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What would you do if you could see two minutes into your future?

If you're Chris Johnson, aka Frank Cadillac (Nicholas Cage), you help the FBI fight terrorists and hopefully you get the girl in the end.

With the ability to see the near future, he dodges bullets while trying to stop terrorists from detonating a nuclear bomb in California.

As the reviews say, there's a surprise ending. I won't spoil anything, but expect the unexpected.

It is a good action-packed movie though and Cage even has a love interest with Jessica Biel.

Kryptonite found in Serbia

A new mineral has been discovered in Serbia.

It's composition is sodium lithium boron silicate hydroxide, the same scientific name written on a case of rock containing kryptonite stolen by Lex Luther in Superman Returns.

The new mineral will be called Jadarite. It can't be called kryptonite because it does not contain krypton, an inert gas already found in the periodic table of elements.

Serbia, eh... it's cold and barren up there ... the Fortress of Solitude is in a cold and barren location...

The Prestige

"Every great magic trick consists of three acts. The first act is called "The Pledge"; The magician shows you something ordinary, but of course... it probably isn't. The second act is called "The Turn"; The magician makes his ordinary some thing do something extraordinary. Now if you're looking for the secret... you won't find it, that's why there's a third act called, "The Prestige"; this is the part with the twists and turns, where lives hang in the balance, and you see something shocking you've never seen before."This is a really good movie. It makes good use of flashbacks and jumping around in the timeline to tell the story.

However, it's a bit tragic and disturbing in the lengths that each man goes to in their battle of one-up-man-ship and their obsession to perform the ultimate trick.

Cogito ergo sum

Initially, Greek's had no concept of mind. A Homeric warrior had emotions, plans, and preferences, but Homer did not unify these into one common thing.

Descartes philosophical logic was that: thought exists. Thought cannot be separated from me, therefore, I exist (Discourse on Method).

Most famously, this is known as "I think, therefore I am" ("cogito ergo sum" or "Je pense, donc je suis").

I was out of town last week, and have been neglecting this blog. Plus I've been busy with life and work. (I have an exam tonight and this is a distraction from last minute cramming.)

Anyway, I returned to the office this morning and learned of a tragic event this past weekend. A co-worker passed away tragically after a hot-air balloon accident down in California. I didn't work closely with her, but she was a really nice person, full of life and always seemed to be joking around and enjoying herself. And affecting others around her in a positive way.

Then this afternoon I learn of the most recent school shooting, the worst to date with 31 people killed.

It's been a very reflective day so far. Such tragic accidents can happen through the fault of no one, and then tragic events can occur that are not accidents, but results of human intervention in dark and evil ways.

Lots to think about.

Magic Toothpicks

Not sure if this is for real, but it looks kind of freaky. I'd like to try it and see if it works.



I can kind of understand them coming together as the water drop would run down between them and kind of draw them together with the water tension, but I don't see how it would then separate again.

1.25 Red Bulls in one Foosh

FOOSH™ Energy Mints contain the equivalent amount of caffeine as 1.25 Red Bulls! All in one little 22 1.8 gram mint.



Try one of these next time you need to be ALERT for a late night/early morning, whatever floats your boat. :)

More Web regulation Doesn't Make Any Sense

Some groups want the CRTC to regulate the Internet and even make YouTube subject to Canadian content requirement.

I think the key point of this Toronto Star article is this:

"If Canadian broadcasters are unable to rely on cheap U.S. programming, they will be forced to compete by investing in their own original content. This will dramatically alter Canadian content production from one mandated by government regulation to one mandated by market survival.

It is increasingly clear that the blossoming of new media is a threat to old business models, not to Canadian content."

I've talked about this before when it comes to government interference in development. Everyone would be a lot better if government and organizations took a more hands-off approach.

We live in a free society driven by the laws of supply and demand. If the old model isn't working, the government shouldn't throw money at it. Companies should either adapt or move on.

Hopefully lots of people will link to the TorStar article and get across that those who want to regulate the Internet aren't logical and their arguments don't make economic sense.

The Collective Mind

Gerry McGovern makes an interesting case in his post, Web facilitates wisdom of crowds.

He argues that the collective intelligence is perhaps more reliable than that of an expert.

An expert's advice could be skewed to the expert's own views and experiences, and therefore could be biased. Also, statistical research is only the analysis of the limited population surveyed. There is always a degree of error.

Mass collaboration, by definition will be free of any one person's particular biases. And all the skepticism of Wikipedia could be unwarranted. Most people want to take credit for putting in accurate information and not be blacklisted for putting up bad data.

And that's why The Borg was such a formidable enemy. :)

Island Celebrates 40th Anniversary

This is the 40th anniversary of San Serriffe, a small republic located in the Indian Ocean consisting of several semicolon-shaped islands.

British newspaper, The Guardian, published a seven-page supplement describing the geography and culture of the two main islands, named Upper Caisse and Lower Caisse.

Check out the article for more info.