In a press conference Wednesday, USA Basketball managing director Jerry Colangelo announced that Kobe Bryant has been selected as the 2008 men's Olympic basketball team. [read the article | here ]
USA "Dream Individual"
What a Hack
Okay, so I wasn't going to post the link to this because I didn't want other people to be as cool as I am for being able to hack a vending machine.
The other night Michal and I went for a drive and on the way home we stoped at a Marsh store and I hacked the Pepsi machine. Here's how it works. Each button on the machine can be thought of as having a corresponding number (see image below).
Getting into the debug menu is as simple as pressing buttons. Some random person hanging around with friends can accidently enter in the code and not know it.
This picture shows you, in order, what buttons to press from 1-4.
Yes, it is as simple as just pressing those 4 buttons. The manufacturers could have made it a complex series of button presses or at least a button inside the Pepsi machine.
Okay, so once you're in the machine, there isn't much you can do. It's just reading information off of the vending machines computer (core temp., total sales etc...) no free soda or slot machine functions!
Two Notes on Firewalls
Kent - armed bandits in England made away with £25m in a raid that seems eerily similar to the new Harrison Ford film, Firewall. Read the article and see the connection.
Peacefire - There are two great walls in China. One is visible from space and protects from Mongol invasion. The other is an internet firewall, run by the government, that blocks content from Chinese internet users. Bennett Haselton, and his organization Peacefire, have found a way around that. By downloading a freeware to your computer in the US and providing a link to it to those behind the wall in China you allow them to search words like "freedom", "democracy" and "Taiwan independence" - terms they cannot currently search. Cool idea.
Movie of the Week
Or, movie of last week... Almost every day last week I looked for a movie to write about and couldn't find one I liked.
The Sentinel
This film stars Michael Douglas, an actor who I don't really like. It has Kiefer Sutherland who I know a lot of people like because of 24, but again, I couldn't care less. It also has Kim Basinger (in a very small role) and I say "who cares". So where does my interest in this film come from? I like it because it looks like a chapter from a Joel Rosenberg novel. A secret service agent (Douglas) is suspected of treason (he wants to kill the Pres) and is hunted down in Minority Report fashion. He must prove his innocence (in The Fugitive fashion) by finding who the true bad guy is. Okay, so it simply combines multiple other film ideas in to one, but I buy it. It looks like it could be a good show and with the studio not giving it a huge build-up I have hope that maybe it won't be one of the studios big disappointments.
My rating: 7 of 10 - Good show, good story, old actors.
Islam: Religion of Peace
Many Christians do not believe that Islam is a religion of peace. They think that the uproar around the world over a cartoon is proof that Muslims simply love war and want there to be constant strife around the world. I am a Christian, I once thought this too, but now I know that this is not the case. Perhaps it is in human nature to fight and, while still fighting, desire peace. William Wallace did not want to fight, he wanted freedom and he knew that freedom and peace were worth fighting for. This is the mindset of Islam. All Muslims long for peace and peace is promised to them in the Quran... but at what price to the rest of us? Christians, throughout the centuries, have been guilty of "converting" at gun point (or by the edge of the sword), yet, those who have understood the commands of God as outlined in the Bible know that this is not the way we should spread the gospel. We cannot convert souls by threatening them with death. Islam believes otherwise:
And fight them until persecution is no more, and religion is for Allah. But if they desist, then let there be no hostility except against wrong-doers. [2:193]
"...until persecution is no more". This sounds like a verse of hope, hope for peace. But what is the price? There may be no other religion. But what if the Muslim seeks peace with other religions?
Warfare is ordained for you, though it is hateful unto you; but it may happen that ye hate a thing which is good for you, and it may happen that ye love a thing which is bad for you. Allah knoweth, ye know not. [2:216]
Some may say that the God of the Bible commands similar things. He told the Israelites to kill everyone in the Promised Land: Men, women, children, livestock. But these commands in the Quran are not for a specific group of people at a particular time. Rather, they are standards being set by Allah:
And slay them wherever ye find them, and drive them out of the places whence they drove you out, for persecution is worse than slaughter. And fight not with them at the Inviolable Place of Worship until they first attack you there, but if they attack you (there) then slay them. Such is the reward of disbelievers. [2:191]
As you look through the Quran you will see many verses that call for peace, that call for charity: "be good to parents and to kindred and to orphans and the needy, and speak kindly to mankind". And you will find verse after verse claiming that "Thou(Allah), only Thou, art the Relenting, the Merciful".
God, the true God of the Bible, is merciful even as many are condemned because he has chosen to save some though they don't deserve it. Allah is merciful, at the edge of the sword. He gives you one chance to convert, and if you do not the Muslim is called to "slay them wherever ye find them" though he is called to "begin not hostilities". Am I afraid of the great Satan, Islam? No, because I trust in the One True Living God. He will save me from the fiery furnace [2:167] and even if he does not, I will never bow to Islam. Do I hate Muslims? No, but I do pity them for they live in darkness and have not [yet] seen the light.
(source: Skeptics Annotated Quran)
iPod Touch Screen
This is gonna be awesome.
Okay, so sometimes you hear rumors about this sort of thing and they turn out to be ungrounded. However, this is just too cool of an idea to ignore. The concept is to make the entire face of an iPod into a touch screen surface. When you click on the screen the familiar "scroll wheel" appears [see this]. In so doing, the new iPod would have a much larger viewing screen making it a little nicer for those who actually want to watch videos on the Pod (and not simply have videos that you can't actually see because the screen is to small). Anyhow, cool idea. We'll see soon if Mac actually release it (April 1?)
Hasselhoffian
I found this on another blog but I decided to copy and paste it rather than linking because the guy had a picture of himself in his underware and I didn't want to subject anyone else to it. This is funny though.
Hasselhoffian
1. (Adjective) possessing an exaggerated sense of masculinity, power, courage, and virility. Example In Smokey and the Bandit Burt Reynolds delivers a hasselhoffian performance.
2. (Adjective) overpoweringly pleasing to the senses in appearance or manner. Example The Mona Lisa is a hasselhoffian work of art.
3. (Adjective) to command or acquire a large German following. Example During World War II Hilter's popularity was hasselhoffian.
4. (verb) a slow motion or over exaggerated form of movement. Example The lifeguard took a hasselhoffian run toward the drowning swimmer.
Movie of the Week
Well, this isn't a new article that I will write every week, I just couldn't think of another title to use because I didn't want to give away the film that I would be writing about.
So, since when can you release a film with no script and no storyline? I know that people are making all these emo-style movies that have little plot and lame scripts, but this preview I just watched appeared to have no pre-written script...but you know what... it looks awesome! It's called Dave Chappelle's Block Party and if it's anything like it's preview, I am gonna love it. I don't usually like films like this (Kings of Comedy-esque, or Concert Movies) but this is different. It looks like the film follows Dave around for the days before his show, and then shows the party. It will be funny and fun. Not a movie with a story or plot, but still entertaining. I can't wait.
My Rating: 8.5/10 - Good, not so clean, humor.
THIS JUST IN: BEN CRUM, NOT A NERD
It had been believed that Ben Crum was a certified Nerd (though no solid evidence had ever been presented on the subject). New details have recently surfaced that prove that Ben is nowhere close to being a Nerd (at least not a 1st Order Nerd). The Proof: This proves that it takes more than computer know-how and a pocket protector to be truly considered a Nerd. Though Ben admits that he does understand the principles that this machine is based on he claims to not be interested in constructing his own. "What's the point, it seems like once it has been made the only thing left to do is use the Lego® Construction System to build other machines, Babbage is so last year!" Ben is currently working to construct a combustion engine using an Erector Set and modeling clay. "I might be a Nerd some day, but not today" snorts a untidy Ben as he eats a Twinkie™ and sips on a bottle of Mountain Dew, "I have too much on my mind to retake the SAT test to get my official Nerd score"
11 String Mario
So, aside from the fact that he is really good and that he's playing the Mario theme... he's playing an 11 STRING GUITAR!!!
Superbowl Commercials
My brother Peter pointed out his favorite superbowl commercial, the MacGyver / Mastercard spot. Here are some other commercials that aired last night during the superbowl. Of course the tradition has been that all the greatest commercials are premiered during the game, but in the last few years I, for one, have been quite disappointed with the lack in quality of the ads. This year was pretty good... the "dark light beer" football one was good, and the Full Throttle one was kind of funny. I did most enjoy the MacGyver one and I have to admit, I thought the part where Tim Allen tackled the old lady with the walker was really good. What do you think?
Books and Blockbusters
So, not having the internet or the television (yes, not even non-cable TV) at home has made me more of a book-worm than I have ever been in my life. Mom, you would be amazed at the number of books I have consumed in the past few months. I just read an interesting article in wired about books becoming blockbuster movies and, since I am still a movie lover, here is the article for your reading pleasure.
Apple - "A New Low" or "Such Great Height"?
Video from Google Video
The Postal Service vs. Apple Computers
See for yourself the rip-off of The Postal Service's music video "Such Great Heights" by the new Apple/Intel ad. Supposedly Apple actually hired the same film studio to do their commercial as had done the music video. Still, both are pretty cool.
"It has recently come to our attention that Apple Computers' new television
commercial for the Intel chip features a shot-for-shot recreation of our video
for 'Such Great Heights' made by the same filmmakers responsible for the
original. We did not approve this commercialization and are extremely
disappointed with both parties that this was executed without our consultation
or consent." -Ben Gibbard, The Postal Service
The Matrix IV - or - Neo, The Chick
Do you want to see the matrix again? Well, this is not going to be anywhere near as cool as the Matrix, but it'll try. It's got some chick (I have no idea who it is, maybe she's from Lost or something) and she likes to beat up humans becuase she hates them, but get this, she's the good guy! Anyway, the trailer even has Clubbed to Death by Rob D, from the Matrix soundtrack, playing in the background --- I love that song! Don't waste your time, go watch the Matrix again (the first one).
My Rating: 4/10 - Cool special effects, bad acting, bad story, bad ending.
A Month of Birthdays
In the Crum family there are particular months that are known for having many Birthdays, February being one of them. Michal told me last night that we will be having a birthday celebration at her parent's house next Monday and it made me wonder... whose birthday are we celebrating? Granted, I don't know when all my inlaws birthdays are, but I didn't think any were coming up so soon. It turns out we are celebrating Michal's birthday --- over a month late!!! Michal and I talk about this all the time, but I just can't get over the idea of celebrating a birthday (or any other special day) on a day other than the day itself. I realize that there are sometimes meetings or events that conflict and so you would celebrate the day before or the day after...or maybe even postpone a birthday party so that it can be on a weekend... but waiting over a month? I don't get it.
I suggested that we also celebrate Joseph's birthday since it will be coming up soon and we probably won't celebrate it for another year or so. Michal told me her mom had already thought of that and that we might just celebrate "birthdays" two or three times a year and combine people on to one of those days. I guess I am just rambling, but it seems to me like the significance of the celebration should center around the event... on a birthday we are celebrating that person's birth! If she was born on December 28th, we would celebrate on December 28th.
I guess being married really is a learning experience. So, happy birthday Pop, David, Nate and Peter and Jill and Jess and anyone else whose birthday is within 5 months of today!
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