Random
catdynamics | August 10, 2008"During the Olympic Games a truce or ekecheiria was observed. Three runners known as spondophoroi were sent from Elis to the various participant cities at each set of games to announce the beginning of the truce. During this period armies were forbidden from entering Olympia, wars were suspended and legal disputes and the use of the death penalty were forbidden."
I do not know the details of what happened in South Ossetia, why Saakashvili decided to try to force the issue just now, nor why the Russians decided to react so strongly just now.
Maybe it is to consolidate Russian supremacy in the…
catdynamics | August 8, 2008Fabulous friday, and we have just two letters of the Mighty iPod: VP?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
iPod divination for newbies - Believe it!
The Covering: Visitor for Mr Edmonds - Half Man Half Biscuit
The Crossing: Mbh - Billy Bragg
The Crown: Midnight Log - The Clash
The Root: Song 2 - Blur
The Past: Maria - Green Day
The Future: Menuett F-Dur KV4 - Mozart
The Questioner: My Perfect Cousin - Undertones
The House: Rite of Spring 6. Glorification of the Chosen One, Evocation of the Ancestors, Ritual Action of the Ancestors - Stravinsky
The Inside: Brindisi: Libiamo, Ne' Lieti Calici…
catdynamics | August 7, 2008Too much risk or too little risk?
via Calculated Risk
'cause linking is an intrinsic good
catdynamics | August 7, 2008the simplest solution to the current US financial problems is a short period of modest wage inflation
say 25-50% inflation over 3-4 years for median household incomes
this would cover consumer inflation, help moderate the credit crisis and alleviate in part the mortgage problems
however, it would hurt corporate profits in the medium term, and significantly reduce the net income of people holding long term fixed income assets, who rely on unearned income - ie trust fund holders and many retirees
so it is not going to happen without considerably more political turmoil
the alternatives are all…
catdynamics | August 6, 2008the Department of Justice took the unusual step of releasing some of the documents filed in the case against Dr Ivins in the 2001 anthrax attacks
here is the document dump
- "Amerithrax" - very catchy
it will have to be crowd sourced for analysis, but a glance shows a lot of duplication, cut-n-paste statements to get search warrants etc
the "leaks" were clearly half-assed versions of a lot of the affidavits
some of the circumstantial evidence bandied about in the media is quite robust and worrying, some of it seems just silly
cf this affidavit (pdf) - pages 8-9 on Ivins working late in the…
catdynamics | August 6, 2008Anthrax Vaccine blog by Dr Nass.
Interesting perspective on the Ivins allegations on the 2001 anthrax attacks.
'cause links are an intrinsic good.
catdynamics | August 6, 2008sometimes it is important to parse language precisely
if I say something is "absurd" or a notion is "ridiculous", then, strictly speaking, the claim has not been denied
Since I am not laughing, I conclude that, as might be expected, the White House press officer has a better command of the nuances of the english language than the former CIA director.
It is not that hard to actually deny something.
Oh, and as former CIA officials know, saying "I didn't do it" is not synonymous with "didn't happen" - saying "none of those people told me to do it" and "I don't know anything about it" are not…
catdynamics | August 1, 2008August friday, and a start of something new.
We cheerfully flitter to the Mighty iPod and ask the obvious: Can We Believe There Will Be Change?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
iPod Divination for newbies - Believe It.
The Covering: Shadow Play - Joy Division
The Crossing: It's Nasty (Genius of Love) - Grandmaster Flash
The Crown: Accident Waiting to Happen (Red Stars Version) - Billy Bragg
The Root: Chilling of the Evening - Arlo Guthrie
The Past: It's Going to Happen - Undertones
The Future: The Firebird II: Dance of the Firebird
The Questioner: Crystal Ship - Doors
The House:…
catdynamics | July 31, 2008Ok, The Official Dynamics of Cats Obama Campaign Donation Funding Match is on.
As promised
Site meter is up, a few hours early, so discount the number by some small n.
So... I'll take requests. Since this is in a good cause.
Is there anything people would like me to cover specifically during the next month, in my quest to actually maintain blogging activity before semester begins and to try to stay broadly on topic?
catdynamics | July 28, 2008Inside Higher Ed has a note on Crackergate - usual suspects in the comments.
catdynamics | July 28, 2008Amount of August blog check will go to Obama
Seed pays us SciBlings to blog: not a lot, beer money, not living wages, and definitely not retire-at-thirty kinda dough.
This is an academically oriented blog, and, to be honest, the summer months are a slow period.
Both for readers, and for me.
Too much travel, real life etc. So, I need some motivation to keep on bloggin'.
Now, I am not a US citizen, so I don't vote for President. But, I do live in the US, I pay taxes here, and my kids are growing up here. So, you could say that I have a pro-active interest in the elections.
So, my wife, who is…
catdynamics | July 28, 2008The popular VOIP Skype has a backdoor for bugging
h/t Steve at Information Processing
A German online tech source reports that Skype has a hidden backdoor on its encryption protocol enabling third party bugging of conversations.
Info was leaked by Austrian police. Backdoor is presumably there at the request of European regulators, if not, Skype could be in serious trouble with the EU.
Backdoor is presumably shared with the US authorities, specially since they are now US owned...
Skype is very popular internationally as a quasi-free Voice-Over-Internet-Phone application.
Skype was founded in…
catdynamics | July 25, 2008Hey you, out there in the cold
this is me
An unfortunate clash of CDs led to the following improvised mashup:
Hey you, out there in the cold
I've always been the kind of girl
Getting lonely, getting old
that hid my face
Can you feel me?
so afraid to tell the world
Hey you, standing in the aisles
what I've got to say
With itchy feet and fading smiles
But I have this dream
Can you feel me?
bright inside of me
Hey you, dont help them to bury the light
I'm gonna let it show
Dont give in without a fight.
it's time to let you know
Do you know what it's like
Hey you, out there on your own
to feel…
catdynamics | July 25, 2008YES!
Billy Bragg! in State College! Finally!
Oct 17 2008. Downtown.
Civilization comes to rural PA!
Y'all wait politely to get your tickets until after I get mine.
I missed him in DC and SF, I'm not missing this one.
catdynamics | July 25, 2008Warm, sunny, dry friday, and our thoughts turn to the West.
So, oh Mighty iPod: how fares California?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Billy Bragg Podcast #12 - William Bloke
The Crossing: Hey You - Pink Floyd
The Crown: Confessions - Violent Femmes
The Root: Precious Pain - Melissa Etheridge
The Past: Almost Blue - Elvis Costello
The Future: If I Fall You're Going Down With Me - Dixie Chicks
The Questioner: Still Can't - The Cranberries
The House: Love Will Tear Us Apart - Joy Division
The Inside: Erie Canal - Bruce Springsteen
The Outcome: Hr. Reykjav&iiacute;l -…
catdynamics | July 24, 2008PZ, you bastard!
Now you have gone too far.
Some of us do try to teach our children proper reverence, and what do you do?
You rip the pages of a perfectly good book.
This will not stand!
I haven't even read the God Delusion yet and PZ goes ripping up a perfectly good copy.
What. A. Waste!
Books have information, and history, and store atmospheric carbon by the megaton! to just rip their pages out is a waste. Grrr.
Unless they are mildewy, of course, or you are about to freeze to death (and it is a particularly bad book).
Seriously, though, I have kept half an eye on the Great Cracker…
catdynamics | July 22, 2008If a major bank goes bankrupt, are corporate accounts insured?
Like university payroll accounts?
The answer appears to be: yes, up to $100,000 per TAX ID number.
So... does the FDICs like for moving in on banks on friday afternoons include last friday of the month? And, if so, what happens to payroll accounts?
Large institutions, like universities, need to have large sums transiently in deposit so they can distribute payroll (unless they do it through a line of credit, but corporate lines of credit are getting tightened, payroll may need to be done more through cash).
Global Economic…
catdynamics | July 20, 2008the folks on Calculated Risk pointed out an elegantly designed web site
as y'all know, IndyMac Bank in good old Pasadena failed the other day - third largest bank failure in the US.
Most individual depositors are of course uninsured, but there are always some careless with their balances, or unlucky in being caught with large funds in transit, so a lot of people want to know if they are actually covered or not
So, the good people at FDIC put up a web site to check the status of your account
it is nicely designed, fairly clean code, little java script, takes you on for the information you…