BentleyBlog

Odds and Ends

Fri, 16 May 2008 15:07:01 GMT

Odds and Ends from tvtattle.com

Life on Mars (U.S.): "For example, he said the network would be reshooting parts of the pilot for "Life on Mars," the remake of the BBC series about a detective who finds himself back in 1973 after he's run over by a car. (In the American version, it's 1972 for some reason.) He said there will be some casting changes, but not Jason O'Mara, the lead, who guest-starred recently on "Grey's Anatomy" as a patient with a deadly brain tumor. The new show will air on Thursday nights at 10 p.m. in the post-"Grey's" time slot. McPherson also said that because David E. Kelley, the executive producer of "Life on Mars," will be writing nearly every one of the 13 episodes of the final season of "Boston Legal," he won't be concentrating much on "Life on Mars" yet."

William Shatner: "William Shatner desperately tried to avoid romancing obsessed "Star Trek" fans - because they wanted to enact their sci-fi fantasies with the actor. [He] insists he couldn't enjoy flings with the series' most devoted followers because he was so turned off by their bizarre bedroom behaviour. [Women] would pretend they were being "beamed up" by the Starship Enterprise commander, shrieking: "So, this is what it's like to be in bed with Captain Kirk!" He writes: "You can't imagine how much of a downer that is in every sense of the word."

Chuck Lorre: Wall Street Journal article about Chuck Lorre's vanity cards.

question about SJA2

Thu, 15 May 2008 02:07:00 GMT

I just saw some photos of Sarah Jane Adventures season 2 filming. I'm way behind the times, newswise, so I have spoilery questions:

Maria is gone? Really? That's not good. What happened?

Corollary question: *Alan* is gone? *Really?* I'm not happy.

Sallie Mae student loans

Wed, 14 May 2008 22:46:04 GMT

Do you have a Sallie Mae student loan? Check your credit score.

Some borrowers with Sallie Mae student loans may have gotten nasty surprises last week if they checked their Equifax credit scores. Their credit scores, based on their Equifax credit files, had plummeted overnight, thanks to erroneous delinquencies reported by Sallie Mae. While some of the borrowers were actually delinquent, many were current on their payments. Last Thursday, May 8, Sallie Mae made an error in the way it reported some student loans to credit reporting agencies. Essentially, it reported graduated or extended repayment plans as arrangements for partial payment, causing Equifax, one of the three national credit reporting agencies, to code the accounts as delinquent, even if they were current.

Life on Mars, U.S. version

Tue, 13 May 2008 23:08:56 GMT

Preview video of the U.S. version of Life on Mars.

(via)

Quote

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 12:52:04 GMT

A single-entry quotes post.

"I live in and hold an officer position with a student affordable housing cooperative. One of the things we tell our members is that failing to care properly for your material possessions (i.e., our houses, since we're member-owned) is not a sign that you are enlightened and cool because you are beyond such externalities. It's a sign that you're spoiled and privileged enough not to have to care for your possessions because you can always buy a new one. It's fun watching the mental gears grind to a halt at the thought." / thenakedcat

Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:23:33 GMT

It's snowing. Big fat fake-looking snowflakes.

*sigh*

Worlds crashing

Sun, 27 Apr 2008 04:34:56 GMT

[channel surfing]

Um, what the heck am I watching? Cordelia and Captain Simms in the same scene! (real names will come to me as soon as I post this). Simms is investigating something and is questioning Cordelia. Help me, Meevee!

EDIT: Cheater's Club: "A trio of married women who are all cheating on their husbands find themselves stalked by a vicious serial killer in this made-for-cable drama. Dr. Bobbie Adler (Wendy Anderson), an unorthodox psychiatrist and radio host, advises her patients to seek out no-strings hook-ups if their husbands aren't meeting their sexual needs. But when Bobbie and her own paramour are found stabbed to death, it soon becomes clear that somebody's unhappy with the shrink's advice ... and those who follow it. That leaves Adler's patients -- neglected housewife Linda (Charisma Carpenter), bossy lawyer Meredith (Krista Bridges) and uptight realtor Cindy (Katya Gardner) -- to worry that Detective Rollins (Kate Trotter), the cop assigned to the case, will expose their adulterous ways. But with a revenge-crazed killer at large, cuckolded husbands are the least of their worries. Cheater's Club premiered June 26, 2006 on the Lifetime cable network.

Some Charisma Carpenter photos. (Why can I seldom find Kate Trotter photos?)

*sigh* Too bad I'm half-asleep. I'm tempted to stay up for this (Kate Trotter!) but I'm tired.

(But hey! Finally a good reason to use the Capt. Simms icon.)

Andddd... it's on again on Sunday, May 4, noon. I hope I can watch it then. We'll see.

Martial arts weapons for librarians

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 15:31:48 GMT

On Shhhhhhhhurikens, Num-Lock-Chucks, and Scumitars.

OSBP

Sat, 26 Apr 2008 03:40:43 GMT

Open Source Boob Project: lizvogel provides some context: "...the intersection of Michigan sf fandom and LJ-based media fandom is... well, there just isn't one. Except suddenly now there is, and a kerfluffle of epic proportions has brewed up out of what is, at base, a huge cultural misunderstanding." [More]

The Rather Difficult Font Game

Fri, 25 Apr 2008 14:10:27 GMT

This one's for Tara, who is always looking for fonts:

The Rather Difficult Font Game.

Naoko Mori interview

Sat, 19 Apr 2008 01:12:59 GMT

'Torchwood' star reveals all about alien kisses, 'Ab Fab,' being a geek. Show Patrol ("RedEye's TV Blog"). RedEye, April 18, 2008.
http://weblogs.redeyechicago.com/showpatrol/2008/04/torchwood-star.html

"As British actress Naoko Mori ticks off items on her 'bucket list' of things to do before she dies, she’s grateful for her role on the sci-fi thriller 'Torchwood.' 'I think it’s pretty much been one of the best jobs I’ve ever done insofar as it’s ticked so many boxes for me,' she told me this week via telephone from her London home. 'It’s not just sci fi ... It’s like, 'run around in the rain chasing aliens in heels—tick,' 'shoot a gun while trying to do this—tick.'' ... Mori plays Torchwood team member Toshiko Sato, which concludes its second season at 8 p.m. Saturday on BBC America. ... I won’t spoil anything for fans, but suffice to say, you will be surprised by the episode. ...

Are you geeky in real life?
Exactly. [Laughs.] I am a geek in real life. Hmm, maybe someone’s trying to tell me something.

Can you build a sonic booster or whatever that thing was?
No, I can’t do that, but I can build flat pack furniture. Actually that’s one thing I’ve always liked—I am actually a geek. I built my first vending machine when I was 8-years-old for no reason whatsoever—as you do, you just build a vending machine. I think it dispensed tissues, like little packs of tissues. And I made it all from cardboard and wood. I don’t know why I built a vending machine.

And it worked?
It worked, but the only problem was it was exact amount only. It wouldn’t dispense change. I couldn’t work that out. It was all manual. How sad is that that I built a vending machine when I was eight?

[More, including AbFab and singing in Avenue Q]

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 15:27:23 GMT

Ooh, I felt that one, a few minutes ago. Other people did, too. It shook the metal shelves and the CDs in AV and rattled a computer.

Magnitude 5.4 southern Illinois/Indiana

Fri, 18 Apr 2008 10:11:18 GMT

Magnitude 5.4 - ILLINOIS

Earthquake Details
Magnitude 5.4
Date-Time
* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 09:36:56 UTC
* Friday, April 18, 2008 at 04:36:56 AM at epicenter

Location: 38.520°N, 87.873°W
Depth: 5 km (3.1 miles) set by location program
Region: ILLINOIS
Distances
* 12 km (7 miles) E (90°) from West Salem, IL
* 13 km (8 miles) NE (53°) from Bone Gap, IL
* 14 km (9 miles) W (266°) from Allendale, IL
* 36 km (22 miles) WSW (241°) from Vincennes, IN
* 67 km (41 miles) NNW (335°) from Evansville, IN
* 206 km (128 miles) E (93°) from St. Louis, MO

Nope, didn't feel it (I'm in the northwest Chicago suburbs). I woke up on my own at 4:45, about 10 minutes after that. If dog felt it--she was sleeping in the hallway--she didn't come looking for me.

It's interesting listening to the Chicago-area local news shows, because they have no background on this. Folks who were awakened by the shaking (including one just 10 miles south of me) are phoning in. Someone who used to live in San Francisco phoned Chicago's 311, but they didnt' know anything. So she phoned one of the SF local news shows, who told her about the earthquake, so she phoned 311 back and told them. Funny.

EDIT: Huh. Someone from my town was awakened by it.

EDIT: another funny phone in: (paraphrased) "I didn't feel anything. I was out walking my dog--I live in a high rise--and my neighbor sticks her head out the window and says, 'We just had an earthquake. It woke me up.'."

Legal term of the day

Tue, 15 Apr 2008 23:04:28 GMT

Clandestine laboratory endangerment of a child.

Cat meets theremin

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 18:31:16 GMT

via

Quotes

Mon, 14 Apr 2008 12:45:24 GMT

"Market forces have been the deciding factor - with wheat prices doubling in the past year, and the street price of heroin falling, it is now more cost effective to grow wheat." / Telegraph.

"Siau said teachers have been occasionally told that there is no need to have a backup system for grades 'because the system would never go down. Well ...'" / Evansville Courier & Press.

"And he is laying the groundwork for romance novels generated by new algorithms. 'I’ve already set it up,' he said. 'There are only so many body parts.'" / New York Times.

"I don't see how knitting could make a male want to have sexual relations with another male. I think there are other factors involved." / Amélie Unbound.

"'You’ve been broken into,' she said [the police] told her. 'We’re guarding the Swedish fish.'" / Cincinnati Enquirer.

Three from the same Metafilter thread:

"For years I believed that in England there were 8 days in the week. I remembering puzzling over what that eighth day was called and what happened when they went somewhere else. Never ask my Dad to explain a Beatles song." / malphigian.

"Luke Skywalker would never hit his friends, tease the dog, or play with his poop." / cjets.

"Those aren't lies, they're magical mini myths handed down from one generation to the next." / not_on_display.

Explaining dinosaurs and evolution to a five year old

Wed, 09 Apr 2008 22:31:24 GMT

from a comment on Metafilter:

Sometimes kids won't believe the truth anyway. True story. I'm in a taxi with my niece, who is five, and my sister (her mother).

Niece: Were there dinosaurs when you were little?
Me: No the dinosaurs were all gone a long time before that.
N: Before Grandma was little even?
M: Yes, even before Grandma was little.

[More]

Outlook 2007 help

Thu, 03 Apr 2008 13:47:08 GMT

Okay, I've been looking for months and I can't figure out how to do this.

On Outlook 2007, I want my signature to be inserted at the bottom of the message I'm replying to. Not at the top. I want it at the BOTTOM. There must be some way to do this without having to cut-and-paste every single time.

Help?

Forensics

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 13:11:10 GMT

Forensic astronomy: "Well, firstly the moon on that day was in the first quarter. Secondly at the precise time of the murder it was riding "low" on the horizon, and was about to set. There would not have been enough light for Allen to identify Armstrong or anyone else. The jury agreed, and Duff Armstrong was acquitted!"

Forensic accountant: "For [Al Vondra,] it was his awakening to just how serious the consequences of his sort of accounting work could be. After all, people don't normally try to kill you for doing their taxes. But as a forensic accountant, it's Vondra's job to see past the squeaky-clean financials corrupt companies present to their investors and find out what is really going on."

Computer forensics: "Under pending legislation in South Carolina, digital forensic evidence gathered for use in a court in that state must be collected by a person with a PI license or through a PI licensed agency. ... 'Under the South Carolina statute, only a handful of licensed PIs across that state have the years of information system and tools experience needed to do true digital forensics with repeatable processes of documentation and chain of custody. This is the only group that stands to gain.'"

Oh I wish

Wed, 02 Apr 2008 02:32:01 GMT

"Gmail Custom Time: Be on time. Every time.

"How do I use it?

"Just click "Set custom time" from the Compose view. Any email you send to the past appears in the proper chronological order in your recipient's inbox. You can opt for it to show up read or unread by selecting the appropriate option."

[More]

Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 10:49:53 GMT

Virgle

"An invitation.
Earth has issues, and it's time humanity got started on a Plan B. So, starting in 2014, Virgin founder Richard Branson and Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin will be leading hundreds of users on one of the grandest adventures in human history: Project Virgle, the first permanent human colony on Mars."

More info here and here.

New Google feature sees into the future

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 03:46:16 GMT

Looking ahead: Google announces technology that searches tomorrow's web, today. Google press release.
http://www.google.com.au/intl/en/gday/press.html

"Google Australia today announced the launch of gDay™, a new beta search technology that will search web pages 24 hours before they are created. ... gDay was developed in Google's Sydney engineering centre and can accurately predict future events and internet content. It does this by using machine learning and artificial intelligence techniques from a system called MATE™ (Machine Automated Temporal Extrapolation). Using Google's index of historic, cached web content and a mashup of numerous factors including recurrence plots and fuzzy measure analysis, gDay creates a sophisticated model of what the internet will look like 24 hours from now - including share price movements, sports results and news events."[More] [gDay™ with MATE™]

Wasted veg

Sun, 30 Mar 2008 15:12:58 GMT

How many times have you found, too late, that you forgot about the veg in the back of the fridge? Yeah, me too.

I'm going to try this idea I found on Planet Green:

1. Use a magnetic whiteboard on the fridge: When you buy produce, write it down. As it gets used up, erase it from the board. Write down the leftovers you put in the fridge so you'll know exactly what you have in there and you can use it up.

Drama alert! Drama alert!

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 23:32:57 GMT

More LJ news. Prepare for angst. LJ news are always followed by angst.

Cycling safety

Thu, 27 Mar 2008 22:18:14 GMT

Bicycle awareness safety video