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May 16th, 2008
 | 06:23 pm - New iPod
My boyfriend now has his own iPod. We were doing fine sharing mine, but he just wanted his own. Over dinner we discussed the most important issue, what he would name it. And what various fictional characters would name their iPod.
iTodd
iLovett
Sweeney's Pod
iPie
qPod
iSea
JukePod
Magic Harp
iKryptonite
Those are the names I can remember.
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May 8th, 2008
 | 09:11 am - Why No Posting
Well I'm snowed under at work. Over the last couple days I've had to fill in and do lots of paperwork and that's on top of the accounting I should be doing, but has been put off until I have more time. Next week hopefully. A fitness club in our area went belly up and we're taking in their members. One part out of goodness and one part that we hope that taking them in will result in lots of good business for us. So far it seems to be resulting in a good amount of new cash flow but it might also be resulting in many new expenses in the form of more employees we need to hire. Remains to be seen if the new revenue will out pace the new expenses.
Secondly I am still out of the habit of posting here. I need to do more diary type things as that is what I supposedly am doing here.
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May 1st, 2008
| 08:13 pm - The Network
As per usual trying to get two computers to share resources is only slightly more difficult than doing taxes. Oh well... As usual the problem was my firewall program being paranoid. Once the right local permissions were set things got working, mostly. I'm going to try rebooting now to see if that solves the rest of the problems.
Edit: And now things are working well. Reminder to self: when you have a problem try checking the microsoft "security" settings as well as the "sharing" permissions. It is insane, but that's what needs to be done to share a resource on a network at times.
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April 28th, 2008
 | 11:12 pm - Amazing Walking Vehicles
In 2006 Boston Dynamics, a DARPA contractor, filmed this footage (posted on You Tube) of it prototype for a robotic 'army mule' for carrying supplies over rough ground. Interesting, somewhat impressive. This footage posted in March is getting close to incredible. The machine is amazingly like an animal quadruped when navigating unsure footing or a slippery surface. I could not believe that it could recover from a slip on ice like that. This makes me really think that we might be a decade or two away from robots that move like robots in stories, though obviously not smart/self aware ones. I'm not sure how actually useful these will be for the army, but was a nice project.
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April 26th, 2008
 | 02:56 pm - A Film I Will See
There were five of them: the Indian, the ex-slave, the explosive expert, the masked bandit, and ... Charles Darwin! These are the heroes have united to fight Governor Odious in a story told in style a classic Kippling British Colonial Archetypes Adventure that is the tale within another tale about two patients in a hospital. All set to Beethoven's Syn No. 7. With Lee Pace, the lead from Pushing Daisies, also playing the lead of the bandit/male patient telling the story.
Tarsem the director of this work filmed the disjointed mess The Cell and was buried due to its critical and (more importantly) commercial failure. To make his new movie he is reported to have used his own money and piggybacked on commercial productions in 24 countries! The trailer (embedded bellow from YouTube or in even more glorious high definition on the film's website) looks like this movie will also be a mess. But it looks like exactly the sort of mess that I like seeing. But I am unable to figure out where the limited release will be. No word on the official website and I think that should be one of the primary things on a website about a movie. "When/where can I see it?"
I mean how could I not want to see a story where Charles Darwin is one of the good guys? (Please don't take that as a challenge Hollywood.) More in an LA Times Article last June.
( YouTube Trailer )
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| 12:04 pm - Good for the Goose...
Doublethink, being able to simultaneously hold the thought that what is wrong in one case is right when the case apply to ones own wants and opinions, is not news. Particularly when it comes to religion. But I noted the argument in this NPR story about Marriage in Alabama had an interesting familiar ring.
My transcript of part of Andrew Yeager's story:
Yeager: Father Tom Ackerman acknowledges the state's right to regulate marriages.
Catholic Priest Tom Ackerman: "But I also have a certain moral obligation whatever their legal status is they are Catholics. From a Catholic perspective according to cannon law, according to church law, they have a right to receive the sacraments."
Yeager: When Ackerman performs a wedding he acts on behalf of the church and the state. If the church believes the marriage is legitimate while the state does not he says that encroaches on his religious freedom. In Pennsylvania last year a federal court concluded a US citizen has a fundamental right to marry, as does an undocumented alien. Wait, isn't that the argument that gays and allies make about marriage? Fundamental right rather than something that can be restricted to just the approved pairings?
Of course if this same priest were asked if gays have a fundamental right to marry or if it encroached on our religious freedom he probably say, "No, of course not." I think if I could get in contact with him I would like to see how he would explain that it violates his religious freedom to not be able to marry two Catholics while it does not violate the religious freedom of a United Church of Christ minister (Or Unitarian, or Reform Judism, etc.) who is not allowed to marry a gay couple.
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April 25th, 2008
 | 09:43 am - Dream Log: Signs and Portents
Sleeping at my parents house last night I dreamed that I went out the window from which the glass was absent. There was a bush there and a raven was attacking another. The raven's breast was pierced by the others sharp beak and I thought that very odd. And they seem now, in retrospect, to have had the wrong bills for ravens though it was clear enough that is what they were at the time. Others soon joined in the attack killing the unfortunate bird and then they began to feed. I did not stay to watch the denouement of the play, for though interesting and portentous it was also unpleasant to watch. Going back through the window I found there was narrow way to the left side of the frame. It opened on a great deep hollow, terraced and landscaped. There was a flame there on the uppermost terrace hidden among the shrubs and it was meant to start a burn of dead wood. If I lived in another age I would take this as meaning something deep and important. Or perhaps that I had noticed something yesterday that seemed off.
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April 22nd, 2008
 | 03:10 pm - Dis-eases of the Thinking Meat
What lessons can be learned from this New Scientist Article about a teacher who became a pedophile because of a tumor? As the a neurologist quoted in the article rightly points out the lesson is not that every pedophile needs a MRI. This is an unusual case where it is clear from his past behavior that something had changed and the discovered of the tumor made it clear what had happened. It would be unusual if there were any other person with this particular problem currently. But it does point out the interesting and frightening problem of something going wrong with our brains. And that even if we recognize that something is wrong we probably won't correctly self-diagnose. I am also struck by the at least superficial similarity to the case of Charles Whitman, who also recognized in his suicide letter, "I am supposed to be an average reasonable and intelligent young man. However, lately (I cannot recall when it started) I have been a victim of many unusual and irrational thoughts." I am also reminded of the death of a friend. He had a brain tumor and it also made him behave differently (we think) in the year leading up to his death, though not in the same dramatic way or with such terrible consequences for the people around him. My grandmother died of the same particular cancer though I do not know if she exhibited changes in the way she acted that may have been a clue to the growing glioma.
So if anyone notices me being unable to copy simple drawings and/or letters by hand coupled with changes in behavior, make me get an MRI.
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April 19th, 2008
 | 01:30 pm - Orange Chiffon Cake, Again
Because I can! Oh and I now am the proud owner of a two part tube pan. Yes, indeedy! This should make taking the cake out of the pan much less of a challenge. I just hope it does not leak in my oven. Fingers crossed. If this works expect chiffon cakes around once or twice a month. And I'll be baking five or six for Worldcon, they're just so much fun!
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April 18th, 2008
| 12:07 pm - Sharing the weird Humor
Still Alive is a song written by Jonathan Coulton for a computer game called Portal. Having not played a computer game since Civilization II there has been a bit of a lag in me learning about this. But a comic in XKCD made me go search for GLaDOS and I discovered a wonderfully evil homicidal computer system through the power of YouTube. And that's when I heard the credits song from Portal. It's just so darn catchy and fun. And even better there is this video that's a tribute of a beloved (but dead) computer system made using a still working one that is very fun. But don't take my word for it, go see the Animated Tribute by Eric Schwartz to what must have been his favorite OS/hardware. If you're a 1980s computer geek this will be especially amusing.
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April 17th, 2008
| 03:52 pm - Looking for a Reading Device
The Amazon Kindle is far, far too expensive for me at $400. Something like $200 would be acceptable if the device is known to be pretty durable, as in it would last me more than 5 years (~40/year). But given the performance of most personal electronic devices $100 or less would be more like it (~33-50/year). Then I won't feel cheated when it dies in two to three years time. What do I need it for? Reading html, plain text, and pdf books that I've downloaded from places like Gutenberg Project, Tor, and LooseID Press. Mostly HTML because I end up reading them on my computer's browser and I still somewhat dislike .pdfs even though FoxIt does not kill my computer like Adobe used to. And with income from my job coming in and a fat refund from the US Government I should be able to afford one soon.
So anyone have something that works for them?
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April 16th, 2008
 | 04:21 pm - Trucks and Snow
Well I'm trying to figure out if I'm going to transport a dinning set this evening. It is looking unlikely due to snow. Not so much the snow in town as the snow out at my parents' place. It means that I cannot borrow their vehicle. So the adventure of getting a new dinning set will have to happen on Sunday. Oh yeah, forgot to mention that one of our friends is giving us a nice free dinning set. I think it will be much nicer than the one we have and, even better, it has six chairs instead of two.
Update: Problems solved. A nice enclosed Chevy Blazer and two trips has solved the problem. We have a nice new table and six chairs for the low, low price of $3.00 of gas. Plus a nice new set of dishes as well. I'm quite happy.
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April 13th, 2008
| 09:58 am - Pressure Isn't Disapprobation
Disapprobation is a 50-cent word meaning strong disapproval and condemnation. And that's not what I think most Obama supporters are doing in putting out the line that Clinton should get out of the race for party unity. This is no different than any other campaign narrative or hypothesis. It is one part genuine view of what would be best for the Democratic party going forward, to end the race sooner so that McCain can be the target of the million plus little donations flowing to our candidate.
The second part is pure political strategy, unsurprisingly since this is politics. If it actually succeeds and Clinton gracefully leaves the campaign it is obviously good for our candidate. If she does not leave, but people agree with our argument (party unity, clearly ahead, stronger against McCain, etc) then it may help to win the remaining contests. People love jumping on a band wagon with the winner.
( Political Number Crunching )
So why is it wrong to suggest she should get out for the good of the party if the only thing staying in does is waste Democratic campaign money?
Do you really think that if the roles were reversed Sen. Clinton's supporters would not try to put public pressure on Sen. Obama to drop out?
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April 12th, 2008
 | 02:26 pm - Strategic Cake Reserve
Well the second cake did not fall, but it did fall out of the pan. I'm not sure if this was a function of not enough baking or the poppyseeds. But the cake survived its premature removal from the pan since it only dropped a few inches. But next time I shall be sure to give the pan an extra washing with soap and probably leave out the poppyseed as I think they're good, but not a huge positive. And I'll let it bake for nearly an hour rather than just 55 minutes.
This cake was rapped on the counter, did have the right amount of leavening, and only had an extra tablespoon of flour. The texture is finer and the cake's consistency seems overall better. I think that next time I shall get it exactly right. And it is not even that hard a cake to make.
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| 11:37 am - Nativi-Tea! Festivi-Tea!
Tea and cake or Death? Tea and cake or Death! Little Red Cookbook! Little Red Cookbook! I'm baking another cake. Because I intend to be prepared when the revolution comes. What, you don't think that revolutionaries will like cake? I think they will and no one who can bake a great cake will be up against the wall when the revolution comes.
Onto prezzies. Like Queenie I love prezzies. If for some reason you want to make me squee with delight I suggest alcohol. Beer, vodka, wine, it does not matter what, I'm an equal opportunity souse, fewer hops is better, but I drink most anything.
If you just want tea and cake then you shall have cake for guests are also like presents. If you want to eat something besides cake you should bring it. If you want to show up well do so, for the time of people starting to arrive shall be three. And people shall also arrive after three and if the lateness of their coming is as late as six there may be drinking. But no one should feel pressure to drink anything other than tea. And if you want you can have a silly hat to wear while you drink tea.
So, tea at three with me. If you're in Denver. And you can get to 861 Cherry Street (call me at 720-979-5793 or push #4212 on the boxen thingy). If you are not in Denver then you also shall have tea and cake if you care to make it. I would do it for you but the post gets very upset when I try to mail tea. If you drink hard drinks bring alcohol. I only have enough for a dozen or two to get really drunk and we would not want to run out. Or we could go out.
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April 11th, 2008
| 11:06 pm - Orange Chiffon Cake
Well it was hard to get it out of the pan, but I'm calling this a success. The bits of cake I snooched from the bottom of the pan were good. It is... foamier than I expected. Somewhat large bubbles inside the cake. This may be due to altitude. Also I forgot to rap the pan against the counter before putting it in the oven. A two part pan would be a lot easier to get the darn thing out. I may have to buy one if this is to become part of my regular repertoire. It seems very soft and tea appropriate. Which is good considering that I'm having tea with friends starting about 3pm tomorrow. I am divided about making another chiffon cake (lemon this time) or maybe making something else. I don't want to run out of cake. Perhaps some sort of lemon-poppyseed pound cake would the the way to go. Then again I could try again and see if further adjustments might make it better. Whip the egg whites just a touch longer, see if that changes anything.
But hey, it did not fall. That's a success for mile high baking with a that was not professionally tested for use at altitude. And it's very, very good. Just not totally perfect... yet. Oh, and first use of the stand mixer this month. I should bake bread again soon.
For the record my high altitude adjustment was to reduce sugar from 1 1/2 to 1 3/8 (or take out two tablespoons) and increase flour from 1 1/3 to 1 1/2. I also meant to reduce the amount of baking powder, but instead I put in a reduced amount of baking soda. (How did I make that mistake?) The lemon version calls for baking soda (I've checked that three times to be sure) so I may try that tomorrow. The cake baked for 58 minutes. My oven may have been a touch hot, I need to find a good accurate in oven thermometer, I don't trust the one built into the oven.
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April 9th, 2008
| 01:46 pm - Adding It Up
Right now (and keeping in mind that this is only right now, lots of months to go) based on state-by-state polling both Sen. Obama and Clinton will take CA, CT, DC, DE, HI, IL, MA, ME, MD, MN, NJ, NM, NV, NY, OH, PA, RI & VT. That's (55+7+3+3+4+21+12+4+10+10+15+5+5+31+20+21+4+3=) 233 electoral votes, with 270 needed to win where are the other 37 for each candidate? Clinton probably will get Florida and West Virginia for another 32, five shy of winning using today's polls. Using the same methodology Obama does not get those states but does get Iowa, Oregon, North Dakota, and Washington, for 28 and nine short. But he comes close or ties in polls in Colorado, Nebraska, New Hampshire, South Carolina, Texas, and Wisconsin. Both candidates come close to a win in Michigan against McCain and that would handily win it with 17 EV.
So each has a viable path to victory even though the polls have both of them losing or at best tying (impossible in an actual election) right now, but Obama's path to victory looks more likely given the larger number of states he is close in and has the possibility of being a blowout victory should he actually manage to take Texas (there is absolutely no way that a Republican can win without Texas. Impossible. And right now the polls are showing him just 1% down there.) And even if each race shakes down exactly as the polls predict right now Obama still has a chance by winning Colorado where he is tied with McCain.
Clinton on the other hand probably has Ohio and Pennsylvania solidly where Obama just barely takes them. So she's a sure bet for getting close, but the election will look a lot like 2000 all over again. It will come down to one or two states (in the end, it will be one or two of a list of five right now) with the rest being sure fire wins for one or the other.
Can McCain win? Totally possible by the numbers at this point he actually wins or comes very close in an EV match up rather than a nationwide poll. On the other hand he's weak in a lot of places and the campaign has yet to really get started. And how he hurts will depend on who he faces. With Obama he'll have to campaign all over the place and money is likely to be a problem. With Clinton it will come down to Washington, Minnesota, Nevada, Michigan and Florida (mostly likely). But only two of those are in the Republican column so he's got a better chance against her.
Clinton's Map on Electoral Vote.com.
Obama's Map on Electoral Vote.com.
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April 7th, 2008
| 10:16 pm - Will This Election Test the Dissent Hypothesis?
The presidential election this year may provide an interesting test of a hypothesis about political dissent. At the current juncture we have two politically similar candidates strongly campaigning for the nomination on the Democratic side. The party seems unified on what it wants and generally on where it wants to go. On the other hand the Republicans have united around a candidate while not having a unified vision of where they want their party to be on the national level. If there had been a single strong conservative candidate and fewer winner take all contests (or in different states) their primary would probably be ongoing and as strongly contested as the 1976 contest between the moderate Ford and the emerging conservative Reagan.
If the substance of general (though not universal) agreement in a party is more important for ability to win an election then the current contest between the Democrats will have very little lasting impact on the race. If on the other hand the appearance of unity is more important than its substance the Republicans' papering over of differences and uniting (largely) behind John McCain will probably result in an electoral win for them despite sharp internal divisions.
The state of the economy, however, may swamp the effect of the public relations value of the continuing Democratic process or the (unofficially) concluded Republican one. If economic conditions get much worse through the summer then I expect that there will be a return to the "no-chance for Republicans this cycle" narrative. Likewise a worsening of the war in Iraq would spell doom for John McCain and whatever running mate he selects for the Republican presidential ticket. But absent either of these two scenarios it looks like as good a test of this hypothesis as we are ever likely to see in an actual presidential election.
That's as close to a prediction as I can make about this year in good conscience. Or anyone else. Comparing this election to almost any other is like driving a car by looking in the rear view mirror. (In other words, ignore other pundits, I'm right.) Seriously though, it is hard to find that much similarity between any presidential campaigns. They're all such unique beasts aside from the occasional rematch. This is not Democrats and Republicans reversed in 1980, this isn't 1988 or 1992 in replay. This is its own thing, both like and unlike the elections of the past. For one thing though we Democrats will do everything we can to point out similarities between John McCain's attitude and positions to President Bush, he's not actually part of the administration. And neither of the two Democrats have been in the executive branch, though Clinton certainly was closely associated with it. This is the first time since Stevenson vs. Eisenhower in 1952 that a President or Vice-President has not been running. And unlike that election none of the current candidates has significant executive experience. This will be unique for political science.
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April 5th, 2008
| 11:34 am - Animation to Remember
On the Collection of 2005 Academy Award Nominated Short Films there is a animated film called Mysterious Geographic Explorations of Jasper Morello. The YouTube sample I linked is from the opening credits and I think I would greatly like to see the rest of it. I'll look in the local used shops first and then order it off Amazon. After that I think I'll loan it to whoever else wants to see these films and this one in particular.
I lucked into finding out about it by watching a little animated film called Space Alone by Ilias Sounas. I wish I could show his piece at today's DASFA SF film festival. Well I'm off. Too much to do.
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April 2nd, 2008
 | 06:36 pm - Mocking Half-Wits
I saw a horrible joke obviously made up by a homophobic frat boy. So I had to write a response. It is not a great joke, but I had to make one because the joke displeased me so.
Q: Why do homophobes compare lesbians to rhinoceroses?
A: Because like the rhinoceros they refused to have sex with the homophobe.
And one more for good measure.
Q: Why do homophobes hate lesbians?
A: Because the lesbians can get laid by a girl without paying for the experience.
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