This amazing, fun filled professor lived life to the full. He pursued every childhood dream he ever had. He got to experience a real weightless environment, got to meet his boyhood hero, became an 'imagineer' at Disney and all the time he was heavily involved in pioneering Virtual Reality.
Unfortunately he died this last Friday at age 47.
I've only watched 46 minutes of this 1 hour, 16 minute lecture (his last), but I'll be watching the rest soon and what I've already seen is very inspirational. Save this for when you've got the time to do it justice & need some inspiration to get past a 'wall' in your life.
Article from The Age
The lecture in PDF
More info
Monday, 28 July 2008
Friday, 25 July 2008
R2-D2 DVD Projector - the new toy for Home Cinema enthusiasts and STAR WARS fans.
O.K... old news to many bloggers and forum chatty types... and old to me as I first got sent a link to this about 6 months ago.
However, this is one cool toy that deserves some attention. If you are fond of Artoo (and who isn't?), you like STAR WARS (is there anyone who doesn't?) and you watch movies... and prefer a big screen...
... this might be the next must have for you and your kids!
This R2 unit can project your DVD movies (built in player) on to the wall or ceiling. It can take images or movies from your usb card and play them. It has built in speakers (modest at 20 watts) and an iPOD dock (scroll down to the bottom of this post for the promotional video from Nikko).
Good luck trying to buy these in Australia though. If anyone has details on where to get them from, feel free to post the details below.
What might stop you from buying it? The only thing that gives me pause is the native resolution of the projector. It is not widescreen nor is it massively high definition - but it is decent. It is bright enough too. 1500 ANSI lumens brightness. Resolution: XGA (1024 pixels wide by 768 pixels high). The contrast is 1800:1. That is actually pretty good. Back when I used to sell Home Cinema gear, these specs in a DLP projector were considered quite impressive and would attract price tags of $6,000 - $15,000 (admittedly that was 7 years ago!). Now these specs can be bought for quite a bit less and imbedded in an iconic remote control robot that lets you project on the wall, ceiling or some angle inbetweeen! That's wicked!
Here is a list of its features:
- Picture by DLP from Texas Instruments
- Project to ceilings and walls up to a 260-inch picture
- Resolution: 1024x768
- Contrast Ratio: 1800:1
- Lumens: 1500
- Built-in CD/DVD player. Also plays MP3/MP4 video
- iPod docking station, memory card and USB slots
- Built-in 20 watt stereo speaker system
- FM wireless audio out (channels 1 through 7)
- Full-function: forward, reverse turn 360 degrees and recline
- Millennium Falcon remote control with removable stand
- Head turns using Millennium Falcon remote control
- Plays the most popular R2-D2 sound effects
- 1 year hardware manufacturer warranty
- 180 day projection lamp manufacturer warranty
- Height 25 " Width 15" Weight 14lbs
All in all, the specs + the motorised capabilities look impressive enough for the price tag. I'd buy one for novelty/show-off value + bedroom use (if I could spare the cash and at the moment it is a no-go). There is good value here, however it would never be my main cinema projector. To enter my cinema room it would have to be a native widescreen projector with a resolution of no less than 1920 x 1080 pixels and the ability to play back 1080P movies (e.g. Blu ray or the now defunct HD DVD or broadcast TV at Full HD) at full resolution. The other concern is the DLP chip. Not knowing much about the quality of the DLP, I advise the potential consumer to ensure they can watch one for 1/2 and hour or so prior to purchase. Some DLP projectors have a weird rainbow fleck sort of thing going on that can bother some viewers more than others. DLP projectors always gave me headaches - but it was 7 years ago that I studied them. This unit might be rather excellent for all I know. Worth checking.
More info (links):
http://www.nikkomalaysia.com/r2d2dvdprojector.php
http://au.gear.ign.com/articles/754/754184p1.html
The video:
Monday, 7 July 2008
Evolutionist dogma supported by stacked deck poll in Dallas.
[quote]
Let’s say that in an effort to discover my bank account balance, I poll a set of financial officers that work in a top real estate firm. Fourteen give their opinion that my account is “plentiful,” and only one suggests that I contact my bank. I therefore conclude that my account must be plentiful and I dismiss the fellow who suggested that I check with the bank, convinced that he must be religiously motivated. After all, the majority ruled against him.
[end quote]
Such is the logic of Dallas Morning News, columnist Steve Blow when providing his opinion that only evolution belongs in the classroom (stating that all else is religion) bouyed up by a survey he conducted. The survey polled 18 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center faculty members who are members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. The article I have linked to below takes a closer look at what these scientists specialise in. Funnily enough, it's not Origins research!
[quote]
The UTSMC investigators are certainly top biomedical researchers. However, because a person is an expert on, say, cholesterol and bile acid metabolism, does this make him an expert on the origins of life? How would someone’s knowledge of advanced metabolism qualify him to speak authoritatively on the broad claims of molecules-to-man evolution? These are not overlapping disciplines. In addition, knowledge of evolutionary theory is not required for someone to investigate metabolic processes. Evolution is essentially a story that attempts to explain the unobservable past, while metabolism is a study of presently observable phenomena. In sum, Blow’s approach commits the “appeal to authority” fallacy.
[end quote]
I don't know about you, but I think I'd take the opinion of a real estate agent with a grain of salt if he's trying to sell me a house and he's telling me I have lots of money. Perhaps opinions re: the origins of our planet and the flora and fauna in it are better if free of evolutionary dogma and instead based on an open-minded discussion of all points of view? But why is this issue even vaguely relevant to you? Have a read of the article below if you are interested. The site that the article is from contains a lot of information that challenges evolutionary assumptions. If this topic interests you and you haven't read 'the other side', read on.
http://www.icr.org/article/3936/
Let’s say that in an effort to discover my bank account balance, I poll a set of financial officers that work in a top real estate firm. Fourteen give their opinion that my account is “plentiful,” and only one suggests that I contact my bank. I therefore conclude that my account must be plentiful and I dismiss the fellow who suggested that I check with the bank, convinced that he must be religiously motivated. After all, the majority ruled against him.
[end quote]
Such is the logic of Dallas Morning News, columnist Steve Blow when providing his opinion that only evolution belongs in the classroom (stating that all else is religion) bouyed up by a survey he conducted. The survey polled 18 University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center faculty members who are members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences. The article I have linked to below takes a closer look at what these scientists specialise in. Funnily enough, it's not Origins research!
[quote]
The UTSMC investigators are certainly top biomedical researchers. However, because a person is an expert on, say, cholesterol and bile acid metabolism, does this make him an expert on the origins of life? How would someone’s knowledge of advanced metabolism qualify him to speak authoritatively on the broad claims of molecules-to-man evolution? These are not overlapping disciplines. In addition, knowledge of evolutionary theory is not required for someone to investigate metabolic processes. Evolution is essentially a story that attempts to explain the unobservable past, while metabolism is a study of presently observable phenomena. In sum, Blow’s approach commits the “appeal to authority” fallacy.
[end quote]
I don't know about you, but I think I'd take the opinion of a real estate agent with a grain of salt if he's trying to sell me a house and he's telling me I have lots of money. Perhaps opinions re: the origins of our planet and the flora and fauna in it are better if free of evolutionary dogma and instead based on an open-minded discussion of all points of view? But why is this issue even vaguely relevant to you? Have a read of the article below if you are interested. The site that the article is from contains a lot of information that challenges evolutionary assumptions. If this topic interests you and you haven't read 'the other side', read on.
http://www.icr.org/article/3936/
Saturday, 5 July 2008
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