Gravity is an interesting thing and it is something I think about often.
The truth is simple: we have NO IDEA how gravity works.
We don't even know WHAT gravity IS.
Gravity appears to be a force generated by all matter, but WHY?
We understand magnetism.
We understand electricity.
We have NO IDEA on gravity (we also know nothing about the weak and strong nuclear forces).
Gravity is also anomalous in that it affects light the same way a glass lens does.... or does it?
We SEE that it does, but maybe the light doesn't experience any effect at all. Perhaps the space that light is traveling through is what it affected, making it LOOK like light is affected.
Then there's the question of Dark Matter.
80+% of the universe HAS to be some mysterious, non-interacting material that we refer to as "Dark Matter" for our current (very limited) understanding of the universe to work. This mysterious dark matter material is required to provide the gravitational force that allows for everything to form the way it has.... or does it? Is dark matter, perhaps, the force of gravity of parallel universes leaking into our universe? If so, does that mean that gravity is really a strong force but that is bleeds through universal barriers and, thus, is spread thin?
There are so many questions about this and the answers will amaze all of humankind when we figure them out.
I hope I can see what technological marvels these answers bring about.
Monday, November 29, 2010
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Being a "Grown Up"
There are lots of things that we ALL have to do to function properly in society. All of those things are part of what it means to be an adult.
Some of things are easier for some than for others; but they ALL have to be done.
Things like cleaning up after yourself on a regular basis instead of leaving messes for others to deal with.
Things like getting a job and going to it.
Things like paying bills.
Things like dealing with emotional pain instead of dwelling on it.
Things like moving past it when a friend makes a mistake.
Things like seeing how your actions are causing others to hurt and stopping those actions.
Basically, not being a child about things.
These are all NORMAL parts of life.
I am tired of the people I know who can't handle their NORMAL adult responsibilities:
People who can't clean up after themselves when they have NOTHING better to do with their lives because they are completely and totally unWILLING to confront their psychological issues and go about a NORMAL daily adult routine.
People who lost their new "toy" to a friend and feel like their world is so completely shattered over the situation that they are destroying relationships and friendships to wallow in their despair and NOT REALIZING IT.
People who are lashing out over a hurt in their life and hurting others.
People who ignore their partners and don't realize how much those partners do for them.
People who bleed their spouse dry of all finances and career options and then leave them.
People who randomly sleep with anyone they feel like regardless of the consequences.
People who let rumors forge a perception of another person.
People who let new knowledge of past behaviors change your opinion of someone when it doesn't change anything they did in any way. Related to this one are people who let knowledge of current actions change your perception and/or respect of a person change when the actions do not affect you in ANY way.
All of this drama is incredibly childish and everyone doing ANYTHING on this list really needs to re-evaluate their actions and lives and learn about growing up. They need to learn how to not be so selfish. They need to learn how to function in society.
And yes, I am guilty of at least one of the items on the list. I, unlike many of the people who prompted this post, am fully aware of the one I am mentally tagging myself with. This post is part of my attempt to NOT let it affect me now that I have identified that I am falling prey to the childish behavior.
I recommend anyone with drama in their life look at the drama and see if they are the cause of any of it. You might be surprised at your own level of childish behavior.
Some of things are easier for some than for others; but they ALL have to be done.
Things like cleaning up after yourself on a regular basis instead of leaving messes for others to deal with.
Things like getting a job and going to it.
Things like paying bills.
Things like dealing with emotional pain instead of dwelling on it.
Things like moving past it when a friend makes a mistake.
Things like seeing how your actions are causing others to hurt and stopping those actions.
Basically, not being a child about things.
These are all NORMAL parts of life.
I am tired of the people I know who can't handle their NORMAL adult responsibilities:
People who can't clean up after themselves when they have NOTHING better to do with their lives because they are completely and totally unWILLING to confront their psychological issues and go about a NORMAL daily adult routine.
People who lost their new "toy" to a friend and feel like their world is so completely shattered over the situation that they are destroying relationships and friendships to wallow in their despair and NOT REALIZING IT.
People who are lashing out over a hurt in their life and hurting others.
People who ignore their partners and don't realize how much those partners do for them.
People who bleed their spouse dry of all finances and career options and then leave them.
People who randomly sleep with anyone they feel like regardless of the consequences.
People who let rumors forge a perception of another person.
People who let new knowledge of past behaviors change your opinion of someone when it doesn't change anything they did in any way. Related to this one are people who let knowledge of current actions change your perception and/or respect of a person change when the actions do not affect you in ANY way.
All of this drama is incredibly childish and everyone doing ANYTHING on this list really needs to re-evaluate their actions and lives and learn about growing up. They need to learn how to not be so selfish. They need to learn how to function in society.
And yes, I am guilty of at least one of the items on the list. I, unlike many of the people who prompted this post, am fully aware of the one I am mentally tagging myself with. This post is part of my attempt to NOT let it affect me now that I have identified that I am falling prey to the childish behavior.
I recommend anyone with drama in their life look at the drama and see if they are the cause of any of it. You might be surprised at your own level of childish behavior.
Friday, November 26, 2010
Welcome to the Season of Greed and Commericalism
Today is a holiday. It's not your conventional holiday that has roots in something religious and/or related to a significant governmental day; it's the national holiday to celebrate greed and commercialism.
It also kicks off the season of greed and commercialism.
It's really a sad commentary on our culture.
I'm glad that the one item that was on Black Friday sale that I was tempted by was not as good of a deal as it first appeared because it means my record of not shopping on this day still holds.
It also kicks off the season of greed and commercialism.
It's really a sad commentary on our culture.
I'm glad that the one item that was on Black Friday sale that I was tempted by was not as good of a deal as it first appeared because it means my record of not shopping on this day still holds.
Monday, November 22, 2010
Security Theatre
I have been saying for YEARS that I am more afraid of my government than I am of a terrorist attack.
I am not a criminal.
I am not a terrorist.
By rights I should have NO reason to fear and/or mistrust my government those that represent it. Yet I do. I should have NEVER had a bad experience with anyone who represents the government in any way, yet I have had bad experiences.
My experience with people who work for the government in any enforcing capacity has, almost unanimously, been bad. I feel like I have been a part of an ongoing Stanford Prisoner research project; only with regards to government vs citizen. Some of the people in my life say that it is because I dislike the government that I act "funny" and, thus, draw attention to myself from those in a government enforcement position. I disagree as the experiences I have had are what shaped my mistrust. Perhaps I do act "funny" now and that is what CONTINUES to draw their attention, but what started it? It certainly wasn't me. I was taught throughout my childhood that the police and the government are my friends and that I should trust them. It has been my direct experience that has changed my mind.
The recent on-goings with the TSA; bring proof (to my mind, at least) that my distrust of the government is completely founded and fully reasonable.
The highest priority legal document in this country is the Constitution. That document has many amendments that alter it. The first ten of which are named The Bill of Rights. The fourth item in the Bill of Rights is the protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
I hold the belief that the TSA is blatantly violating the 4th Amendment with each and every person it forces through the new security screening process and it is dong so FOR NO GOOD REASON.
For those who might read this who are not familiar with what is going on:
The TSA recently enacted new screening procedures. The procedures are designed to force people into new scanning machines that use X-Ray back-scatter scanning to take an image through all of the scanee's clothing. In short, they expose you to X-Rays so that they can take a nude image of you. The TSA has promised that these images are NOT stored and that they are NOT able to be taken out of the machines. They lie. The same machines have leaked images in the U.K. Similar machines that use a less potentially harmful (the effect of a single scan is so negligible as to be non-existent; it's the cumulative radiation exposure that is the concern) scanning technology (it uses high-frequency radio waves instead of X-rays for a less-clear image) but which have provided the same promise of no image retention were recently shown to NOT automatically delete the images. Gizmodo recently broke a story where they obtained many of the scanned images via a Freedom of Information request (they also have a post about the scanners I am talking about in this post). The alternative to being exposed to radiation is a fully-invasive (but still external) body search. The TSA agents MUST pat anyone declining the radiation scanner down UNDER their clothing. This means they will, essentially, be groping every passenger that does not want to be irradiated. Since the policy was first released the TSA has lightened up slightly; they're stating they will have decreased intensity searches for those 12 and under.
Here's why I think this is a BAD idea.
1. The security system in the USA is based entirely on retro-active security measures. A terrorist tries something and the TSA responds to make that approach impossible in the future. This does NOTHING to stop someone who is creative and determined. If you're only looking where someone else has already walked you will miss the newly-created trail. Basically, the way the TSA does things leaves them COMPLETELY vulnerable to anyone trying to "think outside the box" and do something new while severely inconveniencing (possibly traumatizing) MILLIONS of people.
2. Children and young adults prove to be a problem with the TSA's way of doing things. Are they going to insist of the fully-invasive groping of children and young adults? If so, how long will that go on before there are significant lawsuits for sexual abuse and long-lasting adult-life issues that are generated by any children who are traumatized by the experience? If they decide to forgo the invasive search on children then it defeats the purpose as willing and determined adults will use the children to smuggle the contraband items onto the plane. Children turn the TSA's new policy into a Kobayashi Maru scenario: they CANNOT win.
3. The level of discomfort / hassle / inconvenience / etc that this new policy generates will hurt the economy. It will damage the profitability to commercial airliners which, in turn, will make fewer commercial airline companies which, in turn, will cascade into higher costs to consumers and, thus, make fewer people able to afford commercial airfare. This overly-aggressive and USELESS new security regime will pave the way to a crumbled infrastructure where no one can move around anywhere (perhaps that's what the TSA really wants). The USA does not have a viable alternative to airfare for rapid, cheap transit. The closest we have here are the commercial bus lines and, as someone who has traveled in a commercial bus, they are NOT an acceptable alternative to flight for long distance runs. Two to four hours in a bus is acceptable; twenty-four is not. If we destroy the ability for people to move around our country in a cost-effective manner we will shrink the economy in ways that we probably cannot even imaging right now let alone destroy the week-long vacation industry to far-away places (Seattle to Florida to do DisneyWorld during a school vacation: not anymore!).
4. The entire goal of the terrorists is to destroy our way of life. The TSA is dong that in a FAR more effective way that any terrorist attack ever has in this country. In short, we're letting our government do the work that the terrorists wanted done and we're the ones paying for it.
5. Air travel is still the safest form of travel. The BBC ran an article on this that stated that last year air travel experienced one death-causing flight accident per two million flights (granted each death-causing accident kills far more than a single individual - for easy math let's be generous and say 200 people die in each incident for a 1 in 10,000 chance that that someone will be you). Some quick research shows that there were fewer than 40,000 fatalities from automobile accidents in 2009. There are approximately 300,000,000 people in the USA. Assuming that each and everyone one of them rode in a motorized vehicle once and only once in 2009 we have a 1 on 7,500 chance of dying. That number, of course, is artificially low. I ride in my car at least twice a day, 5 days a week. Unemployment is currently around 10%. If we assume, therefore, that 90% of the people either ride to school or work and home again and that they do so 5 times a week we end up with a figure of 2,700,000,000 car rides meaning the chances of dying in one are 1 in 67,500. More than six times higher than air travel. Yes, the figures are rounded for easy math. Yes that means there is some level of inaccuracy in the my results. It's hard to fight the raw numbers, though: car travel is more dangerous than air travel.
People worry about large-scale events because of the media and the TSA is doing something to make people FEEL better about air travel but their recent step has gone one step too far. It will make people FEAR air travel not for the possibility of an attack on a plane but because of the hassle that getting on that plane will cause. This is a clear case of the government trying to govern too much. TSA, it's time to reel it back in and be reasonable. Try different security tactics that require more training and intelligence rather than brute force, coercion and the fear of embarrassment. The people you are subjugating are NOT the people that you should be paying attention to.
Given how much hassle the TSA causes I think it's time someone makes NinjaAir* a reality. It would let you avoid being groped and avoid being irradiated (at least as far as you know).
So, the next time you fly which will it be? Groped, irradiated or ninja blow-dart?
*the link is to another blog's post that has a transcript of something Corey Doctorow said during an episode of This Week in Tech.
I am not a criminal.
I am not a terrorist.
By rights I should have NO reason to fear and/or mistrust my government those that represent it. Yet I do. I should have NEVER had a bad experience with anyone who represents the government in any way, yet I have had bad experiences.
My experience with people who work for the government in any enforcing capacity has, almost unanimously, been bad. I feel like I have been a part of an ongoing Stanford Prisoner research project; only with regards to government vs citizen. Some of the people in my life say that it is because I dislike the government that I act "funny" and, thus, draw attention to myself from those in a government enforcement position. I disagree as the experiences I have had are what shaped my mistrust. Perhaps I do act "funny" now and that is what CONTINUES to draw their attention, but what started it? It certainly wasn't me. I was taught throughout my childhood that the police and the government are my friends and that I should trust them. It has been my direct experience that has changed my mind.
The recent on-goings with the TSA; bring proof (to my mind, at least) that my distrust of the government is completely founded and fully reasonable.
The highest priority legal document in this country is the Constitution. That document has many amendments that alter it. The first ten of which are named The Bill of Rights. The fourth item in the Bill of Rights is the protection against unreasonable search and seizure.
I hold the belief that the TSA is blatantly violating the 4th Amendment with each and every person it forces through the new security screening process and it is dong so FOR NO GOOD REASON.
For those who might read this who are not familiar with what is going on:
The TSA recently enacted new screening procedures. The procedures are designed to force people into new scanning machines that use X-Ray back-scatter scanning to take an image through all of the scanee's clothing. In short, they expose you to X-Rays so that they can take a nude image of you. The TSA has promised that these images are NOT stored and that they are NOT able to be taken out of the machines. They lie. The same machines have leaked images in the U.K. Similar machines that use a less potentially harmful (the effect of a single scan is so negligible as to be non-existent; it's the cumulative radiation exposure that is the concern) scanning technology (it uses high-frequency radio waves instead of X-rays for a less-clear image) but which have provided the same promise of no image retention were recently shown to NOT automatically delete the images. Gizmodo recently broke a story where they obtained many of the scanned images via a Freedom of Information request (they also have a post about the scanners I am talking about in this post). The alternative to being exposed to radiation is a fully-invasive (but still external) body search. The TSA agents MUST pat anyone declining the radiation scanner down UNDER their clothing. This means they will, essentially, be groping every passenger that does not want to be irradiated. Since the policy was first released the TSA has lightened up slightly; they're stating they will have decreased intensity searches for those 12 and under.
Here's why I think this is a BAD idea.
1. The security system in the USA is based entirely on retro-active security measures. A terrorist tries something and the TSA responds to make that approach impossible in the future. This does NOTHING to stop someone who is creative and determined. If you're only looking where someone else has already walked you will miss the newly-created trail. Basically, the way the TSA does things leaves them COMPLETELY vulnerable to anyone trying to "think outside the box" and do something new while severely inconveniencing (possibly traumatizing) MILLIONS of people.
2. Children and young adults prove to be a problem with the TSA's way of doing things. Are they going to insist of the fully-invasive groping of children and young adults? If so, how long will that go on before there are significant lawsuits for sexual abuse and long-lasting adult-life issues that are generated by any children who are traumatized by the experience? If they decide to forgo the invasive search on children then it defeats the purpose as willing and determined adults will use the children to smuggle the contraband items onto the plane. Children turn the TSA's new policy into a Kobayashi Maru scenario: they CANNOT win.
3. The level of discomfort / hassle / inconvenience / etc that this new policy generates will hurt the economy. It will damage the profitability to commercial airliners which, in turn, will make fewer commercial airline companies which, in turn, will cascade into higher costs to consumers and, thus, make fewer people able to afford commercial airfare. This overly-aggressive and USELESS new security regime will pave the way to a crumbled infrastructure where no one can move around anywhere (perhaps that's what the TSA really wants). The USA does not have a viable alternative to airfare for rapid, cheap transit. The closest we have here are the commercial bus lines and, as someone who has traveled in a commercial bus, they are NOT an acceptable alternative to flight for long distance runs. Two to four hours in a bus is acceptable; twenty-four is not. If we destroy the ability for people to move around our country in a cost-effective manner we will shrink the economy in ways that we probably cannot even imaging right now let alone destroy the week-long vacation industry to far-away places (Seattle to Florida to do DisneyWorld during a school vacation: not anymore!).
4. The entire goal of the terrorists is to destroy our way of life. The TSA is dong that in a FAR more effective way that any terrorist attack ever has in this country. In short, we're letting our government do the work that the terrorists wanted done and we're the ones paying for it.
5. Air travel is still the safest form of travel. The BBC ran an article on this that stated that last year air travel experienced one death-causing flight accident per two million flights (granted each death-causing accident kills far more than a single individual - for easy math let's be generous and say 200 people die in each incident for a 1 in 10,000 chance that that someone will be you). Some quick research shows that there were fewer than 40,000 fatalities from automobile accidents in 2009. There are approximately 300,000,000 people in the USA. Assuming that each and everyone one of them rode in a motorized vehicle once and only once in 2009 we have a 1 on 7,500 chance of dying. That number, of course, is artificially low. I ride in my car at least twice a day, 5 days a week. Unemployment is currently around 10%. If we assume, therefore, that 90% of the people either ride to school or work and home again and that they do so 5 times a week we end up with a figure of 2,700,000,000 car rides meaning the chances of dying in one are 1 in 67,500. More than six times higher than air travel. Yes, the figures are rounded for easy math. Yes that means there is some level of inaccuracy in the my results. It's hard to fight the raw numbers, though: car travel is more dangerous than air travel.
People worry about large-scale events because of the media and the TSA is doing something to make people FEEL better about air travel but their recent step has gone one step too far. It will make people FEAR air travel not for the possibility of an attack on a plane but because of the hassle that getting on that plane will cause. This is a clear case of the government trying to govern too much. TSA, it's time to reel it back in and be reasonable. Try different security tactics that require more training and intelligence rather than brute force, coercion and the fear of embarrassment. The people you are subjugating are NOT the people that you should be paying attention to.
Given how much hassle the TSA causes I think it's time someone makes NinjaAir* a reality. It would let you avoid being groped and avoid being irradiated (at least as far as you know).
So, the next time you fly which will it be? Groped, irradiated or ninja blow-dart?
*the link is to another blog's post that has a transcript of something Corey Doctorow said during an episode of This Week in Tech.
Sunday, November 21, 2010
Problems
This morning I turned on the TV do have a Christian church program running. The person talking was decrying how there are countries where people are killed for being Christian and denied access to Christian literature.
Once again, I feel I must say that I am not religious so I can't fully comprehend how people react to the type of situation that the man talking was talking about BUT...
If people are really concerned for the welfare of others perhaps they should examine all of the terrible things happening in their own neighborhoods before trying to fix the problems of the world far away.
There are TERRIBLE things happening around the world. There are terrible things happening in the USA. Perhaps it is easy to overlook the terrible things happening near our homes when there are TERRIBLE things happening far away because the things near us are so commonplace and average. Perhaps it takes something truly abominable to peak our interest.
What does that say about those who choose to ignore the local problems in favor of the far away problems? I think it says that they are, at best, misguided. I think it says that they are afraid of the local problems because they may know some of the people causing the problems and/or some of the people suffering. I think it means that people are too afraid of the average, mundane terrible things that are happening near them because they know that those things could happen TO them. The TERRIBLE things that happen far away are abstract and "couldn't happen here."
I think EVERYONE would be better off if EVERYONE focused on the issues affecting their local communities more.
Let's work on eliminating gang violence here in the USA rather than jihadist activities where one religion is fighting another in a far-off land. Let's work on ending homelessness and hunger here rather than sending BILLIONS of dollars of aid to other countries to feed their poor (and have them hate us for it). Let's focus on bringing equality to all parts of our country rather than trying to stop genocide and gender oppression elsewhere.
Do the other places need help? Yes. But so do we. I'd rather focus on making the lives of people near me better each day before we send huge amounts of help to places far away.
Maybe I'm selfish for wanting to keep the aid here. To fix HERE before we try to fix other places. To make HERE a more desirable place to be. To make HERE a place that will continue to grow and thrive rather than degrade and fall apart.
Some of the people we are ignoring who need our help pay into the system that sends their money away. Think of how much more help they could get if they could keep the resources that are taken from them (by the government) instead of having those resources go to a foreign country.
Maybe I'm selfish. Maybe not.
Maybe I just see that the world has LOTS of problems and trying to fix them all at once will see none of them fixed. Maybe focusing on a manageable problem set means that that problem set CAN be fixed. When it is we can move onto another one.
When one spreads their resources too thin NOTHING gets accomplished; like the highway construction near my house. The Southbound off-ramp to my house closed in August for a one-week re-paving. It's STILL closed. They just changed the sign (again) to say it will be closed until 12/3/10. Mid-August to 12/3 is a REALLY LONG week.
We're doing the same thing with the world's problems: trying to fix too many at once and not getting anywhere with any of them. We should change that.
Once again, I feel I must say that I am not religious so I can't fully comprehend how people react to the type of situation that the man talking was talking about BUT...
If people are really concerned for the welfare of others perhaps they should examine all of the terrible things happening in their own neighborhoods before trying to fix the problems of the world far away.
There are TERRIBLE things happening around the world. There are terrible things happening in the USA. Perhaps it is easy to overlook the terrible things happening near our homes when there are TERRIBLE things happening far away because the things near us are so commonplace and average. Perhaps it takes something truly abominable to peak our interest.
What does that say about those who choose to ignore the local problems in favor of the far away problems? I think it says that they are, at best, misguided. I think it says that they are afraid of the local problems because they may know some of the people causing the problems and/or some of the people suffering. I think it means that people are too afraid of the average, mundane terrible things that are happening near them because they know that those things could happen TO them. The TERRIBLE things that happen far away are abstract and "couldn't happen here."
I think EVERYONE would be better off if EVERYONE focused on the issues affecting their local communities more.
Let's work on eliminating gang violence here in the USA rather than jihadist activities where one religion is fighting another in a far-off land. Let's work on ending homelessness and hunger here rather than sending BILLIONS of dollars of aid to other countries to feed their poor (and have them hate us for it). Let's focus on bringing equality to all parts of our country rather than trying to stop genocide and gender oppression elsewhere.
Do the other places need help? Yes. But so do we. I'd rather focus on making the lives of people near me better each day before we send huge amounts of help to places far away.
Maybe I'm selfish for wanting to keep the aid here. To fix HERE before we try to fix other places. To make HERE a more desirable place to be. To make HERE a place that will continue to grow and thrive rather than degrade and fall apart.
Some of the people we are ignoring who need our help pay into the system that sends their money away. Think of how much more help they could get if they could keep the resources that are taken from them (by the government) instead of having those resources go to a foreign country.
Maybe I'm selfish. Maybe not.
Maybe I just see that the world has LOTS of problems and trying to fix them all at once will see none of them fixed. Maybe focusing on a manageable problem set means that that problem set CAN be fixed. When it is we can move onto another one.
When one spreads their resources too thin NOTHING gets accomplished; like the highway construction near my house. The Southbound off-ramp to my house closed in August for a one-week re-paving. It's STILL closed. They just changed the sign (again) to say it will be closed until 12/3/10. Mid-August to 12/3 is a REALLY LONG week.
We're doing the same thing with the world's problems: trying to fix too many at once and not getting anywhere with any of them. We should change that.
Saturday, November 20, 2010
Average
There's are interesting things about average.
It's ALWAYS mathematically near the middle.
It's ALWAYS worse than the best.
It's ALWAYS better than the worst.
It's ALWAYS common.
And it's always boring and in need of improvement.
EVERYONE should ALWAYS be seeking to improve themselves. If we all did this we would be pushing the quality of "average" upward in every field. Sadly, we don't all try to improve ourselves all the time. My observation is that "average" seems to be declining in quality (this is backed up by the fact that the SAT has re-centered their test scoring charts several times so that their 1000 mark is, by definition, "average" - they've made it easier each time).
If everyone who were truly average were to work to improve themselves then the bar of average would HAVE to rise. Would there still be under-achievers? Sure. Would there still be a few people who NEVER amounted to anything? Sure. Would there still be gifted people and over-achievers? Sure. Would the average score ever reach that of the best? No. Does that mean it is not worth trying to be better? No.
Related to this little commentary is No Child Left Behind. NCLB is a poorly written act that the federal government put into play a few years ago. There are two major components to it. It's related to this commentary because it involves the concept of "average" with respect to students. I'll not get into the specific text of the law, but I will summarize it to the extent that I understand it. The ultimate goal of NCLB was to have the average students performing at the same level as the best students in every school.
Think about this for a moment. The federal government wanted to make sure that the AVERAGE students performed at the same level as the BEST students. There is only ONE way to do this: squash EVERYONE down to the level of the least-performing student and penalize everyone who does better than the norm.
It seems to me that the average person in the federal government responsible for developing and enacting such a plan must be well below average on the mathematical comprehension scale. If they are not I fear for the future advancement of our species.
It's ALWAYS mathematically near the middle.
It's ALWAYS worse than the best.
It's ALWAYS better than the worst.
It's ALWAYS common.
And it's always boring and in need of improvement.
EVERYONE should ALWAYS be seeking to improve themselves. If we all did this we would be pushing the quality of "average" upward in every field. Sadly, we don't all try to improve ourselves all the time. My observation is that "average" seems to be declining in quality (this is backed up by the fact that the SAT has re-centered their test scoring charts several times so that their 1000 mark is, by definition, "average" - they've made it easier each time).
If everyone who were truly average were to work to improve themselves then the bar of average would HAVE to rise. Would there still be under-achievers? Sure. Would there still be a few people who NEVER amounted to anything? Sure. Would there still be gifted people and over-achievers? Sure. Would the average score ever reach that of the best? No. Does that mean it is not worth trying to be better? No.
Related to this little commentary is No Child Left Behind. NCLB is a poorly written act that the federal government put into play a few years ago. There are two major components to it. It's related to this commentary because it involves the concept of "average" with respect to students. I'll not get into the specific text of the law, but I will summarize it to the extent that I understand it. The ultimate goal of NCLB was to have the average students performing at the same level as the best students in every school.
Think about this for a moment. The federal government wanted to make sure that the AVERAGE students performed at the same level as the BEST students. There is only ONE way to do this: squash EVERYONE down to the level of the least-performing student and penalize everyone who does better than the norm.
It seems to me that the average person in the federal government responsible for developing and enacting such a plan must be well below average on the mathematical comprehension scale. If they are not I fear for the future advancement of our species.
Wednesday, November 17, 2010
To Jailbreak or Not to Jailbreak
I have an iPhone.
I think it is some of the best money I ever spent.
Ironically, I didn't actually buy THIS iPhone.
My iPhone is an iPhone 3G. The phone I bought is the iPhone 3GS that my girlfriend carries. I wanted a better phone than my old piece of crap, she wanted the next iPhone up. We both walked out of AT&T happy.
The software I am trying to run has moved beyond the capacity of the iPhone I currently have. It is bogged down on occasion and causes issues once in awhile.
Therefore I am contemplating upgrading to an iPhone 4 but I cannot really justify the expenditure.
In the meantime, I am also contemplating jailbreaking my iPhone to see what additional power and capabilities I can unlock by doing so.
I know it MAY void my warranty but if I replace the phone anyway what does that matter?
I'm curious about experiences other people have had with this process; positive and negative.
I think it is some of the best money I ever spent.
Ironically, I didn't actually buy THIS iPhone.
My iPhone is an iPhone 3G. The phone I bought is the iPhone 3GS that my girlfriend carries. I wanted a better phone than my old piece of crap, she wanted the next iPhone up. We both walked out of AT&T happy.
The software I am trying to run has moved beyond the capacity of the iPhone I currently have. It is bogged down on occasion and causes issues once in awhile.
Therefore I am contemplating upgrading to an iPhone 4 but I cannot really justify the expenditure.
In the meantime, I am also contemplating jailbreaking my iPhone to see what additional power and capabilities I can unlock by doing so.
I know it MAY void my warranty but if I replace the phone anyway what does that matter?
I'm curious about experiences other people have had with this process; positive and negative.
Monday, November 15, 2010
An Idea Alone....
An idea alone is worthless.
I have LOTS of ideas.
Some of them could make me LOTS of money.
The problem is that the idea, alone, is worthless. One either needs the knowledge AND skills to make the idea a reality OR know the people who can help you make the idea a reality.
For several years I have been harboring an idea. This idea could make MILLIONS if its price point were inexpensive enough to be available to the average consumer.
My step-father and mother could use at least five of the devices AND the corresponding service in their business (if it were inexpensive enough) and they are just one tiny convenience store.
The idea is for a small, cellular-enabled device that has a temperature sensor in it. When a certain temperature threshold is reached it sends an alert. Very simple. A wide-range of uses. Recurring income (the ongoing alert service).
My problem is that I had/have NO IDEA who to talk to about making a prototype. I do not know who to speak with to get a prototype that can be mass-produced in the cost-effective range.
I know who to market the device to (and there are MANY markets) should I have one that is working AND affordable to purchase... but I can't get that far because I can't get the device made.
Why I am talking about this great idea? Why am I risking letting someone else know about it and implementing it first? Because someone already has.
http://www.temperaturealert.com/
Notice I haven't given away all of the markets that I know I could market this product to... because I know that those markets could be worth something. I could still develop a competing product... but not unless I know WHERE to go to to get it made. I either need contacts or cash or a completely different education to make this a reality.
Sigh. So many other ideas in my head. I've seen several come to light already, often in implementations that are not as good as the one in my head.
I wish I knew all of the right people.
I have LOTS of ideas.
Some of them could make me LOTS of money.
The problem is that the idea, alone, is worthless. One either needs the knowledge AND skills to make the idea a reality OR know the people who can help you make the idea a reality.
For several years I have been harboring an idea. This idea could make MILLIONS if its price point were inexpensive enough to be available to the average consumer.
My step-father and mother could use at least five of the devices AND the corresponding service in their business (if it were inexpensive enough) and they are just one tiny convenience store.
The idea is for a small, cellular-enabled device that has a temperature sensor in it. When a certain temperature threshold is reached it sends an alert. Very simple. A wide-range of uses. Recurring income (the ongoing alert service).
My problem is that I had/have NO IDEA who to talk to about making a prototype. I do not know who to speak with to get a prototype that can be mass-produced in the cost-effective range.
I know who to market the device to (and there are MANY markets) should I have one that is working AND affordable to purchase... but I can't get that far because I can't get the device made.
Why I am talking about this great idea? Why am I risking letting someone else know about it and implementing it first? Because someone already has.
http://www.temperaturealert.com/
Notice I haven't given away all of the markets that I know I could market this product to... because I know that those markets could be worth something. I could still develop a competing product... but not unless I know WHERE to go to to get it made. I either need contacts or cash or a completely different education to make this a reality.
Sigh. So many other ideas in my head. I've seen several come to light already, often in implementations that are not as good as the one in my head.
I wish I knew all of the right people.
Friday, November 12, 2010
The Eternal Toy
When I was a kid I had LOTS of legos.
I actually still have nearly all of them but instead of being spread out over my bedroom floor they are in a trunk in the basement.
I went through phases where I preferred other toys, but I always went back to Legos.
There were many years that the Legos slept, quietly, waiting for my return but I always returned.
(This is NOT a non-sequitur, I promise) Another item that has influence my life greatly is the Star Wars world of science fantasy.
Things like this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/7-13-years/d473/ bring out my inner child. I want to spend money on this, and all of the other Lego sets that blend my love of Legos with my loves of other things from my childhood.
One a tangential note: I think that my love of Legos is derived from the same part of me that forces me to do what I do for work. I figure out solutions to problems all day long. Some days those solutions are looking to ensure that a computer is plugged in and other days those solutions fill a 4'x8' whiteboard in my office with theoretical infrastructure models that I want to make a reality. But the one underlying piece is the need to imagine something and then work through the problems to make it a reality. I think that is why Legos are the eternal toy for any engineer and why engineers do what they do.
I actually still have nearly all of them but instead of being spread out over my bedroom floor they are in a trunk in the basement.
I went through phases where I preferred other toys, but I always went back to Legos.
There were many years that the Legos slept, quietly, waiting for my return but I always returned.
(This is NOT a non-sequitur, I promise) Another item that has influence my life greatly is the Star Wars world of science fantasy.
Things like this: http://www.thinkgeek.com/geek-kids/7-13-years/d473/ bring out my inner child. I want to spend money on this, and all of the other Lego sets that blend my love of Legos with my loves of other things from my childhood.
One a tangential note: I think that my love of Legos is derived from the same part of me that forces me to do what I do for work. I figure out solutions to problems all day long. Some days those solutions are looking to ensure that a computer is plugged in and other days those solutions fill a 4'x8' whiteboard in my office with theoretical infrastructure models that I want to make a reality. But the one underlying piece is the need to imagine something and then work through the problems to make it a reality. I think that is why Legos are the eternal toy for any engineer and why engineers do what they do.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Veterans' Day
Today is one of those days that I resent.
I resent it because it reminds people to respect those who have served our country to protect our freedom and our way of life.
Why do I resent this? Because it should not take a day to make people think of it. People should respect those who served to protect our freedoms EVERY day. Do I believe that veterans deserve extra rights and privileges? No, but they deserve our respect for doing what they do just as everyone deserves respect for doing their jobs. Veterans, however, deserve our appreciation for their work for they are laying their lives on the line to allow us to live ours.
This is true EVERY day.
So, on this Veterans' Day I ask this of anyone reading this post: in four months, or sixth months or 8 months thank a veteran for their efforts. Don't make today the only day you respect and appreciate their work to keep your way of life intact.
This also goes for Christmas: if you are a Christian (I am not) then the "Christmas season" isn't the only time you should express peace and good will to all: express peace and good will to all ALL THE TIME.
When we have to have a single day to emphasize something then we are letting ourselves ignore that thing the rest of the year. If it's important enough to pay attention to we should do so ALL THE TIME.
I resent it because it reminds people to respect those who have served our country to protect our freedom and our way of life.
Why do I resent this? Because it should not take a day to make people think of it. People should respect those who served to protect our freedoms EVERY day. Do I believe that veterans deserve extra rights and privileges? No, but they deserve our respect for doing what they do just as everyone deserves respect for doing their jobs. Veterans, however, deserve our appreciation for their work for they are laying their lives on the line to allow us to live ours.
This is true EVERY day.
So, on this Veterans' Day I ask this of anyone reading this post: in four months, or sixth months or 8 months thank a veteran for their efforts. Don't make today the only day you respect and appreciate their work to keep your way of life intact.
This also goes for Christmas: if you are a Christian (I am not) then the "Christmas season" isn't the only time you should express peace and good will to all: express peace and good will to all ALL THE TIME.
When we have to have a single day to emphasize something then we are letting ourselves ignore that thing the rest of the year. If it's important enough to pay attention to we should do so ALL THE TIME.
Tuesday, November 9, 2010
System Administrators
On my way home from work the System Administrator Song came up on my iPod.
It's a great song for anyone who does tech support.
It caps off a day where I had to go to a room with 5 desktop computers. #1 was being re-placed in the room after being repaired. The user in that room stated that #4 just did not work and that #5 logged anyone off as soon as they logged on.
I restarted #5 and logged in without an issue.
I tried #4 and, sure enough it wouldn't boot. I took one look and found that it was unplugged.
I went to hook up #1 and found that someone had pushed a crumpled up piece of paper into the USB plug for the keyboard. I have to fish it out with a unbent paperclip.
In 10 minutes I had the two new "problems" resolved simply by trying the MOST BASIC of trouble shooting ideas.
It never ceases to amaze me that people won't try looking at the power cord to see if it is plugged in.
It's a great song for anyone who does tech support.
It caps off a day where I had to go to a room with 5 desktop computers. #1 was being re-placed in the room after being repaired. The user in that room stated that #4 just did not work and that #5 logged anyone off as soon as they logged on.
I restarted #5 and logged in without an issue.
I tried #4 and, sure enough it wouldn't boot. I took one look and found that it was unplugged.
I went to hook up #1 and found that someone had pushed a crumpled up piece of paper into the USB plug for the keyboard. I have to fish it out with a unbent paperclip.
In 10 minutes I had the two new "problems" resolved simply by trying the MOST BASIC of trouble shooting ideas.
It never ceases to amaze me that people won't try looking at the power cord to see if it is plugged in.
Monday, November 8, 2010
NaNoWriMo
So this is National Novel Writing Month.
I wonder why the prejudice toward novels?
Why not other books?
I may have to pound out some work this week to get caught up on NaBoWriMo and write the book I mentioned a couple posts ago.
I have tried to develop stories for a novel, but I have discovered that I am a world-builder and NOT a story writer. I am certain I can write stories, but they will be MUCH more work for me than creating settings.
I think I need a job at a role-playing game company building worlds for new game systems.
I wonder why the prejudice toward novels?
Why not other books?
I may have to pound out some work this week to get caught up on NaBoWriMo and write the book I mentioned a couple posts ago.
I have tried to develop stories for a novel, but I have discovered that I am a world-builder and NOT a story writer. I am certain I can write stories, but they will be MUCH more work for me than creating settings.
I think I need a job at a role-playing game company building worlds for new game systems.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
Halloween
Here are some pictures of my costume from this year's Halloween.
Most people incorrectly guessed that I was a sand-person (aka Tuscan Raider) from Star Wars. They were close in that I was dressed as a dessert dweller, but they were in the wrong fictional series.
The costume was of a Fremen, which is an entire culture of people found in the DUNE books by Frank Herbert.
Here are links to the works chronological order:
The original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert:
The expanded DUNE universe books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:
Starting approximately 10,000 years before the events in DUNE.
Leading up to the events in DUNE:
Interspersed within the original DUNE "trilogy"
Between DUNE and DUNE Messiah:
Between DUNE Messiah and Children of DUNE:
Brian and Kevin's work to finish the original "trilogy" based on notes and passages left by Frank.
A book on the process of creating DUNE
Frank Herbert's biography
An unauthorized look into the science of DUNE:
The DUNE Movies
The 1984 version directed by David Lynch:
The SciFi Channel's miniseries:
Note: I have read all of the original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert. God Emperor of Dune is bad and it gets much worse. But the middle of that book is the worst part of the entire series. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune both get MUCH better.
I have also read the Butlerian Jihad books and the three "House" books.
I have not yet read Paul of Dune, Winds of Dune, Hunters of Dune or Sandworms of Dune.
There is also an Encyclopedia of Dune that was published in the 1980s, but it is currently out of print.
I was not provided any copies of anything listed here for review purposes.
Most people incorrectly guessed that I was a sand-person (aka Tuscan Raider) from Star Wars. They were close in that I was dressed as a dessert dweller, but they were in the wrong fictional series.
The costume was of a Fremen, which is an entire culture of people found in the DUNE books by Frank Herbert.
Here are links to the works chronological order:
The original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert:
The expanded DUNE universe books by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson:
Starting approximately 10,000 years before the events in DUNE.
Leading up to the events in DUNE:
Interspersed within the original DUNE "trilogy"
Between DUNE and DUNE Messiah:
Between DUNE Messiah and Children of DUNE:
Brian and Kevin's work to finish the original "trilogy" based on notes and passages left by Frank.
A book on the process of creating DUNE
Frank Herbert's biography
An unauthorized look into the science of DUNE:
The DUNE Movies
The 1984 version directed by David Lynch:
The SciFi Channel's miniseries:
Note: I have read all of the original "trilogy" by Frank Herbert. God Emperor of Dune is bad and it gets much worse. But the middle of that book is the worst part of the entire series. Heretics of Dune and Chapterhouse: Dune both get MUCH better.
I have also read the Butlerian Jihad books and the three "House" books.
I have not yet read Paul of Dune, Winds of Dune, Hunters of Dune or Sandworms of Dune.
There is also an Encyclopedia of Dune that was published in the 1980s, but it is currently out of print.
I was not provided any copies of anything listed here for review purposes.
Observation
I have been compiling some posts to post in a series.
They are comments on how society/civilization/government could be run better.
I've known for a LONG time that these problems are not able to be put into self-contained silos. All of the problems are interlinked. They are, therefore, not linear.
I've also known for a long time that books ARE linear.
My ideas, therefore, are like trying to push a square peg into a round hole (or vice-versa).
Thursday I realized that the postings that I have written are beginning to make linear sense out of the problem. I will NEVER succeed in making complete linear sense of the issue, but I am working on a way to do that as much as I can.
I also realized that these posts would make a good book. Of course, there is no plot, but the ideas could be packaged as a book.
I'm now toying with the idea of actually re-compiling them as a book and finishing it out to see if I can get it published. If not, I can always self-publish if a few people think it is worth doing that. It would be nice to have some (probably meager) revenue out of all of the crazy thoughts that plague my brain.
They are comments on how society/civilization/government could be run better.
I've known for a LONG time that these problems are not able to be put into self-contained silos. All of the problems are interlinked. They are, therefore, not linear.
I've also known for a long time that books ARE linear.
My ideas, therefore, are like trying to push a square peg into a round hole (or vice-versa).
Thursday I realized that the postings that I have written are beginning to make linear sense out of the problem. I will NEVER succeed in making complete linear sense of the issue, but I am working on a way to do that as much as I can.
I also realized that these posts would make a good book. Of course, there is no plot, but the ideas could be packaged as a book.
I'm now toying with the idea of actually re-compiling them as a book and finishing it out to see if I can get it published. If not, I can always self-publish if a few people think it is worth doing that. It would be nice to have some (probably meager) revenue out of all of the crazy thoughts that plague my brain.
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
Election
It's not unheard of that an independent candidate will split the vote of the non-Republicans causing the Republican candidate to win.
It is VERY odd when the Democratic candidate splits the vote that was going to the independent candidate allowing the Republican to win.
That's what's happening in Maine today (or has already happened). Elliot Cutler has the least-bad (and in some ways good) campaign. Mitchell, the Democratic candidate, got votes from people who were terrified of the Republican candidate (Paul LePage); people who might otherwise have voted for Cutler. The end result is that it looks like Cutler will lose (or has already - he has announced he concedes, but I suspect a re-count will happen to make sure).
It's a terrible, yet interesting, statement of the times that the independent candidate would have won except for fear of the republican candidate and that fear split the vote allowing the republican to win.
It is VERY odd when the Democratic candidate splits the vote that was going to the independent candidate allowing the Republican to win.
That's what's happening in Maine today (or has already happened). Elliot Cutler has the least-bad (and in some ways good) campaign. Mitchell, the Democratic candidate, got votes from people who were terrified of the Republican candidate (Paul LePage); people who might otherwise have voted for Cutler. The end result is that it looks like Cutler will lose (or has already - he has announced he concedes, but I suspect a re-count will happen to make sure).
It's a terrible, yet interesting, statement of the times that the independent candidate would have won except for fear of the republican candidate and that fear split the vote allowing the republican to win.
Tuesday, November 2, 2010
Balance (or, There is No Free Lunch)
There must ALWAYS be balance.
There is ALWAYS a trade.
There is no free lunch.
Sometimes the trade is a good one, other times it is a bad one, sometimes it's even hard to identify the trade; but a trade ALWAYS exists.
There are multiple buildings where I work.
Each building has certain I.T. equipment distributed to the users within that building.
Each building has a different set of needs and a different set of rules about use.
One thing that is common among ALL the buildings is that the equipment issued to you for the purposes of your WORK is not a toy; it's a tool for accomplishing your assigned work.
TANGENT WARNING: Assigned work has three vectors of evaluation.
1. Quality of the work.
2. Timeliness of the work.
3. Appropriateness of the work.
I, personally, don't care what people do with the equipment once their work is completed. The caveat to that is that the rating of the work on each vector is at or above acceptable.
The problem with where I work is that the VAST majority of users prefer to goof off instead of doing their assigned work. They would rather harass each other on Facebook or play Mafia Wars or search for porn than do the work they SHOULD be doing.
So we have filters.
The filters have not been overly successful in reducing many of the behaviors that distract from the completion of work.
So, in one of the buildings, we're implementing filters at home, too. Those filters ONLY apply to the equipment handed out BY US. Those filters apply at the same level as they do within the building.
Part of me SCREAMS out against this concept. I HATE the idea of locking down the equipment and making it less useful. I HATE the idea of inhibiting the use of the equipment is such a way as to penalize those who have no reason to be penalized. I HATE the extra work that this will generate for ME. I abhor the fact that my EXTRA work will serve to make the jobs of other people easier. My additional work will allow others to be more lazy and less vigilant. My extra work will vilify ME to the users whom resent being overly managed even though I am not the one who made the decision to implement this at-home filtering.
On the other side of the coin I see encourage this type of lock-down. The VAST majority of our users need to learn how to function in a responsible way and keeping them on task is part of that. Taking away distractions is another part. Learning that their actions (collectively) up to this point are the reason that they are ALL encountering the new restrictions is a good lesson in how the world works and how they will have to manage in the future when they do their assigned work for other organizations.
I also fail to have a lot of sympathy for people who will whine about the newly imposed limitation. If they want an unlocked internet they need to BUY THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT. It's quite simple: free equipment is NOT free; it has a catch. In this case the catch is that the users are subjected to the rules and regulations of the entity providing the equipment.
There is ALWAYS a trade.
There is no free lunch.
Sometimes the trade is a good one, other times it is a bad one, sometimes it's even hard to identify the trade; but a trade ALWAYS exists.
There are multiple buildings where I work.
Each building has certain I.T. equipment distributed to the users within that building.
Each building has a different set of needs and a different set of rules about use.
One thing that is common among ALL the buildings is that the equipment issued to you for the purposes of your WORK is not a toy; it's a tool for accomplishing your assigned work.
TANGENT WARNING: Assigned work has three vectors of evaluation.
1. Quality of the work.
2. Timeliness of the work.
3. Appropriateness of the work.
I, personally, don't care what people do with the equipment once their work is completed. The caveat to that is that the rating of the work on each vector is at or above acceptable.
The problem with where I work is that the VAST majority of users prefer to goof off instead of doing their assigned work. They would rather harass each other on Facebook or play Mafia Wars or search for porn than do the work they SHOULD be doing.
So we have filters.
The filters have not been overly successful in reducing many of the behaviors that distract from the completion of work.
So, in one of the buildings, we're implementing filters at home, too. Those filters ONLY apply to the equipment handed out BY US. Those filters apply at the same level as they do within the building.
Part of me SCREAMS out against this concept. I HATE the idea of locking down the equipment and making it less useful. I HATE the idea of inhibiting the use of the equipment is such a way as to penalize those who have no reason to be penalized. I HATE the extra work that this will generate for ME. I abhor the fact that my EXTRA work will serve to make the jobs of other people easier. My additional work will allow others to be more lazy and less vigilant. My extra work will vilify ME to the users whom resent being overly managed even though I am not the one who made the decision to implement this at-home filtering.
On the other side of the coin I see encourage this type of lock-down. The VAST majority of our users need to learn how to function in a responsible way and keeping them on task is part of that. Taking away distractions is another part. Learning that their actions (collectively) up to this point are the reason that they are ALL encountering the new restrictions is a good lesson in how the world works and how they will have to manage in the future when they do their assigned work for other organizations.
I also fail to have a lot of sympathy for people who will whine about the newly imposed limitation. If they want an unlocked internet they need to BUY THEIR OWN EQUIPMENT. It's quite simple: free equipment is NOT free; it has a catch. In this case the catch is that the users are subjected to the rules and regulations of the entity providing the equipment.
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