Well if you ask me...

Link Roundup

‘Birthers’ must be stopped – Los Angeles Times

I am not a huge fan of Maher but I usually agree with about half of what he says. This is a funny read.

FCC Opens Inquiry of Apple’s Ban of Google Voice – WSJ.com

If the feds feel they need to stick their noses in things at least this time they are making the right move.

11 Cool iPhone Keypad Codes

Some very cool ones on the list.

Do You Have These Core Human Skills?

Interesting list of core skills everyone needs.

Palin’s Resignation: The Edited Version

No comment.

QB Michael Vick conditionally reinstated by NFL

but he can’t play in games? I am not sure I understand why anyone would sign him until they know he can play.

Texting Raises Crash Risk 23 Times

Another study I’m not sure we needed. Texting and driving is dangerous. In case you didn’t know that, read the study.

John Travolta ‘scared to leave Church of Scientology’

The paranoia is real, John.

Science, Reason and Critical Thinking: Celebrity Quack Trumps

Disturbing but still funny.

Daily Kos: State of the Nation

Nicely done satirical letter to the President. </dl>

How Do Ya Like Them Apples?

Good Will Hunting is a story about men and their ambitions, dreams, and emotions. I first saw the film in late January 1998 and was mesmerized by the story. I don’t know that I’ve seen another film that so eloquently touches on these issues. The film tells this wonderful story in a way that is emotionally honest yet still masculine. It’s like a “chick-flick” for men. I can’t describe it any other way.

I cannot say enough about the story itself. Matt Damon wrote an early draft of the screenplay for a university assignment and decided to finish it in 1997 along with longtime friend and roommate Ben Affleck, in order to take charge of their faltering movie careers. I’d seen Damon and Affleck in other films but I didn’t think they were anything special. I couldn’t believe that these two kids could write a story with insight far beyond their years. I left the theater certain they had nailed an academy award for the screenplay. The decision to finish the screenplay proved to be a genius move. The film indeed earned them Oscars and catapulted both of them to stardom.

In addition to a great story, the film features at least six solid acting performance. In my opinion, great acting can turn an average story into a excellent movie (see A Few Good Men
). The difference here is that the acting takes what might have been an average movie with an excellent story and transforms it into a classic film. Robin Williams and Ben Affleck deliver the best performances in my opinion. Damon, who is present for almost all of the important scenes in the movie, handles fast paced dialog and emotionally charged scenes like a veteran. Skarsgård and Casey Affleck turn in a performances that are much better than average and one could argue that Minnie Driver saved the movie with her performance.

To top it all off, the film contains some brilliant dialogue. In one memorable scene, Damon delivers his lines with perfect timing as Will takes on an arrogant Harvard student in an intellectual standoff that reminds me of a superhero standing up to an adolescent nemesis. In another, Damon does the same while turning down a very lucrative job offer. In yet another, Damon and Robin Williams work together and pull off one of the film’s best scenes and a turning point in the story. There are many scenes just as brilliantly done – several more with Damon and Williams, but others featuring all five of the major characters.

Many have given credit for the success of the film to fantastic direction by Gus Van Sant. I’m not an expert on such things but I’m guessing he deserves much credit for the solid performances from virtually the entire cast and perhaps some massaging of what some have said was actually only an average screenplay. I haven’t read the screenplay but if Van Sant accomplished what some have given him sole credit for then this was a work of genius on his part. I’ve seen only four of his films and I loved them all. I’m not sure that makes him a great director but I wouldn’t hesitate to see another of his films.

Finally, I should point out a couple of things. First, the title of my post comes from one of my favorite lines from the movie. I won’t share my favorite line which comes much later in the story because it is much more powerful in context. It drives home what is, for me, the point of the film. There are many lessons to learn from the film and at least seven of the men portrayed, but the ending, while not a major twist, left me satisfied in a way that I didn’t anticipate.

Second, this film explores the life of a young man from South Boston and some of his buddies. As a result, it features some very crude humor and whole lot of very foul language. I could have lived without the crude humor and I prefer less foul language but I can live with it when it seems in context. If you can’t handle the language you may want to skip this movie but I assure you that you will be missing something very special.

Great Idea: Lower the Drinking Age

I’m not sure I like all the mandate this and mandate that talk of teaching drinking but the idea of lower the drinking age makes sense to me. There is no question in my mind that teenagers drink the way they do because it is forbidden.

via kottke.org

Dear Friend of Liberty

Last week I mentioned that I’d received a letter from Liberty University. Today I’d like to comment on that letter.

I’ve debated this for a couple of weeks now and I’ve decided to comment on the letter paragraph by paragraph. I will post the letter in full at the bottom of the post for those of you that want to read it first.

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I hope this letter finds you well and prosperous. I am writing to you today because, quite frankly, I need your help.

It does, thank you. With what can I help?

For nearly three decades, proud Americans like you have helped us grounded in the conservative Christian values that Liberty University was founded to support and defend. With the recent election of Barack Obama as President, radical left-wing activist groups are energized and seeking to use big government to mute the conservative voice. Few groups are more sinister than Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its misguided leader Barry Lynn.

What? I am ever frustrated with the labeling of others as radical and with the idea that radical is a bad thing. Were our founding fathers not radical?

and sinister? What makes a AU sinister? They stand up for freedom and the separations of church and state. Many on the extreme right subscribe to the notion that our country was not founded on the principle of separation which is probably where the term sinister comes from, but they are sadly mistaken. Our nation was indeed founded on that principle and I firmly believe it is one of the factors that has given us our prosperity (along with the entrepreneurial spirt most anyone must possess to have picked up and moved to another country).

Recently, Lynn, an ACLU lawyer turned reverend, seized on a fundraising opportunity when the university told a LU Democrat Club it could not use LU’s name and money in promoting some of its causes. The Democrat Club and its staff sponsor had refused to cut ties with the National Democratic Party, which supports abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage.

First of all, what’s with the “an ACLU lawyer turned reverend” comment? What is that supposed to convey?

So, he was a lawyer for the ACLU. Good for him! We need good lawyers in the ACLU. I don’t agree with everything they do (and I’ve written about that before) but they stand up for freedom and that is a good thing. This is another thing that used to frustrate me about Dr. Falwell. The first time I heard him make a derogatory comment about the ACLU I was genuinely confused.

So, Lynn became a reverend. In my experience I’ve known many pastors who had been called to ministry after another career. Make no mistake, Falwell’s comments are meant to make the average “friend of liberty” think that Lynn can’t possibly be a “good guy” if he worked for the ACLU.

LU thought the Democrat Club’s allegiance to the Democratic Party was a direct contradiction to core Christian values held dear by the university, which is both pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.

This is where things get a little difficult for me to explain. I have NO problem with a university hiring employees who subscribe a a statement of faith, but university’s SHOULD NOT hold positions on issues. Once again, I DO support the right of the university to require employees subscribe, but a university is designed to be a place of education. Education by nature must be liberal. Student’s must be taught in an environment that is open to different positions.

I am also NOT saying that all material be taught as though it is on the same moral ground. I FULLY SUPPORT the right of any private university to teach students different positions and for students to learn what university leadership believes, but students should never be restricted from educational activities simply because university leadership disagrees with the political affiliation.

Lynn’s weapon of choice is the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency which he often uses to pistol whip those who disagree with his radical, liberal political agenda.

Really? Is this any way for the chancellor of a university to speak of someone else? I’m not the biggest fan of Lynn’s but to say he uses the IRS to “pistol whip” anyone who disagrees with him? And there you go calling him a radical again as if that were a bad thing. The science department at LU teaches that the earth is less than 10,000 years old. I can think of few things more radical.

In this case, Lynn’s assertion is that LU, in limiting the use of its name and money, had violated its non-profit standing. His goal is to have LU stripped of its tax exempt status by the federal government.

I don’t know if Lynn has a case here. My suspicion is that he has, but this is an open and shut case in my book. I don’t think any of us should pay taxes but since we do I don’t think any institution should be exempt from those taxes. There is too much abuse of this. Religious institutions and other non-profits should pay taxes like any other institution (well, no they shouldn’t but you know what I mean).

Personally, I find such assertions and petitions for federal involvement in curbing religious freedoms a disturbing trend as we move closer to a more intrusive and socialized federal government. in fact, AU’s actions are un-American. If a school like Liberty University can be required to endorse and support abortion rights and same-sex marriage, then how can we continue to call America “a free country”?

Wow, this is packed full of goodness.

I wholeheartedly agree that “federal involvement in curbing religious freedoms” is disturbing. I’d argue that federal involvement in anything is disturbing but unfortunately we’ve crossed that bridge already, haven’t we? So, why are so many on the right set on granting the federal government the right to restrict behaviors as personal as sex and reproduction? How is that not disturbing?

AU’s actions are un-American? LU wants to tell students to break ties with one of two political parties in this country and AU’s attempt to stop that is un-American?

Is LU being “required to endorse and support abortion rights and same-sex marriage?” I didn’t read that anywhere. First of all, one of these rights is already guaranteed by ruling from the Supreme Court but that doesn’t mean LU has to support even that one. What has always made America great is the right to disagree. Restricting the rights of someone to have an abortion is a crime as it should be but disagreeing with that is not. Allowing students to believe does not require the university agree.

“[H]ow can we continue to call America ‘a free country’?” This is the point I’ve been trying to make. America is founded on principles of individual freedom and the separation of church and state. Students must be given the opportunity to associate with any political party they want. THAT is what makes America free.

My father taught millions to stand and fight when they knew in their heart they were doing what was right.

One of the things I admired most about Dr. Falwell. No matter how much I disagreed with some of what he stood for, I admire that very much and always will remember him for it.

I think it’s time for Christian conservatives to stand up against left wing political bullies like Barry Lynn. If we don’t stop him now, your church or your family could be his next political target. I hope you can send a financial gift of $15, $25, $50 or $100 to help us fight for the heart of America.

Calling names again. This argument might be relevant if Mr. Lynn was attacking LU’s right to teach a certain religious position, but we are not talking about that here. LU is telling students they cannot associate with a political party. This is similar to LU’s efforts to stop the formation of a Greenpeace chapter on campus when I was there. They simply cannot call themselves “Friends of Liberty” if they restrict the rights of their very own students.

In closing, I must say that this whole episode bothers me as a Christian as much as it does as an American. Jerry Falwell Jr. is following in his fathers footsteps by stating in so many words that a Christian cannot be a member of the Democratic Party or support certain candidates and/or political positions. I find this upsetting in a way that I find hard to put into words. I know very many devout Christians who are Democrats. I know many who are pro-choice, myself included. I know many who support human rights for homosexuals, myself included. I also know many who support positions I disagree with. I can be very arrogant from time to time but I would never be so arrogant to tell those people that they are not really Christians. Do I run around telling people that no Christian in his right mind should have voted for George W. Bush? Well maybe but I don’t question their faith over it, do I?

Dear Friend of Liberty,

I hope this letter finds you well and prosperous. I am writing to you today because, quite frankly, I need your help.

For nearly three decades, proud Americans like you have helped us grounded in the conservative Christian values that Liberty University was founded to support and defend. With the recent election of Barack Obama as President, radical left-wing activist groups are energized and seeking to use big government to mute the conservative voice. Few groups are more sinister than Americans United for Separation of Church and State and its misguided leader Barry Lynn.

Recently, Lynn, an ACLU lawyer turned reverend, seized on a fundraising opportunity when the university told a LU Democrat Club it could not use LU’s name and money in promoting some of its causes. The Democrat Club and its staff sponsor had refused to cut ties with the National Democratic Party, which supports abortion-on-demand and same-sex marriage.

LU thought the Democrat Club’s allegiance to the Democratic Party was a direct contradiction to core Christian values held dear by the university, which is both pro-life and pro-traditional marriage.

Lynn’s weapon of choice is the U.S. Internal Revenue Service, a federal agency which he often uses to pistol whip those who disagree with his radical, liberal political agenda.

In this case, Lynn’s assertion is that LU, in limiting the use of its name and money, had violated its non-profit standing. His goal is to have LU stripped of its tax exempt status by the federal government.

Personally, I find such assertions and petitions for federal involvement in curbing religious freedoms a disturbing trend as we move closer to a more intrusive and socialized federal government. in fact, AU’s actions are un-American. If a school like Liberty University can be required to endorse and support abortion rights and same-sex marriage, then how can we continue to call America “a free country”?

My father taught millions to stand and fight when they knew in their heart they were doing what was right. I think it’s time for Christian conservatives to stand up against left wing political bullies like Barry Lynn. If we don’t stop him now, your church or your family could be his next political target. I hope you can send a financial gift of $15, $25, $50 or $100 to help us fight for the heart of America.

God Bless You,

Jerry Falwell Jr.

Important Research?

In the last week I’ve heard of two studies and I’m confused. Not because I don’t understand but because I’m certain we did not need a study to discover these things.

First, Researchers have found that video games, TV and YouTube have helped popularize risky behaviors.

Second, Researchers have found that men like to look at thin, confident, seductive women.

Really?

Great Site: Custom Road Sign

If you are in the mood for some goofiness you can check out customroadsign.com. I can’t imagine this being of any real use to anyone but I thought it was funny.

If you like that one you may want to create your own motel sign or wedding sign – or even your own phony receipt or prescription.

Link Roundup

How to be a regular at a restaurant

Interesting advice for those of us who like great service.

3 Funny Flash Games That Make Fun Of The Gaming Industry

Hilarious satires of today’s video games!

Web Site Story

Mildly amusing video – funnier if you are a geek like me.

Billie Tweets – a Twitter tribute to Michael Jackson’s “Billie Jean”

Wow – a whole lot of fun.

Writing Songs With My Friend, Mike | Intent.com

I never believed the scandalous reports about Michael. I never believed them for a second.

Jackson, Fawcett deaths: Bad day for Gen X – Music- msnbc.com

“When they departed Thursday, just a few hours and a few miles apart, they left an entire generation — a very strange generation indeed — without two of its defining figures.”

OpenGL Programming Guide (Addison-Wesley Publishing Company): Table of Contents</dd>

Schwarzenegger’s Plane Has Emergency Landing</dd>

SLTrib.com : Kinsley: We need new national anthem

I can’t sing so I never really thought about how unsingable the national anthem is. Don’t think we need a new one though.

Patterico’s Pontifications » Letterman Apologizes to Palin

Though everyone overreacted on this, Dave was right to apologize. Perception is important and he probably should have thought of that.

No More Mister Nice Blog

Probably missing another Carrie Prejean interview while tagging this.

SteveSilver.net: Favre on Buck

I really can’t stand Joe Buck. Not such a Favre fan anymore either.

Create an iPhone from Scratch in Photoshop | Drawing Techniques

This is not what I was looking for but it’s cool.

Quiz: The Great Geek Off 1.0

Are you geek enough?

Twitter’s Search Engine Is Very, Very, Broken – louisgray.com

Searching topics live is one of the things I’ve always liked best about Twitter. But it is broken.

Pentagon Seeks High School Hackers – Forbes.com

If this weren’t the government’s idea I’d be convinced it’s brilliant.

Lifehacker – Use Unplugged Earphones to Avoid Pesky Interruptions – Distraction

Strangely, people feel more comfortable interrupting a person who is obviously intently working than a person wearing headphones. –

Twitter / Chris Sacca: If you’re going to hell, w …

Ouch!

21 Amazing Movie Posters Recreated with Lego

If you love legos or movies you will like this. </dl>

Great Idea: from Bill Gates

I’ve always believed that the world would be a much better place if more people understood physics and geometry.

Thanks to Bill Gates (did I just type that?) more people can come one step closer to my dream. According to CNET Bill Gates has acquired a series of lectures by noted physicist Richard Feynman and is making them available on the web for free on Microsoft’s research website.

Great idea Bill, Thanks!

Friend of Liberty

About a month ago we received a letter from Jerry Falwell, Jr., the chancellor at Liberty University, an evangelical Christian university founded in 1971 by the late Dr. Jerry Falwell, Sr. The letter represents, in so many ways, the frustrations I have with LU in particular and the religious right in general. I will write more about that letter next week, but I thought it would be good to lay a foundation for my interest in Liberty.

I enrolled at LU in 1985. Our freshmen class was roughly 2500 strong, the largest freshmen class up to that point. The Moral Majority had become a strong political force in our country and LBC had just earned university status and had become LU. it was an exciting time to be on campus. I enjoyed my time at Liberty, learned much, graduated with a B.S. in 1988 and remained in Lynchburg until January 1989.

I knew when I enrolled that my worldview was different than Dr. Falwell’s. I used to cringe when he would review the university’s statement of faith during chapels and other gatherings. I believed most of it, but he would say …

“We believe in the pre-millennial, pre-tribulational return of Christ.”

One or two sentences is not enough to present my view, but I believe what most Christians believed until the early 1900s – Christ is reigning now over a spiritual kingdom and will return to earth but not to set up a political kingdom here on earth.

“pro Israel”

I have nothing against Israel but I think U.S. foreign policy is flawed because of an improper interpretation of Scripture. Anyone paying attention during the Presidency of George W. Bush should know what I’m talking about. I think every American should care about this but I also think Christians should be saddened by it. There are almost 2 Billion people in the world who will not listen to the message of Christ because America supports Israel no matter what the circumstances.

“pro strong national defense”

I also have nothing against a strong national defense, but including it as part of a university’s statement of faith always bothered me somehow.

I didn’t agree with everything Dr. Falwell stood for but I admired his dedication to his church and Liberty.

I have many fond memories of my college experience – fun times with friends, breaking rules, challenging authority, kidnapping the student body president – many of the same experiences others remember from college days, but there are three events I remember vividly because they helped shape my current worldview. I won’t bother to try and put them in chronological order but all of these can be dated with a bit of research.

I was on campus when a young man from another college contacted Dr. Falwell with a message he believed was from God. That message was to step down as leader of the moral majority and focus on his calling as pastor of a local church. I was impressed by Dr. Falwell’s decision to follow this young man’s advice. In retrospect, after all that I’ve seen over the last twenty years, I can’t help but wonder if there was more to that story than we were told. In any case, Dr. Falwell’s decision to focus on pastoring was the right one no matter how he came to it. This experience taught me that it is easy to be distracted by good things. If I have work to do I should do it without being distracted by other good things I could be doing.

I was running the campus radio station during the overnight shift one night during NCAA conference championship games. We never read news announcements overnight but I left the teletype running to keep tabs on the scores. Sometime that night I peeled the paper off the machine and began scanning for cities I knew were involved in the games. I noticed Charlotte, NC and stopped to read the story. Turns out that Jim Bakker had resigned from his position at his ministry due to some kind of sin and that our own Dr. Falwell was going to take over the ministry. I made the announcement over the air but to this day noone has ever confirmed that they heard that announcement. Our radio station was not very popular back then. The next day, Dr. Falwell confirmed the story in chapel.

I was not a supporter of Bakker’s ministry but I’d been to Heritage USA a couple of times and I knew that some good work was being done despite all the charlatan behavior and swindles going on. In the months that followed I heard many different sides to this story and I learned that things are not always as they seem.

The last experience came as a member of the College Republicans. I’ve been registered as Republican for most of my adult life but I’ve always considered myself more of a libertarian. I joined because, as one might imagine, it was a very popular group on the LU campus. It was exciting to be a member. At the convention it was always interesting to see how one or two very large groups of delegates could sway party decisions. Any party plank that did not have the approval of LU’s delegates was almost certain to fail unless George Mason’s group was in support.

It was during this time that I began to realize how flawed the political process can be. I was not completely naive when I joined but being a part opened my eyes to things that I’d not carefully thought through before. Our chapter, despite my best arguments to do otherwise, wanted to endorse George H. W. Bush as a candidate for President. This bothered me on so many levels that I still can’t shake the frustration.

It bothered me because Bush was in favor of what I considered to be a very totalitarian idea – a national curriculum for all schools in America.

It bothered me because Bush was endorsed mostly as a counter to Jack Kemp, who had been branded a “liberal” in our chapter. Kemp’s work with HUD had earned him this label. It seems that any Republican who supports a social program is immediately branded a liberal. I won’t try to justify the existence of HUD, but couldn’t we use a similar argument to brand Bush a liberal for his “national curriculum” idea? How is that a conservative idea?

It bothered me because Bush was clearly pro-choice and just pandering to the right wing by changing his stance. I’m pro-choice so I have no issue with that but I do have issue with a group that openly cares about one or two core issues and then doesn’t stick to them when political power is at stake. In my mind it was more important to Dr. Falwell to maintain his influence on government than to stand up for the issues he cared about.

Some of this is difficult for me to write because I have a lot of admiration for the good work Dr. Falwell did, but the fact is that I’m not proud of other things. Jim Wallis said it best when speaking to Dr. Falwell on Meet the Press in 2004

Jerry, there are millions and millions of Christians who want the nation to know that you don’t speak for them…

Great Site: DownForEveryoneOrJustMe?

Ever wonder if you are everyone is having trouble with a particular website or if the problem is with you?

Well, a few months ago I learned about downforeveryoneorjustme.com and it’s just the right tool for this situation. Visit the site, type in the URL you are having trouble with, and press enter.

Check it out at http://downforeveryoneorjustme.com/.

Computer Prays for You

Information Age Prayer is a website that will say your prayers for you when you wake up late or simply forget to pray.

LiveScience reports that this service is available for only $4.95 per month and that this is not the first time there has been discussion of automated prayers.

Really?

Great Site: Flickchart.com

If you consider yourself a movie fan you must check out Flickchart.com, a new site that ranks movies based on head to head match-ups.

Flickchart presents you with two movie posters and you decide which movie you like most and click on the poster. If you haven’t seen one or both of the movies there are buttons to click for that too. Flickchart continues to present these match-ups for as long as you want to keep ranking. As you rank the movies Flickchart builds your list of top movies. The more you rank the better your list gets and the more your votes begin to count toward the global list.

It can be a wildly addictive yet frustrating experience. It was all fun and games for me until Groundhog Day hit my number one spot. Groundhog Day is a no-brainer for my top fifty and perhaps even my top twenty – but number one? I don’t think so. It sat there for a long time as I patiently ranked movies. Even more frustrating was the occupation of that spot by a movie I didn’t even enjoy very much – Saving Private Ryan. I understand it was an excellent film and that’s why it sat there for a while. Clearly I voted for it instead of the movies against which it was matched, but I can name a couple dozen films I’d rank higher if I were putting together a list myself.

I guess that is what makes the process so compelling. You rank movies one against another and try not to let the list itself influence your judgement. You need to trust the system. Does it work? I have no idea but we won’t know unless we try it, right? Try it without letting your pre-determined ideas of what should be top on the list cloud your judgement. It can be harder to do than you think.

The most frustrating part of the Flickchart experience, by a long shot, is dealing with some of the match-ups. I know these things are subjective but I’ll share some of the most frustrating match-ups I remember seeing. Please note that this is NOT a critique the ranking system at all. I’ve not had a chance to really look at the data and see how things work. I’m sure the system has flaws but that is not what this is about. What follows is just a fun look at my addiction.

The Godfather v. Thelma & Louise

In my opinion The Godfather is one of the best films of all time. Unfortunately, it is matched up against a movie which I loved but have not yet had a chance to rank. Without a doubt I click The Godfather but my problem is that after almost 1200 rankings I have a list of more than 500 movies. When I click on The Godfather, what happens to Thelma & Louise? Does it drop all the way to the bottom of my list? In this case it went right to the middle of the list. I haven’t paid enough attention to notice if new movies always drop to the middle. In any case new movies that come into the rotation late have to fight harder to get to the top. A reverse of the Groundhog Day problem really.

Being There v. Planet of the Apes (2001)

Being There is another one of my all-time favorites (and I haven’t rated it yet) but I’ve never seen this version of Apes. No big deal, right? Just ask for the next movie. Well, I know what invariably happens in these cases. I am going to get one of those match-ups which people fret about all the time – two great movies with no clear favorite. Sure enough it happens again. Now I get Man on the Moon. In the end I decided on Being There because this match-up is not quite as hard as some I’ve seen but I’ve also not yet ranked Man on the Moon so it will drop down to a spot from which it must fight its way up the list.

Spy Kids 3 v. Superman 3
Really? I have to choose between these two? Okay, I’m making this one up but I’ve seen match-ups almost as bad which escape my memory. As I write this, another Flickchart user posts this on Twitter:

I hate choosing between 2 awful movies on @flickchart more than 2 great ones. Today: Underworld vs Exorcist: The Beginning.
@brandonRohwer

Who wants to vote for a horrible movie? and what movie on my list will drop below the “winner?” Worse yet, will the losing movie drop in at the middle and outrank half my list? I certainly hope not.

The Godfather v. Dumb and Dumber

You know what I think of The Godfather. I have not seen Dumb and Dumber which makes this similar to Being There v. Apes but this is worse. There is absolutely zero chance that I would vote for Dumb and Dumber over The Godfather – zero. So what’s the big deal? Just ask for another movie right? The problem is that I can avoid the problem I mentioned in the Apes match-up – I could pretend I’ve seen the movie and be done with it without risking another Man on the Moon situation. The problem with this approach is twofold. One, I will continue to see Dumb and Dumber in my rankings which will put me in this situation again and again. Two, it’s cheating.

It is not all frustration though. The best way to avoid these frustrations is to rank more movies and hope the system works. Once in a while I will try to refine my list a bit by choosing to rank certain genres, years, or from among my top movies. Like I’ve already said, I have no idea if it works but I am having a whole lot of fun trying. Clicking on movie after movie has proven to be far more fun than I could have possibly imagined. If you don’t believe me check it out today. Flickchart is planning for launch on 09-09-09 but is in private beta right now. Visit Flickchart.com today and submit you email for an invite. While you are waiting you can watch the trailer, check out my profile, and enjoy some of the fun by following along on Twitter and FriendFeed.

Link Roundup

I’ve been gone for a bit. I planned a bunch of interesting topics to post while I was in Italy but I never posted them and I haven’t posted since I returned.

Here is a list of sites I’ve tagged since my last roundup.

Turning Ideas on Their Head.

Caffeine as Relaxant?

The Mathematics of Hitting Streaks

Once again baseball and math make a wonderful combination. The best things in life.

UD offers Summer College program for high school students

In case you were looking for something to do this summer.

MyDD :: UCLA Study Assesses Economic Impact of Gay Marriage</dd>

On Faith: Changing an Unchanging Church – Herb Silverman</dd>

9 Awesome & Useful Google Maps Mashups

Diaroogle – Wow!

Photojournalism – Photography, Video and Visual Journalism Archives – Lens Blog – NYTimes.com</dd>

Chemist Shows How RNA Can Be the Starting Point for Life – NYTimes.com

“they discovered their recipe, which is far from intuitive, after 10 years of working through every possible combination of starting chemicals.” – Interesting.

Pentagon Preps Soldier Telepathy Push

Awesome!

Spamusement! Poorly-drawn cartoons inspired by actual spam subject lines!</dd>

Jerky Curveball: It’s All An Illusion

Very cool demonstration of the curveball questioin.

How to View Private Facebook Profiles | MakeUseOf.com

Not sure I can think of a legitimate use for this but interesting. Commenters seem a bit uptight about it.

What actually happened in The Usual Suspects?

I have no idea what happened.

He Lives: I think I’ll pass

I wish more Christians felt this way.

Neave Planetarium …the sky in your web browser</dd>

mathpi</dd>

cl1p.net – The internet clipboard</dd>

Open Source Living</dd>

“Seven Blunders of the World” by Mahatma Gandhi</dd>

What’s Special About This Number?

I’ve consulted this page many times since I discovered it – very, very cool.

If Everything Was Made by Microsoft | Cracked.com</dd>

Beware These Comment Saboteurs In Social Media

I’m an elitist and a know-it-all.

100 Most Often Mispronounced Words and Phrases in English

A great list. Several words I was pronouncing incorrectly. </dl>

Great Site: What’s Special About This Number?

Last week, I stumbled on this fun site. It’s a running list of numbers with an indication about what is special about that number.

Stuff like …

• 2 is the only even prime
• 6 is the smallest perfect number
• 8 is the largest cube in the Fibonacci sequence

and just a few of my favorites from the first 100

• 40 is the only number whose letters are in alphabetical order
• 53 is the only two digit number that is reversed in hexadecimal
• 67 is the smallest number which is palindromic in bases 5 and 6
• 77 is the largest number that cannot be written as a sum of distinct numbers whose reciprocals sum to 1

The site is also full of links to fun and interesting math topics – if you find math fun and interesting.

Weekly Link Roundup

Stanford offers free downloads of its iPhone development class | Software | iPhone Central | Macworld

A great way to learn iPhone programming

Recent gopher Bookmarks on Delicious

Wow, it’s been at least ten years since I browsed gopher.

8 Year-Old Entrepreneur Makes Plea For Job – Business Opportunities Weblog

What a cool little kid!

Tarjeta de dentista :: Cuarto derecha

Very creative design idea.

Garlic Shrimp and Scallops Recipe (by Jeremy Zawodny)</dd>

Rachel Sutherland, 2006 The Other Half of Famous Twins | GetBack Retro Images, Video, Games and Trivia</dd>

HugeURL

Totally useless site but good for quick laugh.

Talking Points Memo | Frightful Kindle

I love the Kindle app for iPhone but I like the Kindle better. The “non-backlitness” is a big plus for me. I spend a lot of time in front of a screen so the more I can get away the better. The iPhone app is very cool for “having my books with me” all the time. I carry the Kindle a lot of places but I carry the iPhone everywhere.

Twitter / mcuban: can’t say no one makes mon …

Haha, good point

“60 Minutes” freaks out over Conficker. Where’s John Hodgman when you need him? | TV Barn

“Maybe tonight, a lot of 50-plussers will update their security software or lock up that wi-fi they’ve been sharing with the neighborhood. I suppose that’s all for the good. Still, I wonder if anyone bothered to inform Lauren, the 30-trying-to-look-like-22-year-old featured in those Windows ads, that her $700 Windows box could get infected with Conficker — but a Mac, or a PC with non-MS-manufactured Linux as the operating system, can’t?”

BBC NEWS | Magazine | Death and my daughters

A moving story about dealing with death.

BBC NEWS | UK | England | North Yorkshire | Missing chef website investigated

I was in the hospital with third degree burns on 22% of my body when I was a junior in high school. A local convenience store placed a can for donations in the store. I know they collected donations – people told me and it was a high traffic store. I never saw a dime of those donations!

Perfect Running Pace Revealed | LiveScience

“Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison now have an explanation for this state of running nirvana, and we can thank our ancestors and some evolutionary biology for it.” </dl>

Great Idea: Blackboard Blogging

Alfred Sirleaf, a 33-year-old “information evangelist” in Liberia, does his part to keep other citizens of his city properly informed by posting all the news that’s fit to print – on a chalkboard.

Mr. Sirleaf scours newspapers every morning and decides what news should be posted on his busy street corner. He does all of this for those who could not otherwise obtain this information because they cannot afford newspapers, televisions, or in some cases even the electricity they need to watch television.

He says

I do all the dirty work for them, and I just give them exactly what they want.</p> and he has even devised an elaborate system of symbols to use because many of his “readers” cannot actually read.

Read more at <a href=”“http://www.nytimes.com/2006/08/04/world/africa/04liberia.html?_r=1”” title=”Blackboard Blogger”>nytimes.com</a> or watch <a href=”“http://vimeo.com/3602427”” title=”Blackboard Blogger on Video”>this video</a>.

Book Review: A Brief History of Time

Twenty-one years ago today a masterpiece was published.

In A Brief History of Time, Stephen Hawking attempts the impossible. His mission is to explain incredibly complicated theories in a way that is understandable to the average reader. In less than 300 pages Hawking covers topics like the nature of time and space, the origin of the universe, black holes, and time travel.

In an attempt to make the book even more accessible, an illustrated, updated and expanded edition was published in 1996. Hawking claims in the foreword that

Even if you only look at the pictures and their captions, you should get some idea of what is going on. (empasis mine)</p> I think the key words here are some idea. The ideas in the book are very difficult to understand.

I’ve read the book twice, but like many people I suppose, I’ve also read parts of it from time to time and shared it with friends over the years. What I find fascinating is that I enjoy reading it even through the passages where I feel a little foggy. It’s brilliantly done and the illustrated edition includes dozens of wonderful images which make it a pleasure to pick up and review every once in a while – when you are in an intellectual or contemplative mood especially.

The Greatest Band of Our Time

I’ve just read a great post that reminds me once again why I love U2.

I purchased the latest project, No Line on the Horizon, as soon as it was available and Seth is right – they have not strayed from the heart of the message.

I’ve never heard anyone express it as well as The Boss himself during U2′s induction into The Rock ‘n Roll Hall of Fame. He described the band like this:

U2, with the dark, chiming sound of heaven at their command — which, of course, is the sound of unrequited love and longing, their greatest theme — their search for God intact. This was a band that wanted to lay claim to not only this world but had their eyes on the next one, too.

and describes its frontman, Bono, as

one of the greatest and most endearingly naked messianic complexes in rock and roll.

and then adds

God bless you, man! It takes one to know one, of course.

He calls the guitar work of The Edge

inherently spiritual

and speaks of the message of faith in the band’s music

You see, every good Irish and Italian-Irish front man knows that before James Brown there was Jesus. So hold the McDonald arches on the stage set, boys, we are not ironists. We are creations of the heart and of the earth and of the stations of the cross — there’s no getting out of it.

Now Bono’s voice often sounds like it’s shouting not over top of the band but from deep within it. “Here we are, Lord, this mess, in your image.” He delivers all of this with great drama and an occasional smirk that says, “Kiss me, I’m Irish.” He’s one of the great front men of the past twenty years. He is also one of the only musicians to devote his personal faith and the ideals of his band into the real world in a way that remains true to rock’s earliest implications of freedom and connection and the possibility of something better.

I’ve chosen a few quotes I think express the spirit of the speech, but taken out of context they don’t do justice to the original speech. You should read it for yourself

Texas Considers Allowing Guns on Campuses – NYTimes.com

The NY Times is reporting that the state legislature in Texas is considering a bill which would allow properly licensed persons to carry concealed weapons on a college campus.

I hate guns myself but I firmly believe our right to carry them helps protect our freedom. I also believe that if more people carried concealed weapons there would be less violence – not more.

On the other hand, I tend to worry about weapons on a college campus. I have a lot of friends of college age and most are very responsible, but we all know that college is a time when students “let loose” a bit (or a lot). Concealed weapons may not be a great idea in this environment.

What do you think?

Weekly Link Roundup

Scrabble and Other Games Have Overvalued Points – WSJ.com

Scrabble is a great game and should be left alone.

You Pay, Computer Prays For You | LiveScience

“Information Age Prayer is a site that charges you a monthly fee to say prayers for you. A typical charge is $4.95 per month to say three prayers specified by you each day.” Now I have seen everything.

Ask a Flowchart: Which Blowhard Am I?

I am try again. I get to “You were blogging before electricity” and choose no so I end up at “Try Again.” I started blogging in 1999 when I could barely afford to pay my electric bill – does that count?

Jeff Bezos Works In Kentucky Distribution Center For A Week (AMZN)

Wow, this will be good. Those FCs are not great places to work. Hope he learns that.

Daring Fireball: Obsession Times Voice

Very well said. Success comes from obsession – not with the money but with the work. If you care about your craft/product/service/whatever you will will stand a much better chance of success than if you care only about the reward.

Microsoft’s new ad campaign goes recessionista chic

This ad proves nothing. If someone gave me the offer – find a computer in this price range and you can keep it – I would do it. Microsoft is saying “PCs are cheap.” Doesn’t everyone know that already? I really don’t see the point.

Cars: Tesla Model S Electric Sedan Prototype Has a Giant Touch Dashboard

I’ll take one.

Hacking NetFlix : When Netflix Recommendations Go Wrong

“seems to indicate that fans of the despair and violence of The Wire and the lacerating misanthropy of Curb Your Enthusiasm will also enjoy an animated show for 3-year-olds”</p>

Sounds about right to me. </dd>

Twitter Confirms Paid Pro Accounts On The Way

I pay a fee to use the premium versions of several web based services – Evernote, Flickr, Remember the Milk, and others. I would gladly pay extra for a few nice features if I needed them.

Downloads: gCalCron Automates Your Linux System with Google Calendar

Nice little hack if you want to run cron jobs and don’t remember the syntax or don’t want to shell in. Note that there is a certain level of risk involved as noted in the post.

4 Alternative Uses For Your Gmail Inbox | MakeUseOf.com

A few nice tips you may or may not have thought of.

Office Built Entirely of Cardboard | LiveScience

Finding alternative uses for cardboard is important during our current economic climate, where the demand and price for recycled cardboard has dropped more than any other consumer product.

Celebrate 100 Million CC Photos on Flickr with Joi Ito’s Free Souls – Creative Commons

Flickr’s integration of CC licenses was one of the first and best; not only do they allow users to specify licenses per-photo, but they offer an incredible CC discovery page which breaks down searches for CC licensed materials by license. This means that you can look for all the photos of New York City licensed under Attribution and sorted by interestingness, to give an example.

How To Avoid The Link Vacuum Effect

“But Twitter is becoming a kind of fishbowl where people merely link to a site from their Twitter account, not from their personal site.”</p>

Umm, so? Perhaps we can get back to the day when content is more important than who links to you? </dd>

Bios level malware – Hack a Day

This is not a good thing at all.

Jennifer Aniston ended relationship with John Mayer because of his Twitter ‘obsession’ – Telegraph

Is something wrong with hourly Twitter updates?

Redskins Won’t Draft QB With First-Round Pick (Right?) –NFL FanHouse</dl>