I rewatched Primer today and I was reminded how much of an absolute mindtrip it is. It took several viewings the first time I watched it to get a grip on what was happening. Two excellent reviews of the multiple timelines developed in the film can be found here and here.
CNN is reporting (as does MSNBC) the recently reviewed photos from the lost Mars Global Surveyor may show evidence of recent flowing water on Mars.
"The crisp images taken by the Mars Global Surveyor do not directly show
water. Rather, they show apparently recent changes in surface features
that provide the strongest evidence yet that water even now sometimes
flows on the dusty, frigid world."
Amazing new photos have been released the Jet Propulsion Laboratory. The MRO is using the landing sites of both the Viking Probes (from 1976) and the Mars Rovers to calibrate its high resolution cameras in order to search for a potential landing site for the Phoenix Mars Lander mission slated for launch in 2007.
According to the press release, "Applying that knowledge as we view the
new orbital images will help us interpret what we see in orbital images
from other parts of Mars never seen from ground level."
I cannot believe I had not heard of this hack for Tivo before. Sweet, no more, clicking forward, whoops, too far, clicking backwards, oops not enough. OK, maybe one commercial is OK. I'm off to reset my two Tivos.
Universal Music Group Chief Executive Officer Doug Morris is at it again. This time he thinks he will be extracting a piracy tax from the iPod.
"I don't see why we wouldn't do that... but maybe
not in the same way."
UMG is in a completely different situation with these negotiations. Microsoft bargained from a weak position. They were launching an iPod/iTunes competitor and needed to be able to license content for their Zune marketplace. Apple already has a license and already provides a constant revenue stream to UMG. Pulling the plug on iTunes availability threatens a revenue stream that does not require much expense on the part of UMG. Besides, I imagine UMG's artists may have a problem with loss of iTunes exposure.
Yesterday, the blogosphere (see Daring Fireball, kottke.org, and even Slashdot) was ripe with links to a New York Times or a Guardian UK article regarding the Antikythera mechanism. The device was discovered in 1902 and was known to be an mechanical calculator for astronomical events. New research presented at an international conference and as documented in the November 30th issue of Nature appears to be the catalyst for the torrent of articles appearing yesterday and today. New imaging has revealed more of the complexity, models the device, and appears to have solved which events the device tracks. Why these events were tracked remains a mystery.
