My Work Blog

You may have noticed that I haven't posted any Exchange or PowerShell items on this blog lately. That's because I've taken to doing this over on my "official" UT-hosted work blog at http://blogs.utexas.edu/glenmark/ .

Misc. Goodies

First up, a must-have for any technogeek's home library: Apollo 11 Owners' Workshop Manual from Haynes Press. Now I can finally figure out why the engines on the dusty old LEM in my garage won't fire up on cold mornings. (Of course, here in central Texas, we only get cold mornings a few days out of each year. This time of year, I really start to miss those days.)

Next up, an example of what happens when technogeeks have too much time on their hands: "A Unified Quantum Theory of the Sexual Interaction." This is a truly hysterical read, at least for anyone who has ever studied quantum mechanics. The author fails, however, to cover scenarios where couplings between the |M> and |F> states potentially lead to the emission of child particles, with a probability P(t) which varies sinusoidally over a period of 28 days. Of course, this would necessitate the inclusion of creation and annihilation operators, which means that the model would have to be re-formulated as a Quantum Field Theory. The author also fails to model the field emitted by some |M> states which repulses |F> states with a strength proportional to the |M> state's comprehension of this admittedly arcane type of humor.

On a more serious note, SpringerLink has a paper by T. Ryan Gregory of the University of Guelph in Ontario entitled "Understanding Natural Selection: Essential Concepts and Common Misconceptions." This paper should be required reading for anyone engaging in the YEC/ID vs. TOE debate, especially since the vast majority of arguments put forth by YEC/ID proponents tend to be predicated upon rather outlandish misconceptions about how evolution and natural selection actually work. As someone who hasn't actually taken a biology class since high school (it wasn't required in my undergraduate physics curriculum), I found it to be an illuminating read.

Is it "Trek?"

Last week, I watched the new "Star Trek" film (in IMAX, no less).  Yes, it is a fun movie.  It is a thrill ride that will appeal broadly to non-Trekkers, and has enough tips of the hat to the original to appeal to the core fandom (right down to a red-shirt crewman inevitably getting killed), and I encourage anyone to see it.  But there were things about it that bugged me.

J.J. Abrams deftly took an all-too-overused sci-fi conceit, time travel, and used it with great effect to literally reboot the moribund franchise, establishing quite clearly that what is unfolding on screen is literally a pristine, new timeline, where established canon for anything subsequent to the birth of James Tiberius Kirk is officially out the window.  Anything goes.  Assumptions about what must take place for the sake of continuity with Trek of days gone by no longer apply.  Forget about Spock ever taking a trip to Vulcan to calm his raging hormones in "Amok Time." Not going to happen. That was the life of Spock Prime.  The new Spock will have to sort things out his own way, potentially with the help of a certain Communications Officer.

No, I can't say that turning the snow globe of Trekdom canon over and giving it a good shake is what bothers me about this film.  I think my issue is something more aesthetic.  I can overlook the overused lens flares, and the shaky camera work, both of which were exacerbated by the IMAX format. I don't even mind the revamped production design aesthetic.  The uniforms were true to the original, while being updated enough to not look cheesy. The overall look of the ship, well, I'll get used to it, even though the nacelles and secondary hull just look wrong.  I even kind of liked the fact that the shuttles used at Starfleet Academy looked worn and battered, covered with scrapes, dents, and peeling paint.  Let's face it, the Academy would get hand-me-downs from the rest of the fleet.  So, what is it that just doesn't sit right with me?

Oh, I'll just come right out and say it.  J.J. Abrams, what the hell were you thinking shooting the Engineering scenes in a fricking brewery?  Those scenes completely demolished willing suspension of disbelief.  A brewery in no way resembles the inside of a starship.  The walls and floors were made of concrete, for crying out loud, not to mention the fact that no engineer constructing a spacecraft would make such inefficient use of interior space.  Even a reproduction of the set from the original series, as cheesy as it was, would have been more believable.

It is a minor thing, I know.  So much about the film was so very well done, but every time that the scene cut to Engineering, I was left thinking "Is this Trek, or the opening credits of 'Laverne & Shirley?'"

On the next installment, please set aside some of the budget for a proper set, one that won't yank the audience out of the story.  Please.

Two Beautiful Astronomy Videos

The Bad Astronomy Blog at DiscoverMagazine.com has links to two beautiful astronomy-related videos.  The first is a trailer for a planetarium show that I would dearly love to see. On top of everything else, it is narrated by David Tennant.

WAA Trailer 1 from NSC Creative on Vimeo.

The second is a time lapse exposure of the Milky Way rising in the night sky.  It is truly a majestic sight.

Priceless: 'Star Trek:TOS' Theme on a Theremin

BSG Alumni Invade CSI!

Tonight's episode of CSI: Crime Scene Investigation, "A Space Oddity," not only deftly spoofs Star Trek and Trek fandom (especially its more hardcore elements--you know, the ones that embarrass the rest of us), but it also tips a hat to the gritty gestalt of Ronald D. Moore's re-envisioning of Battlestar Galactica, with a little insider help.

In the episode, a television producer is murdered after unveiling at a sci-fi convention a preview of his remake of a much-loved cult series, Astro Quest. There is no attempt to hide the fact that Astro Quest is supposed to refer to Star Trek, from costume and set design to a scene lifted almost directly from "Gamesters of Triskelion" (the same scene that South Park once parodied to perfection). The line "He's dead, Jim" even closes out the teaser, and there are several variants of McCoy's famous "I'm a doctor, not a ...."

But the episode really sparkles due to its nod to BSG's influence on the genre.  The preview of Astro Quest Redux is not well received by the audience of hardcore Questers.  It is dark, gritty, and the characters are clearly flawed individuals.  In the shots panning over the stunned convention audience, Grace Park (BSG's Boomer/Athena/#8) can clearly be seen, then Ronald D. Moore pops up, points an accusing finger at the producer and shouts "You suck!"  I almost fell out of my chair. Irony lives! To top it all off, Kate Vernon (BSG's Ellen Tigh) is a guest star on the episode.

George Washington on Science

I've stumbled across some wonderful quotes from our first President regarding the importance of science.

From his first State of the Union Address in 1790:

Nor am I less persuaded that you will agree with me in opinion that there is nothing which can better deserve your patronage than the promotion of science and literature. Knowledge is in every country the surest basis of public happiness.

From his last State of the Union Address in 1796:

The assembly to which I address myself is too enlightened not to be fully sensible how much a flourishing state of the arts and sciences contributes to national prosperity and reputation.

The State of the Economy

A few hours ago, the Senate passed the stimulus package 61-37, largely along party lines. It will now go to conference committee to reconcile it with the version passed by the House. Lest anyone underestimate the magnitude of our current economic woes, here is a rather chilling chart published on the Speaker of the House's blog:

For anyone who is buying into the currently-circulating conservative meme that it was World War II and not the New Deal that got us out of the Great Depression, take a look at this:

Sad News: R.I.P. Ricardo Montalban and Patrick McGoohan

• Ricardo Montalban passed away today in Los Angeles at the age of 88. No matter how outlandish the role, whether as Captain Kirk's genetically-enhanced nemesis Khan Noonien Singh in Star Trek: The Wrath of Khan, Fantasy Island's enigmatic Mr. Roarke, or simply as a pitchman singing the praises of the "soft Corinthian leather" in the Chrysler Cordoba, Montalban always exuded class and panache.
• Patrick McGoohan escaped this world yesterday, also in Los Angeles, at the age of 80. First rising to stardom as secret agent John Drake in Danger Man, he went on to create and star in the iconic series The Prisoner. He would later win two Emmy awards for appearances in Columbo, and his performance as Longshanks was a highlight of Braveheart. Be seeing you, No. 6.
  

Video: Skewed Views of Science

So well put...