Check out: Gipper, the Talking Points Duck
Just the kind of thing you want to read on your birthday…
(via email)
Monday, January 23 gloomiest day of the year: academic
LONDON (AFP) – Watch out: Monday, January 23 is going to be the unhappiest day of the year, according to a British university researcher.
Cliff Arnall, a health psychologist at the University of Cardiff, specialising in confidence-building and stress management, told AFP the prediction was the result of some gruelling mathematics.
Post-Christmas blues, the return to work after the holidays, mounting bills to pay for the parties, the challenge of keeping New Year’s resolutions, the slender prospects of fun in the weeks ahead and chilly winter temperatures for those in the northern hemisphere all add up, he said.
These factors, which he combined in a complex formula, came out showing that the Monday closest to January 24 would be the most dismal of the year.
Friday Random Ten: 2006-01-20
| Name | Artist | Album | Genre | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | Parallels | Yes | Going For The One (Expanded & Remastered) | Rock |
| 2. | A Series of Left Handed Remarks | Terry Bozzio | Solo Drum Music (Disc 1) | World |
| 3. | Cinnamon Girl | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Greatest Hits | Rock |
| 4. | Hey Hey My My (Into the Black) [Live] | Neil Young & Crazy Horse | Greatest Hits | Rock |
| 5. | Black Light Syndrome | Bozzio,Levin,Stevens | Black Light Syndrome | Rock |
| 6. | Eastern Bloc (Sequel to Europa and the Pirate Twins, 1981) | Thomas Dolby | Astronauts & Heretics | Alternative & Punk |
| 7. | The Prophet | Yes | Time And A Word | Rock |
| 8. | Flying North | Thomas Dolby | The Golden Age Of Wireless | Alternative & Punk |
| 9. | Wanted | The Cranberries | Everybody Else Is Doing It, So Why Can’t We? | Alternative & Punk |
| 10. | Itaipu: IV. “To the Sea” | Atlanta Symphony Orchestra And Chorus: Robert Shaw | Itaipu, The Canyon | Classical |
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion
(printed by fortune in one of my terminal windows today)
A tyrant must put on the appearance of uncommon devotion to religion.
Subjects are less apprehensive of illegal treatment from a ruler whom
they consider godfearing and pious. On the other hand, they do less
easily move against him, believing that he has the gods on his side.
— Aristotle (384-322 BCE), “Politics”
Doctor Who to air in the U.S.A.
(via bbc.co.uk)
SCI FI Channel and BBC Worldwide Americas announced today a major licensing deal for the first series of the latest Doctor Who adventures.
The 13-part drama is about a mysterious time-travelling adventurer known simply as “The Doctor” (Christopher Eccleston) and his companion, Rose Tyler (Billie Piper). The Doctor and Rose risk death and danger, battling aliens and monsters.
The deal, brokered by Lisa Hofer, Director Co-Production & Sales, BBC Worldwide Americas, grants SCI FI Channel the first run rights for series one with an option for series two. The award-winning series will premiere on SCI FI beginning in March, airing Friday nights at 9.00pm.
Russell T Davies, Head Writer and Executive Producer told us: “The Doctor’s made all sorts of journeys in Time and Space, but this is one of his most exciting yet! I’m a huge fan of the SCI FI Channel, and I’m delighted that Doctor Who is appearing on a channel that supports and enhances the entire genre.”
“With its rich history of imaginative storytelling, Doctor Who is a true sci-fi classic,” stated Thomas P. Vitale, SCI FI’s Senior Vice President, Programming & Original Movies. “We’re excited to add the show to our lineup.”
Commenting on the deal Candace Carlisle, Senior Vice President, BBC Worldwide Americas, said: “The new production has fantastic storylines and production values and has already gained an iconic status around the world. SCI FI Channel is the perfect home for the show and will introduce Doctor Who to a whole new generation of fans in the US.”
In addition, BBC Video has moved the US release date of the DVD from February 2006 to July 4, 2006 to capitalize on the exposure from the TV broadcast. As part of the deal, BBC Video and SCI FI Channel have agreed to work together on joint marketing promotions to support the brand launch.
Burton Cromer, Vice President, Consumer Products, BBC Worldwide Americas said: “We are delighted to be working with SCI FI Channel on the launch of this exciting new take on Doctor Who. The additional marketing support from SCI FI, as well their ability to reach such a broad audience base, made moving the release date an easy decision.”
Executive Produced by Russell T Davies (lead writer) and Julie Gardner, the first series of Doctor Who attracted huge ratings and received critical acclaim when it aired on BBC ONE in March 2005.
Of course there are some American’s who manged to watch the new Doctor Who via “alternative” channels. This is still good news since the SCI FI channel, with the exception of the new Battlestar Galactica, has been lacking any good new content. Moving the release date of the DVD kind of sucks, but is perfectly understandable.
WordPress 2
I’ve gone ahead and upgraded to WordPress 2. Looks like all the WordPress plugins I use work and I’m trying out the new anti-spam plugin that’s included with version 2 (so far it’s working).
History of BASIC
Lots of laughs — History of the BASIC family of languages:
1983 – Microsoft produces their first BASIC compiler for the PC. They are so embarrassed about it, they convince IBM to sell it under the IBM brand. The IBM Basic Compiler 1.0 is launched. It allows programs to have a maximum size of 64K, which is enough space for a complete, working Star Trek game to be developed.
1985 – Seeing the success of Turbo Pascal for the PC, Microsoft continues their tradition of copying ideas, and creates a mouse-driven development environment for their BASIC compiler. IBM is having second thoughts about being associated with the BASIC langauge, so Microsoft has to put this product out under their own brand. They call it QuickBASIC. They label the first version 2.0, since it is the successor to the IBM BASIC Compiler, and since they forgot that no one knows about that but them. Programs now have a 64K program space and a 64K data space, allowing the most impressive Star Trek games yet seen to be written.
1987 – Microsoft introduces a repackaged version of QuickBASIC called the Professional BASIC Compiler. This is the first known use of the words “Professional” and “BASIC” right next to each other.
1990 – Alan Cooper begins work on a development environment in which even the screen layout of a Windows-based UI is mouse driven. It’s intended for programmers too lazy to write code to produce a UI. Accordingly, he decides the language used for the product should be a variant of BASIC.
1991 – Based on Alan Cooper’s work, Visual Basic 1.0 is introduced. Programmers can install it and immediately write beautiful Windows programs that don’t do anything useful, since they can’t get to any standard databases. However, VB 1.0 does allow the first graphical Star Trek game to be written.
Saturday New Car Blogging
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Radical Cleric Pat Robertson blamed Sharon stroke on policy of ‘dividing God’s land’
(via Media Matters)
I have said last year that Israel was entering into the most dangerous period of its entire existence as a nation. That is intensifying this year with the loss of Sharon. Sharon was personally a very likeable person. I am sad to see him in this condition. But I think we need to look at the Bible and the Book of Joel. The prophet Joel makes it very clear that God has enmity against those who, quote, “divide my land.” God considers this land to be his. You read the Bible, he says, “This is my land.” And for any prime minister of Israel who decides he going carve it up and give it away, God says, “No. This is mine.” And the same thing — I had a wonderful meeting with Yitzhak Rabin in 1974. He was tragically assassinated, and it was terrible thing that happened, but nevertheless, he was dead. And now Ariel Sharon, who was again a very likeable person, a delightful person to be with. I prayed with him personally. But here he is at the point of death. He was dividing God’s land, and I would say woe unto any prime minister of Israel who takes a similar course to appease the EU, the United Nations or United States of America. God said, “This land belongs to me, you better leave it alone.”
— Pat Robertson (From the January 5, 2006 edition of CBN’s The 700 Club)
Hmmm — using his logic, if Pat Robertson gets gravely ill, it’s a sure sign of God’s displeasure with him.