Incredible Week

So my title has a double meaning. Not only did I see The Incredibles again tonight but I've had a rather interesting past week. Seeing the movie again was cool though because it reminds me of how fun something so innocent can be, and Yahoo! Movies recently put up some clips from the DVD extras. Anyway, I've already told the tale of my tests, and to conclude it I'll mention that I managed to nab one of twelve As on the Philosophy test after the curve. The highest raw score was an 89! I only missed 3 true/false questions, but I'm happy nonetheless. I won a position in NSC as student/faculty relations committee chair, and I'm glad even though I applied for another chair. It's funny that a month from now I'll officially be sitting on the executive body of the council. Most notably though, I've decided to change my degree plan to a B.S. in Computer Sciences with a focus on Mathematics for my science portion. So for an extra 9 hours of math I get to take more CS courses and I get a tiny bit more prestige with my degree. I think it'll be worthwhile in the end, especially if I decide to go to get my M.S. in CS. And the last thing is that I'll be going home tomorrow for the break and I can finally see Russell Peters! I'm very excited about it and it will probably cause my post to be very delayed tomorrow.

Now to share some nerd news. A really big breaking story has been the data break-in at LexisNexis, which is a data broker and has lots of sensitive information. At least 32,000 people are now feared to be in danger of identity theft, and LexisNexis is quickly trying to really tighten the reigns on security. That kind of hacking is just stupid because it's so dishonorable. To continue the flow of pessimism allow me to exhibit this article listing the top 10 corporate hate sites according to Forbes. It's too bad that those sites haven't caused any changes though, because their gripes are mostly valid. The future of the Mozilla suite is uncertain amid a need for someone to maintain the hefty application. It doesn't bother me though because I prefer just the standalone Firefox. If you'd like to read some realistic views about video on the internet this blog is great and has some of the most accurate information you'll find editorially. He hints at an evolution ending in media content going straight to consumers without the middleman, and I think he may be right. I have a couple of follow ups to get to, the first of which is regarding WinFS. I mentioned that Microsoft was planning on backporting it, but now they're shying away from those claims and seem to see that as being much too far away to regard seriously anyway. I also posted about Google's cloaking techniques with keywords on their own site, and they've stepped up to recreate those pages so that they no longer pose a problem. Not only that, but they're also working on customization for Google News to better compete with M$. Lastly, Samsung has another new toy it's getting ready to show off: a cell phone with a 3GB hard drive! My opinion of Samsung is gradually increasing.

I have some decent movie news today. Fox, in its infinite wisdom, has decided to try another Dr. Suess idea and make a film out of Horton Hears a Who. I wonder if the good doctor is rolling in his grave at seeing his wonderful books butchered? Since I've been talking about Sin City so much recently I might as well mention this interview with Frank Miller and though it's not much it's always great to hear from such an imaginative writer. IGN interviewed director Danny Boyle (of 28 Days Later fame) about a family film he's working on called Millions and given his talent I think we can expect it to be good if not great. Some new Batman Begins pictures have appeared online and as usual I'm inclined to post my favorite:



This movie seems so far away! But alas, it's better to focus on what's coming up sooner. There is also a new picture for Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy featuring some new characters who fans of the book may recognize I suppose. Since I'm revealing all this media content I'll also plug this audio interview with Robin Williams split up into small pieces and showing that there is a creative process behind his seemingly random hyperactive acting. A trailer for the British gangster flick Layer Cake was recently put online and it doesn't look too bad, but it sounds like it won't be anything too special.

Just a couple of more things left. It looks like PSP fever is spreading everywhere, even to the New York Times which wrote this article that may put the whole story behind the device in words easier for the rest of you to swallow. There are finally some solid details regarding the upcoming Scarface video game and what I think is really funny is how the movie that fed much inspiration to make the Grand Theft Auto series (especially apparent in Vice City) now looks like it's just trying to follow a trend. I doubt it'll be too stunning, but it's quite early right now.

Now for some 3x Thursday:

1. Do you like to read? How often do you take time out of your busy life to read?
I definitely love to read, especially novels that are actually interesting rather than the dry stuff I have to read for Philosophy 313K. I used to take 30-60 minutes a day out of my schedule and once I get my C++ book I may continue to do that.

2. What kind of books (subject matter) do you like to read? Who's your favorite author? Why?
I love thrillers and books that just keep you on your toes. Fantasy is alright too sometimes, but mainly just books that pull you in and don't let you go until the end. My favorite auther is probably Stephen King because he consistently turns out high quality books out of really original ideas for the most part.

3. What are you reading right now? Do you like it so far? Why/Why not?
I started reading Carrie and dropped it and now I'm going to pick it up again. It's kind of cool and cruel so far, but I was still knee deep in character development when I had left off.

Bonus Question for Comments: What's your favorite book in the whole world? Why?
I think I've mentioned this before: Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger. That was the first book I couldn't stop reading once I started it and it made me think so much about myself and my life. And once you put it down you can just pull so much out of it and there are so many notable parts that it's hard not to adore it and empathize with Holden Caulfield.