This statue of James Joyce in Dublin is known as "The Prick with the Stick." Really.
Happy Bloomsday, folks! Ok, ok, we admit we didn’t know what Bloomsday was either until about five minutes ago, but now that we do, we’re happy to observe. Bloomsday is a celebration of the life and works of James Joyce, named for the main character in his masterpiece Ulysses, Leopold Bloom. (Incidentally, the Gene Wilder character in Mel Brooks‘ The Producers* is also named Leo Bloom, which can’t be a coincidence.) Bloomsday is observed on June 16th because Ulysses is the chronicle of Bloom’s day in Dublin on June 16th, 1904.
The LA Times has an excellent blog entry listing Bloomsday events and observances in the US and Canada, including New York, Los Angeles, Syracuse and Philadelphia–where you can see the original handwritten Ulysses manuscript. We confess that we’ve never really gotten around to reading Ulysses, so we can’t really say this from a position of authority, but apparently the book is quite good and well worth a read. What we do know is that Ulysses (and indeed much of Joyce’s work) is all about Dublin, and to us, Dublin is all about Guinness, so if you do nothing else on this Bloomsday, enjoy a pint for old James Joyce.
*The original, 1968 film is fantastic and still hilarious today. Seriously. See it.
This route could be the secret to the Orioles boosting their win percentage into the .300's, but let's not get ahead of ourselves.
With only 17 wins, the Baltimore Orioles have the worst record in baseball by a fairly wide margin. It’s only natural then, that they’d take particular interest in a paper published in a recent issue of The Mathematical Intelligencer, titled “Baserunner’s Optimal Path.” As you might expect from the title, some expert mathematicians at Williams College have crunched the numbers and determined the fastest route around the bases (as well as the fastest path from home to 2nd, which is a little different). The basic gist of the route is that you’re best served leaving home plate at about a 25-degree angle, and from there “you slow down a bit coming into first, hit a local maximum speed as you cross second, and start the final acceleration home a bit before crossing third base.” Running the diamond this way should theoretically shave about 6% off of a completely circular route. (SB Nation has a nice writeup with more pictures here.)
With so many close plays at the plate and even second, some team is bound to take advantage of this formula, though our guess is that most elite baserunners already take a route that’s pretty close to this ideal. That said, even a couple extra fractions of a second might make all the difference in the major leagues. Would this help elite teams like the Yankees or our beloved Cardinals? Probably not too much. But for a team like the Orioles, it could very easily be the difference between winning just over one quarter of their games and winning just under a third of them. Either way, they’d still be the worst team, but at least this way they could be confident they were at least running the bases in an optimal fashion, and at this point Baltimore should be grateful for small victories.
This is by far the awesomest piece of Flag Day art we could find. We challenge you not to be inspired by these brave, patriotic and cuddly kittens.
Sometimes, late at night when we’re falling asleep, we have questions. It’s ok. Everyone does it and it’s perfectly healthy. All too often though, once we’re awake the next morning, we forget what was so important the night prior. Well, friends, this ends today, with a new series called Juggle Investigates. In these posts we’ll take to a question that might be trivial now, but sure seemed (somewhat) important for the 30 seconds before you feel asleep and kind of answer it based on our incredible Internet searching powers. Today’s investigation: What’s the deal with Flag Day?
Every year the same thing happens: you flip you calendar to June and there it is, all by itself on June 14th: Flag Day. For a moment you’re excited, ecstatic, even. After all, this “Flag Day” sounds exactly like the kind of holiday where you’re not expected to work and the mail doesn’t come. Sadly, though, it never pans out and every year Flag Day just sits there, waiting to entice you for a brief moment and then do nothing once June 14th actually rolls around. Why?
Continue reading ‘What's the Deal with Flag Day? Juggle Investigates’
By:
Sam,
June 11, 2010 in
Internet and Sports.
Tags: ABC, Disney, England, ESPN, ESPN3.com, ESPN360.com, slate, soccer, south africa, US, USA, World Cup.
Even in space soccer features the same ridiculous flopping, low scoring, and unsatisfying ties. Here's how to watch it live for free on any computer in the US.
If you’re like most Americans, you’re probably asking the same question we are about this whole FIFA World Cup in South Africa thing that’s kicking off this morning: “Soccer? Really? Everyone’s so excited for soccer?” In a word, yes. While we won’t bother to get into the reasons soccer’s not a big deal in the US (Slate has done a fantastic job already here and here), we will help you join in the excitement, because there’s not much that makes work more exciting than surreptitiously watching sports on your computer all day, even if it’s a sport no one really cares about (we’re looking at you, Olympic curling).
While a quick google will yield you plenty of results for watching the World Cup online, many, if not most of them are sketchy outfits from abroad that require you to pay for and/or download something, neither of which is a good idea for you or your computer. Luckily, we’ve cracked the not-so-secret code that will allow US internet users to easily watch live World Cup matches online to their hearts’ content. Here’s the deal:
Continue reading ‘How To Watch World Cup 2010 Online, Easily and For Free’
What's wrong with this picture?
Sometime last night, Google got a lot more Bing-y. Overnight, visitors to google.com were suddenly presented not with the classically simple Google homepage, featuring a prominent search bar on a white background, but instead with the usual Google logo search bar and other links over one of a series of photos. Though Google had added an option to customize their homepage with an image of your choice last week, this was something else entirely, and the result was not-a-little-unlike Microsoft’s Bing homepage. Suddenly one of the biggest visual differences between the dueling search engines had vanished, and most surprisingly of all, it was Google imitating Microsoft.
Needless to say, the Internet was not happy about the change. “Remove google background” shot up Google’s own trending topics chart, and as of this post remains in the number 7 spot (it peaked at number 2), with “delete google background” not far behind at number 16. So unhappy was the internet, in fact, that Google went ahead and removed the homepage backgrounds early this afternoon. Why the change of heart? Did Google realize that they’d made a huge mistake? Should Mark Zukerberg and his Facebook cronies take note?
Don’t be silly! It was all a big mix-up! According to an update at the bottom of this post from the Official Google Blog, it was all part of an effort to show off the ability to set your own custom Google homepage background. Google VP of Search Products & User Experience (and huge Killers fan) Marissa Mayer explains that the images displayed earlier today were meant to be examples, with an explanation accompanying them. Unfortunately a “bug” meant that “the explanatory link did not appear for most users,” and so they decided to stop this little demo a little early.
Riiiiiight. We find it a little hard to believe that the crack team at Google couldn’t just rectify this “bug” and add that missing explanation that would have somehow made everything better. Still, it’s a fast enough backpedal that Google may just earn a pass on this one. Since everything is already back to normal the negative internet groundswell that might have helped to keep this in the collective consciousness probably won’t materialize. If that’s the case then misstep might just further prove how agile Google really is. Making a huge mistake is one thing when you’re the most popular website in the world, but fixing it so quickly that you squelch the groundswell of opposition and negative coverage? That’s something else entirely, and damn impressive.
This handsome devil has thrown Washington into a tizzy. Can you blame them? Just look at that forearm...
In 2008 the Washington Nationals posted the worst record of any team in Major League Baseball. (They would go on to repeat the feat in 2009.) Their performance earned them the very first pick in the 2009 draft the following spring, which meant they had first dibs on a very sought-after prospect: Arizona State pitcher Stephen Strasburg. Despite their ineptitude on the field, the Nationals’ front office made what’s looking a lot like a very good choice when they picked Strasburg first overall. After a brief stint in the minors, Strasburg made his first major league start last night in Washington against the Pirates. It was a doozy. Strasburg threw 14 strikeouts in seven innings and walked exactly no one. His fastballs hit 100 mph on several occasions. The kid’s got the goods, and it’s enough to drive Washington to even further to distraction.
At least four local restaurants are currently offering “Strasburgers,” and one of them contains one pickle for every strikeout Strasburg threw in his debut (14!). Not to be outdone, Congress is getting in on the Strausburg love, with Senate Majority and Minority Leaders Harry Reid and Mitch McConnell taking a break from not passing laws to finally agree, on the Senate floor, that Strasburg is awesome. Notice that Reid still calls it “the television” and that despite their agreement on Strasburg, McConnell can’t quite resist pointing out that he actually went to the game instead of watching it at home. Maybe even the magic of Strasburg isn’t enough to bring us together. Then again, somehow the Nationals are only six games out of first place…sure, that’s last place in their division, but anything can happen, right?
By:
Sam,
June 8, 2010 in
Technology.
Tags: Apple, AT&T, Engadget, Gizmodo, iPhone, predictions, San Francisco, Steve Jobs, Two Out of Three Ain't Bad, Verizon.
A-ha! Just as we (and about a million other people) predicted! Maybe we should try stocks or horse races next...
Yesterday, in one of the least surprising moments in recent history, Apple CEO Steve Jobs announced what we now know is called the iPhone 4. We’ll spare you the specific details as the major players have posted extensive remarks. Suffice to say, we’re pretty impressed. Our excitement aside, how did we do on our predictions? Join us as we compile our iPhone 4 Apple Predictions Score Card™:
(As per usual, our predictions are in italics, followed by the actual result. Commentary and grades follow below.)
- Name: iPhone HD (iPhone 4)
Considering it shoots HD video and has a very high-resolution display, this was an entirely plausible name choice. The new model is, technically, the fourth iPhone, so this makes sense, though it does present some potential problems in naming the 4G iPhone whenever it comes out, since “iPhone 4G” might be confusing. The problem remains, though, that our guess wasn’t even close.
Grade: F
- Appearance: A lot like this, but also available in white (Just as we surmised!)
Another one of the dead-on predictions to which we’re accustomed. That said, this was one of our least risky, considering recent events. Still we made a brave (correct) choice.
Grade: A
- Storage: 16GB/32GB/64GB (16GB/32GB)
Close, but no cigar. We were optimistic we’d see a storage bump (as we have with each previous iPhone revision), but keeping things as they are makes sense. But, it’s not like we know too many people bumping up against that 32GB limit on their phones and two out of three ain’t bad.
Grade: B
- Price: $199/$299/$399 with a 2-year AT&T contract ($199/$299)
Again, close. See above.
Grade: B
- Screen: Same size as current iPhone, but twice the resolution (Same size as current iPhone, but twice the resolution)
Another unsurprising result, but it means another completely correct prediction. Plus, that new “Retina Display” looks fantastic. A’s for everyone!
Grade: A
- Camera: 5 megapixel with LED flash and 720p video recording (5 megapixel with LED flash and 720p video recording)
Probably not much of a surprise here either, particularly on the flash and 720p video recording fronts. The 5 megapixel resolution was a bit more of a risk since 8 megapixels was a real possibility, but we don’t feel too bad about another correct guess.
Grade: A
- Synching: a revamped, free MobileMe and a new, Lala-based iTunes.com with could streaming (No changes)
A huge, huge whiff. A revamped synching paradigm is clearly overdue, and others like Google are way ahead of Apple on this already. We’re not putting it past Apple to catch up, especially since they own Lala, but we’re a little surprised there hasn’t been any public movement on this front.
Grade: F
- Carriers: in the US, just AT&T (we’d love to be wrong here)
Another safe guess, another perfect prediction. We’re beginning to see how these things correlate. We’re also sad that the iPhone remains AT&T only, though it was hilarious when someone shouted “Verizon!” while Steve was having WiFi problems. You’ll also note he didn’t even consider using AT&T’s notoriously horrible San Francisco 3G coverage.
Grade: A
- Other Stuff: Video chat via front-facing camera (WiFi only), glass back is not a touch controller (both correct)
Once more, it was basically a given that there’d be a front-facing camera for video calls, and it would have been a tremendous surprise had the back glass doubled as a touch control surface. In light of all the A’s we’ve been giving ourselves, we feel a little bad taking another one, but it’s only fair.
Grade: A
- Availability: Saturday, June 19 (Thursday, June 24)
Apple, what happened to all the Saturday product launches. We thought Saturday was the new Friday. How wrong we were! It turns out Thursday is the new Saturday. We did get the month right, though, and were in fact within a week.
Grade: C+
- Surprise features in iPhone OS 4 (none, save the new name, “iOS 4″)
We didn’t observe any exciting new iOS features, though the iPhone 4′s gyroscope looks to be a neat addition, even if it will be a while before there’s a large market of gyroscope-enable iPhones out there. We were totally wrong on this.
Grade: F
Other guesses:
- New Mac Mini with HDMI
- A new Apple TV with substantially updated software and capabilities
- A Verizon iPad? (something totally unexpected has to be announced, right?)
Each of these was totally wrong, but we did kind of hedge our bets by originally calling them “things we might see.” Still, we know how to take our lumps and will take one collective grade for these three quasi-predictions. You probably know what that grade is.
Grade: F
Overall, we notched an improvement from our last round of predictions. Sure, we made some easier predictions, and there was a lot more known in advance, but we’re not afraid, every now and again, to set the bar low and then awkwardly leap over it.
Final Grade: B
By:
Sam,
June 4, 2010 in
Technology.
Tags: announcement, Apple, AT&T, iPad, iPhone, predictions, Steve Jobs, Verizon, WWDC.
Our prediction: Steve Jobs will not wear this red scarf during his WWDC keynote. But he should.
Wow. It seems like only yesterday we were making shockingly accurate predictions about the iPad. Now it’s time to do the same for the new iPhone that Steve Jobs is sure to unveil at Apple’s Worldwide Developers Conference 2010 (WWDC) on Monday. Lots of others have weighed with their guesses on the new iPhone and other announcements already, but no one’s got the sterling Apple-prediction reputation we do (except maybe John Gruber) or the guts and gumption to call out specifics like we do.
Also, now would be a good time to note that in light of the whole “lost” iPhone prototype kerfuffle (on which Steve Jobs shared his thoughts earlier this week), Gizmodo has not been invited to Steve’s keynote. In fact, they’re looking for moles/ringers to be their eyes and ears. We certainly hope they got their $5,000 worth.
On with the show! As always, please remember that our predictions are based on nothing whatsoever save our whims, and are for “entertainment” purposes only.
- Name: iPhone HD
- Appearance: A lot like this, but also available in white
- Storage: 16GB/32GB/64GB
- Price: $199/$299/$399 (with a 2-year AT&T contract)
- Screen: Same size as current iPhone, but twice the resolution
- Camera: 5 megapixel with LED flash and 720p video recording
- Synching: a revamped, free MobileMe and a new, Lala-based iTunes.com with could streaming
- Carriers: in the US, just AT&T (we’d love to be wrong here)
- Other Stuff: Video chat via front-facing camera (WiFi only), glass back is not a touch controller
- Availability: Saturday, June 19
- Surprise features in iPhone OS 4
Other things we think we might see:
- New Mac Mini with HDMI
- A new Apple TV with substantially updated software and capabilities
- A Verizon iPad? (something totally unexpected has to be announced, right?)
There you have it: our sterling record is officially on the line. Don’t forget to check back after the announcement for our scorecard so we can toot our own horn/hang our heads in shame. (Our prediction: horn tooting!)
Maybe now Bud Selig will listen to advocates for instant replay. Despite recent events, it remains unlikely he'll change that ridiculous haircut.
Last night in Detroit, Tigers pitcher Armando Galarraga threw a perfect game against the Cleveland Indians, the 21st in Major League Baseball history and the 3rd in the last month. There was, however, one small hiccup. The umpire blew the call on what should have been the 27th and final out, incorrectly ruling that a base runner had beaten the throw to first base when replays showed that was clearly not the case. Galarraga has been a class act about this so far, but it’s hard not to see how this situation doesn’t force major league baseball to expand its use of instant replay (currently it’s used to review home runs). It’s also frustrating to see how it came to this and yet another example critics of baseball will place alongside the ongoing steroid/performance enhancing drug debacle to illustrate how out of touch a needlessly stodgy baseball has become.
While its unlikely to do so, why not just skip the replay step all together and start letting computers call baseball games? Sure, they’d need human supervision, but for things like balls and strikes they could be nearly flawless, and far more fair than any human umpire could ever be. Computer officials might also make it much easier to speed up games by rigorously adhering to rules regarding stepping out of the batter’s box, something that makes games grind to a crawl, particularly Yankees-Red Sox tilts. We’re not saying a new system would be perfect, but it’s high time something new was tried, and a high-profile pilot effort, say at this year’s All Star Game in Anaheim, might be just the thing to convince folks that Bud Selig is interested in more than keeping those damn kids off his lawn.
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