US Federal E-Authentication and Higher Education
March 28, 2007 | Leave a Comment
The United States federal government has been working on an E-Authentication project actively since 2003 in response to the E-Government Act of 2002. Movement has been slow, but there are many federal agencies now leveraging this infrastructure in a federated manner. For more details about the initiative, there is the publicly available Burton Group Report on the Federal E-Authentication Initiative. For an updated view see the GCN article, E-Authentication maps out its future.
Since then, there has been work to bridge both Liberty Alliance and Shibboleth-based federations with the e-Government services. Involvement also extends to the Post Secondary Electronic Standards Council (PESC) who is working with all these organizations to assure higher education is appropriately represented. Certainly NSF Fastlane and Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) seem like the most obvious first candidates to work with higher education institutions.
With all the activity surrounding the federal government deploying these services in a federated method, institutions should definitely be getting their internal infrastructure in place to support and interoperate with one of the major federations (InCommon, eGovernment, etc).
Tags: "liberty alliance", act, authentication, burton group, e-authentication, eauth, eauthentication, egovernment, fafsa, fastlane, federal, federated, federation, financial aid, gcn, government, higher education, identity, identity management, idm, incommon, initiative, liberty, pesc, pki, shibboleth
Idiocracy: Funniest Movie You Never Heard Of
March 27, 2007 | 9 Comments
Maybe you’ve heard of it… but most likely not. This Mike Judge (Office Space) film was shockingly under-promoted. The frighteningly realistic premise of the film is that stupid people are breeding and growing their family trees faster than intelligent people. With this in mind, we move forward 500 years into the future where a dystopian society has emerged, run purely by imbeciles and on the brink of self imposed destruction.
Personally, the biggest compliment I can give this film is that it is the most quotable film since Napolean Dynomite. Here are a few I just can’t get out of my head:
Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson): “Why me? Every time Metsler says’ ‘Lead, follow, or get out of the way,’ I get out of the way.”
Doctor (Justin Long):
“It says on your chart you’re fucked up, you talk like a fag, and your shit’s all retarded. “
“Don’t worry scrote. There are plenty of ‘tards out there living really kick ass lives. My first wife was ‘tarded. She’s a pilot now. “
[Billboard Ad]: “If you don’t smoke Tarryltons… Fuck You!”
Costco Greeter: “Welcome to Costco, I love you. “
TV Announcer: “Next on the Violence Channel, an all-new Ow! My Balls!”
Joe Bowers: “Man, I could really go for a Starbucks, y’know?”
Frito (Dax Shepard): “I don’t really think we have time for a handjob, Joe. “
[Carl’s Jr. Computer Vending Machine]:
“Welcome to Carl’s Jr. Would you like to try our Extra Big-Ass Taco, now with more molecules?”
“Your kids are starving. Carl’s Jr. believes no child should go hungry. You are an unfit mother. Your children will be placed in the custody of Carl’s Jr.”
“Carl’s Jr. ‘Fuck you, I’m eating’.”
Rita: “Hey, how much further is it?”
Frito: “Uh, it’s, like, far.”
If you can’t get enough, here are more in audio format.
Judge apparently butted heads with Fox for over a year before finally getting this movie released. When it was, it only debuted on a very limited number of screens.
Without a doubt this is not the most well written or amazing Oscar caliber film, but what it is is a brilliant black comedy satire on the path we are traveling as a society. I hope this film achieves the cult status it deserves. If you are still having doubts, there are a series of clips (many of the best moments) available at Worst Previews.
Thanks to TWiT for enlightening me to the existence of this movie.
Tags: black comedy, carl's jr, carls junio, costco, cult, cult classic, Dax Shepard, fox, frito, idiocracy, joe bowers, justin long, luke wilson, mike judge, movie, office space, preview, quote, quotes, satire, starbucks, Tarryltons
Red Box in Plymouth!
March 26, 2007 | 8 Comments
Red Box is now available in the local Hannaford grocery store in Plymouth, NH. Why is this exciting you ask? Well now you can queue up a new release to rent online (or in store) and pick it up without any human intervention when you go grocery shopping for a mere $1 per night! OK, so the no human interaction piece isn’t great, but it sure cuts down on lines. Since I cut out my Netflix subscription this actually seems like a nice alternative. This is basically a soda machine for DVD rentals. Very cool.
Tags: dvd, Fun Whatnot, movie, movies, rental, rentals, video
No Sheep: Traffic Milestone 5M
March 25, 2007 | 2 Comments
This Friday No Sheep broke the milestone of 5,000,000 reads tracked with BSuite! This is an achievement far exceeding my expectations when I first launched this blog.
On November 10th, 2004 NoSheep was launched. Initially the site ran on Geek Log, but my passion for this platform was lack luster. Between November and February I posted a mere 9 articles before stopping. It wasn’t until June of 2005 when I converted to WordPress that I became excited and passionate about my site.
Since then I have had the pleasure of seeing my readership grow substantially. Currently FeedBurner has tracked a high point of 435 feed subscribers in a single day. In the last month I have consistently enjoyed an Alexa rank in the top 100,000. Additionally my Technorati rank has hovered at under 60,000.
Thanks to all the readers, commenters, and contributors!
Tags: alexa, bsuite, feedburner, no sheep, nosheep, technorati
Stephen Colbert on the Death of Captain America
March 15, 2007 | 3 Comments
I recently reported on the tragic death of Captain America. Being such a large event, it spilled over into some more conventional media spaces. Below is Stephen Colbert’s “The Word” segment titled “Comic Justice” about Captain America’s death.
As a follow up to this segment, Marvel got involved, more specifically editor-in-chief at Marvel, Joe Quesada.
From the Marvel press release:
Cap’s shield has resurfaced and is now in the hands of Stephen Colbert, host of Comedy Central’s “The Colbert Report.”
As you’ll see in the video below, Colbert claims to have received a letter from Marvel EIC Joe Quesada, presenting the shield to the late night talk show host. Quesada’s letter states that Steve Rogers bequethed the shield to Colbert in his Will, which was read last Friday.
After reading the letter, Colbert’s staff brought out the shield and the bespectacled host hefted the legendary weapon, stating, “Cap? I hope I make you proud.”
S.H.I.E.L.D. is currently investigating the Will, as well as the validity of the letter. Quesada, admitted “friend of the show” says Colbert’s on the up and up and gave us the full story.
“I must confess that I am the culprit,” states Quesada. After reading Cap’s Last Will and Testament, I quickly snuck out of the Marvel’s offices with the shield. As so many of you know, Steve Rogers was a humble man and wanted his last remaining wishes to be carried out as privately as possible.
“After a small “transfer of power” ceremony occurring on the Avenger’s Quinjet, followed by several intense hours of introspection and deliberation with Mr. Colbert, we both felt it would be best to make a public statement of his inheriting the shield. Not as way of raising Mr. Colbert’s status even further (How is that even possible?), nor as a cheap ratings stunt, but rather to let evildoers across the globe know that even with Cap’s demise, there is no still place for them to hide. A clear message had to be sent that the mantle had been passed and that the Marvel Universe has gained a new (Colbert) Nation and remains secure.”
It is of course well known that Colbert is a geek at heart. His on screen relationship with Quesada originated when Quesada visoted the Colbert Report last year to promote the start of Civil War. You can view that interview in two parts: Part 1 and Part 2.
Tags: avengers, cap, cap's shield, captain america, colbert, colbert nation, colbert report, joe quesada, quinjet, shield, stephen colbert, steve rogers
Spider-Man 3: Serious Fanboy Anti-criticism
March 14, 2007 | Leave a Comment
I felt it was finally time to weigh in on a couple ridiculous criticisms I’ve seen circulating on the net related to the upcoming Spider-Man 3 movie:
1) Gwen Stacy and Mary Jane appearing in the movie at the same time
It is absolutely true that Peter fell in love with Gwen before MJ. However, MJ was first referenced in Amazing Spider-Man #15 (1964) and fully appeared for the first time in #42 (1966). At this point they immediately begin dating. This of course annoys Gwen Stacy who first appeared in issue #31 (1965) and has a crush on Pete. Eventually Peter ditches MJ due to her apparent shallow superficiality. He promptly dates Gwen, and as MJ is dating Harry Osborn (Pete’s roommate) all of them hang out together regularly. MJ continues to show interest in Peter to Gwen and Harry’s disliking. Eventually Gwen is killed at the hands of the Green Goblin in issue #121 (1973). The writers do this because the seriousness of their relationship can only lead to marriage logically and they do not want Spider-Man to have aged this much so soon.
After this tragedy, Peter and MJ have a bit of a rekindling, but they never manage to get things together. It is not until issue #258 (1984) that MJ reveals that she knows his secret identity and she has matured to a point where they establish a solid relationship that has mostly remained to this day. The movie has certainly approached this in a slightly different way, but not as far off as some have claimed, nowhere near enough to “ruin the film” or make anyone “hate Raimi”.
Seriously though, can anyone deny Howard’s hotness as Gwen?
Actually, if we want to get all weird about this, Betty Brant showed up in Amazing #4 and was definitely the first significant girl Peter dated!
2) Venom’s teeth and tongue are too small
When Todd McFarlane (visual creator of Venom) first drew the character, it was without the large pointy teeth and tongue. Later, Erik Larsen adds these things plus a ton of green drool when he replaced McFarlane as the lead artist on Amazing. Since then these visual elements have always been repeated, as well as exaggerated, with each new artist that draws Venom. Raimi’s choice to use a fairly stripped down “original” Venom probably made for a much easier character to portray on screen.
On that note, here’s a new picture to enjoy of Spidey actually fighting with Venom:
Tags: amazing spider-man, Betty Brant, erik larsen, gwen stacy, mary jane, mary jane watson, movie, sam raimi, spider-man, spiderman, spiderman 3, todd mcfarlane, venom
Robotic Arm From Dean Kamen
March 12, 2007 | 1 Comment
Wow.
Gizmodo has had a couple articles about this. The quality of the video is pretty bad, most likely from a cellphone video camera. Apparently Dean Kamen and DEKA Research have set out to create the best looking and most functional prosthetic arm ever. He agreed to take on this major technological task after meeting with many of our nations wounded soldiers.
On the front of best looking, they intend to take full 3D scans of a person’s opposite arm in a hope to make an exact mirror image for the other arm. In a case where both arms have been lost, they will make a best attempt to recreate an arm that fits the individual.
As for control, the goal is to create an arm with the dexterity to pick up a grape or raisin and be able to tell the difference without looking. This extreme movement forward in technology will not be simple. One of the ways they are attempting involves stem cell research and an implant in a person’s shoulder which will interface directly with the brain and wirelessly to the prosthetic robotic arm.
From this blurry view of the promotional video, we can tell that they have made a pretty good start here. I hope they are able to tackle the impossible and create this modern marvel.
Tags: arm, dean kamen, deka, deka research, gizmodo, kamen, prosthetic, research, robotic, robotic arm, robotics, stem cell research