Google: Do No Evil. We Have Senators For That.

We all know that Google’s “Do No Evil” motto is laughable.  It is worth while to point out every so often how laughable it is.

Case in point: Google is hosting a fundraiser for prototypical out of touch old white man Senator James Inhofe (R-OK).  Inhofe is the perfect mix of corporate shill and misinformed misanthrope.  Why would Google raise money for such a cretin?  To buy votes, duh!  Inhofe is a big enemy of an open Internet.  Google has the most to gain from an open Internet.  In the grandest tradition of corporate shills everywhere, Inhofe’s vote can be bought.  And buy it Google shall!

There is an argument to be made that buying votes to codify net neutrality will enable a much greater good.  Net neutrality is a huge step in making sure that the Internet remains equally available to all people.  Google, however, is committing some evil in order to reach this goal though.  Perhaps they should change their motto to “Do Some Evil As Long As It’s To Accomplish A Worthy Goal As Long As That Worthy Goal Mostly Benefits Us”?  I think that has a much better ring to it and it also happens to be much close to the truth than their current motto.

You’ve Just Been Schooled, Son!

Want to know what’s going on in Egypt?  Look no further.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QeDm2PrNV1I&feature=youtube]

I couldn’t find any real confirmation if this is real besides comments from someone who claims to speak the language, but wow is it awesome.  The only thing that could have made it more awesome is if it were a girl saying it.

Personally, I don’t think Egypt has much of a chance of creating a country envisioned by this kid.  There are way too many external forces at play for any semblance of democracy to take hold.  The largest of which is our own U.S.  How can democracy take root in a country when the greatest superpower the world has ever known controls the purse strings of their army?  I’m fairly certain the answer to that question is it can’t.  Here’s hoping I’m wrong.

Book Review: The Jungle Book by Rudyard Kipling

Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars

How many of you knew that “The Jungle Book” is more than a story about Mowgli a la Disney?  I didn’t.  I had heard of Rikki-Tikki-Tavi in relation to “The Jungle Book” before, but I always assumed that he was just a character from the Mowgli tale that was left out of the Disney version.

That said, “The Jungle Book” is a series of short stories, only the first two of which tells the tale of Mowgli.  Everyone of a certain age knows the tale of Mowgli thanks to Disney.  It should come as no surprise that the version in the book is much more enjoyable and much darker.  It focuses much more on the enmity between Sher Khan and Mowgli.  It also focuses much more on the Laws of the Jungle which were all about honoring and caring for others and how to behave with other species.

Another of the tales well worth mentioning is the aforementioned and very delightful Rikki-Tikki-Tavi which is about a young mongoose that protects a British family from some cobras.  I don’t know if I read into the story what I know about mongooses or if Kipling just writes well, but the whole story exudes the playfulness that a mongoose seems to have.

There are also stories about a white fur seal that leads his people to the promised land, a bunch of war animals and the roles they play in war, and a group of elephants that decide to break free and dance for a night.  As with many children’s books, they all tell a moral.  Besides being a bit more PG-13ish than most parents would feel comfortable with, they’re all worth reading to your kids.  “The Jungle Book” is one of those rare books that can appeal to the adults as well as the kids.  Even some of the poetry/songs interspersed throughout is fun.

I got the feeling when reading this book that Rudyard Kipling doesn’t think much of humans.  There are also some undercurrents of racism with the White Man being portrayed as noble while the Indians being portrayed in a less flattering light.  This can be forgiven because of the times in which it was written and it’s really quite subtle.  I suspect most wouldn’t even recognize it as racist unless it was pointed out to them.

It’s Alive! It’s Alive!

Lake Vostok, the Antarctic lake buried under two miles of ice has been discovered to be teeming with life.  Scientists were able to verify 3,500 distinct organisms from DNA samples.  Many of the organisms appear to be similar to ones normally found near underwater thermal vents.

This is actually slightly surprising.  It was thought that Lake Vostok has been sealed away from the world for millions of years.  Scientists thought to find a completely sterile environment or a relatively alien environment.  And while organisms that hang around thermal vents are certainly alien to our everyday life, they’re certainly not alien to biologists.

That isn’t to say that they won’t find alien life in Lake Vostok.  They’ve only reported on what they’ve already been able to verify and not what they haven’t yet.  It does likely mean that Lake Vostok is not as cut off from the outside world as was once thought.  Either way, you can expect some pretty cool science to be coming from the Lake Vostok finds for years to come.

Oh, and what’s with Russia’s science station at Lake Vostok?  It looks like something out of a post-apocalyptic nightmare.  A band of survivors hunting for scraps and making shelter of whatever is available to them.  Given the location, either Russia didn’t have a lot of money to build the station or they have a wicked sense of humor.  Given the amount of vodka they consume, it could go either way.

The Foundation Is Done

The forms are gone and the foundation is complete. Next step, the framing and the sewer.

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You can see where the back door will be.

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Movie Review: World War Z

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 2/5 stars

Hey, I have a great idea!  Let’s take a book known for its geopolitical depth and try to make an action movie out of it!  That’ll totally work!

Continue reading →

Movie Review: Man Of Steel

Ratings for reviews will appear above the fold, while the review itself will appear below the fold to avoid spoilers for anyone that wants to go into it with a blank slate.

Jean-Paul’s rating: 3/5 stars

If only they had fought their epic battle at Disney World instead of Metropolis.  I would pay good money to see Disney World destroyed even if only on film.

Continue reading →

Book Review: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Jean-Paul’s rating: 4/5 stars

It has been a long time since I’ve found a science fiction book that was outside my normal list of authors that I read that I would highly recommend to others.  Finally, there is “Old Man’s War”.  It combines a fascinating storyline with a realistic vision of a futuristic Earth and is full of more sciencey goodness than you can shake a stick at.

I got the book because it was part of one of those Humble Bundle packages where you get a bunch of ebooks and pay what you want and some of it goes to charity and such.  If they keep getting quality books like “Old Man’s War” in the bundles, this Humble Bundle project will be a roaring success.

The story starts on an Earth far into the future.  Humans have advanced far beyond our little Sun, but people on Earth are mostly oblivious to that fact and to the technologies that make interstellar travel possible.  People from the poorer countries get shipped off to colonize other planets, but the rest of the world carries on their lives much like we do ours.  With one exception.  When you turn 75, you get an opportunity to join the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) and protect Earth colonies from the dangers of the universe.

Why would anyone want a bunch of 75 year olds for war and why would a bunch of 75 year olds want to go to war?  Good question.  The CDF controls all higher technology.  They don’t allow most of it to be used on Earth and Earth doesn’t even know what technologies exist.  The assumption is that the CDF has technology to make you younger and they will use it on you if you join up.  When you’re 75, the lure of being in a 20-something body is pretty strong.

One of the people that is drawn in by that lure is John Perry.  He and his wife were going to join the CDF together but she had the misfortune of dying before her 75th birthday so John must go it alone. The rest of the book follows John as he explores this strange new universe.  I won’t go into details, but the aliens are cool, the technology is cooler, and the political landscape of the CDF is coolest.

The only reason why I didn’t give the book five  stars is because the ending was a little off in my mind.  It just sort of ends abruptly.  There is resolution to the immediate storyline, but a feeling of “That’s it?” that goes along with it.  Luckily, there are sequels to the book and I will definitely be reading them.  I hope there are questions answered like why is Earth kept so primitive?  I am looking forward to further explorations of the “Old Man’s War” multiverse.

Back In Bidness

After a week of actual work and another week of no internet, I’m back!

Me.  Myself.  I.  I put in an honest week’s work for the first time in a long time.  It was actually kind of nice.

The “no internet” problem has been solved by the purchase of a sleek new Samsung Galaxy S4 which I will be using as a mobile hotspot.  It is blazing fast.  No more worrying about The Man nosing into what I’m doing!  Take that, The Man!  Now it’s just the NSA.

I’ve missed so much these past few weeks.  All sorts of Supreme Court decisions, the whole NSA spying thing, and now a coup in Egypt (suck it, democracy!).  And I’ve also got two movie review and a book review to catch up on.

Oh, look, and it’s the 4th of July.  Oh well!  Blogging will have to wait for another day.