Random
catdynamics | June 6, 2008Sunny, glorious friday, as we head home.
So, we skip to the Great iPod and ask: what is in store for us in the near future, oh Great iPod One?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Chilling of the Evening - Arlo Guthrie
The Crossing: Billy Bragg podcast #1- Prehistory to the end of Riff Raff
The Crown: Joyeux Anniveraire - Henri Des
The Root: Mexico - Morrissey
The Past: On Passing Lilac Urine - Half Man Half Biscuit
The Future: Inoculated City - Clash
The Questioner:Il Lamento di Federico - Three Tenors
The House: Christmas in Dixie - Alabama
The Inside: Krummi svaf í…
catdynamics | June 6, 2008I've spent the last couple of weeks at the Aspen Center for Physics.
As always, it has been productive and a pleasure, but I noticed one big change as I was puttering around town.
Real Easte Sales down 38%!
The Aspen housing market is outrageously high, and prices go up double digit percentages almost every year.
But, this year I noticed a lot of "for sale" signs wandering around, in neighbourhoods where in past years houses just did not stay on the market long enough for signs to go up.
Now, the caveat is that it is a small market, so there are large Poisson fluctuations in sales. But, for…
catdynamics | June 6, 2008Cordesman of the CSIS has a presentation on potential Middle East nuclear conflicts
From the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Nov 2007, where Anthony Cordesman is a fellow.
Iran, Isreal and Nuclear War
- 77 page pdf version of a ppt presentation.
Some interesting graphics - eg satellite imagery of the Arak heavy water reactor, which the Iranians claim they are now making fuel elements for - sucker is dug in deep.
Some of the stuff is scare figures - eg hypothetical 1 MegaTon Iranian strike on Riyadh. No likely that Iran will have a thermonuclear device in the time frame…
catdynamics | June 5, 2008John McCain's website is puzzling:
The "Decision Center" shows a four tab banner:
Decision Center General Election Obama & Iraq Golf Gear
It really is a link to on-line sales of "McCain Golf Gear"
It is still there, eight hours after TPM noted it.
Strangely the John McCain Store, linked to from the top bar, does not appear to have the Golf Gear.
Even more interestingly, the style set at the top of McCain's web site is Skins/Black and Skins/Black2.
subliminal.
Source code for the Barack Obama web site is much cleaner, very nicely structured.
h/t deLong
Since I'm there: McCain has…
catdynamics | June 5, 2008Senate Select Intelligence Committee has released its second report on 9/11 and Iraq related issues.
Better late than never.
Senator Whitehouse is pissed off - he is a pretty good orator also
Another link, because linking is an inherent good.
Here is a source for the text files
h/t emptywheel
and here
catdynamics | May 30, 2008Still friday mountain high, and proposal season is finally over, for now.
So we bounce to the Mighty iPod and ask breezily: will Phoenix dig up evidence for life at last?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Þá líður okkur vel - Hemmi Gunn
The Crossing: Le Glace Au Citron - Henri Des
The Crown: Like Cockatoos - Cure
The Root: Goalhanger - Billy Bragg
The Past: Yellow Submarine - Beatles
The Future: Peter Prepares to Catch the Wolf - Prokoviev
The Questioner: Fuckin' 'Ell It's Fred Titmus - Half Man Half Biscuit
The House: Revolution Rock - Clash
The Inside: La Fourmi Amoureuse…
catdynamics | May 29, 2008Sizable earthquake in southwest Iceland this afternoon
Magnitude 6.1-6.3 on Richter scale, by Selfoss, about 50 km from Reykjavik,
no damage reported in Reykjavik, road to Selfoss is cut, probably some damge in the general area. No reports of injuries, though it is early to tell for sure.
Earthquake was felt throughout western Iceland, and buildings in Reykjavik were evacuated. Continuing aftershocks are being felt.
Heavy blog traffic in Iceland, on this, but no immediate reports of serious damage or injury, mostly "yeah I felt it too" and "was it bigger than the 'quake of 2000"
Seems like…
catdynamics | May 25, 2008In a persons life, there are often formative moments. Turning points, pivotal points, revelations, or times when a stance had to be taken.
Weblogs, by their nature are casual things, where the writer may try to give the audience insight into where they come from; a more dynamic relationship than most traditional written media, and more multimedia.
Here is one of the key formative moments in my life.
Hissing Sid is Innocent!
catdynamics | May 23, 2008Friday, sunny friday - and for some a time to party, celebrate, remember, remember, remember...
So, Oh Mighty iPod: we ask you The Question on everyones' mind, that Most Important Question of all right now - how will Fullkomið Líf, Iceland's long awaited Eurovision finalist act, fare in the final?
Whoosh goes the randomizer.
Whoosh.
The Covering: Are You Satisfied? - Jesus Jones
The Crossing: Truth No. 2 - Dixie Chicks
The Crown: Face of Wood - Modern English
The Root: Ég Er Bara Eins Og Ég Er - Stuðmenn
The Past: Lorelei - The Pogues
The Future: Refavísur - Bessi Bjarnason
The Questioner…
catdynamics | May 23, 2008Eurovision 2008 this saturday night!
And Iceland made the final...? First time ever?
Well, it is better than American Idol, far as I can tell.
Now we will see if the Scandinavian alliance can pull in some of the other votes to overcome the Balkan block.
Geopolitics at its best.
And, for posterity - Dustin the Turkey with "Douze Pointe"
Go Ireland!
And it still beats American Idol...
catdynamics | May 21, 2008Chad has one of those lazy blog polls which he is so good at, asking for the "creepiest songs" - the comment thread is an interesting read
So here are some youtube videos of some of my candidates - do not click if you are easily disturbed
The Jam - Down in the Tube Station at Midnight
The last verse is particularly disturbing, I don't know how many people have caught all the implications in it
Rhoda Daka and the Specials - The Boiler
This is not the most melodic song ever, but it is the only song that I have been ordered to turn off as a matter of urgency when it came up on a mix tape.
It…
catdynamics | May 19, 2008The times I've lived in the US I have, partly instinctively, tended to as much of a "European lifestyle" as feasible, given the environment and income.
Krugman goes to Berlin and sees the future
I suspect he is right, and I suspect the transition will involve some significant dislocation for many communities - lot of sunk costs will be written off.
My personal immediate ambition is that by autumn the Little Munchkin will have the stamina to walk to pre-school, which will cut our mileage by 30-40%; and that we get off the waiting list for our local co-op farm - since my travel schedule is…
catdynamics | May 15, 2008Joe Pa not feeling well, reporters overexcited.
Ambulance came to our street this morning, and now there are three reporters staking out the house and ambushing the neighbours.
I know nuthin!
Go away.
catdynamics | May 15, 2008I missed Keith Olbermann's Countdown last night due to travel.
Youtube comes to the rescue - watch it for the golf.
Here it is, in two parts.
Because linking is an intrinsic public good.
Keith is kinda steamed.
Watch the beginning of the second part if you watch nothing else.
catdynamics | May 13, 2008A pseudonymous commenter proposes a Classic of Rock and Roll for remake as an iPod v-ad
Namely this:
This is like, so krazy k00l.
A fair fraction of my iTunes purchases are random "songs of my youth", not one hit wonders necessarily, but feel-good music from bands where I may not want a whole album, not even a "best of", but I do want a random mix of "classics".
Get the right demographic targeted, or some viral campaigns, and some olde groups could have decent late iTunes sales and resurgent ringtone sales.
I'd personally want to see this remade into iPod ad:
or this:
and definitely this…
catdynamics | May 13, 2008Why wait till tomorrow
You must click this now.
I do not know what brought this to mind,
but I must suffer, so must you.
catdynamics | May 13, 2008A letter from Einstein to Eric Gutkind sent in 1954 is up for auction.
It is rather blunt.
From the Grauniad short news story on this:
"...The word God is for me nothing more than the expression and product of human weaknesses, the Bible a collection of honourable, but still primitive legends which are nevertheless pretty childish. No interpretation no matter how subtle can (for me) change this."
The rest is worth reading.
Not that it will put an end to the claims to appropriate Einstein as a theist, or even a monotheist, but it is interesting.
Full Grauniad story here: "...Despite his…
catdynamics | May 12, 2008more random naval ponderings
The aircraft carrier USS Lincoln has arrived in the Persian Gulf, where it briefly overlapped with the USS Truman - which has now left and is in the Med.
The USS Washington has finally rounded the Cape and is in the southern Pacific, heading for Japan to replace the Kitty Hawk.
The Kitty Hawk is in the Philippine Sea, with the USS Nimitz - which went west, not east after leaving Guam.
The Kitty Hawk and Nimitz may detour to "invade Burma" - this is not as stupid as it sounds, the UN has seriously contemplated asking member nations to land aid workers and forces…
catdynamics | May 12, 2008In the beginning, a To Do list was not needed.
Everything important To Do could be remembered...
then, bitter experience, lead to the creation of the To Do list
To Do: clean-up and prioritize To Do list
To Do: consolidate, clean-up and prioritize To Do lists
To Do: shower, lunch, etc...
Heh. Not that I need to remember to shower or lunch, it is just good to have something you know you'll get to cross-off...
To Do: shower, lunch, etc...
ok, maybe if I Brown Bag next week I can do lunch during the meeting... at least I got shower.
A To Do list is not needed - everything time critical can be…