Fire Tornado !!!

Mother Nature combines Wind & Fire! Bad combination. Not funny. But awesome.

Orwell or Huxley ?

This insightful, funny, and kinda creepy comic delves into the question of which author more accurately predicted the distopian future - Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four or Huxley's Brave New World.

Text is taken from the book Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman, art by Stuart McMillen. You can view a 4 page printable PDF as well.

2009 05 Amusing Ourselves to Death

NATURE | Behind the Scenes of "Hummingbirds" | PBS

Filmmaker Ann Prum talks about her high definition high speed video documentary of hummingbirds she produced for the PBS series Nature. Seriously stunning footage, be sure to watch the 720p YouTube version or somehow get the full show in high def.

Of her work, Prum says:
“These are the kinds of films I like to make. They say, you think you know this animal … but we actually don’t know them at all.”

On hummingbirds:
“They are tough. People think they are delicate and jewel-like. They are not like that at all. They are tough as nails. They are incredibly competitive — really defending their resources. It’s the difference between life and death for them, they live so on the edge.”

Ann, please make another film on dragonflies!

Buffy/Angel Episode Sequence

The greatest television series of both the 20th and 21st centuries, Buffy the Vampire Slayer, ran for 7 seasons. Seasons 4 through 7 aired along with the spin-off series Angel with plot lines interleaved throughout both series (even when Buffy moved to the UPN and Angel stayed on WB viewers had to watch both series on different networks to keep abreast of plot details).

However, the chronological broadcast order of the two series is not always the plot order - especially in Buffy Season 6 interleaved with Angel Season 3. What follows is the correct viewing order for all 7 seasons of Buffy and 5 seasons of Angel. The standard viewing order of the interleaved seasons is Buffy Season M Episode N then Angel Season M-3 Episode N and mostly this is how it goes until Season 6/3. The nonstandard episodes are italicized.

• Buffy Season 1
• Buffy Season 2
• Buffy Season 3

Buffy Season 4 / Angel Season 1 (standard viewing order)


• Buffy ‘The Fresh­man’ (S04E01)
• Angel ‘City Of…’ (S01E01)
• Buffy ‘Liv­ing Con­di­tions’ (S04E02)
• Angel ‘Lonely Hearts’ (S01E02)
• Buffy ‘The Harsh Light of Day’ (S04E03)
• Angel ‘In The Dark’ (S01E03)
• Buffy ‘Fear Itself’ (S04E04)
• Angel ‘I Fall to Pieces’ (S01E04)
• Buffy ‘Beer Bad’ (S04E05)
• Angel ‘A Room With A View’ (S01E05)
• Buffy ‘Wild at Heart’ (S04E06)
• Angel ‘Sense and Sen­si­tiv­ity’ (S01E06)
• Buffy ‘The Ini­tia­tive’ (S04E07)
• Angel ‘The Bach­e­lor Party’ (S01E07)
• Buffy ‘Pangs’ (S04E08)
• Angel ‘I Will Remem­ber You’ (S01E08)
• Buffy ‘Some­thing Blue’ (S04E09)
• Angel ‘Hero’ (S01E09)
• Buffy ‘Hush’ (S04E10)
• Angel ‘Part­ing Gifts’ (S01E10)
• Buffy ‘Doomed’ (S04E11)
• Angel ‘Som­nam­bu­list’ (S01E11)
• Buffy ‘A New Man’ (S04E12)
• Angel ‘Expect­ing’ (S01E12)
• Buffy ‘The I in Team’ (S04E13)
• Angel ‘She’ (S01E13)
• Buffy ‘Good­bye Iowa’ (S04E14)
• Angel ‘I’ve Got You Under My Skin’ (S01E14)
• Buffy ‘This Year’s Girl’ (S04E15)
• Angel ‘The Prodi­gal’ (S01E15)
• Buffy ‘Who Am I?’ (S04E16)
• Angel ‘The Ring’ (S01E16)
• Buffy ‘Super­star’ (S04E17)
• Angel ‘Eter­nity’ (S01E17)
• Buffy ‘Where the Wild Things Are’ (S04E18)
• Angel ‘Five By Five’ (S01E18)
• Buffy ‘New Moon Ris­ing’ (S04E19)
• Angel ‘Sanc­tu­ary’ (S01E19)
• Buffy ‘The Yoko Fac­tor’ (S04E20)
• Angel ‘War Zone’ (S01E20)
• Buffy ‘Primeval’ (S04E21)
• Angel ‘Blind Date’ (S01E21)
• Buffy ‘Rest­less’ (S04E22)
• Angel ‘To Shan­shu in L.A.’ (S01E22)

Buffy Season 5 / Angel Season 2 (standard viewing order)


• Buffy ‘Buffy Vs Drac­ula’ (S05E01)
• Angel ‘Judg­ment’ (S02E01)
• Buffy ‘Real Me’ (S05E02)
• Angel ‘Are You Now Or Have You Ever Been’ (S02E02)
• Buffy ‘The Replace­ment’ (S05E03)
• Angel ‘First Impres­sions’ (S02E03)
• Buffy ‘Out of My Mind’ (S05E04)
• Angel ‘Untouched’ (S02E04)
• Buffy ‘No Place Like Home’ (S05E05)
• Angel ‘Dear Boy’ (S02E05)
• Buffy ‘Fam­ily’ (S05E06)
• Angel ‘Guise Will Be Guise’ (S02E06)
• Buffy ‘Fool For Love’ (S05E07)
• Angel ‘Darla’ (S02E07)
• Buffy ‘Shadow’ (S05E08)
• Angel ‘The Shroud of Rah­mon’ (S02E08)
• Buffy ‘Lis­ten­ing to Fear’ (S05E09)
• Angel ‘The Trial’ (S02E09)
• Buffy ‘Into the Woods’ (S05E10)
• Angel ‘Reunion’ (S02E10)
• Buffy ‘Tri­an­gle’ (S05E11)
• Angel ‘Rede­f­i­n­i­tion’ (S02E11)
• Buffy ‘Check­point’ (S05E12)
• Angel ‘Blood Money’ (S02E12)
• Buffy ‘Blood Ties’ (S05E13)
• Angel ‘Happy Anniver­sary’ (S02E13)
• Buffy ‘Crush’ (S05E14)
• Angel ‘The Thin Dead Line’ (S02E14)
• Buffy ‘I Was Made To Love You’ (S05E15)
• Angel ‘Reprise’ (S02E15)
• Buffy ‘The Body’ (S05E16)
• Angel ‘Epiphany’ (S02E16)
• Buffy ‘For­ever’ (S05E17)
• Angel ‘Dishar­mony’ (S02E17)
• Buffy ‘Inter­ven­tion’ (S05E18)
• Angel ‘Dead End’ (S02E18)
• Buffy ‘Tough Love’ (S05E19)
• Angel ‘Belong­ing’ (S02E19)
• Buffy ‘Spi­ral’ (S05E20)
• Angel ‘Over the Rain­bow’ (S02E20)
• Buffy ‘The Weight of the World’ (S05E21)
• Angel ‘Through the Look­ing Glass’ (S02E21)
• Buffy ‘The Gift’ (S05E22)
• Angel ‘There’s No Place Like Plrtz Glrb’ (S02E22)


Buffy Season 6 / Angel Season 3

• Angel ‘Heart­throb’ (S03E01)
• Angel ‘That Vision Thing’ (S03E02)
• Angel ‘That Old Gang of Mine’ (S03E03)
• Buffy ‘Bar­gain­ing Part One’ (S06E01)
• Buffy ‘Bar­gain­ing Part Two’ (S03E02)
• Buffy ‘After Life’ (S06E03)
• Angel ‘Carpe Noctem’ (S03E04)
• Buffy ‘Flooded’ (S06E04)
• Buffy ‘Life Ser­ial’ (S06E05)
• Angel ‘Fred­less’ (S03E05)
• Buffy ‘All The Way’ (S06E06)
• Angel ‘Billy’ (S03E06)
• Buffy ‘Once More With Feel­ing’ (S06E07)
• Angel ‘Off­spring’ (S03E07)
• Buffy ‘Tab­ula Rasa’ (S06E08)
• Angel ‘Quick­en­ing’ (S03E08)
• Buffy ‘Smashed’ (S06E09)
• Angel ‘Lul­laby’ (S03E09)
• Buffy ‘Wrecked’ (S06E10)
• Angel ‘Dad’ (S03E10)
• Buffy ‘Gone’ (S06E11)
• Angel ‘Birth­day’ (S03E11)
• Buffy ‘Dou­ble­meat Palace’ (S06E12)
• Angel ‘Provider’ (S03E12)
• Buffy ‘Dead Things’ (S06E13)
• Angel ‘Wait­ing In the Wings’ (S03E13)
• Buffy ‘Older and Far Away’ (S03E14)
• Angel ‘Cou­plet’ (S03E14)
• Buffy ‘As You Were’ (S06E15)
• Angel ‘Loy­alty’ (S03E15)
• Buffy ‘Hell’s Bells’ (S06E16)
• Angel ‘Sleep Tight’ (S03E16)
• Buffy ‘Nor­mal Again’ (S06E17)
• Angel ‘For­giv­ing’ (S03E17)
• Buffy ‘Entropy’ (S06E18)
• Angel ‘Dou­ble or Noth­ing’ (S03E18)
• Buffy ‘See­ing Red’ (S06E19)
• Angel ‘The Price’ (S03E19)
• Buffy ‘Vil­lains’ (S06E20)
• Angel ‘A New World’ (S03E20)
• Buffy ‘Two To Go’ (S06E21)
• Angel ‘Bene­dic­tion’ (S03E21)
• Buffy ‘Grave’ (S06E22)
• Angel ‘Tomor­row’ (S03E22)

Buffy Season 7 / Angel Season 4

• Buffy ‘Lessons’ (S07E01)
• Buffy ‘Beneath You’ (S07E02)
• Angel ‘Deep Down’ (S04E01)
• Buffy ‘Same Time, Same Place’ (S07E03)
• Angel ‘Ground State’ (S04E02)
• Buffy ‘Help’ (S07E04)
• Angel ‘The House Always Wins’ (S04E03)
• Buffy ‘Self­less’ (S07E05)
• Angel ‘Slouch­ing Toward Beth­le­hem’ (S04E04)
• Buffy ‘Him’ (S07E06)
• Angel ‘Super­sym­me­try’ (S04E05)
• Buffy ‘Con­ver­sa­tions With Dead Peo­ple’ (S07E07)
• Angel ‘Spin the Bot­tle’ (S04E06)
• Buffy ‘Sleeper’ (S07E08)
• Angel ‘Apoc­a­lypse, Now­ish’ (S04E07)
• Buffy ‘Never Leave Me’ (S07E09)
• Angel ‘Habeas Corpses’ (S04E08)
• Buffy ‘Bring On the Night’ (S07E10)
• Angel ‘Long Day’s Jour­ney’ (S04E09)
• Buffy ‘Show­time’ (S07E11)
• Angel ‘Awak­en­ing’ (S04E10)
• Buffy ‘Poten­tial’ (S04E12)
• Angel ‘Sou­less’ (S04E11)
• Buffy ‘The Killer in Me’ (S07E13)
• Angel ‘Cal­vary’ (S04E12)
• Buffy ‘First Date’ (S07E14)
• Buffy ‘Get It Done’ (S07E15)
• Angel ‘Sal­vage’ (S04E13)
• Buffy ‘Sto­ry­teller’ (S07E16)
• Angel ‘Release’ (S04E14)
• Buffy ‘Lies My Par­ents Told Me’ (S07E17)
• Angel ‘Orpheus’ (S04E15)
• Buffy ‘Dirty Girls’ (S07E18)
• Angel ‘Play­ers’ (S04E16)
• Angel ‘Inside Out’ (S04E17)
• Buffy ‘Empty Places’ (S07E19)
• Angel ‘Shiny Happy Peo­ple’ (S04E18)
• Angel ‘The Magic Bul­let’ (S04E19)
• Buffy ‘Touched’ (S07E20)
• Angel ‘Sac­ri­fice’ (S04E20)
• Angel ‘Peace Out’ (S04E21)
• Angel ‘Home’ (S04E22)
• Buffy ‘End of Days’ (S07E21)
• Buffy ‘Cho­sen’ (S07E22)

• Angel Season 5

Mathematics in Service of Entertainment - The Science of Futurama

Futurama head writer and producer David X. Cohen is noted for inserting physics easter eggs in episodes of the animated space comedy. Cohen has a Bachelors degree in Physics from Harvard and a Masters degree in Computer Science from Berkeley. In what is most certainly the greatest scientific accomplishment of any animated TV series in the history of mankind, this week's episode of Futurama contained a mathematical theorem written and proven specifically for the show by a staff writer with a Ph.D. in Mathematics!

The 111 year old American Physical Society published an article on Cohen in which it reported:

In an APS News exclusive, Cohen reveals for the first time that in the 10th episode of the upcoming season, tentatively entitled “The Prisoner of Benda,” a theorem based on group theory was specifically written (and proven!) by staffer/PhD mathematician Ken Keeler to explain a plot twist. Cohen can’t help but chuckle at the irony: his television-writing rule is that entertainment trumps science, but in this special case, a mathematical theorem was penned for the sake of entertainment.

The episode aired August 19, 2010 on Comedy Central and can be seen on Project Free TV.

La Bahia

La Bahia, originally uploaded by Doctor Free.

The La Bahia apartment building across Beach Street from The Boardwalk in Santa Cruz. Photo and digital editing by Doctor Free. Bodaciously excellent!

Big Lyapunov Exponent Bug

bigbug, originally uploaded by Doctor Free.

Fractal visually depicting the Lyapunov exponents of an iterated map of the plane. Generated with a fractal software laboratory written by Dr. Ronald Joe Record. I find it interesting that, even though this is a 2-dimensional object (the colors representing the Lyapunov exponent for a particular parameter), there seem to be shadows like it's a giant space bug hovering over a green landscape.

This is one of the images in my Lyapunov Exponent Flickr set.

Mandelbulb Flight

A super cool zoom into a 3D Mandelbrot Set (Mandelbulb). No music, just awesomeness.

Flame Thrower vs. Fire Extinguisher

Dancing Pigeons - Ritalin from Blink on Vimeo.

Hilarious music video pitting a flame thrower versus a fire extinguisher. Plus, hey, those teeth are gnarly.

Mandelbox Zoom

The latest amazing zoom on a 3D Mandelbrot set. Fascinating.