Routine Order

Uri Geller tried to take down some youtube videos by invoking the DMCA copyright laws. The trouble is, he wasn’t the “original” producer of the videos or anything like that. So he asked youtube to take down some videos that expose him, while he wasn’t the owner of the content. And guess what, youtube responded to the copyright violation notice (which, again, was unsubstantiated) by taking down the videos.

This boingboing article has the whole story and a link to the original video. As a bonus, the guy in the video also exposes “faith healing” - the kind practiced by some fringe Christian missionaries.

Now the EFF is suing Uri Geller for misuse of the DMCA.

I have always been a skeptic of the spoon-bending skills of Uri Geller, and thought in a wishful santa-clausy way that maybe paranormal mental faculties exist in some folks. After watching the video I am convinced that it is hogwash. If you see the video of James Randi going after Uri and others, you will see how he makes a ridiculous spectacle of himself on the Johnny Carson show at the height of his fame. He cannot do the spoon mending, or any mind tricks without his props. That makes him, what, a cheapo street magician?

I have often wondered what life would be like as a Synesthetic

Synesthesia (also spelled synæsthesia or synaesthesia, plural synesthesiae) is a neurological condition in which two or more bodily senses are coupled

Wouldn’t it be fun if you could see different digits (numerals) in different colors, or if you could “see” sounds and “smell” colors. I guess I will never know what it feels like, but I really, truly wish I were synesthetic.

This article from seed, The most beautiful painting you’ve ever heard explores the world of synesthetics - a very interesting article. In it, there is a link to a youtube video of music composed by Ravel. The way it turned out, a synesthetic found out that the photos she was leafing through and the music that was playing (Ravel) were suggestive of one another:

“All of a sudden an adagio came on,” she recalled, “and the music looked exactly as the pictures sounded. I was having it in both directions at the same time. So I thought, I wonder if I could do this on purpose.”

The result is the video. Probably this is as close as I am ever gonna get to feeling what a synesthetic does. Enjoy!