If you could give one last talk to people knowing that it would be your last, what would you say? Randy Pausch, a lecturer at Carnegie Mellon University, had this opportunity. He was 47 and was dying of pancreatic cancer.
Here is his last lecture in its entirety (76 minutes). It is a moving talk on the importance of achieving dreams and helping others to achieve their dreams. He doesn't talk about his illness or his reflections on facing death, although he does admit to having a deathbed conversion experience (he bought a Mac computer).
Yesterday, he succumbed to his illness and died. May he rest in peace.
Saturday, 26 July 2008
Sunday, 20 July 2008
A Steaming Cup of Coffee
A couple days ago, a man walks into a coffee shop and orders a triple espresso on ice. The barista (the equivalent of a wine's sommelier, but for coffee) politely informs the customer that they don't sell espresso on ice. The guy was somewhat taken aback by this. And then he decides to get clever about it. He orders a triple espresso and a glass of ice. The barista sells him the requested items. And then the guy, in front of the barista, is about to pour the triple espresso over the ice, when the barista says, "Hey man. What you’re about to do… that’s really, really Not Okay." But the guy proceeds to do it anyway.
Later, he blogs about it, further stating that the only way he'd return to the coffee shop is to burn it down. The owner of the coffee shop, responds to the blogger on their website threatening to punch him in his reproductive organ. The Washington Post gets wind of the story and writes about it, thus causing it to spread like wildfire. All this because of a little cup of coffee. Can we all say together, "perspective". But I guess if I have to weigh in on this matter, I would have to say that I'm on the side of the coffee shop.
Later, he blogs about it, further stating that the only way he'd return to the coffee shop is to burn it down. The owner of the coffee shop, responds to the blogger on their website threatening to punch him in his reproductive organ. The Washington Post gets wind of the story and writes about it, thus causing it to spread like wildfire. All this because of a little cup of coffee. Can we all say together, "perspective". But I guess if I have to weigh in on this matter, I would have to say that I'm on the side of the coffee shop.
Thursday, 17 July 2008
Prince Caspian
It was the late days of the 1980's when a guy by the name of George Lucas tried to buy the film rights to 'The Hobbit' in order to make a film of it. Being unable to do so, he instead made the film 'Willow', which was remarkably similar in storyline to the Hobbit. At the time, it was hailed by the Little People of America as a breakthrough for using the most amount of people who are differently-sized vertically. This film also put the actor Warwick Davis on the map.
Prince Caspian is the second film based off of the Chronicles of Narnia by Clive Staples Lewis. The storyline revolves around the four Pevensie children as they try to help Prince Caspian reclaim the throne that is rightfully his. The storyline strays quite far in certain places from the book, even adding in a whole other battle scene. This film no longer needs to establish the whole idea of Narnia or to introduce the characters, as that was all done in the first film. Because of this, it was unfettered and was able to focus more on action and storyline, which it does very ably. However, this comes at the price of characterisation, and the people in the film seem strangely two-dimensional still.
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weta Workshop was still cutting its teeth on special effects and costumes and creatures. In this film, one can see how much they've advanced since then, with the effects being much less uneven than in the aforementioned trilogy. However, we at FilmQuest still have issues with talking animals, and this still proves to be a sticking point for this film. There is just no good way to have animals talk in a believable manner.
At any rate, the film is still good and definitely enjoyable to watch, especially so since it has Warwick Davis in a very against-typecast role as the dwarf Nikabrik. We give this film a very solid 7 out of 10 stars.
Prince Caspian is the second film based off of the Chronicles of Narnia by Clive Staples Lewis. The storyline revolves around the four Pevensie children as they try to help Prince Caspian reclaim the throne that is rightfully his. The storyline strays quite far in certain places from the book, even adding in a whole other battle scene. This film no longer needs to establish the whole idea of Narnia or to introduce the characters, as that was all done in the first film. Because of this, it was unfettered and was able to focus more on action and storyline, which it does very ably. However, this comes at the price of characterisation, and the people in the film seem strangely two-dimensional still.
In the Lord of the Rings trilogy, Weta Workshop was still cutting its teeth on special effects and costumes and creatures. In this film, one can see how much they've advanced since then, with the effects being much less uneven than in the aforementioned trilogy. However, we at FilmQuest still have issues with talking animals, and this still proves to be a sticking point for this film. There is just no good way to have animals talk in a believable manner.
At any rate, the film is still good and definitely enjoyable to watch, especially so since it has Warwick Davis in a very against-typecast role as the dwarf Nikabrik. We give this film a very solid 7 out of 10 stars.
Tuesday, 15 July 2008
Things Getting Ugly
It's been a busy week in the world of TechWatch. First we bid adieu to a blogger, who at the age of 108, was the world's oldest. Second, Apple's iPhone 3G sold 1 million units in it's first weekend, a feat which took its predecessor 74 days to achieve. And in another blow to physical media, Netflix has announced that they will stream videos over the XBox 360.
But the real news is what's been happening with Yahoo and Microsoft. Wow, is this one getting ugly. Microsoft and Icahn made another attempt to buy Yahoo's search engine, only to be quickly rebuffed. Instead, Yahoo said they'd be willing to sell the company outright for $33 per share, the same exact figure that Microsoft had offered ten weeks ago and had been rejected as seriously undervaluing the company.
So what's changed in the past ten weeks? Well, the upcoming shareholder's meeting in just over two weeks for one, which sees the current board of directors as well as Jerry Yang in serious jeopardy of losing their jobs for botching the Microsoft negotiations months ago. We have said before that we seriously doubted that there'd be an independent Yahoo when 2008 is over, and we still stand by that.
But the real news is what's been happening with Yahoo and Microsoft. Wow, is this one getting ugly. Microsoft and Icahn made another attempt to buy Yahoo's search engine, only to be quickly rebuffed. Instead, Yahoo said they'd be willing to sell the company outright for $33 per share, the same exact figure that Microsoft had offered ten weeks ago and had been rejected as seriously undervaluing the company.
So what's changed in the past ten weeks? Well, the upcoming shareholder's meeting in just over two weeks for one, which sees the current board of directors as well as Jerry Yang in serious jeopardy of losing their jobs for botching the Microsoft negotiations months ago. We have said before that we seriously doubted that there'd be an independent Yahoo when 2008 is over, and we still stand by that.
Sunday, 13 July 2008
The End of an Era
I've had the same computer for the past 10 years (having shipped it over from the States when I moved here). I've often been very proud of that fact. Of course, everything inside of it has been updated almost on a yearly basis. In fact, the only things that were still from the original computer were the case and the floppy drive (even the power supply had been changed twice).
However, due to a number of reasons, not least of which was a workmate who chastised me and told me to loosen the purse strings a little, I've decided to capitulate and buy a new case. So after a decade of the same beige box that had become an old and familiar friend, I now have a new black and silver case with blue led's flashing from the front of it.
While it is nice to have front USB ports and a computer that doesn't look like it's bound for a museum, I sort of miss my old case. I guess I'm sort of sentimentally stupid that way.
However, due to a number of reasons, not least of which was a workmate who chastised me and told me to loosen the purse strings a little, I've decided to capitulate and buy a new case. So after a decade of the same beige box that had become an old and familiar friend, I now have a new black and silver case with blue led's flashing from the front of it.
While it is nice to have front USB ports and a computer that doesn't look like it's bound for a museum, I sort of miss my old case. I guess I'm sort of sentimentally stupid that way.
Tuesday, 8 July 2008
The One to Watch
The new iPhone 3G is being released this Friday, thus causing the websites who are carrying the iPhone to be swamped, most notably O2 and Carphone Warehouse. Apparently, demand is 10 times higher than the original iPhone and it is already sold out. We can certainly see why people would drool over this one. As we mentioned a couple months ago, it'll have GPS navigation, 3G access and of course a user interface that is second to none.
However, for those who are more tech savvy, as opposed to the great unwashed Apple supporters, our money is on the C905 by SonyEricsson. This one isn't due until early fourth quarter of this year, but it'll be well worth wait. So what makes this one so great? Well, it's a CyberShot camera, with 8.1 megapixels and a xenon flash (as opposed to the camera on the iPhone, which is seriously lacking). This camera will carry Sony's face-recognition software for taking great candids of people. It also has a GPS receiver (a SirfStar III chip), so not only can you get directions to your destination, but they've also managed to tie it to your camera so your photos can be geotagged. How cool is that? Also, it'll be SonyEricsson's first CyberShot mobile phone that will have WiFi built in, and we're betting that it won't take down WiFi routers like the iPhone did. This will be the one to watch, as it'll soon set a new standard in mobile phones being the centre of convergence of electronic gadgets.
However, for those who are more tech savvy, as opposed to the great unwashed Apple supporters, our money is on the C905 by SonyEricsson. This one isn't due until early fourth quarter of this year, but it'll be well worth wait. So what makes this one so great? Well, it's a CyberShot camera, with 8.1 megapixels and a xenon flash (as opposed to the camera on the iPhone, which is seriously lacking). This camera will carry Sony's face-recognition software for taking great candids of people. It also has a GPS receiver (a SirfStar III chip), so not only can you get directions to your destination, but they've also managed to tie it to your camera so your photos can be geotagged. How cool is that? Also, it'll be SonyEricsson's first CyberShot mobile phone that will have WiFi built in, and we're betting that it won't take down WiFi routers like the iPhone did. This will be the one to watch, as it'll soon set a new standard in mobile phones being the centre of convergence of electronic gadgets.
Thursday, 3 July 2008
Race to Witch Mountain
When 'Escape to Witch Mountain' came out in 1975, it captured children's imaginations across the country. It was a simple, unassuming story of a brother and sister by the names of Tony and Tia (played by Ike Eisenmann and Kim Richards respectively) who are searching for their past. But these children aren't ordinary children. They have powers of telepathy and telekinesis, and thus become the objects of pursuit by an evil millionaire. It was a good, wholesome film, which you'd expect being it was made by Disney.
Three years later, Disney released a sequel, entitled 'Return from Witch Mountain'. This was more action oriented, but the storyline wasn't nearly as engaging nor as rewarding. Then in 1982, Disney released direct to TV a third film, entitled 'Beyond Witch Mountain'. This was aired only once in its first two decades of existence and was never released on home video. These days, it makes a very rare appearance on the Disney Channel. As such, it is extremely difficult to find anywhere. After many long years of searching, however, the staff at FilmQuest have finally managed to track down a copy of it and it's now on order and should reach our offices soon. Stay tuned for a full review of it shortly. It is notable for having both Tracey Gold and Kirk Cameron in it, both of whom would go on three years later to star together in the TV series 'Growing Pains'.
In March 2009, a remake of the original film is slated to be released. This will be called 'Race to Witch Mountain' and will star Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb (from 'Bridge to Terebithia') as the siblings, Tony and Tia. It will also have the child actors from the original film in cameo roles as a police officer and a waitress. It should prove to be an interesting film as it's going to have an X-Files/Roswell feel to it. Remember, you read about it here first!
Three years later, Disney released a sequel, entitled 'Return from Witch Mountain'. This was more action oriented, but the storyline wasn't nearly as engaging nor as rewarding. Then in 1982, Disney released direct to TV a third film, entitled 'Beyond Witch Mountain'. This was aired only once in its first two decades of existence and was never released on home video. These days, it makes a very rare appearance on the Disney Channel. As such, it is extremely difficult to find anywhere. After many long years of searching, however, the staff at FilmQuest have finally managed to track down a copy of it and it's now on order and should reach our offices soon. Stay tuned for a full review of it shortly. It is notable for having both Tracey Gold and Kirk Cameron in it, both of whom would go on three years later to star together in the TV series 'Growing Pains'.
In March 2009, a remake of the original film is slated to be released. This will be called 'Race to Witch Mountain' and will star Alexander Ludwig and AnnaSophia Robb (from 'Bridge to Terebithia') as the siblings, Tony and Tia. It will also have the child actors from the original film in cameo roles as a police officer and a waitress. It should prove to be an interesting film as it's going to have an X-Files/Roswell feel to it. Remember, you read about it here first!
Tuesday, 1 July 2008
Boys Will Be Boys
Well it's been a slow week in the world of technology. Yes, we bid farewell to both Bill Gates and Windows XP, eBay got a $61 million fine in a French court and a 16-year-old student used his blog and facebook to assemble the world's largest peace sign. But nothing too exciting. So we thought for this week's TechWatch, the staff would delve into the archives and give you a little history lesson.
In the summer of 1973, Alexander Sawchuk, an assistant professor at the USC Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI), and some colleagues were looking for an image to scan for a colleague's conference paper. They got bored of the regular stock photos and wanted something glossy and had a face in it. Almost as if on cue, in walks a guy with a recent Playboy magazine. They immediately took the centerfold, tore the top third of it off and wrapped it around the scanning drum.
This image soon became the most widely used image to test new compression and dithering algorithms. It is actually a very good image to use for such tests because there's a mixture between blurry and sharpness, it has a wide colour palette and it doesn't hurt that there's a beautiful woman in it.
Of course, all this goes to show that boys will be boys and even 25 years ago they managed to find a way to put porn into their computers. Below is the image that has appeared countless times in image textbooks over the past quarter century.
In the summer of 1973, Alexander Sawchuk, an assistant professor at the USC Signal and Image Processing Institute (SIPI), and some colleagues were looking for an image to scan for a colleague's conference paper. They got bored of the regular stock photos and wanted something glossy and had a face in it. Almost as if on cue, in walks a guy with a recent Playboy magazine. They immediately took the centerfold, tore the top third of it off and wrapped it around the scanning drum.
This image soon became the most widely used image to test new compression and dithering algorithms. It is actually a very good image to use for such tests because there's a mixture between blurry and sharpness, it has a wide colour palette and it doesn't hurt that there's a beautiful woman in it.
Of course, all this goes to show that boys will be boys and even 25 years ago they managed to find a way to put porn into their computers. Below is the image that has appeared countless times in image textbooks over the past quarter century.
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