blake johnson

I’d like to say, “congrats” to the writers of BSG for actually using an explanation which is scientifically correct. In episode 15, Anders says that the Final 5 traveled to Kobol by “relativistic but sub-luminal speeds”. Thereby allowing them to age much less than those in stationary frames around them. Yay special relativity!

Dear Microsoft Xbox 360 Team,

Previously I could only play MP3 and WMA format audio files on my XBox 360. This was very frustrating to me since I switched several years ago to encoding new tracks in AAC format (it gives better quality at lower bitrates than MP3). The end result was that I preferred to listen to music while sitting at my computer instead of while sitting on my couch.

Then you released the “new xbox experience” and provided an “optional media update” which added support for a host of additional audio and video formats (including AAC!). I was pleased. You didn’t yet allow me to play DRM’d songs from the iTunes Music Store, but that was understandable because Apple was refusing to license Fairplay to anyone. Still, I was content.

Then Apple starting selling songs without DRM. Now, I could play these songs with your own Windows Media Player, but my Xbox would not play them. I was no longer content. It was pointed out that this may because Apple writes the headers a little differently for purchased vs. non-purchased songs. But the fact that the Xbox cannot handle this small difference is rather remarkable.

I am sure you all know how to fix this. So, please… just do it already.

Thanks,
Blake Johnson

This last episode of BSG was a huge story dump. It didn’t have the same action or tension as the last two episodes, but it answered a lot of questions about the origin of the final five and their role in the creation of the other cylons.

Something I found interesting was that Ellen says that she gave the skin jobs “free will”. This is loaded with all kinds of philosophical issues about the meaning of “free will” and whether it is possible for machines to have it (since machines are deterministic). If you like thinking about this question, I would highly recommend Steven Pinker’s The Blank Slate. Pinker has a chapter in which he describes a modern model of the brain. The image that cognitive scientists are putting together looks a lot like interdependent machines. Choice and free will fit into this framework through one center whose function is to adjust the relative weights of competing desires/interests (presumably the inputs to this machine include a person’s memory as well as his ability to predict the outcome of various choices). In essence, this is a mechanistic model which function a lot like “free will”.

So, maybe Ellen’s statement is sensible after all.

Before Friday rolls around and another episode appears without me having said anything…

With 3 solid episodes in a row, it seems like BSG has found its stride again. In fact, this last episode, in particular, was more than solid. It was spectacular. Tense situations, fast-paced action, emotional development… Resolving some issues while opening up new ones. I was getting a touch annoyed that the writers were destroying Gaeta’s character. However, they were sufficiently careful with these episodes to ensure that it did not appear that Gaeta simply jumped off the deep end. His flaws simply rose all the way to the surface. The last two minutes of the episode were beautiful in their stark simplicity: the connection between Gaeta’s conflicted state of mind and the itch of his missing leg, and then it was over.

Perhaps the viewer, in the end, was able to fulfill Gaeta’s wish to be understood.