Benoit Mandelbrot passed away on Thursday at the age of 85. He last talked about his work at TED2010 earlier this year.
I remember being fascinated by images of the Mandelbrot set when I was a child and I did a series of articles last year on how to create them using GNU Octave so if you want to have a go yourself, feel free to grab the code and follow the examples.
Thanks to The Register for reminding us that Today is not Hadron Collider Day and cutting through the hype and FUD generated by the rest of the press today. Yes, today CERN reached a significant milestone with the Large Hadron Collider by running the first beam of protons full circle but no collisions are planned for the next few months yet. That's because to have a collision, you need two beams of proton: one going clockwise, the other one going anti-clockwise. And even then, the world will not end because what the HLC will produce happens all the time in nature. The difference is that the HLC will do it under controlled conditions. If you are not convinced, you can always check that the world hasn't been destroyed by visiting this handy status page.
According to Wired, Sony BMG have decided to start offering their music online without DRM. This makes them the last of the major labels to do so.
This is good news for everybody as it means we will start seeing more music sold online without DRM. Then again, music is not limited to major labels, there are lots of Indie labels out there that produce great music. And there are more and more online outfits that enable artists to distribute their music. Check out Magnatune, Amie Street or Jamendo for a few examples.
Sports commentators are known for their sometimes amusing comparisons and comments. In an attempt to sound interesting, they often eschew good taste, common sense and simplicity to come up with the weirdest things, as demonstrated today in the BBC commentary of the Moya-Henman game:
Relief for Moya as Henman's groundstrokes are drawn to the net like papparazi to an intoxicated Jade Goody.
See what I mean?
Shock! Horror! Kensington & Chelsea has the highest average house price in the whole country according to the BBC. But more importantly, the source of the news is a very nifty web site called mouseprice.com where you can find everything about the housing market anywhere in England. Their house price heat map is really cool and an example of a great custom Google Maps application.
We've all done it: sneakily hiding a glass or other piece of crockery in a bag while having a drink in a pub and take it home to complete our collection of pub memorabilia. One guy in Southampton went further and stole a urinal. He even wiped his fingerprints from the door to make it the perfect theft. Why would you ever go to that much trouble for a urinal... and then get caught on CCTV? Or is it that he doesn't have a B&Q close to where he lives?
According to The Register, Americans are more concerned with the integrity of casino betting machines than electronic voting system. Maybe they should organise a lottery to elect their next president rather than bother with voting?
I got the following email from a friend last night:
As some of you may already know, I have had a small hand in funding a new feature film, opening this Friday across the country (including Manchester, Bristol, Reading as well as most of London ;), starring Ewan McGregor, Catherine Tate and a handful of established and upcoming British talent.
Set on a sunny afternoon in Hampstead Heath, it is a wry look on relationships from the vantage of several couples meeting up in very different circumstances.
It is entitled ‘Scenes of a Sexual Nature’ (although not particularly racy, and a 15 rating ;) – and if we have a good opening weekend then the Film Council will provide additional funding to open more cinemas. Apparently we have made waves in the film industry for our unique approach to financing the filming and distribution independently (and actually making in into the cinemas). Sony has just signed for the DVD rights, and if all goes well we hope to open across the pond in La La Land in April.
So if any of you or friends/family/pets fancy visiting the cinema this weekend, please consider our humble British, independent effort rather than those brash Hollywood pieces of fluff and fancy ;)
You can find out more at the website www.tinpanfilms.com or the bbc websites for Films2006 reviews (Jonathan was very positive ;)
I also read an interesting review in a newspaper last night. Apparently, they have been extremely innovative in the funding and distribution, while managing to get an impressive cast. As explained in the email, everybody is waiting to see what happens on the opening weekend (this weekend, 3-5 November) because a lot of people have said it was impossible to do. So I really want to go see it and contribute to making it a success.
We already knew that there were no WMD in Iraq, contrary to what the UK government said. Now we have the confirmation that there was no link with al-Qaeda either contrary to what the US government said. What a mess and what a waste of human life and resources! But more importantly what a travesty of so-called Western values of freedom and democracy! One Nation under God, indivisible, With Liberty and Justice for all
, they say. Indeed, to the detriment of other nations' liberty and justice. Note that I have nothing against the American people, as I understand that the People are not the same as the Government of George W Bush, in the same way that the British People are not the same as the Government of Tony Blair. Isn't it time that the democratic process in both countries be put to work and make the clowns that are at the helm accountable for what they did, before more damage is done? Apparently, this is already happening in the UK and I wish it happened in the US.
Via BBC News
Out of all the possible excuses for driving above the speed limit, the one about the goat free roads is one of the best.
Thanks to The Register.
Newspaper headlines were saying yesterday Blair out by May next year
. Today they are saying Blair out by Christmas
. I suppose tomorrow will be Blair out by Sunday
.
