Last weekend movies (9th week 2012)...

Most probably, this is the last quasi-periodical blog update in at least a month. I'm leaving Singapore, going on real vacations for two weeks and, then, moving back to Mexico...

1. Sabrina, ****
   Sabrina (Audrey Hepburn), the lovely young daughter of an English chauffeur serving an American family, is deeply in love with the spoiled playboy of the family and can ruin a big merger between corporate families by running away with the youngster. It comes to the old, reliable, business mastermind of the family, Linus (Humphrey Bogart), to avoid such debacle.
   
   
2. Die Welle, ****
   Autocracies are a thing of the past and surely cannot emerge on modern democratic societies. Right? Wrong! Based on The Third Wave experiment of 1967, this awesome German film fictionalizes the real experiment that showed the emergence of fascist, nationalist behavior along high-school teenagers in just one week.
   
   
3. Age of Heroes, ****
   So, you knew that Ian Fleming was in charge of forming a secret commando for the British Army during WWII, right? The 30 Assault Unit was the name and this film seems very much like what should have happened in the beginning of such unit.
   
   
4. Tales of an ancient empire, 
   I don't understand why Vampire stories are usually all or nothing. I fell asleep after 20min of the film and didn't even cared to try to watch it again. 

I'm not sure if I'm gonna be able to keep following the tv-series I have learned to like in the last year and a half here in Singapore, so this may be the last post about this matter:

1. Last Man Standing S01-E18, ***
   Tim's dad and brother come to town and may be staying there for a long time as they are gonna be building the new store. Of course, that cannot go smooth at the first try.
   
   
2. Castle S04-E16, ***
   The mystery left over from last week is solved when Beckett and Castle are in the midst of a cold war sleeper attempt to start world war three.
   
   
3. Hawaii Five O S02-E17, ***
   The unit has to solve the murder of a successful liner builder which happens to be a Hawaiian history fan. The suspects go from a petty thief to a possible eco-terrorist but, in the end, the motif is as simple as possible: pure greed.
   
   
4. Big Bang Theory S05-E18, ***
   
   The episode is named "The werewolf transformation." Sheldon starts becoming a chaotic character after failing to get his scheduled hair cut due to the barber being in coma.
   
   
5. Psych, (not yet back?)
   
   
   
   
6. Once upon a time S01-E13, ***
   
   The story book is back, the story behind prince charming and Midas' daughter is finished, and the mysterious writer is starting to leave the background and playing a role. Interesting.  

   
   
7. Comic Book Men S01-E02, ***
   
   The second out of six episodes reality show based at Kevin Smith's comic book store: Jay and Bob's Secret Stash. The 60s Batmobile comes to the store and the guys try to play ball hockey without any glory at all. 

Latex in Inkscape 0.48

Last time I installed my favorite GPL drawing tool Inkscape, I had to install old version 0.46 instead of new 0.48 because the latex app was not working in the new one. Well, today, being the stupid me with the memory span of a goldfish, I wondered why I had the old and not the new version of Inkscape and, finding no reason for being such a backward computer user in my 5 second memory span, proceeded to update it. You can imagine the result, I was unable to edit latex on any of my figures.

I found this blog with a solution to the problem of latex in Inkscape 0.48, actually it is a very simple solution, and everything is working fine now. The blog is called La Consigna, it is very helpful as it has a lot of technical solutions to issues that a matlab, latex user may find in his daily use/abuse. 

Simulating life...

Today, I found a short story by Frederic Pohl about the mechanical simulation of life through persona impressions on mechanical constructions for marketing research, "The tunnel under the world" written in the 50's. It remind me of another two short stories, "They" by Robert A. Heinlein and "Time out of joint" by Phillip K. Dick, with similar theme: life as a simulation. I am not sure which one was the first, my bet would be Heinlin's "They" as he is the oldest of the three—I think it is something like: Heinlein 1900s 1907, Pohl 1910s 1919, and Dick 1920s 1928. I would be surprised if They, The Tunnel under the world, and Time out of joint is not the published order of the stories but there's always wikipedia or google to check. I'm lazy to do it now  Yes, they short stories came in that order—. Anyway, it seems like the idea of life as a simulation has been recurrent since the early 40s up to our modern era (Matrix, The 13th floor, Abre los ojos, etc.).

Thanks to having so much free time and wikipedia, I've just found that there exist such a thing as a "simulation hypothesis" studied by some philosophers like Nick Bostrom or David Chalmers—funny, both sound very Swedish—. Chalmer's paper sounds less technical as it's embedded in the Matrix phenomenon, while Bostrom's comes right from a philosophy journal.

Well, I leave you those links and works there while I start reading some philosophy to see if I can understand something out of it.

Last weekend movies (8th week 2012)

This week was another run at the discount bin with some titles I didn't even catch their names on the internet when they first came out. But it was a great discount bin run as you will see...

1. Warhorse, ****
   A horse, his owner and WWI. A story of the great war where the main character is a horse, and the owner whom loves it. It has great visual storytelling and the composition of shots is beautiful.
   
   
2. The Big Year, ****
   What does birders leave behind in search of a big year? The film is based on the book The Big Year: A tale of Man, Nature and Fowl Obsession by Mark Obmascik which records the birder's season of 1998. It's a good comedy that somehow makes you think a little.
   
   
3. The rum diary, ****
   This film is based on Hunter S. Thompson's book The Rum Diary telling the story of an unpublished american novelist came journalist in Puerto Rico to pay the bills. A tale of expatriates life and abuses overseas. It's great to see Johnny Depp in two movies based on Thompson's books, the other is Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas.
   
   
4. Anonymous, ****
   A visually appealing exploitation of the Oxford theory of Shakespeare with a lot of pseudo-history on  top of it to make for the lack of romance, drama and knowledge of true story.
   
   
5. Too Big to Fail, ****
   What happened behind the corporate and federal doors at the market meltdown of 2008? This pseudo-documentary film tries to hypothesize such events based on the news that came and information that leake out at and after the time.
   
   
6. Justice League: Crisis on Two Earths, ***
   The Justice League has to save an alternate Earth were superheroes are bad and supervillians good. Although the move spends most of the time with just five of the founding members (Superman, Wonder Woman, Martian Manhunter, Green Lantern and the Flash), the keystone of this animated film is my favorite psychopath: The Batman.
   
   
7. Cougars, Inc.,  
   Again, I didn't forget to put the stars. I don't even know why I finished watching this... 

This week brought many interesting things on the tv-series front:

1. Last Man Standing S01-E16-17, ***
   Embarrassment, dares, fight versus city bureaucracy, and a NASCAR car.
   
   
2. Castle S04-E15, ***
   A ghost assassin is loose in the city trying to start a the destruction of the modern world! Of course, Beckett and Castle get involved in this first part of two CIA thriller where I have the feeling there's more than meets the eye.
   
   
3. Hawaii Five O S02-E16, ***
   The team is in troubles when a murder is committed at the governor's fund rising ball and everything almost ends in an international terrorist attack to the Russian embassy.
   
   
4. Big Bang Theory S05-E176, ***
   
   Again, the episode is split between the adventures of the boys and those of the girls. Sheldon finds himself fighting for a new office and, afterwards, his sanity while Penny has to deal with being the bff of Amy.
   
   
5. Psych, (not yet back?)
   
   
   
   
6. Once upon a time S01-E12, ***
   
   A retelling of the beauty and the beast that amazingly gives more insight on the story behind Rumpelstiltskin and the Evil Queen.  

   
   
7. Comic Book Men, ***
   
   A six episode reality based at Kevin Smith's comic book store: Jay and Bob's Secret Stash. It's a funny look at the memorabilia, pop culture and comic book tradings happening at the store.

LWP: A list of papers (On vacation)

I'm really getting into the on vacation mood, my google reader rss feed list has some 1300 unread articles from my favorite journals and I don't even have plans to even take a look at them for another two weeks. Nevertheless, this one caught my eye when I opened the google reader last time (disclosure: they cited a paper of us, that's why it caught my eye):

Polariton condensation with nonlinear photons by X.-Y. Guo, Z.-Z. Ren and Z. Chi, Physical Review A 85, 023608 (2012).

From the abstract, I have the feeling I'm gonna read it, like it, and maybe do something based on this in the future... or maybe not as I'm starting to feel a calling for something different in the optics/professional-life front.

I, the DSRL dummy: HDR for high contrast situations

Most of the time, I get to a very nice place in the wrong moment; say, the day before yesterday I went for a walk in downtown Singapore and when I found Fort Canning's navigation beacon the sky was filled with clouds and the sun was just behind the light house. At that point I knew that any picture I tried to take will be crappy:

Fig. 1: Forth Canning Light (f/7.1, 1/500s, ISO 100, 20mm, no processing).

As you can see there's lot of over- and under-exposed sections and I should just delete the image as my developing skills will surely make it worse than it already is. 

High Dynamic Range to the rescue. I was trying to figure out a way to shoot the picture without a gradient neutral density filter when my tripod fell to the groud. Wait! Why do not take advantage of the new dent in the tripod and try to shoot a HDR image to try and make a better picture? As my grandmother says: You cannot have everything in life, I was waiting for the sky to part a little and get some blue sky on the composition but my patience was just 20min. long and this is what I got:

Fig. 2: Forth Canning, ±2eV in 5 steps, Software: Luminance, Algorithm:Mantiuk'06.  

As you can see, the composition of under- and over-exposed frames allows for a still which is better than the one before; for instance, you can actually see all the elements in the image. The settings for this HDR still frame are Mantiuk '06 algorithm with Luminance HDR CF:0.3, SF: 2.0, DF:15. 

I tried all the algorithms that come with Luminance HDR and Mantiuk '06 was the one that suited my eye the most in this situation. I tried going bananas and creating a higher contrast image and this alien-looking thing came out with everything maxed up (CF:1, SF:2, DF:99):

Fig. 3: Same as above different algorithm's parameters.

In the end, I am happy the new dent in my tripod led to an idea that ultimately worked out for me this time but I think I will try to get a set of graduated neutral density filters as well.

Pros: Able to shoot a balanced clear sky picture.
Con: Need to shoot at least 3 frames to cover the contrast range.

Happy Shooting!

Last weekend movies (7th week 2012)

Consuming media is a wonderful trip, there are amazing story and storytelling ideas that come from films in the discount bin that I didn't even manage to see in the marquee...

1. Wristcutters: A love story, *****
   What happens to suicide-people after they die? They go to a hot and desolated place with no laughs. The idea is awesome, it is based in the title-story of "Kneller's happy campers" by Etgar Keret. I'm gonna read that anthology as soon as possible. Do yourself a favor and go for the film, the acting is good, the soundtrack is creative, and the whole thing is a piece that you will carry in your memory for long.
   
   
2. Funny Face, ****
   Fred Astaire and Audrey Hepburn, together, dancing and singing—now I understand why Hepburn's sung part in My Fair Lady was done by someone else—in a fashion magazine romantic comedy film that surely was an inspiration for a lot of films like Devil wears Prada and such.
   
   
3. In time, ***
   The idea behind the film is awesome: Humans have been genetically modified to stop aging at 25, the price to pay is that after that instant each and every further second has to be earned because time has substituted money as currency. The film is barely good compared to what can be done with such a great idea, I think.
   
   
4. Drive, ***
   This drama has an 80s feeling all over it—I realized it was a 2011 film by checking the IMDb—, it uses a lot of slow, long scenes to build feelings between characters like in olden times. The twist and ending are good and filled with noir crime novel nostalgia. It is based in a book by James Sallis.
   
   
5. The Switch, **
   A lonely but accomplished woman chooses artificial insemination to fulfill her motherly dreams but, on the insemination day, his best friend switches the sperm's donor with his. Do you realize that I almost used the same words than in last weekend's backup plan? This is funnier, more comedy than romantic.
   
   
6. The Hit List, **
   A run down man without any drive finds a friend in a hitman who asks him for a list of people whose death will make his life better. Good action, but not thrilling at all.
   
   
7. In the Name of the King: Two Worlds,  
   I just realized this is a sequel to a dungeon siege film. No, I didn't forget to put the stars. I fell asleep twice while trying to watch it. 

Really, what is happening with television series? ...

1. Last Man Standing S01-E15, ****
   Mike's birthday! "Bacon of the month club... Yey, 17 years already... Yeah, if you get to 20 you get a free angiogram... What about 25?... Nobody makes it to 25." This is what I love about Tim Allen's shows, simple, crude, and fun.
   
   
2. Castle S04-E14, *****
   They really made a killer episode! Beckett and Castle solve a murder and a crime from the 50s while Castle enacts the past in his minds eye. Awesome characterization!
   
   
3. Hawaii Five O S02-E15, ***
   Danno is reached by his past and his family is put in danger's way.
   
   
4. Big Bang Theory S05-E16, ****
   
   Sheldon is forced to take vacations and pesters Amy on her lab. Howard is getting married and issues start arising while the rest of the guys just hang around.
   
   
5. Psych, (not yet back?)
   
   
   
   
6. Once upon a time S01-E11, ***
   
   Emma trusts too much in Sydney and we learn the story behind the Evil Queen's mirror.  

Sorry for being late, I went walking and taking pictures yesterday and forgot to write the post in advance. 

LWP: A list of papers (on vacation)

I'm really getting into the on-vacation mood and not even worrying about checking the RSS feeds for my favorite journals everyday (I think my google reader has some 800 unread items as of today). Last week, I managed to skip through the feed and found these interesting:

Anderson localization in a periodic photonic lattice with a disordered boundary by  U. Naether, J. M. Meyer, S. Stützer, A. Tünnermann, S. Nolte, M. I. Molina, and A. Szameit, Optics Letters 37, 485-487 (2012).


Optomechanical cooling of levitated spheres with doubly resonant fields by G. A. T. Pender, P. F. Barker, F. Marquardt, J. Millen, and T. S. Monteiro, Physical Review A 85, 021802(R) (2012).


Optomechanical systems as single-photon routers by G. S. Agarwal and Sumei Huang, Physical Review A 85, 021801(R) (2012).

I hope I can read them sometime in the future after this lackadaisical bought of laziness.

Last weekend movies (6th week 2012)

This was a weird weekend, there were some very good movies and some real bad ones...

1. Cidade de Deus, *****
   Life at the "City of God," one of Rio de Janeiro's favelas, from the eyes of a kid who grew up to be a photographer. This is a violent but awesome film depicting life in the outskirts of Rio during the 60, 70, and 80s. It's based on real events. It is so good that it's one of the few films that I have seen twice in my life.
   
   
2. The warrior's way, *****
   The best swordsman assassin from Japan deserts from his clan and seeks refuge in the wild west where he makes new friends, new enemies and old enemies find him. A mash-up of lone wolf and cub, seven samurais, magnificent seven and many more this film just made my day! This is how a action fantasy story is visually told.
   
   
3. Charade, ****
   A woman's husband is found death and a quarter million dollar is missing (it's the 60's so that's a lot of money). Audrey Hepburn's character finds herself in the middle of a mystery leftover by WWII. A very cute romantic comedy within a mystery film. Lovely takes of Paris. This is a must see.
   
   
4. How do you know, ***
   A girl softballer, portrayed by lovely Reesse Witherspon, is being cut from the USA team and finds herself interested in both a professional baseball player playboy and a corporate guy in the mist of a SEC investigation while dealing with her life after being a pro-athlete.
   
   
5. The backup plan, **
   A lonely but accomplished woman chooses artificial insemination to fulfill her motherly dreams but, on that same day, meets a guy in what seems to be love at first sight. A nice romantic comedy, good for girlfriend time.
   
   
6. From Prada to Nada, **
   Have you read Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austin? Well, think about it but with two rich-come-poor latinas in LA. It's a weird romantic comedy that jumps a lot in the story.
   
   
7. Chick magnet, 
   No, it is not a mistake that there are no stars at the right of the title. Two complete and one partial assholes find themselves with a shirt that is a chick magnet but in the case of true love. The review on the cover sounded nice but it was a waste of time.

Really, what is happening with television series? ...

1. Last Man Standing, (no episode?)
   
   
   
2. Castle, (no episode?)
   
   
   
3. Hawaii Five O, (no episode?)
   
   
   
4. Big Bang Theory S05-E15, ****
   
   Leonard chooses to forfeit his friend status as per Sheldon's room-mate's agreement. Chaos ensues in Sheldon's life. It's good to go back to non-drinking Penny and the comedy style from the second season .
   
   
5. Psych, (not yet back?)
   
   
   
   
6. Once upon a time S01-E07-10,
   
   Emma starts finding and solving the problems of fairy tale characters trapped in Storybrooke, Maine. It has a comatose prince charming, so it qualifies as a soap opera according to my standards.  

At last, Lyx and I manage to watch an Audrey Hepburn film! I hope we can see the rest of them in the coming weekends.

I cannot believe that the "Last weekend movies" series of short reviews is having around a hundred visits in the last three weeks. I never expected that. Thank you for visiting!

LWP: A list of papers (On vacation)

I am taking my vacation seriously and just reading titles and abstracts. These caught my eye, I hope I will read them whenever I'm back:

Transverse and lateral shifts of the center of gravity of a refracted nonparaxial Bessel beam by E. Norblad, Physical Review A 85, 013847 (2012).

Reflectivity and transmissivity of a cavity coupled to two-level systems: Coherence properties and the influence of phase decay by B. Julsgaard and K. Mølmer, Physical Review A 85, 013844 (2012).


Cavity cooling of a trapped atom using electromagnetically induced transparency by M. Bienert and G. Morigi, New Journal of Physics 14, 023002 (2012).


An optical-lattice-based quantum simulator for relativistic field theories and topological insulators by L. Mazza, A. Bermudez, N. Goldman, M. Rizzi, M. A. Martin-Delgado and M. Lewenstein, New Journal of Physics 14, 015007 (2012).

That's it...

Ponte en los zapatos del otro...

It seems that Mexico is going back to the one that my parents knew, a country where "desaparecidos" are a common occurrence. The difference is that back in my parent's time the kidnapper was the government only, now the role is taken by both government and criminals.

It is a good thing that at least now there's freedom of speech and press and people ready to go to the streets and media to talk about it:

"Ponte en los zapatos del otro" (Get in each other's shoes) is a campaign by "Movimiento por la Paz" (Movement for Peace) to bring into our minds the fact that forced disappearances—a commonplace occurrence during the strong days of the party dictatorship—are coming back to our times—it seems they never stopped—but they are now committed by both government and criminal organizations.

I do not commune with the slight feeling that the open war on drug cartels should stop that the video seems to give due to the last phrase of Sicila's part but I believe that peace, due process and reign of law should be guaranteed in Mexico. 

Last minute pontification: I used to hear a lot: "tenemos el pais que merecemos" (we have the country that we deserve) but we should aim to  "construir el pais que queremos" (build the country we want). Sometimes, I am ashamed I left, then, I remember why I left. Corruption should be battled at all levels, starting at the self. It is amazingly embarrassing that such things as a state official carrying 25 millions MXP in cash pass by almost no pres coverage, no legal consequences to the state government  and no civil reaction to such things (note from Spain's El Pais, here).