December 2009
7 posts
4 tags
Avatar — Space Opera or True Science Fiction?
In a not so typical movie review, “Copernicus” gives his view on Avatar from the perspective of a professor of astrophysics.
The writer mentions both what’s plausible and what’s not. He writes:
It is an interesting question as to whether planets around either
Alpha Cen A or B could exist in stable orbits that would last for
billions of years. You might think they...
2 tags
“The romantic image of an über-programmer is someone who fires up Emacs, types...”
– John D. Cook
2 tags
“The ultimate goal of computer science is to help produce better systems. Would...”
– Bjarne Stroustrup
2 tags
Avatar hadn’t been on my radar for long when I saw it. I knew the plot involved a foreign world with dexterous humanoids, and a paraplegic with the ability to become one of these creatures. I expected an adventure movie with emphasize on the main character being sort of liberated from regular life.
My loose forecast was met. The story isn’t very complex, and you get a feeling of...
2 tags
Less Stamps
While being unable to sleep yesterday (probably because of an upcoming exam), I came to the conclusion that listing religious and political views, birthday, sexual preferences, and such on Facebook is good for nothing but putting stamps on oneself, so I removed it from my profile.
A second reason, tending towards the paranoid side, is that information like this can be sold and used for directed...
4 tags
Scott →
An article about early Antarctic explorers, with focus on differences among the party leaders.
Before the race between Scott and Amundsen, one leader had gotten within 97 miles of the pole. Facing deteriorating weather and running out of supplies, Ernest Shackleton knew that continuing on meant certain death. He turned around. In a letter to his wife he wrote “I thought you’d rather have a...