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January 2010

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CNN.com: Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues

CNN.com: Audiences experience ‘Avatar’ blues

James Cameron’s completely immersive spectacle “Avatar” may have been a little too real for some fans who say they have experienced depression and suicidal thoughts after seeing the film because they long to enjoy the beauty of the alien world Pandora.

“One can say my depression was twofold: I was depressed because I really wanted to live in Pandora, which seemed like such a perfect place, but I was also depressed and disgusted with the sight of our world, what we have done to Earth. I so much wanted to escape reality,” Hill said.

Within the fan community, suggestions for battling feelings of
depression after seeing the movie include things like playing “Avatar”
video games or downloading the movie soundtrack in addition to
encouraging members to relate to other people outside the virtual realm
and to seek out positive and constructive activities.

Otherwise known a getting a life.  Depression is real, but if it’s not Avatar getting you depressed, then it’s going to be something else. Maybe we need a warning that “this movie may cause you to think a little” or “may cause emotional reactions”.

I saw Avatar and enjoyed it.  It’s an entertaining film and a technical accomplishment, but the world of Pandora is not a virtual world anymore than the world of Harry Potter.  Yes, there’s a message to the movie- the best movies are those that make you think a little.  But, if you can’t handle the idea that Cameron’s putting forth, that humanity needs to stop using the Earth up at an unsustainable rate for its resources, then you’re not paying attention to the world around you.  It’s going on right now.

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Upgrading to Movable Type 5.01

I’m in the process of upgrading the site’s blog software to Movable Type 5.01 so some things might be broken while other things might seem strange (like the rooster picture at the top of the page).

I’ve learned a few things while installing the software.
1. Clean install.  I think it’s pretty much a requirement to do a clean install.  I tried dragging it over a 4.25 installation and that was a total mess.  Movable Type 5.01 is a major upgrade and it should be installed into a parallel directory.
2. Website vs. Blog  Movable Type 5.01 allows you to create a website and then sub-blogs to the website.  Movable Type 5.01 wants to treat morristsai.com as the website and the blog as a separate item within the website. So if you look at the top of the page “The Journey is the Reward” is listed twice since I named the site and the blog the same thing.  I need to figure out how to get rid of one of them.

UPDATE: It turns out that you can just ignore the website part and just publish your blog to the root.  I had some template issues because I had published the blog AND the website to the root and it was causing problems, but I’m now starting to get things under control.

3. Administration user interface.  I find the new one confusing and having a little trouble with figuring out site management vs. blog management.  I’m not used to the new layout and it’s slowing me down.
4. Documentation.  The documentation for Movable Type is not good.  The forum has been helpful for some things, but there doesn’t seem to be a lot of action there.

UPDATE: The forums are still pretty empty.  Not a lot of buzz on this, but so far it seems to be working OK.

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Things Alton Brown ate to lose 45 pounds

Watched one of my favorite shows, Good Eats on the Food Network last night and the newly svelte host, Alton Brown described how he lost 45 pounds by eating certain foods and cutting out others. 

Daily
– Fruits
– Whole Grains
– Leafy Greens
– Nuts
– Carrots
– Green Tea

3X Weekly
– Oily Fish
– Yogurt
– Broccoli
– Sweet Potato
– Avocado

1X Weekly
– Red meat
– Pasta
– Dessert
– Alcohol

0X Weekly
– Fast Food
– Soda
– Processed meals
– Canned soup
– “Diet” anything

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NYTimes.com: Giant Tuna Fetches $177,000 at Japanese Auction

NYTimes.com: Giant Tuna Fetches $177,000 at Japanese Auction

A giant bluefin tuna fetched 16.3 million yen ($177,000) in an auction Tuesday at the world’s largest wholesale fish market in Japan.

The 513-pound (233-kilogram) fish was the priciest since 2001 when a 440-pound (200 kilogram) tuna sold for a record 20.2 million yen ($220,000) at Tokyo’s Tsukiji market.

You kind of get the idea why Bluefin Tuna are being fished to the point of extinction.

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CNN.com: Debt-hit Dubai opens world’s tallest tower

DubaiBurjscale.jpgFrom CNN.com: Debt-hit Dubai opens world’s tallest tower

The telescopic shape is also presents problems of a more practical nature Krane says.
“The upper 30 or 40 floors are so tiny that they’re useless, so they can’t use them for anything else apart from storage. They’ve built a small, not so useful storage warehouse half a mile in the sky,” he said.

The size difference between the Burj Dubai Skyscraper and the next tallest building in the world is stunning.  It’s an amazing architectural and technical accomplishment and with the current economic climate and the tremendous building costs, it seems unlikely that the Burj Dubai will be topped any time in the foreseeable future.