Stormcaller.net

Sunday, May 30, 2004 - "The day after The Day After Tomorrow"

First of all, things to ignore:
The non-science. Honestly, what a load of rubbish. Not only was the notion of the Gulf Stream stopping ridiculous - you'd have to stop the Earth's entire wind system, ocean current system, tidal system (so the Moon would have to disappear), tectonic movement and probably even the planet's spin - but it happened in the period of less than a week.
Too many Liberal overtones. Forgiving of Latin-American debt? How convenient. Rabbiting on about how it's the Third World who help out the civilised world in the end. Well done for them - "being in the Southern Hemisphere" was a great and kind humanitarian achievement. Pretty obvious anti-American government stance. This all leading to...
The excessive moralising. U.S. President: "We were wrong. I was wrong." Constant references to "learning from our past mistakes". Implication that America's refusal to enter the Kyoto Accord (which, as far as I've read about it, looks pretty useless - extending a few-hundred-years timescale by a year or two, but with huge economic impacts - and makes no sense anyway) is one of the reasons why the whole thing happened, despite the fact that the film is set in the modern day, not the future, and takes place over the course of just a few days.
Taking advantage of all the hype over global warming. Remember the Three Mile Island non-tragedy in 1979, in which a problem with the cooling system at a nuclear power plant caused an partial core meltdown which was successfully contained, with nothing irradiated and not one person hurt? That was blown out of all proportion because of a film coincidentally released at the same time, "The China Syndrome". The incident is still cited today as "proof" that nuclear power is dangerous, even though that was the "worst commercial nuclear accident in the United States to date". This film has already precipitated a flood of articles about the film and "how it relates to the issue of global warming" (hint: it doesn't). Fortunately, the annoying trend of journalists (Arts students) debunking scientific theories that seems to be the norm these days seems to have worked in rationality's favour this time, with many newspapers and websites ridiculing "The Day After Tomorrow" for its science.
Right, now that that's all out of the way - "The Day After Tomorrow" was a great film! It wasn't nearly as cheesy as it could have been. Even the dialogue was ok, despite the odd bit of hyperbole. Dennis Quaid was excellent as his typical strong, rugged type (even now that he's 50). Playing a climatologist, he made the pseudo-science almost believable. Jake Gyllenhaal proves that there is life after "Donnie Darko" (and also that he can be in a film without his sister Maggie), with a good performance as Quaid's son. Relatively-unknown Emma Rossum was good as Gyllenhaal's love interest, as were most of the rest of the supporting cast including Sir Ian Holm.
Needless to say, the special effects were excellent. Even now, with everyone used to films like "The Matrix", "The Lord Of The Rings" and the "Star Wars" prequels, and even as modern disaster movies go, the CGI in this film was something special. Tornados ripping through downtown L.A., fist-sized hailstones battering Tokyo and a tidal wave hitting New York, not to mention assorted giant hurricanes, snow and freezing effects - it all looked real. In fact, the most obviously fake computer-generated effects were the wolves, not the huge weather effects.
I'd recommend seeing "The Day After Tomorrow". Be prepared to make sarcastic comments at some of the cheesy dialogue, but give it a chance. If nothing else, see it for the CGI alone - it'd be worth it.

Posted by Stormcaller at 5:01 PM GMT [Link]

Saturday, May 29, 2004 - "The afternoon before The Day After Tomorrow. Cold yet?"

> Science/Tech

NASA's new exploration insignia. How delightfully retro. [Details]
Time for nuclear power to rear its poor, misunderstood head once again? Even leading environmentalists are saying so now. [Details]
...and while we're on the subject, the quest for fusion power is "hotting up" (ahem) with a new European research project based in the UK. Statistics for you: "One kilogram of fusion fuel would produce the same amount of energy as 10,000,000 kg of fossil fuel." [Details]
Or what about Helium-3, from the Moon? (lower half of this page) [Details]
...or, uh... algae? [Details]
> Geek

Michael Moore is being challenged to release his new documovie, "Fahrenheit 9/11", for free on the Internet. They say that if, as Moore claims, the message is more important than the money, and if he's not just a "war profiteer", as he accuses other companies of being, he should prove this by giving the film away online to reach the largest number of viewers. I agree - go for it. He won't, of course. [Details]
Anyone want £50 worth of Google AdWords for free? No strings, as far as I can tell. Probably UK only. [Details]
Wow - fantastic "Half-Life 2" case mod. [Display]
Teach Nick's "Stoopid Bot" a thing or two. [Destroy]
Obviously gamers aren't the only ones fed up of awful games based on great movies. Warner Brothers are going to start demanding higher royalties for sucky games, based on online reviews. Good move, methinks. I mean, has anyone even PLAYED any of the hundreds of "Lord Of The Rings" games that have been coming out recently? [Details]
Pizza and "the system" don't go well together. [Details]
> Stuff

The worst place in the (civilised?) world. And guess what? It's because of rich American parents who don't understand or can't be bothered with their children. If any other non-Western country did this, we'd all condemn them for human rights violations, kidnapping etc. [Details]
This is actually pretty old, but it's still the smallest website on the net. [Destroy]
Incredible, some chap has made a complete, detailed map of... Springfield, the Simpsons' home town. [Display]
Very... odd new story. Boy convicted of incitement to murder himself. Blame the Internet. Blame the chatrooms. Blame the films, television, games, music. Blame everyone but the screwed-up kids involved and the younger boy's parents. (This is now all over the newspapers, incidentally.) [Details]
I know you are, but what am I? [Destroy]
Off to see "The Day After Tomorrow". If you're lucky, I might let you know what I thought of it.

Posted by Stormcaller at 5:32 PM GMT [Link]

Thursday, May 27, 2004 - "Transyuggothian metaphysics"

> Serious

Dan thinks that mentioning 'vesuvius' in a paper is enough to get your paper into the papers. [Details]
Handy statistics. Gruesome, but handy. [Details]
Electrocuting nine year olds.... Isn't it something we've all wanted to do? Well - this guy got to do it. [Details]
> Stuff

C-song? No - FCC song. [Download]
Startrekkin, across the... oh, tis the other one. Well, that spoils my 'too geeky even for me' joke. Guess I'll just leave this headline blank then. [Details]
Information is not wisdom. Short pithy quotes that don't actually mean anything - that's wisdom. See? Quod est demonstratum. [Details]
Latin names for plants. Just in case you need to know them. [Details]
In fact, heck - let's ressurect the whole damn language. [Details]
This explains a lot. All those trolls you've had to ignore? They're all the same person. [Details]
I don't link vgmusic often enough. Let's rectify that. [Destroy]
I have no idea why you'd want this, but resources are always good. Part-shaded outlines of four-colour comic style figures. [Display]
Fund the strange people [Details]
> Gaming

Fairy-land. Because hideously cute free mmorpgs only cme along every other week. [Download]
Loathe web games? [Destroy]
Another game thingy. [Download]
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then they die. --Snake Gandhi [Details]
Puzzle Bobble [Details]
Lost? Try harder then. [Destroy]
Space Taxi. It's not VERY a remake - but it looks decently fun. [Download]
Burning wheel. Allegedly a wonderful paper game. PDF is a good way to make me want to burn things... [Destroy]
> Comics

Boom kitty. Boom. [Display]
This is your face. This is your face on the internet. Any questions? [Display]

Posted by Vitenka at 4:24 PM GMT [Link]

Saturday, May 22, 2004 - "Hats! The people demand hats!"

> Science/Tech

Not only is this a beautifully designed website, but he's also created an accurate, detailed planetarium - all in flash. Many other lovely things too. [Destroy]
It's not just the pictures a camera takes that can be... shocking. [Details]
Someone needs to invent a counter-robot that pees in the pool. [Details]
> Geek

You must read this (not least because it happened down the road from me, in fact). The Goons prove, once again, that no scammer should ever screw with them. Read the PDF for the whole story - thread of the year! [Details]
It's not "the flying car", but it's a good geeky mockup of one. [Details]
> Stuff

If this were all true, we should be running for our nuclear bunkers right now. Luckily, it's mostly complete bullshit. North Korea is scary because they have nuclear weapons and an unpredictable, insane ruler - but couldn't stand up to the U.S. militarily. Still, an interesting read if you like this kind of [mis]information. [Details]
Kaufman didn't return, but of course there'll always be a blog/LiveJournal claiming to be him... [Details]
Social engineering is always amusing to read about. [Details]
Genius. [Display]
That's unpossible! [Details]
What was I saying last weekend about quality? [Details]
Infinilicious! [Display]
Damned internet. [Destroy]

Posted by Stormcaller at 10:34 AM GMT [Link]

Thursday, May 20, 2004 - "If it's stupid but it's cool - then it isn't stupid."

> Serious

Or, one could lok at it another way - he's simply courting a large voting block. Insane people aren't meant to be allowed to vote - so why can't we classify belief as a mental illness? [Details]
Important speeches. [Destroy] [Destroy]
Not important for the relatively obvious techniques - important becase a lot of documents are out there relying on it, and there is a lot of inertia behind continuing to use it. OTOP - why can't we uncensor everything? [Details]
I don't think I need to cover the prison abuses, the mainstream media has already had its field day. I'll just point out that anyone who's kept informed has known that these abuses happen in every war (hence the red cross) and that the US in particular has been doing this worldwide ofr years.
Gonna get that 'roid right outta my hair... Here's hoping we really get this project started - orbital mechanics has got to be an important field for the future. [Details]
> Stuff

Kittens [Display]
lemur heads, lemur heads, lemur heads and fishsticks octagon warble frappe glurps transient baccarat quilts
Some plays that are perhaps better off unperformed. [Details]
Fancy learning computer science? It's an interesting field. (Free course stuff) [Details]
Fresh download. A getright clone. [Download]
Did I link this, or a different version before? No matter - a big fat list of myths and legends. With pictures. [Details]
> Gaming

Oh, got one thing slightly wrong - the PS2 did announce a price drop. They just did it late.
I'm a Quiche eater! [Details]
Vroom! Figure out the rules and get to the exit in fewest moves. [Details]
MS gming platform. XBox-Next to go where nuon did, allow lots of people to make it (but only MS will make a profit - see tablet PCs) - It's the 'connected home' hub metaphor again. You know, the one that is busy flopping industry wide. Still - nice to hear SOMETHING from them, at last. [Details]
Halflife interview. Does it really exist? Does anyone care? Do we look forward to converting natural selection to a new engine? [Details]
"One boy and his blob" remake! [Download]
> Humour

A repeat of an old link. What dvd extras would you have? [Details]
The disturbing part is, some of these people are for real. [Details]
"If I am elected president, all current politicians will be converted to searching bags at airports. This makes all people glad to use airports." Sadly, apart from the line, not funny. [Details]
A disturbing kitty project [Destroy]
War! It's not just for politicians any more. Now available in unfettered realism on your PC! [Details]
And there may be many others but they haven't been discovered... [Display]
... there's something deeply wrong about this. Still, it's not against the law to fake your own death - or even to live under an assumed name, as long as you pay taxes. [Details]
A crocdile is swimming down the river when he hears a voice. Swimming over he finds a scorpion who says;
"Please could you carry me across this rover on your back? Naturally you would be suspicious of carrying a vicious, poisonous animal like myself on your back but since if you are killed I will surely drown you can be certain of your safety."
The crocodile replies "holy crap! A talking scorpion!"
> Comics

Ozy and millie. It's important to keep a balanced diet. [Destroy]
What would ninja do? [Destroy]

Posted by Vitenka at 9:26 AM GMT [Link]

Saturday, May 15, 2004 - "Kentucky Fried Internet - deep-fat fried with breadcrumbs."

> Science/Tech/Geek

Some spam company has decided that Stormcaller.net is a free webmail service and has started sending unsolicited spam to random addresses at the domain. This week I've been getting over 1000 spam messages to these addresses a day (on top of my usual, reasonably acceptable amount of spam). Bastards. Any ideas?
Another one of Slashdot's "make gadget X out of computer part Y!" series - a stereo out of a hard disk drive. As long as you're not actually bothered about sound quality. [Details]
Peer-to-peer - caters for all, er, tastes. [Details]
Google have started a weblog. Only took them well over a year after acquiring the leading blog site, Blogger. [Details]
The Earth's magnetic field protects the planet from, among other things, the Sun's solar wind. However, this research concludes that the very same solar wind would wrap around the Earth and induce a replacement magnetic field while a polar flip was happening. Presumably in such a way that the solar wind protects the Earth from the wind itself. How does that work, then? [Details]
I'm supposed to be up on all the developments in space flight and all that, but I must admit this Phoenix project - a prototype for a European space shuttle - has passed me by until now. It's just succeeded in its first test flight, too. [Details]
Too many memes spoil the Internet. [Details]
> Stuff

The simple, elegant games are usually the most fun. [Destroy]
I dislike Starbucks. [Destroy]
Look, it's the time! [Destroy]
Any religiously-motivated multimedia is inherently funny, especially to non-believers. "Hi - you're going to hell!" [Destroy]
People on IRC are stupid. [Details]
What with exams and the like coming up, I might have to (temporarily?) rethink this whole weekly post business. Quality remains the same as far as I can tell, but I've been failing a little on quantity lately. Then again, I've probably got a full memobox on IRC with a good 40 links sitting there waiting for me to look at them. Hmm.

Posted by Stormcaller at 8:03 PM GMT [Link]

Wednesday, May 12, 2004 - "E3 hardware announcment: SEGA's coffeeshop - Let's make some craaaaazy coffee!"

> Serious

Oh good. So now we're getting them on a lie. [Details]
How amusing. Hollywood dislikes people mangling works of art to produce things acceptable to a wider audience. Leson to you goons; once the media is in my hands I can do to it what I like. Whilst I think these people are doing stupid things - they should always have the right. [Details]
Oh, sorry - you thought you could use your rights? [Details]
The moral? When you decide to fight back... kill. May I suggest your nominal rulers? [Details]
Maths for dummies returns. This time: local optimisation does not imply global optimisation. [Details]
Wait - so they'd rather graduates that don't want to go to scotland go abroad than come to england? Can we shoot blunkett in the head yet? [Details]
Note to world - third world has overtaken you long time now. [Details]
... People who hate people are scum! I hate them! [Details]
Not everyone turns evil? Hah! [Details] [Details]
Plea bargaining is for the stupid. But if you don't bargian, you're bankrupted and risk inasane levels of punishment. Can we declare America a fascist state and move on, yet? [Details]
So maybe we can rely on the id people to destroy themselves this time around. [Details]
> Gaming

If you're not playing the guildwars demo yet, the quickie review is: Play it, The installer is painless, it streams content whilst you create your character even, and it runs in a window by default. It uses a hefty dose of graphics and is set up more like an fps than an mmorpg. But the combat system is somewhat dull. [Details]
Riiight. Garriott isn't a fan of non-consensual pvp. Which is why he created the only mainstream game which supports it. Still, good to see that he's stealing ideas from mushes. [Details]
It's like ragnarok, only even cuter! Run in fear! [Download]
Now, I just know that I've linked this before - but lets link it again. The Ur-Quan-Masters. Action game with a bit of resource gathering and a lot of plot. [Download]
E3. Let's see. Nintendos new portable looks just like the old donkey-kong handhelds. Sony's one is way too expensive. And a bunch of games might not be vapourware. Maybe. I'm not gonna do an e3 report, get it from a real gaming site.
Game demos and mods. [Download]
Gaming should die. [Details]
An old shareware standby. Guide the flooze! [Download]
Slightly old hl2 info. They're restarting the hype machine... [Destroy]
Kobo! Um, it's a game. [Download]
And this is an ancient shoot em up. [Download]
Quick reminder of how the basic graphics technologies work. [Details]
Subspace single player, 2d elite clone - call it what you will, it has a demo. [Download]
> Stuff

You will al read more fine fiction. The king decrees it. The king in what? Yellow you say? [Details]
Know your roots. [Details]
If only for the link: "Aesop's Privacy Policy" [Details]
Last story. Postmodern, this one. Also hilariously fun. [Details]
What strange science do you have in mind? It's good to know that someone is investigating the future. [Details]
Unsure. Someone pointed me at it. Own risk, and all that. [Display]
Like adaware, but actually updated this century. [Download]
You ought to already know all this - but a refresher course isn't a bad thing [Details]
Script basic. A simple scripting language to have in your own programs. [Download]
This could be useful - or it could be very very bad. Firmware firewalls. Silently redirecting some addresses should be possible... [Details]
> Humour

The MI5 aren't evil? Pfah. That's what they want you to believe. On a simpler note - our government websites are funny. [Details]
Can you improve on the given headline? "Mad Mauled by Mare Mad Mule" perhaps? [Details]
Finally! A type two error! Now we can work out whether those 'dogs save owner' things are happenning on purpose, or not. [Details]
Almost as good as the 'extreme wheelchair' game [Download]
> Comics

To quote from bash: You buttered your cat?! [Display]
Oh, but they do... [Display]
Ozyandmillie. The subconcious is a wonderful thing. [Display]
Or we could be philosophical about it. [Display]
I shouldn't give jack chick as much publicity as I do. [Display] [Details]
Did I mention ninja kitties already? I mention them again! [Display]

Posted by Vitenka at 5:14 PM GMT [Link]

Sunday, May 9, 2004 - "Thus having triumphed over you, I will set my countenance like a precisian, and begin to speak thus:"

I missed Saturday again, just about. Whoops.
> Geek

The BBC are trialling a new project, iMP, which aims to make programmes available online on-demand for a week after they are shown on TV. Free? Maybe. Good idea? Sounds like it! [Details]
While I'm at it: This company are offering a small, cheap selection of channels (including E4 and Discovery) to anyone with a set-top box (ie Freeview, old ITV Digital etc.). Could be a happy medium between Sky and terrestrial/just Freeview. [Details]
Never mind the orcs, wizards and trolls - it was nearly the technology that defeated Middle Earth. [Details]
Last weekend I linked an article about how we identify with certain machines more than others, and have a concept of familiarity with them. Now this (slightly misleadingly titled) piece talks about how we give machines artificial gender, too. [Details]
The Guardian pits Google against the library and the telephone in terms of speed and accuracy in finding information. Interesting results, but Google still wins hands-down - not everyone has such a comprehensive knowledge of reference books or as fat an address book as these researchers, and many people know how to use Google better than they. [Details]
> Stuff

Idiocy, MTV-style. [Details]
K1dd13z say the sweetest things... [Details]
...and funny, too. [Details]
Rah! [Display] [Display]
Idealistic hippies should take this test. [Details]
...Talking of which... The song and the video are crap, but that image is brilliant! Don't bother pressing play. [Destroy]
The subject is from Marlowe's "Doctor Faustus", which I've been re-reading again this week in preparation for my English Lit exam.

Posted by Stormcaller at 12:38 AM GMT [Link]

Wednesday, May 5, 2004 - "The evolutionist lives in a mystical cosmos, the creationist lives in a rationalist cosmos. It is as if each had designed the world that the other shall inhabit"

> Serious

Think about it - because this bias could be made truly subtle. You've all got used to certain conventions in games. Now, think what it means it, I dunno, high taxes generally produces prosperity in your games. Yesss... Right now, online communites resemble lord of the flies and fps plots are a joke. But in some years time? [Details]
Yeah yeah. "First they came for" - but they're *-spotters, fer cryin out loud. They want to be rounded up and shot. [Details]
Just bin it. [Details]
Personally I replied to their first one, and now throw all further correspondance with them in the recycling bin with the rest of the junk mail. [Details]
> Stuff

Irfanview. New version, does more stuff. Still an image viewer with some editing. [Download]
Pop. Pop. Pop. (Insert pringles advert here.) [Destroy]
Upgrade win98 to fix.. well, a whole bunch of stuff. [Download]
Newer version of the email client with an ever changing name. Prettier taskbar icon, even worse than before progress icon, doesn't forget your password when the server is too busy to talk to you. No other obvious changes. [Download]
Are you terrorist scum, or hippie communist terrorist scum? [Destroy]
> Gaming

Extend the life of shoot em ups. Fairly playable. Move your ship around and explode it at enemies. Yes, explode it. The suicide key is your only key. Enemies chain explode - and then you collect their faded purple and green corpses for bonuses - extra life or time being the most important ones. I get a nonfatal MCI error on startup - ignore it and play. [Download]
For both of you out there with real physical pinball machines who'd rather run the back display on your PC: [Download]
Breakout! Le quiche, c'est Sheik! [Download]
Puzzles with igor. [Download]
Valve is gearing up that halflife2 vapourware again. [Details]
You out there, you who bought halo for the PC. Yes both of you. Download this. [Download]
Hey, it's called transbuddha [Destroy]
Guildwars - PvP fantasy combat. Looks quite pretty. Demo will only work from May12 to May14 or so... which seems a bit mean. [Download]
Some really rather silly ideas here. Yoink. [Details]
Puzzle pirates are now offerring a demo version of their tetris-alike mmorpg. Which, when you think about it, is a truly insane combination. [Download]
Bunch of shareware junk. Now, not all shareware is junk, but trust me. [Download]
A biiiig list of free online games. It's biiig. And freeee. And the games on it are freee tooooo.... [Details]
Linking to this for a foaf. [Download]
Some of those web games. [Destroy] [Details]
> Humour

Ooops! Politician means wayy more vulnerable to satire. [Details]
Do the funky chicken! [Details]
Reuters is being very very daft this week. [Details] [Details]
And one involving cats. [Details]
Atari age. Oh dear me no. [Display]

Posted by Vitenka at 7:01 PM GMT [Link]

Monday, May 3, 2004 - "To ride the Internet you must be this high ---->"

Apologies - my definition of "weekend" has been a little stretched this week. Shrug.
> Science/Tech

Why I don't believe in evolution, but I know it's right. [Details]
Same site - Creationist crackpots are funneh. This guy really knows his stuff, actually. [Details]
The best images of Saturn's moon Titan yet, completely by mistake. [Details]
Bet you hadn't thought about nuclear power amidst all the new EU state business. Well, me neither, but it's something to consider. [Details]
> Geek

Gamer.TV goes freebie again! "...Gamer.tv Plus! subscribers, whose support to date has meant we can now offer totally free access to all of Gamer.tv's exciting features..." - now that's the way to run a gaming company. Congratulations to them. [Details]
This is certainly true, and interesting. Given the choice of any computer in an area with lots of them, there is often one I'll try to go back to every time. I have no idea why I do that. [Details]
An MIT student interviews the movie industry's Jack Valenti on fair-use issues. [Details]
> Stuff

Went to Collectormania 5 up in Milton Keynes over the weekend (meeting up with Englishpunk, among others). Some pretty cool things there - stands, stalls, stores, stuff and lots of selling - as well as all the guests. Robert Picardo (the Doctor from "Voyager") looks exactly like his character. Had a nice chat (and got a photo) with Brad Dourif (Wormtongue in LOTR, the doctor in [the excellent show that nobody in the UK has heard of] "Deadwood"), who was genuinely pleased to speak to the first person all weekend who'd mentioned "Deadwood".
Hooray! Bank Holiday Monday!
More YetiSports out, I'm afraid. [Destroy]
Ricky Gervais from "The Office" (and, because I'm stubborn, XFM) is to have a road named after him by his home town Reading. Hopefully the real road sign wouldn't look as fudged as the one in this picture, as pointed out by NTK. [Details]
Ah, those crazy science kids and their moon trips. [Destroy]
If god existed, he'd probably smite these people. "Smite". What an underused word... [Download - 2.46MB]
Cannibals with big sticks! [Destroy]
Scary things. Without big sticks. [Destroy]
Strange people with big wokka wokka... [Details]
...Especially this video: "He gown catch Pacman 'n' fuck Pacman up! Wokka wokka wokka!" [Download - 1.76MB]

Posted by Stormcaller at 12:38 AM GMT [Link]