digital retrograde

December, 2004 [Reset]

Updates light today, have a good holiday!

12/31/2004 11:03 AM

Photo

Terror Tyme

I've come across this story several times over the last few days. (I've also seen another, which I can't locate, that claimed this has happened several additional times in various places around the country.)

CLEVELAND - Authorities are investigating a mysterious laser beam that was directed into the cockpit of a commercial jet traveling at more than 8,500 feet.

The beam appeared Monday when the plane was about 15 miles from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, the FBI (news - web sites) said.

"It was in there for several seconds like (the plane) was being tracked," FBI agent Robert Hawk said.

The pilot was able to land the plane, and air traffic controllers used radar to determine the laser came from a residential area in suburban Warrensville Heights.

Now that I think about it, it would require some pretty sophisticated tracking equipment as well as a very powerful laser. The intent here really does seem to be to blind the pilot, and not something more dire like painting a target for a missle to lock on to. As far as I know, laser painting is only used for air-to-ground weapons like guided bombs or missles that track slow-moving targets. It would be error-prone and impractical to use laser painting on a target that can rapidly change its direction and profile relative to the laser tracking unit.

I would be interested in seeing just how long they were affected by the laser in these cockpits.. Like whether it was an intermittent thing or a very strong lock.

12/30/2004 11:37 AM

Musings

Tragedies

Tsunami news. More than 120,000 people killed... Those kind of numbers are just hard to wrap your head around. Stalin said "A single death is a tragedy; a million deaths is a statistic." It must be in reference to this phenomenon (although was glimly referring to deaths he, ultimately, had caused).

The last line of the article:

Animals seem to have escaped the disaster, adding weight to notions they possess a "sixth sense" for disasters, experts said.

So what have they got and when did we lose it? (Or why did we not develop it?) My bet is on the extremely low-frequency vibrations that earthquakes cause. Animals (and some people) are able to sense them -- heck, elephants can communicate over very long ranges by stomping on the ground and creating them.

Animals also don't crowd on the beach sightseeing when something unusual is happening to the ocean. They have instincts which override any sort of curiosity they might harbor. While inquisitiveness is a hallmark trait of humanity it does have its downsides.

12/30/2004 11:15 AM

Links

Crocodiles with Laser Beams

I found that other article about lasers and airliner cockpits.

12/30/2004 9:54 AM

Musings

Tuh-Dah!

Starfish are EASY to make in photoshop!

The benefits of creating the artwork BEFORE creating the program are left for you to weigh. I've been debating how contact with the central server should happen - directly from the client browser, or proxied by the client application. The direct approach would obviously be easier, but I kind of had in mind to implement the server with web services. (If just because that's what I'm familiar with.)

12/30/2004 9:00 AM

Software

Spam?

I got an e-mail this morning from the improbably-named "Mortgage M. Prawn":

From : Mortgage M. Prawn <varnished@gorgor.com>

Sent : Wednesday, December 29, 2004 12:23 PM

To : Eric

Subject : egalitarianism

longing

Hotmail flagged it as spam, which it clearly is (gorgor.com contains nothing and is registered in China). But what bizarre kind of scheme is this? Are they trying to make me nostaglic for the days of Mao?

12/30/2004 8:50 AM

It's 50 degrees out right now, just finished raining. The clouds are starting to clear out. You can probably imagine how rare that is in Minnesota in December.

It smells nice.

12/30/2004 4:18 AM

Musings

Yes, No, Maybe?

It FEELS like there should be something here: http://seedwiki.com/wiki/Starfish/

Let me know if you like/hate/might use it!

12/29/2004 11:22 AM

Software

More Tsunami

As Glenn Reynolds is apt to say: "Heh".

12/29/2004 9:00 AM

Musings

http://www.cambridgeincolour.com/gallery.htm

12/29/2004 1:41 AM

No sun, no snow. Bleah.

12/28/2004 10:51 AM

Photo

Tasty

I've started posting links on del.icio.us: eric_hcr80. If you haven't seen or heard of it, it's a 'social bookmarking serivce'. I like it because it lets me comment on the links and store them somewhere I don't have to deal with.

12/28/2004 10:50 AM

Links

From Above

If you haven't seen this series of aerial shots before, take the time to look it through. There's some amazing colors and patterns here from a perspective you almost certainly haven't seen before.

12/28/2004 10:24 AM

Photo

Tsunami

Star Trib has a series of photos from the damaged areas in Southern Asia. I can barely fathom the amount of energy that was in those waves to cause so much devastation.

UPDATE: Amazon is taking donations for the Red Cross. It's a good start.

12/28/2004 9:40 AM

Life

Inexplicable Assault of Serenity

You know that feeling you get when you're just closed the lid on something big and you can finally take a deep breath again? For the last few days, I've had that. I'm content to just sit and relax instead of having random compulsions to "do stuff". It's quite delightful and I don't know what I've done to deserve it.

My brain, however, is fighting back. Last night, as if to spite my sudden laidback-edness, I dreamed I was late FOR A FINAL. Not just a little late, but worst-possible-case late. As the dream ended up I was reduced to riding a bike and discovering that I left my books at home. While naked.

Nonetheless, I plan to make the most of my newfound calm while it persists. I can lay off the ecstasy for awhile!

12/28/2004 9:00 AM

Musings

Project Ideas

Edwardo suggested to me a new kind of forum-esque system that would incorporate RSS feeds, 'events', discussions, and IM focused on individual topics. Of course, all this stuff has been done before - meaningful integration is what presents the challenge.

Suppose you had a client that's like an IM client, except that it notifies you for any number of events: Postings, chats, blog posts, news items... The list could be as long as you care to make it. Maybe you could even send pictures or files as torrents. In addition to consuming RSS, maybe all your interactions with the system could be published as an RSS feed. (Neat, but of dubious usefulness at this point.)

I think I'll call it Starfish. It's always good to have a name to think of these things by. Just thinkin'...

12/28/2004 4:32 AM

Software

Reading...

I got this astounding (and, I'll admit, somewhat morbid) book for Christmas.

It's a collection of photographs from the 40s, 50s, and 60s in St. Paul. The clarity of many of the pictures is quite amazing and the scenes have a tendancy to pull you in. Millet has also written several other books in the same vein, and I may have to buy his "then and now" retrospective.

Oh yeah, and go visit MooCow since he was kind enough to put up a link.

12/27/2004 10:50 AM

Life

Thanks alot, Cyndi Brucato

Channel 5 was running this story about a kid who was beaten by bullies -- needing stitches and generally ruining his holiday.

"So we decided to help." The anchor says. They show a football player calling him up and giving him tickets to last week's game. They show him opening up presents and his father talking about how what they've done "has really inspired" him.

When he goes back to school, he is SO going to get his butt kicked.

12/27/2004 7:30 AM

Musings

What did YOU get for Christmas?

In the days that follow it, the titular question is invariably asked by enthusiastic Christmas celebrants. I'm sure the very heart of Jesus thrills at the inquisition. Not: "What did you do for the less fortunate?" Or maybe: "Who did you tell about what Jesus has to offer them?" What is my point? Oh, yes.

I got a GPS-unit, some games, and books to keep me busy. At first I was a little skeptical about the usefulness or accuracy of such a little thing. As it turns out, though, it's one of the most impressive gadgets I've used in a long time.

It's accurate enough to help you find your car in a parking lot. It keeps track of exactly mileage, speed, and heading. (And those were just the most evident features.. I haven't even really sat down with the thing.) You can't have it.

We had a wonderful family Christmas. Presents, food, hanging around the house together. I really enjoyed myself, but I can't shake the feeling our celebrations are getting more and more cursory. Habit instead of heartfelt. Maybe I'm just being cynical.

Fancy that.

12/27/2004 7:09 AM

Musings

Merry Christmas

Someone put coal in the stockings of the Viking's defensive secondary. Santa? You owe us that much.

Oh, and if you find yourself geting bored at any point during the Holiday, here is a fascinating collection of links.

12/24/2004 10:37 AM

Musings

"Postmodern" College Students

I'd like to see citations for these surveys, but if they're true, well.. They're dooming us all to some ugly repetition.

To test simple arithmetic skills, I asked what 70 percent of 240 was. This is middle school stuff. But most had no idea how to figure it out. When asked to make change for a $5 bill when a purchase came to $1.37, one-quarter of California's future bachelors of science weren't able to figure it out.

Perhaps the problem is they're too busy studying current events. Perhaps, but only 16 percent could name California's two senators, and only 29 percent knew the Senate was composed of 100 members, though one soon-to-be grad said, "Fifty, two from each state."

World history? One student out of more than 100 - one! - could identify the authors of the Communist Manifesto. Two knew what the Magna Carta was. Joseph Stalin was the leader of what country? Sixty-one percent were clueless, though some thought perhaps Italy or Germany. Only 4 percent chose Lenin as the first leader of the Soviet Union.

12/22/2004 12:25 PM

Life

I'm sorry, could you run that by me again?

From, of all places, dictionary.com. I hadn't heretofore connected acne with free prizes, so I guess I should thank them for expanding my horizons. On the other hand, it makes me fear for the future: "Pop Paris Hilton, win a Nobel prize!"?

Or maybe anticipate it with glee. (Though I suppose that seriously depends on how you interpret "Pop".)

12/22/2004 10:38 AM

You must be THIS cold to whine

A little illustration.

Did I mention that I'm a highly paid professional? Or something?

12/22/2004 10:32 AM

Musings

So very cold

I finally broke out the big guns this morning -- not the windbreaker, not the medium-heavy jacket, but the full-on arctic-adventurer style heavy coat. Even then, windchills are at the point where it no longer becomes if you'll freze to death, but just how long you have to be outside before you decide that curling up in a meager snowbank and resting for "a bit" becomes an exciting option.

I finally beat a difficult round of Rise of Nations last night.. It turns out that you don't actually have to defeat all your opponents on the map. You just have to kill the ones you haven't allied with. So, instead of fighting two full-strength enemies at once, you only have to kill off the last remaining straggler. There's a big difference.

I should really set my alarm to go off in the morning.

12/22/2004 9:59 AM

Musings

Tired Tuesday

I was up late last night trying to defeat 4 hordes of barbarians on Rise of Nations. I had a set time limit to conquer all 4 by trying to pit them against each other. (2 hours.)

I came down to the last minute and a half, as I frantically tried to capture the last enemy capital. I failed.. and probably only would have needed another minute or two. It was a serious bummer, but not so much that I'm not going to try it again tonight. They will die. I will see to it.

Why is it that old Apollo-era recordings of astronauts talking to mission control or vice versa are so popular in trance remixes? (I ask, though I suspect I won't get an answer since I'm the only person I know who really listens to the stuff.)

12/21/2004 12:03 PM

Musings

Shortest days.. Shortest Days..

I have to keep telling myself that the darkness is but a temporary state of affairs. Tomorrow is the shortest day of the year -- the winter solstice and, yes, the real reason for the season.

People have probably been celebrating the start of lengthening days for much longer than they're been recording such celebrations, but the Romans were the first to do it in style. Saturnalia was the celebration of the god of agriculture, and, in typical Roman fashion, involved excesses of every kind. I'm sure the Druids had something special reserved for the solstice too. They were nuts for that sort of thing (see: Stonehenge). The viking types in Scandinavia celebrated "Yule" and burned a log to symbolize the growing strength of the sun. Or maybe to help it come back faster. Cause/effect was a little sketchy before the advent of the scientific method.

Poor Saint Nicolaus. He was well known for his generous gifts to the poor. I wonder how many RPMs he's turning right now.

Last year I cranked out this graph of daylight lengths in 3 different locations. For approximation's sake we can say that the graph for Minneapolis has an amplitude slightly larger than Mankato's. We're currently at the right edge of the graph -- it's all uphill from here. Well, until June 21.

12/20/2004 12:41 PM

Musings

The Cooperative

The kid manning the guard shack couldn't have been more than 20, I thought, as I rolled down my window. He took my badge and briefly disappeared into the small, fortified hut. I could see the barrel of his M16 bobbing around inside the window. As miserable as his job was, I was sure mine was worse. I was sent out here to the ass crack of Virginia courtesy of the National Security Agency. I was an auditor and this project in particular was due.

All they told me was the name: "The Cooperative". It sounded like some sort of sketchy, out-the-back-of-the-pickup produce store. When I had told my boss as much, he dismissed my whining out of hand the way he normally did. He didn't know the details of it and he didn't want to -- but I had the security clearance and the open schedule.

"Someone put priority on this one, so you start tomorrow." He told me, handing me the directions to the rural research facility. I must have looked at the map with some astonishment.

"It used to be an old satellite tracking station or some such thing." He explained, getting up from behind his desk and helping me towards the door. Best I could tell from looking at the map, I should prepare for some off-road driving. "Now, if you don't mind, I have some paperwork..." I shut the door behind me, still eyeballing the poorly xeroxed map. I was quite sure he had some vodka stashed away just for the occasion of some paperwork.

12/20/2004 10:33 AM

Fiction

Back in the good old days, what with their above zero temperatures and non-gray colors.

12/19/2004 12:27 PM

Photo

The Cows of Christmas

Every year, around this time, a remarkable thing happens: creatures gather in large hoardes, moving slowly and picking their way through the obstacles dotting the modern countryside. They stop and graze, lining up for normally interminable waits for access to scare resources. Many have blank expressions on their faces and some confer quitely in low, guttoral tones. Others bring obnoxious young.

I hit the mall this afternoon and discovered this concentration camp of capital. I naturally gravitated towards the cheapest AND least expensive stuff being offered: all the merchandise at the dollar store. If you're someone who is on the receiving end of one of these $.99 + $.01 gifts, I apologize in advance. It will be quite obvious if you are.

It was more than a last-minute shopping trip, though, it was also a test to see if I could tolerate the unfortunate excesses of the modern Christmas shopping experience without getting short of breath. I actually did just fine for myself, and for not passing out and being trampled by the rampaging procrastinators, I congratulate myself.

In other bovine-related metaphors thanks to MooCow for pointing out , in an entry far below, an unfortunately-titled article called "Calculus of Coitus" . It's an interview with an author of a book about mathematics and relationships. Now, having just finished an insane course in calculus-based statistics, this sort of thing should be of interest to me, right?

It is a profoundly bad idea.

Yes, yes, I know mathematical models are the wind beneath of the wings of modern systems everywhere.. but.. to me it's kind of morbid. Akin to modeling the manner and date of your death. How would you like to know that there's a 99.5+/-.2% probability you will be killed by a vole chewing through a rusty gas pipeline on March 14, 2035? According to the article, some statistical distribution says that you're going to have to have relationships with 12 people in order to have a 75% chance of marrying someone you will stay with.

It doesn't say what the odds are when you've only had 0 relationships. I could do the math myself but I suspect that I won't like the answer.

12/19/2004 10:02 AM

Life

Out of the Ordinary

I saw an extremely bright meteor on the drive back from Mankato tonight. It lit right in front of my eyes, lasted a good two seconds and had a nice sparkling trail and unearthly blue glow.

Naturally, my heart skipped a beat or two. Adrenaline surged (is it just me?) I wonder what it would be like to not know what such a sight was.. Think about it, most of the people in human history would not understand what they'd just witnessed. Many didn't believe it was possible for rocks to come from the sky.

Would you just chuckle to yourself and say: "[insert deity here] is at it again, all throwing lightening bolts to express his [dis]pleasure with us!"?

Congratulations to Elizabeth for passing discrete math! I'm done with my tests. They went better than expected... I sleep now.

12/17/2004 11:48 AM

Musings

Spam:Tasty, Delicious

How long have I been receiving comment spam? I just now noticed it.

Blogging == Light til the weekend. On the other hand, I think I'm getting a handle on exactly what a Chi-squared distribution is and what it's good for.

I did discover this delight. But be warned, it's addicting.

12/16/2004 4:08 AM

Final, Looming

Unfortunately it's been all work no play for me this week. I have a final on Friday that I need a 65 or better on, so I'm not leaving anything to chance. Normally this kind of grade wouldn't be a problem, but this class has been an endless debacle for me.

What is this guy talking about?

See, I think the future of periodical publishing, and of journalism itself, will be built mostly by individual bloggers and indivdidual blogs, and by a new breed of publishers who harvest and republish (and, yes, pay for) goods from the wide open ranges where bloggers roam, and post, free. The day will come when the top print publications will be comprised of prose and pictures provided by blogs and bloggers.

The same thing will happen with television. And music. Movies too. (Although the rights-clearing mess is a huge hold-up there.)

How many blogs are there that are strictly content creators and not filters for other sources? (e.g. newspapers) By content creators I mean no posts of the form "Here, look at this link I found and here is what I think..."

12/15/2004 8:59 AM

Musings

NuclearRocketShipsInSpace!!

I saw a fascinating special on "Discovery Wings" (soon to be "Military Channel") the other day. It detailed the development of the US's nuclear rocket program

Nuclear Rocket Page.

12/14/2004 11:20 AM

Musings

On The Virtues of Idleness

Film Crew Online - The writers of MST3K.

"This is an actual phone recording from a Party 93.1 listener"

"Hi, this is Darren from Miami Beach and there's a party in my body every time I listen to 93.1"

Sigh.

12/14/2004 3:18 AM

Links

Wintertime Trip

For the first time this winter I finally felt that biting sensation that comes from exposed flesh being freeze-dried. Wind-chill is hovering right at 0F.

It's time to relive some highlights of the warmer parts of the year. Above are from the Colorado trip. Below is a mystery car that was being test-driven in the mountains outside Durango, CO. We saw a whole line of them -- and I can't remember if they were Kias or Hyundais. Honestly, I'm not sure how we could know, they were pretty well covered.

12/13/2004 11:29 AM

Photo

Those other 6, 7, 8 hours of your day

I've been having unusually vivid dreams since finishing Half-Life 2. I don't know whether it's because I actually can get some sleep now or what. But the dreams are sticking with me for a change -- and I want to know where their plots come from.

I posed this question to a friend and he suggested a simple neurological explanation. Dreams are just composed of whatever strings of neurons that happen to be flaring at the time. Sure, you'll often dream about things that have happened that day -- those will be the neurons that are still 'hopping'. But what about the stuff that you don't have a memory of? Surely I've never encountered ponds (only found in Libya!) that are so salty you'll die if immersed in them for more than a minute. I've never been a GI on a beach whose barracks are being slowly washed away by the incoming tide.

I have a feeling that Jeff Goldblum is waiting in the wings to lecture me on chaotic systems.

Of course, the neurological explanation is boring and dispassionate. I want a sexy explanation that ties it up into a little neat bundle, preferrably without using the word 'archetype'. I want a formula that says "if you dwell on x or y for a long enough period during the day, then w or z will likely appear while you are snoozing. W and Z will invariably be killer tornadoes and stars that zip around the sky to reveal themselves as alien spaceships portending the end of all things.

At least I didn't dream about the hiker who had his arm trapped in a rockslide. Over the course of being trapped for a week he realized he had to cut off his arm. I probably could have done without watching it.. but it was soooo fascinating.

12/13/2004 9:07 AM

Musings

Scheme Palindrome Test Code

Even in spite of the parentheses I find this easier to comprehend than the equivalent Haskell program.

; definitions for clarity
(define (first x) (car x))
(define (rest x) (cdr x))

; strip spaces, string->string
(define (strip-spaces string)
  (list->string (strip-spaces-list (string->list string))))

; strip spaces out of a list, list (chars)->list (chars)
(define (strip-spaces-list string-list)
  (if (null? string-list)
    '()
    (if (equal? #space (first string-list))
      (strip-spaces-list (rest string-list))
      (cons (first string-list) (strip-spaces (rest string-list))))))

; reverses a string (must convert to a list of chars), string->string
(define (reverse-string string)
  (list->string (reverse (string->list string))))

; tests to see if the string is a palindrome -- ignores spaces
; string->boolean
(define (test-palindrome string)
  (string-ci=? (strip-spaces string) (reverse-string (strip-spaces string))))

12/10/2004 12:29 PM

Software

Updated Enblend GUI

For anyone who's here for a panoramic image blending post-processor, you're in luck. I just updated Enblend GUI. You know, if you're down with the TIFF files.

12/10/2004 11:52 AM

Software

12/10/2004 11:51 AM

Photo

Festive Friday

The boss is gone and people are decorating madly. I have a cheap fake garland on my desk now, held on by unsightly masking tape. Hoo-rah.

I perennially try to learn functional languages, and this time around I've been learning Scheme. It's suprisingly more tolerable than I had anticipated, and much more forgiving than Haskell. The Dr. Scheme editor kicks back english-decipherable errors and will even point out where the error is coming from. (See screengrab.) It's sort of like a graphical stack trace. Nice, indeed.

It comes with a library for developing 'servlets', akin to CGI perl programs. The method of creating these is hard to describe, except that to say web pages take the form of function calls with returns values. It's an interesting, refreshing change.. but I doubt you'll be seeing any pop up here because servlets require the PLT Scheme web server.

12/10/2004 9:38 AM

Musings

So Not A Hippie

Hmm... I even specifically said "I Don't Know" to the Republican question. I guess there's no way around it.

I AM 18% HIPPIE!

What? Are you a Republican? Why did you even bother taken this test?! I guess youâ€™ll go back to your George W. Bush fan club and tell them you just wasted 10 minutes of my life. At least you donâ€™t stink, man.

Take the HIPPIE test at Fuali.com

12/10/2004 2:30 AM

Musings

Signs Half Life Owns You

Last night, I was driving through Faribault where they're building a new gas station. I saw a pile of crates sitting under the canopy and my first reaction was to press 1, break out the crowbar, and start smashing away to reveal the goodies within.

(I was awfully tired.)

12/9/2004 9:22 AM

Musings

A Link a Day..

Means you're wasting your life reading blogs.

The Secrets of Firefox - Tweaks for the browser with the fox on the icon.

Break out the tin foil hats - I doubt the Libertarian party will nominating Badnarik for a 2nd go around. What reason does he have to trust the exit polls?

An alternate take on the second coming of Christ.

Simple Project Requirements - It's not all that hard, and it might even prove useful.

A Decent Scheme Implementation - Finally.

12/8/2004 10:45 AM

Links

Problematic

I have long since mastered the unconscious art of manipulating the sliding bar on my alarm -- in particular, manipulating it into the alarm off position while still asleep. At least, I thought I had mastered it.

So when I woke up and the clock told me it was an hour and a half after the alarm was supposed to go off, I resigned myself to tip-toeing into the office more than an hour late. Hustle, hustle. I get in the car and see that my alarm clock was an hour AHEAD.

Maybe this karmic payback for staying up until 2AM. Half-Life 2 owns me. :(

12/8/2004 9:06 AM

Life

The Return of The Link

World Sunlight / Cloud Map

The 6 Myths Of Creativity - When people are excited about their work, there's a better chance that they'll make a cognitive association that incubates overnight and shows up as a creative idea the next day. When people aren't excited.. Well..

Chinese Tattoos - A TEENAGER who paid Â£90 to have his arm tattoed with Chinese characters got a shock when he learned the message read: 'At the end of the day, this is an ugly boy.'

Questionable Content - Like Penny Arcade, minus the video games.

Stigmatized Southpaws? - (3rd paragraph from bottom). Story is about why left-handers exist.

Smittens - I'm not really the hand-holding type anyways, so this really doesn't appeal.

12/7/2004 9:03 AM

Links

Massive Voting Fraud in Florida?

Unlikely, this time around. I had no idea this dead horse was still being beat.

This fraud, however, is a classic. "For God, For Country, For Yale."

12/7/2004 2:20 AM

Musings

More TV Musings

I loved the "Peanuts" theme on Arrested Development last night. Especially when George-Michael sullenly strolled past the red doghouse with the canine inhabitant basking on the roof. I can't quite put my finger on it, but the show just doesn't feel as strong as it did last season. That said, it's still the funniest on televsion.

Next to South Park.. How much does that say about my viewing tastes? And how about that scene where Paris Hilton's dog blows its own brains out with the limo driver's gun? (Paris's reaction: "Not another one!") I just sat there aghast. Honestly. I'm sure that's what they had in mind.

12/6/2004 10:44 AM

Musings

Consider this...

You are a highly-trained entomologist who has been working in the field studying bugs for several years. One morning your co-worker Fred, who is equally well trained at spotting bugs, comes up to you and starts lecturing you about the historical vagarities of your profession. You are hardly paying attention since you're familiar with most of what he says, but then something catches your eye:

There is a GIANT RED STINGING BUG on his nose. (You can tell I'm definitely not an entomologist.) This bug is so big, in fact, that you think he would see it sitting there.

"There's a huge bug on your nose." You say, slightly amused he hasn't noticed it but trying to be sure he's not putting you on.

"No, there's not." He claims quite matter-of-factly. The tone questions just how stupid you could be. The bug hasn't moved, it's just sitting there with its stinger out, pondering its next move. You're speechless.

Now, let's say there's some sort of street charlatan walking by. Fred is familiar with him, too. He always hangs around, sometimes he provides valuable information but often he's misleading or outright deceptive. You always take what he says with a grain of salt.

"You don't have a bug on your nose." He helpfully comments to Fred. The charlatan smirks at you and you both smile, fully aware the bug is looking for an excuse to sting without mercy.

"I have no reason to doubt him." Fred proclaims. At this point, you're highly amused at Fred's apparent blind spot. You insist that there is a bug, and Fred explains that he's gotten a second opinion. You're wrong.

So, you hold a mirror up to his face, and he is clearly able to see the huge venomous bug moments away from stinging him silly. He nonchalantly flicks the bug away, saying "I still have no reason to doubt him."

Clearly, Fred is retreating into a defensive bunker. But what do Fred's actions say about how he views you? Is it reasonable to take Fred's opinions less seriously than before the bug?

12/6/2004 9:59 AM

Musings

12/5/2004 11:10 AM

Photo

The Brainwashing of Eric's Consent

What's the matter with me? I ended up watching the bulk of some sappy movie where Nicolaus Cage gets transported into a life where he's a high-profile wall street mover to a family man working at a tire shop. Shades of "Wonderful Life", certainly, and a TERRIBLE sappy ending.

But I'm still not sure why I was watching it. Maybe it spoke to my worry about sacrifice. Someone exciting versus someone reliable. Something big for something fulfilling.

More entertaining: Manufacturing Consent and Brainwashing 101, a couple of docs about essentially the same thing: making up your own mind, and the individual ability to accomplish this. Consent was basically an overview of Chomsky's views on the media and what is real, but he closed with an observation I found heartening -- despite my disagreements with many of his views. He basically said: "I may be wrong, but it's important for you to make up your own mind." According to him, if we're paying attention to only the news we're fed, then we're failing. Brainwashing was about dissent on campuses -- conservative dissent. It was disheartening (and a little amusing) to see just exactly what ivory towers liberal academics and administrators have hoisted themselves into. Clearly they might benefit from watching Consent.

12/5/2004 10:25 AM

Musings

A Very Very General Guide To "Success"

For non-emergency situations:

Identify the problem
Identify the worst case
Identify the best case
Identify best case ingredients
Visual best case
Run away! That way, you'll always have the best case outcome in mind, no disappointments.

For emergency situations:

Panic
Freeze in your tracks, trying to comprehend the enormity of the catastrophy you are being overtaken by.

12/5/2004 4:32 AM

Musings

TrayBlogger - Released

Okay, I posted the binary (.NET) and source for TrayBlogger.. If you use a movable type blog, try it out and let me know what you think!

In totally unrelated news, these fools are attaching VERY expensive photographic equipment to their RC airplanes and helicopters. Having a reasonable grasp of both fields as a hobby, I have to say this is about as comforting as leaving my camera in the lobby of my apartment to be stolen.

12/5/2004 4:23 AM

Software

The Great Auk

12/4/2004 8:21 AM

Photo

Maybe There Is Such Thing As Too Big

I made the colossal mistake of stopping by the Mall of America this afternoon. Both ramps full, the place was jam-packed with a host of people to the point of sitting on the floors in spots. Whether or not the milling multitides were having much luck doing holiday shopping, I can't really say -- people had appropriated baby stollers as carts, so I guess some were making due.

Personally, I was in a daze from the moment I stepped in the door. I had intended to at least poke around and get gift ideas, but my main goal quickly turned to people avoidance.

I wonder how many people the woman at the modelling studio booth talked to over the course of the day? At first glance, I thought it was some cult recruiter.. which would have been pretty cool. The text described how the founder had moved to California and had a life-changing experience -- of the photographic, not spiritual, variety. Apparently, it helps to be beautiful when you're in California. The woman manning the booth naturally didn't give me a second glance.

I think I understand the reason coffee shops in Northfield are somewhat underpopulated by college students: high schoolers.

12/4/2004 8:21 AM

Musings

Target

Why is is that the workers at Target are so unbelievable morose and unfriendly? Is this just a Northfield problem? I'm not griping because they chose not to allow bell ringers at their stores, that's their right. I really would rather shop there than at Wal-Mart, but at least at Wal-Mart they're required to be friendly.

I'm serious.. When I'm picking something up from the Bulls-Eye retailer, the first thing I wonder when walking through the door is what novel method the checkout people will employ to make my shopping experience as regrettable as possible. Will they answer simple questions incredulously? (Do they have postage stamps? How could I be so stupid?) What do they use the headsets for? (They don't know.. Why do I care?) Maybe they'll just stare back blankly when I smile. Maybe they'll respond indignantly when I ask if they need to see my debit card.

I realize the job sucks. I know, I've been there. But at least treat me as though I'm contributing a small amount to your paycheck?

12/3/2004 12:12 PM

Musings

TrayBlogger

I'll be posting this handy little app for updating Movable Type blogs shortly.

12/3/2004 9:43 AM

Software

Google

If you're so inclined, here is an interesting article about the nuts and bolts of Google. Evidently they use PC -- not server -- hardware to power the index.

12/2/2004 11:17 AM

Musings

No more Mr. Nice Guy?

From a mail to The Corner (on Laci Peterson, but that can be overlooked):

"Derb---The reason many women marry wretches is because bad boys are undeniably exciting. Nice, stable, intelligent, thoughtful, steady men who take out the garbage and come home on time are dull, and simply do not give off the same pheremones that women respond to.

...

"Most women, I think, resist the impulse, other than to avoid sex very often with their dull men, but a 2 sigma tail to the right of the mean seem to live out their fascinations in some way or other."

Sounds like I need to buy a bike, get arrested, get tatooed, miss some rent payments, and take up some sort of performance art.

Okay, maybe not the performance art. Unless it's magic. Either way it looks like I can anticipate the avoidance of dull sex. Happy thursday!

On a totally, completely unrelated note.. I can't shake the desire to go see this ridiculous parade now.

12/2/2004 8:42 AM

Musings

Impressive European Ignorance

Have you ever heard of Auschwitz? If not, stop reading this immediately and click here.

http://www.aliensonearth.com/glenn/area51.html

12/2/2004 5:00 AM

The Maladjusted

I saw "One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest" and "Cool Hand Luke" over the last few days and couldn't help but notice the similiarities. Both feature men who are in one way or another unfit to live in civil society. Both are trapped in a setting where authority is trying to control everything but they try to break free by winning over their fellow inmates. Both escape and are captured. Both come to realize the extent of their own psychological wounds and both are resigned to facing up to them in harsh ways.

I think martyr is too strong a word to use in describing either R. P. McMurphey or Lucas Jackson. In either case their behavior strikes me as too petulant for their falls onto swords to be completely genuine.

But that would just be me, wouldn't it? Cozying up to the man in spite of principle.

12/1/2004 12:59 PM

Musings

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