Etcetera

Revisit TED

Watching the video below led me to rewatch some of the other terrific talks that have been part of the TED conference over the years.

Take a look at all of them. Or start here.

Rives at TED 2006

I came across this via the Michael Rubin's blog. I'd never heard of this Rives guy before. But he's pretty amazing. Rubin says, "He teaches high school english. Can you imagine what you'd be like today if he was your high school english teacher?"

And here's another.

Len Edgerly's "First Person" Perspective of Buying iPhone

Flight of the Conchords

I may need to get HBO to watch these guys.

Here's another good one from them.

Saving The Internet With Hate

An unconventional idea on online social networking:

The Internet needs more hate. Much more.

We’re overrun by morons, assholes, griefers, spammers, porn peddlers, Nazi dictators, little Napoleons, and arbitrary censors who only behave in their socially deficient manner because they know you can’t do anything about it.

The Internet gives little people the power, confidence, and anonymity they need to abuse anyone they want without any fear of retribution.

Third!

Today the Redsox won, and the Yankees lost. The "bombers" are now, not only 11.5 games behind the Sox, they are in THIRD place in the AL East.

If you look at all 14 teams of the American League as a whole, the Yankees are in 9th place (Redsox: 1st Place).

And of all 30 major league baseball teams, the Yankees are in 17th Place (Redsox? Oh yeah, 1st place).

To all you, "wait till September" naysayers, I say this: Bring it on!

Windorphin

Make your own Windorph

On the Boston Subway today, there were ads all over the place for "windorphins". It had the look of a new online game or virtual pet or something.

Turns out it's... well I'm not sure what it is. Maybe some odd viral marketing thing for eBay.

You tell me.

Ten!

Redsox fans are starting to file off of the bridge.

Shakti Gawain on Shadows

Evil is like a shadow - it has no real substance of its own, it is simply a lack of light. You cannot cause a shadow to disappear by trying to fight it, stamp on it, by railing against it, or any other form of emotional or physical resistance. In order to cause a shadow to disappear, you must shine light on it.

-- Shakti Gawain, teacher and author

Play with your food

Here's a website that just the thing for my sister. She's a very crafty person.

And this posting about making weird, err, creative food dishes, reminds me of my friend Cindy.

A sweep, but not perfect.

I was really hoping that we could keep Barry Bonds from hitting any homeruns during this series at Fenway. We almost made it, but he hit a just barely homer into the bullpen. The good news is we swept the Giants.

Look! It's me!

At yesterday's Boston Tweetup.

What is Twitter and what makes is good?

Joe Cascio has written one of the best summaries of why Twitter is good and compelling.

Here's an example.

Honesty, Good Manners - Because of the control aspect people are a lot more honest about who they are they and behave well. It's immediately obvious that Twitter is all about having friends and followers. If no one follows you, there's really not much point to being on Twitter because you'll never have anyone respond to you. I've rarely seen or heard of any abusive activity because word gets around fast, and bad actors get dropped instantly. So, it really rewards nice, friendly, funny people and weeds out weirdos. So groups of co-respondents tend to get better and better.

Read the whole thing.

What a teacher makes.

Even Keel

The time-space continuum moved a step back into its proper order tonight as the Redsox finally scored a comfortable win, and the Yankees lost. The frosting on the cake is that the losing pitcher for the Yankees was Roger Clemens.

It's a Bargain!

Gas prices here in Boston had reached just over $3 a gallon in the past few weeks. But during the last few days they seemed like they were drifting down, though they were still mostly over $3.

Yesterday in NH I was pleasantly surprised to see prices at many stations down around $2.90. And I figured I had hit the jackpot when one of my regular stations was at $2.83!

Then, even more remarkable, was when I drove by that same station today -- the Hess on Rt4 just east of Concord -- to see that they had lowered their price to $2.81.

It's a sign of the times that we get excited about sub $3 gas prices.

Bringing Opera to the Masses

This thing is all over the net. From one of the American Idol-like shows:

And a more traditional version.

Road Trip

I'm up in NH today, wandering around the Seacoast area doing errands and scouting locations (sorta, kinda).

Presenting "The Wrong Trousers"

George Washington quote

"Government is not reason, it is not eloquence, it is force; like fire, a troublesome servant and a fearful master. Never for a moment should it be left to irresponsible action."

-- George Washington, 1st US president (1732-1799)

Rep. Adam Smith (D) WA

I want this guy to be my congressman.

(Click to play.)

Kids these days and their odd new dances

More evidence that coffee is a health drink.

Biosingularity:

Coffee is among the most widely consumed beverages in the world, and that the preponderance of scientific evidence suggests that moderate coffee consumption (3-5 cups per day) may be associated with reduced risk of certain disease conditions, such as Parkinson’s disease. Some research in neuropharamacology suggests that one cup of coffee can halve the risk of Parkinson’s disease. Other studies have found it reduces the risk of Alzheimer’s disease, kidney stones, gallstones, depression and even suicide.

New Zealand Wins LV Cup

The New Zealand entry in the Louis Vuitton cup, "Emirates", swept the finals of the challenger series today, defeating "Luna Nova", from Italy, 5-0.

New Zealand is the boat I was rooting for, but the whole thing was a little disappointing, with Italy never really being a factor, and the races being a bit, well, boring.

And this is from someone who is accepting of the, err, subtleness, of the sport. But these races had no real lead changes, no penalties, no crew screwups, no equipment failures. Nothing really active happening. It seemed that whoever got the lead in the beginning of the first leg, was uncatchable.

Too bad. I remember the times when the winds and waves would bash the boats and crews around. The close sailing would produce rules penalties and even the occasional collision. And the battering would lead to spectacular equipment failures like sails blowing out, and once or twice a dismasting.

I don't know what's really changed. But I'm hoping the America's Cup races, which begin on June 23, will be more competitive and active.

Loius Vuitton Cup

I've been watching the series of races to determine what nation's team will challenge Switzerland in the America's Cup yacht race later this month.

[Yes, it's weird that a nation with no ocean coastline is the reigning champion of the most prestigious sailboat race in the world. But we got used to that about 4 years ago.]

The team from New Zealand is racing against Italy in the finals of the challenger series. I'm rooting for New Zealand to win the whole thing. But if it were to be Italy vs. Switzerland, I'd support the Swiss.

I'm watching race #3 right now. It looks like NZ is about to go up 3-0 in this best of 9 series.