climate, photos, miscellany
Since I am dependent on WiFi for internet access at the moment, I ordered a Alfa AWUS036H external WiFi adapter. It should get better reception than the internal antenna in my iMac. It also runs on openly documented drivers, so it can be used with some software that Apple WiFi hardware cannot. I will post [...]
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This book contains about 20 pieces of short writing by William Gibson. They vary in style and content, from his essay on the culture of Singapore (“Disneyland with the Death Penalty”) to long discussions of his history with buying mechanical watches to his thoughts on the future of technology and the societal importance of science [...]
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I’m sure everyone has heard this quote and its variations: “The definition of insanity is doing the same thing and expecting a different result”. While it may have a kind of folksy charm, I think the position being argued here is plainly false. While there will never be a simple an unambiguous definition for a [...]
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As with my M.Phil thesis, I plan on using various technological tools to help with the creation of my doctoral thesis. Here’s a simple one I am trying: a web form that allows people to suggest thesis sources. If you come across something that you think would be interesting and useful to me, please put [...]
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Software defined radio (SDR) is one of the things I am most curious about. There is just so much data being exchanged via radio these days. It’s strange to think about the constant complex pattern of broadcasting happening all around us. This video gives a bit of a taste of what is happening in one [...]
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I saw Margin Call yesterday – an interesting fictionalized depiction of the start of the mortgage-backed security meltdown of 2008. The film depicts one fundamental cause effectively enough, namely models that understimated the level of risk associated with mortgage-backed collateralized debt obligations, though what I have read about the crisis suggests that this may not [...]
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I am reading Estelle Phillips and Derek Pugh’s How to Get a PhD: A Handbook for Students and Their Supervisors. One interesting section is entitled: “Not understanding the nature of a PhD by overestimating what is required”. Some quotes: The words used to describe the outcome of a PhD project – ‘an original contribution to [...]
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There are masses of important recent news stories on the topic of smartphone security. I have been filing them below posts like this one, this one, and this one, but they really deserve a spot of their own. First news story: Micro Systemation makes software that allows people to bypass the 4-digit lock code on [...]
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My latest effort to avoid the constant sound of traffic and streetcar noise in my bedroom consists of wearing DeWalt DPG62-C ‘Interceptor’ Protective Safety Earmuffs over top of foam earplugs. The earmuffs are rated for 29 decibels of sound reduction, while the earplugs are supposedly good for 32. The sound reduction doesn’t seem to be [...]
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