Geek stuff

When to shiver and when to work

January 31, 2012

in Geek stuff,Law,Politics,Rants,The environment,Writing

From Daniel Yergin’s The Quest: To demonstrate environmental sensitivity [at the negotiations for the Kyoto Protocol], the Japanese organizers turned down the heating in the conference center. But this created a new problem as Kyoto in December was cold. To compensate, the Japanese decided to distribute blankets to the delegates. But they did not have [...]

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Idea novelty versus urgency of publication

January 31, 2012

in Geek stuff,Writing

One sign that a person has had a genuinely novel idea is that they are in no particular hurry to publish it. When Idea A and Idea B are all over the place already, it is obvious that Idea A+B will be thought up by dozens of clever people in short order. There is less [...]

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The second rule of the internet

January 30, 2012

in Geek stuff,Internet matters,Rants,Security

Back in 2010, I described what I called the ‘first rule of the internet‘: Against a sophisticated attacker, nothing connected to the internet is secure. To this, I feel like I should add a second item: Everything is internet now. While there were once large numbers of electronic systems entirely disconnected from the internet, nowadays [...]

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Rickover on duty

January 29, 2012

in Geek stuff,Politics

U.S. Admiral Hyman Rickover, father of the nuclear navy, wrote a good plain-language description of what is basically Immanuel Kan’t categorical imperative: I believe it is the duty of each of us to act as if the fate of the world depended on him. Admittedly, one man by himself cannot do the job. However, one [...]

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Repeated ad infinitum

January 24, 2012

in Geek stuff,Internet matters,Psychology,Rants

XKCD is right, this is worth a look today: List of common misconceptions From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Note: Nero didn’t fiddle while Rome burned. The ancient Greeks knew that the Earth was spherical, and how large it was. Napoleon was not short. He was slightly taller than the average Frenchman. The Emancipation Proclamation didn’t [...]

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AeroPress: good coffee for the itinerant

January 23, 2012

in Geek stuff

As I have mentioned to a few people before, my ultimate dream of domesticity is a place where I can unpack all of my books, and perhaps where I have an espresso machine. That day, if it ever comes, is a long way off. All indications are that the next few years will continue to [...]

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Risk/efficiency trade-offs in pathfinding

January 21, 2012

in Daily updates,Geek stuff,Psychology,The outdoors,Travel

Finding my way to a new building, it struck me that two major strategies are possible in urban pathfinding. You can try to follow the most efficient path or you can try to minimize your odds of getting lost. Call those the ‘efficiency’ and ‘reduced risk’ approaches. Each has some level of appeal. Nobody wants [...]

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The Hobbit

January 20, 2012

in Books and literature,Geek stuff,Writing

I recently re-read J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit. The book is a wonderful one, with a compelling story, beautiful language, well-crafted characters, and moral complexity. It’s a classic journey tale, in which a protagonist goes from one place to another and changes along the way. I first read The Hobbit in high school. One of my [...]

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#ShotOnKodakFilm

January 19, 2012

in Geek stuff,Internet matters,Photography

Kodak has filed for bankruptcy. They are the company that created mass photography, so this is something of a historic moment. If you have some suitable photos online, please consider posting them to Twitter with the hashtag #ShotOnKodakFilm.

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SOPA blackout

January 18, 2012

in Canada,Geek stuff,Internet matters,Law,Politics,Writing

Many websites in the United States, Canada, and around the world are joining together to protest SOPA – the Stop Online Piracy Act. The bill, which could become law in the United States, would have unfortunate consequences for the internet as a whole. I agree with Michael Geist that Canadians should be concerned. I remember [...]

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