Monday, May 10, 2004

A New Use for the Internet

Want to use your computer to watch people dig a hole? Here you go.

• Posted at 11:11 AM · LINK

Speaking of Blackjack...

For some time, I've heard tales — some of them, apparently true — of an almost-legendary sweep that a Blackjack team composed of M.I.T. students made a few years ago in Las Vegas. Like most things in and around that town, stories are exaggerated and embellished to a lustrous shine, and I know there have been a few books and screenplays written about the effort and I think there's even a motion picture in production. It is now the subject of a fascinating 2-hour documentary that just debuted on The History Channel.

Actually, there are enough re-created scenes that "documentary" is hardly an apt term. It's more like a TV Movie starring most of the key participants, some of them photographed in silhouette to conceal their faces. The true story (assuming this is the true story) is minus some of the more colorful anecdotes and plot twists I heard but it's still an amazing tale. It's also amazingly well-told in an intriguing mix of interviews and dramatized scenes. The title is Breaking Vegas and the next airing is next Saturday afternoon. Set the TiVo.

• Posted at 1:19 AM · LINK