Tiny Hands , Big ...

We Not I

"Late at night, when deciding not to bother setting up the coffee machine for the next morning, I sometimes think of the man who will wake up as a different person, and wonder, What did he ever do for me? When I get up and there’s no coffee ready, I curse the lazy bastard who shirked his duties the night before."

This is a wondefully written, funny and idea-dense article from The Atlantic about "The Self". It's one of those rare articles that feels like a distillation of a 700 page non-fiction book. I've been thinking about this stuff for a long time- since reading Marvin Minsky's "The Society of Mind", Douglas Hofstaedter, and more recently Steven Pinker on "split brain" patients (those whose left and right hemispheres have been surgically disconnected).

This Woman is a Sadist!

Cutting out the heart of a little fish, and snipping off the leg of a newt! GASP! But don't WORRY kids- thanks to the magic of stem cells it'll all be OK!

Mighty Morphin' Power Embryos

I loved embryology in med school - although it was excruciatingly difficult to get my head around all that folding and stretching. These GREAT animations (1+2) seem even more mysterious now that i have two kids.

I've always been fascinated by how (between 2 and 3 weeks after conception) we are but an insignificant sandwich of cells , how the pharyngeal arches of vertebrate fish went into making our faces (That explains why fish are so expressionless ), how the heart starts off above the head, and how the yolk sac in enclosed to form the gut.

Amazing.

New Music: "Little Joy"

If "The Strokes" were stuck in a time machine, and popped out in 1954 - in Hawaii - this would be the music they'd make. I've only heard snippets but can't get any of these tunes out of my head: true "earworms". The band consists of the Strokes' drummer, his girlfriend, and some other guy.


Album is out in a few weeks.

Musicophilia: DJ ShlogBlog

Primer

This great movie - now free via Google video... don't quite know how this can happen. Maybe it's from the FUTURE.

Nigerian Scams on This American Life

Thanks to Lozza who tipped me off about a great "This American Life" episode entitled "enforcers".... skip the 1st 5min prologue about hockey- and listen to the increasingly horrible story of how a couple of "Scam baiters" managed to lure a hapless African email scammer and his brother to take a one way trip to a warzone with the promise of $200,000. Sounds like a great plot to a movie! Actually T.A.L has a 6 figure deal with Warner Brothers... and i have absolute faith that Warner Bros. can turn great non-fiction into terrible movies.

REQUEST FOR URGENT BUSINESS RELATIONSHIP FIRST, I MUST SOLICIT YOUR STRICTEST CONFIDENCE IN THIS TRANSACTION. THIS IS BY VIRTUE OF ITS NATURE AS BEING UTTERLY CONFIDENTIAL AND 'TOP SECRET'. I AM SURE AND HAVE CONFIDENCE OF YOUR ABILITY AND RELIABILITY TO PROSECUTE A TRANSACTION OF THIS GREAT MAGNITUDE INVOLVING A PENDING TRANSACTION REQUIRING MAXIIMUM CONFIDENCE. WE ARE TOP OFFICIAL OF THE FEDERAL GOVERNMENT CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL WHO ARE INTERESTED IN IMPORATION OF GOODS INTO OUR COUNTRY WITH FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY TRAPPED IN NIGERIA. IN ORDER TO COMMENCE THIS BUSINESS WE SOLICIT YOUR ASSISTANCE TO ENABLE US TRANSFER INTO YOUR ACCOUNT THE SAID TRAPPED FUNDS. THE SOURCE OF THIS FUND IS AS FOLLOWS; DURING THE LAST MILITARY REGIME HERE IN NIGERIA, THE GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS SET UP COMPANIES AND AWARDED THEMSELVES CONTRACTS WHICH WERE GROSSLY OVER-INVOICED IN VARIOUS MINISTRIES. THE PRESENT CIVILIAN GOVERNMENT SET UP A CONTRACT REVIEW PANEL AND WE HAVE IDENTIFIED A LOT OF INFLATED CONTRACT FUNDS WHICH ARE PRESENTLY FLOATING IN THE CENTRAL BANK OF NIGERIA READY FOR PAYMENT. HOWEVER, BY VIRTUE OF OUR POSITION AS CIVIL SERVANTS AND MEMBERS OF THIS PANEL, WE CANNOT ACQUIRE THIS MONEY IN OUR NAMES. I HAVE THEREFORE, BEEN DELEGATED AS A MATTER OF TRUST BY MY COLLEAGUES OF THE PANEL TO LOOK FOR AN OVERSEAS PARTNER INTO WHOSE ACCOUNT WE WOULD TRANSFER THE SUM OF US$21,320,000.00(TWENTY ONE MILLION, THREE HUNDRED AND TWENTY THOUSAND U.S DOLLARS). HENCE WE ARE WRITING YOU THIS LETTER. WE HAVE AGREED TO SHARE THE MONEY THUS; 1. 20% FOR THE ACCOUNT OWNER 2. 70% FOR US (THE OFFICIALS) 3. 10% TO BE USED IN SETTLING TAXATION AND ALL LOCAL AND FOREIGN EXPENSES. IT IS FROM THE 70% THAT WE WISH TO COMMENCE THE IMPORTATION BUSINESS. PLEASE,NOTE THAT THIS TRANSACTION IS 100% SAFE AND WE HOPE TO COMMENCE THE TRANSFER LATEST SEVEN (7) BANKING DAYS FROM THE DATE OF THE RECEIPT OF THE FOLLOWING INFORMATIOM BY TEL/FAX; 234-1-7740449, YOUR COMPANY'S SIGNED, AND STAMPED LETTERHEAD PAPER THE ABOVE INFORMATION WILL ENABLE US WRITE LETTERS OF CLAIM AND JOB DESCRIPTION RESPECTIVELY. THIS WAY WE WILL USE YOUR COMPANY'S NAME TO APPLY FOR PAYMENT AND RE-AWARD THE CONTRACT IN YOUR COMPANY'S NAME. WE ARE LOOKING FORWARD TO DOING THIS BUSINESS WITH YOU AND SOLICIT YOUR CONFIDENTIALITY IN THIS TRANSATION. PLEASE ACKNOWLEDGE THE RECEIPT OF THIS LETTER USING THE ABOVE TEL/FAX NUMBERS. I WILL SEND YOU DETAILED INFORMATION OF THIS PENDING PROJECT WHEN I HAVE HEARD FROM YOU. YOURS FAITHFULLY, DR CLEMENT OKON NOTE; PLEASE QUOTE THIS REFERENCE NUMBER (VE/S/09/99) IN ALL YOUR RESPONSES.

This fascinating cultural artifact is definitely one for the time capsule. To synchronize the videos, click play on the 1st one, wait till 1:23 then play the 2nd.

Beautiful

Free the Licking Valley Girl and Lock Up Bill Henson!

A 15 year old girl from "Licking Valley" (But seriously- i thought this was a joke given the name of the locality but turns out truth is stranger than fiction.) has been charged with possession of child pornography - pictures that she took of herself in the buff.

Does that mean that when a 15 year old girl looks at herself in the mirror she's committing a crime? Obviously not. Perhaps the crime was in the photographing- the creation of the image?

I think the problem probably was that the 15 year old was not an "Art" photographer and she did not get her parents' permission - unlike controversial Australian photographer Bill Henson (see below). Apparently, HIS portraits are just fine!! Seriously- WHAT is/has he been thinking? It is so so wrong.

My opinion- Free the Licking Valley Girl and lock up Henson.

Elephant Agnosia

I'm so confused with all these elephant names- Ellie the Elephant (from Pocoyo- no tusks), Elmer the Elephant (from book of same- no tusks), Eddie the Elephant (from Maisy- tusks)- thank god for the Snufalafagus (no tusks)!