Jon?

I know I don't agree with all my friends on this issue (in fact, I may not agree with anyone more than Cliff May) but agree or disagree, is this not Jon Stewart at his douchiest? All the yelling and interrupting ... (besides being wrong, not to mention his comments on Truman, for which he apologized)

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 1
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 2
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

The Daily Show With Jon Stewart	M - Th 11p / 10c
Cliff May Unedited Interview Pt. 3
thedailyshow.com
Daily Show Full Episodes Economic Crisis First 100 Days

A copycat science Friday

Thank you, Chris, for giving me an excuse to get rid of some of the tabs I have had open for the last week. Here are some of the most interesting science articles (and one video) that I have found recently. Though each is summarized, I do recommend you check out the articles because in some cases I have had to drastically simplify, or as in the case of the camera and the video, completely omit a meaningful explanation of the achievement.

Lip-reading computer: Scientists at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK) have developed a lip-reading computer that can automatically transcribe and translate silent videos of people speaking in a number of languages. One potentially important use for this computer is as an aide to police investigating crimes caught on silent CCTV cameras.
Quantum computers (and hackers!): Quantum computers and encryption are very slowly coming into use in the real world (the results of the State of Geneva election were secured using a quantum system), and (academic) hackers are doing a pretty damn good job keeping pace.
The world’s fastest camera: “[The] camera snaps images less than a half a billionth of a second long, capturing over six million of them in a second continuously.” Enough said.
Wolfram Alpha: Unfortunately this is not a person’s name (the developer’s name is Stephen Wolfram), but rather a web tool designed to answer questions that are asked in modern English. In Wolfram’s words, "Like interacting with an expert, it will understand what you're talking about, do the computation, and then present you with the results.”
”Anatomy of a crash”: In its efforts to improve the safety of the Ford Falcon, Ford engineers decided that to make the (economically, not absolutely) safest possible car they needed to first research crashes in more detail. Their results show, in milliseconds, the general progression of a car crash. Scroll to the bottom for the breakdown.
Dr. Quantum explains the double-slit experiment: This video is a great introduction to the basis of quantum theory, and goes into great detail explaining this experiment, which I can't even begin to summarize here.

Racecar-Driving Swedish Anti-Terrorist-Unit Busted!

[Credit for this story goes to my younger brother, Leland.] I have not finished this whole story, but it starts with the above well-known wreck of a Ferarri Enzo on the Pacific Coast Highway (check out the Wrecked Exotics page dedicated to this crash) and (so far) involves:

• Gizmondo, a failure of a videogame company;
• A bus company police force calling itself the San Gabriel Valley Transit Authority and worked on counter-terrorism;
• Illegal gun purchases;
• Illegal car importantion;
• A mystery man named Dietrich;
  
• etc.

I have no idea how this story will end, but I think it will be worthwhile to get to the end. The story somewhat reminds me of the identity theft article that was posted a while ago.

Science Friday

The abilities of tapping/dancing to music and being able to mimic sounds are related in the brain say researchers. Here's a great video of a cockatoo rocking out to the Backstreet Boys. It's definitely worth a watch, provided you can handle all the high-pitched ear-wrenching screeching (not to mention the birds' wails).

In life, there are no coincidences

OK, so that's a really stupid title. But it's pretty interesting that the same week that the Dems secure their filibuster proof majority (almost - damn you, Coleman!), we have the announcement that Justice Souter is going to retire. So, on to the biggest story that isn't a story, as six months from now the Court will be exactly the same, just younger and woman-ier.

Politically, this is bad news for the Democrats. As laughably horrible as the Republicans were politically in last year's presidential campaign, the Democrats have gotten to just sit back and laugh as they top themselves in the incompetence department this year. As trite as the saying is, the Republicans are a party divided.

But if there's one issue that can unite (some) people under any circumstances, it's nominating people to the Supreme Court - namely, whether or not they are baby-killers.

This is likely to cause some unity amongst Republicans and is good for them in the short term (by short term, I mean possibly long enough to give them a boost in the 2010 elections). Unfortunately for them - and I can't believe I'm saying this - reigniting the culture war is not a good long-term strategy for them, at least until the economy warms up. (Morality is an issue best left for times of peace and prosperity - are no Republicans getting this memo?) And even then - they've got to be careful - (wow, I went to 538 to find an archived article, but it turns out there's Breaking News!) people are starting to get behind gay marriage (please, no jokes). And that's going to be hard to leave out of a culture war, but including it will only move their party farther to the fringes.

OK, I've been meaning to do a separate post on this for a while, but I'll never get to it, so here we go. Long story short, Newt Gingrich is talking about the possibility of trying to create a moderately conservative third party that would move in the Republicans' space (from the left). I can't believe I'm saying this, but Newt Gingrich and Meghan McCain are the best two political strategists on the entire right of American politics right now (they have the best ideas, anyway).

And I have to say - it makes me sad. I would really like to see a stronger Republican party, because one-party rule is never good, no matter who the party is. But I'd like to see a sensible Republican party as well. I guess I'll have to keep waiting ...

The Hidden Bailout

The Atlantic has a few really cool graphics showing all that the Fed has been up to recently. As you can see from the above chart, the bailout and stimulus package represent only a small portion of their actions. I recommend you check out all of charts.

to fellow nyc-ers

This is a problem.

WTF moment of the day: Specter switching parties

Update: Sorry about the size of the original picture.


The Huffington Post reports that Sen. Arlen Specter (R.- Pennsylvania) will switch parties and compete in the Deomcratic primary during the 2010 election cycle. Specter said,

I have been a Republican since 1966. I have been working extremely hard for the Party, for its candidates and for the ideals of a Republican Party whose tent is big enough to welcome diverse points of view. While I have been comfortable being a Republican, my Party has not defined who I am. I have taken each issue one at a time and have exercised independent judgment to do what I thought was best for Pennsylvania and the nation.

Since my election in 1980, as part of the Reagan Big Tent, the Republican Party has moved far to the right. Last year, more than 200,000 Republicans in Pennsylvania changed their registration to become Democrats. I now find my political philosophy more in line with Democrats than Republicans.

Strangely Badass II

Last week it was Richard Branson, this week it is voice actor Billy West. Though his name sounds similar to a crappy superhero alter-ego (perhaps I am simply reminded of the name Adam West), Billy West has voiced some of the most iconic cartoon characters of all time. Here's a list of the important roles West has played:

• Doug: Doug Funnie and Roger Klotz (1991-1994, the Nickelodeon version, not the Disney version with the stupid baseball tee version of Doug);
• Ren and Stimpy: Ren and Stimpy (Stimpy 1991 until 1996; Ren from 1993-1996);
• Futurama: Fry, Professor Farnsworth, Dr. Zoidberg, Richard Nixon's head, and Zapp Brannigan;
• Space Jam: Bugs Bunny and Elmer Fudd;
• Scooby Doo on Zombie Island: Shaggy (West was only the second person ever to voice Shaggy);
• Popeye's Voyage: The Quest for Pappy: Popeye (a 75th anniversary movie).

I am blown away by the range of personality types (Ren Höek and Doug Funnie???) and by the presence on West's resumé of both original and mimicked voices (Looney Tunes and Futurama???). I can't even imitate regional accents from around the USA, let alone an imitation of a specific voice.

To be a bit more direct: Billy West is strangely badass because he represents a whole bunch of animated childhood icons jammed into a body that looks somewhat like Richard Kiel (more commonly known as 'That giant guy who had a nail in his head in Happy Gilmore').

By the way, everyone should feel welcome to add some names to the Strangely Badass series.

They just don't get it.

Apparently sarcasm and satire are too indirect and subtle to be understood by those who live in a strict black vs. white, good vs. evil, dichotomous world. Research has now shown, "[...] individual-level political ideology significantly predicted perceptions of Colbert's political ideology. Additionally, there was no significant difference between the groups in thinking Colbert was funny, but conservatives were more likely to report that Colbert only pretends to be joking and genuinely meant what he said while liberals were more likely to report that Colbert used satire and was not serious when offering political statements."

In other words, conservatives don't get the joke.

Swine Flu

Any early predictions on the ultimate outcome of this decidedly un-sexily-named pandemic?

Also, see:
PandemicFlu.gov
CDC/SwineFlu