Friday, March 14, 2008

News of the Day -- Friday, March 14

+ Happy Pi Day everyone! There's a terrific article at BBC News outlining the history of pi and a lot of fascinating facts about its various applications. For example, did you know that "In ancient Greece, the great mathematician Archimedes worked tirelessly to discover the ratio, uncovering only a few digits of accuracy. When he tried to stop a Roman soldier from blundering over his work by shouting "do not touch my circles" he was unceremoniously murdered." That, right there, is probably why the ancients never invented computers. Bad soldier!

+ A tidbit on Billy Crystal's chance to play in the Yankees-Pirates pre-season game yesterday. I know some folks think it's stupid, but come on, comedians never get to play sports. I'm putting this one in the nerd win column.

+ As you've probably heard, "Harry Potter and the Deathly Hollows" is going to be split into two films with one being released in Nov. 2010 and the other to follow in May 2011. Director David Yates says this is because the book is too important to leave anything out for the movies. Really? Really? Gee, that would have been a nice philosophy with "Order of the Phoenix." Yates, I'm still shaking my fist at thee.

2 comments:

Chewbob said...

MAN, NO KIDDING, YATES. Sheesh. EVERY movie should have been split in two, because, hey, more plot for those of us who actually read the books, and more money for the folks making the movies. Sure, the kids would have all been forty by the time they were all filmed, but they would still be teens in our hearts.

Liz said...

It could have worked. Weren't all the "kids" on Beverly Hills 90210 like 35 years old? It's all about suspension of disbelief!