After two days before the keyboard, and working through this, I can type 15 wpm dvorak, 65 qwerty. switching back, even briefly, left me muddled. C, L, P and S are the main trouble-makers.. But I could type that all day. that that that that that.
_
respond?
10:10:28 PM,
Sunday 2 April 2006
-
This time it is going to stick: I've pried the keys off two keyboards and put them back Dvorak-wise, one for home and another for work.
_
respond?
04:34:10 PM,
Saturday 1 April 2006
-
I want barley malt extract.
_
respond?
(3)
11:44:44 AM,
Friday 31 March 2006
-
Went to the local Go club. About 16 people. Friendly. All better than me, but a couple in my general vacinity, and all willing to play. Lost 3 games, a 13 stone handicap game, a even game that I would have won had I been on form, and a 9 stone game that was vaguely close, apart from a last minute catastrophe. Left my bike at Davis square. Went to the trouble of taking the bag off the back. Left the taillight on, and no one stole that. Next tuesday I'll find a bike rack closer.
_
respond?
(5)
09:50:58 PM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
-
The primary virtue of free speech is that it prevents the formation of black markets trading in idiocy.
_
respond?
11:42:13 AM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
-
Spun off from the woefully off-topic discussion on Moss's blog. Come fight here, everybody!
There are all sorts of things I would love to have removed entirely from the face of the earth. Alcohol, incense, prostitution, the NFL, the Vatican, nation-states, the frittering away of capital on luxuries and conspicious consumption, gender targeted food advertising, perfume, new-age quackery, and carbonated beverages, and that's just off the top of my head. However, sometime in high school, and much to my disappointment, I learned the difference between an all-powerful God and government. It's actually quite easy to see, once you look. None of these things are going to go away, because people like them. Similarly with eating small cuddly animals and abortions. It would be fine to ban any of these things (except lamb) if society was close enough to consensus that they could be banned without demand creating a black market. We aren't, so the best we can do is regulation. (Black markets in Nationalism are at the root of many of the world's problems).
There have been times and places where murder has been tolerated, because demand for murder was so high, partly as a solution to the same problem: unwanted pregnancies, whether it be English duels or Turkish honor killings. These are just as much a part of traditional morality as anything else. I suppose I'm a progressive: I believe that in contraception and abortions that are safer than pregnancy, we have come across a better solution than the traditional ones. In the 18th century, abortionists were dispicable murderers; they were doctors in no sense: they risked killing the patient for no purpose other than to kill the child and eliminate the evidence. Today, while people still sometimes get abortions to eliminate the evidence, due to reliable contraception, casual sex is no longer so irresponsible, nor so stigmatized, and some abortions are medically legitimate. This means that abortions in general need to be legal.
This is why I have some difficulty with abortion as a basic human right: It's acceptability is based entirely on technological advancement. It's necessity may soon be eliminated by further advances. It may be a particular application of a basic human right. Theories as to which one, and how, are solicited, as are defenses and explanations of traditional morality in the modern world.
_
respond?
(11)
11:35:08 AM,
Tuesday 28 March 2006
-
Google Finance is nifty. I particularly like putting the news stories along the stock line.
_
respond?
(1)
09:41:16 PM,
Monday 27 March 2006
-
Re: Moussaoui. I understand why we have racketeering laws. They're ugly, but necessary. A bit like affirmative action laws: I feel they should probably be tossed out on constitutional grounds, but I don't mind if it takes a while to do it. But lying to investigators is not and cannot be a capital offense. I can deal with it being illegal to lie to investigators. I don't like it, but I can deal with it. But the flakiness of the law needs to be balanced by moderating the punishment. Capital punishment only has a place when the facts are beyond doubt. I cannot deal with failing to assist the police being a crime. That's pure nightmare. Now, it isn't worth getting excited about yet. Lawyers dream up all sorts of stupid theories, and news stories about it should be roundly ignored. But usually it's the defense, not the prosecution. It might even be a good thing: this would be one way to get executive overreach into the courts. Let's just say I'm laying the groundwork for getting very excited indeed if this goes anywhere.
In my paranoid moments I wonder if they're choosing to push for the death penalty on idiotic grounds so as to force ACLU types into pro-terrorist positions before the election.
_
respond?
(1)
08:00:21 PM,
Monday 27 March 2006
-
Lemon Curd recipe:
1/3c juice from 2 lemons
2 large eggs + 1 yolk
1/2c sugar
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 cubes and chilled
1 tbsp heavy cream
1/4 tsp vanilla extract
pinch salt
beat eggs. Whisk in sugar.
Heat lemon juice until just simmering
slowly whisk lemon juice into mixture
put mixture back in the saucepan over med. heat
stir constantly until 170 and somewhat goopy, about 3 minutes
Remove from heat, stir in butter.
Stir in cream, vinailla and salt
Strain, cover with plastic wrap touching curd, and refrigerate.
thoroughly lick strainer
_
respond?
(1)
05:13:14 PM,
Monday 27 March 2006
-
Okay, so, as far as I can tell, the argument for manned space exploration is to develop technology needed for colonization. Is there anything that makes colonizing, say, Mars, easier than colonizing the bottom of the ocean? As far as I can see, the only theoretical advantage of Mars is that it's further away, so potentially more independent and free from our wars/diseases/meteor strikes/whatever. But nuking a mars colony wouldn't be that hard, would it? I mean, we could do that now. And presumably a submarine colony would be safe from a decent subset of cheesy science fiction novel scenarios. Yet I think everyone would agree that a government funded submarine colony is daffy. So I just don't get it, policywise.
_
respond?
(4)
11:55:14 AM,
Wednesday 22 March 2006
-
I have a headset! It has a mute button! Yay!
You have only yourself to blame for reading my blog.
_
respond?
(1)
11:26:20 AM,
Wednesday 22 March 2006
-
There aren't enough Bobbie Gentry style storytelling songs sung in character. Perhaps it's because pop music is so much about selling the artist rather than the song.
_
respond?
(4)
10:30:45 AM,
Wednesday 22 March 2006
-
site & script courtesy of Moss
