Month: May 2009

Categories
Oddities

American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse

An article in Wired, American Stonehenge: Monumental Instructions for the Post-Apocalypse, describes the Georgia Guidestones, a striking granite monument built by a secretive group, built as an astronomic compass/calendar / clock  and inscribed with a New-Age-ish message to the ages in 12 languages (8 modern: Swahili, Hindi, Chinese, Russian, Spanish, English, Hebrew and Arabic; 4 dead: Sanskrit, Classical Greek, Babylonian Cuniform and Egyptian Hieroglyphics). The front-man for the cabal that built this thing used the pseudonym R.C Christian, which “may be a tribute to the legendary 14th-century founder of Rosicrucianism, Christian Rosenkreuz” (per Wikipedia).

The actual text on the granite slabs is not very impressive, but one can only speculate what hidden messages might be encoded in its stilted prose…

Or perhaps, like has been said of the original Rosicrucian conspiracy, the actual secret is in the the act of being mysterious itself, the clandestine  funding, the exotic inscriptions, the very flamboyant behaviour of erecting a cryptic monument from the world’s finest granite, aren’t distractions obscuring a hidden agenda: they fulfill the hidden agenda, simply by making the world a more mysterious place.

Categories
Software and Programming

The recurring [K]ubuntu TV-out video saga

Upgrading my OS to Jaunty broke TV output, because the proprietary driver doesn’t work anymore. However, I eventually found how to get output to my TV. I set up the following script:


#!/bin/sh
xrandr -s 800x600 # resize so that cloning goes smoothly
xrandr --output S-video --set load_detection 1
xrandr --addmode S-video 800x600
xrandr --output S-video --mode 800x600
# xvattr -a XV_CRTC -v 1
vlc -f $*
echo Done playing $*
xrandr -s 1024x768

xrandr is a program that modifies your display dynamically. I guess this is all doable with configuration, but the infamous X conf file appears to be deprecated, so whatever. I use xrandr anyway to change resolution, because the output of the screen is duplicated onto the TV, and I want it to fit without being cropped.

So, first the script sets the resolution to the TV-compatible 800 width by 600 height; next the S-video commands tell the OS to look for the TV and set it up – and then my script passes its arguments (my movies) to the vlc media player. Once vlc quits, the resolution is restored.

There’s a commented out command that uses an utility called xvattr to change whether the X-Video extension (XV) should apply to the default output (the computer screen) or the TV – with when you see video on one, you just get a blank window on the other. Thankfully, I can tell vlc to show video using regular X server video instead of the XV extension, so nevermind that. I don’t see any noticable difference in the display behavior, which is pretty bad in either case – whenever windows appear in a shot, I see blocky video boxes on the TV. I think the proprietary driver didn’t have this problem.

And because my LCD screen burnt out this Saturday (a year beyond its warranty), I’m using a huge and scratchy-screened old CRT, which makes old-school oomph noises whenever it switches resolution.

Categories
Comics

2D Goggles – the adventures of Lovelace and Babbage

Isambard Kingdom Brunel was like the Wolverine of the early Victorians. He was short, ripped, had big sideburns, smoked 50 cigars a day, AND KICKED EVERYONE’S ASS!!

From 2D Goggles, a nifty steampunk comic found by Shachar. It all starts with Ada Lovelace – The Origin.

Categories
Comics

[C].G.I. JOE

Here is pretty trailer for new G.I. Joe movie. Power suits, villains with British accents. And, they actually violate what I think I’ll call Miller’s Rule from now on (an action movie cliche parodied in Team America, thou shall not go there), by having terrorists attack Paris.

G.I. JOE trailer in HD

For a visually more traditional take on G.I. Joe, there’s the Adult Swim animated series G.I. Joe: Resolute, written by Warren Ellis and available in full on YouTube. This was pretty OK, except the bits with the gimp ninja, which bored me to tears.