Prometheus Unseen

After seeing these informal reviews (caution, massive spoilers, but who cares):
Prometheus Unbound: What the Movie Was Actually About.
In which the Atomic Nerds take the thing apart.
And my favorite, a review video Part 1 and Part 2 (massive spoiler, language, and sarcasm alerts).


All of which leaves me wondering what is this obscure crap, and why does Ridley Scott expect me to lay down my hard-earned money to watch a poorly-plotted, poorly-written, over-produced mess like this?  Sorry Hollywood.  You'll have to do better to get my money.  A truckload of interesting ideas blown scatter-shot at the screen imbedded with sci-fi trappings won't cut it.  I don't have the time to sit through a half-baked story line just because it's presented with a bunch of cool special effects.


It's just a shame.  I was really hoping to go see an intelligent sci-fi movie this summer.

ET contact within two dozen years?

Seth Shostack of the SETI Institute thinks it's likely, as seen in his recent TED Talk.  Why so soon?  Cut to the chase: Moore's Law applies to radio telescope signal processing, and the processing-limited searchable number of stars is fast converging with the actual number of stars within reach.
OK, Shostack rambles a bit and ends on a sappy "do it for the children" note, but there's much food for though in the talk.  At only eighteen minutes and change it's worth a whirl.

Raft by ACME

Whitewater rafting on the Nantahala last Saturday.

All survived, though for a few moments there may have been some doubt.

More good news. (really!)

High blood caffeine levels in older adults linked to avoidance of Alzheimer's disease.  Importantly, according to the article:

Most recently, they reported that caffeine interacts with a yet unidentified component of coffee to boost blood levels of a critical growth factor that seems to fight off the Alzheimer's disease process.

Well, no worries around this household.

The most astounding thing you will watch all day.

The point of view from a Space Shuttle SRB.  Open it to full screen if your computer and bandwidth allow.
Because some things are just plain cool.

For Those Contemplating Graduate School

PhD Comics belongs on your daily reading list.

Yeah, you.  I'm talking to you.

One of my pet peeves, as lampooned at SMBC

As seen over at Saturday Morning Breakfast Cereal: