Uncategorized

Ides of March | Wikipedia
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ides_of_March
“In the Roman calendar, the term ides was used for the 15th day of the months of March, May, July, and October, and the 13th day of the other 8 months.[1].”

Assassination of Julius Caesar
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Assassination_of_Julius_Caesar
“As Caesar began to read the false petition, Tillius Cimber, who had handed him the petition, pulled down Caesar’s tunic. While Caesar was crying to Cimber ‘But that is violence!’ (‘Ista quidem vis est!’), the aforementioned Casca produced his dagger and made a glancing thrust at the dictator’s neck. Caesar turned around quickly and caught Casca by the arm, saying in Latin ‘Casca, you villain, what are you doing?’ [1] Casca, frightened, shouted “Help, brother” in Greek (‘adelphe, boethei!’). Within moments, the entire group, including Brutus, was striking out at the dictator. Caesar attempted to get away, but, blinded by blood, he tripped and fell; the men continued stabbing him as he lay defenseless on the lower steps of the portico. According to Eutropius, around sixty or more men participated in the assassination. He was stabbed 23 times.[2] According to Suetonius, a physician later established that only one wound, the second one to his chest, had been lethal.[3] The dictator’s last words are not known with certainty, and are a contested subject among scholars and historians alike. The version best known in the English-speaking world is the Latin phrase Et tu, Brute? (‘even you, Brutus?’ or ‘you too, Brutus?’); this derives from Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar, where it actually forms the first half of a macaronic line: ‘Et tu, Brute? Then fall, Caesar.’ Shakespeare’s version evidently follows in the tradition of the Roman historian Suetonius, who reports that Caesar’s last words were the Greek phrase ‘…'[4] (transliterated as ‘Kai su, teknon?’: ‘You too, my child?’ in English).[5] Plutarch, on the other hand, reports that Caesar said nothing, pulling his toga over his head when he saw Brutus among the conspirators.[6]”

Thoughts on Rome and Caesar | Timothy Comeau
http://timothycomeau.com/blog/?s=caesar
http://timothycomeau.com/blog/420/

Sic Semper Tyrannis
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sic_semper_tyrannis

08w11:2 Stare and lose focus

Posted March 14th, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments

Ascii Stereo Movie
http://www.kammerl.de/ascii/AsciiStereoMovie.php

08w11:01 Dolphin to the Rescue

Posted March 12th, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments

NZ dolphin rescues beached whales | BBC
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/7291501.stm
“‘I don’t speak whale and I don’t speak dolphin,’ Mr Smith told the BBC, ‘but there was obviously something that went on because the two whales changed their attitude from being quite distressed to following the dolphin quite willingly and directly along the beach and straight out to sea.’ He added: ‘The dolphin did what we had failed to do. It was all over in a matter of minutes.’

08w10:3 Are you really that acquiescent in the United States?

Posted March 8th, 2008 by timothy. 1 Comment

Tucker Carlson unintentionally reveals the role of the American press |
Glenn Greenwald
http://www.salon.com/opinion/greenwald/2008/03/08/carlson/index.html
“Here was Power’s exact quote: “She is a monster, too –- that is off the record –- she is stooping to anything.” But the reporter who was interviewing her, Britain’s Gerri Peev of The Scotsman, printed the comment anyway — as she should have, because Peev had never agreed that any parts of the interview would be “off the record,” and nobody has the right to demand unilaterally, and after the fact, that journalists keep their embarrassing remarks a secret. […] Illustrating that point as vividly as anything I can recall, MSNBC’s Tucker Carlson had Peev on his show last night and angrily criticized her publication of Power’s remarks. Carlson upbraided Peev for her lack of deference to someone as important as Power, and Peev retorted by pointing out exactly what that attitude reflects about Carlson and the American press generally (via LEXIS; h/t Mike Stark):

CARLSON: What — she wanted it off the record. Typically, the arrangement is if someone you’re interviewing wants a quote off the record, you give it to them off the record. Why didn’t you do that?

PEEV: Are you really that acquiescent in the United States? In the United Kingdom, journalists believe that on or off the record is a principle that’s decided ahead of the interview. If a figure in public life. [empahsis Greenwald]”

08w10:2 Nullos

Posted March 3rd, 2008 by timothy. 1 Comment

I learned about Nullos through this Reddit link (included for its comment thread):

http://el.reddit.com/info/67yf7/comments/

It linked to a copy of this article (itself pretty graphic):

Interview with a Nullo
http://www.eunuch.org/Alpha/I/ea_25408intervie.htm

And the thread has link to these images (NSFW, graphic, I warned you):

http://www.bmezine.com/service/samples/tour4.html

This one being the most remarkable (a living Ken Doll):

http://www.bmezine.com/service/samples/nullohigh/penec3.jpg

And testimony from some anonymous who wants to have it done:

“Where do I begin? Well I am 20 years old and I have a very strong desire to become a nullo. Preferably a genital nullo, which means Removal of the genitals and relocation of the urethra. Leaving a smooth surface. some people refer to people who have genital nullo as “smoothies”! This desire started when I was a child and only progressed when I went into my teen years. I remember perfectly when I was about 8, how I would look at my penis and testicles and pretend there was nothing there. I never thought about cutting it off or a preferred term, surgical removal. Because at age 8, I just pretended that it wasn’t there. Several years pass and I turn 13. By then I have hit puberty and I am getting normal erections.”

08w10:1 Conrad Black goes to jail

Posted March 3rd, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments

The Rise and Fall of Conrad Black | ABC Late Night Live
http://mpegmedia.abc.net.au/rn/podcast/current/audioonly/lnl_20080227.mp3
http://goodreads.timothycomeau.com/shorty/net/black_lnl/ (RAM)
“At the end of the 1990, Conrad Black’s media empire was the third largest in the world. In Canada, he controlled nearly half of English-language and 18 per cent of French-language newspaper circulation. In the United States, he owned the Chicago Sun-Times and a large chain of community newspapers; in Britain, the prestigious Daily Telegraph and other publications; and in Israel, the symbolic but significant Jerusalem Post.”

Black must stay in us: Original Sin | Timothy Comeau
http://www.flickr.com/photos/timothycomeau/2309162570/

08w09:1 TAAGTG

Posted February 25th, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments

Blue eye color in humans may be caused … | Eiberg, Troelsen, Nielsen, Mikkelsen, Mengel-From, Kjaer, Hansen
http://www.springerlink.com/content/2045q6234h66p744/fulltext.html
The origin of the founder mutation – The mutations responsible for the blue eye color most likely originate from the neareast area or northwest part of the Black Sea region, where the great agriculture migration to the northern part of Europe took place in the Neolithic periods about 6–10,000 years ago (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994).

The high frequency of blue-eyed individuals in the Scandinavia and Baltic areas indicates a positive selection for this phenotype (Cavalli-Sforza et al. 1994; Myant et al. 1997). Several theories has been suggested to explain the evolutionary selection for pigmentation traits which include UV expositor causing skin cancer, vitamin D deficiency, and also sexual selection has been mentioned. Natural selection as suggested here makes it difficult to calculate the age of the mutation.

08w08:2 Guest Selected TED talks

Posted February 19th, 2008 by timothy. 0 Comments

For this Goodreads I asked Janna Popoff and Fedora Romita to select their favorite TED talks. – Timothy

Janna’s Popoff’s Links

I found TED by accident. I was in fact perusing a website and found it recommended there. I fell in love with TED the first time that I opened the page and discovered that this is what I had been looking for. I am disenchanted with the main stream media and saddened that we only hear truly horrific, terrifying, fear fueling stories on the news. It could be that I live abroad and I do not have access to local news, just CNN and BBC, so I see more of this than I should.

I had also been talking with a friend about how TV should be more about real people, people who are making differences in the world, or simply, people and their stories. We need more positive media in the world. Less propaganda about difference and hate and more about communities, understanding, and tolerance. People are doing great and positive things and we need more access and exposure to this. I know that I have become a very cynical viewer, and I don’t want to be.

People always start off by saying how difficult it is to narrow something down to their favorite, but it is true, and this task was no different. I haven’t watched every video on TED but I have watched many of them and I plan on watching more. These videos were all inspiring to me, and I learned something from every one. The videos use humour, which for me is hugely engaging, and these people were all very informed and passionate about their messages. TED covers a wide range of topics; science, technology, business, the environment, art design, culture, and global issues. The speaker are people who are recognized in their fields as making a contribution and a difference. The average time of a presentation is about 20 minutes; move at a quick pace, spark your interest, engage the viewer and then they are done, leaving one energized and introspective. Occasionally for some speakers the time can get up to about 40 minutes but this is rare.

The presenters make me feel lazy and sad that I am not contributing more to the world; I should because I can, and because I still have the passion that these people speak with.

Sometimes it is hard to know where to start Watch TED, the videos and speakers will surprise you. If there were a TED university, I would definitely attend. – Janna P.

Isabel Allende: Tales of passion.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/204

Vik Muniz: Art with wire, thread, sugar, chocolate.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/32

Malcolm Gladwell: What we can learn from spaghetti sauce.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/20

Amory Lovins: We must win the oil end game.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/51

Gever Tulley: 5 dangerous things you should let your kids do.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/202

Eva Verters: My dream about the future of medicine.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/12

Sir Ken Robinson: Do schools kill creativity?
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/66

Ron Eglash: African fractals in buildings and braids.
http://www.ted.com/talks/view/id/198

AND I would like everyone to check out the web page for Pangea Day, this website is about people telling their stories, people from all over the world sharing their experiences and we can submit our own stories for others to watch.

http://www.pangeaday.org/

Janna Popoff is a Canadian artist who is a part time university lecturer in Cheonan, South Korea. The rest of the year she lives and paints in Northern Poland.

Fedora Romita’s Links

Chris Anderson
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/211

Chris Anderson is a business man who in 2002 took over the TED conference. He talks a little about the .com failure and how that led him to the conference. Anderson expresses his vision for the conference. He sees TED as a multidisciplinary conference and expresses some of the core TED values as being truth, curiosity, diversity, no selling or corporate bullshit and the pursuit of interest across all disciplines.

Vilayanur Ramachandran
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/184

Ramachandran studies the functions and the structures of the brain. He talks about patients who are unable to recognize familiar faces, others who are able to recognize faces but where the wire in the brain that connects vision to emotion is cut. He also presents his simple and innovative solution to remove phantom limbs from patients. Finally he talks about Synesthesia, how it functions in the brains and why it is commonly found in artists, poets and writers.

Majora Carter
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/53

Majora Carter is from the South Bronx and runs a grassroots activist committee that works towards developing green space in that community. Faced with a number of challenges in her neighborhood such as a power plant, waste companies, North America’s largest food distribution centre and the potential for the building of a sports complex Carter is fighting to revitalize her community with the help of the TED community.

Sherwin Nuland
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/189

Sherwin Nuland is a well-known writer and physician who was hospitalized for extreme depression in the mid 70’s. Unable to carry on with his work as a physician his stay in the hospital lead his psychiatrist to offer the controversial suggestion of applying electro shock therapy as a cure for his depression. After this treatment he was totally cured. Here he talks about his journey through this period of his life.

Sirena Huang
http://www.ted.com/index.php/talks/view/id/45

An 11 year old violinist.

Fedora Romita is an artist living and working in Toronto