From now on, typical items appearing in this space will be of the form:

  I went to a movie and it sucked

or

  I found a shiny thing on the internets

Anything technical or plausibly professional will be posted on my company’s blog:

  http://www.sutrotech.com

That is all.

Then I discovered Frets on Fire: open source community, people contribute hundereds of songs. So I did one of my own - I attempted to transcribe a short song by one of my old bands. It was not easy onaccounta the tools are not very good. (Apologies for the solo in the middle Ralfie - I just couldn’t figure it out).

Anyway, here it is: ninepin.zip

 

I’m not truly lame until I buy the guitar controller thingie and hook it up to my MacBook. Which is possible with a PSX/USB adapter. Not that I am going to get one.

It basically takes the last scene from

WarGames
and makes a real-time strategy game out of it. I’m still figuring out how the game part of it works (I played the Windows version a while ago), but the unique mood and aesthetics alone justify the purchase - it simply looks and feels like nothing you’ve ever played before.

http://www.pitchwire.com

It’s half a PR service for publicists and half spam control on steroids for journalists. I’m not either one but I think it’s a really great idea. Anything that gives people more control over what information gets thrown at them gets a thumbs up from me.

Michael did a great job on the app. It’s all in Ruby. Even if you’re not journalist, go bang on it and give him some feedback - he’d love to hear from you.

1. Find an attractive female lead who is willing to take her clothes off.
   A lot. Also, make sure she knows how to French inhale.
2. Shoot various cast members having sex.
3. Shoot various cast members brooding.
4. Shoot various cast members smoking.
5. Repeat steps 2-4 until you have no more film.
6. Edit the footage into the following sequence: brooding, smoking, brooding, brooding, sex, brooding, smoking, sex, brooding, sex, sex, smoking, sex, sex, sex, brooding, brooding, smoking, brooding, sex, brooding, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, sex, smoking, sex, brooding.
7. Add voiceover to the brooding and smoking so that the audience understands
   that the sex is just an expression of how deep and pained the characters are.
8. Watch test print of movie. Realize just what a
   
   steaming pile of panda shit you have made. Panic briefly.
9. Go back and splice in random news clips about Tiananmen Square in 1989. Do not be surprised when you and your film are banned from China by the Communist Party.
10. Watch as resulting controversy carries your film to acclaim at Cannes and
    other festivals. Try to contain laughter as festival promoters declare
    your work a masterpiece.

No, I really don’t hate everything. I actually liked his two previous movies.

Goal

Set up a Parallels VM with Windows XP so that it is isolated from
the outside world but network addressable from my mac via a fixed address
(192.168.2.100) and the name ‘parallels.’

Solution

1. Set up your parallels VM
2. In your VM’s Network Adapter configuration, choose ‘Host-only Networking’ for the emulation mode
3. Go to the DHCP tab of the Parallels application preferences. Set the DHCP scope to include the desired address. (I chose start of 192.168.2.1, end 192.168.2.254, subnet mask 255.255.255.0).
4. Start the VM
5. In Windows, turn off the firewall. (Control Panel | Windows Firewall)
6. In Windows, set the local connection to use a static IP. (Control Panel | Network Connections | Local Area Connection | Properties… | Internet Protocol | Properties… | Use the following IP Address: 192.168.2.100)
7. In OS X, open a Terminal. Type ‘ping 192.168.2.100′ and make sure you’re getting a response.
8. In OS X, etc/hosts isn’t recognized. In order to put a name on that IP, you have to…
9. Open Applications/Utilities/NetInfo Manager. Go to ‘machines.’ Create a duplicate of ‘localhost’. Rename it to ‘parallels’. Set ‘ip_address’ to 192.168.2.100. Save and quit NetInfo Manager.
10. Back in Terminal, make sure you can ‘ping parallels’.
11. Fin!

That’s pretty much how a fan of Battlestar Galactica sounds when trying to convince a friend to watch it. After giving the clumsy spiel myself for a while, I’ve lately had the pleasure of hearing other people stumble through it.

But BSG really is hands down the best TV sci-fi ever, and I’d be willing to make the case that it’s some of the best dramatic writing on TV in any genre. It isn’t about spaceships and robots; it’s about 9/11, Iraq and Guantanamo Bay. Really. I’m often amazed that the show doesn’t make headlines for the boldness of the subject matter.

But while it’s bold, it’s also subtle. There is no preaching. There is no editorializing. The writers simply say “here is the world, it’s very complex, you figure out what to think about it.” It’s so refreshing - that mode is almost completely absent from political and cultural discourse in 21st century America. Maybe it’s no surprise that you have to go to outer space to find it.

…

Unfortunately, as I write this, I am also wondering if the show has jumped the shark. I recently caught up on a episode 7 of the current season, and it was just plain bad. Laden with possibilities, it landed with a thud. It’s the first time I’ve felt like the writers have lost sight of where they are going. Here’s hoping it’s a blip and not a trend.

If you haven’t watched, it might be time to start now before things start going downhill. (And you do have to watch it from the beginning or you will be very lost).

Jesse gives an energetic and fascinating intro for each film - you can’t help but start to love and genuinely appreciate these goofy movies as much as he does (even if you’re laughing at them at the same time). Plus, there are trivia games with amazing prizes.

If you live in SF, you owe it to yourself to go check them out. And you have a great chance tomorrow night at 7pm:
Breakin’, Beat Street, and Cool as Ice!