Friday, October 31, 2008

R.I.P. Studs

It really sucks when national tragedies occur on days that are important to you, as my friend Scott, born on September 11, will no doubt aver. I had never really been able to share the sensation until today, when Studs Terkel died at his home in Chicago.

Terkel was a legendary oral historian, a Pulitzer Prize winning author, the unofficial poet laureate of the working class and a tireless proponent of worker's rights. Having grown up near Chicago, Terkel was something of a hero to me, one of those grizzled old icons I wanted to be when I grew up. I kinda still do, and if you want to know why, Studs' classic Working is a good place to start,a phenomenal series of interviews with people from all walks of life. And for a much more through obit of this icon, try this rememberance from NPR's All things Considered.

Dog of Yore, meet... The DOG OF TOMORROW!!!

Earlier this month, the timeline for the first known dogs was pushed back more than 15,000 years with the identification of a huge, probably domesticated dog in Belgium. The specimen, which subsisted on large game animals like musk ox and horses, places the first dates of domestic dogs into the Upper Paleolithic, though some evidence suggests that this may have ultimately been an early and not wholly successful attempt at domestication, thus explaining why domesticated dogs appear and vanish in the fossil record.

Meanwhile, it's become clear that the future of the dog may not be the Brussels Griffon, as previously thought. It may not even be flesh and blood, if the mad thinker's at the U.S. military's Defense Advanced Research Project Agency (DARPA) have their way. In addition to changes in the BigDog project, a robotic pack mule designed to lighten soldiers loads on long humps in treacherous terrain, the big brains at DARPA have added another canid inspired robot to their wish list, which also includes a stimulant that can keep commando's awake in the field for days on end without any unfortunate side effects.

The latest proposal calls for a series of smaller, ideally autonomous robots which would operate in packs of 3-5, carrying out search and rescue missions, doing reconnassaince work and pursuing the occasional "non-cooperative human subject."
Those of you looking for a Christmas present that will blow poor AIBO out of the water, can see BigDog in action below.

Wednesday, October 29, 2008

The Fourth Quarter Drive

News from the land of "Better Late Than Never" - as the Obama campaign concentrates on (and struggles?) to bring young and first time voters to the polls sooner rather than later, Errol Morris has launched People in the Middle for Obama, a late in the day ad campaign that hopes to push remaining fence-sitters into the Democratic camp.

The site features Errol Morris' interviews with "real people" in the center of the political spectrum, telling the filmmaker and viewers why they are voting for Barack Obama. Each interview with a self identified Democrat or Republican voter is framed by the same featureless white backdrop and simple, carousel style musical tune, displaying Morris' signature minimalist style. But content-wise, there's really not a lot new here, with voters talking about being tired of negative campaigning, scared of the state of the economy, etc. And even stylistically, these shorts pale in comparison to Morris' body of short works, like Mayo, which was somehow overlooked for an Oscar.

Meanwhile, not to be outdone by Errol Morris, a groups of Peruvian medicine men has thrown their support behind Obama as well, the BBC reports. And while they may not be a huge constituency here in the states, if there are shamans out there practicing magic and dispelling evil spirits, it's good to know that they're on your side, right?

Tuesday, October 28, 2008

Goodnight, Sweet Prince

I always kind of wanted to be an astronaut as a kid, but that had less to do with any passion for space travel than it did with one simple fact: astronauts got all the cool toys. Pens that wrote upside down. Freeze dried everything. Tang. Adult diapers that you apparently get to take home with you. The bells and whistles that NASA supplied for it's intrepid explorers were always second to none. Case in point - this artificial intelligence therapy program.

Created by a former astronaut who now teaches space medicine, the program combines animation, video and audio elements to recreate or summarize difficult or hazardous situations encountered by veteran astronauts. The program is meant to aid in decision making, relationship management and controlling depression in the high pressure environment of a space flight by putting trainees into tough situations and letting their choices make the situation better or worse, a method of training and therapy that should be familiar to anyone who has ever read a Choose Your Own Adventure book.

The results of these tests won't be available to the public, of course, but in my heart of hearts, I like to believe that astronauts aren't that different from the rest of us, and that the first round of testing will be devoted to it's only logical use: seeing how fast you can bring the International Space Station plummeting in a fiery ball back to earth.

And as one means of computerized therapy enters the space age, another goes the way of the dodo as JVC ends production of standalone VCRs, bringing an end to an era in home entertainment. Somewhere, the guy who invented Beta max is smiling grimly and snickering to himself. I shared a lot of good time with a lot of VCRs, from the first time I ever saw Batman to the copy of Pulp Fiction that played perpetually in my first apartment. And as a longtime video store clerk, I get to watch one of my few pragmatic, handyman style skills - dismantling fixing, cleaning and reassembling a VCR - be rendered obsolete before i even turn thirty.

For hardcore VHS fans (you know you're out there) and those who are just reluctant to own copies of Con Air on two separate formats, you'll still be able to get combo players that play DVD and VHS formats. But let's face it - it's just not the same.

I've had friends argue that VHS will never really fade out, and will instead come to fill a home entertainment niche similar to the turntable, becoming a staple in hipster pads everywhere, treasured for it's retro cool and nigh-indestructible recordings. I see where they're coming from, especially when it comes to valuing a medium that can take a beating - I've seen people take some truly heinous actions against VHS tapes, with no discernible damage to the film, something that DVDs But considering how consolidated home entertainment is becoming, from gaming consoles that double as movie players to directly streaming HD video at your fingertips, even the discreet, archaic, indie charm of the VCR may not be enough to keep it in favor forever.

Rest well, good friend.