OKGO has built the best music videos I have seen this year, or last year for that matter. Here is their latest, which involves heavily trained dogs… Not to be confused with the proclamation from the Agnostic Dyslexic: I’m Not Sure There IS A Dog!
This one is wonderful, and I had to post it here. I figure almost everyone else in the world saw it last week, but then this web site has always been about getting there in the end…
Geek and Gamer Girls Song – Watch more Funny Videos
Everyone here does remember that Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, invented computer programing? Her good buddy Charles Babbage invented the Difference Engine, but couldn’t get it to do much more than the obvious add, subtract, multiply, and divide. When Ada invented the computer algorithm, she merged the algebraic mathematical procedures structure (to achieve a result, you have a sequence of steps to preform with a specific order, each of which does a small segment of the complete task, and holds the results for final assembly) with Babbage’s mechanical analytical engine.
She also created the concept of the non-volatile storage medium in which you could save your programs or results for reuse later, which from the day she invented it in the 1830s until a better method was devised in the 1970s meant punch cards. Just like the Algorithm, it wasn’t a new idea; punch cards had been used to control mechanical processes for several hundred years at that point, specifically looms. In fact, the first punch cards were only used to channel the thread you wanted to the spindle you wanted it to be processed by, using a notch on the edge of the card to guide it to its destination.
But like all technologies, it evolved; and by the 1880s census the punch cards as modified by Ada were being used to tabulate how many of who lived where more efficiently than ever. That cut the governments processing time down to a fraction of what it had been, and ushered in the first real taste of what would later be described as Big Brother when Huxley got around to writing. It also encouraged the government of the time to dump a lot of money into the whole mechanical tabulating industry, since they saw a reduction in their costs for statistical gathering and processing of census data in the regions where such tools were available. While not exactly the first worm that fed on its own tail, the cycle of calculation improvements (from both hardware and software improvements), generating better results faster than before, and resulting in additional funding to improve the hardware and software, was one of my favorite early examples of a positive feedback loop.
Not exactly two words I thought I would have been putting together in the Title area, but true none the less. So lets check out a few small but intense examples… and the fact that they are from radically different parts of the world tells you this is an art form that is well appreciated. These are the best examples I have found to date.
Howl will be in limited release this weekend, and while it might be hard to find a theater it is in, it will be worth it. Also in limited release, Enter the Void was inspired by the Tibetan Book of the Dead, and is every bit as strange as that implies. In wide release, the animated Legend of the Guardians: The Owls of Ga’Hoole brings Kathryn Lasky’s wonderful books to life in 3D. The animation looks amazing, and believe me when I say I will be in the 3D showing.
Ondine did pretty well when it made the festival circuit, getting lots of good buzz, but when it finally made a limited theatrical release it played no where near me. Now that is coming out on DVD this Tuesday I will finally get to watch this tale of a mermaid-like creature and the fisherman who catches her. The other live action movie out this week is the
Ridley Scott/Russel Crow version of Robin Hood, complete with WWII amphibious assault craft.
For TV programs, Being Human: Season Two just finished its first run on BBC America and is now heading for the shelves. A lot of the second season involves dealing with the consequences of the first, such as George accidentally turning his girlfriend into a werewolf and Mitchell’s new position in the local Vampire hierarchy. But there are new enemies to deal with this time around, one just for Annie and an organization out for the whole group and all their associates. Mythbusters Collection 6 is also available for anyone who likes their science with some serious attitude, and the new season rolls out on October 6th.
Xam’d: Lost Memories – Collection 1 is the story of war between humans and human/Hiruko fusions, told from the viewpoint of the high school boy who just got merged. The animation quality is excellent, and a bonus is the opening track by Boom Boom Satellites. Two other animation series come out in reduced cost editions, Ghost Hunt – The Complete Series in a S.A.V.E. version, and Samurai 7 in a Viridian Collection.