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August 25, 2004

Grammar and Language Porn

I can be a bit of a grammarian, and I have an interest in learning about obscure languages (learning about them, not necessarily learning them). For years, the Ethnologue Catalog has been a common reference I've used for linguistic references.

Recently, I've discovered the Languagehat weblog, which I highly recommend for anyone who as a curiosity about languages and orthography.

Posted by Dean at 9:04 PM | TrackBack

August 23, 2004

Note to self

My newest purchase is a Fuel Belt. I've realized that, no, I can't run for 10 miles with only two drinks from water fountains along my running route. I'm also beginning to realize that the more I run, the more expensive the habit becomes. I used to buy a new pair of running shoes once a year. Now I have to replace them every 5 months.

That said, if you live in the Boston area, I highly recommend Marathon Sports.

Posted by Dean at 5:29 PM | TrackBack

August 20, 2004

Excerpt from "The Dictionary of Failed Relationships"

The Dictionary of Failed Relationships, Chapter 21, "Underdog"

"You're getting worse and worse. Do I need to take you back to the hospital?"

"Why? So we can volunteer for experiments again for a lousy thirty bucks? So they can do that thing where they stick me fulll of needles and darts, and you act like you can feel my pain?"

"No. So they can do that thing where they stuff you full of pills, and you act like a normal human being."

"I don't like that experiment."

Posted by Dean at 1:12 PM | TrackBack

August 16, 2004

Just What Every Orthodox Home Needs

I was always wondering where I could get one of these. Hey, someone out there must want to make their house look like a 19th century Russian church.

What's that? Why are you yelling, "Is Outrage!" at me?

Posted by Dean at 2:50 PM | TrackBack

Poor, poor New Jersey

As Wonkette writes, "There's not a whole lotta news... but what news there is is very, very gay." I grew up in New Jersey during the last period in which Republicans were taken seriously in the state. The 1980s were the Tom Kean years. I saw Christine Todd Whitman come within a hair's breadth of defeating Bill Bradley in a Senate race because of the outrage of Gov. Jim Florio's tax increases, and I saw both houses of the state legislature become dominated by Republicans for the same reason.

That era is gone. New Jersey is one of only two states that has a Democratic governor, both houses of the legislature controlled by Democrats, two Democratic Senators, and a majority of Democrats in its Congressional delegation. However, no sooner did we get a Democrat as governor than he resigned with the announcement I am a gay American. He had an affair, appointed his lover to a position as director of Homeland Security, and his lover tried to blackmail him after being jilted. Well and good, but even if this hadn't happened, McGreevey's bad judgment in the rest of his life would have done him in. In a scandal involving prostitutes, blackmail, and secret codewords, McGreevey has come under fire for corruption, particularly given his connection to one of his major fundraisers, the odious Charles Kushner. The story reminds me of a low-rent version of The Sopranos, particularly the subplot involving Boon State Assemblyman Ronald Zellman.

Understand that because of corruption, the former Republican governor and Senator Toricelli both resigned while running against each other, and two county commissioners have been nailed for corruption, one of whom is in witness protection. Corruption is nothing new in New Jersey. McGreevey saw the writing on the wall, and by turning his resignation into "it's all because I had a gay affair," he effectively jumps on the grenade to insulate the rest of the Democratic party from the rest of the scandal. Had the scandal with the appointment of his Director of Homeland Security caused the corruption charges come front and center, he would have been drummed out under a cloud of corruption. Now he sets himself up as the victim and keeps the focus away from the corruption in his administration, which could turn the electorate to the (still corrupt, but just not-currently-in-power) Republicans out of frustration.

McGreevey deflects the other corruption scandals facing his administration by turning his resignation into his scandalous gay affair. His party, no doubt, thanks him.

Of course, with America's first openly gay governor, New Jersey can add that distinction to its other famous firsts.

Posted by Dean at 1:02 AM | TrackBack

August 13, 2004

Today is a Holiday

Happy Left Handers' Day to all of my sinister brethren (and sistren).

Back in high school, to keep my self organized, my loose-leaf notebooks were organized backwards so that when writing, I wouldn't have to reach over the rings.

Posted by Dean at 6:20 PM | TrackBack

August 12, 2004

They Don't Make 'em like they used to

Now, despite the fact that I refer to the iPod time and time again in my posts, I have to point to this comparison of the cassette vs. iPod that's been making the rounds.

Posted by Dean at 1:59 PM | TrackBack

August 11, 2004

Barry McGuire comes to Boston

60s-era protest singer Barry McGuire played a concert in Canton, Massachusetts this evening. I was familiar with him from his protest song "Eve of Destruction," which I happen to own on 45. So, having heard that he was coming to Boston and being vaguely aware that he had become a born-again Christian and had made a career for himself in Contemporary Christian Music, I was not surprised to hear that his local concert would be at St. James Lutheran Church in Canton.

I had a faint hope that he would sing some of his older songs, but no such luck. He's still quite talented, and his voice sounds uncannily identical now as it did almost 40 years ago. His shows are a combination of singing, Christian preaching, and storytelling. Not sure what to do with all of that, but I have to admit it was fascinating to come into contact with a veritable protest-song legend who is now almost 70 years old. He is, apparently, moving to New Zealand with his wife, so this is probably the last chance I would have to see him in person.

Picture from the concert after the jump...

Continue reading "Barry McGuire comes to Boston"

Posted by Dean at 11:26 PM | Comments (0) | TrackBack

August 10, 2004

Visualizing Google News

Those who are fans of Google News will find two visualization tools pretty interesting. The first is called newsmaps, which creates a tree map that tries to express the underlying importance of various news stories. The other is more abstract and, I think, more interesting, called Stamen, which traces the presence of news stories over the course of a week and shows their relative importance each day.

I will try to ensure that these two additional news toys will not distract me too much from work. Not that I don't have enough distractions, already.

Posted by Dean at 11:48 AM | Comments (0)

August 8, 2004

A continuing trend of Jersey-themed movies

Saturday night I watched the movie Garden State (official site) at the Kendall Theater. This continues an ongoing determination of mine to watch any movie set in New Jersey, which, of course, has led me to see the Kevin Smith movies (in reverse order in which I have watched them) Jersey Girl, Jay and Slient Bob Strike Back, Chasing Amy, Mallrats, and Clerks. Todd Solondz directed another New Jersey-themed film I've seen, Happiness, part of whose action takes place in Roseland, New Jersey, next to my hometown of Essex Fells, New Jersey.

Garden State involves a man in his mid-20s who returns to his hometown and meets up with his old friends and encounters Natalie Portman, who gives him a new perspective on life. Interestingly, this is almost the exact same plot of Beautiful Girls, which also featured Natalie Portman. This time, however, Natalie Portman is in her 20s, rather than 13, as in the latter film. This allows the main character of Garden State, played by Zach Braff (who also wrote and directed the film), to fall in love with Natalie Portman, instead of debating, as Matt Dillon did in Beautiful Girls, whether it would be worthwhile to wait 5 years until she turns 18 in order to fall for her.

Other references: Zach Braff fan site, Natalie Portman fan site, Zach Braff Garden State blog

Posted by Dean at 12:12 AM | Comments (0)

August 5, 2004

Tivo not dead (yet)

My personal fears notwithstanding, we see, via slashdot, that the FCC granted permission to Tivo to send copies of video to other users. It turns out that this video can even be shared without geographical restriction. So, score one for the good guys. Just to be safe though, you might want to build your own digital video recorder.

Posted by Dean at 11:00 PM | Comments (0)

August 4, 2004

Laundry Room Mishaps

You know how, when you're pouring diluted bleach into the washing machine, that you're not supposed to let it come into contact with any of your colored clothes? It turns out they're not kidding about that:

Looks like I need to replace that shirt.

Posted by Dean at 11:42 AM | Comments (0)

August 3, 2004

The end of Tivo?

In a continuing attempt to comment on news stories only when I actually have something to say about them, Wired informs us that HDTV broadcasts will soon come with an anti-broadcast flag to prevent Tivo users from sharing video they've received.

The next step will be that some programs will be flagged by broadcasters indicating that the programs cannot even be recorded. Flagging or encrypting digitally-encoded video to prevent it from being rebroadcast or recorded makes it very difficult to record. However, at some point, the video obviously needs to be decoded and displayed on a TV screen. As I argued earlier, once you display media to people, the media can get recorded and redistributed. Outside of preventing people from actually watching their HDTVs, there's nothing that can be done about this.

Meanwhile, a group of programmers has claimed to have figured out how to work around the HD-Tivo software in order to bypass the built-in restrictions.

However, if you want to bypass the whole process of dealing with Tivo's wranglings with the government in order to get features you actually want, you can build your own Tivo. First it requires a video encoder such as the Hauppauge 350. Next, this goes in a computer with some free software to support video-recording schedules, such Myth TV or Freevo.

Ideally, you'd set it all up in a case like this.

Other points of interest: Software to hack Series 2 Tivos

Posted by Dean at 1:15 PM | Comments (0)

August 1, 2004

MIT in the New York Times

MIT's Senior House got coverage in the New York Times in an article about crazy college traditions (registration required), specifically Senior House's Steer Roast, a party I have been to almost every year since 1993. For certain segments of the alumni, it's like homecoming-- one of the few times every year to get together with friends, though in a decidedly less football-focused and more mud-wrestling-focused way. The fact that my office is right next to Senior House means that I've never even been tempted to skip the event. There is video and photographic evidence that I have mud wrestled at Steer Roast, but it shall not be presented here.

I'm glad to see students at other schools fighting to keep their rituals. These things are mostly harmless, but from college administrative offices to zoning boards, there always seems to be an inherent prejudice against "unsanctioned fun," whether it's streaking through campus, having a party in a dorm's courtyard, or hanging out on the porch while sitting on an old couch (last link courtesy of Ann Arbor Is Overrated).

Posted by Dean at 2:59 PM | Comments (0)