VERMONT IS THE NEW IOWA

ITEM [via kukla_red ]: Vermont has become the fourth state to legalize gay marriage — and the first to do so with a legislature's vote, as both the house and senate collected enough votes to override Gov Jim Douglas’ promised veto.

Gay marriage opponents blame the victory on teh gayz having "a highly funded, extremely well-oiled machine”. Which is kinda hot when you put it that way.

Meanwhile, on the same day, the DC Council voted 12-0 to recognize same-sex marriages performed in other states (even though gay marriage itself isn’t legal in DC – yet).

Meanwhile, in possibly related news, President Obama just appointed gay activist Harry Knox to the White House Office of Faith-Based & Neighborhood Partnerships.

Which is cool. Except for the White House having a faith-based advisory channel. I was rather hoping Obama would kill that. But if he did that. everyone would think he was Muslim again, so I’m willing to give that one a little time.

And to think we have Iowa to thank for this.

Thanks Iowa,

This is dF

THE GOLDEN AGE OF SURVEILLANCE

One of these men is Christopher Walken. Can you spot him?



Hint: he’s the one who isn’t Sean Connery or Stan Gottlieb.

That’s a still [via Cinebeats] from Sidney Lumet’s The Anderson Tapes, which is not only Walken’s first film role, but also a highly underrated film.

On the surface it’s a heist film (like Ocean’s 11, only they rob a New York apartment building, not a casino), but it’s also set against the backdrop of increased surveillance. Sean Connery gets out of jail after ten years to find he now has to contend with photo IDs and surveillance cameras in everyday life. Meanwhile, at least four different private and govt agencies are tapping the apartments and phones of half the people in the film, illegally in some cases, and yet none of them are aware of each other, and thus unable to realize that a heist is being planned right in front of them.

Sound familiar?

It’s amazing that this was not only made 38 years ago, but that it was released a full year before the Watergate story broke.

Anyway, I used to love watching this when I had it on CED videodisc 20 years ago. As heist films go, it’s pretty nifty, and while the gay characters are rather stereotypical, well it WAS 1971 – it was probably a brave move to put them in at all.

Highly recommended, if only to see Christopher Walken as a long-haired young criminal saying, “America, man! You know, it's so beautiful I wanta eat it!”

FUN FACT: Naturally, Hollywood is planning a remake, although the producer is working from the original Lawrence Sanders novel, not the screenplay of the first film. I am not optimistic, even if the surveillance angle is more relevant than ever.

Watch me,

This is dF

MY OTHER CAR IS A SEGWAY

ITEM [via BoingBoing Gadgets]: You know those Segway scooters that never caught on? GM has developed a two-seat Segway for urban driving.

Code name: P.U.M.A. (Personal Urban Mobility and Accessibility).

Pro: Lithium battery powered, can go 35 miles per hour and runs 35 miles on a single charge.

Con: looks as silly as the Segway, no weatherproofing, would lose in a collision with a bike messenger.

I predict failure.

That said, there is one nifty idea in all this: PUMAs would use GPS receivers and a network grid that would allow them to automatically detect pedestrians and other vehicles to avoid collisions.

The only issue there is that these are aimed at urban usage, and GPS is currently next to useless in urban canyons. Then again, by the time the PUMA ever sees a commercial launch – ten years from now if they’re lucky – GPS will be coupled with land-based networks to provide GPS-level accuracy even while indoors.

If nothing else, companies are already working on GPS systems that allow cars to detect pedestrians, thus making them easier to hit avoid. Japan already has a test system up and running in Okinawa.

Street to street,

This is dF