Overheard In Providence » video

Domestic terrorism we can believe in

eerac — Fri, 17 Oct 2008 00:41:03 +0000

I just noticed that my favorite elected official (a.k.a. my new hippest friend) linked here from PVD’s finest online cultural institution, The Providence Daily Dose. His link was in reference to my post highlighting a video on sculptor/machinist Arthur Ganson, so I can only assume anyone following the link is expecting to seeing some other hot videos that appeal to nerdy/techy/artsy types (Dave’s ultra hip now, but in college he was a math major).

Not being one to disappoint, I was tempted to embed the newest Sony Bravia ad, except then I decided it wasn’t so hot and that really their older ads are much more exciting (especially the first one, which features 250,000 multicolored bouncy balls). Instead I’ve decided to embed this video, brought to you by the freethinking radicals over at Quicksilver, and made by a bunch of crazed Bill Ayers supporters no doubt.

Looking to the past

eerac — Fri, 15 Feb 2008 19:55:37 +0000

Sometimes people ask me exactly we computer science types study. What is a “computer” really? Why are computers so important? How do they relate to the world around us?

Footage from IBM’s booth at the 1964 worlds fair fills in some of the details (skip to 2:30 if you like) :

As a graduate student in computer science, and general railroad enthusiast, I found their explanation to be dead on. It may not make much sense, but it uses the word “reality” several times, and it’s presented by a guy wearing a tux, so that’s a plus. Regardless, I’m pretty psyched to live in that tundra village.

Lateral, lateral, … LATERAL!!!

eerac — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 04:22:29 +0000

An ~~amazing~~ absurd moment in division III football (the announcing is actually my favorite part):

In case you are unfamiliar, a football can only be thrown forward once per play. Any subsequent throws, called “laterals”, must be backwards. These are quite uncommon, since the players involved run a high risk of dropping the ball.