tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5903631211568305466..comments2024-03-28T15:48:48.514-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Taking on Ambitious ProjectsDavid Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger97125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30298522865726937152011-12-11T20:34:56.927-08:002011-12-11T20:34:56.927-08:00Another aspect of transforming tomorrow:
Why figh...Another aspect of transforming tomorrow:<br /><br /><i>Why fight orcs online?<br />You may bring Alzeihmer's down<br />Wielding placebo!<br /><br />We aren't all Einsteins;<br />The easy way to do science:<br />Human guinea pig!<br /><br />Feeling unwanted?<br />Google <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=healthy+volunteer" rel="nofollow">"Healthy Volunteer"</a><br />Now you're popular!<br /><br />The Ph.ds wait.<br />Their Nobel Prize depends on<br />Your humble fluids.<br /><br />Retained Forever,<br />My Great Future Monument:<br />Small Prostate Sample.<br /><br />Blindness, Cancer, AIDS;<br />Humble roles in their defeat -<br />What greater glory?<br /><br />We also serve who<br />(Nameless, fameless and happy)<br />Only stand and donate.</i><br /><br />--------------------<br /><br />For maybe a decade I've participated as a healthy volunteer for one or more science projects a year. They've been fun, on the whole; I don't have the head for science but I love making my contribution. I've had my vision tested, the bones in my head MRI'd, my sensitivity to pain tested while <a href="http://www.hitl.washington.edu/projects/vrpain/" rel="nofollow">playing SnowWorld.</a> Currently I am taking either Simvastatin or a placebo in a test of the way proteins in my bodily fluids change over time, a finding which it is hoped will be one footstep in the journey of a thousand miles to defeat Alzheimer's.<br /><br />I highly recommend everyone who can participate in projects such as these. Most of mine have been through the University of Washington's Health Volunteer page. We can't all be geniuses, but we can all make our contribution; without us, medical science stops and then where would we be?<br /><br />--<br /><br />P.S. Am I the only one who hears "Kardashian" and thinks "leathery green Star Trek antagonist"? What a surprise to learn they were in New Jersey!!rewinnhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14008105385364113371noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-67946430805558547312011-12-11T11:15:52.568-08:002011-12-11T11:15:52.568-08:00onward...onward...David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-47455296530022229852011-12-10T17:42:05.768-08:002011-12-10T17:42:05.768-08:00Newt wrote a historical novel about the civil war,...Newt wrote a historical novel about the civil war, going back to that old saw, what if Lee had won at Gettysburg.<br /><br />I must share here a response I gave at Facebook.<br /><br /> Gettysburg. I am at a loss over how many dingbats think that Lee ever had a chance of winning there. His entire strategy was insane. It absolutely depended on the Army of the Potomac sitting in place and getting no wind of his invasion till he was all the way around behind them.<br /><br />That didn't happen..<br /><br />WHen Lee saw that Union forces had got themselves arrayed in front of him, tThe only conceivable path to victory was to utterly annihilate the Army of the Potomac, something he had never come close to doing, even at Chancelorsville or Fredericksburg. So long as an existing AoP - even one defeated at Gettysburg - existed on his flank, he could not march on Washington or anywhere else.<br /><br />That was why he charged up the center. Only a total rout could save his campaign. No mere tactical win could get him out of his jam.<br /><br />Lee was a "brilliant general" at just one thing... Aggressive Defense. Exploiting the then horrific difficulties that the Union faced in coordinating and marching and positioning a stupendous force of 100,000 men. So long as Lee could pounce on some straggler wing and demoralize the AOP, things went great for him, again and again. At a place like Gettysburg, where the AoP was positioned, solid and had clear lines of communications... and merely had to sit? No chance whatsoever.<br /><br />Even aggressive-defense pouncing on an attacking army - Lee's expertise - eventually failed. He did that successfully, one last time, at the Wilderness, and Grant responded by doing what no other AOP commander ever did before him. He shrugged, licked his wounds, and marched FORWARD. Lee had no answer for that except defense, defense, defense. He never surprised the AOP again.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83709066491643335572011-12-10T11:56:55.577-08:002011-12-10T11:56:55.577-08:00Even from Rick Santorum this is mind boggling:
Sh...Even from Rick Santorum this is mind boggling:<br /><br />Should Get Out Of Politics<br /><br />http://2012.talkingpointsmemo.com/2011/12/santorum-science-should-get-out-of-politics.php?ref=fpa>ScienceArizsun Aholahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04967462476458382531noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-52492137840750470672011-12-10T10:50:40.282-08:002011-12-10T10:50:40.282-08:00And here's an oops that shows someone out ther...And here's an oops that shows someone out there is watching out for the Mythbusters crew...<br /><br />http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D9RGDB5G0.htm<br /><br />A cannonball fired at a bomb range ended up punching through a cinderblock wall, bouncing off of the hill behind it, through a house with a family sleeping in it, and into a van that had, five minutes prior, had people in it.<br /><br />Here's a map of the cannonball's path: ttp://www.perceptionbuilder.com/mythbusters-cannonball-map<br /><br />Just... wow.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-88652667473069829472011-12-10T09:42:31.965-08:002011-12-10T09:42:31.965-08:00Speaking of ambitious projects and the current pol...Speaking of ambitious projects and the current political climate, I present for your consideration the following, via CNN - <br /><a href="http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2011/12/09/romney-pokes-fun-at-gingrich-over-space-ideas/" rel="nofollow">TRENDING: Romney jabs Gingrich over space ideas</a>RRLittlehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15682746790237246894noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-36941542416240111242011-12-10T07:28:16.585-08:002011-12-10T07:28:16.585-08:00Dr Brin:
And proof that Sturgeon's law holds....Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />And proof that Sturgeon's law holds.<br /><br />99% of anything is crap.<br /></i><br /><br />Unfortunate wording in the present political climate. The 1% would seem to agree with that assessment.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70825855075708311582011-12-09T20:41:51.085-08:002011-12-09T20:41:51.085-08:00Oh the workmanship! It is absolute proof of the gl...Oh the workmanship! It is absolute proof of the glorious skill levels attainable by an Age of Amateurs!<br /><br />Proof that no achievement of the human past is beyond today's aficionados.<br /><br />And proof that Sturgeon's law holds.<br /><br />99% of anything is crap.David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-68739802434383103752011-12-09T20:36:54.665-08:002011-12-09T20:36:54.665-08:00A Periodic Table for swearing
http://dvice.com/arc...A Periodic Table for swearing<br />http://dvice.com/archives/2011/12/periodic-table.phpDavid Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78724722862362502792011-12-09T18:59:24.583-08:002011-12-09T18:59:24.583-08:00Even a shallow overview of the state of knowledge ...Even a shallow overview of the state of knowledge these days is a lot, and won't get a lot of respect, because it's a shallow overview. Either Crick or Watson cracked that you don't sufficiently understand a scientific concept until you can explain it to a cocktail waitress, but I think that ability to explain arcana to the uninitiated is somewhat rare, throw in the all to human tendency to say"STFU!, I'm an expert." and you can understand some of the hostility.Tim H.noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49554600898444856222011-12-09T14:02:30.560-08:002011-12-09T14:02:30.560-08:00re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read A...re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read Asimov and had been a card carrying member of the Italian Communist Party (which wasn't Leninist anymore in the '80s, btw)... psychohistory is a lot like Leninism: a cadre of professional intellectuals leading the masses to an end they cannot figure out by themselves, (iirc a basic tenet of psychohistory was that people shouldn't be aware of psychohistorical findings about their society...maybe it's an influence from quantum physics, as the act of observing would perturbate the object of the observation?). I wonder if it was a conscious allusion by the Good Doctor or just Zeitgeist.<br />Anyway... imho Newt and a whole bunch of rightwing ideologues are more similar to Elvira Naldorssen (the ideologue of the slaveowning Draka in SM Stirling's Domination novels) than to Hari Seldon., Or, to be very, very kind, to Bel Riose, the last Imperial general whose fights helped the collapse of the empire...Marinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78023610054791930122011-12-09T14:02:07.123-08:002011-12-09T14:02:07.123-08:00re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read A...re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read Asimov and had been a card carrying member of the Italian Communist Party (which wasn't Leninist anymore in the '80s, btw)... psychohistory is a lot like Leninism: a cadre of professional intellectuals leading the masses to an end they cannot figure out by themselves, (iirc a basic tenet of psychohistory was that people shouldn't be aware of psychohistorical findings about their society...maybe it's an influence from quantum physics, as the act of observing would perturbate the object of the observation?). I wonder if it was a conscious allusion by the Good Doctor or just Zeitgeist.<br />Anyway... imho Newt and a whole bunch of rightwing ideologues are more similar to Elvira Naldorssen (the ideologue of the slaveowning Draka in SM Stirling's Domination novels) than to Hari Seldon., Or, to be very, very kind, to Bel Riose, the last Imperial general whose fights helped the collapse of the empire...Marinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-79399545830080566032011-12-09T14:01:55.566-08:002011-12-09T14:01:55.566-08:00re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read A...re: Newt and Hari Seldon... by me, who both read Asimov and had been a card carrying member of the Italian Communist Party (which wasn't Leninist anymore in the '80s, btw)... psychohistory is a lot like Leninism: a cadre of professional intellectuals leading the masses to an end they cannot figure out by themselves, (iirc a basic tenet of psychohistory was that people shouldn't be aware of psychohistorical findings about their society...maybe it's an influence from quantum physics, as the act of observing would perturbate the object of the observation?). I wonder if it was a conscious allusion by the Good Doctor or just Zeitgeist.<br />Anyway... imho Newt and a whole bunch of rightwing ideologues are more similar to Elvira Naldorssen (the ideologue of the slaveowning Draka in SM Stirling's Domination novels) than to Hari Seldon., Or, to be very, very kind, to Bel Riose, the last Imperial general whose fights helped the collapse of the empire...Marinonoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-78598879543698512762011-12-09T13:17:11.898-08:002011-12-09T13:17:11.898-08:00Credit Paul Krugman with pointing this one out:
h...Credit Paul Krugman with pointing this one out:<br /><br />http://hnn.us/articles/newt-gingrich-galactic-historian<br /><br />http://hnn.us/articles/<br />newt-gingrich-galactic-historian<br /><br />Apparently, Newt Gingrich fancies himself after Hari Seldon. Seriously.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-30405602693331570912011-12-09T13:12:14.007-08:002011-12-09T13:12:14.007-08:00Dr Brin:
"Head in hand, they feel the grey m...Dr Brin:<br /><i><br />"Head in hand, they feel the grey matter between their hands threatening to explode. And they want relief. And they have their eureka moment. "I know! I will adopt a stance! And so what if I can't figure out my own stance? I can BORROW one! <br /></i><br /><br />This is almost the same observation that Kurt Vonnegut makes that agreeing or disagreeing with ideas has historically been more about declaring whose side you are on than about whether the idea itself had objective merit.<br /><br />His notion was that throughout most of human history, this state of affairs was not much of a problem, because there was no opportunity to actually act on those ideas in ways that did too much long-term damage.<br /><br />Only very recently in the timeline of humanity has our capability to act on ideas become so potentially dangerous that the objective merits of an idea really do (or at least really should) matter, and really are (or should be) worth debating, affirming, or debunking as to consequences. And yet, we still go on treating ideas as badges of tribal identity.LarryHartnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-37886901293669408772011-12-09T11:15:30.969-08:002011-12-09T11:15:30.969-08:00My colleague researcher and science fiction author...My colleague researcher and science fiction author Dr. Charle Gannon, has offered his own diagnosis of Culture War and why so many millions of our neighbors nod and go along with the Great Big War on Science... and teachers, doctors, journalists, cicil servants, and so on, biliously hating every American knowledge profession.<br /><br />Chuc suggests that in this modern, dizzying age, people respond to that most primal of all fears: fundamental loss of control. <br /> <br />"In short, people are realizing more and more that they know less and less about almost everything in their lives. How many people understand what is going on with the euro and how that's part of a much bigger picture? How many understand ANYthing about how their smartphone works--not what it does, but how it WORKS? What are the ethics of cloning? Of copyright? Of no child left behind versus the death of rigor and excellence? <br /> <br />"Head in hand, they feel the grey matter between their hands threatening to explode. And they want relief. And they have their eureka moment. "I know! I will adopt a stance! And so what if I can't figure out my own stance? I can BORROW one! <br /><br />"I will shop amongst the bazaar (bizarre) of demagogues and choose the one that says the things I like best. And the details--well, they're only details. Someone else will think about those--and besides, I'm fed up with details. (Secretly, where they can't even hear it: "all those details I don't understand make me feel stupid....") <br /> <br />"I suppose, at some level, it has ever been thus. However, I think the Tofflerian Waves and Culture Shocks geometrically amplify the discomfort. The distance between the haves and have nots is growing, yes--but I think the separation between the knows and know-nots is growing just as fast. It is not that they ARE stupid, but they feel that way. <br /><br />"And in a culture which panders to couch-potato passive consumption of media and goods, dumbs down the critical reasoning component of schools (and life), and in which an integrated view of "reality" moves further and further beyond the reach of even the most cognitively proactive folks, they hardly have the role-models or encouragement, or preparation to FIGHT through the tides of uncertainty in their lives and set sail upon the high seas of perpetual indefinitude that is the modern world."David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59024117279585013202011-12-09T11:15:26.581-08:002011-12-09T11:15:26.581-08:00Here's a couple more interesting links for peo...Here's a couple more interesting links for people here. First, an article that makes me feel a tad guilty about poisoning the rats that invaded my house during the summer <a href="http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1112437190/rat-frees-trapped-cagemate-in-new-experiment/" rel="nofollow">about experiments showing rats feel empathy and prosocial behavior</a>. The rats in this study were not trained. Instead, they were put in a situation where through free will, they acted in a manner showing empathy toward their mates (in freeing trapped rats despite the lack of award for that action... and in saving and sharing food for their partners).<br /><br />Now if they'd only become smart enough to realize that my house is not a good place for them to try to move into I'd not mind them. ;)<br /><br />The second is a rather fascinating blog post about <a href="http://www.gameranx.com/features/id/4019/article/skyrim-before-my-time/" rel="nofollow">how the computer game Skyrim showed the writer the sense of surprise and feeling like the world's been upended and they missed it while it was happening</a>. The author talked about how people are so interconnected via Twitter and the like and on one person who had missed the Twitter feeds on Osama bin Laden's death and felt flabbergasted they had been oblivious to a historical event.<br /><br />The link with Skyrim is that the game takes place 200 years after the previous game, Oblivion. In that time, the Empire was invaded and almost conquored, worship of the God Talos was rendered illegal by the peace treaty, and a volcano central to the game before Oblivion (Morrowind) had blown its top, wiping out much of the area. He talks about slowly piecing together this information and struggling to come to terms with having missed out on historical events as they happened.<br /><br />It's an interesting view into the mindset of someone linked by Twitter feeds and the like into society and news and how this has changed people and how they view events and history.<br /><br />Rob H.<br /><br />bleala: the general reaction of Twilight haters to the character of Bella.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45374565491826889222011-12-09T11:03:19.529-08:002011-12-09T11:03:19.529-08:00@Sociotard:
"Also, posting about Voyager, I ...@Sociotard:<br /><br />"Also, posting about Voyager, I keep wanting to sing:<br /><i>This was a triumph.<br />I'm making a note here: HUGE SUCCESS.</i>"<br /><br />That's EXACTLY what I thought too :D<br /><br /><br />As soon as it was mentioned that Voyager was still out there doing science the words "I'm doing science and I'm still alive" rang through my head with the little tune.Coreyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06487646409063141004noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27776211669447040462011-12-08T23:24:32.526-08:002011-12-08T23:24:32.526-08:0030 Corporations Spend More on Lobbying Than Taxes&...30 Corporations Spend More on Lobbying Than Taxes"<br /><br />It was worse than that 29 of the 30 paid NO taxes - they got money back from the Government!<br /> <br />Total profits -163.7 Billion<br />Total Lobbying - 0.47 Billion<br />Total from the government - 10 Billion<br /><br />With profits of 164 Billion they should have PAID 57 Billion in Tax - instead they got 10 Billion !!!!<br /><br />The 0.47 Billion in lobbying costs is peanuts - they got 67 Billion for it a 14255% return (or 142 times as much as they spent)duncan cairncrossnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20099926024344791522011-12-08T22:03:43.059-08:002011-12-08T22:03:43.059-08:00Check out the "ten unhappiest cities in Ameri...Check out the "ten unhappiest cities in America." The only blue city in the lot - #9 Detroit - has serious economic reasons. The others are all sunny locales, filled with Values Voters eager to proclaim that they know better how to live. <br /><br /><i>"Who wouldn’t be happy living in Birmingham, the cultural beacon of the Southeast? Most of its residents, it seems. The number of people feeling the blues all or most of the time is eighth-highest among our 100 cities. <br /><br />Why? The crime rate here is the tenth-highest in the nation, and the murder rate seventh-highest.</i><br /><br />http://health.yahoo.net/articles/depression/photos/saddest-cities-in-america#4<br /><br />http://health.yahoo.net/articles/depression<br />/photos/saddest-cities-in-america#4David Brinhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-85296797907981531082011-12-08T19:00:46.646-08:002011-12-08T19:00:46.646-08:0030 Corporations Spend More on Lobbying Than Taxes ...<i>30 Corporations Spend More on Lobbying Than Taxes</i> <br /><br />If they were just lobbying for lower taxes? Yes, that might be silly. That isn't the case.<br /><br />Many companies lobby for better conditions for their operation. That could mean stricter piracy enforcement from Disney, or more lax banking regulations from Bank of America, or a change in import duties from Toyota.sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-6195962423598489382011-12-08T17:02:14.951-08:002011-12-08T17:02:14.951-08:00There's something wrong with this:
30 Corpora...There's something wrong with this:<br /><br /><a href="http://thinkprogress.org/economy/2011/12/07/383779/30-big-corporations-taxes-lobbying/" rel="nofollow">30 Corporations Spend More on Lobbying Than Taxes</a><br /><br />And this:<br /><a href="http://t.co/Cz4ewbiX" rel="nofollow">Jamming the #protest tweets in Russia</a>Tony Fiskhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14578160528746657971noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-51195782929015758072011-12-08T13:33:43.946-08:002011-12-08T13:33:43.946-08:00I recall reading the copper wire from a penny joke...I recall reading the copper wire from a penny joke in a book that would be at least 40 years old by now. (Although since I read it as a teenager I can't recall very much else) Crucially the two people involved were Aberdonians, infamous for having a reputation for miserliness since probably the 19th century or even before.<br /><br />Same with the candle one, although it was a miser rather than a Scotsman. Speaking as a purebred mongrel Scot and a bit of a miser, I'm not offended by them.guthriehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/17992984293423290387noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-50639176355202564052011-12-08T12:24:01.635-08:002011-12-08T12:24:01.635-08:00The Abigail Borah bit was interesting. go to 1:04...The Abigail Borah bit was interesting. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yncq4dwBhEc&feature=player_detailpage#t=64s" rel="nofollow">go to 1:04 to hear her</a>sociotardhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11697154298087412934noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-4968300921766750192011-12-08T10:00:19.245-08:002011-12-08T10:00:19.245-08:00Here's a fun segment that happened in the clim...Here's a fun segment that happened in the climate meeting in South Africa as reported by the New York Times: http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/science/earth/us-climate-envoy-seems-to-shift-position-on-timetable-for-new-international-talks.html<br /><br />http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/09/science/earth/us-climate-envoy-<br />seems-to-shift-position-on-timetable-for-new-international-talks.html<br /><br />"Mr. Stern’s statement to delegates from more than 190 nations at the annual climate conference was disrupted by a 21-year-old Middlebury College junior, Abigail Borah, who told the assembly that she would speak for the United States because Mr. Stern had forfeited the right to do so.<br /><br />“I am speaking on behalf of the United States of America because my negotiators cannot,” said Ms. Borah, who is attending the conference as a representative of the International Youth Climate Movement. “The obstructionist Congress has shackled justice and delayed ambition for far too long. I am scared for my future. 2020 is too late to wait. We need an urgent path to a fair, ambitious and legally binding treaty.”<br /><br /> Ms. Borah, who is from Princeton, N.J., added: “We need leaders who will commit to real change, not empty rhetoric. Keep your promises. Keep our hope alive.”<br /><br />Scores of delegates and observers gave her a sustained ovation. Then the South African authorities threw her out of the conference. “That’s O.K.,” she said later by telephone. “I think I got my point across.”"<br /><br />It's nice to see a young American willing to stand up and take a stand that our politicians are too scared to. Though no doubt she'll be arrested as a terrorist and thrown in jail forever after this "outburst" without her Constitutional rights to a trial. Though maybe that's just my cynicism speaking.<br /><br />Rob H.Acacia H.https://www.blogger.com/profile/07678539067303911329noreply@blogger.com