Review of "Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State," BBC video in DVD form

 Review of

Auschwitz: Inside the Nazi State, BBC video in DVD form

Five out of five stars

Amazing renditions of meetings

 While it is difficult to wrap your mind around the fact that over a million people were killed in Auschwitz in a few years, the most amazing aspect of this video was the meetings between the planners. When I was a programmer, we had meetings where we decided how we were going to solve functionality parameters. Accurate dramatic recreations of the meetings between the high ranking members of the SS have them taking the same approach to the planning of the killing of over a million people. They discussed the killing of innocent people as if it were a basic business logistics problem. 

 To give them their macabre due, the German designers of the death camps were very efficient in their work. The complexity of the capture and delivery of a million people spread out across an entire continent is not to be underestimated. Jobs in the camps ran the gamut from those that did the killing to those that simply counted the money and valuables confiscated from the victims. 

 One very unusual point made that I had been previously unaware of was that the leaders of the SS tried to make a deal with the Allies. The leaders of the SS were willing to trade approximately one million Hungarian Jews for 10,000 military trucks. While this major deal was never made, it did point out that it was at least possible for the Allies to have saved the lives of some that were killed. 

 Murder on an industrial scale was an incredible event and the evidence of it taking place is overwhelming and somewhat difficult to face. In this video that is a combination of historical photos, interviews with survivors and dramatic reenactments, the viewer is forced to face the reality of a modern industrial state operating an effective mass murder machine. 

Review of "The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes," by Vincent Starrett

 Review of

The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes, by Vincent Starrett

Five out of five stars

A must read for Holmes fans

 While Sherlock Holmes is of course a fictional character, that does not mean that he does not live in the minds of his fans. The purpose of this book is to explain the aspects of his life that can be gleaned from the combination of the original stories. There were of course inconsistencies when Dr. Watson was putting down their adventures. He was often confused about the sequential timeline and of course Arthur Conan Doyle was interested in the immediate plot and did not spend a great deal of thought on temporal consistency across the stories.

 Many people have spent a great deal of time cross referencing the stories. One of the points of interest that was tracked down is where in London is 221B Baker Street. After executing a great deal of scholarship, the most likely location of the residence of Holmes and Watson in London was identified. Another point of interest is a more in-depth analysis of the life of Mrs. Hudson. It is known that she is a widow, but the particulars are largely unknown.  It was explicitly stated that Dr. Watson was married, but that his wife died. Another path of investigation follows the trail of the specific aspects of Dr. Watson’s wife.

 One of the most unusual “biographies” that has ever been written, this is a book that all fans of the great, fictional detective should read.

Review of "Son of Batman," a DC Original Movie

 Review of

Son of Batman, a DC Original Movie

Four out of five stars

Excellent animated superhero movie

 I must lead off by saying that I am in general not a fan of the animated superhero movie. It always seems that the producers tried to get by with reused storylines, the cheapest possible animation and far too simplistic dialog. That is not the case here. 

 While Batman is a well-used character with a long history, in this case there is a unique and interesting plot twist. There is an organization of powerful and extremely skilled ninja types with a boy (Damian) as their most skilled trainee. When this organization is attacked by another group, the boy is whisked away by his mother. With their lives on the line, she seeks help from the boy’s father, Bruce Wayne or Batman. 

 The story expands as Damian proves to be headstrong and difficult to control, doing all he can to track down and kill Deathstroke, the man behind the attack. The viewer is witness to the development of another Robin as the newest version of the dynamic duo is developed. 

 The only potential weakness is the emphasis on the super ninja personas. However, if you are a fan of that particular plot device, then there is no weakness. I generally question a reliance on the super ninja plot device, for this dismisses the more cerebral aspects of personal warfare. However, I did find myself generating some muscle tension during the most significant one-on-one fight scenes. 

Review of "The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story," by Gavin Weightman

 Review of

The Frozen-Water Trade: A True Story, by Gavin Weightman, ISBN 078686740x

Five out of five stars

Great story about creating a market

 One of the most amazing entrepreneurs in American history is a man named Frederic Tudor. He was a visionary of the first order, in the early years of the nineteenth century, he understood that a market could be created for one of nature’s products, ice. His vision was to harvest ice from frozen lakes and rivers during the New England winters, store it and then place it on ships to be transported to tropical climates as well as the cities on the eastern seaboard in the summer. Some of the ices was transported all the way to British India. 

 Although his first attempts were failures and he spent some time in debtor’s prison, Tudor never lost faith in his vision, and he became a very wealthy man. His story is one of a person literally creating a market where none existed. After the initial success where people were able to enjoy ice cream and cold drinks in the heat of the summer, the demand grew dramatically. Even though it was a simple product, there were some significant technical difficulties. Finding a way to put ice on a ship and have it travel from New England all the way to India was a challenge. The ship had to cross the equator twice and spend significant time in the tropics. This was before the laws of heat transfer were fully understood, so it largely trial and error. 

 This book was a pleasure to read, making you realize that there are some simple products and as yet untapped markets for those products yet to be exploited. In many ways, the development of the ice market helped drive the demise of the transport of ice. For it helped drive the development of the modern electric powered refrigerators and ice making machines that rendered the long-range transport of ice inefficient. This is one of the best business history books that I have ever read. 

Review of "Pistol Packin’ Mama: The Missions of a B-17," American Hero Series DVD

 Review of

Pistol Packin’ Mama: The Missions of a B-17, American Hero Series DVD

Five out of five stars

The often short life of bomber crews

 The title is the name that was given to a B-17 bomber that was flown in daylight missions over Germany. Most of the missions that are described by the crew members were flown in 1943. At the time, there was rarely a fighter escort, so the attrition rate on a mission was often 10% or higher. Since a tour of duty for a member of a flight crew was 25 missions, it does not take any knowledge of statistics to realize that the probability of completing a tour of duty was near zero. 

 Using interviews with the crew members of the plane and actual combat footage, the story of what these men did is told. They were men that were well aware that they would likely not survive the war, yet they were briefed on the flight plan, climbed into the plane and then stuck to the flight plan despite the dangers. 

 While the development of fighter protection reduced the bomber attrition rate in 1944 and beyond, in 1943 daylight bombing was brutal attrition warfare. There is mention of one time when only one plane came back out of 15 in the wing that took off. Many German fighter planes were also destroyed, and the bomber crew salutes their bravery and determination in attacking the bombers. 

 This video shows a side of the war that was brutal and unforgiving, the men did their duty, well aware that there was little hope of coming out alive. It is a story that needs to be told and re-told so that it is never forgotten. 

Review of "Berlin Airlift," Simply Media DVD

 Review of

Berlin Airlift, Simply Media DVD

Four out of five stars

Largely factual rendition of a great success

 From the standpoint of rapidly developed logistics, the Berlin Airlift of 1948-49 was an incredible achievement. When the Soviet Union blocked all land and water access to what was to become West Berlin, the only possible option to keep the city from being starved out was to supply by air. The largest cargo planes at the time could carry at most 10 tons of freight and the daily minimum requirements was over 3,000 tons per day.

 At first, the Soviets did not believe that the Allies could possibly fly that much in by air, and then after the initial success of the Allies, did not think it could be sustained over the course of the winter. Once the level of determination of the Allies to hold their sections of Berlin was clear, the Soviets eventually lifted their embargo on land and canal traffic. The success of the Berlin Airlift was the first significant victory of the Allies in the Cold War. 

 While the necessary background on the political situation is given, most of the information in this video covers the sheer logistical aspects. Of particular interest is the information on the flight corridors, the rate of plane traffic and some of the difficulties concerning the different velocities of the different types of planes. All had to be tightly controlled, from the take-off, through the flight to the unloading and then the flight back. 

 It is impossible to overstate the importance of the success of the Berlin Airlift in the rivalry between the Allies and the Soviet Union. Without firing a shot, the Allies achieved a great victory and demonstrated their technical skills and resolve. This video explains the basics of how it was done. 

Review of "To Catch A Comet: The Landmark Mission of the Rosetta Spacecraft," PBS DVD

 Review of

To Catch A Comet: The Landmark Mission of the Rosetta Spacecraft, PBS DVD

Five out of five stars

An incredible achievement

 The Rosetta spacecraft was a robot that was launched on an incredibly complex mission. Developed and launched by the European Space Agency (ESA) it was designed to rendezvous with comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, drop a probe to the surface, sample and study the composition of the comet and take pictures of the unusual object. In order to achieve the velocity necessary to rendezvous with the comet, four gravitational assist flybys were needed. Three of Earth and one of Mars. 

 The machine was also put into hibernation mode for 31 months as it slowly gained on the target. Despite some tense moments, the spacecraft self-awakened on schedule and achieved the rendezvous with the target. Some incredible pictures and an enormous amount of scientific data were gathered. 

 It is impossible to watch this video and not be in awe of the skills of the people that plan, develop, launch and control these probe craft. At such great distances from Earth, robots have to be almost completely autonomous and the experimental packages small and consume little power. To see visual descriptions of the path and the incredibly effective engineering solutions makes one think that there are few limits to what space exploration can achieve. This video should be required viewing in science classes to demonstrate what the proper technological application of scientific principles can achieve.