Last Words

WTF.  satoshi kon falls to cancer.  dammit.

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Go watch Paranoia Agent.  i used to have the picture of maromi as my desktop background.

What I started thinking about was that each goal in soccer is something very special, more special than any single thing to any other game in another sport.

As I thought about this over the last few days the NBA finals between the Los Angeles Lakers and the Boston Celtics have been going on.  [Full discloser: I don't love basketball, though this may have something to do with the Knicks being horrible.]  However, I only watch the last quarter of those games.  Sure great plays happen all game, but it always seems to come down to who can make the biggest plays at the end.  There is a great quote by Jordan which is something like, “It is not enough to play well, you have to have something left to finish with.”  The game goes to whichever player or whichever team makes the plays at the end; the first three quarters are just a preamble.

Putting this all together, watching soccer is like watching the last 10 minutes of a basketball game, but for the full 90+ minutes.  The individual or team plays that lead to a goal are like the critical brilliant plays that Bryant makes at the end to edge out the other team.  It is this brilliance that can happen at any moment which makes soccer so exciting.

via plump plum

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1 Metaphysical Ontology

1.1 Undisciplined Substances

To be disciplined is to take other people’s ontological position into consideration. Since it is impossible, without being crazy, to do otherwise, what is meant by `undisciplined’ is the minimal position: to take other people’s ontological position into consideration as little as possible.

1.1.1 Objects, Processes and Nature

Objects cannot exists alone. To observe an object, to recognize its existence, requires observing some process that the object is part of. Rational beings can lose their rationality; the process of losing rationality identifies a rational being, because the process could not occur without the existence of one.

Objects and processes are what make up Nature.

1.1.2 Words, Descriptions and Language

Words cannot exist alone; they are inseparable from descriptions. For a word to exist is for that word to be part of some description. Without being part of a description, a word is indistinguishable from anything else.

Words and descriptions are what make up Language.

1.1.3 Commitments, Values and Responsibility

Commitments cannot exist alone; they are inseparable from values. Values are how commitments are ranked. Without values all commitments are equal, and hence non-existent.

Commitments and values are what make up Responsibility.

1.2 Disciplined Substances

When you take other people into consideration when considering substance, then you have disciplined substance.

1.2.1 Science, Art and Craft

When we describe objects and processes in a disciplined way then we are describing nature scientifically. This means that the objects and processes are described in a way that is not limited to a particular person or place.

Craft is a level of discipline that is not as universalized: when you describe nature such that it refers to a group of people or various places, then you are describing craft.

1.2.2 Grammar, Logic and Rhetoric

When we describe words and descriptions in a disciplined way then we are are talking about the language’s grammar. This means that the words and descriptions are described in a way that is not limited to a particular description. If we are describing features that all languages have, then this is called logic.

Rhetoric is a level of discipline that is not as universalized: when you describe grammar such that it refers to a group of words or descriptions, then you are describing rhetoric.

1.2.3 Ethics, Worldview and Society

When we describe commitments and values in a disciplined way then we are talking about ethical responsibilities. This means that the commitments and values are described in a way that is not limited to a particular person or place. If we are describing features that all ethics have then this is a worldview.

Society is a level of discipline that is not as universalized: when you describe ethics such that it refers to a group of commitments or values, then you are describing a society.

(3:12) [via digg]

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Runner-Up: Pseudo-animals – The Village Petstore and Charcoal Grill

See videos of not-quite animals!

USA

(2:55) via cursivebuildings MUST WATCH

The National Anthem, 1983. Unbelievably good rendition.

YouTube – The Manchurian Candidate (1:26)

Modern presidential politics.

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Candidate Comedy

“For those who haven’t seen the footage, McCain and Obama  appeared last night at a charity dinner in New York to roast themselves and each other. Some of it was very, very funny. McCain was really, really funny….  (candidates’ speeches, McCain, Obama – 14:53, 13:39 respectively)

Art and Logic (somehow)

somefield

Awesome vision of Alice in Wonderland (written by a logician, for those who did not know what Lewis Carrol’s day job was.)  [scroll down a little to see the Alice pictures.  And I would be forever in someone's debt if they bought me a print.]

Robert Downey Jr. as Sherlock Holmes — FIRST PICTURES

Please let this movie not suck (take 2).

PingMag – Levi Van Veluw: What’s That Tree In Your Hair?

“Either you’ll be intrigued by the fascinating way Dutchman Levi van Veluw applies materials on his face, neck and head — or you’ll be kind of appalled by this weird appearance.[...]”

— All I want to know what this man does for Halloween.

Alcohol

Video review for real Duff Beer from The Simpsons | iFoods.tv (1:55)

This is well worth your 2 minutes.

MxMo XXXII Guilty Pleasures – Kalimotxo

I have yet to try this, but judging by the review and the accompanying video (21s), it looks near perfect.

Interactive Fun

Dispatches from the Culture Wars: Rachael Ray Corn Porn (1:39)

“Okay, this is one of the funniest videos I’ve ever seen. It’s that evil little succubus Rachael Ray getting all naughty with an ear of corn – and being far more excited about it than any human being should be….

RRRR : Don’t Shoot the Puppy (game)

I haven’t gotten past level 12…

The Associated Press: Video games feature ads for Obama’s campaign

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swissmiss: The Unfinished Swan (1:55)

The Unfinished Swan – Really cool video of the tech demo.  This looks like serious fun!

i’m dead

Paid Notice: Deaths GREENSTEIN, NOAH – New York Times

not really me, but it is an odd site to see your name in the obits.

Animal of the Month: NYC Pimp

• What a Pimp Reads – New York Times Blog

“What sort of person subjects children as young as 12 to beatings and a life of prostitution? An evidence list submitted in the case of Corey Davis, a Queens man who billed himself as “Magnificent,” might provide some insight. Mr. Davis, 36, is facing a minimum of 23 years in prison after pleading guilty in March to a federal charge of sex trafficking involving a 12-year-old runaway.

Mindbending

• Dark Roasted Blend: The Weirdest Examples of Mass Hysteria

“… But then things went dark, weird, and creepy: one girl laughed, but then so did another, and then another, and then another, and then another.

After exposure, the incubation period from nothing to hysteria was short, from a few hours to a couple of days. There was no fever, no physical symptoms, just laughter and occasional crying between short moments of exhausted recuperation. When victims were restrained they sometimes became violent…”

• Vanity Fair: On the Waterboard: Politics & Power

This is a video of a reporter being waterboarded in order to investigate torture and ‘agressive’ interrogation… It is weird stuff. Be sure to check out the accompanying article.

Science

• Seed: Scientific Method: Relationships Among Scientific Paradigms POSTER

“This map was constructed by sorting roughly 800,000 published papers into 776 different scientific paradigms based on how often the papers were cited together by authors of other papers.”

(they’re all out of free posters now, but the file is available so you can print one for yourself)

• Core77: The Secret Lives of Invisible Magnetic Fields [4:45]

A very cool movie visualizing (with sound) magnetic fields.

• Dancing Non-Newtonian liquid (also via core77) [1:32]
• InvenSense: Gyroscopes and Accelerometers Compared

Check out this video describing the technology that is going to be used in the new Nintendo Wii Motion Plus. General relativity needs to be accounted for to accurately measure motion in 3D space (true 6 degrees of freedom) by using both accelerometers and gyroscopes. But perhaps the most interesting part of the site is the disclaimer at the bottom (my emphasis):

“InvenSense sensors should not be used or sold in the development, storing, production and utilization of any conventional or mass-destructive weapons or any other weapons or life-threatening applications as well as in any other life-critical applications including but not limited to medical equipment, transportation, aerospace and nuclear instruments, undersea equipment, power plant equipment, disaster prevention and crime prevention equipment.”

Culture

• Nadia Comaneci, Montreal 1976 TEN!!! [1:06] (via plump plum)

• plump plum: Selection from “The Groucho Letters”
• OPENERS – Takashi Murakami Prints “My First Art” Series (click for more pics)
  

• Michael Bluejay | Crazy World of Michael Bluejay

Last but not least this is what I consider to be a throwback to vintage internet. We are talking a space background repeating image here people; I don’t think I’ve seen that since ’97. Plus something for nearly everyone: lots of links, e.g. useful information like an up to date guide to SEO, and Women Chess Grandmasters.

[via]

Interaction Design, Etc.

• Virtual Cable Car Navigation
  The future of GPS.
• Design Probes – Tattoo
  Tattoos that actively respond to stimulation
• The Miracle Fruit, a Tease for the Taste Buds
  A small red berry called miracle fruit temporarily rewires the way the palate perceives sour flavors, rendering lemons as sweet as candy.
• How to select and ripen a mango
  How to interact with one of my favorite fruits.

Science, Etc.

• Is Breast pain in Women Linked to Breast Wobbling?
  

  A study conducted by Britain’s First Research Group for Breast Health attached to the University of Portsmouth could throw some light on the little understood causes of ‘Breast Pain’

  … you know there was some lucky male lab assistant required to measure breast motion

• Replaying Evolution
  “Scientists show that happenstance mutations matter”
• Student isolates microbe that lunches on plastic bags
• Isolated tribe spotted in Brazil
  One of South America’s few remaining uncontacted tribes is photographed from the air on the Peru-Brazil border.

Aesthetics, Etc.

• 19 Artists You Can’t Afford To Miss Out On
  “From half-naked pink girls to Isometric grinning trees, these artists are sure to satisfy the sucrose cravings in your eyeballs. Check them out before they get too famous and start making stuff nobody gets.”
• Brad Pitt: “Architecture is my passion”
  It would be easy to hate on Mr. Pitt for everything he has going for himself. I say cheers.

I’ll be gone for a week visiting my bro in the Southwest… at least y’all will have something to do in my absence.

Here’s what I said:

Creativity comes from ruthlessness.

Being thoroughly ruthless with what you have and what has been done will allow you to create something new. If there is something that is equal to your abilities, i.e. you do not have command of it, then that thing is something new, at least for you.

If you are unwilling to be ruthless then you will know that the work you are doing does not require your full attention and you will be selling yourself and your creativity short.