Vader Von Karian

This is just sooooo cute.



[via YouTube]

"Yes Minister" definitely blends.

I was warned many, many years ago by the great Jonathan Lynn, co-creator of Yes Minister and director of the comic masterpiece My Cousin Vinnie, that Americans are not raised in a tradition of debate and that the adversarial ferocity common around a dinner table in Britain is more or less unheard of in America.

[via Stephen Fry].

Very true, though of course it differs from group to group within America. For example, some vocations can be very debate-oriented (particularly the sciences and some of the more "scientific" arts ... oops, I just let a bias slip). But hang on a second, the director of "My Cousin Vinnie" was the same guy as the co-creator of "Yes, Minister." COOL!

Seriously though, the article makes a good logical argument on a very serious topic. Click on to read the full article, fair warning, it's a "blessay" not a short "dork talk."

It's pronounced Herbs! with an H!

This just cheered me up when I came across it a few weeks ago. I accept both pronunciations gladly, but it just strikes me as particularly funny as I know a few people who completely drop the H in "hotel," and yet pronounce it very forcefully when saying "herbs."



[via YouTube]

Perspective and the Moebius Transform

University of Minnesota researchers have prepared the most eloquent, and visually informative, explanation of the underlying nature of a Moebius transform. It's very good as an example of the importance of the right perspective, and how warped and fragmented the view can be from a limited or spatially biased perspective.



[via YouTube]

Fry on Botnets

Stephen Fry has posted a new "Dork Talk" article. This time it's a lovely and concise description of botnets, and some good general advice about avoiding enslavement, phishing, and similar online perils.
SPOILER ALERT: the last passage is simply hilarious and is quoted below for those too lazy to read the whole article (which I am hoping is nobody).

So they you are. Botnet: not a diaphanous material designed to make the buttocks look more alluring, but rather the very stuff of sci-fi nightmares. And it’s living with us now. Be vigilant, my friends.

[Via Stephen Fry].