Interview: Trent Reznor discusses The Social Network soundtrack – via DrownedInSound.com – Interviews with Trent Reznor are always interesting. If you can get past the (very) many spelling and grammar mistakes in the transcript you won’t be disappointed with this one. Among other things, the interview touches on the creative process of scoring the movie, the philosophy behind free (and pirated) music, and my personal favourite, the concept and implementation of Facebook itself. It’s a bit out of context but here’s a quote – “I don’t think it’s actually executed that well. The layout’s kind of foolish and the processing is terrible…he [Zuckerburg] was in the right place, at the right time, with a functional tool.” Hit the link for the whole transcribed interview.
Outrageous School Punishments – 10 Examples of Punishment Gone Too Far – via DegreeScout.com – I’ve commented here before about disciplinary actions taken by school officials. Here’s a list of 10 that are notable for how far overboard they went. To reiterate what I’ve said before – Schools have no business interfering with what their students do outside of class time and off school property. School officials have no right to physically repremand or punish a child. Strip searches? Nope. Last but not least, this “Zero Tolerance” bullshit has to stop…see number 3 where a six-year old boy was suspended for making a gun shape with his thumb and index finger.
Race China to the Moon, Stop ‘1000 Pearl Harbors,’ Says Controversial Candidate – via Wired.com – Yup, another interview but a completely different topic. Here a political candidate argues the extremely alarmist idea that China could use Cuba to stage a second “Cuban Missile Crisis” resulting in the “1000 Pearl Harbors” from the title. He also states that a new moon race is necessary to maintain technological superiority over China. The bit about “1000 Pearl Harbors” goes too far, but I’m with him on the moon race part. Diverting the money that would be necessary for such an undertaking into the branches of science involved would be hugely beneficial to everybody. Think about it – A Second Space Age. Why does it have to be a “race”, though? The benefits of sharing the research burden with China seems to be a better plan. Draw your researchers from the best and brightest of a larger candidate pool and split the costs between the two countries. Even better, let any country that wants to shoulder some of the cost participate. Science doesn’t care about borders.
Voodoo Software Removes Objects From Video In Real Time – via PopSci.com – Take a look at this video. I’m still skeptical. If it’s real you can never believe anything you see on TV ever again. The changes to the video shown wouldn’t be that impressive, except this apparently works in real time. I need to see this for myself. Maybe they can use it on the “footage” from the new moon landings…
Just kidding.
