Bought my first bottle of Laphroaig.
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You are the most important person in my life.
Please stop laughing at me.
10 November 2009 @ 10:01 pm
[ dawn over san luis obispo vineyards, as seen from the train ]
I was delighted to find the Obispo Hostel in San Luis Obispo, a reasonably cheap ($26) and very clean place to sleep just a block away from the train station. I've been in SLO a few times before, visiting
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shamster and bobolly back when they went to school there. It's a pleasant college town, full of enterprising students, and with a walkable downtown full of independent businesses (not to mention curiosities such as the Bubblegum Alley). But I think this was the first time the town really clicked for me, though, enjoying slices of pizza and, then, hunkered down at Linnea's cafe, enjoying coffee and waffles while peals of laughter from one joyous group intertwined with piano music being played by another guest. The town is a stop for Amtrak's Coast Starlight train that runs from Seattle to Los Angeles daily, and for the more frequent Pacific Surfliner trains that originate in SLO and run to San Diego. I woke up early and made the easy stroll from the hostel over to the train station, catching the 6:45am Surfliner bound for Orange County. I was happy to find such a functional little train station at the outskirts of such a functional little town.
The train made for a pleasant ride. The train itself doesn't go very fast, never really exceeding 40 MPH while gliding between small coastal communities, often traveling right at the edge of the ocean and other times moving through agricultural areas. There's an AC electrical outlet in each row, so I didn't have to worry about battery power while I typed up that livejournal entry about my hitchhiking trip (though of course I'd have to wait till later to post it).
I have to say that the cafe car, though, was a disappointment, selling only nonperishable trail mix and shrink-wrapped danishes and that sort of thing, the fare of cheap motel breakfast buffets and less appealing even than airplane food. Scowling at the other options, I settled on a simple coffee for my breakfast. Notably, though, they do sell Arrogant Bastard beer, a delicious San Diego microbrew—but not what I had in mind for breakfast. With nearly a whole train car at their disposal, and traveling through the most productive agricultural land in the country, don't you think they could muster something a little more ... Californian?
At Oxnard the train begins to head inland and the terrain turns into an interesting rocky landscape near Chatsworth, traveling through a sequence of tunnels and passing the northbound Coast Starlight on its way to Seattle. At Los Angeles Union Station the train pauses for 15 minutes before resuming the second half of its journey.
The train ran precisely on time, which surprised me. At Union Station an Irish man took the seat next to me and we chatted about our various travels; I felt quite legitimate with a casual mention of being in Belgium last week. He marveled about Amtrak's promptness and affordability--a judgment error due to small statistics, I assured him.
The ride to Irvine took 6 ¾ hours and cost $38. It's about 230 miles, giving the train an average speed of 34 miles per hour and a cost of 16 cents per mile. The cost seemed reasonable, the pace a little slow, but, altogether, being on vacation after all, it was a satisfying experience.
At Irvine I caught a local Orange County bus #86 right to my parent's house. I don't think I've ever before taken an OCTA bus, but it turned out to be super convenient.
I'd love for Amtrak to resume the Sunset Limited Service from New Orleans east to Jacksonville, Florida and on to Miami (which ceased with hurricane Katrina). I'd take that trip.
Current Location: Mission Viejo, CA
10 November 2009 @ 09:17 pm
My favorite ride on this trip was with Hal, a sprightly and kind gentleman driving this fine old contraption. I was thumbing just outside the Big Sur general store. Pulling out of a parking spot, he waved me over, and I climbed up into this interesting vehicle of his, which he eagerly explained to be a 1968 Toyota Landcruiser. He told me that he grew up in Big Sur and had lived most of his life there. When I asked him whether he'd taken any off-roading trips in his Landcruiser he told me about the time he lived in Darwin, a tiny little town just outside of Death Valley, and the backcountry trips to the Saline Valley hot springs. The funny thing about his landcruiser is that, despite being more than 40 years old, it has only 70,000 miles! His son had found it abandoned in a barn somewhere.
Hal was one of those people I really felt I'd like to keep in touch with. He seemed like such a nice person to join for one of these back-country off-road treks through the desert, exploring hidden canyons and camping by oases. If I had a card handy I'd have given him one and hoped to hear something, but asking for anything more than a ride just seems presumptuous. Though I'd love to have a photo-album of all the interesting people who've given me a lift, I rarely even try to take their picture, for the same reason. But I did ask Hal if I could take this photo, and he readily agreed, even driving up on an embankment (teetering on an escarpment to the pacific ocean!) for a good shot. It was a short ride, only five miles down the road, but a joyous one.
10 November 2009 @ 09:48 pm
E-mail is such a funny thing. People hand you these single little messages that are no heavier than a river pebble. But it doesn’t take long until you have acquired a pile of pebbles that’s taller than you and heavier than you could ever hope to move…But for the person who took the time to hand you their pebble, it seems outrageous that you can’t handle that one tiny thing. “What ‘pile’? It’s just a pebble!(Life After College)
10 November 2009 @ 09:42 pm
those who, unlike me, know something about genetics can tell me if this is plausible or not, but it sounds plausible to me:
I think the reason for the preponderance of males amongst important creative geniuses comes in part from their chromosomal structure. Females have two X chromosomes, so a recessive mutation on one chromosome is less likely to be expressed. Males are more likely to express both recessive mutations on the X chromosomes and all additional traits coded in a Y chromosome. In this way, males are capable of greater variation in all traits because 1) they have more variation in their genetic material. Two X chromosomes are redundant in a sense, whereas X+Y is an X and an additional Y, and 2) males are more likely to express recessive mutations on their X. What is well known is that having one X chromosome in males leads to a greater likelihood of some disorders, but it could also be the case that only one X also leads to a greater incidence of positive deviations from the norm.
11 November 2009 @ 12:07 am
- 16:15 RT @infinite_ammo: Aquaria: Original Soundtrack! bit.ly/3iF8JH // pretty cover
- 21:44 never code one of these in game maker either: pics.livejournal.com/rinku/pic/00110t47
10 November 2009 @ 09:03 pm
Someone just experienced road rage towards me. I was driving up the Ave when some black Caravan-type thing with heavily tinted windows began entering the roadway from a parked position. I don't have to yield, do I?
Of course not. They do. So I inch forward with traffic. And they honk? Just stop. Don't honk! Stop your car! But they keep inching forward. Because, you know, they're a big black truck, let them in, right? But I decline, and the driver realizes that his pretty shiny black truck would face a lot more damage than my 1983 paint-flaked and moddled metal Honda. Go ahead... enter the roadway.
So he lets me pass (as required by law), really he just chickened out on his bully behavior, but he's not happy about it, and gets behind me and flips his brights on. I lock my door, waiting patiently at the light. I don't step out of the car to say, "You are obligated to yield when entering the roadway." What would be the point? To risk my well-being? He seemed to follow me a block and then turned down his dick lights and turned off at an intersection.
I have a tendancy to find the biggest bully in a group and have a showdown. Often it happens incredibly fast, like it did here. It's an occasional theme in my life.
Of course not. They do. So I inch forward with traffic. And they honk? Just stop. Don't honk! Stop your car! But they keep inching forward. Because, you know, they're a big black truck, let them in, right? But I decline, and the driver realizes that his pretty shiny black truck would face a lot more damage than my 1983 paint-flaked and moddled metal Honda. Go ahead... enter the roadway.
So he lets me pass (as required by law), really he just chickened out on his bully behavior, but he's not happy about it, and gets behind me and flips his brights on. I lock my door, waiting patiently at the light. I don't step out of the car to say, "You are obligated to yield when entering the roadway." What would be the point? To risk my well-being? He seemed to follow me a block and then turned down his dick lights and turned off at an intersection.
I have a tendancy to find the biggest bully in a group and have a showdown. Often it happens incredibly fast, like it did here. It's an occasional theme in my life.
10 November 2009 @ 08:40 pm
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dnalounge update 10 November 2009 @ 10:47 pm
A Science Spin is a Hole-in-One in New York Hall of Science Rocket Park Mini Golf
Interesting article from Exhibit Builder about the construction of the course
(Yes, those are real rockets in the background - the New York Hall of Science is at the old NY World's Fair site).
Interesting article from Exhibit Builder about the construction of the course
(Yes, those are real rockets in the background - the New York Hall of Science is at the old NY World's Fair site).
Current Mood: 
curious
curious10 November 2009 @ 10:35 pm
- added another debug key (to show any value)
- added a different screen transition effect between areas
- sped up room loading process by only counting total friended creatures in each room and redrawing the worldmap surface (those slowest part of moving from room to room) when it's displayed, or if a creature has been friended in that room. the reason for the second is that counting total friended creatures in each room involves going through every single visited room's save file and checking the number of creatures in it and the number of them that have been friended, which was a fairly slow process after you explored a lot of the world
- further increased that speed by saving a cache of friended/unfriended creatures in each room which is used if the process has been gone through before and that room has not been re-visited
- optimized it in another way (circles)
- fixed a bug where friending the last creature in a room didn't turn it pink on the worldmap display and a few bugs caused by the above changes to the way total_friended is calculated (now uses a cache counting the number of friended for each room rather than going in and checking each file etc. etc.)
- fixed a bug in the check for function upgrades for total friended (didn't count creatures friended in that room)
- made it so that a different song is played during the first 'launch' cutscene than the room's music
today was many a 'polish' day. still, loading between rooms can take around 2-3 seconds even with this change, especially when the music changes, although that's down from 4-5 seconds. i hope to get it lower somehow, in the future.
( choose a map style! )
- added a different screen transition effect between areas
- sped up room loading process by only counting total friended creatures in each room and redrawing the worldmap surface (those slowest part of moving from room to room) when it's displayed, or if a creature has been friended in that room. the reason for the second is that counting total friended creatures in each room involves going through every single visited room's save file and checking the number of creatures in it and the number of them that have been friended, which was a fairly slow process after you explored a lot of the world
- further increased that speed by saving a cache of friended/unfriended creatures in each room which is used if the process has been gone through before and that room has not been re-visited
- optimized it in another way (circles)
- fixed a bug where friending the last creature in a room didn't turn it pink on the worldmap display and a few bugs caused by the above changes to the way total_friended is calculated (now uses a cache counting the number of friended for each room rather than going in and checking each file etc. etc.)
- fixed a bug in the check for function upgrades for total friended (didn't count creatures friended in that room)
- made it so that a different song is played during the first 'launch' cutscene than the room's music
today was many a 'polish' day. still, loading between rooms can take around 2-3 seconds even with this change, especially when the music changes, although that's down from 4-5 seconds. i hope to get it lower somehow, in the future.
( choose a map style! )
10 November 2009 @ 10:33 pm
Was kind of blah about my day off. Lots of work, little motivation. We were going to take a bus to AC to hang out, but the deals they offered were just cash to use at the Casino - no lunch, no show, not even real $ you could save and take home.
We talked about going into the city, but I really don't like going there when I'm not working.
Ended up coming up with going to Layfayette Village and High Point State Park. My MIL is coming along also. It will be nice but weird to be child free - Alan has school.
So tommorrow should be ok.
We talked about going into the city, but I really don't like going there when I'm not working.
Ended up coming up with going to Layfayette Village and High Point State Park. My MIL is coming along also. It will be nice but weird to be child free - Alan has school.
So tommorrow should be ok.
10 November 2009 @ 07:14 pm
I had a whole post here but LJ ate it. This morn i trusted its cache even though I'd been offline since midnight. (I have weak wifi in trickles.)
I've finally agreed that the Wall Street Journal is slightly better when stolen from the Man.
I feel kind of borderline, and I can't find my bicycle helmet. But some stuff's going ok. It's raining but it's not that cold. My shoulder feels ok. I kind of want to go to the cafe' and read for an hour. I feel stuck in the mud and sort of has-been-y sometimes. At least I don't have terrible headaches or a death sentence. And I can read.
I've finally agreed that the Wall Street Journal is slightly better when stolen from the Man.
I feel kind of borderline, and I can't find my bicycle helmet. But some stuff's going ok. It's raining but it's not that cold. My shoulder feels ok. I kind of want to go to the cafe' and read for an hour. I feel stuck in the mud and sort of has-been-y sometimes. At least I don't have terrible headaches or a death sentence. And I can read.
10 November 2009 @ 08:03 pm
My brother Sky has always been a big fan of Adam Carolla. He listens to his podcasts pretty regularly, and listened to his radio show before that. At some point, I thought Sky said that if he were to have to blow a guy, it would be Adam Carolla. Sky claims that *I* said this, and just attributed it to him. Anyway, it became part of the Sky-Rose lexicon.
So, last night we go out to see The Dan Band (you may have seen then in The Hangover or Old School). It was a great show. As we were leaving, Valerie says "hey, isn't that Adam Carolla." Or has had one drink, and is in a great mood because the show was so good. So, he walks up, taps on Adam's shoulder, and says "Excuse me, Adam? I don't mean to bother you, but my friend over here is a big fan. In fact, he says that if he had to suck a man-dick, he would suck yours."... Read More
Adam made a point to say that "man-dick" wasn't nec'y, and you could just say "dick." Then we talked about she-males and horse dicks. He had to go to the bathroom, so we let him leave.
The End.
So, last night we go out to see The Dan Band (you may have seen then in The Hangover or Old School). It was a great show. As we were leaving, Valerie says "hey, isn't that Adam Carolla." Or has had one drink, and is in a great mood because the show was so good. So, he walks up, taps on Adam's shoulder, and says "Excuse me, Adam? I don't mean to bother you, but my friend over here is a big fan. In fact, he says that if he had to suck a man-dick, he would suck yours."... Read More
Adam made a point to say that "man-dick" wasn't nec'y, and you could just say "dick." Then we talked about she-males and horse dicks. He had to go to the bathroom, so we let him leave.
The End.
10 November 2009 @ 07:27 pm
This morning I heard an interview with the head of an Indian pharmaceutical company that makes a Tamiflu clone on NPR. The interviewer asked him to comment on other pharma company execs calling him a "pirate", and he pointed out that he follows the law in India, in Europe, and in the U.S. I'm sure those other companies would prefer that he not be allowed to reverse engineer their products at all, but they simply haven't made the legislative case in all the relevant jurisdictions. Fortunately, they can't just globally outlaw their competition by decree. But boy, would they ever like to.
Entitlement.
Then one of my friends posted about food stamp recipients buying $6 organic milk at her local grocery, dumping the milk in the parking lot, and bringing the glass bottle back for the $2 deposit. An inefficient way to convert food charity into cash for cigarettes and beer and whatever. One of the commenters pointed out that food stamps don't cover everything a person needs. Well, no shit. It's a program instituted to keep people from starving, not a general welfare program. We have other programs for that. And if those aren't enough, we have a legislative process to go through to get money allocated for other purposes, from housing to medications to whatever. But this commenter automatically assumes that if the law doesn't go her way, it just exists to be circumvented. Not changed through the democratic process.
Entitlement.
I remember the same attitude during the assault weapons ban. The anti-gun politicians couldn't get enough votes to just outlaw semi-automatic rifles completely, so they created and passed a cosmetic bill that banned guns on the basis of appearances. Then they got all pissy when gun manufacturers made cosmetic changes to comply with the law, and continued to sell semi-autos. Didn't they understand that they were supposed to follow a law that was never written or passed?
Entitlement.
I even see the same thing in the gay marriage debate. Now, I'm all in favor of gay marriage, but let's face it: it is a huge legislative and social change. But instead of going out there and making the case to voters, they propose laws and then just resort to invective when the voters don't automatically side with them.
Entitlement.
I think it shows profound disrespect for the concept of representative government. Things aren't always going to go your way, and even when they do, it often takes years of hard work. I often joke about how when I am Emperor of the World, things will be done differently, but I hope it's clear that I am joking. Even if we had a dictatorship, I wouldn't be the one dictating. The system protects me as much as it frustrates me.
But I'll take that as long as it frustrates some of those other jerks too.
10 November 2009 @ 05:35 pm
When I looked a year ago or so for a site that offered regular bodyweight workouts, including instructions on how to do everything, I didn't find anything good. But now there is BodyFitBurn. Check out their intro manual, a very informative PDF, or their thrice-weekly exercise circuits.
10 November 2009 @ 05:22 pm
Emotionally, I fear resilience as fleeting. I have the perspective that if I can't maintain this level of function, then I don't have it.
I think that perspective largely comes out of having spent most of my life depressed. It's all going uphill, and I feel like each new fortress I claim, I'm only holding onto by virtue of pushing back an onslaught that would wash away all my progress were I to stop and take a breath.
Always pushing. Always a challenge. Not in a good way. ;)
So it is with trepidation that I'm enjoying the energy I'm having today.
I'm trying to outmaneuver myself and convince myself that just because I do something once doesn't mean that I'm committing to doing it forever, and I can just enjoy that moment without having to defend the castle I've made of sand.
I think that perspective largely comes out of having spent most of my life depressed. It's all going uphill, and I feel like each new fortress I claim, I'm only holding onto by virtue of pushing back an onslaught that would wash away all my progress were I to stop and take a breath.
Always pushing. Always a challenge. Not in a good way. ;)
So it is with trepidation that I'm enjoying the energy I'm having today.
I'm trying to outmaneuver myself and convince myself that just because I do something once doesn't mean that I'm committing to doing it forever, and I can just enjoy that moment without having to defend the castle I've made of sand.
10 November 2009 @ 06:55 pm
The photo above is of the inside of the large hall in Building 9 at JSC. I call it "Mockup City" because it is full of full-scale models of various vehicles that are used for training purposes. (That's the Shuttle mockup in the background, the FGB (Zarya) mockup on the right-hand side with all the crew plaques on it - and a mockup of the Service Module just beyond it - and a Soyuz descent module on the left.)
It's been a few years since I've assisted with crew training, and when I saw that I would be interpreting for cosmonauts that are part of Expedition 29, my mind went back to the days when the first crew - Expedition 1 - had only recently gone aboard the ISS. It just didn't seem like all that long ago, but it's been long enough.
Today's subject involved the fascinating story of stowage, or "how to find, use, replace, throw out, account for and otherwise deal with all the stuff that's up there with you."
Bags. Lots of bags. Racks. Bays. Modules. Temporary storage. Food containers.
The whole enchilada, so to speak.
A curious basic rule of flying in space is to forget just about everything you've every learned about the way things should behave. That's easy enough to say, but enormously difficult, especially considering that a good chunk of that learning is buried in your subconscious.
Back when American astronaut Dave Wolf was flying a long-duration mission aboard the Mir space station, he underscored this by noting that, if you were working on some job that required you to use a wrench and you put the wrench down on a surface the way you'd normally do on Earth and didn't strap it down with something like Velcro, the wrench would gradually float up off the surface.
So far, so good, right?
He continued by noting that, since your brain has - over many years - become used to stuff not wandering off by itself, when you turn your head and move your hand so as to again grasp the wrench, you will notice it's no longer there.
That makes sense, yes?
He then mentioned that it was entirely likely that you would not find the wrench by looking for it. He had done so, he explained in one letter to folks on the ground, and had failed to see it. Fortunately, he added, the drifting wrench bumped into his face, so he was able to recover it.
The way he explained it, the brain apparently "blocked out" the wrench that was floating in front of his face because it wasn't supposed to be there. In effect, because the wrench wasn't supposed to be there, his brain wouldn't let him see it.
That may sound funny, but it also explains why sometimes you can't find stuff here on Earth in your own digs, doesn't it? Especially stuff that someone else, standing next to you, can see at once.
Cheers...
Current Location: Seabrook, Texas
10 November 2009 @ 04:40 pm
the point at which you stop shopping in certain places cause it's too loud in there
the point at which you become interested in good jewelry
the point at which you finally have enough socks and underpants to never have to wear the Christmas ones in June
the point at which jazz stops being noise
the point at which you become interested in good jewelry
the point at which you finally have enough socks and underpants to never have to wear the Christmas ones in June
the point at which jazz stops being noise
10 November 2009 @ 04:34 pm
I have a hankering to read some comic books (collected in trade paperbacks) or graphic novels. For those of ye who know more about the subject than I do, can you make some recommendations?
Some things to keep in mind about my personal tastes:
- My favorite comics are the classic Silver Age Spider-Man, followed by classic X-Men*. I have an old-man-crush on Stan Lee. But I'm not excited by all classic Marvel comics. I found Iron Man and Daredevil to be pretty dull, and Ant-Man was just dumb.
- I like fun/exciting comics, not dark/depressing comics. I've read quite a bit of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, and I don't think I've actively enjoyed a single book from either of them. Most (but not all) of their stuff is extremely well-written. It's just not for me. I'm also not a fan of quirky/alternative/goth comics like Neil Gaiman. (I'm just making up that category. If there's better terminology for that type of comic, let me know.)
- I saw in a book store that DC has started putting out "Showcase" TPBs, which are like Marvel's Essential series: Cheap black & white collections of old comics. They had a set of the 1960s run of Batman, which I was curious about. Have any of you read that? Is it worthwhile? (I don't care that much about the artwork. So cheap black & white reproductions are fine with me.)
So please throw your suggestions at me. Bonus points if you actually have the books you're recommending and are willing to lend them to me.
* To clarify, I'm not talking about the old old school original X-Men. I'm talking about when Wolverine, Storm, and the rest of the X-Men we know today started showing up, and lame-wads like Angel were booted out of the comic.
Some things to keep in mind about my personal tastes:
- My favorite comics are the classic Silver Age Spider-Man, followed by classic X-Men*. I have an old-man-crush on Stan Lee. But I'm not excited by all classic Marvel comics. I found Iron Man and Daredevil to be pretty dull, and Ant-Man was just dumb.
- I like fun/exciting comics, not dark/depressing comics. I've read quite a bit of Frank Miller and Alan Moore, and I don't think I've actively enjoyed a single book from either of them. Most (but not all) of their stuff is extremely well-written. It's just not for me. I'm also not a fan of quirky/alternative/goth comics like Neil Gaiman. (I'm just making up that category. If there's better terminology for that type of comic, let me know.)
- I saw in a book store that DC has started putting out "Showcase" TPBs, which are like Marvel's Essential series: Cheap black & white collections of old comics. They had a set of the 1960s run of Batman, which I was curious about. Have any of you read that? Is it worthwhile? (I don't care that much about the artwork. So cheap black & white reproductions are fine with me.)
So please throw your suggestions at me. Bonus points if you actually have the books you're recommending and are willing to lend them to me.
* To clarify, I'm not talking about the old old school original X-Men. I'm talking about when Wolverine, Storm, and the rest of the X-Men we know today started showing up, and lame-wads like Angel were booted out of the comic.
10 November 2009 @ 07:32 pm
10 November 2009 @ 03:32 pm
I'm not locking this politics post because I think it's important for both sides to read this. I think I've hit upon the key difference in the way the two sides see the issue, and why they've just been screaming past each other:
Those in favor of the health care bill believe that those specific reforms will necessarily improve things. Those who oppose the bill disagree with this premise.
Both sides want high quality, low cost health care. Both understand that there are lots of problems with the current system. Neither side really understands all the implications of the 2000 pages of dense legalese that just passed the House, because nobody on Earth actually understands that. But those in favor of the bill believe those implications will be beneficial, and those opposed to it believe the implications will be harmful.
It should be obvious that for any situation, no matter how messed up, government action can either make things better, worse, or the same. Which of these is most likely depends on the specific government action being contemplated. So the debate should focus on the specific things the bill does, and evaluate those.
I think that proponents of the bill are losing the argument in the court of public opinion (if not in Congress) because they aren't recognizing this is the true disagreement, so they waste their time and energy arguing the wrong things.
At best, they point out all the flaws with the current system. But this is ineffective because the people who oppose the health care bill already know there are all sorts of problems with the current system. They just think the bill will make those problems even worse.
And often, proponents of the bill (correctly) assume the enormous problems with our current system are obvious, but they forget about their much more controversial premise that any reform will necessarily improve things. So they conclude that anyone who disagrees with them must be either too stupid to notice the obvious problems, or too evil to care about them. Which is why they spout hate and insults, because it's not worthwhile to have meaningful debates with stupid/evil people. But of course their opponents aren't stupid or evil. They just have a difference premise about the efficacy of government intervention.
For those in favor of the health care bill, if you want to convince people it's a good idea, you should explain why the specific actions of the bill (to the extent that they're known) will improve things. It's not enough to point out that currently lots of things are wrong or to insult those who disagree with you.
Of course I can't force you to make intelligent arguments. But if you continue to insult and stereotype anyone who disagrees with you, you should at least recognize that *you* are the one who's sacrificing health care out of hate.
As usual, please remember my "no idiotic flamewars in comments" rule. If you disagree with the way I characterized the debate, it's fine for your to (politely and civilly) explain that disagreement. But I'm not interested in arguments over which side is correct. I'm not going to screen comments because I want to treat you like grown-ups, so please don't be the childish jerk who makes me regret assuming you had a basic level of restraint and civility. (I will screen anonymous comments, because I've learned through experience it's generally a mistake to treat anonymous trolls like grown-ups.)
Those in favor of the health care bill believe that those specific reforms will necessarily improve things. Those who oppose the bill disagree with this premise.
Both sides want high quality, low cost health care. Both understand that there are lots of problems with the current system. Neither side really understands all the implications of the 2000 pages of dense legalese that just passed the House, because nobody on Earth actually understands that. But those in favor of the bill believe those implications will be beneficial, and those opposed to it believe the implications will be harmful.
It should be obvious that for any situation, no matter how messed up, government action can either make things better, worse, or the same. Which of these is most likely depends on the specific government action being contemplated. So the debate should focus on the specific things the bill does, and evaluate those.
I think that proponents of the bill are losing the argument in the court of public opinion (if not in Congress) because they aren't recognizing this is the true disagreement, so they waste their time and energy arguing the wrong things.
At best, they point out all the flaws with the current system. But this is ineffective because the people who oppose the health care bill already know there are all sorts of problems with the current system. They just think the bill will make those problems even worse.
And often, proponents of the bill (correctly) assume the enormous problems with our current system are obvious, but they forget about their much more controversial premise that any reform will necessarily improve things. So they conclude that anyone who disagrees with them must be either too stupid to notice the obvious problems, or too evil to care about them. Which is why they spout hate and insults, because it's not worthwhile to have meaningful debates with stupid/evil people. But of course their opponents aren't stupid or evil. They just have a difference premise about the efficacy of government intervention.
For those in favor of the health care bill, if you want to convince people it's a good idea, you should explain why the specific actions of the bill (to the extent that they're known) will improve things. It's not enough to point out that currently lots of things are wrong or to insult those who disagree with you.
Of course I can't force you to make intelligent arguments. But if you continue to insult and stereotype anyone who disagrees with you, you should at least recognize that *you* are the one who's sacrificing health care out of hate.
As usual, please remember my "no idiotic flamewars in comments" rule. If you disagree with the way I characterized the debate, it's fine for your to (politely and civilly) explain that disagreement. But I'm not interested in arguments over which side is correct. I'm not going to screen comments because I want to treat you like grown-ups, so please don't be the childish jerk who makes me regret assuming you had a basic level of restraint and civility. (I will screen anonymous comments, because I've learned through experience it's generally a mistake to treat anonymous trolls like grown-ups.)
10 November 2009 @ 02:47 pm
The open road is a hitchhiker's best friend. A two-lane highway in a
remote place is the best kind of road. You're going north or you're
going south, that's all there is to it. Stop in at a town for a bite
to eat, then stick out your thumb and get back on the road. Urban
sprawl, on the other hand, is a trap for us, a slog through a hostile
jungle. In cities the going is slow. Everyone going every which-way,
thru-traffic is hard to find, and the good hitching spots are few. On
the country road, just walk to the edge of town and now everyone is
going your direction and happy to give you a ride.
As an infrequent hitchhiker, this trip started with that slightly
sick, anxious feeling in the bottom of my stomach one feels when one
gets close to the moment of truth in some questionable enterprise. I
took the city bus to the outskirts of Santa Cruz. When the bus route
crossed the highway, I knew it was time, time to put plans into
action. The queasy feeling comes from knowning that a road that looks
simple on a map is really a complex thing, with onramps and offramps
and bubbles of urban sprawl. What if no one stops? What if I don't
get to a good stopping place by sundown? What if the road turns into
an unwelcoming high-speed, six-lane freeway? I pulled the cord and
stepped out into an unknown place, on my own now. With that slightly
queasy feeling I marched over the road and down onto the onramp, right
by that pedestrians prohibited sign, set my bag down, put on a grin
and stuck out my thumb.
And that queasy feeling instantly disappears when the feeling of the
open road comes flooding in, when the third car to pass stops and
offers a ride. Now you know it's all going to work out, that
hitchhiking still works, the river is still flowing, the train is
still moving, America is still yours to discover, and you can travel
it with just a small knapsack and no fixed itinerary. You've injected
yourself into the bloodstream of society, you're coursing along,
mixing and mingling with the machinery of society. Along one of the
most beautiful roads in California, too: Steinbeck Country, Monterey,
Big Sur, Morro Bay.
Ten rides, Santa Cruz to San Luis Obispo
0. 09:19 am, Santa Cruz city bus #71, Santa Cruz towards Watsonville,
$1.50. All of the crazy people I met on my trip were aboard this
bus.
1. "Sorry I'm only going a couple miles, but you're welcome to a
ride!"
"A mile's a mile, thanks for picking me up!"
After I got him started story-telling, he seemed genuinely disappointed he wasn't going further.
"Too bad our ride's so short, there's so many stories we could share!"
To Larkin Valley exit.
2. Waiting at an onramp, the first vehicle to pass picked me up, a
small farm delivery truck taking oranges to market. Got to try out
my tiny bit of spanish. Agricultural workers are a reliable source
of rides, and riding in trucks is fun. Waiting at onramps,
especially in the country, is very effective.
3. A pretty 35 year-old woman with an infant in the back seat picked
me up from an on-ramp at the edge of Monterery and took me to the
other side of town in a fancy new Honda.
Waiting for rides is really a visceral experience of a Poisson
process; doesn't matter how long you've been waiting, the next ride
could be yours. Standing along side the highway, the wait can seem an
eternity. But then you check the time and see that it's only been ten
minutes.
4. "Hey, I figured you look like a clean-cut kid, I figured, Hey why
not?" Middle-aged Hispanic woman on her way home from work in
Santa Cruz.
5. In a raised, black F350 truck with a painting-company logo on the
side: "Hey, what's in the bag? No guns or nothing? 'cause I got a
gun and I'll shoot you. [pause, grin] Well, you look pretty
clean-cut. We're going to Carmell." The same driver handed me a
bottle of wine when he dropped me off at the general store in Big
Sur.
Here, amongst redwoods and mountain streams, I wished I were traveling
with a backpack, a sleeping bag, and a tent. Hike, camp, hitch a
ride, repeat.
6. My favorite ride of the trip, a short one from the general store to
a scenic veiw stop a couple miles down the road, with Hal in his
1968 Toyota landcruiser.
The ocean view is beautiful, but I'm nervously measuring the
diminishing distance between the sun and the sea.
7. Dan picked me up from the turnout where I was stationed,
overlooking the ocean but generally being ignored by the tourists
driving the highway. "You know, I had a feeling there'd be a
hitchhiker," he said.
Feathers, fossils, and dried flowers lined the dashboard of his
Honda CRV. At first I feared he might be of the annoying
overly-spiritual sort, but our conversation turned out to be quite
enjoyable. He's a conservationist for the American Land Trust, out
on a field trip to investigate a few sites. We discussed astronomy
and geology and out of the corner of his eye he somehow spotted a
huge bobcat stalking its prey in a field along side the road.
Dropped me off at the Hearst Castle road in San Simeon.
I'm passing and being passed by many long-distance bikers, making
their way up and down the Pacific Coast Bike Route.
8. A nice guy in a pickup took me twenty miles down the road on his
way home from work. It occurs to me that no-one has asked me why I
am hitching, as if it's assumed to be a completely normal activity.
9. Immediately I was picked up by an enthusiastic Peruvian and his
young wife and stuffed myself into the back of their tiny Honda
alongside their cute infant daughter named Adrianna. Dropped me
off on Santa Rosa street in San Luis Obispo. Dinner, a hostel, a
train station.
180 miles in about 7.5 hours, an average speed of 24 miles/hour.
Probably with a sign I could have held out for a long distance ride
and made the trip at full highway speed, but meeting so many people
and traveling leisurely along the coast highway was kind of the point.
Eating waffles at a cafe in San Luis Obispo, the slow travel, stopping
at dusk to check into a hostel, seemed delightfully and refreshingly
antiquarian in an age of red-eye flights, late-night arrivals, and rushed
connections.
Beats taking the all-night greyhound, anyway.
10 November 2009 @ 04:35 pm
Fun with charts. One should make jonfmorse feel like he's in good company, and the other should make ikilled007 feel nervous:
jonfmorse feel like he's in good company, and the other should make ikilled007 feel nervous:10 November 2009 @ 02:29 pm
Ok, I think I'm finally ready to do some quantified self-style intervention testing on my sleep. Slept really badly last night, and pretty badly the last few, feeling really tired (but not as bad as I would be w/o Adrafinil!).
I think this will be really good b/c instead of acting according to numerous vague and unknown theories, I can actually test them. Then I can use the things that work and abandon the things that don't, instead of wondering every night which of 17 things I should do.
I feel guilty about not having done this yet, for some reason, but it was actually a strategic decision. My sleep was so bad before that nothing seemed to work, so there seemed to be no point in testing anything, plus I had no energy to test. Now that I've had the MMA surgery, my hope is that behavioral and minor physical interventions can measurably affect my sleep. Plus I have more energy to do this.
Anyway, I am open to feedback on my experimental plan. I think I have a pretty good hypothesis pool, so I am most interested in feedback on outcome metrics and the general method.
(I feel somewhat guilty working on this during work time, but then I remind myself that sleep is by far the largest factor in my work productivity - improving my sleep would be like hiring another 1/4-1/2 of a Patri, which is well worth my time to work on!)
I think this will be really good b/c instead of acting according to numerous vague and unknown theories, I can actually test them. Then I can use the things that work and abandon the things that don't, instead of wondering every night which of 17 things I should do.
I feel guilty about not having done this yet, for some reason, but it was actually a strategic decision. My sleep was so bad before that nothing seemed to work, so there seemed to be no point in testing anything, plus I had no energy to test. Now that I've had the MMA surgery, my hope is that behavioral and minor physical interventions can measurably affect my sleep. Plus I have more energy to do this.
Anyway, I am open to feedback on my experimental plan. I think I have a pretty good hypothesis pool, so I am most interested in feedback on outcome metrics and the general method.
(I feel somewhat guilty working on this during work time, but then I remind myself that sleep is by far the largest factor in my work productivity - improving my sleep would be like hiring another 1/4-1/2 of a Patri, which is well worth my time to work on!)
Current Music: 7 Days To The Wolves - Nightwish
10 November 2009 @ 02:04 pm
This has been happening for several years, but I've never participated in it. I was inspired to post this year because of the many tweets from my many betes homies on the subject, and of course because I haven't blogged in over six months.
Except I really don't feel like talking about diabetes. Yes, many days are a fucking trial, and November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and they're talking about the potential cures in the same way they've been doing since I was diagnosed 14 years ago (this month!), but my past three A1Cs have been under 6, so I'd like to live with the illusion that I own this beast for a little while.
There have been heavier-duty things on my mind lately.
( cut for sad )
Current Location: US, California, San Diego, San Diego, Mira Mesa Blvd, 5631
10 November 2009 @ 01:58 pm
People who "hike" in Kurdistan.
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/20
I mean, seriously guys: the "hiking" thing might sound plausible if they were hiking in Santa Cruz. Nobody fucking "hikes" in a terrorist shit hole near the border of a fruitcake Shiite theocracy unless they're being paid to do so by alphabet soup government agencies.
http://berkeleydailyplanet.com/issue/20
I mean, seriously guys: the "hiking" thing might sound plausible if they were hiking in Santa Cruz. Nobody fucking "hikes" in a terrorist shit hole near the border of a fruitcake Shiite theocracy unless they're being paid to do so by alphabet soup government agencies.
10 November 2009 @ 02:48 pm
I learned three things today.
- Attractive girls going to Kinko's to print off modeling contracts get their pages for free.
- Two and one-third pounds of rat can fit entirely into a standard Kleenex box to sleep, if all two-and-one-third-pounds of rat are on board with the plan.
- No matter how improved the Drano bottle claims it is, the stuff still smells awful, and takes forever to leave the bathroom.
10 November 2009 @ 01:32 pm
In general, I think my writing will be more effective if I move my advocacy to special-purpose group blogs. My level of professionalism & commitment to quality/accuracy will be higher, I can leverage other authors, attract an audience who are interested in the topic rather than "whatever Patri writes", etc. It just seems like a better way to do things.
Like, given that GNXP exists, it's useless for me to post on IQ, race, nature/nurture, or any of that stuff. I mean, those guys know way more than I do, they spend more time on it, they write higher quality stuff...they can actually sway minds. My rants are fun (and that's why I write them), but I doubt they will do much to spread knowledge or change anyone's mind about anything. Whereas widely-read, high-quality specialty blogs can create cultures around their ideas. Look at what happened w/ Overcoming Bias, it's spawned an entire community of people around Eliezer & Robin's ideas. I meet smart interesting people who read OB/LW all the time (and not just at OB/LW meetups!) I suspect has strongly influenced at least thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands.
Anyway, I think/hope I've succeeded in doing less political ranting (though not none) since starting LATNB, and hopefully I can channel all my sociobiology into PUA4LTR. And every time I go into any more depth on genetics, global warming, or IF than a passing mention or link, y'all should tell me to shut up and write about things that aren't better covered by others :).
Like, given that GNXP exists, it's useless for me to post on IQ, race, nature/nurture, or any of that stuff. I mean, those guys know way more than I do, they spend more time on it, they write higher quality stuff...they can actually sway minds. My rants are fun (and that's why I write them), but I doubt they will do much to spread knowledge or change anyone's mind about anything. Whereas widely-read, high-quality specialty blogs can create cultures around their ideas. Look at what happened w/ Overcoming Bias, it's spawned an entire community of people around Eliezer & Robin's ideas. I meet smart interesting people who read OB/LW all the time (and not just at OB/LW meetups!) I suspect has strongly influenced at least thousands of people, perhaps tens of thousands.
Anyway, I think/hope I've succeeded in doing less political ranting (though not none) since starting LATNB, and hopefully I can channel all my sociobiology into PUA4LTR. And every time I go into any more depth on genetics, global warming, or IF than a passing mention or link, y'all should tell me to shut up and write about things that aren't better covered by others :).
Current Music: 7 Days To The Wolves - Nightwish
10 November 2009 @ 01:31 pm
I failed my saving throw against taking on another (small) project, and I've started a new blog: PUA4LTR.
In my defense, starting a group blog has the potential to be a low-effort high-reward project. I have no interest in providing a majority of the content, I just want to get the ball rolling, find good co-authors and guest posters, and most importantly a good editor to handle the day-to-day work.
This worked great with Let A Thousand Nations Bloom - we got a great editor (Mike Gibson), I write a post every couple weeks or so, but we have a slowly growing set of authors and readership. Traffic is not growing as fast as I'd like, but it is filling a niche that I think is unserved and incredibly important - advocating competitive government and structural reform.
And PUA For LTR is also a niche that is unserved and incredibly important. There are not only no blogs on it, there are hardly even any posts on it on the numerous PUA blogs! Which is ridiculous. I mean, yeah, cold approach pickup of tasty babes in bars is way sexier and more fun to imagine doing, it makes better internet fantasy material. But what about in real life - especially when you grow up and move beyond just trying to get laid?
To some degree, this niche is served by material that predates PUA and does not self-identify. Yet this material is based on different terminology and in many cases different theories of attraction. Both are based on the real world so they surely overlap to some degree (I dunno, I haven't read much more than Gottman & Mars/Venus), but I think applying the enormous, rapid progress in PUA to LTRs is very low-hanging fruit.
Go read the About page for my...um...initial manifesto. Here's the blog, the RSS feed, and you can read it on LJ as
pua4ltr. Here's our call for authors/editors.Current Music: 7 Days To The Wolves - Nightwish
10 November 2009 @ 12:51 pm
I'm lactose intolerant. I love dairy. I'm trying a week of no dairy. I already try to eat low carbs. This is going to be a hard week. I don't even want to think about how hard its going to be should I decide to continue this beyond a week :P
Also annoying that I never really know what to attribute to diet or elsewhere. This is something that has always frustrated me. Its hard generally to make solid connections, now I have vast changes with bipolar medications to make everything even less clear!
Seems like a good diet if I can take it. Pretty much no options aside from paleo. Although I don't do veggies or beans, so something is going to have to give.
Also annoying that I never really know what to attribute to diet or elsewhere. This is something that has always frustrated me. Its hard generally to make solid connections, now I have vast changes with bipolar medications to make everything even less clear!
Seems like a good diet if I can take it. Pretty much no options aside from paleo. Although I don't do veggies or beans, so something is going to have to give.
10 November 2009 @ 07:35 pm
Originally published at tolaris.com. You can comment here or there.
I read an article in the Dec 2009 issue of Linux Magazine, one of several Linux-focused magazines we get at the office. I’d like to link directly to it, but it the magazine’s own website doesn’t offer the article or even a reliable permanent link to the issue number. Hint: hey guys, sort that out.
The article was about configuring ACPI hotkeys to support your specific laptop. IE, the buttons for “sleep”, “brightness up”, etc. For most laptops this already works on Ubuntu. On my Dell Vostro 1500, every button except for “sleep” worked right after install. This is Linux, so there is always some way to fix that.
10 November 2009 @ 11:28 am
One paragraph into The Gathering Storm I could tell it wasn't written by Robert Jordan. But the new author stated outright in the forward that he wasn't trying to ape Jordan's style, but adapt his own to the story. So far I like it. The author seems sympathetic to the plight of the likely reader, who has forgotten lots of details since the last book came out. He seems to go out of his way to remind you what's going on.
In other news, busybusybusy. But I guess this isn't really news.
In other news, busybusybusy. But I guess this isn't really news.
10 November 2009 @ 03:02 pm
10 November 2009 @ 01:46 pm
1. Something they have lots of, behind the Green Glass Door: committees.
2. Today I had an instance of Lucky Procrastinating... a thing on my list that was just sitting there all week, passively generating worry, turned out to be a thing that the process had been entirely changed on right after I talked to the person, so good thing I didn't do anything with it, because I would have had to start over anyway. This type of thing happens a lot. I seem to have a gift for knowing what not to do.
3. Things never feel like Real Life to me. I really want them to, but they never do.
2. Today I had an instance of Lucky Procrastinating... a thing on my list that was just sitting there all week, passively generating worry, turned out to be a thing that the process had been entirely changed on right after I talked to the person, so good thing I didn't do anything with it, because I would have had to start over anyway. This type of thing happens a lot. I seem to have a gift for knowing what not to do.
3. Things never feel like Real Life to me. I really want them to, but they never do.
10 November 2009 @ 11:50 am
Have you ever wanted something, but couldn't make yourself want it enough to buy it?
I want a new Swiss Army Knife (SAK), either a Handyman, Mechanic, or RangerGrip 60. They're pretty. They're shiny. It'd be fun to get a new knife in the mail. But I can't bring myself to order one. I haven't since I started looking at them a couple of months ago.
See, I've got two knives that I really like now, my SAK Super Tinker and my Leatherman c301. The Super Tinker is a permanent part of my EDC, along with my Crunch, and the c301 is my go to knife when I'm at home. (I could, and have, carried the c301 to work, but I'm not comfortable bringing a knife-knife to work everyday.) Both are great for what I need, and neither has ever let me down.
Which leads me back to my problem: I want a new SAK, but not enough to buy one. Knowing that my current setup works, and works perfectly, it feels like I'd be wasting money, and spitting in the face of the spirit of having good tools, getting a new SAK just to get a new SAK. (Collecting multi-tools is obviously very different!) I don't really think I'm going to break down and get a new SAK until something (hopefully never) happens to my Super Tinker, but it still feels kind of weird to want something very badly but not enough to override not wanting to get it.
On a related note, I really need to make a multi-tool LJ icon.
I want a new Swiss Army Knife (SAK), either a Handyman, Mechanic, or RangerGrip 60. They're pretty. They're shiny. It'd be fun to get a new knife in the mail. But I can't bring myself to order one. I haven't since I started looking at them a couple of months ago.
See, I've got two knives that I really like now, my SAK Super Tinker and my Leatherman c301. The Super Tinker is a permanent part of my EDC, along with my Crunch, and the c301 is my go to knife when I'm at home. (I could, and have, carried the c301 to work, but I'm not comfortable bringing a knife-knife to work everyday.) Both are great for what I need, and neither has ever let me down.
Which leads me back to my problem: I want a new SAK, but not enough to buy one. Knowing that my current setup works, and works perfectly, it feels like I'd be wasting money, and spitting in the face of the spirit of having good tools, getting a new SAK just to get a new SAK. (Collecting multi-tools is obviously very different!) I don't really think I'm going to break down and get a new SAK until something (hopefully never) happens to my Super Tinker, but it still feels kind of weird to want something very badly but not enough to override not wanting to get it.
On a related note, I really need to make a multi-tool LJ icon.
10 November 2009 @ 10:58 am
So, I finally am at the point with my ("my") Buffalo Chicken Chili recipe where I can glance casually at the ingredients list, sort of ignore it (whoops, no diced tomatoes, guess I'll add beans instead), and still produce something delicious.
Usually, the only way I can pretend to be a good cook is if I follow a recipe EXACTLY. All of my kitchen disasters have involved me trying to be creative. All of my kitchen successes have involved me following someone else's recipe EXACTLY (except, you know, removing onions).
Obviously, this means I'm not a good cook. I am, though, a successful replicator, when I follow instructions. I think this means I fail as a human, but excel as a robot.
I'm not sure if I should be ashamed, or be glad I'll be spared during the inevitable robot uprising.
Usually, the only way I can pretend to be a good cook is if I follow a recipe EXACTLY. All of my kitchen disasters have involved me trying to be creative. All of my kitchen successes have involved me following someone else's recipe EXACTLY (except, you know, removing onions).
Obviously, this means I'm not a good cook. I am, though, a successful replicator, when I follow instructions. I think this means I fail as a human, but excel as a robot.
I'm not sure if I should be ashamed, or be glad I'll be spared during the inevitable robot uprising.
10 November 2009 @ 11:49 am
This is a rare moment of lucidity. Chris is sick, I have a sore throat again, but what complicates matters is that I had a filling Friday which made my mouth react to either latex or the novocaine because my mouth looks like the love child between Angelina Jolie and Donald Duck. Only crusty and gross. So I've been dealing with the allergic reaction with Benadryl since Saturday which means I'm generally out of it or asleep. Not that the sleep has helped with the sore throat.
I really need to see an allergist.
I really need to see an allergist.
10 November 2009 @ 08:45 am
It's been a while since I posted a personal update here. Sarah and Eleanor and I have been in a nice routine for a while now, so it usually feels like there's nothing new to report. Unlike last year, we haven't moved or changed jobs (or changed jobs again). Eleanor is now in the long steady climb through toddlerhood, so her milestones and breakthroughs are not as frequent as they were. But over a year, things do add up.
Eleanor turned three last month. This fall she started going to a nearby co-op preschool, four hours a week. She chatters constantly, and likes singing and rhyming. She has started drawing specific things, like people, flowers, and cookies. She likes taking baths but not having her hair washed. For Halloween Eleanor was a monkey and I was the man with the yellow hat. (Sarah was a firefighter, which also fit the Curious George theme.) She enjoys sharing her Halloween candy with us.
Eleanor still spends one day a week at my mom's house while Sarah and I are at work. When Sarah's school started this September, I moved to a four-day work week so I can stay home with Eleanor on Sarah's other work day. This continues a pattern: When Eleanor was born, I worked four-day weeks for a few months at Amazon after Sarah went back to work; before that at GoTech I worked four-day weeks to spend more time on side projects.
I'm still working at Kiha and we're still in stealth mode. The work itself has changed quite a bit, not surprisingly. I feel much more productive than just one or two years ago, thanks to improved sleep at home and a focus on habit- and skill-building at work. I've also started doing more studying and programming outside of work again. My recent side project Compleat got a nice reception on Hacker News and Reddit a couple of weeks ago. I did put a lot of work into that write-up, hoping for more people to read and share it.
That was also the first post at my new weblog. I'll post programming-related articles there instead of LiveJournal or my old Advogato diary, so please subscribe if you want to know what I'm working on. Or if you are subscribed to Planet Matt then you'll see my blog posts along with all my other feeds.
10 November 2009 @ 08:00 am
Yoinked from adammaker:
This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of
Financial Crises
Carmen M. Reinhart, University of Maryland and NBER
Kenneth S. Rogoff, Harvard University and NBER
This is a good read.
adammaker:This Time is Different: A Panoramic View of Eight Centuries of
Financial Crises
Carmen M. Reinhart, University of Maryland and NBER
Kenneth S. Rogoff, Harvard University and NBER
Abstract
This paper offers a “panoramic” analysis of the history of financial crises dating from England’s fourteenth-century default to the current United States sub-prime financial crisis. Our study is based on a new dataset that spans all regions. It incorporates a number of important credit episodes seldom covered in the literature, including for example, defaults and restructurings in India and China. As the first paper employing this data, our aim is to illustrate some of the broad insights that can be gleaned from such a sweeping historical database. We find that serial default is a nearly universal phenomenon as countries struggle to transform themselves from emerging markets to advanced economies. Major default episodes are typically spaced some years (or decades) apart, creating an illusion that “this time is different” among policymakers and investors. A recent example of the “this time is different” syndrome is the false belief that domestic debt is a novel feature of the modern financial landscape. We also confirm that crises frequently emanate from the financial centers with transmission through interest rate shocks and commodity price collapses. Thus, the recent US sub-prime financial crisis is hardly unique. Our data also documents other crises that often accompany default: including inflation, exchange rate crashes, banking crises, and currency debasements.
This is a good read.
Current Mood: working
10 November 2009 @ 07:49 am
Monster post on Overthinking It today, overthinking Mad Men Season 3, which just wrapped this past Sunday. Preview:
Share and enjoy.Mad Men is a story about men and women searching for meaning. Mad Men can tell this story because it’s set in an ad agency. Consumer capitalism, which really came into its own following World War II, sells products that add meaning to people’s lives. If Americans don’t believe that their choice of cigarette will make them happy, or that a slide projector can restore the innocence of youth, then Don Draper and his crew are out of a job.
The language of advertising transforms products from the utilitarian to the spiritual. You don’t stay in a Hilton Hotel because of price or convenience. You stay in a Hilton Hotel because it brings the comforts of home to a foreign setting. Pepsi can reinvigorate our tired routine; AquaNet can capture the man who’ll provide for us; London Fog can take us on stimulating romantic adventures.
Most of the characters in Mad Men started 1963 with a brand in lieu of a soul. Roger Sterling was the silver fox with a trophy wife; Hilton was the golden treasure that every ad agency sought to claim; Don Draper, the genius with his finger on the pulse of culture. But we discovered that the brand and the product behind it don’t always relate. Roger is more of a lost boy than a dignified man; consider his Kentucky Derby party, or his growing feuds with his new wife. Conrad Hilton turns out to be a cranky, implacable eccentric. And Don? Behind the mask, what is Don Draper?
10 November 2009 @ 05:01 am
- 15:07 @writeplayrepeat The only non-Haiwatha Nokomis reference I know of: infomotions.com/etexts/gutenberg/dirs/1/0/8/9/1
0891/10891.htm # - 16:17 @djkirkbride You're right -- they're all cartilage and keep growing until you die. But hey, that means you can just trim them back at whim. #
- 18:43 @bronxelf Obviously all that heavy media isn't stored evenly on the disks and your load is unbalanced... #
- 18:52 @bronxelf (Also consider investing in a replacement power strip and/or an extension cord that goes to an outlet on a different circuit...) #
- 19:00 @bronxelf I'm sure that's the assumption, but at five dead you _know_ it's enemy action and start looking for enemies... Any other suspects? #
09 November 2009 @ 10:31 pm
09 November 2009 @ 11:51 pm
envious09 November 2009 @ 11:45 pm
- made it so pressing escape when selecting your name and pressing escape when selecting a save slot will go back to the save slot screen or the title screen (respectively), previously both just exited the game immediately
- made it so you can't continue a save slot which doesn't yet have a saved game in it
- made it so that if you hover over a save slot with save data after selecting new game the text at the top changes to a red warning that it will delete your game if you select that slot
- added mercedes-basic.png back to the in the year 21xx part
- removed the indented textbox start in the prologue
- made it so you can't continue a save slot which doesn't yet have a saved game in it
- made it so that if you hover over a save slot with save data after selecting new game the text at the top changes to a red warning that it will delete your game if you select that slot
- added mercedes-basic.png back to the in the year 21xx part
- removed the indented textbox start in the prologue
09 November 2009 @ 08:39 pm
"Mastery does not come from dabbling. We have to be prepared to pay the price. We need to have the sustained enthusiasm that motivates us to give our best."
-- Eknath Easwaran
"Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts." -- Elbert Hubbard
I am in a very delicate place.
I'm nearing a kind of exhaustion that sends people to the hospital. I crave a vacation or a couple of days of decadent luxury. Both cost time and money, neither of which I have enough of to make these things possible. Given the tremendous amount of work I do, I should be capable of treating myself. That's part of the problem, though. Things are terribly out of balance.
It came to a point this weekend where I was convinced that I was about to drop dead in my tracks. I felt like a horse being driven across the plains by a relentless rider with an urgent mission. Just the simple act of drawing in air to my lungs felt laborious and my entire body vibrated with a tiny tremble imperceptible to the naked eye. It thundered through my body like an earthquake. I could not vanquish it in way. It's a warning sign. And I am heeding it.
I need to find a way to not work quite so hard while reaping greater rewards. I also need to feed my creative desires more consistently. Writing hasn't been cutting it. Writing, for me, is as natural as breathing. It's something I do because it's necessary to my core being. It doesn't give me pleasure or a sense of satisfaction in the way that performing arts do.
I could use a little miracle or a fairy godmother right about now.
-- Eknath Easwaran
"Genius is only the power of making continuous efforts." -- Elbert Hubbard
I am in a very delicate place.
I'm nearing a kind of exhaustion that sends people to the hospital. I crave a vacation or a couple of days of decadent luxury. Both cost time and money, neither of which I have enough of to make these things possible. Given the tremendous amount of work I do, I should be capable of treating myself. That's part of the problem, though. Things are terribly out of balance.
It came to a point this weekend where I was convinced that I was about to drop dead in my tracks. I felt like a horse being driven across the plains by a relentless rider with an urgent mission. Just the simple act of drawing in air to my lungs felt laborious and my entire body vibrated with a tiny tremble imperceptible to the naked eye. It thundered through my body like an earthquake. I could not vanquish it in way. It's a warning sign. And I am heeding it.
I need to find a way to not work quite so hard while reaping greater rewards. I also need to feed my creative desires more consistently. Writing hasn't been cutting it. Writing, for me, is as natural as breathing. It's something I do because it's necessary to my core being. It doesn't give me pleasure or a sense of satisfaction in the way that performing arts do.
I could use a little miracle or a fairy godmother right about now.
Current Mood: 
exanimate
exanimate09 November 2009 @ 10:29 pm
Ah-ha! I got my little "Foobar" app to work in AIR, which gives me a decent understanding of how its SQLite interface works. (Synchronously anyway, but it gives me insight to asynchronously as well, even though I'm going with the former.) Now I understand how to download, and I can CRUD...well, CR anyway, I haven't UD'd yet...I just need to combine to two into a lil' prototype app. Then I can get to working on the app I promised a friend.
Yay.
Yay.
09 November 2009 @ 08:29 pm
09 November 2009 @ 08:18 pm