Anyone contemplating a “return to nature” would be well advised to read Into the Wild first. This gripping little book investigates the last journey of Christopher McCandless: a young man who walked into the Alaskan wilds north of Denali in the early 1990’s with the intention of living off the land. He was woefully under-equipped, … Continue reading Review: Into the Wild
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Review: The Creature from Jekyll Island
In 2008 whatever residual trust I had in American democratic institutions was irrevocably shattered by the larcenous and criminal bank bailout. If you recall the bailout, the infamous “crap sandwich”, was overwhelmingly opposed by the public, initially rejected by Congress, but stuffed down our throats anyway. The sky was falling! The banks had to be … Continue reading Review: The Creature from Jekyll Island
The Singularity is Not Near Enough
Here’s a little Google project. Search for life extension technologies and start reading comments about what people think about living five hundred or a thousand years? Some are completely in favor of the idea but you’ll find legions of naysayers that are deeply disturbed that the “natural order” of things will soon radically change. Objections … Continue reading The Singularity is Not Near Enough
Bitcoin is a Perfect Protest
The most intelligent comment I have read about Bitcoin is that it’s a perfect protest. Bitcoin went live in 2009 shortly after the 2008 financial crisis. The 2008 crisis was a defining moment. Prior to that date I believed that the US government, despite its obvious warts, short comings and long checkered history was still … Continue reading Bitcoin is a Perfect Protest
John L. Dobson R.I.P.
At tonight’s meeting of the St. Louis Astronomical Society I learned of John Dobson’s recent death. John Dobson was widely known as the inventor of the homemade “Dobsonian” telescope and the co-founder of the Sidewalk Astronomers: perhaps the most famous and effective amateur astronomy outreach group in modern times. “Big Dob” light buckets are a … Continue reading John L. Dobson R.I.P.
The Great Verizon Data Famine
The other day I visited my local Verizon store for the fourth freaking time! My mission was simple: upgrade my goddamn phone and change our account from my wife’s name to mine. In sane retail environments long-standing customers with impeccable payment histories get treated like royalty. I know it will come as a shock to … Continue reading The Great Verizon Data Famine
Blogging Bad 2013
Another year of blogging bad. My mother's death and work were major distractions this year; I fell way short of my post goals but still managed to exceed the previous year's hit count and set a new high. To show their appreciation the good algorithms at WordPress.com sent us an annual report. Mine follows: The … Continue reading Blogging Bad 2013
Fun with Farsi Text in LaTeX
Analyze the Data not the Drivel is a mouthful. This blog needs a short symbolic name. For sometime I have used ADND myself but that's to close to ADHD for comfort. However if we treat ADND as a simple algebraic expression it becomes: $latex ad^2n $ This is better but still not cool! If we … Continue reading Fun with Farsi Text in LaTeX
APL Software Archaeology .dbi Edition
Click here for a PDF version of this post. Have yourself a merry little APL Christmas. I joke that my job title should be software archaeologist because I often find myself resurrecting, not refactoring, code that dates to primitive and primeval eras. The language I’m typically hired to resurrect is APL. APL, the language with … Continue reading APL Software Archaeology .dbi Edition
Jacks Repository
The other day I attempted to browse a J script described in an old blog post only to find that my employer’s network monkeys had blocked the file sharing service. I’ve railed about IT control freaks in the past. They will not rest until it’s impossible to do useful work. I fumed and grumbled until … Continue reading Jacks Repository
Analyze the Data not the Drivel 