, head over to gravatar.com and sign up.

Don’t Criticize What You Can’t Understand

Trick — Sun, 08 Jun 2008 13:37:50 +0000

In what is likely the least coherent endorsement of the season, enigmatic artist Bob Dylan has come out in support of Barack Obama, just a few days shy of Clinton’s concession. You can add this to the three billion other endorsements Obama has already scored.

This Isn’t Helping the Transition to Metric

Trick — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 21:01:23 +0000

SensibleUnits.com converts selected SI and customary units (length, area or mass only) into arbitrary artificial units. It’s good to know that I weigh as much as 14 “average domestic cats.”

Musical Roller Coaster Like Whoa

Trick — Wed, 04 Jun 2008 20:54:58 +0000

That’s Ferdinand Ries’ 2nd Symphony, by the way. I promise this isn’t becoming a YouTube-regurgitation site.

All Your Pork and Beans are Belong to Us

Trick — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 23:52:20 +0000

This Weezer music video gleefully channels some of the funnier internet memes of this millennium.

Merging galaxies, now that’s sexy

Trick — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 19:03:35 +0000

In honor of the HST’s 18th birthday last month, NASA/ESA published a page of photographs of merging galaxies. The idea for satellite telescopes goes back to the 1920s, but the HST didn’t launch until 1990, and a significant problem with it’s original mirror wasn’t corrected until 1993. Despite its importance in key scientific discoveries over the last several years, the HST may fall into disrepair before its eventual replacement is launched in 2013.

The galaxy to the right, Markarian 533, is in the constellation Pegasus, over 400 million light years away.

The Subliminal Reason behind Gordon Brown’s Proposal

Trick — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 11:03:38 +0000

Though unlikely to pass, a vote extending “the period for which a terrorist suspect can be detained without charge from 28 to 42 days” would at least provide another candidate for the ultimate question.

Things Younger than McCain

Trick — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 02:26:46 +0000

Things younger than John McCain: the Golden Gate Bridge, the ballpoint pen, the chocolate chip cookie, Velcro, 91% of Americans.

Is Hillary Clinton Too Drunk to Be President?

Trick — Fri, 30 May 2008 21:23:42 +0000

Wonkette: Is Hillary Clinton too drunk to be president?

Budget Hero

Trick — Fri, 30 May 2008 00:42:05 +0000

Who needs expensive game consoles like the Wii or PS3 when you can play free games online … like BUDGET HERO. It’s fun and informative.

U.S. Gas Is Cheap by International Standards

Trick — Wed, 28 May 2008 01:02:45 +0000

Next time a stranger at the gas station attempts to commiserate about the rising price of oil, end the conversation quickly by noting that petrol is cheaper in the U.S. than in 107 other countries.