What Are Movies?

You don’t have to be a machinist to know that a device cannot work properly if it’s cogs are clogged with gunk, or if a piston ain’t firing, or a thingamajig isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. If one element is out of place, the contraption in question may run quite badly, or may not perform at all. Movies are machines. They are the combined efforts of actors, directors, writers, art

What Are Movies?

You don’t have to be a machinist to know that a device cannot work properly if it’s cogs are clogged with gunk, or if a piston ain’t firing, or a thingamajig isn’t doing what it’s supposed to do. If one element is out of place, the contraption in question may run quite badly, or may not perform at all. Movies are machines. They are the combined efforts of actors, directors, writers, art

Change Dim Display When Idle Time

Ubuntu automatically makes your display dim when you are idle for 30 seconds. Yes this saves battery life but for me 30 seconds is really annoying. And the good thing is this default value can be easily changed from gconf-editor.

1. Press ALT+F2
2. Enter gconf-editor
3. In gconf-editor browse to apps > gnome-power-manager > backlight > idle_dim_time
4. Hit enter
   
5. Change the integer value in seconds.

That's it.

Blue Neptune

A first for me: Early this morning before sunrise was the first of three conjunctions between Neptune and Jupiter. The rare "triple conjunction" started this morning with a close passage of Jupiter near Neptune in Capricorn. The separation was less than half a degree (less than a moon-width) and the difference visually between giant Jupiter and its four moons and blue Neptune was dramatic. Neptune looks essentially like a dim blue star through binoculars -- and is invisible to the unaided eye.

I had never taken the time to look for Neptune in the past. Because it is so dim and nearly impossible to resolve to anything but a pinpoint of light, I had never been motivated to seek it in a field of dim stars. But with Jupiter as my guide, it was an easy find and a magical moment to see those two solar system objects in one field of view. The alignment of two very distant planets - one 450 million miles away, the other almost 3 billion miles away - in a compact cluster less than half a degree apart was nothing short of remarkable. Now that the two planets have lined up once, they will soon reverse course and move in retrograde motion across the sky and will have the second conjunction on July 13th. Then they will return to prograde motion and have their final conjunction on December 20th. This long slow process is rare indeed, but as Jupiter speeds eastward away from Neptune after December 20th, it will soon arrive near to Uranus and will have a triple conjunction with Uranus starting in June 2010. I'll be sure to catch that one as well - because - yes, because I haven't ever seen Uranus either!

Moon passing through Gemini and Leo

As we transition from spring to summer, during the early phases of the lunar cycle the Moon's path appears to jump out of the western twilight sky fairly steeply toward the zenith. Gemini is the zodiac constellation that appears highest in the sky compared to the 11 other constellations of the zodiac. Thus in springtime when the Moon passes through Gemini, it appears fairly high in the western sky. This week you can see the Moon on its journey first through Gemini, then briefly across Cancer, then into Leo and a flyby of Saturn.

I am fascinated by the daily lengthening of the minutes and hours of sunlight at this time of year. Each day the sun rises a minute earlier and sets a minute later. It's very interesting to watch the transition from sunset to dark moving later and later each evening. In addition to the timing of sunset, the location is also changing. The sun sets quite far north of west and the point of sunset continues to move north until the summer solstice.

2009 Cannes Film Festival Winners

The results are in: PALME D'OR: The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (Germany) GRAND PRIX: A Prophet, Jacques Audiard (France) SPECIAL PRIZE: Wild Grass, Alain Renais (France) ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (USA) ACTRESS: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist (Denmark)DIRECTOR: Brillante Mendoza, Kinatay (Phillipines) SCREENPLAY: Mei Feng, Spring Fever (China) CAMERA D'OR (best first film):

2009 Cannes Film Festival Winners

The results are in: PALME D'OR: The White Ribbon, Michael Haneke (Germany) GRAND PRIX: A Prophet, Jacques Audiard (France) SPECIAL PRIZE: Wild Grass, Alain Renais (France) ACTOR: Christoph Waltz, Inglourious Basterds (USA) ACTRESS: Charlotte Gainsbourg, Antichrist (Denmark)DIRECTOR: Brillante Mendoza, Kinatay (Phillipines) SCREENPLAY: Mei Feng, Spring Fever (China) CAMERA D'OR (best first film):

Book for the weekend

Subject: Python

Description: Programming

BOOk: Dive Into Python



Dive Into Python is a Python book for experienced programmers.

Download it in various format and language from http://www.diveintopython.org/#download

And yes its free...............

The 50 Most Overlooked Movies of the 1990s

I just posted my 25 Best Movies of the 1990s the other day, and although it cites forgotten films like Time Indefinite, The Rapture, and The Gods of Times Square, I felt it gave short shrift to a host of movies that deserve more eyes than they're possibly getting. So here are 50 truly under- appreciated movies from the decade, listed in order of their release year:STRANGERS IN GOOD COMPANY (

The 50 Most Overlooked Movies of the 1990s

I just posted my 25 Best Movies of the 1990s the other day, and although it cites forgotten films like Time Indefinite, The Rapture, and The Gods of Times Square, I felt it gave short shrift to a host of movies that deserve more eyes than they're possibly getting. So here are 50 truly under- appreciated movies from the decade, listed in order of their release year:STRANGERS IN GOOD COMPANY (

Film #129: Multiple SIDosis (R.I.P. Sid Laverents: 1908-2009)

In 2000, the National Library of Congress, in their yearly picks of 25 American films to be preserved by their National Film Registry, included a rarely-seen, amateur 16mm movie by Sid Laverents as one of their chosen few. Completed in 1970, Multiple SIDosis splashes as a simple idea on paper, but on celluloid, it's a whole other matter. Laverents--often the star of his movies--plays himself,

Film #129: Multiple SIDosis (R.I.P. Sid Laverents: 1908-2009)

In 2000, the National Library of Congress, in their yearly picks of 25 American films to be preserved by their National Film Registry, included a rarely-seen, amateur 16mm movie by Sid Laverents as one of their chosen few. Completed in 1970, Multiple SIDosis splashes as a simple idea on paper, but on celluloid, it's a whole other matter. Laverents--often the star of his movies--plays himself,

The 25 Best Movies of the 1990s

John Foote's recent posting on In Contention, looking at forgotten films of the 1990s, was so provocative, it compelled me to leave a comment that I thought I'd also appropriate for filmicability. So, quickly, for me, the 25 best movies of the 1990s:1) GOODFELLAS (Martin Scorsese, 90) (the decade's most influential movie, and its most essential, too) 2) BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars Von Trier, 96) (

The 25 Best Movies of the 1990s

John Foote's recent posting on In Contention, looking at forgotten films of the 1990s, was so provocative, it compelled me to leave a comment that I thought I'd also appropriate for filmicability. So, quickly, for me, the 25 best movies of the 1990s:1) GOODFELLAS (Martin Scorsese, 90) (the decade's most influential movie, and its most essential, too) 2) BREAKING THE WAVES (Lars Von Trier, 96) (

Film #128: White Hunter Black Heart

White Hunter Black Heart may not be a movie that many people consider a classic, but I certainly do: in fact, it may be producer/ director/ actor Clint Eastwood's most overlooked film. Released in 1990, screenwriter Peter Viertel's kinetic adaptation of his roman a'clef novel chronicles his mercurial relationship with uber-macho director John Huston while on location in Africa filming (or not

Film #128: White Hunter Black Heart

White Hunter Black Heart may not be a movie that many people consider a classic, but I certainly do: in fact, it may be producer/ director/ actor Clint Eastwood's most overlooked film. Released in 1990, screenwriter Peter Viertel's kinetic adaptation of his roman a'clef novel chronicles his mercurial relationship with uber-macho director John Huston while on location in Africa filming (or not

Film #127: Marathon Man

After winning Oscars in 1969 for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and again in 1976 for All the President's Men, legendary screenwriter William Goldman scribbled down the novel Marathon Man as well as its corresponding screenplay. Produced in 1976, the movie is clearly flawed, yet still I count it as an enjoyable tension-fest from Midnight Cowboy director John Schlesinger. A long way from

Film #127: Marathon Man

After winning Oscars in 1969 for Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid and again in 1976 for All the President's Men, legendary screenwriter William Goldman scribbled down the novel Marathon Man as well as its corresponding screenplay. Produced in 1976, the movie is clearly flawed, yet still I count it as an enjoyable tension-fest from Midnight Cowboy director John Schlesinger. A long way from

Film #126: Hoosiers

In 1986's Hoosiers--by far the finest basketball film out there--Gene Hackman is the bearish, enigmatic new teacher/coach at the tiny 1950s-era high school that anchors the Indiana farm town of Hickory. With its small student body and a dwindling supply of basketball talents to match, the coach finds himself against the bleachers in shaping a winning team (even the well-cast townspeople, who're

Film #126: Hoosiers

In 1986's Hoosiers--by far the finest basketball film out there--Gene Hackman is the bearish, enigmatic new teacher/coach at the tiny 1950s-era high school that anchors the Indiana farm town of Hickory. With its small student body and a dwindling supply of basketball talents to match, the coach finds himself against the bleachers in shaping a winning team (even the well-cast townspeople, who're

Film #125: Broadway: The Golden Age

Even if you don't consider yourself a stage enthusiast (heck, I've only taken in five or six Broadway productions), you'll be overwhelmed by Rick McKay's joyful 2004 doc Broadway: The Golden Age. The charismatic McKay is a lifelong New York stage expert who, in narration, wealthily frames his movie with reminiscences of a now-unfathomably accessible time for Broadway (you could go see a play

Film #125: Broadway: The Golden Age

Even if you don't consider yourself a stage enthusiast (heck, I've only taken in five or six Broadway productions), you'll be overwhelmed by Rick McKay's joyful 2004 doc Broadway: The Golden Age. The charismatic McKay is a lifelong New York stage expert who, in narration, wealthily frames his movie with reminiscences of a now-unfathomably accessible time for Broadway (you could go see a play

FILMICABILITY lands 5 Lammy nominations!

Wow! Thanks to all my fellow Lambs who submitted my site for the five categories in which I was included (Most Ambitious, Most Likely to Get Paid, Most Prolific, the Brainiac Award and the biggest surprise, for me, was the inclusion of my 20 Favorite Actors piece in the Best Blogathon/Meme category)! I didn't get a nod for Best Blog, but I did land in the top five most-nominated sites, along

FILMICABILITY lands 5 Lammy nominations!

Wow! Thanks to all my fellow Lambs who submitted my site for the five categories in which I was included (Most Ambitious, Most Likely to Get Paid, Most Prolific, the Brainiac Award and the biggest surprise, for me, was the inclusion of my 20 Favorite Actors piece in the Best Blogathon/Meme category)! I didn't get a nod for Best Blog, but I did land in the top five most-nominated sites, along

Jupiter in the morning

Jupiter and the Moon are going to share the southern sky during the early morning hours the next few days. If you are up before dawn look south-east for the waning Moon and bright Jupiter. On the 17th the two will have a close encounter that should be a pretty sight for the naked eye or through binoculars.

Film #124: Tess

I prefer watching my fiction to reading it (non-fiction tomes are my reading predilection), so it takes quite a movie to whallop me into reading the book upon which it's based. But when I first saw Roman Polanski's 1980 masterpiece Tess on the big screen upon its release, I rushed out to snap up Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'ubervilles, published in 1891. It's a rush of a tale--downbeat and

Film #124: Tess

I prefer watching my fiction to reading it (non-fiction tomes are my reading predilection), so it takes quite a movie to whallop me into reading the book upon which it's based. But when I first saw Roman Polanski's 1980 masterpiece Tess on the big screen upon its release, I rushed out to snap up Thomas Hardy's Tess of the D'ubervilles, published in 1891. It's a rush of a tale--downbeat and

KFOG Broadcast: May 13th, 2009

Get Involved: the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI)

Astronomers, whether professional or amateur, inevitably ask themselves "are we alone in the universe?" It's a natural question to ask when you spend a lot of time looking into the sky, whether in pursuit of scientific research or in a backyard enjoying the view of a deep space object in a telescope. The term "Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence" (abbreviated SETI) is the name for a collection of worldwide projects that are studying the universe and gathering data in the hope of answering the question "are we alone?"

Here in the Bay Area, the SETI Institute is hard at work on a broad range of scientific pursuits that support the mission of SETI, "to explore, understand and explain the origin, nature and prevalence of life in the universe. We believe we are conducting the most profound search in human history - to know our beginnings and our place among the stars." The SETI Institute is building a massive array of radio telescopes in Northern California, the first phase of which is already listening for signals of intelligent life every day.

The Director of SETI, Jill Tarter, recently was honored with the TED Prize given in February at the TED Conference. The prize brings visibility to the project and is propelling forward a major initiative to bring together a global community of technologists using social networking methods to collaborate on SETI. There is a blog on the TED website where you can follow the progress of the SETI Institute.

I am captivated by the work of the scientists and visionary leaders at the SETI Instititute and encourage others to get involved by learning about the Institute, becoming a member of TeamSETI, or volunteering in a greater capacity to support their efforts. And put your computer to work on the SETI@Home project.

Film #123: Bigger Than Life

Bigger Than Life, released in 1956, is Nicholas Ray's masterpiece starring James Mason as a milquetoast elementary school teacher named Ed Avery, struggling economically at home and at work, and newly diagnosed with a rare, dooming affliction. The cure is a hormone--cortisone--that the menacing doctors advise him to take indefinitely. Once he's out of harm's way, the physicians also warn him to

Film #123: Bigger Than Life

Bigger Than Life, released in 1956, is Nicholas Ray's masterpiece starring James Mason as a milquetoast elementary school teacher named Ed Avery, struggling economically at home and at work, and newly diagnosed with a rare, dooming affliction. The cure is a hormone--cortisone--that the menacing doctors advise him to take indefinitely. Once he's out of harm's way, the physicians also warn him to

Near-Earth Astronomy: Iridium Flares

For quite a while I have been captivated by the sight of the International Space Station (ISS) whenever it is visible in the evening or morning sky. It is a big object, about 100 meters across and highly reflective. In the sky it looks as bright as Venus but it moves as swiftly as an airplane and in a very beautiful arc across the sky. Last week I was introduced to another near-earth satellite, actually a group of satellites known as Iridium Satellites. These are a collection of 66 communications satellites that circle the globe from a higher orbit than the ISS, but nonetheless light up quite brightly when viewed from just the right orientation. When sunlight glints off the antenna panels they create a very bright beam of light known as an "Iridium Flare."

I had never taken the time to look for one of these flares so I consulted a website known as Heavens Above (also permanently linked from this blog). There you can enter your location on a Google map and get a listing of the next 7 days of Iridium Flares. I did this and yesterday saw an amazingly bright flare from my front steps.

Iridium Flares are very localized events - that is, when a flare is visible at a particular moment and in a particular location, you won't see it nearly as bright (or at all) 10 or 20 miles away. So if you want to see one, take the time to carefully select your location on the map and then jot down the exact times and locations of the next few flares in your neighborhood. They are indeed impressive and you will be glad you took a moment to see one. They are astronomy - from my point of view - because you are looking carefully at the sky and seeing something that is outside of our own atmosphere.

Game Of The Day - Sauerbraten

Sauerbraten, its single/multi player, its fps and its free.





Install it by sudo aptitude install sauerbraten

http://www.sauerbraten.org/

2009 Movie Diary (January-early May)

I have to clear my MOVIE DIARY sidebar, so I'm committing it to posterity as an entry into the body of my blog. I review each film in fifteen words or less (which is harder than one might think). This diary doesn't include individual episodes of such TV series as The Office (US), Lou Grant, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family, The Honeymooners, 30 Rock, and

2009 Movie Diary (January-early May)

I have to clear my MOVIE DIARY sidebar, so I'm committing it to posterity as an entry into the body of my blog. I review each film in fifteen words or less (which is harder than one might think). This diary doesn't include individual episodes of such TV series as The Office (US), Lou Grant, The Bob Newhart Show, The Mary Tyler Moore Show, The Partridge Family, The Honeymooners, 30 Rock, and

A Little Self-Promotion

I'm frantically trying, right now, to visit absolutely every website listed in the Large Association of Movie Blogs (or the LAMB's) pantheon. It's really difficult to do, even in the space of a week. But, as the site's annual blogger awards, the LAMMIES, are fast approaching, I have to post this ad I concocted tubthumping my own achievements this year. In little over the space of one year, I've

A Little Self-Promotion

I'm frantically trying, right now, to visit absolutely every website listed in the Large Association of Movie Blogs (or the LAMB's) pantheon. It's really difficult to do, even in the space of a week. But, as the site's annual blogger awards, the LAMMIES, are fast approaching, I have to post this ad I concocted tubthumping my own achievements this year. In little over the space of one year, I've

Thursday Nightlife at the California Academy of Sciences

I spent most of this evening in Golden Gate Park at the California Academy of Sciences. Several months ago they initiated a new program called Nightlife. From the Academy of Sciences website:

Every Thursday, the Academy is transformed into a lively venue filled with music, provocative science, mingling, and cocktails, for visitors 21 and older. Activities and performers change week to week.

The event has been selling out week after week and tonight was no exception. I am so impressed that literally thousands of San Franciscans show up to take in the science, the music, the food and drink, and the company of friends and neighbors. The Living Roof was my primary haunt because of the clear skies over San Francisco. The view was great this evening and there were three amateur astronomers on the roof with telescopes showing off Saturn and the nearly full Moon. Although I don't work for CAS, I could not help myself but to talk with guests while they waited in line to look through the telescopes. I shared my insights of the night sky, of what to look for in the telescope, of how far away these celestial objects are, and so on. I really enjoy doing this for people who show an interest in the sky - to enhance their experience and to impart some new knowledge of the universe.

No surprise, I am enrolling in the training program to become a volunteer at the CAS :-)

create /dev/null

Are you getting /dev/null: Permission denied error in terminal ?

Chances are you accidentally deleted /dev/null or something happened that you are unaware of.

But no worries you can make /dev/null again by following the mentioned steps and get rid of the problem.

1. First go to terminal
2. sudo rm /dev/null
3. sudo mknod -m 0666 /dev/null c 1 3

And this should solve the problem.

Linux Guru Tip No 1

Never use relative path while you use rm command. Always use absolute path.

There are many cases while people do sudo rm -rf ./ and accidentally run the command again from history after changing their working directory.

Absolute path ends as you delete the folder while relative path exists on basis of where your working directory is.

Side Orders #11

Just to break up The 9 Years a bit, here's another edition of my film clip series SIDE ORDERS. We start with the first film ever made -- and no, it's not Women Leaving A Factory by the Lumiere Brothers. That was the first film over 30 seconds, and was made in 1895. This is Thomas Edison's Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, filmed on Jan. 7, 1894. So that means we just passed the 115th

Side Orders #11

Just to break up The 9 Years a bit, here's another edition of my film clip series SIDE ORDERS. We start with the first film ever made -- and no, it's not Women Leaving A Factory by the Lumiere Brothers. That was the first film over 30 seconds, and was made in 1895. This is Thomas Edison's Kinetoscopic Record of a Sneeze, filmed on Jan. 7, 1894. So that means we just passed the 115th