Yesterday I was fortunate enough to run into Jimmy somewhat unexpectedly.
It's an exotic thrill not unlike bearing fleeting witness to a sasquatch in the wild.
Put's anything from National Geographic to shame.
Anyway that's all...
Carry on.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
Monday, March 22, 2010
Sleeping
Sure it has it's difficulties, but even those have benefits:
"...in elderly people, moderate apnea may in fact extend their lives rather than shorten it."
The boy-scout in me must insist that as I wake up during the night, I have my pillow ready, the better to disrupt breathing, and prolong life...Muahahahahahahaaaaaa! or whatever.
Via Instapundit
"...in elderly people, moderate apnea may in fact extend their lives rather than shorten it."
The boy-scout in me must insist that as I wake up during the night, I have my pillow ready, the better to disrupt breathing, and prolong life...Muahahahahahahaaaaaa! or whatever.
Via Instapundit
Saturday, March 20, 2010
Happy Birthday Grace!!
What a lovely spring birthday, what a pretty girl of one year of age!
Fidgeting with photos now...more to this post soon.
Fidgeting with photos now...more to this post soon.
Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Localized Delivery
For Nitric Oxides would help circulation.
I knew someone who could have, possibly, benefited greatly from such a delivery.
Socks that deliver greater circulation.
Interesting.
Via Instapudit
I knew someone who could have, possibly, benefited greatly from such a delivery.
Socks that deliver greater circulation.
Interesting.
Via Instapudit
Monday, March 15, 2010
Firematic Racing For Spring
I noticed this video again. Very nice.
A little more:
I will only state that hoses have a mind of their own...and wire as well...and chords...willful beasts...
"Until recently, mathematicians studying knots never worried about the properties of the rope or string used to tie their knots. They were only concerned with the way the knot wrapped around itself and ignored real-life questions such as whether a particular knot can be constructed in practice. Their mathematical knots were constructed out of string that had no thickness, just as the figures of geometry are constructed from idealised lines with no thickness.
In the real world, of course, thickness makes a difference: for example, there are lots of knots you can tie with a thin length of string that you can't using the same length of thicker garden hose. The crucial factor for tying real knots is not the width of the string, but the ratio of the length to the diameter. The smaller this ratio becomes, the harder it gets to construct a given knot. Below a certain threshold in this ratio, you can't construct the knot at all."
More when I get back...they wish to be tangled...I know this for a fact.
Update: I'm back. My gut rumbles thinking about lines tangling...they rumble and think as they tangle.
So be it. I had a question years ago.
Is this tangle a more complicated system and does entropy enter the frustration...
I remain frustratedly unconvinced.
Another Update:
Must I hate New Scientist as well?
Will attempt to fix that tomorrow...
Update: Links altered.
A little more:
I will only state that hoses have a mind of their own...and wire as well...and chords...willful beasts...
"Until recently, mathematicians studying knots never worried about the properties of the rope or string used to tie their knots. They were only concerned with the way the knot wrapped around itself and ignored real-life questions such as whether a particular knot can be constructed in practice. Their mathematical knots were constructed out of string that had no thickness, just as the figures of geometry are constructed from idealised lines with no thickness.
In the real world, of course, thickness makes a difference: for example, there are lots of knots you can tie with a thin length of string that you can't using the same length of thicker garden hose. The crucial factor for tying real knots is not the width of the string, but the ratio of the length to the diameter. The smaller this ratio becomes, the harder it gets to construct a given knot. Below a certain threshold in this ratio, you can't construct the knot at all."
More when I get back...they wish to be tangled...I know this for a fact.
Update: I'm back. My gut rumbles thinking about lines tangling...they rumble and think as they tangle.
So be it. I had a question years ago.
Is this tangle a more complicated system and does entropy enter the frustration...
I remain frustratedly unconvinced.
Another Update:
Must I hate New Scientist as well?
Will attempt to fix that tomorrow...
Update: Links altered.
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Chile WWi Trivia Contest
Well the answer was Aberdeen proving ground and Shoepeg corn!
There were no winners, and fewer attempters...Jimmy had a nice throw, but the prize will be rolled into the next contest.
There were no winners, and fewer attempters...Jimmy had a nice throw, but the prize will be rolled into the next contest.
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Centre Cannot Hold
"Turning and turning in the widening gyre The falcon cannot hear the falconer; Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold; Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world, The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere The ceremony of innocence is drowned; The best lack all conviction, while the worst Are full of passionate intensity..."
Or just a patriotic pinwheel.
Your call.
Chille Chaos
Sadly the entry did not make the starter's clock.
Enjoyed by all, but ineligible for the competition.
Update: In what way is this chile related to WW1 and the noble efforts of our nation's best honing our war making capabilities and efficiencies up to this very day?
There is a prize for the correct answer.
Friday, March 5, 2010
Tilt Shift
I love tilt shift.
It is so fascinating and engaging when it is done superbly.
A proper adjective for the artistically compelling tilt shift...synecdochic...synecdochal?
Beautiful.
via LGF
(Update: So I took a look at Little Green Footballs and it was very sad. Charles Johnson is off of his rocker at this point. He can say what he wants now and I value all of the content he has provided for so long. Sad though, it bums me out. He is off somewhere very strange...I wish him well, no venom. He provides all you need to discount him all by his lonesome.)
It is so fascinating and engaging when it is done superbly.
A proper adjective for the artistically compelling tilt shift...synecdochic...synecdochal?
Beautiful.
via LGF
(Update: So I took a look at Little Green Footballs and it was very sad. Charles Johnson is off of his rocker at this point. He can say what he wants now and I value all of the content he has provided for so long. Sad though, it bums me out. He is off somewhere very strange...I wish him well, no venom. He provides all you need to discount him all by his lonesome.)
The Sandpit from Sam O'Hare on Vimeo.
14th Amendment
It has occurred to me that the entire rigmarole of writing and enacting legislation which overlaps or repeats itself goes back to reconstruction. Beyond reconstruction, sure, but for this post let's stop there.
When I see politicians and their fourth estate sycophants addressing a texting while driving law, after a cell phone while driving law, after a perfectly adequate for these purposes while much further reaching than reasonable driving while distracted law, I become fed up and disgusted.
Enter the 14th amendment.
While complicated, may I, and correct me please, suggest that the states signed on to a constitution which they routinely violated. No surprise there. Precisely why the bill of rights are "amendments". Folks wouldn't sign on until they had put the obvious into the contract. They didn't buy the assurances that such simple notions were guaranteed. Their fears were immediately confirmed.
Enter the civil war and it's aftermath.
States were enacting legislation in clear violation of the constitution.
Federal areas, to put it crudely, could not violate the constitution, but states could?
This loose framework of separate states had such independent latitude that they could ignore the constitution based on local majorities and the caprices of local legislative bodies?
So, instead of simply applying the constitution which prevailed over local construction, even before reconstruction, folks, politicians, were presented with some manner of difficulty and political opportunity which they utilized to gain personal notoriety and political capital.
Those opposed to such practices eventually passed a constitutional amendment which did not secure or enhance freedoms or processes which were not clearly available through enforcing existing frameworks and which have subsequently cluster fucked, with frightening Byzantine legal avenues and potential for unintended consequences, our previously plainly delineated liberties and rights.
What were the local elections like up north?
Clearly they asserted that they needed to change the constitution in order to make the constitution valid.
The same political garbage we see today.
I will reread this tomorrow as I can't see through my contacts. Maybe I am just ignorant.
Further reading with clear eyes is in order.
(Update: rereading now. Very complicated matters but essentially the constitution...well...
It endows us with no right whatsoever. We have those rights. They may be denied us by abusive governance or policing or what have you, but they are ours by virtue of being here alive.)
Here is a nice quote from this weeks proceedings regarding Chicago and gun rights:
Gura---"Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional."
Here is a lovely SCOTUS roundup.
Perhaps Cruikshank is better.
How can anyone--oh, these are lawyers---but how can anyone not understand that rights are not granted. They are.
How can anyone disagree with this:
"And a second piece at Balkinization today argues that instead of overturning the Slaughter-House Cases, as the petitioners suggested, the Court should overturn its 1875 decision in United States v. Cruikshank, which held that the Bill of Rights did not “grant” most rights, but instead “secured” them against government interference."
Slaughterhouse and privileges and immunities and due process and arrghhh...what about don't tread on me?
If one wishes it is interesting to read:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704548604575097811657663250.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
and
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/conlaw/incorp.htm
and on and on for a lifetime...
When I see politicians and their fourth estate sycophants addressing a texting while driving law, after a cell phone while driving law, after a perfectly adequate for these purposes while much further reaching than reasonable driving while distracted law, I become fed up and disgusted.
Enter the 14th amendment.
While complicated, may I, and correct me please, suggest that the states signed on to a constitution which they routinely violated. No surprise there. Precisely why the bill of rights are "amendments". Folks wouldn't sign on until they had put the obvious into the contract. They didn't buy the assurances that such simple notions were guaranteed. Their fears were immediately confirmed.
Enter the civil war and it's aftermath.
States were enacting legislation in clear violation of the constitution.
Federal areas, to put it crudely, could not violate the constitution, but states could?
This loose framework of separate states had such independent latitude that they could ignore the constitution based on local majorities and the caprices of local legislative bodies?
So, instead of simply applying the constitution which prevailed over local construction, even before reconstruction, folks, politicians, were presented with some manner of difficulty and political opportunity which they utilized to gain personal notoriety and political capital.
Those opposed to such practices eventually passed a constitutional amendment which did not secure or enhance freedoms or processes which were not clearly available through enforcing existing frameworks and which have subsequently cluster fucked, with frightening Byzantine legal avenues and potential for unintended consequences, our previously plainly delineated liberties and rights.
What were the local elections like up north?
Clearly they asserted that they needed to change the constitution in order to make the constitution valid.
The same political garbage we see today.
I will reread this tomorrow as I can't see through my contacts. Maybe I am just ignorant.
Further reading with clear eyes is in order.
(Update: rereading now. Very complicated matters but essentially the constitution...well...
It endows us with no right whatsoever. We have those rights. They may be denied us by abusive governance or policing or what have you, but they are ours by virtue of being here alive.)
Here is a nice quote from this weeks proceedings regarding Chicago and gun rights:
Gura---"Justice Sotomayor, States may have grown accustomed to violating the rights of American citizens, but that does not bootstrap those violations into something that is constitutional."
Here is a lovely SCOTUS roundup.
Perhaps Cruikshank is better.
How can anyone--oh, these are lawyers---but how can anyone not understand that rights are not granted. They are.
How can anyone disagree with this:
"And a second piece at Balkinization today argues that instead of overturning the Slaughter-House Cases, as the petitioners suggested, the Court should overturn its 1875 decision in United States v. Cruikshank, which held that the Bill of Rights did not “grant” most rights, but instead “secured” them against government interference."
Slaughterhouse and privileges and immunities and due process and arrghhh...what about don't tread on me?
If one wishes it is interesting to read:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704548604575097811657663250.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
and
http://www.law.umkc.edu/faculty/projects/FTrials/conlaw/incorp.htm
and on and on for a lifetime...
Thursday, March 4, 2010
Our Esteemed Colleague
Jay has sent along a piece of news which would tantalize the "Gator", if he still stopped by this blog.
I will post this Dwarf theme park link and hope that the honorable sir finds it along the way.
Poor feller get's less 'puter time these days, but I know he loves the little ones.
Thank you Jay!
UPDATE: Just to be clear, as these last several days have been rich in discussion of altitude: Gator is the one with less 'puter time.
Kingdom of the Little People employees Yang Jinlu, 18, left,
and Zhang Yinghua, 37, are seen at work in Kunming, China.
(Shiho Fukada)
Oh!---and no jokes here!!!!
My niece has to take an asian bus in the next few days and I don't want any of the little folks in steerage (a.k.a. the baggage compartment) to feel insulted. The may take it upon themselves to keep kicking under her seat and she has the potential to arrive unrested.
I will post this Dwarf theme park link and hope that the honorable sir finds it along the way.
Poor feller get's less 'puter time these days, but I know he loves the little ones.
Thank you Jay!
UPDATE: Just to be clear, as these last several days have been rich in discussion of altitude: Gator is the one with less 'puter time.
 |
Kingdom of the Little People employees Yang Jinlu, 18, left,
and Zhang Yinghua, 37, are seen at work in Kunming, China.
(Shiho Fukada)
Oh!---and no jokes here!!!!
My niece has to take an asian bus in the next few days and I don't want any of the little folks in steerage (a.k.a. the baggage compartment) to feel insulted. The may take it upon themselves to keep kicking under her seat and she has the potential to arrive unrested.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Holy Sheesh
Pat Garrett has only been deceased for 26 years.
Feels like over a hundred, but that's just me.
I find the saga becomes more compelling towards his last years.
It involves Presidential politics, Roswell, conspiracy theories, and goats!
Goats...always trouble!
(That last led to a de Havilland joke in the comments!.)
Volokh had a post and then I found myself a readin'...
Feels like over a hundred, but that's just me.
I find the saga becomes more compelling towards his last years.
It involves Presidential politics, Roswell, conspiracy theories, and goats!
Goats...always trouble!
(That last led to a de Havilland joke in the comments!.)
Volokh had a post and then I found myself a readin'...
On Trout, and Lucy's Touching Story...
on threats carried through upon and across species, upon numbers and ages inscrutably gone by:
So Maggie's Farm, aside from being such a rich resource, and a Yankee one, has links to several fascinating articles.
One on a book investigating the rainbow trout's decidedly complicated history and man's involvement.
One links to a piece on Gobekli Tepe, an 11,500 year old worshiping site, and it is large in scope and implication, very large. That date is a staggering figure. Just for reference there were still Woolly Mammoths alive at that time. No surprise to me because I always just wait for the timeline to be adjusted, but this changes all the books.
Which brings up numbers....
Paddy sent me to two RadioLab episodes and they were excellent.
One on numbers.
One which is a little more difficult to describe...what is it to be sentient, communicate, be human...It is the story of Lucy, a primate raised essentially human, and also a primate facility in Iowa which has had some stunning interactions with their charges. A MUST LISTEN.
An hour of good material each, for those radio programs...Lucy is currently on the front center...numbers can be found under the player to the right.
I have read of the Iowa institution before, I wonder if I blogged about it...will look for more either way.
Benford has gained a lot of steam and I have seen this fascinating notion...very cool...
will have to wait to get more...runnin' late.
Update: Paul Erdos--
It is enough to give Connecticut's own Kevin Bacon a douche chill.
So Maggie's Farm, aside from being such a rich resource, and a Yankee one, has links to several fascinating articles.
One on a book investigating the rainbow trout's decidedly complicated history and man's involvement.
One links to a piece on Gobekli Tepe, an 11,500 year old worshiping site, and it is large in scope and implication, very large. That date is a staggering figure. Just for reference there were still Woolly Mammoths alive at that time. No surprise to me because I always just wait for the timeline to be adjusted, but this changes all the books.
Which brings up numbers....
Paddy sent me to two RadioLab episodes and they were excellent.
One on numbers.
One which is a little more difficult to describe...what is it to be sentient, communicate, be human...It is the story of Lucy, a primate raised essentially human, and also a primate facility in Iowa which has had some stunning interactions with their charges. A MUST LISTEN.
An hour of good material each, for those radio programs...Lucy is currently on the front center...numbers can be found under the player to the right.
I have read of the Iowa institution before, I wonder if I blogged about it...will look for more either way.
Benford has gained a lot of steam and I have seen this fascinating notion...very cool...
will have to wait to get more...runnin' late.
Update: Paul Erdos--
- children were referred to as "epsilons" (because in mathematics, particularly calculus, an arbitrarily small positive quantity is commonly denoted by that Greek letter (ε));
- women were "bosses";
- men were "slaves";
- people who stopped doing math had "died";
- people who physically died had "left";
- alcoholic drinks were "poison";
- music was "noise";
- people who had married were "captured";
- people who had divorced were "liberated";
- to give a mathematical lecture was "to preach" and
- to give an oral exam to a student was "to torture" him/her.
It is enough to give Connecticut's own Kevin Bacon a douche chill.
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