HorsePerson and the ShoeMan

Last night I watched one of the only shows I watch on TV - The Shield. It's good. Recommended.
Anyways, at the end of the show I flipped around and accidentally stumbled upon the Miss Universe pageant. There were only five beautiful women on the stage and I figured they were about to announce the winner so I stuck around.
Runners up were called first and then, to my surprise they announced Miss Universe - Canada. I don't really give a bleeping bleep, but Congratulations!

And don't get me started about what I think of beauty pageant. It's been hashed to death and time is too short to say it all and much too valuable to even discuss the matter.

Mentioning The Guardian in my last post, reminded me how quietly the boycott against two Israeli Universities ended. Last Thursday the AUT voted to end the boycott. This vote raised much less uproar than the initial vote to boycott.

I'm happy it ended, but saddened it even started in the first place. While I would criticize Israel and its actions, I wouldn't be a hypocrite to criticize only Israel and its actions. Doing that would imply that I have a grudge against the people of Israel or even Jews. If anyone can't see that, that's sad.

So many other problems exist in the world today. Once I see as big an uproar about these problems as I see about what happens in Israel and the Occupied Territories of Palestine, I would feel that the criticism is in order. When people hate blindly, their criticism, even if warranted and true, is ignored and falls on deaf ears.

After my rants and complaints in my previous post, I need to relax a bit and for that there's nothing like a little puzzle.
Lately, my favorite has been Sudoku. The little Japanese puzzle that has taken Britain by a storm.

I've spent way too much solving these puzzles. I warn you - they're addictive. So far I've solved all, lucky for me. Otherwise I'd probably wouldn't move until I solved it.

There's a new puzzle each day published in the Guardian.

Enjoy!

Ok, so I know that politeness differs as the customs differ, but that doesn't make it any easier.

I spend a considerable amount of time in two very different parts of the world, and this difference in customs and hence politeness, can drive me insane. Trust me, the Middle East and North America, specifically Canada are very different.
I'm not going to say my views about the two societies yet because I don't want to offend anyone kind enough to read this. Let me assure you though that I have very critical views about both societies and cultures.

However, I will comment on one thing that is extremely different. Family - family ties and the way families are viewed. How is it related to being rude? This is how.
My cousin is getting married. She was born Canadian and lived here all her life as did her parents. They have chosen to forget our customs and adopt the Canadian ones and invite my brother and his wife to the wedding but not to invite their kids.

I know. You probably don't even think it's a big deal. But let me put it in a way that might make it more clear. They have chosen to invite one part of the family but not the other. Aren't the kids of my brother part of the family? Aren't they just as close in relation? It wouldn't occur to anyone to invite one my brother but not me, why then be rude to the kids?

Now you would say, 'but kids have no place in a wedding.' Perhaps, perhaps not. I disagree with that, I think that if there's a place where kids do have a place is at a wedding. But regardless of what I think, it isn't up to me. It is up to the parents to decide whether or not they want to come with the kids. Not up to the host. If it were me, I wouldn't attend the wedding, but then I would be considered impolite - how odd.

So rudeness and politeness come in very many different ways. Saying 'thank you' and 'please' aren't the end all and be all of being polite. Quite the contrary, in my views. One's actions and the way we treat each other is much more important than superficial things - don't you agree?

I had this in my fortune cookie.

Sometimes a little inaccuracy can save a lot of explaining.

Don't you just love it?
So true.

I remember watching (live on the internet of course) part of the matches between Kramnik and Deep Fritz that were held in Bahrain in 2002. I remember having ambivalent feelings about this. On the one hand, as a person with science fiction tendencies, I wanted technology and computers to advance beyond human capabilities. On the other, I wanted human beings to prove their superiority over machines, especially after Kasparov's loss to Deep Blue in 1997.

Now, after Kasparov played Deep Junior in Israel in 2003, a new chess program is challenging the masters - Hydra.

It is a behemoth of a machine that pits 32 linked processors against its flesh-and-blood opponents. Hydra's backers claim it can analyze 200 million chess moves in a second and project the game up to 40 moves ahead.

Link

With something that sounds totally out of a James Bond movie, top Israeli firms were caught spying on each other. Telecommunication companies, automotive and even sports clubs used tailor made Trojan horse programs that they somehow managed to plant in the corporations' computer to find out high level discreet information.

The companies suspected of commissioning the espionage, which was carried out by planting Trojan horse software in their competitors' computers, include the satellite television company Yes, which is suspected of spying on cable television company HOT; cell-phone companies Pelephone and Cellcom, suspected of spying on their mutual rival Partner; and Mayer, which imports Volvos and Hondas to Israel and is suspected of spying on Champion Motors, importer of Audis and Volkswagens.

Link

Now this gave me goosebumps

"What's special about this event is, it was discovered in a way ... which could, in principle, turn up Earth-like planets as well," Dickey said.

Link

Alright, so maybe I'm a bit of a geek but I honestly thought that we would have a colony on the moon by now . I mean, how long has it been since we first landed on the moon?

So despite what I think of W, when he announced his space plans last year I was ecstatic. Now it seems that NASA might actually try to implement W's vision.

NASA has offered a $250,000 prize to any scientist who discovers a way of extracting breathable oxygen from moondust.

To claim the MoonROx prize, scientists must develop and demonstrate hardware capable of extracting at least five kilograms of breathable oxygen from a simulated lunar soil made from volcanic ash in an eight-hour period.

MoonROx stands for Moon Regolith Oxygen -- regolith being the loose layer of rocks and debris covering the surface of a planet or moon.

Link

Combining that with NASA's solar sail technology might actually propel us into space.

I hope.

There's a new study, not yet translated to English, alas, that shatters the old myth that rationality and logic are separate from out emotions and feelings.

The study found that there is no emotion we feel that isn't accompanied by rational thought, that is, feelings aren't pure and we always have a rational reason for feeling the way we do.

Taking it one step forward, even falling in love has its logic and interest and emotions and feelings are never empty of content, pure. Feelings have a logical reason to them.

The study used MRI to show that both components in our brain, emotions and rational thought, belong to the same areas in the brain. Thus not separate.

I've been having this debate with a friend about sexism. Very enlightening.
Here are the main points we discussed:

1. No contention - television is sexist. It is sexist towards both genders although skewed towards sexism against women.
2. His definition of sexism is the in the actual belief that men and women are different; racism is the belief different races are different. My definition - men and women are different, cultural differences exist. The differences, however, don't mean that any one gender or race is superior or inferior to the other. Sexism therefore is acting on these differences for bias and mistreatment purposes.
3. He was really big on this point - housewives - are they controlled or the controller. I didn't seem to think there was a controlled or controller in a relationship.
4. His point - feminism is dying, we're regressing, girls are less feminist today than they were ten years ago. My point - feminism isn't dead, it's manifested itself. The girls don't need to be feminist, they know they can accomplish many things.
5. His point of view - girls are becoming more violent. I don't know, but if they do it's because of confusing times.

Of course, I think I'm right on all points, but then again, at the end of the day, the result was pretty amazing I thought. This kind of debate goes beyond the normal sexist debate, which makes me hopeful and positive for the future.

I don't know about you, but for me one of the best about the internet is the amount of free books available. All those old classics whose rights are now public can be found on the internet in different formats and very conveniently.

Here are some of my favorite sites:

• Project Gutenberg allows you to download in three different formats and in many languages. Updated all the time.
• Bibliomania is divided into Read - where you will find articles, novels, shorts, drama and poetry, Study - where you will find study guides, Research - where you will find non-fiction classics by Marx, Freud etc. as well as reference and religious tests. There is a Shop section as well.
• Bartleby is simply divided into Reference, Verse, Fiction, Nonfiction

If you couldn't find what you wanted in the above two sites, you may want to try one of these:

• Book-Worm.org
• Classic Book Shelf - actually opens a book in a nice format
• The Internet Classics Archive from MIT is old, but still contains some texts not easily found elsewhere - mainly Greco-Roman works (some Chinese and Persian), all in English translation
• Renascence Editions - works printed in English between the years 1477 and 1799
• Free PDF eBooks Archive - if you prefer PDF
• An Online Library of Literature

Of course, if you want original current fiction, you can always go to one of the sites I've listed here.

It seems that more often than not I miss what's going on in the pop culture world.

As one whose two best friends are pop culture junkies, I sometimes feel left out of the conversation. Paris Hilton was the topic of their conversation yesterday. It only hit me then. Paris Hilton is a name of a person and not the name of the Hilton hotel in Paris as I've been thinking all along. Shame. Shame on me.

How important is it to be pop-culturally updated?
Do I need to know who married who, divorced who, had an affair, is pregnant etc? No.
Do I care about these things? Ahhh... that's where the big difference lies.

No, I don't care. And hence these kind of news items brush me tangentially, never leaving an impression.

Most people, I guess, do care. To different degrees. To some it's a form of gossip, to others it's a form of idolizing stars, and to other yet it's a way of staying informed. They view pop culture news as any other news. I disagree, but hey, it seems that I'm in the minority.

For the sake of not being left out anymore I'm going to make a changes in my life. A conscious effort. I promise to watch one of these pop culture shows once a week. You know, like Extra. I will know who is who in no time, and then I will feel worthwhile. Knowledgeable. Able to hold my own in a conversation about Paris Hilton.

Another amazing game.

It's just a simple point and click game, but it's so adorable.

Gosh, you'd think I could play games all day long.

Well... you're right.

It looks so cool.

Sure beats my old Nintendo, but then again, almost everything does.

Here's what Engadget has to say about it.

You gotta love chess.
There's nothing like it.

Today I played only one game with a good friend. We sat outside on the front porch and looked at the world and played. I felt like we're two old geezers. It was a good feeling.

I'm not part of any chess clubs, or participate in any tournaments, but I still get very intense when I play. It's a matter of pride.

If you're a chess lover but a beginner as I am, you may want to check out this chess blog.

Have you seen Wal-Mart's talked about ad which depicts Nazis burning books? The ad is part of a campaign against a local proposition to limit and regulate (box-stores) Wal-Mart's size.

I think that seeing the ad says it all.

So Wal-Mart is going to apologize for running it, claiming they didn't know.

So many people didn't know...

For someone who works from home, you wouldn't think that I'd notice such things or make the distinction between weekdays and weekends.
You're so wrong.
I love the weekend.
On the weekend, I too take some time off and instead of being glued to the computer/monitor in my office, I watch TV for a change, read a book, or, my fave, just sit in the garden and snooze.

So have a nice weekend. Although I'm pretty certain I'll be here tomorrow as well.

I'm a junky, what can I do?

Ooooh, this game is so much fun.

Basically, the game shows you a montage of images from the Google image search and you have to guess the keyword or search term that was used.
So much fun.

Guess-the-google

Okay, okay, I know. It's not very cool to admit you wait impatiently for Star Wars III.

I, too, didn't like the first two chapters much, but I have a good vibe about this one. Don't know why. Well... maybe because the old characters are coming back. Darth Vader, Chewbacca, Yoda, not to mention the droids of course. And we'll get a love story and some pretty cool fighting scenes. Yoda vs. the Sith Lord I hope.

But what intrigues me most in this episode is the internal good vs. evil fight Anakin is about to undergo. Evil will win. We know it will and we still want to see the film. This, as I see it, will be the key to the success of the movie. If Lucas botched that one, if it's too simple, straight forward, or plain, then the movie will suck.

We need a good internal conflict, just like Luke's in Empire Strikes Back, which makes that episode so far the best Star Wars film made.

Of course, some lucky people have already seen the movie as Boing Boing's Xeni described in Liveblogging LA Star Wars III Premiere with napkincam.

Here's something you don't hear everyday.
A new software, SAGrader, can now check and grade students' essays and more.

Here's the full article from Wired News, but I first heard about it here.

NASA is apparently developing a computerized process that would enable people to talk to each other silently.
Is telepathy finally here? Have we concurred the paranormal?
No, no. Nothing that exciting.
The computer, with the aid of under chin censors 'reads and analyzes' soundless speech just like when we are reading silently.

In preliminary experiments, NASA scientists found that small, button-sized sensors, stuck under the chin and on either side of the 'Adam's apple,' could gather nerve signals, and send them to a processor and then to a computer program that translates them into words. Eventually, such 'subvocal speech' systems could be used in spacesuits, in noisy places like airport towers to capture air-traffic controller commands, or even in traditional voice-recognition programs to increase accuracy, according to NASA scientists.

Link

Here is David Pescovitz's post in Boing Boing

I've mentioned my steak sandwiches in my post from last Sunday.
I'm happy to inform you that since, I've had veal sandwiches. In a discussion ensuing the eating of the veal sandwiches it was determined that while California is the best place for veal sandwiches in Toronto, they are also the most expensive.
What I forgot to mention is that one of the best places for a veal sandwich is actually the St. Lawrence Market. Try it out.

I've waited until after the British elections to post this.

I submit that now the AUT should boycott themselves.
Of course, not to mention that we all know about the US election outcome. The AUT should boycott the US universities as well.

And if we're on the subject of universities that should be boycotted, I'm sure many other universities in countries that do not allow women to attend their fine establishments, or that perform other human rights infringements, should be boycotted.

Here's a good post on the subject:
Link.

I can't believe it. That stupid web game. Or rather, that real smart game.
Shamefully, I admitted defeat.
How can it be?

If you haven't tried it, it's most recommended. Mazito from Simple CodeWorks.

It's embarrassing to admit, but yes, I couldn't get past the 10th level. Arrgghh.

Of course there are detailed solutions for the lazy ones out there on the web, if you must.

Beware, this will take few hours to complete.
Beware, this will take few hours even if you don't complete.