- Saw the new Iron Man movie Tuesday night at special sneak-preview. I enjoyed it quite a bit. It's a very good comic-book movie, and a decent movie overall. Out of a score of 1 to 100, I give it an 82. I put it into the upper-echelon of comic-book movies, along with Batman (1989), Batman Begins, Superman and Superman 2.

Downey Jr was wonderful! He poured his heart and soul into his performance. If you have no expectations of who or what Tony Stark is about, then you will walk away thinking Downey Jr makes an amazing Tony Stark. Downey definitely sold me on the techno-babble, and he made Stark into a witty, caring character. Unfortunately, I was still disappointed in his portrayal of Tony Stark, when compared to the comic-book version. The comic-book version of Tony Stark is sophisticated, suave, worldly, devastatingly handsome, and completely sure of himself at all times. Downey often came across as smarmy and irreverent, two qualities you would never find in the comic-book Tony Stark.

The scenes where Stark designs, builds and tests the Mark 2 and Mark 3 armors floored me! It's like they stripped those scenes straight from the comic-books. I was as giddy as a school-girl watching those scenes. I think I embarrassed my friend sitting next to me. I dont care though. I had fun watching those scenes.

The script was overall satisfactory. The plot seemed to get sillier and sillier as the movie moved along, but that's typical in comic-book movies. Big plot holes towards the end of the flick.

There are at least a dozen little easter-eggs to watch for in the movie. I wont point them all out here, because I dont want to spoil them, and besides, anyone reading this review will be able to spot them on their own anyhow. However, here are three I hope you dont miss..

1. Listen to the music played in the casino when Stark is gambling. If you have ever watched the old Iron Man cartoon from the late 60s, you will recognize the music. My last update led you to this music.

2. Look for a nod to Howard Hughes in Tony's office, later in the film.

3. You have to be a true-blue Marvel fan to catch this one..listen for the call-sign of a particular F-22 raptor.

The movie, as of this writing, is at 95% at Rotten Tomatoes (90 fresh/5 rotten.) Much to my surprise, it's gonna be one of the big movies of the summer. It's guaranteed of making 200 million. Will it break 300 million? I hope so. The movie is good enough to warrant sequels.

Here are some Iron Man related links, to tide you over until you see the movie:

I wrote a longer, and spoiler-filled review, at super-hero hype.com:
http://forums.superherohype.com/showthread.php?t=300981&page=2

Iron Man at Rotten Tomatoes:
http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/iron_man/

The Iron Man video game comes out May 2nd. I pre-ordered it. Here are the various Iron Man suits you can un-cover in the game. Very good historical descriptions of each suit:
http://www.starpulse.com/news/index.php/2008/04/10/sega_unveils_iron_man_video_game_suits

Real-life Iron Man suits. This stuff motivates me to try for A's in my calculus classes:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20080421/sc_livescience/realironmansuits

George Orwell's five tips to effective writing:
http://www.pickthebrain.com/blog/george-orwells-5-rules-for-effective-writing/

The ten most historically inaccurate films:
http://movies.yahoo.com/feature/10mosthistoricallyinaccurate.html

On a related note...the five most ridiculous lies you were taught in history class:
http://www.cracked.com/article_16101_5-most-ridiculous-lies-you-were-taught-in-history-class.html

A true bionic eye. Some day Steve Austin and Iron Man wont be science-fiction:
http://news.bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1078909

The answer is 42, but what exactly is the question?
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/magazine/7283155.stm

- Who should McCain pick for his VP? I prefer someone conservative, fairly young, and from the midwest. One person's opinion of McCain's top ten VP list. I like this list:
http://exurbanleague.com/2008/02/15/mccains-top-ten-vp-picks.aspx

- Want to keep rowdy teenagers out of your neighborhood? Don't call the police, use a high-frequency noise that only they can hear:
http://wcbstv.com/topstories/Queens.teen.repellant.2.667533.html

- Living to 100 is easier than first suspected:
http://malaysia.news.yahoo.com/ap/20080212/twl-living-longer-1be00ca.html

- Everyone with blue-eyes has a common ancestor?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22934464/wid/11915773?GT1=10815

- How best to kill a 500 foot monster:
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/02/monster-mash-ko.html

- The official two and a half-minute trailer for the new Iron Man movie is out. I have something even better. Follow this link, and make sure you have the volume turned-up. If this doesn't get you jazzed up for the new Iron Man movie, nothing will. This the Tony Stark I know!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Wn4iYoMcAA

- Which colleges produce the most NCAA champions. Take a guess:
http://www.forbes.com/2008/01/29/schools-college-professional-biz-sports_cx_ml_champions08_0129factory.html

- Microsoft is offering you free storage space on the net. It's called SkyDrive and you get five gigabytes worth of storage:
http://skydrive.live.com/

- HD-DVD is dead Jim. A few years ago on this website I predicted that HD-DVD would win the format war over Blue-ray. Boy was I wrong! Blue-ray has officially won, but don't go buying that Blue-ray player just yet. Here's why you should wait:
http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,331553,00.html

- 50 Mystery writers to read before you die:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/arts/main.jhtml?xml=/arts/2008/02/23/bocrime123.xml

- My Oscar picks. I list who I think will win, and in parentheses I list who I want to win:

Best Picture: No Country for Old Men (I saw No Country. I thought it was awful. I also saw Juno and Michael Clayton. Both were interesting, but not Oscar-worthy. There Will Be Blood deserves to win.)

Best Director: Cohen Brothers. (I prefer Anderson for There Will Be Blood.)

Best Actor: Daniel Day Lewis. (Daniel Day Lewis. The guy is an acting machine!)

Best Actress: Julie Christie (Julie Christie. She has been around forever. Ellen Page was fun, but her character was too cute by half. Cate Blanchett was stale in Elizabeth. Give Julie the damn statue!)

Best Supporting Actor: Javier Bardem (Bardem is the lock of the night, but how hard is it to play a quiet psycho? You see them all the time on the big screen. I prefer Hal Holbrook. Anyone who can do a dead-on impression of Mark Twain is fine by me.)

Best Supporting Actress: Cate Blanchett (Cate is in the Dylan biopic for how long? 10 seconds? Give it to Amy Ryan.)

Follow this link to read what the experts think will happen on Oscar night:
http://www.ew.com/ew/article/0,,20007870_20164475_20173231,00.html

- On a slightly related note...after watching Cate Blanchett in Elizabeth: The Golden Age, I found out where potatoes came from. I always assumed they originated in Ireland. I had no idea:
http://www.weidners.com/Potato_journey.htm

- A full lunar eclipse on February 20th. An eclipse saved Columbus 500 years ago. Perhaps one might save you someday:
Eclipse saved Columbus

- A while back, I remember reading about the Chinese govenment trying to affect the weather for the Beijing Olympics. Apparently it's having some success:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory?id=4214557

- "You dipped, and then you dipped again. It's like putting your mouth in the whole dip. Just dip once, and get it over with!!!" Well, little Timmy had a valid point:
Only dip once

- Several months ago I mentioned how few American WWI veterans are left. Now there is only one left:
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/nationworld/2004168010_apobitwwiveteran06.html

- Ten technologies we could build, if they weren't so darn expensive:
http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2008/01/10-sci-fi-techs.html

- Ten easy to learn math tricks:
http://listverse.com/science/10-easy-arithmetic-tricks/

- American Civics Test. I scored an 85%
http://www.americancivicliteracy.org/resources/quiz.aspx

- Two articles about artificial life. According to the first article, scientists will create artificial life in the next 3 to 10 years. In the second article, apparently someone already has created artificial life!
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D8R4H0Q00&show_article=1

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/2007/oct/06/genetics.climatechange

- I bought one of my spring semester programming books early, so I could get a head start on the course. The programming language I am referring to is assembly language, and it's the language I would most likely use if I want to program this type of machine:
http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/09/20/powered_jackboot_exoskeleton_darpa_mit/

...or if I want to some day build this (yes, this is an actual picture from the new movie)













- Which hands to play, and not to play, in low-limit poker. Memorize this, and I guarantee you will (at the minimum) break even every time you play at a casino:
http://www.lowlimitholdem.com/main/StartingHands.htm

- Wonderful optical illusion. Which way does the silhouette spin for you? Supposedly, this optical illusion tests whether you are left-brain or right-brain dominant. It spins counter-clockwise for me, but if I stare to the left or right of the silhouette, and let my eyes relax, it will start to spin clockwise! Kooky!
http://www.switched.com/2007/10/15/the-trippiest-optical-illusions-on-the-net/

- The most popular myths in science:
http://www.livescience.com/bestimg/index.php?url=myths_gumballs_03.jpg&cat=myths

- Seven reasons why the 21st century is making you miserable: (Number #8 should be the democrats re-gaining control of congress.)
http://www.cracked.com/index.php?name=News&sid=2370

- Which is more painful...an ant bite, a honey-bee sting, or a hornet bite? Does someone actually keep track of these things? They sure do, and it's called the Schmidt Sting Pain index. It's a list of the various types of insect bite/stings and how painful each one is:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schmidt_Sting_Pain_Index

- I hate injections. Let me state this one more time...I HATE NEEDLES!!! I simply cannot stand the thought of sharp metal pushing into my skin. Well, injections may soon be a thing of the past. It's about freakin time!!!
http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=3584538&page=1

- A map showing the majority religion in each county of the United States. Fascinating to see which religions are strongest in each part of the country. I could stare at this map for hours:
http://www.valpo.edu/geomet/pics/geo200/religion/church_bodies.gif

- Newt Gingrich writes a scathing article regarding my hometown and its pathetic school system. I don't care for Newt's personality nor how he handles his personal affairs, but I agree with his politics about 99% of the time. Too bad the city of Detroit will never listen to ideas like his:
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070808/OPINION01/708080311/1008

- A 16 page piece from the New Yorker magazine about Rudy Giuliani. The article tilts left (it's the New Yorker after all), but it has some really good biographical information about America's mayor. In a future update, I will explain why I am supporting Rudy for president and why he has the best chance, of any republican candidate, to defeat Hillary:
http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/08/20/070820fa_fact_boyer

- Do you download software, music or videos from the internet? Eight years ago, Napster was all the rage. A few years after that, programs like Limewire, Bearshare, and eMule used P2P (peer to peer) technology for sharing files across the net. Now the latest craze for stealing stuff on the net is bittorrent. Here is a beginner's guide to understanding bittorrent and how to use it successfully:
http://lifehacker.com/software/ultranewb/a-beginners-guide-to-bittorrent-285489.php

- History's ten most over-looked mysteries. One of these on the list I wrote about a few years ago on this site (the Voynich Manuscript.) I would add the Roanoke colony to this list (which I also wrote about on this site.)
http://www.livescience.com/mysteries/top10_history_mysteries-1.html

- The rare river dolphin of China is no longer rare...it is now extinct. The first animal to go extinct in 50 years. I am certainly no animal-rights activist, but it is a shame to see a whole species disappear. Oh well, it will be back. Fifty years from now we will clone the sucker!
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6935343.stm

- A computer scientist proves that a Rubik's cube can be solved with only 26 moves. I can easily match two sides of the cube, and occasionally I was able to get three sides. I was never able to solve it:
http://blog.sciencenews.org/mathtrek/2007/08/cracking_the_cube.html

- Winnie Cooper is a math genius! Kevin's struggles with mathematics and the relationship he formed with his hard-nosed math teacher are my favorite episodes of the Wonder Years. More about the real Winnie Cooper and why math is so important:
http://www.usatoday.com/life/people/2007-08-13-danica-mckellar_N.htm

- Can you survive in outer space without a space-suit? The answer might surprise you:
http://www.slate.com/id/2171522/nav/navoa/

- Computers can now automatically beat humans at checkers, and for all practical purposes can also beat humans at chess. Can a computer beat a professional at a game of Texas-hold'em poker? Follow this link to find out:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/26/business/26poker.html?hp

- Lunar eclipse August 28th. I will be watching, will you?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/space/20070723/sc_space/planaheadtotallunareclipseaug28

- Bowling is making a bit of a comeback in the states. It was very popular in the 70s and 80s but took a huge dive in the 90s. I am a horrible bowler, but I know a great deal about the sport. Bowling has always been big in family:
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0724gr-bowling0724-ON.html

- Do you know the difference between tan, khaki and beige? How about the difference between dark blue, navy blue, and midnight blue? Almost every color you can think of has an official name. Here is a website with names of some of the most popular colors. Next time someone tells you that they want to paint their nursery "coral" you will know which color they are talking about:
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/07/24/32-common-color-names-for-easy-reference/

- Ten rules for writing numbers and numerals. Here are two rules I personally try to follow, which you wont find on the following website:
I almost always put a slash "/" through any zero I write on a piece of paper, and I always say "zero" instead of "o" when telling someone a phone number. To a computer scientist there is a huge difference between a "zero" and an "o."
http://www.dailywritingtips.com/10-rules-for-writing-numbers-and-numerals/

- How to predict the weather without a forecast:
http://www.wikihow.com/Predict-the-Weather-Without-a-Forecast

- Can you name the 43 presidents in ten minutes? I named 40 of the 43. I forgot the 8th president, the 14th president and the 21st president:
http://www.sporcle.com/games/presidents.php

- The 30 wealthiest Americans of all-time, adjusted for inflation. Most of these guys were around during the reign of the 21st president:
http://www.nytimes.com/ref/business/20070715_GILDED_GRAPHIC.html#

- I gave up on the The Onion a few years ago. It's just too left-wing for me, but a contributor at NRO (National Review Online) posted a link to the following article on The Onion. It is hilarious!!!
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/john_edwards_vows_to_end_all_bad

- According to the following scientist, humanity has to get off this rock and onto Mars in 46 years or we are all doomed! I have always felt that we need to leave the earth eventually if humans want to keep on thriving, but we have more than 46 years. We have plenty of time. No rush. Perhaps what you will gain most of all from this article is a discussion of the Copernican Principle, which I had never heard of until I read this piece:
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/07/17/science/17tier.html?_r=1&ref=science&oref=slogin

- Computers can no longer lose at checkers: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070719/ap_on_hi_te/solving_checkers

- Which Desperate Housewife are you? My girlfriend forced me to take this quiz! (I am joking. I was happy to try it.) Apparently I am Bree. I have only seen the show a few times, so I have no idea if this is a good thing or a bad thing. I have a gut feeling it's not something to brag about:
http://abc.go.com/primetime/desperate/quiz/index.html

- The seven most annoying things about the immediate future:
http://valleywag.com/tech/modern-and-awkward/the-seven-most-annoying-things-about-the-future-270430.php

- That Jack Bauer guy sure has friends in high places. Apparently Justice Antonin Scalia is a big fan of the show 24, and recently used moments from the show to justify pieces of his judicial philosophy: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/LAC.20070616.BAUER16/TPStory/TPNational/Television/

- How many bytes are in a megabyte? How many meters are in a kilometer? You probably know those answers by heart, but do you know how many bits are in a terabit? Muahaha! The following chart shows all of the prefixes for units. Get use to the prefixes tera, peta, and exo. They will become relevant in the next ten years:
http://www.unc.edu/~rowlett/units/prefixes.html

- Speaking of petabytes, IBM created a new super-computer that can do over 1 petaflop (1 quadrillon or 1,000,000,000,000,000) operations in a second. It's articles like this that motivate me to finish my computer science degree:
http://www.engadget.com/2007/06/26/ibm-unveils-one-petaflop-blue-gene-p-supercomputer/#comments

- Why do certain colors represent certain items or ideas? For example, why is the Master's jacket always green? Why are republican states red and democratic voting states blue? The next two links explains these color-related questions, and many more:
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/05/01/11-great-color-legends/
http://www.colourlovers.com/blog/2007/07/03/13-more-great-color-legends/

- A few days ago, my brother pointed out that the Nathan's hot-dog eating contest is coming up. No one is a bigger fan of Kobayashi (the ultimate competitive eating champion) then I am, but I am pulling for Joey Chesnut. The name alone makes Joey a legend! He sounds like he should be sticking-up airports with Henry Hill or having a calzone with Sil and Tony. Besides, the Cooney Island hot-dog contest is on Independence Day, and Joey Chestnut is a true-blue American! You gotta root for him!

I think we should have a little wagering pool amongst us friends. Let's each pick who will win and how many hot-dogs the winner actually eats. I am picking Joey Chesnut, and I think he will eat 54 dogs.

Here is a wikipedia article about Joey Chesnut. He aint some old, fat slob like many competitive eaters. He is just a regular, 23 year-old college student from California:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joey_Chestnut

- Ten super-hero powers that can (nearly) be duplicated with modern technology:
http://blog.scifi.com/tech/archives/2007/05/04/10_techs_that_g.html

- Another typing test. I can barely break 50 words per minute with this one. That makes me think it is a good test:
http://www.jonmiles.co.uk/fingerjig.php

- Wireless, wireless, wireless. Everything is going wireless these days. Your internet, your console gaming machines, your home phones, etc. What if scientists could figure out how to transfer electricity wirelessly? Now that would rock! Well, that technology is on the way. The ramifications are staggering:
Wireless electricity

- The Sopranos TV show has ended. I will truly miss it. IMO, The Sopranos was a hit and miss TV series. Sometimes it was the best TV has ever offered, and other times it was boring, chaotic, and completely off the mark. Only a few people read this site, and of those who watch the Sopranos I know you kids have already seen the finale, so what I write in this update will not spoil it for anyone.

The final episode was a HUGE disappointment to me. I know that one of the big selling points of the Sopranos was that many of the storylines were open-ended and the show was never meant to give closure, but come on! I really needed some kind of resolution to Tony's story and some of the other major plot elements. David Chase owed us. Instead, he rubbed our faces in it. I always knew that Chase had contempt for his audience and the final episode clearly proves it. My best interpretation of the finale is that Tony got iced, and that's why it ended so abruptly. The whole show was based around him. I am guessing that Tony got shot in the head and that's why the show suddenly went dark. Here is an article supporting the same theory:
Sopranos Ending

- The last Civil War veteran died in 1959 (the war ended in 1865.) World War I started in 1914, ended in 1918, and America entered WWI in 1917. If the youngest American WWI veterans were 16 or 17 years of age in 1917, then simple math tells you that America's youngest WWI veterans are now at least 106 or 107 years old. For this reason, there are very few veterans left from WWI. In the next few years, there will be no one left who fought in WWI. Here is a list of all known veterans (from the Allied side) of WWI. According to my counting, there are only ten Americans veterans still living:
http://www.answers.com/topic/surviving-veterans-of-world-war-i