Kubrick Links

Great behind-scenes photos of Kubrick's 2001

2001, the Making of the Myth; a superb video tribute to the film. Not just for geeks; if you liked the film, watch this!

Kubrick's daughter had unprecedented access during the shooting of "The Shining", and was clever enough to whip up a making-of film. She was 17 then, but here she is today laying down a commentary track on the same little documentary. Really, don't miss both.

"Stuff About Stanley Kubrick"

Free Textbook on Economic Analysis

It's over my head, so I can't really judge, but a brilliant fellow named R Preston Mcaffee went to the trouble of authoring a textbook on economic analysis, and has given it away for free over the Internet. Here's one of several articles about it.

If you're at all into this sort of thing, I have a hunch it will make you pretty happy.

Alec Baldwin's Radio Show

Alec Baldwin's WNYC radio show, "Here's the Thing", is absolutely brilliant. Like so many revolutionary concepts, it boils down to a really simple and obvious move: he interviews interesting people he knows, and they talk as if there are no microphones. It's such a "duh", and yet the impact is just slammingly fresh and irresistible. People love to overhear truth a lot more than they like being "presented to".

Subscribe to the podcast and don't miss any of them, but definitely don't miss the interview with David Letterman.

My Funcussion

This is not farce. It's all true.

Nobody likes hitting their head, but it's worse for me. First, I'm tall. So my head gets hit more often than most. Also, I hit my head a lot as a kid (which might explain a lot). So, when my head gets hit, deep emotional memories are triggered. It's more drama than I'd prefer.

I'm not sure how it happened, but sometime on Friday I found myself sprawled on the ground, moaning, with a Viewmaster-clear recollection of every previous hit to the head...an unbroken lineage of pain and woe since toddlerhood.

But I was late to leave on a road trip to hear Dub Apocalypse up in Hartford that night, and then hit the incredible SheltonFest (best beer festival in North American history) on Saturday and Sunday in Worcester, MA. I had a big day ahead of me, but I only wanted to crawl to the nearest couch and whimperingly clutch an ice pack to my swollen skull.

It was the worst one ever. The blow was directly to my left temple, and I felt as if I'd had fifty I.Q. points shaved off. My brain was utterly vacant, and as I packed my things to get going, I was making lots of dumb mistakes. I was a moron. I called one of the friends I'd be hanging out with, and my sentences kept stopping in the middle. Hmm.

Likely concussion, albeit mild.

I certainly didn't want to drive if I was incapacitated. So I figured I'd pack the car, ice down my head, and then try a short local drive to see whether I was road-worthy. And that's when the first miracle happened.

As I was packing my car, a dog I'd never before seen strided up my driveway, as if she'd done so a thousand times. She came straight up to me, and stared, with what could only be interpreted as concern, right in my eye as I pet her. From that moment forward, she hovered protectively. I went back in the house to get another bag, and she stood anxiously at my door, watching my every move. Then she accompanied me back out to the car. She didn't seem to desire anything (I tried giving her a bowl of water, because it was a hot day, but she wouldn't so much as sniff it). I was convinced that she was my fairy dogmother.

I checked her tags, but there was no address. I tried to lure her up the hill to where most of the other houses are, but she kept following me downhilll as I attempted to sneak away, never letting me out of her sight. But I was late, so I slipped quickly into my car and carefully backed down the driveway. She was frantically looking for me, and, eventually, figured out I was driving the car, and followed me, running, as I drove off, for about a half mile. I felt terrible, but, again, I was late, and couldn't devise a more graceful way to ditch the dog. I wasn't, after all, smart.

My driving coordination and reaction time seemed ok, so I proceeded, and, finally, reached Connecticut, where a friend asked whether I'd been hit by a truck (there was a huge knot on the side of my head). I answered him inarticulately. He looked concerned. I pulled my hat over the lump.

The concert was great, and it was time to check into a hotel. The clerk, noticing my confusion, smilingly slowed down and was careful to confirm that I understood everything. I'm not the type of person who's often patiently helped by random strangers. I was deeply touched. The next morning, we all went out for takeout coffee before the beer festival, and I got a little flustered trying to remember which cup was mine. The coffee lady reminded me - twice - and finally placed my cup around my hand* so I wouldn't forget again. Her smile was angelic.

It was at this point that I started looking around the room for some blunt object to swing at my other temple.

I was told that I should have gotten angelic coffee woman's number; she seemed to have taken a liking to me. And over the rest of the day, women seemed strangely drawn to me. I didn't have anything clever to say to any of them; I just smiled goofily. And that seemed to be enough. I'm not handsome (and these days that matters a lot more for guys than it once did) so I usually have to work hard and turn up the charm to get the time of day from women. But now, thanks to a sharp blow to my skull, I was turning heads, ala Brad Pitt. I'd stumbled upon his secret!

The next day, driving a convertible through western Worcester, some Hispanic workers yelled over as I waited at a light, "Hey, man, cool car!" I couldn't think of what to shout back, so I just yelled "Yeah, I cut the top off...it works great!" This wasn't funny, at all. In fact, it was a pretty stupid thing to say. But it was perfect. They chuckled and waved. Life was going smoothly! My life never goes smoothly. I have lots of fun, good laughs, a bunch of nice friends, but I'm not much of a smooth liver. Never have been.

Now it's Monday and my cognitive juju has been returning. Yesterday, I felt as if I was living a reverse "Flowers for Algernon" - bright guy gets stupid, rather than vice versa. But today I'm able to type this all out coherently. Apparently my funcussion is waning. And I'm not sure how happy I am about that.

If you see me walking down the street, would you please do me a favor and slam me squarely in the back of the head with a brick?


* - "placed my cup around my hand"??? I'm leaving in this weirdly dopey construction just to document that I'm still not all here.

iOs Audio Miracle

Closing out iPhone/iPad tips week....

Bongiovi DPS is a free app that makes music on your iPhone or iPad sound much, much, much better, whether played through the built-in speaker, with earbuds, or bluetooth. Miraculously better. Like, good enough that you'll actually enjoy listening to music through your crappy little iPhone speaker.

It doesn't work for music purchased from iTunes.

Why Polls Are Silly

They just released results from a Gallup poll questioning whether Americans would vote for a Mormon. Blah blah blah....and then this (as reported by CNN):

"Bias against a Mormon candidate is significantly higher among Democrats and independents than among Republicans, Gallup found.

Twenty-four percent of Democrats and 18% of independents said they would not vote for a well-qualified Mormon who was nominated by their party, while 10% of Republicans expressed such opposition."

Gallup apparently figured the phrase "...who was nominated by their party" would cut, like a scalpel, through Democrats' antipathy toward the current Republican candidate, who happens to be Mormon. Just insert those five magical words, and people will precisely clear their cognitive slates and offer crisp, meaningful data for precisely the case at hand. And we can, therefore, draw a clean conclusion that Democrats have this ever-so-puzzling prejudice against Mormons. Fascinatingly counter-intuitive! And the press, of course, passes this on without question.

Human cognitive slates are foggy at best. Our emotions and outlooks defy even our own conscious understanding. Even the language with which our emotions and outlooks are probed seethes with unconscious associations. We're not clean there, under the hood. So the conceit of rendering that primordial goo as precise data is, in the end, laughable.

Hmm. Am I being anti-science?

A Perfect Articulation of Our Economic Moral Peril

Why does JP Morgan's $2 billion loss matter to the rest of us?

While Morgan boss Jamie Dimon has tried to spin the basis for the error as a hedge (i.e. a prudent investment move) gone wrong, it was actually, quite clearly, an Enron-ish mad speculation. Such speculation can wreak havoc with the economy. And if so, taxpayers not only have to cope with the fallout, but also bail out the perpetrator, since an operation like Morgan is too big to fail. That's the moral peril, but the full picture hinges on the political component.

I've never heard all the strands tied together so clearly as they were by Lawrence Lessig on Saturday's "Up w/Chris Hayes". Finally, a concise and completely coherent explanation of the issues the Occupy movement keeps blurrily railing against:

"The real story here is the fact that these guys are gambling because there's a government that's going to back them up. There's a bail-out that's going to come. And the most striking thing...for me was: here's a guy who's already demonstrated they can blow up the economy. And now another explosion goes off.

The fundamental reason why we should be afraid of them is the regulatory structure that makes it so that when they blow up we all go down with them. And the Senate is filled with a bunch of people who only want to make this guy happy. Now why is that?

It's because they know that this guy has the power to blackmail both the Democratic and Republican Party parties because if you don't have some kind of support from Wall Street, you lose the election! So it is the power he has in the political system that makes this so terrifying. This is the first financial crisis in the history of United States where the people who caused the crisis have enough power to block any effective reform that led to that crisis. And that's what we should be terrified about."

Here's the entire segment (as I've previously noted, you really need to stay on your toes to follow discussion on this show...or at least I do!):

iPad Tips

Apple gadget week continues with three iPad shortcuts I only just learned about:

Have you been hitting the "123" key to do apostrophes and quotes on iPad? Well, stop that! Instead, just hit and hold the period/question mark key for quotes, and the exclamation/comma key for apostrophes. You're welcome!

And for other stuff normally hidden in "number mode", hit "123", hold, and slide to the key you need. Hit it and you'll be snapped back to the alpha layout.

And a bonus tip you probably know: recent versions of iOS (for both iPad and iPhone) allow you to create custom keyboard shortcuts. You can set it to type out, for example, "Jesus Christ, the lasagna was incredible" each time you type, say, JCLI. Just go to Preferences/ General/ Keyboard.

Using iPad As Your Laptop

Yesterday, I wrote:

"iPad serves well on the road (if you bring a wireless keyboard). I'm a longtime Mac laptop user, but only very rarely lug around my laptop anymore."

Reader "Dave" commented:

"What wireless keyboard do you recommend for the iPad (and for this guy with fat fingers)? Have you tried any of the covers with a built-in keybaord? I tend to take my MacBook on any trips of more than a day or two, and have to admit that the keyboard is the reason

Sigh. A few months ago I went all Aspergers assembling the perfect iPad-as-laptop outfit. And I planned to share my findings here, spending an afternoon trying to produce a nice, crisp narrated video. Having discovered I'm horrible at that sort of thing, I gave up. But after yesterday's posting, I feel compelled to at least cough up the info, even without the nice snazzy video.

First, do NOT buy a built-in keyboard/case. Several reasons:

1. It will look like a Hello Kitty Laptop for 7 year-olds. Embarrassing for grown-ups. And why buy a beautifully designed tablet only to make it into a crappy kiddie-sized laptop?

2. The keyboards mostly suck. These are not serious, full-fledged keyboards made for doing real work. Also, the keys are smaller than standard.

3. You usually can't separate out the keyboard, and rest it on your lap, or adjust the distance between you and the display.

The one to get is the Apple Wireless Keyboard.


This is the serious choice. It links up via BlueTooth, and the reviewers complaining about connection problems on Amazon are tech bumblers (or else they need to update their iOS). The keyboard's light, quiet, sturdy, narrow, professional, perfect.

I have to admit I'm intrigued by the novel approach of the iKeyboard, which came out recently. But while I've never tried it in person, it doesn't seem designed for serious typing work; more of an intermediate solution for quick typing more easily than via iPad alone. Also, using a separate wireless keyboard lets you move the thing around, prop it on your lap, or at any angle independent of the screen.

Unless you already own an Apple smart case, you'll need a stand to prop up your iPad. I tried just about everything out there, and found the best solution to be a little-known Griffin product, the XPO Universal Tablet Stand.



It's overpriced at $30, but folds down to nothing, weighs nothing (it's aluminum), slides into an attractive case fitting easily in your pocket and (and this is a big "and") very securely holds your iPad up at a good angle. Alas, they're currently out of stock, but check eBay (where four are now on sale for $25 with free shipping, and, no I'm not the seller!).

I carry all this in a Waterfield iPad wallet, which has a protective pocket for the Apple Wireless Keyboard, another for iPad, and yet another narrow pocket to fit a charging cable and ('cuz it's real narrow) a Griffin XPO Universal Tablet Stand. The $79 case is small, light, attractive, fits everything snugly and has high quality zippers and padding. You certainly won't need a shoulder strap; don't fall for that option.


The package is way lighter and smaller than a Macbook Air, and you won't have to take it out at most airports.

The cost of these accessories is quite high, at $180. But cheaper solutions are dodgey and full of compromises. If you're dying to be set free from lugging your laptop, but need a solid-feeling setup you feel you can trust, this is the grown-up solution. And fine points matter; I tried stands that fall over, bags with poorly-conceived pockets, and keyboards that "take getting used to". This set-up just works.

Plus, the cool aesthetics, and meticulous "fit and finish" of these products make them feel briskly efficient to carry around and set up. If I were toting around cheapo alternatives in a zip lock freezer bag...not so much. I'd quickly come to miss my laptop.

In the end, this is the bargain route. Even adding in the iPad's expense, this is all still way cheaper than a new MacBook Air. Having used it for half a year, I wouldn't trade it for an Air.

Not So Into the Fancy New MacBook Pro

I'm drooling over the new Retina Display MacBook Pro announced this week by Apple. It's quite likely the best computer Apple's ever produced (and therefore the best personal computer ever produced). But while sorely tempted, I'm not buying. I'll stick with my 2009 Macbook Pro.

Reasons:

Cost
$2200 - $2800? With SIGA still under $3, I can't even consider it. And neither should you, probably. Because of the steep...

Early Adoption Premium
All the enticements of this computer will likely be found - at lower price - in subsequent generations of less expensive Mac portables. None of it (the blazing speed, the generous flash storage and memory, the thinness, or the display, which some have called the most beautiful screen ever) is miss-it-and-you-lose stuff. Rather, this is an advance look at next year's "normal". You wanna early-adopt? Go ahead! But you'll overpay for the privilege.

Weight
This laptop, though thin, is pretty heavy compared to the MacBook Airs. While Air users make sacrifices for the convenience, it won't always be so. Look for convergence next year, when I'm betting we'll get it all. Though, alas, likely no optical (CD/DVD) drive.

Steep Depreciation Curve
When that convergence arrives, this machine will instantly seem like an anachronistically heavy beast, and is destined to sell cheap on the second-hand market. Buy now and you're at the wrong end of that curve.

App Catch-up
Apps will look like crud on the retina screen until they're updated by their repective developers. As you wait, you'll be burning expensive early adoption lead time...as depreciation creeps nearer and nearer.

Whither laptop?
iPad serves well on the road (if you bring a wireless keyboard). I'm a longtime Mac laptop user, but only very rarely lug around my laptop anymore. Since my computer stays at home, a desktop computer makes more sense. They're cheaper, faster, and more easily repaired and expanded/updated. Some people may require a high-powered laptop in addition to an iPad, but I'd imagine that's an awfully small group, especially since you can do fairly sophisticated field editing (musical, cinematic, photographic, etc.) and work/enterprise stuff on an iPad these days (Microsoft Office for iPad is reportedly coming this Fall). *

Wasted Display
Like most people, I plug my laptop into a big monitor when at home. And, again, these days I mostly use it at home. So that expensive retina display would be largely wasted. What's more, when I do bring my laptop on the road, I need an optical drive (to watch DVDs in planes and trains) a lot more than I'd need a fancy display. And this one has no optical drive (Apple's decided we don't need 'em anymore, because streaming is "everywhere").

* - and the next version of iPad will, I'll bet, narrow the laptop gap even more.