Rebuttal to The Office

OK. So I'm embarrassed every time that Andy mentions Cornell on "The Office." I felt like I needed to tell the truth about the episode.

1. In the episode, Andy is pretty protective about having gone to Cornell. In actuality, that's kind of true. There are all sorts of alumni that are so proud of their degree.

2. Nathan Ford is actually Cornell's quarterback. And he's actually doing well this year. They got that right.

3. Hanging out in Comstock hall? There's no reason. I think that building houses the Biometry and Entomology. They'd actually probably be in Sage Hall.

4. Cornell guys are nice, and they will drive you home.

5. I don't think that Alumni do admissions interviews, but I hope so. That would actually be kind of fun.

6. Dale R. Corson is indeed, Cornell's eighth president. James Perkins was the seventh.

7. Dwight was correct, Dartmouth is considered better. Dartmouth was ranked 11, Cornell was 14.

So all in all, The Office was accurate 6 of 7 times. I guess I can't be too upset then, can I?

Down with Blu-ray.

Microsoft and Netflix were awesome, and here's why.

In Mid-November, for no more money than I pay now, I can watch Netflix content in HD off my XBox.

In comparison, Apple wants me to buy an Apple TV ($200), pay a dollar more for each HD movie I rent ($5/movie), and then the movie I paid for dissappears within 3 days. That sucks, I'm not doing that. (Oh yeah, Microsoft also shanked Apple by making Netflix available using Silverlight on OSX.)

Sony wants me to buy a Blu-ray player ($300), buy a $15 additional Blu-ray movie ($30), or try and rent it, which is next to impossible because the movies cost too much to make a profit. You know what, if I can get HD quality without messing with expensive equipment I will never ever buy a stupid Blu-Ray player.

In a couple beautiful chess moves Microsoft and Netflix kicked two of their enemies in the crotch. I thought Microsoft was too big and slow to do this kind of thing. Sweet.

PS: Just read that my Tivo is also going to be able to stream things from Netflix. It's like all the devices I love are getting along!

Reinventing the robotic wheel

So it looks like DARPA, the lovely armed forces research initiative, has been funding research for a "Legged Squad Support System." Basically they want a mechanical beast of burden that will carry 400 pounds of stuff and follow behind a soldier for 20 miles. This is going to require years of research and funding.

I guess I just don't really understand where the huge benefits are, with the possible exception of being able to tell an army of robot donkeys to deliver goods across the desert. Basically we're just using technology to create a far less efficient version of a donkey that runs on gas. I don't want to criticize the hand the feeds research, but I'm having trouble getting it.