Reviews

Some interesting documentaries

Here are seven interesting documentary-type videos found on YouTube:

You’ve probably heard that Geek Squad technicians snoop around on customers’ hard drives and copy photos and other files for their own use. But have you also heard that they overcharge ridiculously for simple little repairs? Have a look below:

The metro bridge over the river Tyne at Newcastle, UK, was recently outfitted with LED lights that are programmed to never shine in the same sequence. The result is a mesmerizing light show that goes on and on:

Bill Crosby did a documentary in 1968 called “A Boy Like Me”, where he pointed out racial inequalities between black and white children. But he did it in such a poignant way that it’s really, really hard to miss the point. Watch this segment in its entirety, it’s only 3:28 minutes long.

The Falkirk Wheel is an advanced bridge for boats. It connects two bodies of water that are separated by a great height in a very interesting way:

Whether you may or may not agree with this first part of the documentary entitled “The Great Global Warming Swindle” (the other parts can be found on YouTube as well), I think you’ll realize it raises some interesting and valid points. I watched the entire documentary, and if you’ve got the time, I would encourage you to do the same.

The next video is pretty geeky in its approach, but it was made to demonstrate how IT security works for non-techies, and it does a great job of it. It’s entertaining, so you won’t get bored, either.

This last video is controversial, and I don’t know what to make of it. It’s actual news footage aired immediately after the crash of United Flight 93. It shows the crash site and surrounding areas, but the strange thing is that the place looks very much unlike a plane crash site. There are no large pieces of fuselage, no bodies, nothing — just a small hole in the ground, and that’s what makes it unusual. It just doesn’t look like a plane crashed there at all.

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Thoughts

A few site improvements

Over the last few days, I’ve been making small changes to the site design. You may or may not have noticed them. Here are a few:

  • Made the header graphics smaller, to reduce page height. This change was subtle, but it did save about 80 pixels.
  • Moved the byline and feed flares to the top of each post. They were previously located at the bottom. The feed flares are the links that allow you to share posts with others via social networking sites or email, should you find them interesting. If you do, I encourage you to use them. I put a LOT of time and effort into my blog every day, and it means a lot to me when others find value in my content and spread the word about it.
  • Removed certain sections from the sidebar, to reduce clutter.
  • Moved the translation links from the sidebar to the footer. These links allow you to do a one-click translation of whatever page you’re on into another language, using Google’s Language Tools. If you speak another language, try them out, and let me know if you’re happy with the accuracy of the translation.

I finished upgrading the site to WordPress 2.2.2 tonight. It took a couple of hours, but I like the new admin interface, and the new built-in caching capabilities should help as the site traffic continues to grow. I highly recommend WP’s extended upgrade instructions, in case you’re thinking about upgrading your own WP installs.

I’ll continue to make various improvements to the site here and there to ensure a good user experience. If you have any suggestions about making the site easier to read, or making content easier to find, or some other feedback about my blog, please let me know.

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Events

Accident on I-495

Ligia and I were taking a leisurely walk on Beach Drive last night (Friday), when we were confronted with the overpowering smell of spilled fuel. On our way there, we’d seen a fire engine, but we didn’t think twice about it. This time, I thought I’d inquire, camera in hand. After walking through 100 yards full of fuel fumes, we were both a bit nauseous, but I pushed on, curious. By this time a few police cars had gathered as well, and I could see that there were two fire engines and more policemen on I-495, which runs parallel to Beach Drive on that portion of the road. Something big had happened.

Accident on 495 (1)

I walked up to a policeman’s car, waved, and he rolled down his window. “What happened?”, I asked. He lifted his eyes from the keypad of his laptop. “We got one death, and an overturned tanker,” he said, then looked back down at the keys. “That’s why the fuel smell…” offered I. “Yeah.” I thanked him, walked forward, took a few photos, then turned to join Ligia. It was then that the mention of death registered with me. Oops, I was more concerned with the stench of fuel than someone’s death… Shame on me. It’s sad how only the things that affect us personally register properly in our span of attention.

I don’t know who died up on that highway, and how he or she died, and truth be told, death always leaves me speechless. Don’t look to me for consolation when someone dies, because I won’t know what to say. I’ll just give you a blank stare, followed by an awkward pause and the usual, trite phrases.

Accident on 495 (2)

What I did want to say tonight is this: please be careful when you’re driving. That person that died out there was probably on the way home after a long work week. They were probably looking forward to the weekend, perhaps spending time with the one they loved. Now, they’re not here anymore. When you’re out on the highway, barreling down the lanes in your car, upset that the people in front of you are too slow, think about that. It may be your mistake or someone else’s, but you may end up dead. Keep your eyes peeled, put that phone down, and drive safely.

Accident on 495 (3)
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Thoughts

Talk about screwing up

I get digest emails from the Economist every Thursday, on politics and business. Two things caught my eye in today’s edition.

  1. Chrysler appointed Robert Nardelli as its CEO. This is the same guy that left Home Depot after employee and investor dissatisfaction with his management and personal style, with a severance package worth about $210 million. So the guy pisses off people at Home Depot left and right, is run out of the company, but gets hundreds of millions in bye-bye pay… and then Chrysler hires him? Isn’t Chrysler supposed to be in trouble as a company? What do they see in him?
  2. Trump Entertainment Resorts reported a second quarter loss that was more than double that of last year’s. So they’ve been losing money all along, just like all of the other business ventures run by Trump, and yet their share price surged when they released their earnings report?! Are the investors sane?!

I’m going to rant a bit now, because I’ve wanted to say this for a long time. Donald Trump has to be one of the most overrated businessmen ever. On the whole, his career and life are an exercise in ridicule.

Take business: for years, he’s managed to do poorly in his ventures. He’s had a few successes, but on the whole, he’s run project after project into the ground. The ones that are still standing are so heavily in debt that they should be dead by rights. Yet investors continue to sink money into his ventures in spite of all evidence to the contrary. The guy cannot run a business in the black. He’ll run them all in the red, and he’ll pay himself tens of millions while his companies wither away.

Take life: he managed to get a TV show that was a hit with the general populace — that in itself was incomprehensible. He, the clueless, poorly performing CEO, dared to dole out business advice to others, and to act as a role model for other businessmen. If Trump is a model for American business and leadership, then God help us, because we’re headed for the crapper!

Take style: the man looks like he’s got a dead cat on his head. Over the years, he’s persisted with that cockamamie hairstyle to the chagrin of decent people everywhere.

Trump seems to be rubbing it in our faces: he’s ridiculing us. He may be saying something else, but his actions say, “Look, I’m going to thumb my nose at all of you. I’ve got you all eating out of my hand even though I can’t run a business to save my life.” In spite of this, people clamor to kiss his behind and stand in line to invest in his businesses. I don’t get it.

It seems to me that greedy losers do best in modern business, and Americans on the whole love to celebrate them. The two people I mentioned in this post are just a few of the guilty parties. But then, is that any wonder when almost every CEO has ridiculous compensation packages regardless of their job performance, and when companies (especially those that deal in non-physical assets) are stupidly overvalued? I think we’re headed for the crapper, and Trump and others like him are the icing on the cake that’s going to give us the runs.

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Places

Dog under window

This photo was taken at the house of Ion Creanga, near Iasi, Romania. He was a famous and dear writer of folklore and fairy tales, among other things (see Wikipedia for more details). This was his country cottage. It’s called “Bojdeuca lu’ Creanga” in Romanian. I took it last summer during a whirlwind tour of Iasi and its surroundings.

Dog under window

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