BBC NEWS | Programmes | Newsnight | Do avatars dream of electric racoons?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/4583924.stm

Paul Mason, BBC Newsnight journalist inside ‘Second Life’ chatting with Nolligan last night.

From the page: “Do avatars dream of electric racoons?
As part of Newsnight’s Geek Week, business correspondent Paul Mason and presenter Jeremy Paxman broadcast TV’s first ever face-to-face studio session from inside the computer game Second Life.

Here, Paul comes face to face with the designer who made it happen.”

… I said to Newsnight’s real life editor Peter Barron, “why don’t we broadcast Newsnight from inside a computer game.”

I got in touch with Cory Edo – real name Sara Van Gorden – who runs a business in Second Life designing avatars – the idealised 3D personas that people use as their online identities.

Cory recreated the Newsnight set, Jeremy Paxman and myself – the latter with wrinkles and stubble rendered in full 3D realism, sadly – so we could record the historic “two-way” that will go out before my piece on online games.

You can read more about Paul and the Newsnight team here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/newsnight/463078.stm#mason

http://www.glasgowmuseums.com/onemilliondaysinchina/exhibition/


The Eight Taoist Immortals

Although the One Million Days in China exhibition which ran at the Glasgow Museum is now finished, the online exhibition remains. One Million Days in China ran at The Burrell Collection from July 2004 to February 2005, and explored and celebrated 4000 years of Chinese history and culture through Sir William Burrell’s world-class collection of Chinese art.

CHINA: THE THREE EMPERORS, 1662-1795: China: The Three Emperors, 1662&1795

http://www.threeemperors.org.uk/

From the page: “China: The Three Emperors, 12 November 2005 17 April 2006
This magnificent exhibition is devoted to the artistic and cultural riches of Imperial China. Spanning the reigns of three Emperors, Kangxi (1662-1722), Yongzheng (1723-35) and Qianlong (1736-95), it focuses on the most powerful rulers of China’s last dynasty: the Qing. Each Emperor employed the greatest artists and workshops of his day to glorify his rule.

China: The Three Emperors, features over 370 treasures, including precious robes and palace furnishings, paintings and painted scrolls, weapons and ceremonial armour, clocks and astronomical instruments, antique jades and bronzes, ingenious scientific instruments, the finest porcelain, carvings and lacquer ware, elegant furniture, a sedan chair and an imperial throne.”

Beautiful site with lots of images.

Deer Mouse Christmas Card

http://www.yodaboys.com/deermouse.html


Twas the Night before Christmas Poem by Clement Moore

Twas the night before Christmas, when all through the house
Not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

The children were nestled all snug in their beds,
While visions of sugar-plums danced in their heads.
And mamma in her `kerchief, and I in my cap,
Had just settled our brains for a long winter’s nap.

When out on the lawn there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from the bed to see what was the matter.
Away to the window I flew like a flash,
Tore open the shutters and threw up the sash.

The moon on the breast of the new-fallen snow
Gave the lustre of mid-day to objects below.
When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tinny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.
More rapid than eagles his coursers they came,
And he whistled, and shouted, and called them by name!

“Now Dasher! now, Dancer! now, Prancer and Vixen!
On, Comet! On, Cupid! on, on Donner and Blitzen!
To the top of the porch! to the top of the wall!
Now dash away! Dash away! Dash away all!”

As dry leaves that before the wild hurricane fly,
When they meet with an obstacle, mount to the sky.
So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of Toys, and St Nicholas too.

And then, in a twinkling, I heard on the roof
The prancing and pawing of each little hoof.
As I drew in my head, and was turning around,
Down the chimney St Nicholas came with a bound.

He was dressed all in fur, from his head to his foot,
And his clothes were all tarnished with ashes and soot.
A bundle of Toys he had flung on his back,
And he looked like a peddler, just opening his pack.

His eyes-how they twinkled! his dimples how merry!
His cheeks were like roses, his nose like a cherry!
His droll little mouth was drawn up like a bow,
And the beard of his chin was as white as the snow.

The stump of a pipe he held tight in his teeth,
And the smoke it encircled his head like a wreath.
He had a broad face and a little round belly,
That shook when he laughed, like a bowlful of jelly!

He was chubby and plump, a right jolly old elf,
And I laughed when I saw him, in spite of myself!
A wink of his eye and a twist of his head,
Soon gave me to know I had nothing to dread.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.
And laying his finger aside of his nose,
And giving a nod, up the chimney he rose!

He sprang to his sleigh, to his team gave a whistle,
And away they all flew like the down of a thistle.
But I heard him exclaim, `ere he drove out of sight,
“Happy Christmas to all, and to all a good-night!”

http://www.space.com/php/multimedia/imagedisplay/img_display.php?pic=050310_iod_rosettaearth_02.jpg&cap=Europe%27s%20comet-hunting%20Rosetta%20probe%20caught%20this%20glance%20of%20the%20Earth%20and%20moon%20as%20it%20passed%20through%20our%20planetary


“Europe’s comet-hunting Rosetta probe caught this glance of the Earth and moon as it passed through our planetary neighborhood during its March 4, 2005 flyby. The spacecraft maintained a constant moon-facing orientation during the swing past Earth, catching this image just three minutes before making its closest approach – about 1,954 kilometers – above the Pacific Ocean west of Mexico.”

Society & Cosmology: Humans, Life, the Universe and Everything

http://www.spaceandmotion.com/cosmos-society-human-cosmology.htm


“There is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened.”

Douglas Adams
English humorist & science fiction novelist (1952 – 2001)

There are places I’ll remember all my life
Though some have changed
Some forever not for better
Some have gone and some remain

All these places had their moments
With lovers and friends I still can recall
Some are dead and some are living
In my life I’ve loved them all

But of all these friends and lovers
There is no one compares with you
And these memories lose their meaning
When I think of love as something new

Though I know I’ll never lose affection
For people and things that went before
I know I’ll often stop and think about them
In my life I’ll love you more

Given today’s date I thought this was appropriate, my old family home, gone forever, changed and not for better.

Incidently, I have heard that ‘In My Life’ was Paul Mc Cartney’s favourite ‘John Lennon’ song.

Downfall Der Untergang

Downfall (2004) – Der Untergang

http://www.downfallthefilm.com/

Downfall (2004) follows the dying days of the third Reich mostly from the viewpoint of Traudl Junge, Hitler’s personal secretary. I watched this last night on Channel 4, definitely not for the faint hearted, the scene where Magda Goebels kills her children is harrowing in the extreme.

Update: the original site I linked is now some kind of clickbait slimming website and the wayback machine doesn’t work properly for embedded videos. So good old Youtube has the trailer here:

Trailer in HD but no subtitles

Since my original post the film has generated a kind of momentum of its own. It has spawned many memes in the form of parodies normally based around the scene in the bunker where Hitler is flies into a rage.

http://www.rnliseasafety.org.uk/

From the site: “We want to ensure that you get the maximum enjoyment possible from your chosen sport or activity. The RNLI Sea Safety department has been running for over 10 years now with your safety at the heart of all we do.

The sea can be a dangerous place but a few basic precautions could make all the difference, so have a good look through the rest of the site to see what we can do for you.

May we wish you many years of happy and safe sea going.”

http://www.purchasing.com/article/CA6285763.html

If only I had bought shares in Antofagasta….

From the page: “The copper price has nearly tripled from the end of year 2001 but not because of historically low inventories and strong world demand as much as by The Case of the Missing Trader. In fact, speculation that China will refuse to deliver up to 200,000 metric tons of copper from its reserves to cover a massive gamble on futures contracts is driving prices to record highs.

As reported in the Financial Times of London, last week’s activities on the London Metal Exchange began with the kind of story that could have come out of a spy novel Chinese copper trader had reportedly gone missing after building a huge short position of the red metal. The story continued to dominate trading during the week, even if there was little clarity on its truth. It was enough to push three-month copper contracts to all-time highs. Three-month copper contracts in London on Friday broke through a psychologically important level of $4,200, touching $4,244.50 a metric ton ($1.925/lb) in afternoon trading after a week of strong speculative demand. Later in the day, it eased to $4,198/metric ton ($1.90/lb). The price rally was triggered by rumors around China’s State Reserve Bureau (SRB), a government body that manages China’s strategic commodity reserves. Liu Qibing, a futures trader based in Shanghai, who may or may not have ties to the State Reserve Bureau, is said to have built a short position of 100,000 to 200,000 metric tons of copper. He amassed these futures contracts on the LME, betting that prices would go down. Instead, prices have continued to climb sharply this year on strong demand from China’s booming economy and some unexpected supply shortfalls from major producers in Chile and the U.S. If prices remain at their current levels or continue to rise, Liu’s trades could lead to losses of $200 million or more, according to a report in the International Herald Tribune.”

http://img321.imageshack.us/img321/7480/saddamstatue8ut.jpg


Ozymandias
a sonnet by Percy Bysshe Shelley (1817)

I met a traveler from an antique land
Who said: Two vast and trunkless legs of stone
Stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand,
Half sunk, a shattered visage lies, whose frown,
And wrinkled lip, and sneer of cold command,
Tell that its sculptor well those passions read,
Which yet survive, stamped on these lifeless things,
The hand that mocked them, and the heart that fed,
And on the pedestal these words appear:
“My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look upon my works, ye Mighty, and despair!”
Nothing beside remains. Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

see also:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ozymandias

ID cards wont make us safer | UK news | guardian.co.uk

http://politics.guardian.co.uk/homeaffairs/story/0,11026,1643987,00.html

Former MI5 chief Stella Rimington

From the page: “Identity cards would not make Britain a safer place and nobody in the secret intelligence services supports their introduction, according to the former head of MI5.

Asked at a further education conference whether she thought ID cards would make the country safer, Dame Stella Rimington replied: “No is the very simple answer, although ID cards have possibly some purpose.

“But I don’t think anybody in the intelligence services – not in my former service – will be pressing for ID cards.””

British pull-out from Iraq could start in 2006, Reid says – Times Online

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/article/0,,7374-1871741,00.html

From the page: “Britain’s 8,000 troops in Iraq could begin to withdraw next year, John Reid, the Defence Secretary, confirmed today.

Mr Reid was reacting to comments by Jalal Talabani, the President of Iraq, who said at the weekend that Iraqi troops would be able to take over security in southern Iraq, where the British are based, by the end of next year.”

http://img474.imageshack.us/img474/8329/remembrance0018sr.jpg

In Flanders Fields
By: Lieutenant Colonel John McCrae, MD (1872-1918)
Canadian Army

IN FLANDERS FIELDS the poppies blow
Between the crosses row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks, still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

The picture above is a screenshot of the Remembrance Field in Grindlewald, Second Life created and owned by Garnet Psaltery.