Seriously, Adobe, between updates to your Flash player (which frequently go awry and cause my system to hang) and updates to Acrobat Reader, you’re wasting a noticeable amount of my time. I think I’m going to dump Acrobat Reader and look for viable replacements. I know that they must be out there; Goodreader on the iPad is already a better way to read PDFs than your product.
It’s a bit startling to see how much time has gone by since my last post here. I’ve been distracted by work–both businesses have been very busy–and by the slowly unfolding and worsening news from Japan, and as a result haven’t found the inclination to post anything, I guess.
Anyway: I found Chris’s “experiments” videos inspiring; here’s the latest (and last, he says) if you haven’t seen them:
As a result I’ve been thinking about setting up similar systems for similar endeavors, but haven’t actually gotten to the point of doing anything. I spent most of the recent weekend doing origami, swapping out the main hard drive in my music PC (the old one was annoyingly noisy), and staring into space. At some point, while perusing Pink Tentacle, I ran across this video by World Order, a Japanese music/dance group:
(Watch both of those in a bigger format if you can; my blog restricts images to a width of 450px but both videos are available in HD.) Genki Sudo, the leader, left this comment below the video:
There’s a sombre but well-written article at the Washington Post site about changes in Tokyo in the wake of the earthquake and tsunami, and the ongoing possibility of radiation from the nuclear plants. I’m sure that, with time, Tokyo will rebound from these catastrophes; the same cannot be said of the smaller towns that were completely destroyed by the tsunami. Still, it makes me sad to think of the dimming–speaking both figuratively and literally–of such a beautiful, radiant city.
My heart goes out to the country of Japan and to its people. I cannot express how much I am saddened by the tragic events that have unfolded over the last several days.
(If anyone knows the name of the artist who drew this, leave me a comment so that I can provide credit. I swiped it from the J-List Facebook page.)
I’ve been trying to think of something to say in a post about the earthquake, and words have essentially failed me. What can be said about a natural disaster that has claimed at least 10,000 lives, particularly when it has happened in a country that feels to me as much like home–maybe more so–than my own?
I am happy to say that I’ve made contact with the few people there that I know personally, and they are all safe and well.
Of all of the images and videos I’ve watched, I believe that this set of satellite photos most vividly illustrates the nature and intensity of the destruction caused by the tsunami. It overlays images of the same areas, before and after the earthquake, with a movable divider that lets you compare them.