Thursday, December 27, 2012
What? The Sun!?
It's been raining for several days here in NC, and the Sun has decided to come out and play today! Going to get cleaned up and see what I can get done outside; I've missed Vitamin D.
Wednesday, December 26, 2012
Resurfacing; My thoughts on Sandy Hook
=======================================================================
Caveat Lector: I'm about to ramble on about my personal philosophy for a bit.What I'm going to say is either pro self sufficiency, pro-gun, pro-choice, pro-death penalty, and pro-small community, or a combination of all the above. If you don't like it, either be civil or sod off.
=======================================================================
I know that I've been pretty quiet online for the past week or so. Since Sandy Hook, I've been taking my time, dissecting what I was seeing in the media and in society, and figuring out what exactly it is that I wanted to say about it. Somethings were easier to figure out than others; for instance, I don't have any sympathy for the shooter (whom I won't dignify by naming), because that son of a bitch is dead, which is as it should be. Other things are more nuanced.
Back in the Byzantine era, when I was in high school, I was in the NJROTC. I learned a lot from those courses, and the people in them. One of the things that stuck with me the most is about the balance between authority and accountability (or power vs. responsibility). These two forces have to be in balance, regardless of which person, or office, or government is forming the fulcrum. If authority far outweighs accountability, you get tyranny. If accountability is in the extreme, you get slavery. Society always seeks to correct any imbalances, just look through the history of rebellions, the fall of empires, and the rise of individual rights for evidence.
What does this have to do with Sandy Hook? I think that our society has had a trend towards reducing the level in which the individual is culpable for their own actions. A burglar can sue a homeowner if they fall through a skylight and hurt themselves, because the homeowner didn't take appropriate steps to keep them off of the roof. Folk can sue McDonalds if they order a hot coffee and there after scald themselves by opening it in a moving vehicle. Families of dead drunkards can sue electrical companies when the besotted bastard climbed over separate fences and pisses on a transformer, because the electrical company didn't have a roaming security guard to keep him out. The list goes on, and on, and on. In our society, the individual is being held less and less accountable for their actions.
So, how does society balance that out? It would make sense to hold people accountable for their own actions again, but it seems people don't want the responsibility. No, it seems that society would rather remove its own authority to balance the scales. The movement I've seen in this direction is to chuck rights under the bus until people feel safe again. The method that seems to be approved to establish this is to outsource responsibility for these things to a third party (the government).
People don't seem to understand the equalizing forces that our basic rights grant us. No amount of money in another person's pocket should stop you from being able to speak your mind as you see fit. With freedom of speech, your word counts the same as anyone else's. No amount of peer pressure should be able to force you into not practicing your own religion, or force you into practicing a religion at all. With freedom of religion, your religion (or lack thereof) cannot be questioned. No one should be able to walk into your home and rifle through your things. With the fourth amendment, the privacy of your home, and your mind, is sacrosanct. And no one, regardless of how big or tough they are, should be able to physically push you around. With the Second Amendment, if a 120 lb, 5'1" woman is carrying the same firearm as a 6'1", 275lb man, with equal skill, then their effective lethality is exactly the same. Instead of minimizing individual liberty and authority, we should be maximizing it while holding people to exacting account for their own behavior through societal pressure from their family, friends, and neighbors.
Instead of that, though, this is all I'm hearing on TV and reading online:
It wasn't the gunman's fault, it was the guns. Let's get rid of the 2nd amendment and ban guns! After all, the police and the army will protect us!
No, It wasn't the guns fault, it was all the violence in the media. Let's get rid of Freedom of Speech, and force people to sell back their violent video games. After all, we can trust the government to know what's right for everyone!
No, no, it was all these religious groups, let's make Christianity the only tolerable religion and blackball all the others. After all the United States was founded as a Christian Nation, right?
No, no, no. It's mental illnesses that are the real issue, let's just toss out the 4th amendment and invade medical records so that the government can keep it's ever so trustworthy eye on folk with those pesky chemical imbalances. After all, the Government knows what is acceptable behavior for all of us, right?
My problem with doing this is that we can't get rid of our rights without creating a society where the government has the power to censor the people, has a monopoly on legitimate force, strictly monitors the people and punishes them for deviation from the societal norm, and limits personal freedom of religion to one or two "moral" options. This is the very definition of a tyrannical government. It establishes a caste system of second-class and third class civilians who by law are less equal than others. Raise your hand if you honestly want this sort of outcome. No one? Didn't think so.
I know that there are some people that don't think that this is true. This is primarily due to them not understanding that while the government is formed by the people, it is a separate entity that derives its power from the consent of the governed. The only way that we have "consent" is if we are empowered to take actions against it, through words, through protests, and yes, through force of arms. Take away that power, and we're no longer consenting; we're at the mercy of a government that has more power than the people. Therein lies the truth; the power and accountability of the government has to be exactly equal to the power and accountability of the people, so that the two forces cancel out. If the people succeed in divesting themselves of their rights, the government no longer requires our "consent". It will have the greater power, or authority, and can just make us do what it wants.
The other issue that those people don't understand is the long-view of what they are arguing for.
Anyone that argues against freedom of religion is arguing for a monotheistic government establishment. Period.
Anyone that argues against freedom of speech is arguing for government censorship and greater speaking "privileges" for those with the funds to broadcast. Period.
Anyone that argues against the Fourth Amendment ultimately believes that the government should be able to walk into your home, your safe, your medical records, and your personal life at any time and subject you to observation and inspection. Period.
Anyone that argues against the Second Amendment is arguing for the physical domination of the weaker so that they are subjugated by the strong. Period.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's re-group here and think about what should be done. Let's all avoid talk about what rights we'd like to see hit the cutting room floor, and instead think about what steps each individual person can take to make things better for society over all. First, let's acknowledge that there is such a thing as societal responsibility. Any man or woman is responsible for protecting any children in their sight, end of line. If you wouldn't kill a creep for molesting a kid, please excuse yourself out of my country. We're all responsible for the actions of the government, since we voted them into power, so let's all vote according to our carefully reasoned principles and keep close tabs on our elected officials. Let's all come to a gentleman's and ladies agreement that there is a social floor of poverty that we shouldn't let people fall through, and do what we can to help them back on their feet and get them working and moving with us again. Let us all have pride in what we do, and protect the pride of others.
On the individual level, let's all agree that we have have an obligation to prevent our own children from seeing things that we don't want them to see, government and social groups be damned. That we are each ultimately responsible for our own decisions, regardless of how foolishly they were determined. Let's further agree that we have an obligation to respect other people's religions, despite how we each feel about our own moral authority. Let's keep an eye on each other and offer help if things seem out of sorts, but keep our noses out of it if the answer is No. Let's all be vigilant and aware of our surroundings, so that danger doesn't take us by surprise. And let's all understand that we are each ultimately responsible for our own lives, and that in the moment of crisis no amount of government spending will assure that a cop or soldier will be right beside you to shoot the bad guy threatening you.
And if you disagree with all of this, if you want a government that strips you of your rights and keeps you under close surveillance for your own protection; kindly remove yourself from my list of friends and never speak to me again. I can't trust you to pitch in when the fur flies, and I won't be responsible sticking up for your rights if you won't life a finger to save them yourself.
Caveat Lector: I'm about to ramble on about my personal philosophy for a bit.What I'm going to say is either pro self sufficiency, pro-gun, pro-choice, pro-death penalty, and pro-small community, or a combination of all the above. If you don't like it, either be civil or sod off.
=======================================================================
I know that I've been pretty quiet online for the past week or so. Since Sandy Hook, I've been taking my time, dissecting what I was seeing in the media and in society, and figuring out what exactly it is that I wanted to say about it. Somethings were easier to figure out than others; for instance, I don't have any sympathy for the shooter (whom I won't dignify by naming), because that son of a bitch is dead, which is as it should be. Other things are more nuanced.
Back in the Byzantine era, when I was in high school, I was in the NJROTC. I learned a lot from those courses, and the people in them. One of the things that stuck with me the most is about the balance between authority and accountability (or power vs. responsibility). These two forces have to be in balance, regardless of which person, or office, or government is forming the fulcrum. If authority far outweighs accountability, you get tyranny. If accountability is in the extreme, you get slavery. Society always seeks to correct any imbalances, just look through the history of rebellions, the fall of empires, and the rise of individual rights for evidence.
What does this have to do with Sandy Hook? I think that our society has had a trend towards reducing the level in which the individual is culpable for their own actions. A burglar can sue a homeowner if they fall through a skylight and hurt themselves, because the homeowner didn't take appropriate steps to keep them off of the roof. Folk can sue McDonalds if they order a hot coffee and there after scald themselves by opening it in a moving vehicle. Families of dead drunkards can sue electrical companies when the besotted bastard climbed over separate fences and pisses on a transformer, because the electrical company didn't have a roaming security guard to keep him out. The list goes on, and on, and on. In our society, the individual is being held less and less accountable for their actions.
So, how does society balance that out? It would make sense to hold people accountable for their own actions again, but it seems people don't want the responsibility. No, it seems that society would rather remove its own authority to balance the scales. The movement I've seen in this direction is to chuck rights under the bus until people feel safe again. The method that seems to be approved to establish this is to outsource responsibility for these things to a third party (the government).
People don't seem to understand the equalizing forces that our basic rights grant us. No amount of money in another person's pocket should stop you from being able to speak your mind as you see fit. With freedom of speech, your word counts the same as anyone else's. No amount of peer pressure should be able to force you into not practicing your own religion, or force you into practicing a religion at all. With freedom of religion, your religion (or lack thereof) cannot be questioned. No one should be able to walk into your home and rifle through your things. With the fourth amendment, the privacy of your home, and your mind, is sacrosanct. And no one, regardless of how big or tough they are, should be able to physically push you around. With the Second Amendment, if a 120 lb, 5'1" woman is carrying the same firearm as a 6'1", 275lb man, with equal skill, then their effective lethality is exactly the same. Instead of minimizing individual liberty and authority, we should be maximizing it while holding people to exacting account for their own behavior through societal pressure from their family, friends, and neighbors.
Instead of that, though, this is all I'm hearing on TV and reading online:
It wasn't the gunman's fault, it was the guns. Let's get rid of the 2nd amendment and ban guns! After all, the police and the army will protect us!
No, It wasn't the guns fault, it was all the violence in the media. Let's get rid of Freedom of Speech, and force people to sell back their violent video games. After all, we can trust the government to know what's right for everyone!
No, no, it was all these religious groups, let's make Christianity the only tolerable religion and blackball all the others. After all the United States was founded as a Christian Nation, right?
No, no, no. It's mental illnesses that are the real issue, let's just toss out the 4th amendment and invade medical records so that the government can keep it's ever so trustworthy eye on folk with those pesky chemical imbalances. After all, the Government knows what is acceptable behavior for all of us, right?
My problem with doing this is that we can't get rid of our rights without creating a society where the government has the power to censor the people, has a monopoly on legitimate force, strictly monitors the people and punishes them for deviation from the societal norm, and limits personal freedom of religion to one or two "moral" options. This is the very definition of a tyrannical government. It establishes a caste system of second-class and third class civilians who by law are less equal than others. Raise your hand if you honestly want this sort of outcome. No one? Didn't think so.
I know that there are some people that don't think that this is true. This is primarily due to them not understanding that while the government is formed by the people, it is a separate entity that derives its power from the consent of the governed. The only way that we have "consent" is if we are empowered to take actions against it, through words, through protests, and yes, through force of arms. Take away that power, and we're no longer consenting; we're at the mercy of a government that has more power than the people. Therein lies the truth; the power and accountability of the government has to be exactly equal to the power and accountability of the people, so that the two forces cancel out. If the people succeed in divesting themselves of their rights, the government no longer requires our "consent". It will have the greater power, or authority, and can just make us do what it wants.
The other issue that those people don't understand is the long-view of what they are arguing for.
Anyone that argues against freedom of religion is arguing for a monotheistic government establishment. Period.
Anyone that argues against freedom of speech is arguing for government censorship and greater speaking "privileges" for those with the funds to broadcast. Period.
Anyone that argues against the Fourth Amendment ultimately believes that the government should be able to walk into your home, your safe, your medical records, and your personal life at any time and subject you to observation and inspection. Period.
Anyone that argues against the Second Amendment is arguing for the physical domination of the weaker so that they are subjugated by the strong. Period.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Let's re-group here and think about what should be done. Let's all avoid talk about what rights we'd like to see hit the cutting room floor, and instead think about what steps each individual person can take to make things better for society over all. First, let's acknowledge that there is such a thing as societal responsibility. Any man or woman is responsible for protecting any children in their sight, end of line. If you wouldn't kill a creep for molesting a kid, please excuse yourself out of my country. We're all responsible for the actions of the government, since we voted them into power, so let's all vote according to our carefully reasoned principles and keep close tabs on our elected officials. Let's all come to a gentleman's and ladies agreement that there is a social floor of poverty that we shouldn't let people fall through, and do what we can to help them back on their feet and get them working and moving with us again. Let us all have pride in what we do, and protect the pride of others.
On the individual level, let's all agree that we have have an obligation to prevent our own children from seeing things that we don't want them to see, government and social groups be damned. That we are each ultimately responsible for our own decisions, regardless of how foolishly they were determined. Let's further agree that we have an obligation to respect other people's religions, despite how we each feel about our own moral authority. Let's keep an eye on each other and offer help if things seem out of sorts, but keep our noses out of it if the answer is No. Let's all be vigilant and aware of our surroundings, so that danger doesn't take us by surprise. And let's all understand that we are each ultimately responsible for our own lives, and that in the moment of crisis no amount of government spending will assure that a cop or soldier will be right beside you to shoot the bad guy threatening you.
And if you disagree with all of this, if you want a government that strips you of your rights and keeps you under close surveillance for your own protection; kindly remove yourself from my list of friends and never speak to me again. I can't trust you to pitch in when the fur flies, and I won't be responsible sticking up for your rights if you won't life a finger to save them yourself.
Tuesday, December 18, 2012
Paper Review; Gurnell et al 2011
WARNING: HEAVY SCIENCE
Gurnell, A., W. Bertoldi, D. Corenblit. "Changing River Channels: The Roles of Hydrological Processes, Plants and Pioneer Fluvial Landforms in Humid Temperate, Mixed Load, Gravel Bed Rivers". Earth-Science Reviews 111, 129-141. Dec. 2012
--------------------------------------------
This was a pretty good paper on the types of vegetation, and under what circumstances, that can establish pioneer landforms that can stabilize river banks. The paper itself talks about four separate study areas, which muddles things a bit and makes some of the interpretations a little hard to follow (which river were they talking about again? The one in France?). It was decently written, but it still had some writing issues that I found glaring. A couple of colloquialisms, five or six awkwardly written sentences, and an entire paragraph that was completely unnecessary and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
There was some very cool info in the paper, though: It talked briefly about how river systems changed in ancient history due to the influx of new vegetation types, which is a facet of Geomorph that I've never touched on before (very cool!). Apparently rivers were a lot more braided back in the day, until vegetation started to stabilize the banks. Makes sense.
There's three figures that are extremely handy, one of which describes the zone of interaction between pioneer plant species and flood disturbance in terms of vegetation biomass, which is really just a graph of how effective plants are in relation to elevation above the channel surface at establishing new forms. Another figure shows an evolutionary model on pioneer islands, which is a pretty cool concept: A reedy type of vegetation manages to establish itself, which under flow causes sediment to be entrained behind it, eventually storing more sediment under which more vegetation can establish. It's a positive feed-back loop which eventually allows the pioneer island to be incorporated into the floodplain. Again, this stuff makes sense but it's always good to see an idealized model to explain the concept.
The third model is what brought me to the paper, and that's one about riparian species and their role in allowing in-channel alluvial benches to become established. It's still all about reedy vegetation slowing down flows for the accretion of sediment, so it just gives me something to look for when I'm in the field.
I was surprised by some of the descriptions of how vegetation can be established *after* a flood event, by portions of vegetation ranging from propagules to entire limbs that can root on landforms. I hadn't thought about sections of living vegetation being able to root itself prior to be ripped off during an event, so that was a new one on me. These folks are biogeomorphologists so I bow to their expertise but I'd still like to see that process in action. Not to believe it, but I guess just to verify my understanding of how that would work.
Oh, and *tons* of sources to back track for more papers to read. I never really understood why teachers make students try to satisfy a certain criterion for citations; whatever it takes to properly cite is what it takes to finish the paper, not a firm "no less, no more" than eight. If that means 10, fine. If that means 120, fine. Whatever it takes.
Pretty good paper overall, with lots of useful info. Just needs a good revision. 80 out of 100, with the majority of the points being dinged because of bad writing.
Gurnell, A., W. Bertoldi, D. Corenblit. "Changing River Channels: The Roles of Hydrological Processes, Plants and Pioneer Fluvial Landforms in Humid Temperate, Mixed Load, Gravel Bed Rivers". Earth-Science Reviews 111, 129-141. Dec. 2012
--------------------------------------------
This was a pretty good paper on the types of vegetation, and under what circumstances, that can establish pioneer landforms that can stabilize river banks. The paper itself talks about four separate study areas, which muddles things a bit and makes some of the interpretations a little hard to follow (which river were they talking about again? The one in France?). It was decently written, but it still had some writing issues that I found glaring. A couple of colloquialisms, five or six awkwardly written sentences, and an entire paragraph that was completely unnecessary and should have been left on the cutting room floor.
There was some very cool info in the paper, though: It talked briefly about how river systems changed in ancient history due to the influx of new vegetation types, which is a facet of Geomorph that I've never touched on before (very cool!). Apparently rivers were a lot more braided back in the day, until vegetation started to stabilize the banks. Makes sense.
There's three figures that are extremely handy, one of which describes the zone of interaction between pioneer plant species and flood disturbance in terms of vegetation biomass, which is really just a graph of how effective plants are in relation to elevation above the channel surface at establishing new forms. Another figure shows an evolutionary model on pioneer islands, which is a pretty cool concept: A reedy type of vegetation manages to establish itself, which under flow causes sediment to be entrained behind it, eventually storing more sediment under which more vegetation can establish. It's a positive feed-back loop which eventually allows the pioneer island to be incorporated into the floodplain. Again, this stuff makes sense but it's always good to see an idealized model to explain the concept.
The third model is what brought me to the paper, and that's one about riparian species and their role in allowing in-channel alluvial benches to become established. It's still all about reedy vegetation slowing down flows for the accretion of sediment, so it just gives me something to look for when I'm in the field.
I was surprised by some of the descriptions of how vegetation can be established *after* a flood event, by portions of vegetation ranging from propagules to entire limbs that can root on landforms. I hadn't thought about sections of living vegetation being able to root itself prior to be ripped off during an event, so that was a new one on me. These folks are biogeomorphologists so I bow to their expertise but I'd still like to see that process in action. Not to believe it, but I guess just to verify my understanding of how that would work.
Oh, and *tons* of sources to back track for more papers to read. I never really understood why teachers make students try to satisfy a certain criterion for citations; whatever it takes to properly cite is what it takes to finish the paper, not a firm "no less, no more" than eight. If that means 10, fine. If that means 120, fine. Whatever it takes.
Pretty good paper overall, with lots of useful info. Just needs a good revision. 80 out of 100, with the majority of the points being dinged because of bad writing.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Book Review; Tunnel in the Sky
I'll admit to being something of a Heinlein fan, but I'm not an apologist. I've read some of his stuff that just plain wasn't good, or seemed a little bonkers. His latter works as he started slipping come to mind.
Tunnel in the Sky, thankfully, is not one of those. If you can get past some of the 50's style "Jee Whilicers" dialogue, it's got a good plot with solid characterization. It's vintage Heinlein, a good adventure romp with plenty of self-sufficient philosophy thrown in. It's a page turner, but damned it's short. I got through it in a couple days worth of spare time.
I suspect that if the book was ever made into a movie, the same troupe of racists would trot out their arguments on why the talent scouts stubbed their toe, just like with the character "Rue" in the Hunger Games movie. The main character, "Rod", is indeed black. If the reader can't suss that out of the book, they need to burn their high school diploma and give their state a refund on their public education, because obviously it didn't take.
Anywho.
My edition is on the Kindle, so as expected there were relatively few grammatical and spelling errors. There were some, but not many folks are going to jump on a half-century old book with both feet and complain about it. At least, not too much.
One of my favorite things about reading Heinlein is that he expects his readers to be well read. It had been about a decade since I read through Kipling's verse, but I had to trot out a copy to get a reference about "The Truce of the Bear". After a refresher, the comment made perfect sense. At some point I'll get a full copy of the Five Nations and review it, but for now Google worked fine.
My one real gripe with the book is that I don't think that the side characters were very well fleshed out. There were five or six characters that I knew intimately by the end of the book, but there were literally dozens of toss-away characters, that I knew were toss-away characters but expected a little bit more than a window treatment from Heinlein. Didn't get it, no joy. Boo, hiss. Heinlein knew better, of course, but I suspect that his real focus was on the ordeals of nation building. I can't blame him for that, but I still blame him for losing track of characters.
I really liked Tunnel in the Sky, but of course nothing is perfect. Since liked this one just a touch less than "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", so in keeping with that this book rates an 88 out of 100 on my reviewing scale. Not bad, not bad at all.
Tunnel in the Sky, thankfully, is not one of those. If you can get past some of the 50's style "Jee Whilicers" dialogue, it's got a good plot with solid characterization. It's vintage Heinlein, a good adventure romp with plenty of self-sufficient philosophy thrown in. It's a page turner, but damned it's short. I got through it in a couple days worth of spare time.
I suspect that if the book was ever made into a movie, the same troupe of racists would trot out their arguments on why the talent scouts stubbed their toe, just like with the character "Rue" in the Hunger Games movie. The main character, "Rod", is indeed black. If the reader can't suss that out of the book, they need to burn their high school diploma and give their state a refund on their public education, because obviously it didn't take.
Anywho.
My edition is on the Kindle, so as expected there were relatively few grammatical and spelling errors. There were some, but not many folks are going to jump on a half-century old book with both feet and complain about it. At least, not too much.
One of my favorite things about reading Heinlein is that he expects his readers to be well read. It had been about a decade since I read through Kipling's verse, but I had to trot out a copy to get a reference about "The Truce of the Bear". After a refresher, the comment made perfect sense. At some point I'll get a full copy of the Five Nations and review it, but for now Google worked fine.
My one real gripe with the book is that I don't think that the side characters were very well fleshed out. There were five or six characters that I knew intimately by the end of the book, but there were literally dozens of toss-away characters, that I knew were toss-away characters but expected a little bit more than a window treatment from Heinlein. Didn't get it, no joy. Boo, hiss. Heinlein knew better, of course, but I suspect that his real focus was on the ordeals of nation building. I can't blame him for that, but I still blame him for losing track of characters.
I really liked Tunnel in the Sky, but of course nothing is perfect. Since liked this one just a touch less than "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress", so in keeping with that this book rates an 88 out of 100 on my reviewing scale. Not bad, not bad at all.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Watching it Burn
Oakland is having a bit of a forehead smacking, "why the hell didn't I see this coming" moment. Notice how that article is suspiciously short in info on how the police force got that low? You see, two years ago the city council decided that the best way to trim the budget was to cut 80 officers off of the force, which was a little more than 10% of the standing force. Then the police announced that they wouldn't respond to burglary calls anymore.
Now, they are reaping what they have sown. Folks, California is a study in how not to manage a government, or how to help the people. Let's have some of the strictest gun laws in the United States, gut the police force, and then tell the honest citizens not to defend themselves. Let's also tax the hell out of the people, and then run the government into debt to the tune of at least $165 Billion, and perhaps as much as $335 billion for giggles. When Kipling wrote "The Islanders", he was writing about Britain, but he might as well have been talking the folk in California.
Thankfully, due to the grace of all-powerful Atheismo, I wasn't born in California. If I woke up tomorrow in California, and was informed that I now live there, I'd promptly pack my shit and leave. This is right after salting and burning the land I had slept on.
Kinda like this, except with 100% more intent.
--------------------------------------
Business Insider says that the new NDAA makes indefinite detention of U.S. citizens without due process easier. I'm not really surprised.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
Damn Caffeine
You would think that I would learn. I mean, I think I'm a pretty quick guy. Still, when there are soft drinks in the house I just go to town and drink them right up, knowing that they mess with my stomach too much.
I haven't had any soda since this morning, and it's still bothering me. Ugh. Now I remember why I stopped drinking them in the first place.
Tuesday, December 11, 2012
Steak!
Tonight's meal brought to me by my better half's parents, who randomly play noble benefactor to our starving college student. Damn near a pound of Angus steak each. Mmmmm.
Be very jealous.
That'd make a hell of a Campfire...
Those are people, and the limb the yellow jacket is hanging from is the size of a normal tree.
I kid, I kid. Seriously, check out that mamajama. It's huge! It's a Giant Sequoia, a species of Redwood. That's just incredible!
Read the article, get some Science in your life. Actually, read "Wild Trees", by Richard Preston. It's about Steve Sillet (in part), who's in this picture. Cool stuff.
Book Review: The Hunger Games Trilogy
This is basically cheating, I know, since it's three books that I'm reviewing and not one. I'm lumping them together because I read all three in the span of "reading time" I would normally allot to a single book. This is the peril of reading fiction that's way below your reading level; fast read times. And make no mistake, , despite the insight into politics that a teenager would not possess, and despite the perspective and world view in the book that a teenager (in the U.S.) couldn't possibly identify with.. this is a book written for teenage girls.
There, I said it. I read a book for teenage girls. Are you happy, internet?
The Hunger Games Trilogy, by Suzanne Collins, using the technical definition, was well written. If there were mistakes in grammar and spelling, they didn't jump out at me like a naked hobo with a clown mask on.
That's a good thing.
I ultimately reached a bad verdict of the series overall, because the third book in the trilogy made no sense. Don't get me wrong; the plot was understandable (and predictably linear), the characters easy to grasp, and the action well paced. But the characterization towards the end of the work was just atrocious. The characters do and say things that are completely out of character and run contrary to previous remarks, actions, and the moral of the story. Why? I don't want to hand out a ton of spoilers here, but let me just say that the end of the third book is like a Seinfield episode. No one learned anything, and there was no development for the characters. It's sad, and a waste of effort.
My better half lobs the argument that Katniss, the main character, has been run through the wringer and its reasonable to portray her as rather broken. I disagree, simply because this is a book about a heroine, that young girls might aspire to be like. If I ever have a daughter, I want her to learn that sometimes life can be needlessly cruel and unfair, that those with authority are not to be trusted, and that sometimes you have to get your shit together under terrible circumstances because other people depend on you. I don't want her to think that getting doped out of your mind, avoiding your issues, and taking more than a year to vacillate between two men is an acceptable method for dealing with things. Collins stubbed her toe on the heroics, except for Peeta (and to a lesser extent, Gale), who handle her silliness fairly well and are excellent male role models.
There's also some rather heavy-handed metaphors, which is frankly rather dull. I like to take a few minutes to think about events, what they mean. I don't need or want a literary ogre clubbing me over the noggin. Look, the main character's scarred appearance now matches the emotional/internal scars! We can dress her so she looks the same, but underneath she's still the same! I GET IT.
Jeez. Next time just send me the Cliff's Notes version, it's probably got the same level of subtlety.
Here's the break down. Book 1, the Hunger Games, gets a respectable 70. Book 2, which is almost as good, gets an almost as respectable 68. Book 3 gets an abysmal 40. I've read worse, so this doesn't come close to making my shit-list for horrible fiction, but I think it whisked through the door just in time (and perhaps, like Bilbo, lost a few buttons in the process). Average them out: 59%.
Try harder next time, Suzanne Collins. Try harder.
Friday, November 30, 2012
Incoming; Paper Reviews
Do you know what the difference between talent and skill is? Talent is raw ability, unmodified by external forces. It's your natural capability to do a task. Lots of folk skate through life on talent alone. I've been, and somewhat still am, guilty of that too.
Skill, though, is different. Skill is the time spent hammering away at your craft, countless hours of grinding away at obtaining the mastery required to talk with the people at the upper echelons in your field without feeling like an idiot. The Imposter Syndrome, which I might have talked about previously, is a symptom of being aware that you are approaching the limits of how far talent alone can take you. The people that get though life on skill are the ones that are willing to chain themselves to the treadmill and die, if necessary, in order to improve.
I've been internalizing something over the past few weeks, which is that while I am good enough, what I know is insufficient to the task. So I'm going to work harder at it. I'm going to find some papers and chapters that are good and talk about them here. I'm going to gear back up and get in there and swing again. I really doubt I'll get many hits through google this way, but that's alright. Maybe one of these days my peers will frequent this site, and they'll see there's more to me than just reading a few books and being pissed at politicians (and who isn't?).
Skill, though, is different. Skill is the time spent hammering away at your craft, countless hours of grinding away at obtaining the mastery required to talk with the people at the upper echelons in your field without feeling like an idiot. The Imposter Syndrome, which I might have talked about previously, is a symptom of being aware that you are approaching the limits of how far talent alone can take you. The people that get though life on skill are the ones that are willing to chain themselves to the treadmill and die, if necessary, in order to improve.
I've been internalizing something over the past few weeks, which is that while I am good enough, what I know is insufficient to the task. So I'm going to work harder at it. I'm going to find some papers and chapters that are good and talk about them here. I'm going to gear back up and get in there and swing again. I really doubt I'll get many hits through google this way, but that's alright. Maybe one of these days my peers will frequent this site, and they'll see there's more to me than just reading a few books and being pissed at politicians (and who isn't?).
Book Review: Zoro's Field (Slightly Incoherent Edition)
Hey look, it's Chris Christopherson Thomas Rain Crowe!
Thus ended my reading Zoro's Field, which I allowed to lay fallow in my Kindle for approximately three and a half weeks before devouring it in a single sitting last night. Thomas Rain Crowe is a pretty good writer, despite the sheer awkward awfulness of his beatnik style poetry at the end of each chapter. Take Walden, mix in a third of "Woo Woo" by volume, and you get Zoro's Field. I think I'd like Crowe if I met him in real life, but I think I'd have to keep eye-rolling to a minimum when he starts talking about being neighbors with deer and being in communion with Mother Nature.
Or perhaps I'm just being cranky because of only getting three hours sleep.
At any rate; this is in fact the second time I've read the book. I once had a paperback copy that I passed on to a friend and fellow warrior in the good fight for self-sufficiency. I missed having a copy of my own, though, and since we're all kinds of new-fangled up in here I ordered a replacement in kindle format last year. I actually requested it to be put in Kindle well before then, so I was pleased to see the publisher release it on Amazon (Thanks UG-Press!).
I'm giving Zoro's Field a solid 90 out of 100 on my scale. There's some parts I gloss over because he delves too much in the Beatnik stuff for my taste, but the book overall is another one of those "living deliberately" experiences that I'm so covetous of. Perhaps one of these days I'll get my own cabin in the woods to live simply, albeit in short bursts, to watch nature parade by in.
Tuesday, November 27, 2012
Log Cabins and Zombies?
Since I'm on my break at work, I'd best make this pretty quick:
I spent most of my lunch reading this article on how to make a log cabin on the cheap. That's so awesome I can't stand it! Really want my own little cabin some day. My better half wants a bigger place than what we have, but I'd be pretty happy with something just like this.
One of these days I'm going to build one and just call it an office.
---------------------------
My better half and I often have.. synchronized bladders, so I'm used to rushing out of the bathroom and/or waiting (mostly rushing out). Today, though, at the office it's more like everyone's got the same idea. I've been by five bathrooms in 40 minutes and they've been busy every time, which is novel around here. What gives?
Hope it's not some bug going around; there's a lot of coughing in the office.
(Jesus, this sounds like the plot of a bad zombie movie or something)
I spent most of my lunch reading this article on how to make a log cabin on the cheap. That's so awesome I can't stand it! Really want my own little cabin some day. My better half wants a bigger place than what we have, but I'd be pretty happy with something just like this.
One of these days I'm going to build one and just call it an office.
---------------------------
My better half and I often have.. synchronized bladders, so I'm used to rushing out of the bathroom and/or waiting (mostly rushing out). Today, though, at the office it's more like everyone's got the same idea. I've been by five bathrooms in 40 minutes and they've been busy every time, which is novel around here. What gives?
Hope it's not some bug going around; there's a lot of coughing in the office.
(Jesus, this sounds like the plot of a bad zombie movie or something)
Monday, November 26, 2012
C'mon Colorado. Get Serious.
UC Boulder has established separate living quarters for those who wish to utilize their second amendment rights. So far, there's been no takers. I sure as hell wouldn't move into one. Then again, I just wouldn't live in a dorm so that problems been nipped already.
There's two things that I see wrong in this article. First, it's idiocy to segregate the students that want to have the ability to defend themselves. Ignoring the argument that armed students help keep the unarmed students safe (which is huge), the idea that it's a valid policy to segregate students for practicing their constitutionally protected rights is absurd.
Oh, you want to vote? Move down the street, we'll need to see five forms of ID first. You want freedom of speech? Better move into the Thomas Paine dorm down the road, just don't talk in the public areas.
Universities used to be bastions of freedom, with students fighting the hardest of all for their rights not to be trampled on. Nowadays, students can't protest, can't have unplanned speechs, can't defend themselves, are exposed to unlawful search and seizure by campus authorities, and get ostracized for their political views constantly. What's happening at UC Boulder is hardly a local issue.. such abuse of civil rights is systemic across the board at Universities around the nation. And it's a damned shame.
There's two things that I see wrong in this article. First, it's idiocy to segregate the students that want to have the ability to defend themselves. Ignoring the argument that armed students help keep the unarmed students safe (which is huge), the idea that it's a valid policy to segregate students for practicing their constitutionally protected rights is absurd.
Oh, you want to vote? Move down the street, we'll need to see five forms of ID first. You want freedom of speech? Better move into the Thomas Paine dorm down the road, just don't talk in the public areas.
Universities used to be bastions of freedom, with students fighting the hardest of all for their rights not to be trampled on. Nowadays, students can't protest, can't have unplanned speechs, can't defend themselves, are exposed to unlawful search and seizure by campus authorities, and get ostracized for their political views constantly. What's happening at UC Boulder is hardly a local issue.. such abuse of civil rights is systemic across the board at Universities around the nation. And it's a damned shame.
Bonus; Don't Trust Politicians, Either.
The good people up at I-O9 have had a list (for quite a while, actually), of the top 12 moments of pure scientific idiocy committed by standing members of our governmental representation. Please read through these, watch the videos, and remember their names come the next election.
To Serve 10 Year Old Boys Police Brutality
Jesus, just when I thought that the 5.0 couldn't look any worse, some jerk in Santa Fe goes and pulls this crap. For those not keeping score by reading the news article, the offending cop is Officer Chris Webb, hereby dubbed Officer Jerk-Face by me for the remainder of this article.
I can think of folks that might need a good tasering now and then. Folk that actually, you know, break the law. Shoot one of those punks with a taser and let them be on the 50,000 volt roller coaster for 30 seconds, I'm okay with that. But you know what, Officer Jerk-Face? I'm sure that little boy learned a real lesson about police authori-tah.
I'm still having difficulty wrapping my head around how police in general seem to think about under what circumstances is the deployment of force necessary. Little girls sleeping in a bedroom? Chuck in a flashbang. Little boy won't clean the cruiser? Taze'em. The annals of recent history are filled with honest, normal people who weren't doing anything at all and get clubbed by the bluntest instruments of the police force. There's no doubt in my mind that the vast number of cops are decent folk who are simply trying to enforce the laws given the system we live under.. Don't they have a vested interest in weeding out folk like Officer Jerk-Face and his ilk? Just so that the rest of the people/sheep out there trust the police more?
Don't get it twisted, though. I'm all about folk questioning authority and not trusting those in charge, so I'm not dissatisfied that this boy, as an adult, will absolutely not trust the police. Still, I could have managed a similar effect with a 10 minute slideshow; voltage high enough to stop hearts is not necessary to convince people.
Look, there's two options on how I see this playing out in my idealized world composed primarily of common sense and hard work; Officer Jerk-Face thought that the tazer wouldn't seriously injure the kid and discharged it to be "funny". In this case, Officer Jerk-Face should get canned because he's grossly incompetent and can't be trusted to hold a tazer, much less a standard issue side-arm (!). Option 2 is that Officer Jerk-Face is a sadist who gets his jollies by tazing ten year old boys, in which case he should get canned because you shouldn't employ sadists to protect people. In either case, he should get canned.
Real World Version/Prediction: Officer Jerk-Face will get put on paid, administrative leave while there is an internal investigation. During this he'll get slapped on the wrist and scolded, and he'll re-enter the police force quietly in another city a year from now. Because that's how our system currently works.
I can think of folks that might need a good tasering now and then. Folk that actually, you know, break the law. Shoot one of those punks with a taser and let them be on the 50,000 volt roller coaster for 30 seconds, I'm okay with that. But you know what, Officer Jerk-Face? I'm sure that little boy learned a real lesson about police authori-tah.
I know cops hate this parody, which is why it's necessary. Don't want to see it? Weed out dumbasses like Officer Jerk-Face.
I'm still having difficulty wrapping my head around how police in general seem to think about under what circumstances is the deployment of force necessary. Little girls sleeping in a bedroom? Chuck in a flashbang. Little boy won't clean the cruiser? Taze'em. The annals of recent history are filled with honest, normal people who weren't doing anything at all and get clubbed by the bluntest instruments of the police force. There's no doubt in my mind that the vast number of cops are decent folk who are simply trying to enforce the laws given the system we live under.. Don't they have a vested interest in weeding out folk like Officer Jerk-Face and his ilk? Just so that the rest of the people/sheep out there trust the police more?
Don't get it twisted, though. I'm all about folk questioning authority and not trusting those in charge, so I'm not dissatisfied that this boy, as an adult, will absolutely not trust the police. Still, I could have managed a similar effect with a 10 minute slideshow; voltage high enough to stop hearts is not necessary to convince people.
Look, there's two options on how I see this playing out in my idealized world composed primarily of common sense and hard work; Officer Jerk-Face thought that the tazer wouldn't seriously injure the kid and discharged it to be "funny". In this case, Officer Jerk-Face should get canned because he's grossly incompetent and can't be trusted to hold a tazer, much less a standard issue side-arm (!). Option 2 is that Officer Jerk-Face is a sadist who gets his jollies by tazing ten year old boys, in which case he should get canned because you shouldn't employ sadists to protect people. In either case, he should get canned.
Real World Version/Prediction: Officer Jerk-Face will get put on paid, administrative leave while there is an internal investigation. During this he'll get slapped on the wrist and scolded, and he'll re-enter the police force quietly in another city a year from now. Because that's how our system currently works.
Monday, November 12, 2012
Survival Knife Considerations; Multi-tools
In the second part of this series on survival knives, let's pivot and consider the benefits of carrying a multi-tool in addition to a standard EDC folding knife. Multi-tools are exactly what they sound like; compact tools that increase the capabilities of the user disproportionate to the volume that they displace and by how much weight they encumber the user.
Said simpler, a multi-tool should punch way out of its weight. Not all tools packed into a multi-tool are equal; Saws, Scissors, Screw Drivers, and Pliers tend to be the most useful of the bunch. Things like files and leather-punches can be useful, but generally they just take up space. In my book, corkscrews, package carrying hooks, and fish scalers are pretty stupid. Heaven help you if your multi-tool has a lemon zester on it, because you'll need more help than a multi-tool can give you. I once heard tale of a fella bringing a corkscrew with him into the woods. I think the bears laughed him out, or ate him.
Bear in mind what MTs actually are, though; compromises. You're compromising on strength, and ultimately on performance. Why? Because a special, single purpose tool will inevitably do whatever job better than a MT, period. That little saw is no match for a bow saw, that little can opener will be slower than a kitchen can opener etc. Just bear that in mind when judging performance in your head.
There are some aspects towards multi-tool selection that are universal; consider weight, construction, steel type in the blade and tools, tools included, and locking mechanisms in your considerations. There are two basic types of multi-tool here, the Swiss Army Knife (SAK) type, and the Leatherman (LM) type. Each has it's own pros and cons.
The SAK type of multi-tool was around first and is perhaps the best known by the general public. Boy Scouts have been carrying a version of this practically since their inception. The Pros of the SAK type are low weight, low(ish) cost, and slim profile. The SAK pictured above weighs less than 3 ounces, costs about $40, and takes up very little space in the pocket. BUT, it punches way out of its weight by packing a useful saw length, multiple screwdrivers, a leather awl, tweezers, and several knives into a tight package. If I could find one built similarly, with Scissors but without a corkscrew, that would be awesome. The cons on a SAK type are similarly straight forward; *generally* no pliers, weaker construction, and generally they take two hands to access the tools. They are also prone to getting grit and dirt in the tension springs, which doesn't hamper things all that much but does make for annoying operation. The steel in a SAK is generally going to be 440A, which is not exactly great. SAKs are also a touch old school, which may be why they've got a special place with me. I carry the one pictured above, along with my SOG Aegis Mini, as my EDC.
Leatherman type MTs are the current king of the hill. The mere inclusion of a good set of pliers pretty much establishes that. Note that there are only really two manufacturers of SAK type knives (Victorinox and Wenger), while there are tons of Leatherman-type manufacturers out there (Leatherman, Gerber, SOG, Buck etc.). Hell, even Victorinox has made their own version. The S2 pictured above is a damned good example of a mid-sized Leatherman type MT. It has all the basics you want, no frilly stuff. The problem with this model is that it's also two-handed open (mostly). You *can* open the blade one-handed, but that's an experiment that deserves a handy supply of band-aids. The larger type MT's generally have options for one-handed opening tools (or at least on the important ones), so those are more desirable for inclusion in survival kits and for general woods use. When selecting a Leatherman type MT, consider how you want to carry it; these things can be bulky and heavy. Do you want it to sit in a pocket, or clip on the outside? Are you okay carrying it in a holster on your belt? Will it sit in a purse or in your car's glove box? Think about how weight and size affect those things.
One last note on MT's in general; don't go for the top-end, bells and whistles edition. Generally you are getting more stuff, but are they necessary? Think about the tools you have use for, and go from there.
Said simpler, a multi-tool should punch way out of its weight. Not all tools packed into a multi-tool are equal; Saws, Scissors, Screw Drivers, and Pliers tend to be the most useful of the bunch. Things like files and leather-punches can be useful, but generally they just take up space. In my book, corkscrews, package carrying hooks, and fish scalers are pretty stupid. Heaven help you if your multi-tool has a lemon zester on it, because you'll need more help than a multi-tool can give you. I once heard tale of a fella bringing a corkscrew with him into the woods. I think the bears laughed him out, or ate him.
Bear in mind what MTs actually are, though; compromises. You're compromising on strength, and ultimately on performance. Why? Because a special, single purpose tool will inevitably do whatever job better than a MT, period. That little saw is no match for a bow saw, that little can opener will be slower than a kitchen can opener etc. Just bear that in mind when judging performance in your head.
There are some aspects towards multi-tool selection that are universal; consider weight, construction, steel type in the blade and tools, tools included, and locking mechanisms in your considerations. There are two basic types of multi-tool here, the Swiss Army Knife (SAK) type, and the Leatherman (LM) type. Each has it's own pros and cons.
Swiss Army Hiker; My Personal Favorite in SAK type multi-tools.
The SAK type of multi-tool was around first and is perhaps the best known by the general public. Boy Scouts have been carrying a version of this practically since their inception. The Pros of the SAK type are low weight, low(ish) cost, and slim profile. The SAK pictured above weighs less than 3 ounces, costs about $40, and takes up very little space in the pocket. BUT, it punches way out of its weight by packing a useful saw length, multiple screwdrivers, a leather awl, tweezers, and several knives into a tight package. If I could find one built similarly, with Scissors but without a corkscrew, that would be awesome. The cons on a SAK type are similarly straight forward; *generally* no pliers, weaker construction, and generally they take two hands to access the tools. They are also prone to getting grit and dirt in the tension springs, which doesn't hamper things all that much but does make for annoying operation. The steel in a SAK is generally going to be 440A, which is not exactly great. SAKs are also a touch old school, which may be why they've got a special place with me. I carry the one pictured above, along with my SOG Aegis Mini, as my EDC.
Leatherman Juice S2; the medium multi-tool champ!
Leatherman type MTs are the current king of the hill. The mere inclusion of a good set of pliers pretty much establishes that. Note that there are only really two manufacturers of SAK type knives (Victorinox and Wenger), while there are tons of Leatherman-type manufacturers out there (Leatherman, Gerber, SOG, Buck etc.). Hell, even Victorinox has made their own version. The S2 pictured above is a damned good example of a mid-sized Leatherman type MT. It has all the basics you want, no frilly stuff. The problem with this model is that it's also two-handed open (mostly). You *can* open the blade one-handed, but that's an experiment that deserves a handy supply of band-aids. The larger type MT's generally have options for one-handed opening tools (or at least on the important ones), so those are more desirable for inclusion in survival kits and for general woods use. When selecting a Leatherman type MT, consider how you want to carry it; these things can be bulky and heavy. Do you want it to sit in a pocket, or clip on the outside? Are you okay carrying it in a holster on your belt? Will it sit in a purse or in your car's glove box? Think about how weight and size affect those things.
One last note on MT's in general; don't go for the top-end, bells and whistles edition. Generally you are getting more stuff, but are they necessary? Think about the tools you have use for, and go from there.
Thursday, November 1, 2012
Book Review; Cryptonomicon
After only a month of sporadic reading, I've finally vanquished the beast! Jeez, what a long book. In paperback format, just north of a thousand pages in small print, filled to the brim with convoluted conspiracies and plots stretching across 50 some odd years. And when there wasn't action to be had, at least some high powered math could be discussed.
No, I'm not kidding.
I found that the chapters that centered on the Marine went by fast, and were easy to understand and fun to read. The chapters focused on the modern time cryptographer went by the second fastest, but could focus on corporate politics and other such intricacies and be a little slower to understand. The slowest chapters focused on the cryptographer in WWII, where tons of high math and statistics are thrown out, making it harder to read and completely understand. Several times I had to look up some math stuff just to sort it out in my own head before I kept trudging on. There were sections written in the perspective of a Japanese soldier, which I devoured simply because it was a novel perspective which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Despite my grumblings here, I liked that the narration changed not only in style, but also in vocabulary, and humor between the three main characters. That really made it feel like you were in those character's heads instead of an omniscient third party ghostly following them around. The Marine's sections were the parts that I found to be the funniest, which makes sense given my own personal sense of humor. The other parts were not devoid of humor, just that they had different perspectives on what exactly was funny.
This is not to say that Cryptonomicon is an expressly funny book. It's not written to tell jokes, but rather a very complex story. It does this well, I just wish Neal Stephenson could have laid off the math a little bit. It works, but it does kind of slow things down.
On my scale, Cryptonomicon is perhaps a 78 out of 100. It's a really good read, but perhaps I should have brushed up on my math skills before picking it up. I think one day I'll read again, after I've done so.
No, I'm not kidding.
I found that the chapters that centered on the Marine went by fast, and were easy to understand and fun to read. The chapters focused on the modern time cryptographer went by the second fastest, but could focus on corporate politics and other such intricacies and be a little slower to understand. The slowest chapters focused on the cryptographer in WWII, where tons of high math and statistics are thrown out, making it harder to read and completely understand. Several times I had to look up some math stuff just to sort it out in my own head before I kept trudging on. There were sections written in the perspective of a Japanese soldier, which I devoured simply because it was a novel perspective which I thoroughly enjoyed.
Despite my grumblings here, I liked that the narration changed not only in style, but also in vocabulary, and humor between the three main characters. That really made it feel like you were in those character's heads instead of an omniscient third party ghostly following them around. The Marine's sections were the parts that I found to be the funniest, which makes sense given my own personal sense of humor. The other parts were not devoid of humor, just that they had different perspectives on what exactly was funny.
This is not to say that Cryptonomicon is an expressly funny book. It's not written to tell jokes, but rather a very complex story. It does this well, I just wish Neal Stephenson could have laid off the math a little bit. It works, but it does kind of slow things down.
On my scale, Cryptonomicon is perhaps a 78 out of 100. It's a really good read, but perhaps I should have brushed up on my math skills before picking it up. I think one day I'll read again, after I've done so.
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
.22 LR for SD?
Sure, it looks cool. But is it up to the task?
I'm not even going to lie, just like the author of this post discusses, I too have carried a little .22LR for self defense purposes back in the time period in which I had no real other choice for personal defense. I've since moved on to greener pastures and larger calibers, but I still have my little Walther P22 and enjoy shooting it just as much as the big boys.
But would I bet my life on it? Well... no. The truth is that unless you're using pretty high quality .22LR ammo, you can't expect 99.9999% reliability with a semi-auto .22LR pistol. Too much variance in the pressure to assure consistent slide action, and rim-fire ammo isn't any where near as reliable as center fire ammo. I'm not a gun guru, so I've only fired a couple thousand rounds of .45ACP and 9mm, but I've only hit one bad round out of all of those, and that one was an obvious error that the manufacturer made right by me. With .22LR, I probably hit two or three bad primers in a bulk box of 550 rounds. That's not what I would call awe-inspiring reliability.
Still; the gun you have is better than no gun, and I certainly can't argue against carrying one if it's all you have. But for pete's sake, move up the power scale! Even a .25ACP, though still tiny, is still more reliable.
Hurricane Sandy
I think it's pretty safe to assume at this point that there's been something of a failure to plan for the eventual landfall of a category 1 hurricane in New York for decades upon decades now. There's been data out there that suggests that such a landfall is somewhat rare on the human scale, about a 100 year event really, but is still frequent enough to need to be on the planning horizon for permanent settlements.
Hell, the dang Europeans build their dams to hold 10,000 year events at bay. Why do our city planners not take into account events that have a relatively low recurrence interval? Some of it has to do with budget priorities and shortfalls, I'm sure. Still, it's hard to discount good old fashioned ignorance and shortsightedness.
This article up on Popular Science does a pretty good job explaining a few odds and ends. The article itself is decidedly more optimistic about the proposed engineering projects than I would be, given how long it took just to get Ground Zero rebuilt into a memorial.
Hell, the dang Europeans build their dams to hold 10,000 year events at bay. Why do our city planners not take into account events that have a relatively low recurrence interval? Some of it has to do with budget priorities and shortfalls, I'm sure. Still, it's hard to discount good old fashioned ignorance and shortsightedness.
This article up on Popular Science does a pretty good job explaining a few odds and ends. The article itself is decidedly more optimistic about the proposed engineering projects than I would be, given how long it took just to get Ground Zero rebuilt into a memorial.
Survival Knife Considerations; Folding Knife
Before we get too far into this, let's start out by saying that this is, in a lot of ways, pretty much a theoretical exercise. This is because trying to pin down the perfect survival knife is damned near impossible because situations and the materials required change widely based on a variety of factors that probably are not subject to control on your (my dear readers) part. A machete works great in the jungle, but doesn't work so well for making breakfast with, etc.
So, let's talk about a selection of sharps. What you need is a bevy of tools with which to pick and choose from, your decision being based on the type of work you are expecting to run in to, the types of materials you expect to work with, and even the geography/climate of the area you may find yourself in. I think there are three general types of knives that need consideration for survival use; the pocket (folding) knife, the multi-tool, and the sheath knife. Today, we're going to talk about folding knives.
First, a note on steel choice.. Anything at or above 440C will suit most folks just fine, but buyer beware of 420 or anything simply labeled "stainless steel". Most likely the steel's performance in edge retention, rust resistance, and ease of sharpening will be somewhat underwhelming. On the extreme edge of poor performance, softer steels will bend and distort easily, while more brittle steels will break. Nothing quite like catching a shard of steel in your eyeball. (By the way, don't use your knife to pry something, dumbass. That's what screwdrivers or multi-tools are for.) I don't really have a preference here, I've used 440C, 1095, 154cm, and AUS-8, all with great success.
A good quality folding knife is an essential in my day to day life. I use mine all the time, for opening packages and mail, preparing food, making throw away tools and utensils, and for simply pointing out things that I don't want to block with my finger. A folding knife is also a line of defense against a would-be assailant, so your knife should reflect that potential duty as well. Try to keep the weight of your folding knife under 5 ounces, look for at least 2.5 inches in blade length, and non-slick gripping surface. Some folk don't like liner locks on knives for the potential of closing the blade on the finger, which I argue to be a training issue, but look into it some and make up your own mind. If you fall in the former camp, lock-back type knives are still around and have slightly better lock strength. Just expect to pay more. I carry a SOG Mini Aegis as my EDC folding knife, and I'd bet my life with it for self defense or survival in a heart-beat.
So, why this particular knife out of all the potential knives out there? The answer is actual the sum total of characteristics that the knife possesses. Weight's a partial consideration; 2 oz is svelte by most folks' rubrics. The rubberized grip, solid jimping, and tip-up carry are really good points in there as well, as it's a pretty effective self defense knife. The blade length is a little short at 3 inches for that sort of work, but is otherwise a handy size for the tasks I've discussed. The blade profile, or trigonometry, is full flat grind, which makes sharpening and such easy. It has a pretty decent belly on the edge, which makes it a good slicer. The tip is decent, but not wicked, so for fine work it does alright. Finally, the steel in the blade is AUS-8. Not the top of the line in steel, perhaps, but it holds an edge well and does a good job resisting rust.
Bear in mind that my selection of this knife is personal, and based on priorities that I assigned for myself that may drastically alter your own selection. Perhaps having a clip point on the blade shape is more important, or you really prefer damascus steel over the more mundane steels, or you really want a big blade. Just go through the process of figuring out what points are most important to you in a folding knife, bearing in mind the tasks that you'll throw it up against, and you should come out with a reliable and trustworthy tool that will suit you well.
Me, I'm sticking with the Aegis.
So, let's talk about a selection of sharps. What you need is a bevy of tools with which to pick and choose from, your decision being based on the type of work you are expecting to run in to, the types of materials you expect to work with, and even the geography/climate of the area you may find yourself in. I think there are three general types of knives that need consideration for survival use; the pocket (folding) knife, the multi-tool, and the sheath knife. Today, we're going to talk about folding knives.
First, a note on steel choice.. Anything at or above 440C will suit most folks just fine, but buyer beware of 420 or anything simply labeled "stainless steel". Most likely the steel's performance in edge retention, rust resistance, and ease of sharpening will be somewhat underwhelming. On the extreme edge of poor performance, softer steels will bend and distort easily, while more brittle steels will break. Nothing quite like catching a shard of steel in your eyeball. (By the way, don't use your knife to pry something, dumbass. That's what screwdrivers or multi-tools are for.) I don't really have a preference here, I've used 440C, 1095, 154cm, and AUS-8, all with great success.
A good quality folding knife is an essential in my day to day life. I use mine all the time, for opening packages and mail, preparing food, making throw away tools and utensils, and for simply pointing out things that I don't want to block with my finger. A folding knife is also a line of defense against a would-be assailant, so your knife should reflect that potential duty as well. Try to keep the weight of your folding knife under 5 ounces, look for at least 2.5 inches in blade length, and non-slick gripping surface. Some folk don't like liner locks on knives for the potential of closing the blade on the finger, which I argue to be a training issue, but look into it some and make up your own mind. If you fall in the former camp, lock-back type knives are still around and have slightly better lock strength. Just expect to pay more. I carry a SOG Mini Aegis as my EDC folding knife, and I'd bet my life with it for self defense or survival in a heart-beat.
The champ!
So, why this particular knife out of all the potential knives out there? The answer is actual the sum total of characteristics that the knife possesses. Weight's a partial consideration; 2 oz is svelte by most folks' rubrics. The rubberized grip, solid jimping, and tip-up carry are really good points in there as well, as it's a pretty effective self defense knife. The blade length is a little short at 3 inches for that sort of work, but is otherwise a handy size for the tasks I've discussed. The blade profile, or trigonometry, is full flat grind, which makes sharpening and such easy. It has a pretty decent belly on the edge, which makes it a good slicer. The tip is decent, but not wicked, so for fine work it does alright. Finally, the steel in the blade is AUS-8. Not the top of the line in steel, perhaps, but it holds an edge well and does a good job resisting rust.
Bear in mind that my selection of this knife is personal, and based on priorities that I assigned for myself that may drastically alter your own selection. Perhaps having a clip point on the blade shape is more important, or you really prefer damascus steel over the more mundane steels, or you really want a big blade. Just go through the process of figuring out what points are most important to you in a folding knife, bearing in mind the tasks that you'll throw it up against, and you should come out with a reliable and trustworthy tool that will suit you well.
Me, I'm sticking with the Aegis.
Friday, October 26, 2012
So cool!
You can't see it, but I'm salivating like a happy tom cat.
God, this thing looks so damn cool! I can find all kinds of ways to justify something like this, but the best reason would be for the resupply of electrical power in the field. The real reason would be because it looks cool as hell and is an awesome premise!
I've been thinking about ways to resupply power in the field.. solar panels was the leading contender, but my main problem remains that I really don't like to carry things on my back unless they have at least two purposes. A solar panel is a single purpose item.. This thing is dual purpose. The BioLite camp stove handles that problem very well. Very cool.
Want.
An Ode to Smartphones
There might be some folks out there who don't have smart phones yet, and who fail to see any convincing argument as to why they should adapt to the new style of phones. Well, here's my list of reasons why they should, in a nutshell.
1.) Gadget consolidation. Consider the following: I think it's pretty typical for the average American to check email, make and receive phone calls, take pictures, listen to music, and to navigate from place to place with a GPS unit. If a person wanted to do any of those at any given time, they would need at least a netbook, a cell phone, a camera, an MP3 player, and a GPS unit in their car. Well, for much less than a third of the cost of buying all of those things, a person could buy a smartphone. It's just basic math. Plus, a smartphone is pretty convenient and easy to carry. I've lugged all of that stuff around at some point, so believe me when I say that a smartphone is much lighter.
2.) The Swiss army effect. Gadget consolidation covered this somewhat, but not completely. That is to say that a modern smartphone can do so much more than what I listed earlier. I can play games, watch videos, check the weather, set alarms, and manage my schedule all on my phone. Actually, I can do much more than that, but if I listed everything I'd be typing this for a while. Having a smartphone means having a lot of capabilities all at once.
3.) Economy. My big PC uses a lot of power, all to do some pretty basic stuff. I can do a lot of that on my smartphone. Web surfing, social media stuff, the likes of which don't require a huge screen, or massive amounts of power. Why turn on my PC when my phone will handle the same things, but much cheaper and more handily, and with damn near instant access? Let me put it another way; it probably costs something like half a cent to charge my phone over night, but something like four cents to run my PC for an hour. Might not sound like much, but I suspect that it adds up quick.
4.) Nerding out. Once upon a time, I programmed computers and designed web pages for my pocket change. I don't do that so much any more, so having a smartphone allows me to express some of my inner dork. I get to run custom roms, design my own interface, and make my phone run the way I want it to run. On that point alone I'd probably have a smartphone, just because I get to hack it a little. It's fun!
Oh, yeah, one more thing… I typed all of this on my phone. Not bad, eh? With a proper keyboard program, typing on a phone can be a much faster experience. Right now I'm using Keymonk, which is awesome!
Friday, October 19, 2012
Another Day...
Clearly, this MF is waaaay too dangerous to be on the street.
...Another story about police brutality. Then again, the poor guy lives in Britain, which is the place where the people practically begged their government to strip them of their rights and lock them up in a police state.
I could see how the cops could make that honest sort of mistake, though. Hell, I'd confuse a mid 20's man with a sword for a 60 some odd old man with a ruttin cane. Bonus points for tazing the man in the back though, that took guts.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
The Death knell of PC's? I don't think so.
Just got finished reading this particular article about the author prognosticating on the eventual demise of the PC in the consumer market. I don't doubt that's true, but I would argue with the time frame.
I'd say that the PC market is going to have about another 20 years with diminishing returns on sales year to year. I think that goes along with the basic points of the article. However, I think there will still be a use for PC's in the business market as full power applications require more than current gen tablets or smartphones can eek out. There will come a time when tablets are capable of replicating the sheer processing power of a PC, but without substantial tech upgrades in terms of inputs they just won't be as capable.
Don't get me wrong, I think that tablets and even smartphones will get there, it's only a matter of time. Still, there's a market for PC's until Tablets at least become as capable for power users as PC's.
I'd say that the PC market is going to have about another 20 years with diminishing returns on sales year to year. I think that goes along with the basic points of the article. However, I think there will still be a use for PC's in the business market as full power applications require more than current gen tablets or smartphones can eek out. There will come a time when tablets are capable of replicating the sheer processing power of a PC, but without substantial tech upgrades in terms of inputs they just won't be as capable.
Don't get me wrong, I think that tablets and even smartphones will get there, it's only a matter of time. Still, there's a market for PC's until Tablets at least become as capable for power users as PC's.
Tuesday, October 9, 2012
Que?
Just finished reading an article about Florida Attorney General Pam Bondi, who just publicly made an ass of herself by possessing a grasp of statistics or math on the high school level. The article does a bang-up job of eviscerating her position so I won't add salt in the wound here.
I will recommend that the good people of Florida boot her out in the next AG election, as it seems she's joined the ranks of politicians that are willing to toss out civil liberties in exchange for expedience of prosecution.
I will recommend that the good people of Florida boot her out in the next AG election, as it seems she's joined the ranks of politicians that are willing to toss out civil liberties in exchange for expedience of prosecution.
Crazy Canadians
Is it me, or are the anti's getting more and more paranoid? It only takes half a lick of sense to tell a plastic video game controller from two decades ago from, say, a 1911 or a Glock. I would think that folks possessing a college education would at least be able to perform simple critical analysis by comparing and contrasting features.
Then again, colleges are no longer the bastions of civil liberties that they once were. If it wasn't for the fact that at least you can make your own schedule, I'd say that the rights of students in the US are as curtailed as our prisoners. Then again, prisoners don't have to pay their jailers so that they have the dubious privilege to be so restricted.
Monday, October 8, 2012
Want
I don't think I've mentioned this before, but I so want one of these. The concept is really cool and I've always liked the idea of having things break down into much smaller spaces. Hell, I think my favorite toy when I was a kid was my boy scout mess kit, just because so much stuff condensed down to such a small space. Same reason for my fascination with multi-tools, actually.
At any rate.. The thing about this small office desk is that it operates with the tacit assumption that laptops will continue to be necessary for home computing into the future. I'm not so sure that's true, not with the way that smartphones have been continuously refined during the past five years. I suppose we shall see.
At any rate.. The thing about this small office desk is that it operates with the tacit assumption that laptops will continue to be necessary for home computing into the future. I'm not so sure that's true, not with the way that smartphones have been continuously refined during the past five years. I suppose we shall see.
Friday, October 5, 2012
Attention All Chestnuts; Commence Bombardment
They Call me the Memphis Belle, 'cause I drop BOMBS.
We have a Chestnut tree on the western side of the house that likes to bombard the house every year in Fall. It sounds kind of like having a pro golfer on the hill to the North of us, randomly and yet systematically hitting the roof with golf balls; with precision but at random intervals. It's a little freaky to be half awake and hear a loud thumping noise, like an overweight ninja landing on the roof. At some point I should take some weight measurements and estimate their terminal velocity and impact energy.. Might be dangerous to go walking under the damn thing under a breeze.
Legos are a joke compared to this disaster.
Probably what needs to happen is to have a trimming company come out and reduce it's coverage over the house. Until then I probably need to start raking the chestnuts out of the yard and away from unprotected tootsies.
Wednesday, October 3, 2012
On Elections
I've been reading more and more articles attempting to compare and contrast Barack Obama and Mitt Romney, and they all attempt to lead the reader to the conclusion that there are these huge differences between these two men that will shape the outcome of the election.
And of course, that's nonsense. The thing is that the differences between the two aren't polar opposites or diametrically opposed, but that they are merely degrees of separation on the same end of the scale. They are both for more government, less civil rights, more gun control, against gay rights, pro-war etc. etc.
I know, I know. Some folks will point at Barack Obama's statements as proof that he is none of those things, but I prefer to look at actions, and for both men the results are clear; in my opinion neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are fit to lead this country.
So, I'm going to vote for Gary Johnson, who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Why?
And of course, that's nonsense. The thing is that the differences between the two aren't polar opposites or diametrically opposed, but that they are merely degrees of separation on the same end of the scale. They are both for more government, less civil rights, more gun control, against gay rights, pro-war etc. etc.
I know, I know. Some folks will point at Barack Obama's statements as proof that he is none of those things, but I prefer to look at actions, and for both men the results are clear; in my opinion neither Barack Obama nor Mitt Romney are fit to lead this country.
So, I'm going to vote for Gary Johnson, who doesn't have a snowball's chance in hell of winning. Why?
C'mon. You knew this had to happen.
Look; Barack Obama has a proven track record of trampling on our civil liberties. He's approved indefinite detention of American Citizens without trial and approved an extrajudicial process of executing them via military action. He's committed US troops to war in Libya without congressional approval. He's spent way to much money and has done Zero to remedy the hyper partisan and bipolar atmosphere in D.C. The first reason alone is enough that I can't morally justify voting for the guy, the rest is just extra licks on the tootsie roll pop.. except in this case I don't want to know what's at the center of Barack Obama's goals for the U.S., nor do I want him to have the time to get there.
Meanwhile, Mitt Romney is a snake in the grass, who can't be bothered to take a firm stance on anything, while flaunting his wealth. I think his goals would support larger corporations and the wealthy elite while not doing Jack for anyone else. And I'm not so gullible as to think that what's good for large businesses is ultimately good for me. I can also guarantee that US troops commanded by Mitt Romney would be drawn into more foreign action, and perhaps war. I could just see us marching into Tehran or Pyongyang. So, Mitt's out too.
I've looked through Gary Johnson's stances; while I don't agree with him on everything, I do agree with the vast majority. I also know for a fact that he stands about as much of a chance of winning the election as a kitten fighting a pitbull.. Perhaps even less so. I'm also aware that the presence of a third party candidate siphons votes away from the major party candidates. And I say, so be it. If I voted for either of those jackanapes, I think I'd wake up in a cold sweat three years from now, looking at the sorry state of national politics and our country's economy, knowing that I helped put the one responsible for it in office. No way.
Gary Johnson, on the other hand, wants to actually fix the things that are wrong with this country; Repealing the Patriot act, restoring civil rights and liberties, removing ourselves from foreign countries that don't want us there, and basically getting the government out of people's personal lives. I'm all for all of that.
Sunday, September 30, 2012
Is E. St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks out of his Gorram Mind?
Some of the folks in question. Photo; Michael Calhoun
Something similar happened in New Orleans right after Katrina, with Nagen et al unconstitutionally grabbing guns from citizens and destroying property. They ended up being held in contempt by a Federal District Court and being told to set things right. Twain once wrote that history doesn't repeat, but it does rhyme. Looks like Alvin Parks knows the words and is humming right along.
All I can say is that this country needs to go Libertarian post-haste before the whole cart goes sour.
Definition
I think that I have made it clear in the past that I am appreciative of J.F. Perkins' work. That's why it pains me to say that Definition was definitely not as good as it could have been, given the quality of Perkins' previous work.
Definition is a throwback to the olden days of science fiction, with identifiable people thrown into the mix with futuristic tech straight out of the author's mind. To my reckoning, that's always a good place to start. The one problem I have here is that it's hard to identify with the tech. The thing about sci-fi is that it needs to be grounded in a certain strain of reality, in order to maintain the reader's ability to identify with the setting. This is usually done through nuance, or by brief mentions here and there.. an old fashioned LCD TV on the wall, stuff like that. Having a cargo bay stuffed with two classic cars in deep space is a bit ham-fisted. I will say that the Perkins' explanations of the D-Drive was pretty well done and helped me understand what he was getting at.
No, there's three real issues with this book that sorely need addressing. First, there just doesn't seem like there was much of a vetting or editorial process with this book. There's lots of spelling and grammatical errors and, while Lord knows I make plenty myself, they are hard for the Errorists to overlook. There's also lots of plot holes, or large unexplained events happening apparently in the background. For instance, in Chapter 40(!) of the book, a large glass dome separates the crew from their escape route.. Why wasn't it mentioned before then? No one even saw a large glass partition in the ceiling, waiting to drop down? Did it just materialize? In Chapter 12, the ship apparently starts picking up pods and holding them in her field before heading to drop them off.. but that order was never given, and the ability was explained after the fact. What gives there? And as far as the overall organization goes, there's a lot of sections in the chapters where the perspective shifts from one group of characters in x place to another group of characters in y place, without at least a couple of dots between the paragraphs to warn the reader of the change. That sort of thing is.. jolting.
The second major issue is with the characters themselves. I have a feeling that over the course of the series they will be fleshed out more, but at least during the first book they are paper thin without much definition to them. The main character's entire back story can be summed up in about three sentences; one for his military past, one for his romantic past, and one for his role in winning the war against the spiders. That's it. The rest of the characters, most notably the villain and Lucas, have even less back story than that. Mr. Perkins did such a good job fleshing out the characters in Renewal that it's not beyond expectation that the characters in Definition are treated likewise.
The final issue is the ending. Sorry, but it's way to sappy. Dripping with corn syrup sappy. There's no way everything should be tied off that cleanly, and in such a short space. Maybe it could have ended with the terrorist's perspective, calculating their next move.. Or maybe in a meeting of space admin, talking about the implications of having a boy being a walking weapon. Some strife, some drama! All I ask is to make the ending not so picture perfect!
Unfortunately, Definition is about a 68 on my scale of 100. That puts it above some of the books I've read and reviewed here, but not by much. I just expected more out of Definition because of the relative strength of the author.. and these are systemic issues too. I hope Mr. Perkins will take more time in addressing these prior to his next book release.
Definition is a throwback to the olden days of science fiction, with identifiable people thrown into the mix with futuristic tech straight out of the author's mind. To my reckoning, that's always a good place to start. The one problem I have here is that it's hard to identify with the tech. The thing about sci-fi is that it needs to be grounded in a certain strain of reality, in order to maintain the reader's ability to identify with the setting. This is usually done through nuance, or by brief mentions here and there.. an old fashioned LCD TV on the wall, stuff like that. Having a cargo bay stuffed with two classic cars in deep space is a bit ham-fisted. I will say that the Perkins' explanations of the D-Drive was pretty well done and helped me understand what he was getting at.
No, there's three real issues with this book that sorely need addressing. First, there just doesn't seem like there was much of a vetting or editorial process with this book. There's lots of spelling and grammatical errors and, while Lord knows I make plenty myself, they are hard for the Errorists to overlook. There's also lots of plot holes, or large unexplained events happening apparently in the background. For instance, in Chapter 40(!) of the book, a large glass dome separates the crew from their escape route.. Why wasn't it mentioned before then? No one even saw a large glass partition in the ceiling, waiting to drop down? Did it just materialize? In Chapter 12, the ship apparently starts picking up pods and holding them in her field before heading to drop them off.. but that order was never given, and the ability was explained after the fact. What gives there? And as far as the overall organization goes, there's a lot of sections in the chapters where the perspective shifts from one group of characters in x place to another group of characters in y place, without at least a couple of dots between the paragraphs to warn the reader of the change. That sort of thing is.. jolting.
The second major issue is with the characters themselves. I have a feeling that over the course of the series they will be fleshed out more, but at least during the first book they are paper thin without much definition to them. The main character's entire back story can be summed up in about three sentences; one for his military past, one for his romantic past, and one for his role in winning the war against the spiders. That's it. The rest of the characters, most notably the villain and Lucas, have even less back story than that. Mr. Perkins did such a good job fleshing out the characters in Renewal that it's not beyond expectation that the characters in Definition are treated likewise.
The final issue is the ending. Sorry, but it's way to sappy. Dripping with corn syrup sappy. There's no way everything should be tied off that cleanly, and in such a short space. Maybe it could have ended with the terrorist's perspective, calculating their next move.. Or maybe in a meeting of space admin, talking about the implications of having a boy being a walking weapon. Some strife, some drama! All I ask is to make the ending not so picture perfect!
Unfortunately, Definition is about a 68 on my scale of 100. That puts it above some of the books I've read and reviewed here, but not by much. I just expected more out of Definition because of the relative strength of the author.. and these are systemic issues too. I hope Mr. Perkins will take more time in addressing these prior to his next book release.
Friday, September 28, 2012
Register to Vote!
Today I finally hit the item on my To-Do list labeled "Update Voter Registration". All things considered, it was pretty easy but not as easy as it could have been.. Nor as secure.
Going to the "Look up my registration information", all one needs to know is a person's full name, their date of birth, and the county of residence to get back a full mailing address, voter ID #, and their Polling Place. That security is pretty slack, and I think this could be updated. At the minimum, this information could be emailed to the user where it's "kind of" private (google goes through your email to tailor search results to your personality, so arguably your personal information is indeed floating around someplace in the cloud). A better version would be to create a secure server where only the user could access the information after creating an account and verifying their ID.
Then, changing your voter registration in state would be a relatively simple process of updating your account. C'mon NC, get with the times!
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Rant aside, I'm glad that I got my registration updated.. I think the deadline to update for the upcoming election cycle is early October, so it was due. Hopefully I'll have my voter registration card well before the November general election.
I'll probably spend an update sometime soon going into the pros and cons of each candidate.
Sunday, September 23, 2012
Wait.. Georgia's Not in Drought Conditions?
Well, at least according to this article it isn't. Which is kind of news to me, seeing as how Flint River's nearly dry.
Clearly, the good folks of Georgia have a problem with their government being dishonest in order to support the interests of big business.. then again, name me an honest government. Except for Bhutan, but bonus points for you if you thought it.
Clearly, the good folks of Georgia have a problem with their government being dishonest in order to support the interests of big business.. then again, name me an honest government. Except for Bhutan, but bonus points for you if you thought it.
Apple? Please.
Lifehacker is asking folks what a good replacement for Apple's native map app would be. Several thoughts come to mind.. How about just a plain old map and compass? Pretty cheap, effective, and requires no power!
Or you could try just using a dash mounted GPS unit.. doesn't draw power from your cell phone and serves that role well. Perhaps gps units are a dying breed, but I think it the manufacturers are smart they'll start building them into even standard fare cars.
Or.. just get an Android. *ba dum tish*
Or you could try just using a dash mounted GPS unit.. doesn't draw power from your cell phone and serves that role well. Perhaps gps units are a dying breed, but I think it the manufacturers are smart they'll start building them into even standard fare cars.
Or.. just get an Android. *ba dum tish*
Emptying Pocket's; Big'un Edition
Have you ever noticed that whenever the media uses pictures of fat people, it's always candid shots or they don't show their faces? Image by Brendan McDermid.
This article is your typical shock treatment. I really don't like the interpretation done by the CDC here, which extrapolates current trends in rising obesity rates about twenty years into the future. Using a pure data trend to predict social changes over time is pretty haphazard tea-leaf reading if you ask me. Will obesity rates go up? Of course, this country's too addicted to simple sugars, soft drinks, and fast food to change in the short term. Honestly, though, I expect the social cost entailed by the rising obesity issue to cause societal course correction, just like lung cancer has done (by and large) for smoking. I think in ten years, folks will be out exercising and eating better because they don't want to go out like Uncle Billy or their parents did.
On the bright side, if the United States does start to subsidize health care costs via tax paper money (it shouldn't, but hey), we could trim the fat on the budget by trimming the fat off of people (reducing the health care costs associated with treating ailments related to obesity by lowering overall obesity numbers).
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Speaking of health care costs associated with obesity...
Jesus. If you're in the hospital for an issue, and you break the MRI machine because it wasn't built to hold that much weight, that might be your first sign that you should lose a few pounds.
Just a thought; somewhere, someone has had to grease someone up to fit inside an MRI because they were slightly too big to fit. Think about that.
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Another scare tactic article. Set phazers to white. The article doesn't go into too much detail about cultural or behavioral differences in adolescents across the races, which is where I think it goes awry. I'm putting this into the bin labeled "Needs More Research".
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NPR has a stunning "Ya Think!?" piece on the link between reduced population levels of obesity and eating more fruit and fiber. Let me know when they find out the sun is a star, and is in fact in space.
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I really like the idea of growing and buying more locally, especially given the quality and diversity of foods I've seen at the local farmer's markets. The only problem that I see is making these local agribusinesses competitive with large chain stores in terms of convenience.. Farmer's markets are kind of a one day a week thing in Winston, unless you go down the highway to the big one in Greensboro.. and that's a bit out of the way just to do one's grocery shopping.
Also, didn't it seem like that article ended a little abruptly?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Pilgrim at Tinker Creek
I tried to read this book. I really tried. I struggled through trying to read this book for a month. A month! And, even after a month, I couldn't read more than a third of the book because it was so boring. Hell, I even got through Patriots by John Rawles, and that's saying something.
Personally, I feel that I was misled. All the reviews and conversations that I had with people told me that if I had enjoyed reading Walden, or Sand County Almanac, then I'd *love* this book! Bull. This wasn't the work of a scientific mind, musing about things natural.. this was the work of a stray liberal arts major, trying to explain some weird ass form of neo-buddhism under the pretense of being a throw back to the naturalists of yore because she spends most of her time outside.
I stopped at the point where she was just going though this run-on metaphor about wanting to exist in a state of perpetual awareness of the moment. I just got sick of reading about how she lives for "facing upstream". Ugh.
On a scale of 1 to 100, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is about a 25. I can tell Annie Dillard is indeed smart, and the book itself is technically written well with very few mistakes editing wise.. but I also don't think this book was written for me. That is to say; I don't think that scientists or naturalists are this book's core audience. She spends way too much time wallowing in metaphor instead of just speaking plainly.
Personally, I feel that I was misled. All the reviews and conversations that I had with people told me that if I had enjoyed reading Walden, or Sand County Almanac, then I'd *love* this book! Bull. This wasn't the work of a scientific mind, musing about things natural.. this was the work of a stray liberal arts major, trying to explain some weird ass form of neo-buddhism under the pretense of being a throw back to the naturalists of yore because she spends most of her time outside.
I stopped at the point where she was just going though this run-on metaphor about wanting to exist in a state of perpetual awareness of the moment. I just got sick of reading about how she lives for "facing upstream". Ugh.
On a scale of 1 to 100, Pilgrim at Tinker Creek is about a 25. I can tell Annie Dillard is indeed smart, and the book itself is technically written well with very few mistakes editing wise.. but I also don't think this book was written for me. That is to say; I don't think that scientists or naturalists are this book's core audience. She spends way too much time wallowing in metaphor instead of just speaking plainly.
Tuesday, September 18, 2012
Disconnect from Facebook
No, no, I'm not doing the modern equivalent of a call for help by getting rid of my Facebook account, as tempting as that is sometimes. No, I'm experimenting with a Chrome extension called "Disconnect", which blocks tracking cookies from a few major sites (Facebook, Digg, Twitter etc.) in order to increase your online security.
So far I'm liking it, in the abstract sense that it *feels* better, but I'm not sure it's actually doing anything without getting to see some file at Facebook HQ which notes a sudden drop in their capability to track my movements online.
Ultimately, your best bet for forever increasing your online security is just to not be online, but which I might try as a social experiment at some point. For now, at least the Disconnect extension seems to be helping a bit.
So far I'm liking it, in the abstract sense that it *feels* better, but I'm not sure it's actually doing anything without getting to see some file at Facebook HQ which notes a sudden drop in their capability to track my movements online.
Ultimately, your best bet for forever increasing your online security is just to not be online, but which I might try as a social experiment at some point. For now, at least the Disconnect extension seems to be helping a bit.
Monday, September 17, 2012
I C(u) what you did there: Update on de-slugging cat bowls
My better half did a bang up job making a copper ring for the cat's food bowl! We've been field testing it for the past few nights, and thus far the cat's bowl has been slug free!
You can't see it, which is probably the best part
Ah, the secret is revealed!
As you can see, the ancient secret to be revealed here is the legs added to the form to make the copper barrier harder for the slugs to initially reach. Since the copper does indeed chemically react with the slug's slime (I looked, there does not seem to be a technical term for slug slime) and basically gives the slug a little shock. So far it has worked beautifully with zero slugs observed in the bowl for the time period testing. Given that we had previously observed several slugs per night in the bowl prior to this experiment I'd call it pretty damned successful.
NC 12th Congressional District
Man, do I feel sorry for Jack Brosch. I think he's going to get a rather severe beating during the upcoming election because by voters alone he's outnumbered nearly 2 to 1, and that's using math that stretches the realm of possibility awfully thin. Mel Watt is also raising over $800 for every dollar Brosch raises. If you just want to look at cash on hand for the race, Mel Watt's got him beat by just shy of three orders of magnitude! The whole race is damn near pathetic; it's going to be like watching a kindergartner flail at a sumo-wrestler. This won't so much be an election as it will be a pro-longed victory lap.
That's a shame. For starters, the NC 12th is incredibly gerrymandered, to the point where the Democratic Party advantage is something like 300% over a straight race against a Republican candidate, and I for one possess a dripping disdain for many Congressman Watt's positions. I'd dearly love for there to be more conversation about these issues, but the Congressman would be smart to not debate him because it would give Brosch the pittance of credibility he needs to be considered a throw-away candidate. It even looks like the RNC is also leaving Brosch out in the cold too, since he's fundraising is so low, and he's got zero media presence other than what is essentially free.
To be fair, Brosch is a rather lack-luster candidate. In this district, his best bet is to run as a moderate or slightly left of center Republican, but many of his positions are taken quite literally from the GOP script on their website (a point he boldly, and rather foolishly, makes all too clear). His website is also absolutely rife with spelling and grammatical errors, which a good way of convincing educated voters to steer clear of him. I'm sure a dedicated "Errorist" could find mistakes aplenty on my own blog, but even my own untrained eye takes a vicarious beating from Blosch's assault on the English language. Congressman Watts even has the guy beaten in appearance, considering that at 67 he looks a decade younger than Brosch (I can't find any hard numbers for his age, but his Facebook profile has him graduating in 1976, putting him in his mid to early 50's).
Ultimately, what Brosch fails is the quick glance take-away. He doesn't exude confidence, leadership, charm, or intellect. Don't get me wrong, Brosch may well possess many or all of these traits (I certainly do not know the man), but his machinations for getting his positions out do not assist him in conveying these traits at all. People vote on issues, but they are also looking for leadership. If Brosch can't get around these image problems, he won't get a chance to discuss his positions on the issues at all.
That's a shame. For starters, the NC 12th is incredibly gerrymandered, to the point where the Democratic Party advantage is something like 300% over a straight race against a Republican candidate, and I for one possess a dripping disdain for many Congressman Watt's positions. I'd dearly love for there to be more conversation about these issues, but the Congressman would be smart to not debate him because it would give Brosch the pittance of credibility he needs to be considered a throw-away candidate. It even looks like the RNC is also leaving Brosch out in the cold too, since he's fundraising is so low, and he's got zero media presence other than what is essentially free.
To be fair, Brosch is a rather lack-luster candidate. In this district, his best bet is to run as a moderate or slightly left of center Republican, but many of his positions are taken quite literally from the GOP script on their website (a point he boldly, and rather foolishly, makes all too clear). His website is also absolutely rife with spelling and grammatical errors, which a good way of convincing educated voters to steer clear of him. I'm sure a dedicated "Errorist" could find mistakes aplenty on my own blog, but even my own untrained eye takes a vicarious beating from Blosch's assault on the English language. Congressman Watts even has the guy beaten in appearance, considering that at 67 he looks a decade younger than Brosch (I can't find any hard numbers for his age, but his Facebook profile has him graduating in 1976, putting him in his mid to early 50's).
Ultimately, what Brosch fails is the quick glance take-away. He doesn't exude confidence, leadership, charm, or intellect. Don't get me wrong, Brosch may well possess many or all of these traits (I certainly do not know the man), but his machinations for getting his positions out do not assist him in conveying these traits at all. People vote on issues, but they are also looking for leadership. If Brosch can't get around these image problems, he won't get a chance to discuss his positions on the issues at all.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
I C(u) what you did there
The better half is attempting a late night hack on one of the cat's food bowl. We keep a bowl on the front porch so that we can feed the cats separately, but it tends to get slugs in it, so tonight's Mcguyverism is to wrap copper around the base to deter the slimey buggers. Not sure what it's supposed to do, but it couldn't hurt.
I'll have to do some research and figure out if copper actually repels slugs, and if so why. I can kind of see the chemicals in the slug's wake interacting negatively with the copper, but I can't make that statement decisively.
I'll have to do some research and figure out if copper actually repels slugs, and if so why. I can kind of see the chemicals in the slug's wake interacting negatively with the copper, but I can't make that statement decisively.
Food Security in the Asian Region
Just finished reading this article while waiting for my fiancee to come and look at the cutest picture of rodent murder I've ever seen (see my last emptying pockets entry). I'm pretty concerned about how the markets will react to the drop in supply of corn state-side due to this year's drought, so hearing that China and India are expecting long-term crises in this area in the foreseeable future is alarming, to say the least.
Let's string a few concepts together; first, global warming is affecting the rates and spatiality of precipitation world wide, which is causing some glaciers to enlarge and some glaciers to shrink. Second, many of the major rivers in Central Asia are dependent on melting from the aforementioned glaciers to maintain their average discharge. Finally, the people living in these areas are dependent on a relatively stable river discharge to support not only life, but the basic infrastructure of the economy such as water for irrigation and for industrial applications.
A long-lasting drought could not only have rather severe food implications, but could lead to territorial disputes over little used water sources, and loud arguments over any water partitioning agreements laid in the past. Disputes between Pakistan and India are common for a number of reasons, water being among them.. Is it unreasonable to expect armed turmoil over water resources when economies and lives are on the line? I don't think so, rather I think it would be prudent to expect such conflict and lay the groundwork to deal with it down the line now.
Let's string a few concepts together; first, global warming is affecting the rates and spatiality of precipitation world wide, which is causing some glaciers to enlarge and some glaciers to shrink. Second, many of the major rivers in Central Asia are dependent on melting from the aforementioned glaciers to maintain their average discharge. Finally, the people living in these areas are dependent on a relatively stable river discharge to support not only life, but the basic infrastructure of the economy such as water for irrigation and for industrial applications.
A long-lasting drought could not only have rather severe food implications, but could lead to territorial disputes over little used water sources, and loud arguments over any water partitioning agreements laid in the past. Disputes between Pakistan and India are common for a number of reasons, water being among them.. Is it unreasonable to expect armed turmoil over water resources when economies and lives are on the line? I don't think so, rather I think it would be prudent to expect such conflict and lay the groundwork to deal with it down the line now.
Emptying Pockets
I found this article to be genuinely disturbing. The money quote being thus: "Unstopped until they walked up to a security guard's car and surrendered". Yikes. What would have happened if Nanna decided to take over a small country, or to leverage a political issue in the US with a homemade suitcase bomb? Somebody ought to fire those folks and get some real security in place. Set the motion sensors at chest height if you're so worried about wildlife!
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I halfway expected this to be part of a Mythbusters episode. I'm glad a cost-effective method of testing construction practices is in place, but the question remains; what would happen if you added C4 to the building? Anyone?
At any rate; I'm all for building bomb-proof buildings and this would greatly reduce the lead time in waiting for feedback on reinforcement techniques.
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It's a little unfortunate that every time Michigan gets in the news, it's always bad. That is to say that government policy in Michigan seems to support poor business practices while ignoring the property rights and health of its citizens. Shame, shame, shame. And a million gallons of crude leaking into the Kalamazoo? Don't you think that could have hit the wire sooner? Speaking of which; has anyone looked at inland applications of this? Seems oil munching bacteria would be a handy thing to have around.
At any rate; certainly looks like a land grab, unless their maintenance trucks have increased in width by about 400%.
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One day our children may say that the canary in the coal mine on global warming for most people should have been the Lemmings in Greenland. An excellent study on a drop in population due to increased warming. They haven't pegged the reason for the collapse yet, but the most plausible explanation (lack of population increase due to less time in the sack underneath fallen snow) holds up to the common sense test. The scary thing about studies like this is the domino effect that drops in population in staple foods has for higher tier predators. Pretty soon the whole thing goes pear-shaped in ecosystem collapse.
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I halfway expected this to be part of a Mythbusters episode. I'm glad a cost-effective method of testing construction practices is in place, but the question remains; what would happen if you added C4 to the building? Anyone?
At any rate; I'm all for building bomb-proof buildings and this would greatly reduce the lead time in waiting for feedback on reinforcement techniques.
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It's a little unfortunate that every time Michigan gets in the news, it's always bad. That is to say that government policy in Michigan seems to support poor business practices while ignoring the property rights and health of its citizens. Shame, shame, shame. And a million gallons of crude leaking into the Kalamazoo? Don't you think that could have hit the wire sooner? Speaking of which; has anyone looked at inland applications of this? Seems oil munching bacteria would be a handy thing to have around.
At any rate; certainly looks like a land grab, unless their maintenance trucks have increased in width by about 400%.
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One day our children may say that the canary in the coal mine on global warming for most people should have been the Lemmings in Greenland. An excellent study on a drop in population due to increased warming. They haven't pegged the reason for the collapse yet, but the most plausible explanation (lack of population increase due to less time in the sack underneath fallen snow) holds up to the common sense test. The scary thing about studies like this is the domino effect that drops in population in staple foods has for higher tier predators. Pretty soon the whole thing goes pear-shaped in ecosystem collapse.
Photo; Niels Schmidt
Plus, that picture makes the stoat look like one handsome bastard, right? Hey, good for him; a good hunt is everything out in the real world.
Monday, September 3, 2012
Elitist?
There's something that I've been thinking about over the past few days, and that's the gradual transition of the term elitist from an aspiration to an insult.
I was raised to think that becoming an expert in a field, or in a skill, or even in a hobby is a good thing. To be elite, and to caport yourself only with those who are likewise also elite.. Isn't that desirable? Isn't that what people should want? I don't want the common man building space ships, or performing surgeries.. Why would I want a layman doing anything important?
I don't get it, folks. There is definitionally nothing good about being common. Why celebrate it? Why denigrate those who aspire to greatness?
Tuesday, August 21, 2012
So the Tibetan Plateau is old..
Well, that might be a bit of a "No Joke" moment for most folks, since most geologic formations on the earth's surface are old in comparison to a human's lifespan (discounting the more ephemeral landforms created through erosive or deposition processes). Still, I had read previously that the Tibetan Plateau was estimated to have been formed somewhere between 10-15 MYA. New research put out in Nature Geoscience indicates that it might be as old as 30 MYA, perhaps even older!
Being more of a theoretical researcher in the first place, the part that really interests me in this is the description of using Fission Track Dating (FTD) to accurately quantify the rates of temperature change in the rock strata to estimate rates of being exposed by erosion and uplift. That's so awesome! When I go for a PhD, one of the things I want access to is a mass spectrometer, it seems like a lot of the really accurate dating techniques involve using one. Dating alluvial benches is somewhat haphazard, and it would be nice to be able to constrain dates better.
Monday, August 20, 2012
Desert Solitaire
I actually finished reading Desert Solitaire about a week ago, but it's taken me some time to really express what I thought of the book. First, let me say that I know Edward Abbey spent a lot of time alone in the Arches, but to be honest most of his book was about his adventures with other people, or cattle wrangling and he didn't spend much time talking about being alone. It's just kind of weird. Other than that nuance, I really liked reading Desert Solitaire. It's like taking Thoraeau and mixing in a healthy dollop of anarcho-capitalist reasoning. Well, maybe not so much the capitalist part because I think Abbey had some far left-leaning positions on economics in general. At least his positions on society, armaments, and the rights of the people are laudable.
And then there's the plants. Abbey spent an awful lot of time describing plants. It's almost a mania; there's just not a ton of life out there, so seeing plant life is like getting that drink of water you desperately need. The paradox of the desert being that the life there is perfectly adapted to exist there. It's just that people aren't. And the desert, like all landscapes is completely indifferent to that fact.
It's that indifference that has attracted explorers, adventurers, and romantics throughout history. Here's where I insert my own opinion on being out in the wilderness; my idea being that if you can find a way to co-exist with the rhythms of nature and ultimately survive being out there you can accomplish anything. I don't think that's what Abbey had in mind, since he seems to connect to the desert the way that I connect to woods and streams. At the end of it I wanted to see the desert through his eyes, but I knew that I couldn't because my place is elsewhere. Instead I found a sort of kindred spirit, as I understand where he was coming from.
A lot of people give Abbey grief for the way he takes tourists to task. My question is why didn't he take them to task more often? If anything, the penchant for people to be lazy when on vacation has only increased. I'd love it if you had to go 4x4'ing about ten miles and then hike all day in order to see something truly beautiful instead of driving right up to it. Isn't the journey ultimately more worthwhile than the destination? Let people suffer so that they might enjoy the end more. Alas, such is not the way, but in no way was Abbey being spiteful or arrogant for heaping scorn on people that richly deserve it.
I'm revising my scale somewhat; a simple 10 point scale doesn't leave a lot of room for comparison. On a 100 point scale, with 50 being absolutely neutral in all respects, Desert Solitaire is about a 85 or 86. I think Abbey's writing style grates because of his focus on the minutia, but that's just my personal opinion and it may appeal more to others. I think Abbey was a great writer but there was room for improvement. That's all. Still, this book now has a permanent place on my bookshelf, along with Thoreau, Muir, and Crowe. Go buy and read this book.
It's that indifference that has attracted explorers, adventurers, and romantics throughout history. Here's where I insert my own opinion on being out in the wilderness; my idea being that if you can find a way to co-exist with the rhythms of nature and ultimately survive being out there you can accomplish anything. I don't think that's what Abbey had in mind, since he seems to connect to the desert the way that I connect to woods and streams. At the end of it I wanted to see the desert through his eyes, but I knew that I couldn't because my place is elsewhere. Instead I found a sort of kindred spirit, as I understand where he was coming from.
A lot of people give Abbey grief for the way he takes tourists to task. My question is why didn't he take them to task more often? If anything, the penchant for people to be lazy when on vacation has only increased. I'd love it if you had to go 4x4'ing about ten miles and then hike all day in order to see something truly beautiful instead of driving right up to it. Isn't the journey ultimately more worthwhile than the destination? Let people suffer so that they might enjoy the end more. Alas, such is not the way, but in no way was Abbey being spiteful or arrogant for heaping scorn on people that richly deserve it.
I'm revising my scale somewhat; a simple 10 point scale doesn't leave a lot of room for comparison. On a 100 point scale, with 50 being absolutely neutral in all respects, Desert Solitaire is about a 85 or 86. I think Abbey's writing style grates because of his focus on the minutia, but that's just my personal opinion and it may appeal more to others. I think Abbey was a great writer but there was room for improvement. That's all. Still, this book now has a permanent place on my bookshelf, along with Thoreau, Muir, and Crowe. Go buy and read this book.
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