Science Friday

I got to attend a live broadcast of NPR's Talk of the Nation: Science Friday the other day. It was broadcast from an auditorium at the National Geographic Museum.

Typically the NPR folk record in a nice sound proofed booth where the host can see the sound engineers through a huge window. And, typically, the sound people at National Geographic are in a booth well removed from the stage. For this event they had to do things different. Two tables for four were situated in a wide V shape that faced the middle of the stage. Ira, the host, was at one table, the guests would be at another table, and far enough behind the guests to be unobtrusive, but still on the stage where Ira could see them, was a table of sound engineers. They did all the usual stuff you'd come to expect from radio sitcoms: counting down on fingers, waving arms in circles, and generally gesturing at Ira to feed him queues and let him know how much time remained. That, plus a box in the middle of the stage that faced Ira. I'm assuming that was some sort of countdown clock.

The first program [listen here] took most of the first hour and was spent discussing whether or not America has a shortage of scientists and what's being done to keep kids interested in science. You don't generally hear from the crowd that says "meh, America has plenty of scientists". And the middle school teacher they included is really good, but really abnormal.

Here's the video of said teacher in a vomit comet that's referenced in the show.


The rest of the hour was spent with their "Video of the Week". You may have seen it already. It's the video of a Lego Space Shuttle attached to a weather balloon. [video here]

Hour two started with co-Nobel Prize winner Adam Reiss talking about his research into Dark Energy and Dark Matter. Dark Energy being what makes the galaxies accelerate away from each other and which didn't take effect until relatively recently, in cosmic terms. [listen here]

Then, being at some National Geographic offices, they brought in someone who, two days later, would be leaving to lead a National Geographic sponsored climb of Mt. Everest. He was live on stage while two of his traveling companions addressed us as the seeming voices of God. One was from the Mayo Clinic and will be monitoring physiological changes of the team and seeing what lasting effect, if any stay with climbers. We know red blood cell counts rise, but what else?
The other was from Montana State University who will be taking some super high quality GPS equipment up to measure the exact height of the mountain and getting rock samples to see what Everest is made of other than limestone. India continues to push up into the rest of Asia at the breakneck speed of... well, about the speed that your fingernails grow, so the height of Everest needs to be refigured on occasion. And newer, more accurate instruments, mean we can get greater accuracy than we could before. Also, getting up is such an ordeal and you spend so little time at the top of Everest that there's not a lot of rock samples taken from up there. [listen here]

Check out the program. You may notice that, for the first hour at least, the audience is hesitant to make any noise or applaud or anything. I mean, it's live radio. We don't want to screw up a program. We don't know when it's live or not.

NPR! Hey! There's another live program in New York this coming Friday. Could you get the man an "On Air" light?

Sears: you need help

I saw this morning that Sears is closing some more stores. So I'm finally getting around to reposting this letter I wrote them awhile back.

I understand Sears is having some problems. I mean having to close more and more stores. This is a shame. Sears is far and away my choice of places to shop for clothing. You don't try to sell me jeans with holes and stains and charge me triple or more. I can get a tee shirt that isn't covered in some garish "urban" pattern or so thin that it doesn't actually keep me warm. For that I thank you. And I've been known to come in and wander around just to look at the home appliances and hardware. But one the occasions I've actually tried to go shopping for things other than clothes I've been frustrated.

When I shop I start with the internet. I want to do research online, show up in a store, confirm that it's really something I want with my eyes, slap down some money, and walk out with my product.

When I'd go shopping as a kid, back before the internet, we'd come into a store look over what they have, and buy the one we liked best. Now I have an idea of what I want and look for someone who has it. For example, in my upcoming kitchen remodel I'll need a new oven and stove. Instead of coming in to see what you have I'll be looking for an induction range top and somewhere that I can come touch it before laying down my money. That's probably not Sears, Lowes, HomeDepot, or BestBuy. I've checked all of them before and didn't see them. I'll look again before buying just because you have actual, physical stores, but have little hope that we'll get to do business.

Another example:
I was looking for the card game "Gloom" yesterday. Google listed several vendors including Sears.com along with Newegg, eBay, Powells, and several other sites. I got excited. I could just pop in and pick it up next time I was out and about. Oops, no, it's sold by World at Play Games. It's "In Stock", but does that mean in stock in the store or on the website? Because I don't want to order it. And I'll be very annoyed if I show up in the store and don't find it.

See, your website lists a lot of stuff that you don't actually have. Sometimes, but not always, the site makes it clear that it's a web-only product. More often I have to notice that Sears.com is actually selling for some other company. They're using your site, but not your stores. If the product is actually available in brick and mortar stores I'm not told what stores that would be. I have to show up and take my chances. More often than not I have to get some sales person to get online and tell me if that object is available in any Sears in the area. They tell me they can order it for me, but honestly, if I wanted to order it I would have already. I'm there because I want to walk out with it.

I bought an Arduino circuit board recently. I bought it from MicroCenter because, from what I could tell from an internet search, they were the only brick and mortar store in the United States that sold them. They're a small chain so I felt lucky that I had one that was not only near me, but was metro accessible. Their store was a bit run down, but I found them selling stuff online, found their store, went there and bought exactly what I wanted. For this, and a bunch of other nifty stuff I saw while there, they're one of my new favorite stores. Sears can still do that. Not with Arduinos, but for what you do sell.

On your website I have entered my zip code and it remembers my location. You need to take that one step further. You need to tell me what products are available at "my store". Bonus points if it can point me at other locations in my area that do have the product if my store doesn't. Because, to me, your website should be a peek into your inventory.

Others shop in different ways. Look into how they shop. You may even want to consider letting website users choose between online shopping, checking local inventory, and self-educating browsing. Of course, my Dad is still gonna come in and look for a new drill in person.

OK, I thought I was done, but I'm not. I've had many good experiences with Sears and don't want to see it go under.
Have a look at blog.makezine.com. Everyday there are several new projects posted there. Some that are impressive to look at and some that readers could make at home if they were so inclined. They also have a store. A store that sells many of the things that people will need if they want to tackle the projects they see on the blog. Those people then turn around and show off their projects which help advertise what's for sale in the store. Sears could do something similar. Engage your customers. Give them project ideas. Let them show off theirs. Give handymen a place to show off their shops and what they've built in those shops. Don't just show well put together sunrooms, help amateur home decorators who can't pull off that look figure out what would look good in their place. If people are remodeling their kitchen or garage give them an app that lets them model their kitchen and see how things will fit. This fridge may be great, but it's too wide. Suggest something similar but narrower. Or would different cabinets allow them to keep the fridge they like. They don't have the money now so this project is gonna happen over 3 years and be done in stages. Let them mark what they want so they'll remember. You'll be able to let them know about a sale on that oven. Or if you're about to stop carrying that particular oven let them know they need to hurry in or pick a new one.
Don't be just a store. Be part of a community. I won't come to the site looking for sales, but I will come look at a particularly awesome shed/nap house/detached office. Then I'll send my girlfriend to have a look at it, too.

Friday Links: March 16

Bad week for worthwhile links.

For the amateur audiophiles:
A Science Friday talk from a few weeks back about the difference between records and CDs. They explain why records were generally better early on, but CDs are better now. They also talk about MP3s, the differences between different quality rips, and what gets cut. [link]

A more technical article about encoding rate of audio files (MP3, OGG, ACC, etc.). It helps, but don't ask me to explain it. [link]

The GOP can't help themselves. They know what Limbaugh is saying, and they're supporting, is poison to the party. They just can't stop. [link]

A Martian dust devil as seen by the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter. [link]

Nanoscale 3D printer. [link]

In a housing market this bad even a 14 year old with a stash can buy a house. [link]

Short story: ILU-486 - a story set in an America where birth control and abortions are illegal. [link]

Encyclopaedia Britannica is going to stop making print editions. [link]
I've got one of my Great Grandmother's encyclopedias from between WWI and WWII. I've got one of Grammie's from the 80's. I need to consider getting a copy of the last Britannica.

A woman with a really great bionic arm. [link]

Movie Review: Synecdoche, New York

What did that trailer tell you about the movie? It's an independent film, sure. A film about a guy directing a huge play, right. It's going for being a touching movie about life and whatnot. It really doesn't sell the movie. It doesn't mention the main thing about the movie. From watching this I have less than zero desire to watch this movie. So why did I watch it?

Go back into the archives a week or two and you'll find links to the second half of "Everything is a Remix". It mentions that two movies came out around the same time about someone who does a play that creates his own life. It sounded like an interesting idea so we put it on my Netflix queue. It became one of the most confusing movies I've ever seen.

For a good long chunk of the movie we watch Phillip Seymore Hoffman's life. He's directing a play, he's married, has a kid, is going to therapy, has issues with the plumbing, the woman at the ticket counter keeps hitting on him, etc. It may make for drab moving watching, but it's life. His wife goes on vacation to Germany with the kid and they don't come back. When he wins an award for his plays he decides to use the money to fund a huge piece. He gets a massive warehouse and starts reproducing his life in a model of the city. He hires actors to play himself, his wife, kid, neighbors, random people on the sidewalk, etc. Each day they get notes about what's supposed to happen to them that day. Eventually, they, too, need a warehouse so they can start work on a play about making a play about the main character's life. By the end of the movie it's 6 levels deep.

Just from that you can come up with all kinds of idea about what the movie is really "about". You can debate the symbolism for hours. Let me tell you about the weirdness.

In reality prime there's still life going on.
The ticket lady turned assistant buys a house. That house is on fire while she's looking at it. She buys it and it continues to burn for the rest of her life. She dies 40 years later of smoke inhalation.
The main character marries the woman who plays his wife in the play, they have a kid and give it the same name as the kid who went to Germany. So it's often hard to tell when they're talking to each other and when she's playing the ex-wife and talking to the guy who plays him.
At some point we see military in the streets. Riot police and tanks kind of stuff. At the end of the movie we hear a huge battle outside with gunfire and stuff. When Hoffman goes out in to the streets of Warehouse 1 everyone is gone or dead. No explanation.
When Hoffman gets a call about his dad dying he tells someone all about the phone call. Apparently he died of a sudden case of long struggle with cancer. Nobody saw it coming. His final words were a long touching monologue.
While his wife went on to become a famous artist who continues to live with more an more people, his daughter is raised by a woman who covers her (the daughter) with tattoos. He finally finds her years later working as a nude dancer. They meet again at her death bed where she wants to know why he left them for his gay lover (never happened) and wants an apology. When she dies a tattoo of a rose loses a petal.
Main character has strange random ailments come and go.

There was other stuff, but it's five days later and I can't remember them. But the end of the movie was like the end of "Lost". "Seriously? You're not even gonna try to explain that? SERIOUSLY!?! fuckers."

Don't watch this movie. Seriously. If you're looking to kill two hours you're better off doing an exploration of your nose or memorizing the back of a cereal box. When you're done you'll have much less of a "...the fuck just happened?" feeling.

Sod Off Wednesday: March 14

Sod Off Wednesday can sod off. Unless I come up with something better. But it can probably sod off.

Movie Review: Coriolanus

Everyone knows Shakespeare's big titles - Hamlet, Romeo and Juliet, Macbeth - but there's a few titles you just never hear of. Things like "A Lover's Complaint", "Troilus and Cressida", "Cymbeline", and "Coriolanus". Oh, I'm sure I'd heard of them before. But they're such minor works that they never stuck in my mind. More's the pity when it comes to the latter.

Ralph Fiennes directs and stars in this, believe it or not, Shakespearean action movie. Caius Marcius Coriolanus was a great military leader with little regard for the common people of Rome. After returning home he was nominated as a consul. He did not want the job, but was pressured into campaigning for it. The people he sneered at before don't take to this new face he's put on. For some reason, the alternative to being consul is death. They compromise with banishment. He leaves to join the armies of his greatest enemy and fight against Rome, leading them in a series of successful battles.

Of course, this is all done in a modern setting. Reports from the front come in along satellite vid-phones. Fidelis TV reports on the fighting. Swords and spears are replaced with guns and tanks. There's no shortage of action sequences, most of which I'm not seeing in the original play [here].

All in all, I found this adaptation to be well done. And by well done I mean that I could tell what the fuck was going on. Oh, sure, there's a couple of monologues late in the movie that left me befuddled. After an hour and a half of parsing Shakespeare my mind couldn't handle the wall of words, the monologue, that some characters spilled forth. But for the most part there was action and reaction shots to break up the dialog so my mental buffer could clear.

I'm glad that I saw it. It really was a good movie. It would go well on my shelf next to the production of "Hamlet" with Patrick Stewart and David Tennant. I'll likely buy a copy, eventually.

Movie Review: John Carter (of Mars dammit)

Down in the basement, through the folding doors, and to the left, back in the shadows, made creepier for how little it was visited, was Dad's book collection. In a worn box that appears to have survived numerous moves was a pile of yellowed, brittle books. One the spines of these book were the words "Edgar Rice Burroughs" and a number. This was his Tarzan and Mars collection of books. I didn't read these books for a long time. I meant to, but they were fragile and I had other things to read.

In the Tarzan book Burroughs was able to write great adventure fantasies about a part of the world of which little was known. But he was still restricted by what little we did know. So he found another, even more mysterious world, for his next series - Mars. Remember now, that the serial that would eventually became the first book, was published in 1912. Mars was still, in their minds, a distant red dot. The best telescopes of the time led them to believe it was a planet without clouds or seas and was crisscrossed with canals to best use whatever water remained. A dry, dying planet.

I did read the first three books in the series (available at Project Gutenberg - Proper order here) but that was so long ago that much of what I read is now forgotten or confused with other stories. So I can't tell you how much the movie holds true to the first book "A Princess of Mars". But I can tell you that the movie is awesome.

The studio fucked up with those trailers. They completely failed to provide a compelling reason to to see this movie. They cut much of the action sequences in favor of the subdued scenes looking at glowing lights, graceful flying ships, and sweeping panoramas. They neglected to mention the source material assuming, I suppose, that everyone knows who John Carter is.

John Carter is a veteran of the American Civil War. He fought for the South, lost, and headed for the western territories to seek his fortune. There the Army tries to forcibly recruit him for their ongoing conflict with the natives. For reasons you'll need to see the movie to find out, he finds himself in a strange new place that he eventually finds out is Barsoom - known better to us as Mars. There he finds himself unwillingly drawn into a civil war and a side conflict with the natives. But Carter has an advantage over the giants and advanced technologies he finds there. The lesser gravity of Mars means he can leap great distances and has seemingly greater strength.

Watching this movie you'll see elements borrowed from some of the great sci-fi, fantasy, and super hero movies, novels, and comics. This is only fair since they borrowed from Burroughs work in the first place.

This is not science fiction. The movie benefits from 100 years of extra knowledge about Mars that the source material didn't have and wouldn't have wanted. The story is straight up fantasy.

I will be getting this on DVD and will be looking for audio versions of the books so I can finish what I started a couple of decades ago.