Ghost in the Shell 2

Ghost in the Shell 2: Innocence opens at Shaker Square Cinemas in Cleveland on Friday. Phil and I are planning to go to either the 7:10p or 9:30p showing on Friday. Anyone else interested in going? We could grab dinner at one of the restaurants at Shaker Square (Luchita's comes to mind).

What the Bubble Got Right

Paul Graham has posted another excellent essay, What the Bubble Got Right . I love the way Paul Graham bucks the conventional wisdom and cuts through all the crap to give reasoned analysis. I really need to pick up Hackers and Painters .

Crashing the Parties

Tonight PBS will be airing a documentary called Crashing the Parties . It's a look at four third party candidates: Michael Badnarik, David Cobb, Michael Peroutka, and Ralph Nader. As a Badnarik supporter, I'm excited that he'll be getting some publicity. Also, given Badnarik's ability to swing the election , this is a program that should be interesting for anyone following the presidential race.

Work/Study Environments and Productivity

My friend Josh has written a nice essay about finding a productive study environment. It's called "On the search for the ideal study environment" . I face the same problems as well. Being a student and sleeping, working, and playing in the same room can make it extremely difficult to switch modes from work to play to study. One idea that I've had lately is that I should buy a large whiteboard for my room. I think that writing a list of things to do on the whiteboard would be more effective than simply keeping a list in a text file on my computer, or on a pad of paper. For some reason, I think that the physical nature of writing things down on a whiteboard would motivate me to get things done. Perhaps I should make a run to OfficeMax tomorrow...

Pho Hoa

Chris, Angie, Tim and I went to Pho Hoa tonight. I had pho for the first time, and it was quite tasty. I also had bubble tea for the first time. It was unusual, but I liked it. There is another place near Pho Hoa called #1 Pho , so I'll have to try that out some weekend.

I still haven't been to Phnom Penh since I got back to Cleveland. That needs to be remedied.

Blogging Talk Photos

My talk on blogging went fairly well. There were about 15 people there, and we had plenty of pizza. :-) My friend Brendan took some photos of the event .

Browns Defeat Ravens

Today was the first game of the 2004 season for the Browns, and they started it off by beating the Ravens, 20-3. The game started off slowly, with neither offense able to do much, and it was 3-0 Browns at halftime. The Browns really came alive late in the second half, with a 50 yard touchdown pass, an interception, a fumble, and a Jeff Garcia rushing touchdown. The defense was able to hold Jamal Lewis to just 58 yards on 20 carries, which is very good when you consider that he had 295 yards rushing in a single game against the Browns last year.

The offensive line still looked a bit weak, but Garcia dealt with the pressure well. Hopefully a veteran quarterback like Garcia won't make as many mistakes as guys like Couch and Holcomb when he's hurried. Kellen Winslow made a few nice catches today, so hopefully the Browns will be able to take advantage of him (their 1st round draft pick) right away. The Browns weren't able to rush at all today, but I'll attribute that to Baltimore's defense and the absence of Lee Suggs. Hopefully he'll be back next week.

After one game, the Browns are tied for first in the AFC North with Pittsburgh. Next week: Browns vs. Cowboys.

Blogging Talk

I'll be giving a talk entitled "Blog Technology and Sociology" for the Case ACM tomorrow at 6:00pm in Clapp 108 . This talk will be a whirlwind tour of the blogosphere, with something for beginners and experts alike. I will cover various blog technologies, social phenomenon, and how to set up your own weblog. Hope to see you there!

Brainwashing 101

AcademicBias.com has posted an interesting short film called Brainwashing 101 .

Brainwashing 101 is a provocative short film showing how universities use tools such as "speech codes" to force political views upon students.

I don't agree with everything in the film, but in general I think it makes some very good points about political correctness gone wrong.

Social Interfaces

Another excellent article has been posted on JoelOnSoftware on social interfaces:

You dial a number after which everything you say can be heard by the other person, and vice versa. It's that simple. But it's not as popular in some circles as this awkward system where you break your thumbs typing huge strings of numbers just to say "damn you're hot," because that string of numbers gets you a date, and you would never have the guts to say "damn you're hot" using your larynx.

Illegal Radio Ad

On Saturday, this radio ad will be illegal. Yay, campaign finance reform. </sarcasm>