Page of Moss - bloglet for Friday 7 December 2001

This is a beautiful response to a relatively minor but deeply disturbing evil thing.
(via rebecca's pocket) _
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03:06:21 PM, Friday 7 December 2001

16-bit Intel 8088 chip

with an Apple Macintosh
you can't run Radio Shack programs
in its disc drive.
nor can a Commodore 64
drive read a file
you have created on an
IBM Personal Computer.
both Kaypro and Osborne computers use
the CP/M operating system
but can't read each other's
handwriting
for they format (write
on) discs in different
ways.
the Tandy 2000 runs MS-DOS but
can't use most programs produced for
the IBM Personal Computer
unless certain
bits and bytes are
altered
but the wind still blows over
Savannah
and in the Spring
the turkey buzzard struts and
flounces before his
hens.

--Charles Bukowski, from you get so alone at times that it just makes sense
_
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01:56:51 AM, Friday 7 December 2001

Tommorow's Friday. That's so fucking beautiful. _
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01:52:14 AM, Friday 7 December 2001

Blah! I can't connect to AIM, and I can't even ping aol.com, either from m14m.net or from home. Mayhap they're down. _
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11:54:44 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

Oh dear! Evidently the URL I gave for the song I mentioned in this entry wasn't permanent, and it now no longer works. I can't find a permanent URL for the bibliographic page, but I can find URLs for the song itself in mp3, RealAudio, and wav formats. Listen to it! _
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09:58:13 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

bradlands seems to have the best response to the whole thing. _
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07:13:07 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

Definitely A. _
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03:40:57 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

We found this in the printer at work this morning:
heather: A low-growing Eurasian shrub (Calluma vulgaris) growing in dense masses and having small evergreen leaves and clusters of small, bell-shaped pinkish-purple flowers. Also called ling².

pulmonary trunk n : the artery that carries venous blood from the right ventricle of the heart and divides into the right and left pulomanry arteries

estrange: To make hostile, unsympathetic, or indifferent; alienate. To remove from an accustomed place or set of associations

wolf's bane n : poisonous Eurasian perennial herb with broad rounded leaves and yellow flowers and fibrous rootstock

Black Friar: A friar of the Dominican order

widow's weeds n : a black garment (dress) worn by a widow as a sign of mourning

Japanese Chess n : grass of Mediterranean and temperate Asia _
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03:07:35 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

Welcome, Helen! _
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03:01:26 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

"Are There Real Analogies in Nature?" is one of my favorite readings on the St. John's program. It is typically read in lab class junior or senior year, but not all classes read it. It is quite short--probably no more than an hour's reading--and written in a very playful style, but it manages to be an unusually good examination of some of the basic philosophical questions about science. I mentioned earlier (see comments) that I was thinking of making an e-text of it, but I find upon googling this morning that this has already been done.

The Idea Publishing House, where I found the e-text, is also rather intruiging. Dedicated to "providing the Turkish reader with the translations of the major intellecutal works of both Eastern and Western cultures which are still missing in the Turkish language", it seems to have a fairly extensive collection of works translated into Turkish--which, sadly, I cannot read a single word of.

Their English language page--which, of course, I can read--has a small collection of e-texts, in English, French, German, and Latin, on science and the philosophy of science. It also has three articles by one Aziz Yardimli. The two political pieces are fairly unremarkable, and are primarily dedicated to refutations of Chomsky, who I think he misunderstands. The other piece, though, a brief email exchange with Alan Sokal on the topic of irrationalism, is more interesting. I don't think Mr. Yardimli's analysis is quite right--all three of his articles seem typical of a particular sort of excessive counterreaction to the uncertanties of modern and postmodern philosophy and culture, which I've observed elsewhere as well--but he has some good insights, and is clearly motivated by an honest desire for understanding and a respect for human life, which would be cause enough to forgive far deeper errors. _
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02:10:59 PM, Thursday 6 December 2001

One of my favorite web sites is a .gov: The American Memory. It's got huge archives of pictures, video, and audio, including a bunch of great old scratchy recordings of folk music. This song, in particular, ought to be better known at St. John's, especially around Reality time. _
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11:44:52 AM, Thursday 6 December 2001

Can "helluva" be used with an adjective? I've seen it used that way, but I thought the correct word in that context was "hella". _
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07:20:04 PM, Wednesday 5 December 2001

I just did a bunch of arithmetic in my head 'cause a friend needed to calculate something. It was fun, but it was just a brief shadow of the sort of fun I have doing real math. I haven't dealt with a good math problem in years--high school and then St. John's just fucked with me where math was concerned, 'cause they were too slow and didn't get into the right sorts of details, so I lost a lot of my facility with it. I miss it. I should get back into it. Maybe read a calculus book. I'm sure I could still pick most of it up from a book, no need for a class or anything, as long as it had good explanations and good excercises. It's just such a great challenge.

I want to see A Beautiful Mind, 'cause it's about a game theorist, but I just know it's gonna suck. I've seen the preview for it, two or three times now, and it's gonna be... I dunno. Sloppy. But it should be so good. _
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06:55:39 PM, Wednesday 5 December 2001

For several seconds just now, I had no idea whether I was wearing a watch or not. I'd assumed that I was, but I don't. I haven't in years. But I had to think about it just a bit to figure that out. _
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05:44:26 PM, Wednesday 5 December 2001

Well then, that last question being answered, I think we can safely say that:

If I were a work of art, I would be Claude Monet's Waterlilies.
I am soft and gentle, but very colourful. Although based in reality, I look at the world through a filter of impressions which shape how I see things. Splashes of light help to define my presence and bring an endearing quality.
Which work of art would you be? The Art Test
_
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03:53:19 AM, Wednesday 5 December 2001

Do I smile joyfully or enigmatically? _
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07:20:06 PM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

"You bring me carrots and celery!"
(A stunning 115 points to the first person to identify the quote) _
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05:27:35 PM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

I'm not sure I've linked to This American Life often enough. It's one of the best things on public radio--probably, in fact, one of the best things anywhere--and they've got full RealAudio archives on the website. Listen to it, and be happy. _
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02:43:09 PM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

Fascinating series of emails from Linus Torvalds arguing, essentially, that all software design is evolutionary.
(via Scripting News) _
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01:37:42 PM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

What fresh hell is this? _
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12:14:56 PM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

Deleted two of the galleries (Croquet and Coast). Figured they weren't getting much use anymore anyway. If you want anything from them, email me. I think I'm going to upgrade to 100 megs or some such when I renew my account at my web space provider. _
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01:36:04 AM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

Up the airy mountain, down the rushy glen, we daren't go ahunting, for fear of little men. _
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01:18:14 AM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

Shouldn't there be a Burn A Great Book event at Reality every year? _
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12:41:57 AM, Tuesday 4 December 2001

I'm home, and I've got my internet connection back! All told, that wasn't actually all that bad. I'm using DHCP now, which is annoying, but it was pretty simple to switch everything over. For those of you who don't know: @home shut down on Saturday, due to the fact that, well, they didn't have any money left, so AT&T transferred all its AT&T@Home users over to AT&T Broadband, their own network. This didn't happen immediately, though, so I was without service all weekend. How I suffer. _
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09:29:04 PM, Monday 3 December 2001

It's all about the [transmutation of base metals into gold], baby. _
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07:40:15 PM, Monday 3 December 2001

So it seems they've found a 4,000 year old city preserved in volcanic ash. I think that's pretty damned cool.
(via Slashdot) (odd thing to find on Slashdot, innit?) _
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06:56:17 PM, Monday 3 December 2001

Browsing around at Athena, I am reminded that Giovanni Pico della Mirandola's Oration on the Dignity of Man is available online. It used to be part of the St. John's program, but I suspect they found that it, like so much from the Renaissance, was just a bit too out there to be easily discussable in seminar. _
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03:37:58 PM, Monday 3 December 2001

He spent 16 hours in a Home Depot on a bet. And not only that: he kept a journal. _
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08:30:08 PM, Friday 30 November 2001

Squid ink rebellion. _
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08:08:36 PM, Friday 30 November 2001

"Put me down!" said the fish, "This is no fun at all!"
"Put me down!" said the fish, "I do not wish to fall!" _
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07:32:20 PM, Friday 30 November 2001

"As long as I am mayor of this city [Jersey City, New Jersey] the great industries are secure. We hear about constitutional rights, free speech and the free press. Every time I hear these words I say to myself, 'That man is a Red, that man is a Communist.' You never hear a real American talk like that."
-- Frank Hague, 1896-1956 _
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06:33:57 PM, Friday 30 November 2001

I am Jack the Ripper
Which Evil Criminal are You? _
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06:21:41 PM, Friday 30 November 2001

I wonder if I'll still have an internet connection after tommorow. _
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06:58:20 PM, Thursday 29 November 2001

Someone on MetaFilter just used this word. I'd never heard it before, but it sure is a good one. _
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03:09:09 PM, Thursday 29 November 2001

Idea: a Python class that would transparently access a database through the interfaces for a list object, with the index of an item in the list corresponding to the ID of an item in the database. Essentially, a persistent array. Could this be made to work? Not sure. _
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01:48:46 PM, Thursday 29 November 2001

Of course, it's also true that those who would give up essential safety to obtain a few petty and inconsequential liberties deserve, and can expect, to have neither. _
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01:13:37 PM, Thursday 29 November 2001

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