From Boing Boing Blog "This morning on The Current, a CBC radio show, Bob MacDonald (the CBC's science commentator and host of the brilliant show Quirks and Quarks), was asked to justify the expense of the space program. Among other things, he said: 'It costs NASA less to send a probe to Mars than it would cost Hollywood to make a movie about it'." Link
10:25:50 AM  #   your two cents []

I went out to the Dun Laoghaire Institute of Art, Design and Technology last night to see their end-of-year student exhibit. There's some exciting stuff in there -- not least, some really cool examples of their theatrical make-up crowd, some wonderful animations and great work by the science and tech and interactive media people. And enjoyed the fine art student work, too (one student, Siobhan Buckley, has done some amazing stuff with flowers trapped in clear resin, and I hope to have her make me two panels to hang in my house).

Today I am going out to the Tallaght Institute of Technology, to launch their year-end show of projects. So much energy and talent on the student front! If you get a chance to visit the various project shows getting underway around the state, do. I like to see their work when they are fresh and not having to think yet in mostly commercial terms.

10:21:53 AM  #   your two cents []

European Regulators Seek More Evidence in Microsoft Inquiry. European competition regulators are seeking more evidence in their investigation of Microsoft, a move expected to delay further the five-year-old antitrust inquiry. [New York Times: Technology]
10:13:52 AM  #   your two cents []

If you like iTunes -- or don't live in the US (a requirement with Apple's service) but would like to try a very cool, legit, no-DRM service -- try out eMusic. Thanks to a tip-off from Scott Rosenberg, I checked it out -- and what a great back and new catalog of stuff!! And there's plenty more music I don't really know, but would like to try. At a paltry $10/month for unlimited downloads, I know I will get my money's worth within a very short time -- already I know 10 albums I'd like to get. Lots of smaller labels and independents (a limitation to the Apple music store right now). I have been unencouraged to experiment for well over a decade due to the high cost of CDs (though I used to by at least one release a week when I was a student with considerably less disposible income than I have now...). I'm really excited about this opportunity to expand my music collection with old favourites and do some exploring as well. Check it out.

10:11:49 AM  #   your two cents []

How did this lot become cool again? Fashion disasters of the 1980s are being revived as musical geniuses.  [Guardian Unlimited]:

Reassessing records is like listing buildings. If the Beatles or the Velvet Underground are grand old structures, beyond reproach, what we are now reappraising are the equivalents of the BT Tower - once an eyesore, now an icon. Currently, the most fertile period is 1978 to 1982, and time has proven a great leveller. The bands who were sneered at by tastemakers at the time (Depeche Mode, Gary Numan, the Cure) are proving just as influential as the critical darlings (Elvis Costello, Joy Division).

10:05:13 AM  #   your two cents []

Boy, has that Bugbear virus travelled fast. I first started getting the telltale odd emails with executables on Wednesday. Yesterday, I got loads of them. The Irish Times was hit, and I know our website was down for a while last night, probably not unconnected events.
10:01:19 AM  #   your two cents []