Virtual Choir

Virtual Choir: Eric Whitacre's virtual choir projects on YouTube/Vimeo. 1.) Lux Aurumque 2.) Sleep 3.) Water Night. View how it all started (from EW Blog). Whitacre's presentation at TED2011 with explanations:

Office Space (1999)

Movie: Office Space (1999). w/ Ron Livingston (Peter Gibbons), Jennifer Aniston (Joanna). Directed by Mike Judge (Beavis and Butt-Head). Partly based on the animated short 'Office Space' from 1991. The life of an abused and frustrated office worker changes after he sees a hypnotherapist, as suddenly everything works out in his favor. Funny. Just like the real corporate world. Overall rating 8 out of 10.

George Bellows Exhibition

Art: George Bellows (1882–1925) at the Metropolitan Museum, NYC, Nov 15, 2012 – Feb 18, 2013. Colorful, expressive. Covered different subjects (sports, tennis, portraits, landscapes, tenements, war). Most renowned are two boxing scenes, painted at the beginning and the end of his career. Bellows died prematurely of appendicitis at the age of 42.

Discovering Columbus

Art: Discovering Columbus: Art project by Tatzu Nishi (b. 1960, Nagoya, Japan) on Columbus Circle, NYC, Sep 20 – Dec 2, 2012, funded by Public Art Fund. The 13-foot-tall statue of Columbus that rests 75 feet atop a granite column on the SW-corner of Central Park is little known, usually visible only as a silhouette against the sky or at a distance from surrounding buildings. Nishi therefore placed the statue in a fully furnished, modern living room built around it in its native location atop a scaffold. Surreal to be able to study the oversized statue in this environment. Also, great views of the City when looking outside the windows.

Der Seewolf (1971)

TV-Mini Series (YT): Der Seewolf (The Sea Wolf, 1971), Episodes 1 - 4 (in German). After the novel 'The Sea Wolf' and other stories by Jack London. w/ Edward Meeks, Raimund Harmstorf.  Directed by Wolfgang Staudte, Alecu Croitoru, Sergiu Nicolaescu. Produced by Walter Ulbrich. Mostly filmed in Romania. After being shipwrecked in the bay of San Francisco in 1906, the writer Humphrey van Weyden (Meeks) is rescued by the sealer 'Ghost' bound for the South Seas and captained by Wolf Larsen (Harmstorf), who is also called 'Sea Wolf' for his cruel and immoral take on life. But Weyden is puzzled by the fact that Larsen is also well read. It dawns on him that, as juveniles, they had been friends, although Larsen does not seem to remember their time together. Weyden ultimately escapes from the 'Ghost' and survives under extreme circumstances. Years later, on his own ship, Weyden tracks down Larsen to take his revenge. Good story, though told lengthy at times with stretches of little activity. Overall rating 7 out of 10.

Ready...

"Dad, when do you think you'd be ready to die?" And he said: "When I stop being curious." (Libby Wallfisch, Australian Baroque violinist).

Nat Janoff

Jazz: Nat Janoff, 55 Bar, NYC, 11/18/2012. Jazz guitar, with drums and electric bass. Liked his original tune 'Sunday Morning' from the latest album 'Come Together Move Apart'.

Georg Cantor

Mathematics: German mathematician Georg Cantor (1845-1918) invented set theory (Mengenlehre). He also realized that there are different types of infinity. Cantor suffered from manic-depressive illness and ended up in mental institution.

Barbarella (1968)

Movie (YT): Barbarella (1968) w/ Jane Fonda (Barbarella), John Phillip Law (Pygar), Anita Pallenberg (The Great Tyrant), Milo O'Shea (Concierge/Durand-Durand). Directed by Roger Vadim. Barbarella travels from Earth to the planet Lythion to find Duran Duran, who turns out to have become a mad, evil scientist. Poor story, poor special effects, even for it's time. Fonda is very pretty and shows some skin. Film encourages free love. Overall rating 4 out 10

Success

SUCCESS = KNOWLEDGE * SKILL * PRESENTATION * FUDGE

The fudge factor FUDGE includes aspects like timing (i.e. being in the right place at the right time), demand, instinct and luck.

Happiness

HAPPINESS = HAVEs - WANTs. 

HAPPINESS can be material or immaterial. HAPPINESS can be negative, when WANTs > HAVEs. There are people who are (almost) always happy and such that are (more or less) always unhappy. To increase HAPPINESS, HAVE more or WANT less. Absolute LEVELs of HAVEs and WANTs may range from very low to very high, to an extent that the increase in HAVEs or the decrease in WANTs may not be trivial to achieve.

HAPPINESS(overall) = a * HAPPINESS(health) + b * HAPPINESS(success) +  c * HAPPINESS(social) + d * HAPPINESS(inspiration) + e * HAPPINESS(time) +  f * HAPPINESS(other)

Coefficients (a, b, c ...) may differ between individuals and also may change over time.

Death is the most important day in life

"Death is the most important day in life" (Der Tod ist der wichtigste Tag im Leben, dradio-Hintergrund, about death and mourning in West Africa).

Lizi's Granola

Lizi's Granola: Toasted muesli, originated in Oxfordshire B&B in the 1990s. Low glycemic load (GL). Mostly available in UK. Best flavors are Treacle, Pecan and Organic.

Robotic Telescope in Arizona

Astronomy: Rent time on automatic, robotic telescopes at Tenagra located in the south of Arizona, USA. They are offering use of a 0.81-m (32") f/7 Ritchey-Chretien and 0.41-m (16") f/3.75 astrograph automated system to academic institutions.

Highlander (1986)

Movie (YT): Highlander (1986). w/ Christopher Lambert, Sean Connery, Clancy Brown, Roxanne Hart. Directed by Russell Mulcahy. Music by Queen. Immortal Scottish swordsman must fight his last opponent in New York City. Cult movie, though little story. Overall rating: 6 out of 10.

Measuring the World: Gauß and Humboldt

Audiobook (CD): Daniel Kehlmann: Die Vermessung der Welt (2005, engl.: Measuring the World). Read in German by Ulrich Matthes. 5 CDs, ca. 345 min. Narrates and compares the biographies of two contemporaries, the natural philosopher Alexander von Humboldt and the mathematician Carl Friedrich von Gauß. "This is the history of two scientists who could not be more different, but who both have the goal to understand the world". Not comprehensive biographies, but nicely narrated with some hidden treasures. Overall rating 7 out of 10. 

Contact (1997)

Movie (YT): Contact (1997). w/ Jodie Foster (Eleanor Arroway), Matthew McConaughey (Palmer Joss), Tom Skerrittc (David Drumlin, former boss), William Fichtner (Kent, blind radioastronomer), James Woods (Michael Kitz, security advisor). Based on the novel by Carl Sagan. While working on a SETI program, Ellie receives a signal presumed to be sent by an a advanced extraterrestial species. It contains a blueprint for a device that may allow for interstellar travel. Great acting. Foster is superb. Conflicts of science and religion. Overall rating: 8 out of 10.

Lissy Elle

Photography: Lissy Elle Laricchia. Photostream on Flickr. Surreal. Expressive.

Skyfall (2012)

Movie: Skyfall (2012). w/ Daniel Craig, Javier Bardem, Judy Dench, Naomie Harris. Directed by Sam Mendes. James Bond is trying to capture the bad guys while M is under attack. Best Bond movie so far, as there finally is a bit of a story. Some good special effects as expected. Overall rating 7 out of 10.

Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008)

Movie (iTunes): Vicky Cristina Barcelona (2008). w/ Rebecca Hall (Vicky), Scarlett Johansson (Cristina), Javier Bardem (Juan Antonio). Written and directed by Woody Allen. Two girlfriends on vacation in Spain both fall in love with a painter. Then his ex-wife (Penélope Cruz) enters the scene. Typical Woody Allen film. Entertaining. Overall rating 5 out of 10. 

Quartier Lointain (2010)

Movie (iTunes): Vertraute Fremde (Quartier Lointain, 2010). w/ Pascal Greggory (Thomas Verniaz / Zorn (adulte)), Jonathan Zaccaï (Bruno Verniaz, le père), Alexandra Maria Lara (Anna Verniaz née Zorn, la mère) Directed by Sam Garbarski. Man mysteriously returns to the village of his childhood and finds out why his father ran out on the family. Quiet movie. Overall rating 5 out of 10.

Richard III

Theater: König Richard der Dritte, Schauspielhaus Bochum. Nov. 2012. Play by William Shakespeare. Directed by Roger Vontobel. Paul Herwig as Richard. History lesson. Lots of screaming. Crude. With 3.5 hours too long. German Review at Nachtkritik.de. Overall rating 4 out of 10. Don't put your parking card in the wrong slot.

Orpheus Decending

Theater: 'Orpheus steigt herab', a play by Tennessee Williams, starting Sep. 29, 2012 at Muenchner Kammerspiele. Directed by Sebastian Nübling. w/ Wiebke Puls as Lady Torrance, Risto Kübar as Val Xavier. Based on Orpheus Descending by Tennessee Williams. There also is a screen adaptation of the play under the title The Fugitive Kind (1959). Val, an appealing young unconventional man arrives in a narrow-minded, racist southern town. Only Lady, a middle-aged woman with a disgusting elderly dying husband is willing to fight on his side. Watched opening. Carousel on stage. Puls is great in her working-class role, but loses when she turns to glamor. German review on Nachtkrtik.de Overall rating 7 out of 10.

Lamia

Lamia was a figure in ancient Greek mythology, a daughter of the god Poseidon. According to Encyclopedia Britannica, ancient commentaries on Aristophanes’ Peace say that she originally was a beautiful queen of Libya and loved by Zeus. His wife Hera, in her jealousy, robbed her of her children. Lamia went mad and became a child-eating daemon. She was often represented with a woman's face and a serpent's tail. Athenian mothers used her as a threat to frighten naughty children. In later times, Lamiae were conceived as handsome ghostly women attracting young men in order to enjoy their fresh, youthful, and pure flesh and blood, similar to vampires today.

John Keats published the narrative poem Lamia in 1819, based on a short anecdote in Robert Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy (1621).

Johann Wolfgang von Goethe retells the story in his poem Die Braut von Korinth (1797, in German).

The English Classicist painter Herbert James Draper (1863-1920), who focused mainly on mythological themes from ancient Greece, painted The Lamia in 1909. Lamia, girded in a snake skin and gazing maliciously, holds a small snake on the back of her hand.

On the album 'The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway' released by Genesis in 1974, the song 'The Lamia' describes the encounter of the story's hero Rael with three snakelike figures in a water-filled pool.

Luther (2003)

Movie (YT): Luther (2003). w/ Joseph Fiennes (Martin Luther), Alfred Molina (John Tetzel), Jonathan Firth (Girolamo Aleander), Claire Cox (Katharina von Bora), Sir Peter Ustinov (Frederick the Wise), Bruno Ganz (Johann von Staupitz), Uwe Ochsenknecht (Pope Leo X). Directed by Eric Till (Fraggle Rock). Luther’s story, simplified, that led to church reformation. Overall rating 6 out of 10.

The Phantom Planet (1961)

Movie (YT): The Phantom Planet (1961). Science fiction film. w/ Dean Fredericks (Capt. Frank Chapman), Coleen Gray (Liara), Richard Kiel (The Solarite; Kiel known from James Bond movies). Directed by William Marshall. In search of a lost space ship, pilot Chapman lands on the nearby asteroid Rheton, whose advanced civilization is batteling an enemy (the Solarites). B-movie character. Cannot compare special effects to today's computer-generated imagery (CGI). Story simple. Flash-Gordon-comic-like. Overall rating 5 out of 10.

Zola Budd

Zola Budd (b. 1966) is a field an track runner from South Africa, intermediately competing for Great Britain, as South Africa was excluded from international athletics competition because of its apartheid policy. During the 3000m-final at the Olympics 1984 in Los Angeles, CA, USA, Budd's rival Mary Decker stumbled and fell after collinding with Budd. A jury of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) found that Budd was not responsible for the collision.

Fermat's Last Theorem

Fermat's Last Theorem states that no three positive integers a, b, and c can satisfy the equation aⁿ + bⁿ = cⁿ for any integer value of n greater than two. The equation is an expansion of the Pythagorean theorem where n = 2 and certain solutions can be found (e.g. a = 3, b = 4, c = 5). In 1637, Pierre de Fermat conjectured that this equation was not true for any positive integer greater than two. In 1995, British mathematician Andrew Wiles presented a final proof for the theorem. His story has been described by the BBC (video below) and is also discussed among experts in BBC radio show In Our Time.

Knowledge and Water

"[...] learning and inventing are kin; both are processes of seeking out the surprise of something new. Certainty is learning's enemy, for it already knows and it cannot be surprised." Look at water as a metaphor: "If we want water, we head for the valley, not the high ground. Water flows to the humblest point, so that's where we'll find it. Once we really identify our ignorance, knowledge will flow in to make it go away." (Engines of Our Ingenuity No. 2011).

Asteroid 2012 DA14

On February 15, 2013, the near-earth asteroid 2012 DA14 will pass by the earth at a distance of only about 3.2 Earth radii (r = 6,371 km), i.e. ca. 22,500 km. For reference, Earth's distance to the moon is approx. 385,000 km, and even geostationary satellites are ca. 36,000 km away.

Earth and the asteroid share a similar path and their orbits intersect twice per year. Orbits of Earth (green) and 2012 DA14 (yellow) are shown in the picture above (Source: ESA).

2012 DA14 is about 45 m in diameter. Therefore, its brightness viewed from earth will be no more than magnitude 7, i.e. just slightly higher than the visibility with the naked eye.

The asteroid will not impact Earth on that occasion (see Wikipedia).

Predicted path of asteroid 2012 DA14 passing close to Earth on February 15, 2013 (Source: JPL).

Animation of fly-by from YouTube below.

Focus Stacking

Focus stacking is a technique for processing digital images with small depth of field, as obtained e.g. in microscopy or macro photography. Multiple images with different focus points are combined into one image. Instructions at Fotofacts.

Webcams

List of links to webcams, worldwide, at Webcam Galore.

Creative Commons

Resource for pictures, videos, music to use freely at Creative Commons.

Body's Billboard

"[...] around the world, the t-shirt has become the body’s billboard". Richard Armstrong, Engines of our Ingenuity No. 2836: Bumping into Signs.

Educational Animated Short Clips

Educational animated short clips by Jeremiah Warren, Dallas, TX, on Youtube: Nikola Tesla, Thomas Edison, History of the Calendar, Naming of Hurricanes, and Steve Jobs. Creative and informative.

Moonrise Kingdom (2012)

DVD: Moonrise Kingdom (2012). w/ Bruce Willis (Captain Sharp), Edward Norton (Scout Master Ward), Bill Murray (Walt Bishop), Frances McDormand (Laura Bishop), Tilda Swinton (Social Services), Jared Gilman (Sam), Kara Hayward (Suzy). Directed by Wes Anderson. Writers: Wes Anderson, Roman Coppola. Teenage boy and girl on a New England island fall in love and run away, stirring up the towns as they conduct a major search. Ensemble cast movie (i.e. no main actors). Odd style. Nerdy. Funny moments, but lacks real highlights. Overall rating 5 out of 10.

USGS Earthquake Map

USGS earthquake map and table with details of events in real time.

Mission to Mars (2000)

Movie (YT): Mission to Mars (2000). Directed by Brian De Palma (Mission: Impossible, The Untouchables); w/ Gary Sinise, Tim Robbins, Don Cheadle, Connie Nielsen, Jerry O'Connell. When a first manned mission to Mars fails, a rescue team is sent to find out what happened. Does not deliver. Some good special effects for its time (e.g. solar system animation scene; descent to the Marsian surface), but story simple and too sappy. Lacks humor. Plenty of factual errors. Overall rating 6 out of 10.

Ulam Spiral

The Ulam spiral is a method of visualizing the distribution of prime numbers. Discovered by Stanislaw Ulam in 1963. Construct by writing down a rectangular grid of numbers, starting with 1 at the center and spiraling out. Highlight prime numbers. Yields, in part, diagonal line patterns.

Ulam spiral. Image source: Wikipedia.

Walter Lewin - For the Love of Physics

Fun physics lecture given by Walter Lewin, MIT, on May 16, 2011. Watch the dashed lines extending on chalkboard. For more of Lewin's lines, check out the Best Lines video.

Granted Patents vs. Patent Application

Summarized from Patentlens.com:

At this point, the United States identifies granted (issued) patents with a seven-digit number followed by a B1 (patent not previously published) or a B2 (patent previously published), e.g., US 6,174,724 B1, The 'B1' and 'B2' are referred to as 'kind codes'.

Published U.S. Patent Applications are indicated with the year as a four-digit number and a publication number followed by an A1 (for the first publication), A2 (for republication) or A9 (corrected publication), e.g. US 2001/0002490 A1. This number is also referred to as the publication number on the USPTO PAIR (Patent Application Information Retrieval) web site.

In addition, there is also an application number In the U.S.  that is different than the publication number. This number is used to identify the case while it is pending with the USPTO. Application numbers consist of a two-digit 'series' number (usually 09, 10, or 11) that is separated from a six-digit number by a slash, e.g. 10/676,431.

Issued Patents in Europe are indicated with a seven-digit number followed by a B1, e.g. EP 0 458 846 B1. A 'B2' number indicates that the claims have been modified after grant.

Published European Patent Applications use the same numbering system but the number is followed by A1, A2, etc., e.g. EP 0 955 371 A1.

ISS Startrails

"Stacking" image sequences provided by NASA from the crew at International Space Station (ISS) yields startrails that Christoph Malin compiled and posted on Vimeo. A copy can be found on YouTube.

 

Soundtrack 'Eileen' by Lee Rosevere from the album 'Music for MOBA' can be found at Free Music Archive. Stacking was done with StarStax. Additional stacked images at the respective Flickr page.

 

Comet 96P/Machholz

Comet 96P/Machholz has a highly eccentric 5.2-year orbit and the smallest perihelion distance (closer than the orbit of Mercury) known among numbered/regular short-period comets. Heat resistant. Depleted of carbon and cyanogen, therefore assumed to be of extrasolar origin. Report in Sternzeit. 

 

Pic of Comet Machholz close to the open cluster M45 - Plejades by Michael Karrer.

Musical Preference

It appears that musical preference shifts with location. Germany -- less Jazz. Wyoming -- more Country. May also depend on other factors, e.g. fraction of listening in the car.

Katie Costello

Katie Costello, female singer, originally from Los Angeles area, now works in NYC. Song 'Cassette Tape' somewhat reminds of Feist. Found on TuneCore.

Powers of 10 (1977)

By Charles and Ray Eames -- a classic.

Snippets 2012-09-26

Movie: Sonnenallee (Sun Alley, 1999) w/ Alexander Scheer (Michael 'Micha' Ehrenreich), Alexander Beyer (Mario), Katharina Thalbach (Mutter Ehrenreich), Teresa Weißbach (Miriam Sommer). Comedy on the life of adolescents on the Eastern side of the Wall in Berlin. Amusing. Overall rating 7 out of 10
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Web: Heidelberger historische Bestände – digital. Includes old manuscripts. Allows downloads in PDF format
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Science: More than 500 years ago, Leonardo da Vinci observed a particular relationship between the size of a tree's trunk and the size of its branches. Specifically, the combined cross-sectional areas of a tree's daughter branches are equal to the cross-sectional area of the mother branch. This tree structure may be optimal for enabling trees to resist wind-induced stresses. NPR report. Article.
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Astronomy: Aristarchos of Samos (310 BCE – ca. 230 BCE): Greek astronomer and mathematician. Presented first known heliocentric world model. Later restated by Copernicus (1543) and manifested by Kepler (1617-1621). Finally proven by James Bradley (1725) through discovery of the aberration of light.
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Travel: Roadside America: Travel tips for road trips across the USA. Searchable, e.g. by state. Provides map with location of sights.
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Science: Wilson Bentley (1865-1931): Photographed and research the variety of snowflakes.
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Books: Münchener Digitalisierungszentrum (MDZ, in German): Digitized books, including old manuscripts, e.g. of Parzival by Wolfram von Eschenbach.
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Maps: Waldseemüller Map of the World from 1507, first naming America, at the Library of Congress is available in high resolution for download.

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Life: Prices for new cars at TrueCar. Very informative.
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Travel: GPS Visualizer: Creates maps and profiles from GPS data (tracks and waypoints, including GPX files), driving routes, street addresses, or simple coordinates. Displays in Google Earth.
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Computer: Apple Apps Store: to find free apps, search for 'free app <search term>'.
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Movie (YouTube): The Light at the Edge of the World (1971). w/ Kirk Douglas, Yul Brynner and Samantha Eggar. Directed by Kevin Billington. After the novel 'The Lighthouse at the End of the World (1905)' by Jules Verne. A remote rocky island is taken over by michievous pirates and their leader (Brynner). Living in a cave and haunted by his past, the escaped assistant lighthouse keeper (Douglas) is trying to survive. Story slow. Some gruesome scenes. Poor visual effects. Overall rating: 5 out of 10.
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Movie (YouTube): The Trip (1967). w/ Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, Bruce Dern, Susan Strasberg (wife, dark hair), Salli Sachse (blonde). Directed by Roger Corman. Pre-'Easy Rider' cult movie that describes the first LSD trip of a young man in a personal crisis (Fonda). Story simple. Visual firework trying to imitate the LSD experience. Music could be more catchy. Overall rating: 7 out of 10.
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