Brenda has pointed out this amazing thing. Fortunately for me, flash 7 won’t make it work and my flash 9 player isn’t stable enough for me to lose the many hours of time this could potentially suck up. Enjoy.
Not the perfect gift. But close.
Mostly.
The wrap up article for Nathan Rabin’s spectacular My Year of Flops feature is up at the AV club. Even if you’ve foolishly ignored my repeated urgings to see the carnage, you should check out the year in review.
ekr is a force for good in computer security and the Internet in general as well as being a unique human. In a good way. What I didn’t know was that he’s willing to give advice on other matters on the record.
It’s like knowing a celebrity. Kinda. Without any of the, yknow, perks.
Bobby Fischer passed away this week.
When I was in High School, I played chess seriously enough to learn the language and develop an appreciation for the esoteric, mathematical beauty of the game. It’s really remarkable how expressive a few pieces of plastic and a shared understanding of the world that they imply can be. I’ve seen players joke, threaten, rage, panic and nearly everything else within the confines of 64 squares. Even without outside commentary, you can see players talk to one another in the moves they make. Between humans, it’s a framework for interaction and understanding that goes beyond the constrained aspects of play.
Once you’ve learned to converse a little in that dialect, Fischer’s name comes up a lot, and not just for the popularization and politicization of the game that he catalyzed. He was a genuine chess genius. He blazed new trails of play and revitalized lines of thought that were believed to be dead ends with his passion and brilliance. People make analogies between his ability and Tiger Woods or Michael Jordan, but if anything, his presence in chess is larger. Even if he’d never been on the wider world stage, the chess world would remember him as a revolutionary, and rightly so.
Unfortunately, on virtually every other axis he seems to have been unbalanced. Of course, I’ve never met him, so I can only say what I’ve seen reported, but it seems undeniable that he was a dedicated anti-semite and generally a whack-O outside the world of chess.
It’s heartbreaking when someone is clearly superhumanly talented in one area, but so prosaic in others. Outside the game, Fischer was just a guy, and not a guy I had much respect for. That’s just being human, I suppose, but it’s a sad reminder of how many different aspects that game has.
The amazing Rod Van Meter points out this piece of American entertainment history. Words fail me.
If that weren’t enough, a link from the video on that page led me to ShatnerVision. It’s been some time since the Internet scared me (outside of the Warren Ellis context), but I think ShatnerVision has done it.
I know he’s a big name and all, but I’d be tempted to turn down an endorsement with the stink of loss about it. Who’s Mondale behind this year?
Heh. That question was intended to be rhetorical, but I guess it’s not. Apparently we have a horse race after all.
Aaron Falk’s keen eye brings this tale of love and centralized backups to you from gizmodo.
People ask me how I know of so many movies, but never seem to see any. These summaries might be the reason. You really don’t want to miss The Wrath of Khan in 5 Seconds or Attack of the Clones in 5 Seconds.
Brenda pointed these out to me.
Over on BoingBoing, Cory Doctrow put in a plug for Neal Stephenson’s Interface. It’s one of my favorites, and with the election year coming up, I encourage you to get a copy and enjoy it.