Prof. dr. Wubbo J. Ockels is a Dutch physicist, and also the Netherlands’ original astronaut. He is a Professor of Aerospace Sustainable Engineering and Technology at the University of Delft.
TEDxAmsterdam: Wubbo Ockels from TEDxAmsterdam on Vimeo.
Ockels explains how ‘time’ is created by human beings, as a way our brains can make sense of gravity. The speed of light is constant, because it is made by us: it’s the clock by which we have calibrated our existence.
The White Mountain from charles on Vimeo.
I shot this little clip during a tour of the Missouri State Penitentiary a couple of years ago, and forgot about it. One of my favorite prison factoids: The prison was opened in 1836… the same month the Alamo fell.
As far as I know, I did the first live video feed from a committee room at the Missouri state capitol. I know, you’re asking yourself why would anyone bother. You could ask that about a lot of important-but-not-too-interesting news.
We’ve been streaming audio of debate in the Missouri House and Senate for 8+ years and recorded audio of lots of hearings, but never video. Finally all of the pieces of the puzzle seemed to be in place: hardware, software, wifi.
I used a little Logitech webcam (on the tripod); the Casio Exilim for back-up (on the small tripod) and ran it (the LogiTech) through CamTwist up to USTEAM. I think I can skip CamTwist next time. You can sample a few seconds below.
It ain’t CBS but I didn’t have wait on the sat truck, either. Next time, I might just try this on the iPhone if I can get close enough.
LocalNewser: Michael Rosenblum on the Death of Local News from Mark Joyella on Vimeo. “Michael Rosenblum’s been around the local news biz for decades, along the way helping create New York’s all-news NY1 and Al Gore’s Current TV. Rosenblum’s consulted for stations across the country and around the world, and yet he believes the model that’s kept local news alive since the 1950s is broken, and the only way to repair it–drastic changes in the way news stations operate–just won’t happen. Rosenblum tells LocalNewser’s Mark Joyella local news is like GM: sticking with a recipe that put them on top five decades ago, but will drive them to bankruptcy today.”
My favorite line: When Google does news in New York, it aint gonna start in the CBS building with a chopper. Or something to that effect. Video runs about 2 1/2 min.
From the TED Blog: “NYU professor Clay Shirky gave a fantastic talk on new media during our TED@State event earlier this month. He revealed how cellphones, the web, Facebook and Twitter had changed the rules of the game, allowing ordinary citizens extraordinary new powers to impact real-world events.” [via @greatdismal]
Back in 2005 I posted a link to a clip from the HBO series, Deadwood. In this episode Al Swearengen (Ian McShane) is sick as a dog from a kidney stone. So sick he cannot speak. Doc Cochran is about to surgically remove the stone (which could kill Al) but at the last minute, they opt to let Al try to pass the stone, with help from Johnny, Dan and Trixie.
Bonus clip: I’m thinking of putting this on my answering machine (6 seconds)
Excellent interview with David Milch (The New Language of the Old West)
The Great Schlep from The Great Schlep on Vimeo.
In the 1993 TV mini-series, Wild Palms, Senator Anton Kreutzer (Robert Loggia) has the Go-Chip implanted and uploads his consciousness to the Net. Immortality! Unfortunately, the IT guys were running Vista on the server. But that’s a damned fine looking smoking jacket.