Podcast: startup

I follow he podcast Startup a while, see link

This is a podcast about someone who wants to start podcast company. You follow his startup from the start and see where he bumps into. The podcast has high production value and gives in my opinion also a fairly accurate picture of what it is to start a startup.

Tip 1: Listen to the podcasts chronologically.

Tip 2: Season two is not as great as season one, but the mini season 3 starts very well.

K2: The Killer Summit

Low quality youtube link here. There is also a 720p torrent out there (highly recommended because of the scenery), should I post the link or are we then endangering the blog?

I found this documentary quite fascinating although it doesn't really teach anything, it only tells the story of the most lethal day in the history of K2 using rather good re-enactments and stunning images of the landscape.

ps. I've slightly adjusted the width of the blog so that embedded clips have a better fit when set on 640x360.

The Egg - probably my favorite 5 minute read

The Egg

By: Andy Weir

You were on your way home when you died.

It was a car accident. Nothing particularly remarkable, but fatal nonetheless. You left behind a wife and two children. It was a painless death. The EMTs tried their best to save you, but to no avail. Your body was so utterly shattered you were better off, trust me.

And that’s when you met me.

“What… what happened?” You asked. “Where am I?”

“You died,” I said, matter-of-factly. No point in mincing words.

“There was a… a truck and it was skidding…”

“Yup,” I said.

“I… I died?”

“Yup. But don’t feel bad about it. Everyone dies,” I said.

You looked around. There was nothingness. Just you and me. “What is this place?” You asked. “Is this the afterlife?”

  Full story...

Andy Weir also wrote The Martian which is one of my favorite hard sci-fi books and is currently being made into a movie. I read the book due to Adam Savage recommending it in a Tested video.

Als een nacht met duizend sterren - Joeri Boom

Het boek waar ik het gisteravond over had. Ik heb het nog niet uitgelezen maar ben nu op ongeveer 2/3e en heb tot op heden elke keer moeite gehad om het boek weg te leggen.

In Als een nacht met duizend sterren toont bekroond journalist Joeri Boom hoe ingewikkeld het is om de krankzinnige werkelijkheid van een oorlog te vatten. Zeker als daar militairen uit eigen land bij betrokken zijn, en voorlichters over je schouder meekijken. Tijdens de Nederlandse missie in de Afghaanse provincie Uruzgan (2006 – 2010) ging Boom mee op levensgevaarlijke patrouilles en zocht hij vergeefs naar resultaten van opbouwprojecten. Hij raakte in de ban van het soldatenleven en worstelde met (zelf)censuur en de eenzijdigheid van embedded-verslaggeving. Pas toen het hem lukte los van Defensie in Uruzgan te werken, merkte hij hoe onvolledig zijn beeld van de missie was geweest. Met pakkende en schokkende voorbeelden laat Joeri Boom zien wat er allemaal verborgen ligt achter het zinnetje: 'Dit artikel is gecontroleerd door Defensie, er is niets in gewijzigd.'

Over de schrijver: Joeri Boom

Do rate movies you watch on IMDb?

I try to rate all the movies I see on imdb because I like the stats and the voting history. Also it some times prevents me from watching some movies twice due bad memory, especially when under influence :)
I'd like to know the movies you watched in 2011 and rated 8 or higher, if you don't use IMDb, then maybe you can remember your favorites of 2011.
These are mine, all of them are 8s, I had no 9s in 2011.

Hobo with a Shotgun
Get Low
Win Win
X-Men: First Class
Rise of the Planet of the Apes
True Grit
The Social Network

My biggest disappointment was Drive, which is rated 8.1 and I rated 4.

Annom:
I rated about 20 movies in 2011.
8s:
The Diving Bell and the Butterfly (2007)
Kick-Ass (2010)
The King's Speech (2010)
Inception (2010)
The Social Network (2010)
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 (2011)

and the 8 hour mini-series John Adams (2008)

Biggest disappointment:
Battle for Haditha (2007)



Kamielkaze:
I don't rate movies at this moment on imdb, i will start today. The best movies i watched in 2011

8s would be:
Kick-Ass 
The King's Speech
Inception
True Grit
Celda 211
Toy story 3

Biggest disappointment :
The Town

The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief

Media: Documentary
Name: The Great Happiness Space: Tale of an Osaka Love Thief
IMDb, Runtime: +/- 75 minutes
How to get it: Official site, Amazon, Torrent or newsgroups 
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  Why Bother: Welcome to The Great Happiness Space: Rakkyo Café. The club's owner, Issei (22), has a staff of twenty boys all who know how to dress, how to talk, how to walk, and most importantly, how to fake relationships with the girls who become their source of income. 
Rating: 8/10. This is some weird shit, about how to be a player and get women to pay you for it.

Louis Theroux

Media: Documentary

Name: Louis Theroux Collection

IMDb: Louis Theroux

Runtime: +/- 60 the episode

How to get it: Amazon

Complete collection torrent

Why bother: Although his program is already pretty old and most of you have already seen it. I still would like to put it in the RBB media tips because of the interesting subjects like: nazis, prisonlife, hunting hollidays, gambling life, male porn stars, etc. What's also nice about this collection is his way of interviewing, He asks the interesting and hard questions that not everybody would dare to ask. But somehow he gets away with it, maybe it’s because he is kind of clumsy and friendly looking (or it’s because kimbo slice is the soundman). I also i like how he uses silence techniques so people feel uncomfortable and tell just a bit more. Rating: 7/10 - Nice combination of humor and interesting subjects. But not world shocking (and we already gave too much eights)

Nukes in Space - The Rainbow Bombs

Media: Documentary

Name: Nukes in Space - The Rainbow Bombs IMDb / review: IMDb Runtime: 53 min Torrent Buy it @ Amazon

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Why bother: V2, cold war, space race, exploding rockets, nukes in space, van Allen belts, ICBM's and stuff like that. It's more about rockets than nukes so the title may be a bit misleading. Rating: 8/10 - Rocketry is cool.

Felon

Media: Film

Genre: Crime - Drama Name: Felon IMDb / review: IMDb Torrent (DVD-rip) Buy it @ Amazon

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Why bother: A gut wrenching prison drama that seems too over the top to have any ground in reality, sadly it is grounded in some reality (you may want to read this after seeing the movie). It's not as good or fulfilling as Shawshank Redemption and might leave you slightly depressed after watching it. Also a very good supporting role played by Val Kilmer who we don't see often. Rating: 8/10 - Powerful film

Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson

Media: Documentary/Biography Name: Gonzo: The Life and Work of Dr. Hunter S. Thompson IMDb / review: IMDb Torrent (HQ Screener) Buy it @ Amazon

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Why bother: A biography on Hunter S. Thompson whose story Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas was made into a great movie. The passages from his books that feature in the documentary are narrated by Johnny Depp. It really gives a fascinating look into the life of Hunter S. Thompson and has many interesting stories and anecdotes. Rating: 8/10 - Warm and fussy feeling inside

Spooks

Media: Series (BBC) Name: Spooks IMDb / review: IMDb Torrent: Torrentz *

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Why bother: A BBC series about a team of agents in MI:5. Now normally the simple thought of a spy series would make me want to gauche my eyeballs out because the makers simply can't know what really goes on in such a place. Therefore most of these series and films end up being completely unrealistic/James Bond like, where spies get smashed, tortured, drowned using futuristic vehicles but after redoing his tie all is well and has sex with a 24 year old, incredibly hot, nuclear physicist who also excels in multiple foreign languages. Spooks on the other hand does look quite realistic, although I can't know because I'm not, and have never spoken with, a spy. But it has this "Midsummer murders" with a "Touch of Frost" vibe which makes it, well actually quite good. One episode covers one story (operation). The stories are diverse; it's not all Islamic terror bladibla. Although the personal issues of the characters do flow through several episodes, because it's not a Hollywood production it isn't annoyingly juicy/soapy or something. Now be advised, do not confuse this with Spooks - Code 9, this is an lame spin-off in which the makers were trying to attract a younger crowd. So here the 24 year old, incredibly hot, nuclear physicist comes along again... At this moment I'm working my way trough Season 2, so far so good. Don't know how the series develops during coming seasons, but at request I can keep you updated. Rating: ★★★★ - Warm and fussy feeling inside * Torrents for complete seasons are available but have a disappointing quality (still fine to whatch), so If you only want high res I think you'll need to download episodes separately.

The Winds That Shakes The Barley

Media: Film Name: The Winds That Shakes The Barley IMDb / review: IMDb Torrent: Mininova *

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Why bother: Film about 20th century (1920 to be exact) Ireland and the people's struggle against Britain's occupation of the land. Beautiful cinema and good acting. For me personally an eyeopener on the subject, maybe a tad subjective towards the Irish Republicans. But the storyline does contain a love sidetrack which can easily be filtered out without losing the main story. Subtitles are recommended due to the fact that this is an Irish movie. Rating: ★★★★ - Warm and fussy feeling inside * I watched this movie some time ago so I don't really know what torrent I used, but I think this one is oke.

RBB - Media Tips

I've been walking around with this idea fore some time now, and due to complete and utter boredom today I finally started it. A new addition to the blog: The RBB Media Tips. The idea is that when you come across a new film, TV series or music artist you can post it according to a small template so that the rest of us can enjoy it to. Add a tag "RBB Media Tips" and that way we create a list of things that are fun to watch/listen. Here is my idea of a template:

Media: "music, TV series, film etc" Name: "pretty fuckin obvious, but do post album names and artists etc. like: Coldplay - Viva La Vida" IMDb / review: "a source of other commentary on the subject" Torrent: "please make sure it works and has a proper quality"

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Why bother: "WITHOUT SPOILERS!!!! elaborate why we should even bother downloading it..." Rating: "Pick one of the following:" ★ - Nearly entertaining ★★ - Makes times pass ★★★ - Slight sensation of entertainment ★★★★ - Warm and fussy feeling inside ★★★★★ - Chuck Norris would download it edit: Recommendation changed to rating and "I lit up a cigarette" changed to "warm and fussy feeling inside".