CS in the News

I'm pretty tired today because I ended up having dinner unexpectedly at my brother's, which means I'm literally going to just crash after I finish this post. Hence, don't expect it to be too long and don't be surprised by big grammatical errors. Bill Gates has taken it upon himself to decry the issue of a lack of spending in the Computer Science industry by the government, and I actually agree with him (for once). I think that the rise of security concerns has proven how important programmers really are today, and yet it's frightening that the government has cut back on investing in R&D and just in human capital. I understand that we have a huge deficit and all, but is a war in another country more important than the technological dangers facing people here? Plus, it would really put us ahead in the world. It's kind of sad to know that the most graduates in CS are from online or night course schools. It's great that these are women, but why aren't we seeing more teenagers going through programs at accredited four year institutions? What's the big turnoff? Was it that stupid outsourcing scare? I believe that there are more people interested in computing than like to admit it (*cough*Ronak*cough*), and it's a shame when they go astray.

There are a few other things in tech news today. Despite Gates's responsible outcry about, he has immaturely decided to sue Google for stealing an employee from him! There was some dispute about the former M$ employee's contract, but Google is willing to fight back and I hope they win. A recent issue that has sprung up is the possible video iPod and it turns out that Steve Jobs is furtively in talks with Disney to license Disney content for the future device. It's just nice to see that the gears are turning. I'm disappointed to see Senator Clinton in opposition to the ESRB because while her motherly concern makes sense I just can't see how she doesn't see the importance of good parenting here. I'm sure that they'll win and create an independent organization to rate games, and that's really sad because I'll be you that it'll make no difference at all. Lastly, CNN decided to do an article on the new trend of being openly dorky, and it feels like everyone followed me! I struggled with it for a while before realizing that it's just part of me, and then everyone started wearing shirts with "Dork" on it! Go figure.

The movie news is pretty quirky and littered with trailers so I'm gonna just breeze through it. By some miracle, Fantasic Four looks like it may be on its way to having a sequel despite the 60% drop, and hopefully they do it better this time. AICN put up what it saw from Kevin Smith at Comic-Con, and most importantly what Richard Kelly interjected about Southland Tales, which looks crazy and interesting at the same time so give it a look-see. If you miss the movie Wall Street or even the less impressing Boiler Room then be sure to look at the trailer for Two For the Money because it follows another path of gambling in a guy who's just lucky with picking winners and inevitably gets his investors in a hole. If you'd prefer a deeper movie there's also a new trailer for Proof regarding the legacy left for Gwyneth Paltrow's character by father Anthony Hopkins, and it could go either way so don't write it off. There's also a supposedly stunning trailer for The Fog up but I can't get it to work so maybe you'll have more luck than me. If you can't get enough Jessica Simpson then you'll want to see what pictures JoBlo has dug up from Dukes of Hazard. I'm more concerned with posters though, including the new one for Red Eye and an even better one for Memoirs of a Geisha:



Now for a quick Ten on Tuesday:

10 Countries You'd Like to Visit
10. Russia
9. China
8. Philippines
7. Nepal
6. Jordan (Danna has me intrigued)
5. Peru
4. Japan
3. Italy (I have to see Rome someday)
2. United Kingdom
1. India, though I have been there before.