Sunday, June 13, 2010
Cheap Glasses...
I haven't tried Zenni Optical (yet) – it was referred to me by a friend-of-a-friend. Their prices are amazingly low, especially for frames...
Saturday, June 12, 2010
Quote of the Day...
Laurence Sunderland, to critics of his decision to allow his 16 year old daughter Abby Sunderland to attempt to sail around the world on her own:
I never questioned my decision in letting her go. In this day and age we get overprotective with our children. If you want to look at statistics, look at how many teenagers die in cars every year. Should we let teenagers drive cars? I think it'd be silly if we didn't.Now that's an American showing some some can-do, self-reliant attitude!
Back Home...
It was hot in Phoenix – at least on Wednesday and Thursday (as high as 108°F!). On Friday, the weather report called for temperatures to plunge into the mid-90s – and by comparison, that did indeed feel quite cool...
Wednesday, June 9, 2010
Morning in the Chaparral, Moonless...
The sky was completely dark this morning on our 3:30 am walk; the moon had not yet risen. The brightest things in the sky were Venus (on the western horizon) and the Milky Way (straight overhead). Beautiful.
And this morning there was nary a coyote, dog, or turkey to be heard. The only animal sounds I heard were a few crickets and one lonely-sounding peacock who squawked a few times. That was it.
Our three field spaniels were nose-down, investigating the previous night's visitors. At one point in our walk, all three of them wanted to go investigate a nearby pepper tree – a place where I've seen a bobcat lurking before. They were annoyed that I wouldn't let them check it out. Our border collie was up to his usual morning shenanigans: picking up pine cones, putting them by my feet, and waiting for me to kick them. I think he would do that for approximately a year if I was willing to continue the game.
Somehow I suspect that my next two mornings in Phoenix won't be nearly as pleasant...
And this morning there was nary a coyote, dog, or turkey to be heard. The only animal sounds I heard were a few crickets and one lonely-sounding peacock who squawked a few times. That was it.
Our three field spaniels were nose-down, investigating the previous night's visitors. At one point in our walk, all three of them wanted to go investigate a nearby pepper tree – a place where I've seen a bobcat lurking before. They were annoyed that I wouldn't let them check it out. Our border collie was up to his usual morning shenanigans: picking up pine cones, putting them by my feet, and waiting for me to kick them. I think he would do that for approximately a year if I was willing to continue the game.
Somehow I suspect that my next two mornings in Phoenix won't be nearly as pleasant...
Cryptography in JavaScript...
Challenging objective: “build a secure, powerful, fast, small, easy-to-use, cross-browser library for cryptography in Javascript” – claimed met.
Light Blogging Alert...
I'm leaving this morning on a three-day business trip to Arizona, with limited access to the Internet and even more limited time. I'll be back for the weekend, assuming I don't get arrested and deported (I'm not carrying proof of citizenship) ...
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Gobar Gas...
Michael Yon has another excellent dispatch, this time not about war. As usual, his article is well-researched and lavishly illustrated with his photos. Go read.
Morning in the Chaparral...
Out with the dogs at 3:30 as usual. The sky was clear and beautiful once again, with the Milky Way bright and straight overhead. A quarter moon hung just over the mountains to our northwest, slightly orange. Just to its right and a little higher, Venus shone, so bright and clear that I imagined I could actually see its disk. The Big Dipper is now rotated at that hour so that the “dipper” almost sits on the horizon, right-side up. Just a gorgeous evening sky in the high desert...
The dogs were unperturbed by the chorus of howling, yipping coyotes – there was a pack somewhere quite nearby. I counted at least five individuals, but there were probably more. I don't think they were more than 100 yards away from us, off to our west on the flanks of our neighbor's hill. A dog kennel about a quarter mile north of us joined the coyotes, baying and howling. It was quite a racket! But all four of our dogs were just doing their thing, acting as if they didn't even hear all this noise...
In the midst of the canine cacophony, there was one discordant sound: a turkey, giving its occasional gobbling. Worried, probably, as well he should be. We have quite a few wild turkeys running around our valley, and I bet one of them would make a very nice meal for a pack of coyotes...
The dogs were unperturbed by the chorus of howling, yipping coyotes – there was a pack somewhere quite nearby. I counted at least five individuals, but there were probably more. I don't think they were more than 100 yards away from us, off to our west on the flanks of our neighbor's hill. A dog kennel about a quarter mile north of us joined the coyotes, baying and howling. It was quite a racket! But all four of our dogs were just doing their thing, acting as if they didn't even hear all this noise...
In the midst of the canine cacophony, there was one discordant sound: a turkey, giving its occasional gobbling. Worried, probably, as well he should be. We have quite a few wild turkeys running around our valley, and I bet one of them would make a very nice meal for a pack of coyotes...
Spending More to Save More...
Only a liberal administration could publish this memo with a straight face: the Inspector General reports that the Census Bureau says it that it hired and trained more workers than it actually needed as a “cost savings measure” – and they were serious. One hardly knows what to say, especially after reading all the details.
Oh, the country is in fine hands!
Are you pissed off yet? Remember that feeling when you vote today. Throw out the trash!!!
Oh, the country is in fine hands!
Are you pissed off yet? Remember that feeling when you vote today. Throw out the trash!!!
Political Orientation vs. Knowledge of Economics...
Interesting article by Daniel Klein over at the WSJ. I'm not surprised at the results: libertarians and conservatives, on average, understand a lot more about basic economics than do progressives and liberals (just look at “Spending More to Save More” nearby)...
North Korea: Tourist Destination?
Well, that's what their tourist bureau thinks. Here's their advertising video to tell you all about it:
My first reaction on viewing this: it reminded me of the grainy black-and-white movies I saw as kid, showing the Soviet's May Day “celebrations” in Moscow...
My first reaction on viewing this: it reminded me of the grainy black-and-white movies I saw as kid, showing the Soviet's May Day “celebrations” in Moscow...
Monday, June 7, 2010
Could Obama be Hoping for a Republican Takeover in the House?
Fred Barnes outlines why this rumor circulating in Washington just might be true...
Laffer on Taxes...
Arthur Laffer has some grim prognostications on future taxes. Gulp. Just what I needed to read on a Monday morning...
Spirit Finds Carbonates...
The Spirit rover has found clear evidence of carbonate rocks on Mars. Carbonate rocks form only in neutral or alkaline water, in conditions conducive to life-as-we-know-it. Actually, Spirit recorded the evidence for the carbonate rocks way back in 2005 – but the evidence was recorded on a sensor that was covered in dust, and the dust distorted the readings. Just recently scientists figured out how to remove the distortion computationally, and thereby found the carbonate rock's “signature”. The same instrument has collected data for about six years, and the same computational technique means that much of that data can now be “cleaned up”, quite likely leading to other “new” discoveries with old data...
Want to Feel Better Everyday?
It's easy: spend time in nature. This is one reason I choose to live out in the boonies – it makes me feel better...
Autochromes...
A fascinating online collection of very early (~1910) color photos, using a technique called “autochrome”...
Sunday, June 6, 2010
Astrology or Science?
Nicola Scaffetta has posted an interesting paper over at Watts Up With That? The paper presents a model for climate change that's driven mainly by a number of cyclical phenomena within the solar system. Some of these phenomena (such as the distance between the sun and the earth) are not controversial; others are considered closer by many scientists to be closer astrology than to astronomy (such as spin-coupling between planets). I don't fully understand the arguments about the controversial bits, and don't have time to dig into them today – but I'm intrigued by how closely his model backfits to measured data...
Fun in the Chaparral...
Yesterday a colleague of mine (Aleck L., a software engineer) visited us. He's a young guy (28) who has spent most of his life in a city environment, so there were lots of surprises for him out here in the country. We had a great time watching him react to various things, such as the personalities and behaviors of our dogs (he spent a lot of time throwing things for Race) and the cats (he really liked Maka Lea's personality, and Halala Pala's magnificent tail), the birds on our feeders, hummingbirds buzzing him, etc., etc. Debbie cooked a feast for us – shrimp, salmon, asparagus, green onions, and mushrooms on the grill, and an apple cobbler for dessert. We were not hungry!
But the best part of all came near the end of the day, when we just casually mentioned to Aleck that we liked to go four-wheeling – something he'd never done. This surprised him (he's often surprised by the things I like to do), and we asked him if he'd like to go with us sometime. An emphatic yes. So then it occurred to us that despite it being 4 pm, we could still make it out to Los Pinos that same day – so we asked if he'd like to go right now, and got another emphatic yes.
So we all piled into the old LandCruiser and took off for Los Pinos. That trip was a whole series of new experiences for Aleck, and lots of fun for us to share them with him. We were surprised at the abundant wildflowers at this late date – we saw several beautiful types that we didn't recognize, plus larkspurs, a lupine that was new to us, huge quantities of penstemmon, and some of the nicest Indian Paintbrush we've seen in San Diego County.
At several points along the Corte Madera road, Aleck broke out his iPhone and took short videos of us traversing some parts of the road that looked challenging to him. That particular road gets more challenging as you go, so we kept running into spots that topped anything he'd seen before – and out came the iPhone again. We all had a grand time, but we didn't get back home until around 9 pm. That's late for us, but Aleck said it was plenty of time for him to go to “his next party” – and I do believe that's exactly what he did. Debbie and I went to bed...
But the best part of all came near the end of the day, when we just casually mentioned to Aleck that we liked to go four-wheeling – something he'd never done. This surprised him (he's often surprised by the things I like to do), and we asked him if he'd like to go with us sometime. An emphatic yes. So then it occurred to us that despite it being 4 pm, we could still make it out to Los Pinos that same day – so we asked if he'd like to go right now, and got another emphatic yes.
So we all piled into the old LandCruiser and took off for Los Pinos. That trip was a whole series of new experiences for Aleck, and lots of fun for us to share them with him. We were surprised at the abundant wildflowers at this late date – we saw several beautiful types that we didn't recognize, plus larkspurs, a lupine that was new to us, huge quantities of penstemmon, and some of the nicest Indian Paintbrush we've seen in San Diego County.
At several points along the Corte Madera road, Aleck broke out his iPhone and took short videos of us traversing some parts of the road that looked challenging to him. That particular road gets more challenging as you go, so we kept running into spots that topped anything he'd seen before – and out came the iPhone again. We all had a grand time, but we didn't get back home until around 9 pm. That's late for us, but Aleck said it was plenty of time for him to go to “his next party” – and I do believe that's exactly what he did. Debbie and I went to bed
Friday, June 4, 2010
Thursday, June 3, 2010
Watts Roundup...
In the space of just 24 hours, Watts Up With That? posts about how the Pacific Islands aren't really sinking, the arctic ice isn't really disappearing, and astronaut Harrison Schmitt bridles at the comparison between Apollo 13 and the BP response.
Who Knew?
Steve McIntyre:
Did any of you know that the US supposedly has a National Contingency Plan for dealing with very large oil spills? And that EPA has legal responsibility for maintaining readiness for such an eventuality? Who knew? I’ve watched hours of coverage and this hasn’t been mentioned anywhere.Read all about it.
Wednesday, June 2, 2010
Of Course, the Press Is Completely Unbiased!
Via my mom:
A Harley biker is riding by the zoo in Washington, DC when he sees a little girl leaning in too close to the lion's cage. Suddenly, the lion grabs her by her jacket collar and tries to pull her inside to slaughter her, under the eyes of her screaming parents.
The biker jumps off his Harley, runs to the cage and hits the lion square on the nose with a powerful punch.
Whimpering from the pain the lion jumps back, letting go of the girl, and the biker brings her to her terrified parents, who thank him endlessly. A reporter has watched the whole event.
The reporter, addressing the Harley rider says, 'Sir, this was the bravest and most gallant act I've seen a man do in my whole life!'
The Harley rider replies, 'Why, it was nothing, really - the lion was behind bars. I just saw this little girl in danger and acted as I felt I should.'
The reporter says, 'Well, I'll make sure this won't go unnoticed. I'm a journalist, you know, and tomorrow's paper will have this story on the front page...
So, what do you do for a living and what political affiliation do you have?'
The biker replies, 'I'm a U.S. Marine and a Republican.'
The journalist leaves.
The following morning the biker buys the paper to see if it indeed brings news of his actions, and reads, on the front page as promised:
________________________________________________________________
U.S. MARINE ASSAULTS AFRICAN IMMIGRANT AND STEALS HIS LUNCH
________________________________________________________________
That pretty much sums up the media's approach to the news these days!!!
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Manning Predicts Revolution in America...
I've posted one of this guy's rants before, and I have the same reaction this time that I did then.
Via my mom, Dr. James David Manningranting preaching about white revolution in America:
Via my mom, Dr. James David Manning
Lawyers Cause Problems...
I can't believe we're even having a discussion about lawyers on the battlefield, much less actually giving them operational control over weaponry. We're morphing into Euroweenies faster than I thought, I guess.
But at least someone had the good sense to take the keys to the UAVs away from the lawyers...
But at least someone had the good sense to take the keys to the UAVs away from the lawyers...
Another One Bites the Dust...
Excellent...
Monday, May 31, 2010
A New Personal Project...
Because I just don't have enough things going on in my life! I'm going to learn Scala. This is what motivated me. Here are some resources...
Phobos is Hollow?
Apparently there's some data from at least two of the spacecraft orbiting Mars that indicates that about 1/3 of the volume of Phobos is empty. I haven't been able to locate the original reports of this. For all I know, this simply means that Phobos is really just a loose collection of boulders with lots of empty space between them – or possibly even the conclusions about the data are misrepresented.
But whatever the data and conclusions are, the tin-foil hat brigade is already at it...
But whatever the data and conclusions are, the tin-foil hat brigade is already at it...
Extended Solar Minimum...
Even the mainstream scientific press is starting to talk about the very odd, extended solar minimum we're experiencing. Next thing you know, they'll start wondering about its impact on climate!
Mickey Kaus vs. “The Box”
The Sarah Palin Homunculus that Lives Inside Liberals' Heads...
IowaHawk is at it again. WARNING: put your drink down before reading...
Volcanic Smoke Ring...
Quote of the Day...
If you've lost the Whole Foods-shopping Prius-driving voter, you've lost liberal America, and you're in trouble with your base.Don't miss the comments...
Miracle of the Little Ships...
Seventy years ago this week, a ragtag, hastily-organized flotilla of some 850 little ships – mostly civilian – crossed the English Channel to Dunkirk to rescue over 300,000 British and French troops under siege from the Nazis. Through a combination of excellent adaptive leadership, enthusiastic civilian participation (at great risk to both the sailors and their boats), numerous tactical errors and poor leadership on the part of the Nazis, and pure blind luck, they pulled off one of the most amazing wartime feats ever.
This week, more than 50 of the remaining “little ships” are making a commemorative crossing from Dover to Dunkirk. The last such crossing was in 1990, on the 50th anniversary...
This week, more than 50 of the remaining “little ships” are making a commemorative crossing from Dover to Dunkirk. The last such crossing was in 1990, on the 50th anniversary...
Good Bosses Believe...
According to Robert Sutton, good bosses believe twelve things. Lots of ground truth here, I think...
Sunday, May 30, 2010
Dogs...
Now comes the important part of our trip: the dogs! Racer and Miki had the time of their lives yesterday. After the long drive from home to Mt. San Jacinto, they were visibly surprised to find that when they got out of the truck they were in a doggie wonderland. Lots of space to run around in! Lots of new smells! Lots of things to play with – especially pine cones. Racer has a thing for pine cones; they are by far his favorite toy. Then there was the stream – oh what fun to run and splash in it! After a couple of hours of running around like crazy, they crashed on the drive home, sleeping like logs...Here are some photos from the day; videos will follow:
Streams...
Mt. San Jacinto is a very dry mountain, especially on the eastern flanks. We spent the day on the north side, which isn't quite a desert environment but doesn't look so very far from it. The soil is mainly decomposed granite and sand, with very little organic material – so the drainage is practically perfect. The result is powder-dry soil, lots of dust, and almost no running water. Except, that is, while the snow pack is still melting – and it was melting while we were there yesterday. So we had some running water – little rivulets to small streams. We found one very near the end of Black Mountain Road that was a delight both for us (visually) and for the dogs (much more viscerally). Some scenes from that stream:
Snow Plant...
Here's one of the stranger members of the flora in the area: the snow plant (Sarcodes sanguinea), a parasitic plant. My father and I saw lots of these in the Mt. Lassen area a few years ago, and I saw them many times when hiking around Mt. San Jacinto in the 1970s. I haven't often seen them in the act of emerging, though...
Scenery...
All along Black Mountain Road, one is treated to beautiful vistas. To the northwest, on a clear day (like yesterday), you can see Mt. Baldy some 65 miles away. Just 20 miles to the north is San Gorgonio peak. Both of these were snowcapped, as was the upper elevations of Mt. San Jacinto visible to our south. We hit just a bit of snow, in shaded areas above about 7,500 feet. Here are some of the scenes that caught our eye:
Indian Paintbrush...
Flowers...
Manzanita...
Grasshopper...
A Mini-Vacation...
Yesterday Debbie and I took two of our dogs (Miki and Racer) on a one-day vacation: a trip to Mt. San Jacinto, about 150 miles north of our home. We spent most of our time up there on a leisurely drive along Black Mountain Road, with frequent stops for short walks and explorations. We finished our day with dinner at the Gastrognome in Idyllwild, long one of our favorite restaurants.
The next few posts contain photos from our trip...
The next few posts contain photos from our trip...
Friday, May 28, 2010
Why Can't They See?
The few times in investigational writings when I've seen such questions raised, the replies of the psychics are such obvious claptrap that one would think nobody would buy their story. Yet billions of people around the world persist in believing this sort of magical thinking, in the face of such abundant contrary evidence. Why can't they see the truth in front of their faces?
The Hell You Say...
Via my mom:
George Bush, Queen Elizabeth, and Vladimir Putin all die and go to hell. While there, they spy a red phone and ask what the phone is for. The devil tells them it is for calling back to Earth.Depending on your frame of mind when you read this, it can be either comic or tragic...
Putin asks to call Russia and talks for 5 minutes. When he is finished the devil informs him that the cost is a million dollars, so Putin writes him a check.
Next Queen Elizabeth calls England and talks for 30 minutes. When she is finished the devil informs her that the cost is 6 million dollars, so she writes him a check.
Finally George Bush gets his turn and talks for 4 hours. When he is finished the devil informs him that the cost is $5.00.
When Putin hears this he goes ballistic and asks the devil why Bush got to call the USA so cheaply.
The devil smiles and replies: "Since Obama took over, the country has gone to hell, so it's a local call."
Lessons Learned from 13 Failed Software Ventures...
Often there's more to learn from failure than from success. I've learned more than many have ...
Attitude in Programming...
Jonathan Edwards has an interesting post about the importance – the primacy, really – of attitude in programming. The basic message is that when there's a choice between simple, readily digestible way to do something and a more complex but also more elegant or beautiful (to a sophisticated or accomplished programmer), then choose the simple way every time. Making those choices for the simple means the overall piece of software will be less complex, more bug-free, more easily modified, etc.
I couldn't agree more, but I don't the picture is quite as clear as he paints it (and I suspect Edwards would agree). For example, one of the tensions in making such choices lies with deciding exactly what is simple and clear. I had an experience a couple of years ago that illustrates this. I'd written a small piece of code (in Java) that made use of the exclusive-or operator (“^”). To me, that was obvious, simple, and clear – and obviously simpler than the alternative. But my colleagues disagreed, because they didn't know that operator. To them, writing (a && !b) || (!a && b) was simpler and clearer than a ^ b (where a and b are boolean values) which was a huge surprise for me! I eventually settled on the code a != b, which satisfied both of us. The point is that it's not always easy to decide exactly what constitutes simple and digestible – but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be your goal...
I couldn't agree more, but I don't the picture is quite as clear as he paints it (and I suspect Edwards would agree). For example, one of the tensions in making such choices lies with deciding exactly what is simple and clear. I had an experience a couple of years ago that illustrates this. I'd written a small piece of code (in Java) that made use of the exclusive-or operator (“^”). To me, that was obvious, simple, and clear – and obviously simpler than the alternative. But my colleagues disagreed, because they didn't know that operator. To them, writing (a && !b) || (!a && b) was simpler and clearer than a ^ b (where a and b are boolean values) which was a huge surprise for me! I eventually settled on the code a != b, which satisfied both of us. The point is that it's not always easy to decide exactly what constitutes simple and digestible – but that doesn't mean it shouldn't be your goal...
Quote of the Day...
From an excellent piece by Peggy Noonan, who seems to be seeing clearly once again:
But Mr. Obama was supposed to be competent.
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Full Moon, Round Two...
Walking the dogs at 3:30 am again, but this morning the moon is a bit higher in the sky, and much brighter than yesterday. My walk was in the moon-shadows of the pines along our driveway, but from there I could see the entire eastern end of Lawson Valley all lit up with the moonlight. It was bright enough to see some colors; the hills were distinctly brown and green, and the native grasses on our hillside that have gone to seed were waving their reddish-beige heads in the gentle morning breeze. A little desert scent wafted in on that breeze; not much compared with a month ago, but still enough for anyone who knows the chaparral to recognize.
The dogs, as usual, couldn't care less about the beauty around us. As I got near our gate, all four were nose-down, intent on absorbing the essence of some night-time visitor. But then a surprise! A rabbit suddenly bolted from about 4 feet away – and of course all four dogs immediately lunged after it just as hard as they could. This overwhelmed my ability to hold them back, as the force vectors on the leashes were all pointed the same exact direction – across the bottom of our yard. So off we went, four dogs followed by an ancient software engineer, trying my best to stop them, or at least slow down their breakneck pace.
Somehow I managed to stay upright. The rabbit disappeared under our fence about 150 feet from our driveway, and the dogs stopped. They seemed surprised that I was still behind them, and I was a bit surprised myself. They resumed their random walking, the force vectors on my leash hand once again largely canceled out, and I was able to drag the four dogs back toward the house and my morning tea...
The dogs, as usual, couldn't care less about the beauty around us. As I got near our gate, all four were nose-down, intent on absorbing the essence of some night-time visitor. But then a surprise! A rabbit suddenly bolted from about 4 feet away – and of course all four dogs immediately lunged after it just as hard as they could. This overwhelmed my ability to hold them back, as the force vectors on the leashes were all pointed the same exact direction – across the bottom of our yard. So off we went, four dogs followed by an ancient software engineer, trying my best to stop them, or at least slow down their breakneck pace.
Somehow I managed to stay upright. The rabbit disappeared under our fence about 150 feet from our driveway, and the dogs stopped. They seemed surprised that I was still behind them, and I was a bit surprised myself. They resumed their random walking, the force vectors on my leash hand once again largely canceled out, and I was able to drag the four dogs back toward the house and my morning tea...
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
AGW Loses at the Premier Formal Debate...
Lord Monckton (a well-known advocate for AGW skepticism) represented the “pro” side in a debate for this motion put before the Oxford Union Society:
AGW skepticism (or even better, a more generally skeptic view) seems to be taking root even amongst the young, idealistic, credulous kids at school...
That this House would put economic growth before combating climate change.In that somewhat detached world of formal debate, this provoked a gasp heard 'round the world, as Lord Monckton was supposed to lose. Big. Instead, he won, 135 to 110.
AGW skepticism (or even better, a more generally skeptic view) seems to be taking root even amongst the young, idealistic, credulous kids at school...
There's a Reason Why Farmers are Smarter...
But it just may be a different reason than you imagined...
Full Moon Morning...
Out at 3:30 am to walk the dogs, and there was a nearly full moon hanging just above the horizon to our southwest. It cast enough light for me to walk easily without a flashligh. Our local horizon is comprised of mountains, and from our driveway the moon was hanging at the bottom of a deep “notch” in the horizon, with a mountain to either side of it. Simply beautiful.
The four dogs, of course, couldn't have cared less about the beautiful moon. As usual, they were noses-down, checking out who visited our yard last night. I'm sure that if they could only talk they'd be able to give me a detailed list...
The four dogs, of course, couldn't have cared less about the beautiful moon. As usual, they were noses-down, checking out who visited our yard last night. I'm sure that if they could only talk they'd be able to give me a detailed list...
Corruption...
My friends hear me say that corruption pervades our politics, and many of them react by giving knowing looks “I knew that guy was crazy!” or by asking me to explain such an irrational comment. I've tried to explain, but I've never managed to do so quite as well as this.
That, folks, is what I'm talking about when I say that we're all paying for pervasive corruption. That's what scares me so much about having the government run my healthcare. And that's what we need to blow up somehow if we really want to change the way politics works...
That, folks, is what I'm talking about when I say that we're all paying for pervasive corruption. That's what scares me so much about having the government run my healthcare. And that's what we need to blow up somehow if we really want to change the way politics works...
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Desert Morning...
Yesterday morning was a desert morning to remember. Despite being almost June, the temperature was 34°F when I went out for my 3:30 am walk with our dogs. There was no moon in the sky, and when I first went outside I could see only the very brightest stars. Within a few minutes, though, I could see many thousands of them – along with one of the brightest displays of the Milky Way I have ever seen. I walked a little further than I usually do, down past our gate, just to get a clear view to the southeast, where the Milky Way descended into the horizon. It was simply stunning – arcing from the southeast straight overhead into the north. Details of shape and texture that I'd never seen before leapt out at me as my eyes continued accommodating to the darkness. Beautiful!
The dogs, of course, couldn't possibly care less about the Milky Way. As I stumbled along with my face toward the sky, they were noses-down, deciphering all the visitors to our yard last night. All four were on leashes, and as they wandered about me, randomly, they tied their leashes into a very impressive knot. At one point, a sound off to our right caught their attention, and all four simultaneously lunged off in that direction. Four dogs pulling in the same direction is right at the limit in terms of my being able to stand upright. They dragged me off our driveway about 20 feet into our yard, until their attentions were grabbed by something else. When they're each doing their own thing, the vector sum of the forces they impose on my arm isn't very large (lots of cancelation!), so they're easy to control. But when they all decide to go the same way, I'm in trouble...
I finally got them back to the driveway, and (carefully) resumed my skygazing. It made me remember Jim Lovell in Apollo 8, describing how bright and beautiful the Milky Way was as they were halfway between the Earth and the moon. I'd like to see that...
The dogs, of course, couldn't possibly care less about the Milky Way. As I stumbled along with my face toward the sky, they were noses-down, deciphering all the visitors to our yard last night. All four were on leashes, and as they wandered about me, randomly, they tied their leashes into a very impressive knot. At one point, a sound off to our right caught their attention, and all four simultaneously lunged off in that direction. Four dogs pulling in the same direction is right at the limit in terms of my being able to stand upright. They dragged me off our driveway about 20 feet into our yard, until their attentions were grabbed by something else. When they're each doing their own thing, the vector sum of the forces they impose on my arm isn't very large (lots of cancelation!), so they're easy to control. But when they all decide to go the same way, I'm in trouble...
I finally got them back to the driveway, and (carefully) resumed my skygazing. It made me remember Jim Lovell in Apollo 8, describing how bright and beautiful the Milky Way was as they were halfway between the Earth and the moon. I'd like to see that...
Sun Drives Climate?
For years now, skeptics of anthropogenic global warming (AGW) have been pointing out the abundant evidence for a linkage between solar output and Earth's climate. For the most part these are observed correllations, not causual observations – but (as many skeptics have pointed out) even an observed correllation is far more interesting evidence than the output of a rather primitive computer model (what the AGW proponents rely on).
So it was with special interest that I read this newspaper article asserting that (a) solar scientists have been skeptical-but-silent about AGW from the beginning, and that (b) ClimateGate or something in the water seems to have released the solar scientists from their vow of silence, and they are increasingly assertive in their claims that solar cycles drive Earth's climate. Yes, I know it's a Canadian newspaper. Yes, I know that makes it suspect, on political and moral grounds. But still...
So it was with special interest that I read this newspaper article asserting that (a) solar scientists have been skeptical-but-silent about AGW from the beginning, and that (b) ClimateGate or something in the water seems to have released the solar scientists from their vow of silence, and they are increasingly assertive in their claims that solar cycles drive Earth's climate. Yes, I know it's a Canadian newspaper. Yes, I know that makes it suspect, on political and moral grounds. But still...
Advanced Programming Languages...
Matt Might has a nice brief introduction to some of the more popular “advanced” programming languages. Several of these look quite interesting to me (like Scala) – if I ever get a free week or two, I'd love to check some of them out...
Software Testing...
Interesting piece on the value (or not) of unit testing – from, of all places, MSDN.
Monday, May 24, 2010
North Korea...
The situation on the Korean peninsula looks very precarious to me (and to many other observers). There's the classic, oft-repeated political tension caused by the provactive acts of one party – politicians are lining up either in the appeasement camp (though of course they describe it as “caution” or some other positive word) and the stomp 'em into the ground camp (couched of course as “consequences” or some such). But however they word it, the choices are essentially between appeasement and attack.
A middle ground seems impossible on this: if one country is blatantly attacked by another, causing deaths and the destruction of property, there really are only two choices: either one responds or one does not. Both choices have consequences.
Personally, I lean toward “attack”, though not necessarily in the military sense. I can see at least two different responses that might work: either economic sanctions of the effective variety (very difficult to achieve unless China reverses its policies toward North Korea), or an obvious retaliatory military action (say, sinking the entire North Korean fleet, which I think consists of about 12 vessels). Both of these actions carry the possibility (perhaps even the probability) that North Korea will escalate the conflict by attacking South Korea. We know that in the long run North Korea would lose such a conflict, but in the short run the damage to South Korea might be considerable.
This is exactly the sort of threat that every penny-ante dictator uses as his real weapon, with the real objective of short-term benefit from his adversary's appeasement. We're decades down that road with North Korea; none of our appeasing moves have brought tensions down one whit. In fact, quite the opposite. I think it's time for action.
Then there's the political reality of America's current administration. It seems most unlikely that they could ever rouse themselves to effective retaliatory action, or even effective backing of our South Korean ally (other than through words). If I were in the South Korean government, I'd be quite nervous about this...
A middle ground seems impossible on this: if one country is blatantly attacked by another, causing deaths and the destruction of property, there really are only two choices: either one responds or one does not. Both choices have consequences.
Personally, I lean toward “attack”, though not necessarily in the military sense. I can see at least two different responses that might work: either economic sanctions of the effective variety (very difficult to achieve unless China reverses its policies toward North Korea), or an obvious retaliatory military action (say, sinking the entire North Korean fleet, which I think consists of about 12 vessels). Both of these actions carry the possibility (perhaps even the probability) that North Korea will escalate the conflict by attacking South Korea. We know that in the long run North Korea would lose such a conflict, but in the short run the damage to South Korea might be considerable.
This is exactly the sort of threat that every penny-ante dictator uses as his real weapon, with the real objective of short-term benefit from his adversary's appeasement. We're decades down that road with North Korea; none of our appeasing moves have brought tensions down one whit. In fact, quite the opposite. I think it's time for action.
Then there's the political reality of America's current administration. It seems most unlikely that they could ever rouse themselves to effective retaliatory action, or even effective backing of our South Korean ally (other than through words). If I were in the South Korean government, I'd be quite nervous about this...
Avalanche Diagrams of Hash Functions...
Fascinating set of avalanche diagrams for various hash functions. Like many analysis techniques, these take advantage of our perceptual system's ability to digest information rapidly. FNV is much worse than I expected...
Copernicus Reburied...
Copernicus (1473-1543) was the astronomer who challenged the Roman Catholic Church's dogma of Earth-centricity (by demonstrating that the Earth and the other planets revolved around the sun), and was condemned for his excellent work. Yesterday, in a slightly more enlightened times, his remains were exhumed and reburied – now honored by the church that once condemned him...
RIP, Martin Gardner...
If I had to choose one person who was most responsible for my continuing interest in mathematics, it would be Martin Gardner (through his Scientific American column “Mathematical Games”. This was one of the features that I most looked forward to every month, a new adventure, often into some branch of math I'd never even heard of before. His columns made math both fun and relevant to other things I was interested in.
Martin Gardner died Saturday at age 95. Millions around the world will miss him, but his 50 books and hundreds of columns in Scientific American, Skeptical Inquirer and numerous anthologies survive him...
Martin Gardner died Saturday at age 95. Millions around the world will miss him, but his 50 books and hundreds of columns in Scientific American, Skeptical Inquirer and numerous anthologies survive him...
Latest Google Unemployment Index...
Sheesh, that's a lot of hoping, isn't it?
Where to be a Tourist...
Interesting “heat map” color-coding the entire world based on how many photos are taken and posted on Google Maps. There are some big surprises for me in here. Like any other Google map, you can pan and zoom all you want...
Sunday, May 23, 2010
Althouse 1, Birnbaum 0...
Ann Althouse embarrasses Michael Birnbaum of the Washington Post – and in the process, nicely demonstrates why so many people distrust the lamestream media.
It's absolutely pathetic.
It's absolutely pathetic.
Doolittle Raiders...
On April 18, 1942 – just over 68 years ago – 80 American fliers in 16 B-25s launched from the decks of the carrier USS Hornet on a desperate mission to strike a defiant blow against Japan. Just four months earlier, Imperial Japan's surprise attack on Pearl Harbor dragged the U.S. into war, and a series of Japanese conquests and victories, with no Allied successes, had lowered U.S. morale badly.
President Roosevelt wanted some action to turn U.S. morale around, and eventually his call to action translated into a mission for Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. Very quickly he put together his team, training in secrecy on how to launch B-25s from carriers – something they were never intended to do. The plan was to launch from a carrier, bomb Japan, and then land on beaches in China. Every man on the team knew that their chances for survival were low, and for success even lower. They went anyway, on the mission that will forever be known as the Doolittle Raid.
After the raid, when Doolittle found out that all 16 planes were lost and that very little damage was done, he told his team that he thought the mission was a failure and that he was likely to be court-martialed upon return. Instead, of course, they were greeted as conquering heroes for having done something that every American wanted to do: figuratively punch Japan in the nose.
My introduction to the Doolittle Raid was Ted Lawson's little book 30 Seconds Over Tokoyo (Amazon: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (Aviation Classics)
). I have since read much more, but none better.
Last month was the 68th reunion of the few remaining survivors of the Doolittle Raid, in Dayton, Ohio. To commemorate the occasion, someone arranged the largest gathering of flying B-25s in many, many years. The video below is from that event. The few scenes with the remaining survivors gave me goose-bumps, as did the scenes of those plucky planes flying over the airfield. At this remove, it's difficult to fully imagine what those flyers faced that day, flying such comparatively primitive machines into an implacably hostile enemy's home – but it's easy to admire them, and to be grateful for their unbelievable courage. I salute them!
President Roosevelt wanted some action to turn U.S. morale around, and eventually his call to action translated into a mission for Lieutenant Colonel Jimmy Doolittle. Very quickly he put together his team, training in secrecy on how to launch B-25s from carriers – something they were never intended to do. The plan was to launch from a carrier, bomb Japan, and then land on beaches in China. Every man on the team knew that their chances for survival were low, and for success even lower. They went anyway, on the mission that will forever be known as the Doolittle Raid.
After the raid, when Doolittle found out that all 16 planes were lost and that very little damage was done, he told his team that he thought the mission was a failure and that he was likely to be court-martialed upon return. Instead, of course, they were greeted as conquering heroes for having done something that every American wanted to do: figuratively punch Japan in the nose.
My introduction to the Doolittle Raid was Ted Lawson's little book 30 Seconds Over Tokoyo (Amazon: Thirty Seconds Over Tokyo (Aviation Classics)
). I have since read much more, but none better.Last month was the 68th reunion of the few remaining survivors of the Doolittle Raid, in Dayton, Ohio. To commemorate the occasion, someone arranged the largest gathering of flying B-25s in many, many years. The video below is from that event. The few scenes with the remaining survivors gave me goose-bumps, as did the scenes of those plucky planes flying over the airfield. At this remove, it's difficult to fully imagine what those flyers faced that day, flying such comparatively primitive machines into an implacably hostile enemy's home – but it's easy to admire them, and to be grateful for their unbelievable courage. I salute them!
Saturday, May 22, 2010
Et Tu, Science?
The mainstream media of science has, in general, circled the wagons with respect to ClimateGate – they are, without significant exception that I'm aware of, uniformly credulous of the IPCC report and dismissive of the rather obvious misbehavior of the scientists exposed in ClimateGate. One by one, I've been deciding not to renew my subscriptions to these magazines; I'm now more confident of information I (very carefully) get on the web. Most recently I've decided not to renew my subscription to Scientific American, which I've taken continuously since 1973. The only remaining science publication I subscribe to is Science News, which (so far) has basically remained out of the debate, while reporting the actual news on all fronts.
I haven't subscribed to Science for many years, but their recent editorial has been all over the intertubes. Willis Eschenbach does a nice takedown of it.
I haven't subscribed to Science for many years, but their recent editorial has been all over the intertubes. Willis Eschenbach does a nice takedown of it.
Book Review: The Price of Glory...
Written by Alistair Horne, The Price of Glory is an eminently readable history of the horrifying Battle of Verdun in 1916, during the first World War. The perspective of the narrator rambles over almost every possible position, often deliberately contrasting perspectives within a few sentences of each other. For instance, in describing the battle for Fort Douaumont, the narrative flips freely from the perspective of the German attacker to the French defender, then from a front-line soldier to the battalion commander and then to the commanding general and even the politicians. Horne is adept at weaving all these perspectives into a story that gives the reader a much deeper appreciation of the entire event.
And what an event! Even before I read this book, I'd read enough about WWI to make the word “Verdun” unusually evocative of the horror of war. After reading this book, I have the same deeply horrified feeling one has after reading one of Edgar Allen Poe's novels – with the additional frisson of knowing that Verdun really happened. And, one can't help but think, might possibly happen again...
Highly recommended reading for anyone with even the slightest interest in World War I...
Link to Amazon: The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
And what an event! Even before I read this book, I'd read enough about WWI to make the word “Verdun” unusually evocative of the horror of war. After reading this book, I have the same deeply horrified feeling one has after reading one of Edgar Allen Poe's novels – with the additional frisson of knowing that Verdun really happened. And, one can't help but think, might possibly happen again...
Highly recommended reading for anyone with even the slightest interest in World War I...
Link to Amazon: The Price of Glory: Verdun 1916
Batteries, Dogs, and Other Nighttime Terrors...
So last night I stayed up late finishing an excellent book (more on that in a moment), knowing that on Saturday morning I could sleep in 'till 6 am or so. Debbie is away at a dog agility event with Miki and Race (our two rambunctious younger dogs), leaving me with Lea (12 years old) and Mo'i (9 years old). Both dogs stretched out luxuriously on the bed. By 10 pm or so we were all snoring.
Until about 4:05 am, that is. At that moment, in the hallway just outside our bedroom door, the fire alarm decided that its battery had reached the end of its lifetime. I'm sure you know what that meant: at precisely 60 second intervals, an ear-splitting “chirp!” erupted.
This had three immediate effects: I woke up, Mo'i leapt straight up and then ran out looking for the source of the evil noise, and Lea started shivering with an energy that must be experienced to be believed. Lea is absolutely terrified by loud, sudden noises (thunder, gun shots, fireworks, and fire alarms all qualify). Her reaction is to instantly start shivering violently – if you hold her tightly, it feels like she's wiggling back and forth with all the power she can muster, several times per second. It's so powerful a motion that it's actually a little frightening – you wonder how her flesh can hold up.
So of course, half asleep, half blind without my glasses and in the pitch dark, I have to get up and fix the danged fire alarm. I don't dare simply pull out the old battery, because it might be months before I remember to replace it. So I stumble out to the kitchen to find a new battery (bashing two toes and an elbow in the process), then into the livingroom to find a stool to stand on (bashing my face into the wall in the process), then triumphantly carry the stool and battery into the hallway. Somehow in the darkness I managed to tangle my legs around the stool and I tripped – hurtling the battery a few miles as I fell, and making a satisfying “thud” with the side of my head as I acquainted myself intimately with the floor.
After a couple of minutes I could see the darkness again (after the flashing stars disappeared). Back into the kitchen. Found another battery. Back to the hall, on my hands and knees to reduce the amount of potential energy should I stumble again. Found the stool, astonishingly still in one piece. Put the stool in the proper place, clambered onto it, and successfully removed the old battery. Dropped the new battery. Carefully descended the stool and searched until I found the new battery. Back onto the stool, replaced the battery, and slithered back down and back into bed.
A couple hours later, sunshine streaming into the window woke me up. The first thing I did was to gingerly touch the various parts of my body that had been rudely smashed a couple hours earlier – everything seemed to be in the right place, and at least approximately of normal size, so apparently the injuries weren't as bad as the associated pain would indicate. A quick check in the mirror: no blood, no bruises. Amazing! Then out to the hallway where I located the stool and the old, used battery – but I still haven't found the first new battery that went flying as I fell. I'm not at all certain it's still on my property, much less inside my house. I looked for telltale holes in the furniture and walls, but found nothing. Maybe it vaporized upon impact, or maybe it's in orbit...
Until about 4:05 am, that is. At that moment, in the hallway just outside our bedroom door, the fire alarm decided that its battery had reached the end of its lifetime. I'm sure you know what that meant: at precisely 60 second intervals, an ear-splitting “chirp!” erupted.
This had three immediate effects: I woke up, Mo'i leapt straight up and then ran out looking for the source of the evil noise, and Lea started shivering with an energy that must be experienced to be believed. Lea is absolutely terrified by loud, sudden noises (thunder, gun shots, fireworks, and fire alarms all qualify). Her reaction is to instantly start shivering violently – if you hold her tightly, it feels like she's wiggling back and forth with all the power she can muster, several times per second. It's so powerful a motion that it's actually a little frightening – you wonder how her flesh can hold up.
So of course, half asleep, half blind without my glasses and in the pitch dark, I have to get up and fix the danged fire alarm. I don't dare simply pull out the old battery, because it might be months before I remember to replace it. So I stumble out to the kitchen to find a new battery (bashing two toes and an elbow in the process), then into the livingroom to find a stool to stand on (bashing my face into the wall in the process), then triumphantly carry the stool and battery into the hallway. Somehow in the darkness I managed to tangle my legs around the stool and I tripped – hurtling the battery a few miles as I fell, and making a satisfying “thud” with the side of my head as I acquainted myself intimately with the floor.
After a couple of minutes I could see the darkness again (after the flashing stars disappeared). Back into the kitchen. Found another battery. Back to the hall, on my hands and knees to reduce the amount of potential energy should I stumble again. Found the stool, astonishingly still in one piece. Put the stool in the proper place, clambered onto it, and successfully removed the old battery. Dropped the new battery. Carefully descended the stool and searched until I found the new battery. Back onto the stool, replaced the battery, and slithered back down and back into bed.
A couple hours later, sunshine streaming into the window woke me up. The first thing I did was to gingerly touch the various parts of my body that had been rudely smashed a couple hours earlier – everything seemed to be in the right place, and at least approximately of normal size, so apparently the injuries weren't as bad as the associated pain would indicate. A quick check in the mirror: no blood, no bruises. Amazing! Then out to the hallway where I located the stool and the old, used battery – but I still haven't found the first new battery that went flying as I fell. I'm not at all certain it's still on my property, much less inside my house. I looked for telltale holes in the furniture and walls, but found nothing. Maybe it vaporized upon impact, or maybe it's in orbit...
Jamul Casino Update...
And the bad news (if you're Lakes Entertainment) keeps on pouring in.
If you happen to be opposed to the Jamul Casino (as I am), this is great news!
The layman's summary: Lakes Entertainment had to acknowledge an additional $1.5 million in losses for the past quarter. Given that their total operating expenses outside of such losses were $3.2 million, that's a significant number – their CFO must be looking forward to the day when they've completely written off their investment in the Jamul Casino. I don't have a balance sheet, and I haven't tabulated the ongoing stream of losses – but I think they must be within a year or so of zeroing out that account.
Unless the Jamul Indian Tribe secures other financing somehow, the casino project looks pretty much moribund...
If you happen to be opposed to the Jamul Casino (as I am), this is great news!
The layman's summary: Lakes Entertainment had to acknowledge an additional $1.5 million in losses for the past quarter. Given that their total operating expenses outside of such losses were $3.2 million, that's a significant number – their CFO must be looking forward to the day when they've completely written off their investment in the Jamul Casino. I don't have a balance sheet, and I haven't tabulated the ongoing stream of losses – but I think they must be within a year or so of zeroing out that account.
Unless the Jamul Indian Tribe secures other financing somehow, the casino project looks pretty much moribund...
Feynman on Scientific Integrity...
Years ago I read and enjoyed a commencement speech by physicist Richard Feynman (one of my personal heroes). It was really about the importance of integrity in science, but in Feynman's clever style it contained references to the “cargo cult” of some Pacific islanders, rats running in mazes, Millikan's famous oil-drop experiment measuring the charge of an electron and more. I remembered that reading this speech, I thought it was the best essay on scientific integrity I'd ever read.
Thinking about the ClimateGate controversy reminded me of Feynman's speech – the behavior of the scientists involved would have made a great addition to the examples of bad science that Feynman used. So I went looking for it with Google, and quickly found it by searching for “cargo cult” and “Millikan”.
I enjoyed re-reading it just as much as I enjoyed it the first time. Here's a transcript of Feynman's 1974 CalTech commencement speech...
Thinking about the ClimateGate controversy reminded me of Feynman's speech – the behavior of the scientists involved would have made a great addition to the examples of bad science that Feynman used. So I went looking for it with Google, and quickly found it by searching for “cargo cult” and “Millikan”.
I enjoyed re-reading it just as much as I enjoyed it the first time. Here's a transcript of Feynman's 1974 CalTech commencement speech...
Friday, May 21, 2010
Our Future Healthcare...
The best model we have for Obamacare is the Massachussetts experiment with RomneyCare. The more I read about that debacle, the more pessimistic I get about ObamaCare. Now Megan McCardle points out an entirely new game the political geniuses in Massachussetts are playing: punish the winners and reward the losers. But I forget – that's what socialists do, isn't it?
The short version of the story: the fiscal effects of RomneyCare are making it almost impossible for hospitals in Massachussetts to make a profit (i.e., to avoid going broke). The politicians quickly realized that this is an unacceptable situation, and that it must be fixed. So their “fix”? Steal $100 million from the precious few hospitals that have managed to remain profitable, and give it to those hospitals that would otherwise be failing. Sheer genius!
If I was on the Board of Directors of any of those hospitals, I'd be examining all possible options for moving the entire operation out of state...
The short version of the story: the fiscal effects of RomneyCare are making it almost impossible for hospitals in Massachussetts to make a profit (i.e., to avoid going broke). The politicians quickly realized that this is an unacceptable situation, and that it must be fixed. So their “fix”? Steal $100 million from the precious few hospitals that have managed to remain profitable, and give it to those hospitals that would otherwise be failing. Sheer genius!
If I was on the Board of Directors of any of those hospitals, I'd be examining all possible options for moving the entire operation out of state...
The Great Dying of Thermometers...
JoNova has a nice animated graphic of the peculiar way that the number of thermometers in the IPCC data increases and then decreases. The accompanying discussion shows how the thermometers that were removed from the more recent data somehow mysteriously tended to be the ones recording lower temperatures (thus making the average temperatures in their reported data look higher)...
Unions and Schools...
Megan McArdle on teacher's unions, with a particularly interesting example that's a nearly perfect side-by-side test of unionized vs. non-unionized...
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Lake Tanganyika Takedown...
Willis Eschenbach raises a few questions about the recent news stories covering the warming of Lake Tanganyika. No, that's not right – it's more like Willis Eschenbach reveals the craven, delusional ravings of AGW proponents who claim proof of the lake's recent warming. Yes, that's more like it...
Quote of the Day...
From TJIC:
…the difference between that chimp and the MSM is that the chimp will occassionally type something true.
Draw Mohammed Day...
Poking fun, distributing the risk, whatever – however you position it, it seems like a great idea to me. I have no talent for drawing anything at all, so I won't offend anyone's artistic sensibilities. But I was going to attempt an essay on the idea, until Zombie did it for me...
At Last – a Sport for Me!
The training regimen for this sport seems particularly enjoyable. But why on earth is it starting in China, and not San Diego?
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