Crispian Jago has been inspired by Dr. Seuss’ “The Cat in the Hat” and used it to pontificate on a forthcoming Papal visit. Don’t click on the link if you are easily offended. I enjoyed his puncturing of pomp a lot.
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One Year Old
Watson, one of our two Labradors, is one year old today. He’s growing up very quickly. Here’s a shot from last October, and a composite shot taken today…
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Kindling My Interest
I see that Amazon have announced the next generation of the Kindle eBook reader, and its availability in the UK. I must admit that I am somewhat tempted by the Wi-Fi model at £109. Reading the pro and con comments on the Guardian story, I can sympathise with both points of view.
I think that means I’m going to sit on the fence until at least the next generation of devices, and possibly more importantly, of the business model that lurks behind them.
Update: I’m going to be sitting on the fence, whether I like it or not, because bloody Amazon.co.uk won’t (a) ship the Kindle to Europe and (b) won’t allow me to purchase Kindle ebooks from the UK store.
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Sherlock; No Shit
So I watched last night’s opener of Steven Moffat’s and Mark Gatiss’ Sherlock, and, as I suspected, I was not disappointed. I thought it was terrific. Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect in the role of Sherlock Holmes and plays it, as Holmes himself says, as a high-functioning sociopath. The script was good, with some witty updating of the original Holmes traits to 21st Century London – e.g. the three-patch problem (nicotine patches, that is) in place of the three-pipe problem. That particular bit of business was also introduced with a visual joke clearly meant to allude to the original Holmes’ predilection for injecting heroin.
I have to say that I guessed who the villain would be shortly before it was spelled out, but that didn’t detract from my enjoyment. However, I did wonder whether he would have been allowed, under Health and Safety regulations, to be allowed to continue in his line of business following his diagnosis (I’m trying not to give too many spoilers here…).
Mark Gatiss gave another of his masterful cameos as Mycroft. Like Dr. Watson, I was left wondering at the first meeting between the two, whether this person was a villain or not. Was this Mycroft or Moriarty? Or, I wonder, both?
And perhaps I’m reading too much into the visuals, but the climatic scene involving two identical buildings side by side seemed to echo the murder weapons used by the killer.
Yep, I enjoyed this very much indeed.
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Feeding Time
There are Barn Swallow nests at the neighbouring farm. Some of the juveniles have taken to sitting on our roof at feeding time. The parents catch the insects over the gardens around the house and then feed their young.
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Islamic Superheroes
Here’s an interesting presentation by Naif Al-Mutawa. He has created a group of superheroes based on Islamic culture and religion.
http://video.ted.com/assets/player/swf/EmbedPlayer.swf
I have mixed feelings about it. His heart is clearly in the right place, but… I think my misgivings are crystallised by the comments from “a persona” on the TED page of the video:
superficially commendable reframing exercise with profound problems.
– Naif conflates thema with schema in describing archetypes as christian. Archetypes didn’t come from the bible – the bible (as with the qur’an) came from archetypes. they reflect aspects of human psychology, and to misappropriate them in this way is disingenuous at best.
– Values aren’t islamic or christian, in the same way that logic isn’t greek and science isn’t western. this is a classic argument used by religious apologists. (“judeo-christian values”, “islamic values”). values are values because they are to the good, or otherwise, of human life.
The issue should not be to make people feel good about being muslims. it should be to educate people that values are intrinsic, not because mohammed espoused them. the 99 is based on a lie – that these values are good because mohammed, through allah, says that they are good. teach that reality is the authority, not another fictional cartoon character such as allah.
These points summarise my view. The whole point about Superman and other superheroes is that they draw upon archetypes that are not tied to any one religion, but to something deeper and more fundamental – our very humanity. Linking superheroes explicitly to one religion – whatever it is – could well end up backfiring on the good intentions behind their creation. Still, it will be interesting to see what happens with the 99 over the next few years, and how the children who read about their adventures will develop and take their place in tomorrow’s world.
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Why, Oh Why, Do I Do It?
That is, why do I continue to visit Mark Vernon’s blog? After all, the chances that he has written something that will make me want to bang my head against the wall are, on past performance, pretty high. Perhaps it’s because I must have a streak of masochism.
Mr. Vernon has done it again with his praise over James Le Fanu’s book “Why Us?” The book clearly speaks to his prejudices. e.g.:
“The brain looks much more like the medium through which mental activity ripples, rather than the source of that mental activity itself”.
“The vivid and liberating experience of consciousness also suggests, to Le Fanu, the need for the language of the soul, and of a natural sympathy not enmity between science and religion. Further, the apparently information rich operations of genes, and the syntactical nature of language, raises the possibility of a God-like intelligence, required as a kind of top-down, causative factor – he moots, sensibly towards the end”.
“To my mind, reductionist materialism has pretty clearly almost exhausted its explanatory powers in these fields, though it’s had a great run. (That’s something physicists have long had to contemplate.) We might live to see a new science emerge”.
Hmm. While I think we may see a new science emerge, it will not be along the lines of a “god of the gaps” that Le Fanu and Vernon would dearly like to see. It will be because the data that the reductionist approach continues to reveal will be refined into information and then knowledge. Frankly, I think Amanda Gefter is more on target with her New Scientist review of Le Fanu’s book:
“I am all for a good mystery, but there is an important difference between revelling in the excitement of the unknown and turning away from knowledge because you simply don’t like the facts”.
Quite.
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No Shit, Sherlock?
Whoa – Steven Moffat and Mark Gatiss? Writers don’t get tougher than this! (to coin a phrase)
What’s not to like?
One response to “No Shit, Sherlock?”
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[…] I watched last night’s opener of Steven Moffat’s and Mark Gatiss’ Sherlock, and, as I suspected, I was not disappointed. I thought it was terrific. Benedict Cumberbatch is perfect in the role of […]
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Modified Rapture
I see that the “Game of Thrones” by George R. R. Martin is being made into a TV series. I’ve got a bad feeling about this.
First of all because, frankly, I’m not a fan of the original books, so that’s already one strike against it.
Secondly, the series is being made by the same team that were responsible for Rome, which I found (admittedly on the basis of just one episode, which was all I could stomach) trite and shallow. So the omens are not good… Still, we will see…
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Slide Show Quality in Windows Live Photo Gallery
Microsoft’s Windows Live Photo Gallery (WLPG) can display selected photos as a slide show. In the new beta of the next version of Windows Live Photo Gallery, the slide show capability is still present, but Microsoft have changed the way in which it is done. Instead of having this capability within WLPG itself, it uses the new version of Windows Live Movie Maker to make and display the slide show.
The problem is, the quality of the slide shows produced by Windows Live Movie Maker is terrible. Photos displayed as slides are blurry and noticeably degraded in quality. I would be ashamed to show slides to family and friends using it.
I raised this in the Windows Live help forum for Photo Gallery. The first response back from Microsoft was to deny that anything had changed between WLPG version 3 and the beta of version 4. However, once I sent them proof, then they admitted that things had changed and:
“it appears that photo quality in slide shows in Windows Live Photo Gallery Beta is indeed a bit degraded when compared to the original file source”.
I love that “a bit degraded”. No, Microsoft, it is noticeably degraded to the extent that it is unacceptable. The quality of the slide shows produced by Windows Live Movie Maker is simply not good enough. So now I will have to find an alternative to WLPG in order to show slides to friends and family.
2 responses to “Slide Show Quality in Windows Live Photo Gallery”
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[…] are other, less pressing, issues with WLPG 2011 as well. These include the fact that slideshow quality is degraded in comparison to earlier versions. Another is the fact that people are finding that their workflow […]
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[…] Almost a year ago, in July 2010, I blogged about something that I had noticed in the beta of Windows Live Photo Gallery 2011: the quality of the slideshows it displayed was noticeably poorer than in the previous version. […]
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Masterchef Again?
I see that yet another series of Masterchef is starting on BBC TV tonight. It hardly seems any time at all since the last one finally ground to a halt. I have to say that I have a sneaking attraction for the series (although personally I prefer the non-“Celebrity” flavour) and the hosts, rather like the attraction a deer has for the oncoming headlights of the car that will deal it disaster. Part of it is the undoubted schadenfreude over some of the people who for some daft reason think that they can actually get anywhere in the competition.
But then again, I know my limitations, there is no way that I would have the effrontery to partake in this modern version of the gladiatorial arena. And for those that do, some at least have the wit to be able to write about it in an engaging fashion.
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My, How They’ve Grown!
In just under a month, the two buzzard chicks I’ve been watching in the nearby wood have gone from this:
to this:
Oh, and remember I mentioned the Lapwings in the nearby field? Well, they managed to rear one chick (almost hidden in the grass on the left):
But, I’m afraid, after a few days, only the mother was to be seen, still calling for her chick:
As I said, Nature is merciless.
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Next Steps
One of the young buzzards that I’m keeping an eye on has now graduated from sitting in the nest to standing on a branch nearby…
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It Ain’t Half Hot, Mum!
We’re having a heatwave at the moment (temperatures are around the 30 oC mark). This young buzzard waiting on the nest in the nearby wood is feeling the heat…
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The Courtyard of the British Museum
Here’s a Photosynth of the courtyard in the British Museum that I did last year.
On this blog, hosted on WordPress.com, I can at least embed a link to the Photosynth, even if I don’t get a thumbnail (as I can on the same entry in my blog on Blogger). On my old blog on Microsoft’s Windows Live Spaces, I was unable to embed Photosynth pictures or links, because Spaces strips out the embed code. This while Photosynth is yet another Microsoft product.
Yet another case of Microsoft’s left hand not knowing (or caring) what the right hand is doing…
(tip: when viewing the Photosynth, switch to Grid View to select another set of photos shot from a different point in the Courtyard)
Addendum: And of course Microsoft has now scrapped the Photosynth product and technology, so none of these links work anymore. It’s dead, Jim.
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Into the Woods…
Walking the dog a couple of days back, I followed the usual route through the small woods nearby. Turning a corner on the path, I was suddenly confronted by this hare ahead of me on the path. I don’t know who was more surprised, she or I…
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Change of Address
In view of the fact that Microsoft has effectively killed off the use of Windows Live Spaces as a worthwhile blogging platform, I’m stopping this blog and moving to a new address on the web.
My ramblings and rantings henceforth will be found at the new Geoff Coupe’s Blog, which has the www address of http://gcoupe.blogspot.com – so please update your bookmarks and RSS feeds if you wish to continue receiving transmissions from a slightly deranged mind.
Update 28 September 2010: Since I wrote the above, I’ve been waiting for Microsoft’s other shoe to drop. Well, today it did. As you can see, I have migrated my old blog entries from the now-defunct Windows Live Spaces across to WordPress. However, I will continue to use Blogger for my new entries at least for the time being.
Update 2: Well, I decided to stop using Blogger, so I’m back here on WordPress…
6 responses to “Change of Address”
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I am sorry to hear that you are considering leaving Geoff.
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TG – I’m just moving house, WLS is starting to fall apart as far as I can see…
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Well we are pestering them to hurry up and update Spaces Geoff just so that users like yourself don’t leave and go elsewhere.
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Yes, but TG, if it were the case that Wave 4 of WLS would have statistics restored, then why don’t they just say so? All of Microsoft’s statements on the matter give me no confidence whatsoever that statistics is coming back anytime soon…
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Geoff, if you use Writer to post to Blogger, do realise that you can also post up here as well. That’s what I do, same post, one to Blogger and one to WordPress. Easy peasy!
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Yes, I realise I can have both in parallel for the most part, but I’m not sure I want that. The lack of javascript support on WordPress.com is my one stumbling block. If I had that (or at least was able to support the LibraryThing widget and embed Photosynths), then I’d settle down here quite happily.
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Facial Expression Ballet
In the 1800s, a French doctor, Duchenne de Bologne, studied the effects of electrical stimulation on the face in an attempt to analyse the facial components that make up expressions in the human face. In the 21st century, Japanese artist Daito Manabe has turned the experiment into a techno ballet…(hat tip to Mind Hacks)Leave a comment
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Coincidences
An instructive video pointing out why I get extremely exasperated by people who claim "It can’t be just coincidence – there’s something spooky going on!". The only thing going on is that they aren’t using their brains properly.Leave a comment
Geoff Coupe's Blog 
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