Telescope ver 1.0 April 12, 2009
Posted by ivanmladek in politics.Tags: galileo telescope
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Today we went to the Franklin Institute in Philladelphia to see the Medici exhibition of rennaisance astronomy and surveying instruments. The sheer range of gold plated amazing gadgetry on display proved intoxicating. The entire exhibit was topped off by the original of Galileo’s telescope, secretly photographed below:
The astrolabes, armillary spheres and sextants were augmented with mechanical calculators, cosine and sine machines and protractors. Hmmm, what a joy to see scientific positivism materialized.
St. John’s Bible at the Walter’s art Museum April 6, 2009
Posted by ivanmladek in politics.Tags: bible st. john's walters
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Today I saw a truly astounding exhibition at the Walter’s Art Museum in Baltimore, close to where I live, which depicted a new illuminated rendition of the celebrated text of the St. John’s Bible.
As the Baltimore Sun noted
At a time when books can be written and distributed to millions by high-speed computer, there is no earthly reason why anyone would need to spend $5.5 million to create an illuminated manuscript of the Catholic Bible, featuring calligraphy applied by hand on calfskin parchment and other bookmaking methods dating back to the Middle Ages.
As a complete atheist I was pleasantly surprise how the stunning images and hand lettered large print seamelssly blend into an impressive whole that almost leaps out of the page. It has been a long time since I saw anythingnearly as impressive as this.
IPhone Skype is buggy as hell March 31, 2009
Posted by ivanmladek in politics.Tags: iphone skype
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Downloaded the Skype for IPhone and it crashes immediately after making a call. Ahhh.
100% Ubuntu IPhone March 30, 2009
Posted by ivanmladek in politics.Tags: ubuntu iphone 2.2.1 3g itunes
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Today I managed to get Itunes 8.x to run on my 64bit Ubuntu in Sun xVM VirtualBox and completely sync my 3G iphone. Yeah. 
Ages of Man March 16, 2009
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On Friday I saw a delightful production of Sir John Gielgud’s Ages of Manat the Baltimore Performance Workshop Theatre presented by noted Baltimorean actor Horwitz.
As he worked his way through the Shakespearean sonnets and excerpts oozing in wisdom on such timeless issues as
- Childhood
- Magic and Fairy
- Nature
- Love
- Jealousy
- Lust
- War
- Civil Strife
- Kingship
- Old Age
- and Death
I was drawn into the expressive and intimate environment of the small theatre and some excellent acting. Bravo!
Repeal the death penalty in Maryland February 28, 2009
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This one is urgent: The Maryland Senate is considering a bill that would repeal the Death penalty in Maryland. Following the recommendations of the Maryland Commission on Capital Punishment which recommended the repeal of the Death penalty.
The bill is in one of the Senate committees so if you live in maryland please support this notion by clicking here.
San Francisco here I come… February 20, 2009
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I arrived in my beloved San Francisco yesterday to see my wonderful friends Erik and Tracy. The day has been absolutely amazing, with full clear skys.
Coming from the evil Mordor of Baltimore, it is shocking how nice and polite people are here.
How cold is cold? February 12, 2009
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I just came back from our departmental colloqium by Dr. Wolfgang Ketterle, a Nobel laureate for Physics from 2001, who’s resume list of prizes runs for almost a page who came down to share his insights into Bose-Einstein Condensates and BCSs, which I still don’t get. In his wonderfully German accented English he explained how he hopes to create room temperature superconductors and superfluids and why a superfluid does not rotate in a normal way. So is 100 nano Kelvin cold?
Warren Wolf Sextet February 9, 2009
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On Friday I had the unexpected pleasure of witnessing the flowering of
some serious Jazz in the form of the Warren Wolf Sextet, who performed at the An Die Musik live here in Baltimore.
The sheer bravura of the trumpet with the base and piano proved to be an intoxicating mix. Most pieces were originals composed by Wolf himself and towards the end of the performance his flutist friend came over and did a solo of sublime elegance.
Sheer bliss and don’t miss them on tour.
In Search of Lorine Niedecker February 9, 2009
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Today I went to see a documentary about the late American poet Lorine Niedecker, shot with vivid imagination and graceful style by the Baltimore video artist Cathy Cook. Besides taking the time to immerse herself in Niedecker’s condensed poetry and soak up the pithy essence of it, Cook delved into the nature surrounding Niedecker’s Wisconsin island house with sheer colourful rigour and graceful understatement.
I have never hear of the poet before but after seeing this movie, I ordered the Collected works and plan to immerse myself. Well recommended both as an amazing dreamy movie of subtle charm and accomplished grace as well as a pean to a great American poet.
