Wednesday Watercooler

“Clouds come floating into my life, no longer to carry rain or usher storm, but to add color to my sunset sky.”
― Rabindranath Tagore,

There aren’t a whole lot of things in the world that can’t be remedied by a silent but seductive sunset, above the rest of Los Angeles; I don’t know if it’s the awe inspiring colors, or the fact that your perspective has been drastically shifted – but the air up there tastes sweeter, the colors up there are more vibrant and I can feel the heartbeat of the city.

A Double Helix of Data

Storing data on a monstrous hard drive is one thing, but storing data on a double helix of your DNA is quite another! German genomicists Nick Goldman and Ewan Birney of the European Bioinformatics Institude have been researching alternative methods of data storage that can house their collection of exponentially growing information. Further proof that the best ideas come from a good buzz, the two have been feverishly collaborating on a system that translates data to binary fashion and then encodes it within the double helix structure of our DNA. So far, they have managed to store copies of an audio snippet of Martin Luther King Jr’s famous “I Have a Dream” speech and a complete set of Shakespearean sonnets.

Disney Animated Short: Paperman

Never mind the fact it was one of the only movies I saw in theaters in 2012 – ‘Wreck It Ralph’ was hands down one of the best movies I saw last year. The plot was unique, the characters were equally obnoxious and lovable and simply put: it was just so goddamn fun. Now, the irony of this is my favorite part of the movie wasn’t even part of the movie – it was the short film that played before. It just got released onto Youtube today and I am really excited to share it with you guys; by far my favorite short they’ve ever done!

World Meets Girl from “Girl Meets World“

I don’t know about you guys, but one of the major highlights from my childhood were the TGIF Lineups on ABC – you know: Family Matters, Step by Step, Hangin’ With Mr Cooper, Sabrina the Teenage Witch. But my hands down, abs-fucking-lutely favorite show was Boy Meets World. Mostly, I felt a certain awkward kid camaraderie with Topanga – that awesomely awkward girl with the crazy hair, fun outfits and cute as a button personality….but I also had a pretty huge crush on Shawn, played by Rider Strong. So believe you me, when I found out about the up and coming spinoff “Girl Meets World“ I was beyond stoked! The show is centered around the now child of Cory and Topanga and is going to be played by Roawn Blanchard of Disney Channel fame.

At Least For Today, Blackberry is Still Relevant

The Blackberry 10 Launch event in New York City this morning made it clear that Blackberry still intends on being one of the movers and shakers of the cell phone industry, even if they have to change their name. That’s right folks, the team that was once known as Research In Motion (or RIM) has been simply rebranded as Blackberry; and for you stock savvy folks – note that their Nasdaq ticker is set to change on Monday from RIMM to BBRY. Along with the name change, they also announced the Blackberry 10 OS and two brand spankin’ new phones – the Z10, which boasts a stellar full touch screen on 4.2″ with 720p resolution , and the Q10 which has the signature Blackberry QWERTY keyboard and a 3.1″ screen.

If that news wasn’t hot enough, it seems like they hope they’re soon on fire – they’ve enlisted the help of tech-savvy songstress, entrepreaneur and philanthropist Alicia Keys. Following in the footsteps of Intel who named artist will.i.am their director of creative innovation in 2011, Blackberry has named Keys their Global Creative Director.