So far it's a "No Links Thursday" here - not much going on online that seems comment-worthy, but listening to a "science" show on the radio just now got me thinking along some weird lines.
The presenter made the odd comment that films are like a fertility cycle, or something close to that. We have a certain "fertile window" during which we can usefully (from the point of view of evolution) get into relationships, and there was some mathematical strategy that gave the best times of one's life to go looking for The Partner, etc.
It's a load of wossname, as in the very next breath he admitted that arranged marriages are more successful than random social marriages, which knocks the whole matter out of the realm of biological cycles and fair and square into the realms of social norms, which is where it belongs.
But he then went on to say that various films have revivals - I think X Files was the example - and of that he said that 2018 or some such time would have been the ideal time to release a sequel, based on the cycles above, somehow.
Which I suppose is why the Terminator series used their own cycles, the Star Wars series used *their* own cycles, and so forth. Yeah right.
The fact of the matter is that social things like advertising, publicity, and hype are what determines whether a sequel will fly, as much as the actual quality of that sequel,. It's the same factors that shape whether a particular site, meme, or video will go viral, similar factors to what decides whether the stock market follows the economic trends or diverges from them.
I generally like he idea of science shows and books. Done right, they make science much more accessible to a wide audience. But many of them propagate myths that are not based much in science, like the cycles of films thing above. That's a dangerous kind of science to teach, and will lead to inevitable mistakes. We're currently reaping benefits (if you can call global warming a benefit) of a scientific generation, composed of people who know the importance of starting with the right assumption, the right hypothesis, proving it, then using that to build further science on. Things like transistors and modern medicine arose out of solid science.
So it's sad to see this kind of misdirection - seemingly, designed to dumb the next generation down. As our need for better science (to deal with the bad applications of reasonable science, such as petrol engines and food additives) increases - and indeed, becomes imperative for control of the climate crisis - the generation that's growing up to deal with it are being fed this particular kind of haphazard science. It bodes ill for survival beyond this generation.
Thursday, 16 October 2008
Wednesday, 15 October 2008
Ah "Mac"Cain...
If I see more things like this in articles online I may just revise my opinion of the States. "In case you just woke from some kind of a coma (or you are a certain older gentleman running for a particularly prominent public office), today Apple revealed new additions to the MacBook family" - so funny that even all the way over here in Australia I know they didn't mean Barak Obama... Quick thought - if John McCain was a computer ...
Not so funny - All Apple, All The Time... My eyes just glaze over, and I think I'll just mark all my feeds as read for a few days...
Not so funny - All Apple, All The Time... My eyes just glaze over, and I think I'll just mark all my feeds as read for a few days...
Tuesday, 14 October 2008
The High Cost Of - Bull?
Well - what else do politicians seem to produce in quantity? Such as K-Rudd's fine gesture to pensioners, wow give them a whole $1100 (if they're a couple, that's what each gets) just before Christmas. The fact that they've all had to make do with about a $100 a week shortfall for the last year and are already $5200 short of where they should be, let's not worry about that. Just give 'em a lump sum and then tell 'em to piss off until I'm good and ready, okay?
Not that I'm bitter Mr Rudd - but dammitalltohell here's this article in the news which shows that the public service can quite happily do without $34,000,000 a year's worth of senior bull slingers, and I'm thinking - that is just one state! So if we did that for every state and territory (NT, WA, SA, VIC, TAS, NSW, ACT, QLD hmmm times eight so that's ummm hummm...) $272,000,000 that could be put towards those troublesome pensioners... Every year!
Oh yeah and also - with a pensioner's annual income being somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000 - which you have to admit is pretty shitty - that $34m is for 171 senior public servants who obviously didn't do an awful lot cos they won't be missed - and they were earning an average annual salary of $198,800 each.
I'd say there is some inequity there somewhere. You may not have authored this problem Mr Rudd - but you sure as shit aren't dealing with it too well...
Not that I'm bitter Mr Rudd - but dammitalltohell here's this article in the news which shows that the public service can quite happily do without $34,000,000 a year's worth of senior bull slingers, and I'm thinking - that is just one state! So if we did that for every state and territory (NT, WA, SA, VIC, TAS, NSW, ACT, QLD hmmm times eight so that's ummm hummm...) $272,000,000 that could be put towards those troublesome pensioners... Every year!
Oh yeah and also - with a pensioner's annual income being somewhere between $12,000 and $15,000 - which you have to admit is pretty shitty - that $34m is for 171 senior public servants who obviously didn't do an awful lot cos they won't be missed - and they were earning an average annual salary of $198,800 each.
I'd say there is some inequity there somewhere. You may not have authored this problem Mr Rudd - but you sure as shit aren't dealing with it too well...
Added FeedBlitz
Hey all - I've put all the blogs together on FeedBlitz if anyone wants email delivery of all articles on all blogs nightly. You can go to http://www.feedblitz.com/f/f.fbz?Sub=245899 to subscribe, the feed for all the blogs seems to vary between 5 a day all up to maybe 2 a week sometimes. All depends if I have access to the Internet, have time, and if there is interesting stuff going on in the world.
The blogs in the FeedBlitz email are:
TEdALOG Lite - General commentary, bullshit, yarn spinning, and what have you. I enjoy seeing such articles, and I enjoy writing them. I hope you also will enjoy them.
TEdADYNE Systems - Cyborg Ethics - with technology and our bodies seemingly destined to get mingled, what are going to be ethical questions we face, what technology is around to make it happen now? Also, ideas for IT and technology - I tend to have quite a few...
Zencookbook Blog - Anything that's eco friendly, green, good for your body - this blog is a companion to the book. Some ideas for sustainable living, occasional DIY projects that will save your money or your environment or both, and links to great green ideas out there.
TEdAMENU Tuckertime - Recipes I've developed, tried out, or enjoyed. Generally healthy-ish and very varied. Some of them fit into the Body Friendly Zen Cookbook range, they will usually have a list of active constituents at the foot of the recipe.
You can also go to The Body Friendly Zen Cookbook site. It's not a blog though (not yet, at any rate!) so it stays pretty static. That said, I will be updating that site over the next few months though.
Please refer anyone you think might benefit from these sites - the ideas may well be just what some business has been looking for - in which case they are welcome to use them, if they will only attribute them to the right person, i.e. me. Recipes for healthy easy meals - you're more than welcome to them. A neat project for yourt home or garden that will save power, or water, or money? Take the article and have fun! And everyone can do with a laugh in their lives - so if TEdALOG Lite made you grin, I feel happy too.
The blogs in the FeedBlitz email are:
TEdALOG Lite - General commentary, bullshit, yarn spinning, and what have you. I enjoy seeing such articles, and I enjoy writing them. I hope you also will enjoy them.
TEdADYNE Systems - Cyborg Ethics - with technology and our bodies seemingly destined to get mingled, what are going to be ethical questions we face, what technology is around to make it happen now? Also, ideas for IT and technology - I tend to have quite a few...
Zencookbook Blog - Anything that's eco friendly, green, good for your body - this blog is a companion to the book. Some ideas for sustainable living, occasional DIY projects that will save your money or your environment or both, and links to great green ideas out there.
TEdAMENU Tuckertime - Recipes I've developed, tried out, or enjoyed. Generally healthy-ish and very varied. Some of them fit into the Body Friendly Zen Cookbook range, they will usually have a list of active constituents at the foot of the recipe.
You can also go to The Body Friendly Zen Cookbook site. It's not a blog though (not yet, at any rate!) so it stays pretty static. That said, I will be updating that site over the next few months though.
Please refer anyone you think might benefit from these sites - the ideas may well be just what some business has been looking for - in which case they are welcome to use them, if they will only attribute them to the right person, i.e. me. Recipes for healthy easy meals - you're more than welcome to them. A neat project for yourt home or garden that will save power, or water, or money? Take the article and have fun! And everyone can do with a laugh in their lives - so if TEdALOG Lite made you grin, I feel happy too.
US Politics. Irrelevant, But Fun To Analyse.
Political things in the States is slowly culminating. Climaxing, even. I have to say that it seem to me that either way they vote, the people of the USA are going to be screwed. Putting a politician in power is like putting a kid in charge of a candy store, a glutton in charge of the pork barr... Oh yeah - they already know that, they invented the term I think...
Anyhow - the States are faced with a choice of a Bush clone whose running mate is a hausfrau, or a black african american who grew up to be more upper crust than Lord Milquetoaste, and whose running mate is pretty much out of the news. Biden who? What? And the ridiculousness doesn't end there.
Really. Ah McCain, you've done it again. I believe sales of pit bull bitches and lipstick are through the roof, while sales of Canadian Justice have just about exhausted the justice available. Because, that was an indictable offense. The only reason I can think of that they didn't sling Sara's ass in jail is because either elitism is alive and well (oh! never!) or else that stocks of justice and commonsense have run out.
And McCain's not above getting someone else to do his dirty work either. It's a textbook smear, placed right at the right time, to take advantage of the fact that Jews and Arabs don't get on so well.
Mind you, poor old Obama BA bin Barak has been copping it even from local government. Poor sod is doubly tarred with that brush. Interesting sidetrack: Will they reprint and resend, will people get confused by having two sets of ballot papers? Consider that probably half of them won't know which is the correct set of papers if they do... And then - if they leave the papers as they are, will McCain be able to say that a vote for "Osama" is not the same as a vote for "Obama" and thus invalidate those votes?
Luckily there's also support for Obama in the form of video, pity it limits itself to the "Florida vote." As Sarah says in the video, it's probably the last chance for America to lose the title of assholes of the world. It'll be interesting to see what the USAians choose...
Update: Sara Palin has her own fan club!
Last observation on the American sense of "justice:" It's not okay to use the word "niggah" there to refer to black americans - but it's fine to use the term "redneck" because let's face it, it's almost a term of endearment... Wonder how the votes will go?
Anyhow - the States are faced with a choice of a Bush clone whose running mate is a hausfrau, or a black african american who grew up to be more upper crust than Lord Milquetoaste, and whose running mate is pretty much out of the news. Biden who? What? And the ridiculousness doesn't end there.
Really. Ah McCain, you've done it again. I believe sales of pit bull bitches and lipstick are through the roof, while sales of Canadian Justice have just about exhausted the justice available. Because, that was an indictable offense. The only reason I can think of that they didn't sling Sara's ass in jail is because either elitism is alive and well (oh! never!) or else that stocks of justice and commonsense have run out.
And McCain's not above getting someone else to do his dirty work either. It's a textbook smear, placed right at the right time, to take advantage of the fact that Jews and Arabs don't get on so well.
Mind you, poor old Obama BA bin Barak has been copping it even from local government. Poor sod is doubly tarred with that brush. Interesting sidetrack: Will they reprint and resend, will people get confused by having two sets of ballot papers? Consider that probably half of them won't know which is the correct set of papers if they do... And then - if they leave the papers as they are, will McCain be able to say that a vote for "Osama" is not the same as a vote for "Obama" and thus invalidate those votes?
Luckily there's also support for Obama in the form of video, pity it limits itself to the "Florida vote." As Sarah says in the video, it's probably the last chance for America to lose the title of assholes of the world. It'll be interesting to see what the USAians choose...
Update: Sara Palin has her own fan club!
Last observation on the American sense of "justice:" It's not okay to use the word "niggah" there to refer to black americans - but it's fine to use the term "redneck" because let's face it, it's almost a term of endearment... Wonder how the votes will go?
Monday, 13 October 2008
SMS charges - another rip-off...
Sunday, 12 October 2008
Rethinking Freelancing In A Recession, Take Two
I follow a lot of blogs. Maybe not all the blogs I should, all the time. But I do try. I haven't caught up with this blog for a while, but I think just as well I did. It's something for me to think about. This article, specifically , has caught my attention.
I'm sort of in this situation. I've worked freelance and short term contracts for a few years due to ill health, and now that I'm on a medical pension I can still work, but these days my efforts have to be somewhat less strenuous than a fulltime freelancer.
I like "don't panic" as a leitmotif but really, the current economic situation is unlike anything we've ever experienced in recorded history. It's also more than an economic situation - we have a global climate crisis, a population explosion which is causing some serious re-balancing problems for a significant percentage of species on earth, and political climate going wild all over the world.
Be conservative? I prefer to say that we need to be frugal and each one of us take responsibility for our contributions to the current situation. What? You didn't? Let me just say that unless you have been living off planet, you're full of it if you think you aren't a contributor. In the current environment, you'd better consider the impact of EVERYTHING you do or consume or use.
Last in, first out - try contracts - post grads - all well thought out. I personally consider short term contracts and freelance to be equivalent kinds of work, in both cases you're working short term, and the difference between a freelance job and a contract spec is minimal as far as practicality is concerned. Studying is my least preferred option, because it's the one where you are least productive in the short term in exchange for a later increased productivity. And that, as I'll explain a bit later, may not be nominal.
The last four or five points I won't cover in detail. Suffice to say, there's arguments for and against each of them. For now, consider them in light of the analysis I've made so far:
The lower part of Australia has been in an ongoing and steadily worsening drought for what is claimed to be 12 years but which I from my own experience can safely say is closer to 25 years long by now. Our farmers also used the most modern tools at their disposal (newspapers, the postal mail, telephones, travelling to meetings which today we'd call "unconferences" or something similar) to develop strategies and methods to deal with the weather crisis they were undergoing.
In the meantime, every year more farmers walked off their properties and left them to the banks. For them, the situation never ended, they became victims of a series of conditions which have cost entire fortunes. When they started strategising, they assumed the situation would end soon, or at the very worst, end before it had completely ruined their chances.
Farmers presumed that if they stuck to wheat, for example, they would be the ones with the best crop when the drought finally lifted. Others diversified into canola and other crops, and a few basically said to hell with traditional crops and went for things like macadamias, olives, and other non-traditional crops. At this point, many of those farmers are now still in business whereas their more traditional counterparts are in dire straits.
And therein lies the lesson for IT and web workers today, in this situation. There may not be a "breaking of this drought" in our lifetimes. There may not be a break, full stop. It's just too early to predict whether this will be a fairly significant bump on the graph or a new median.
Meanwhile, non-traditional endeavours will have payoffs. Web work will be around, yes. But so will lots of people to do it. And while you may have regular clients, that's subject to change just as everything else is. Short term contracts building applications and online presences will still be around, for sure. Just maybe under a lot of competition and with a much lower financial return than you can live with. Working as a system or network admin, a helpdesk droid, an IT technician - there will be work in the field, yes. But ruling economic climate may well make those jobs overly lowpriced. Don't forget, one thing that the new frugal living will do, is make high tech less popular and IT less desirable. That's what the new green awareness will do for us.
So think about how to make whatever you're doing, truly green and environment-friendly. Thought of a way to use existing IT resources for longer or make existing IT resources do more? Clients and employers will be more likely to take your solution if they can be seen to be green because of it. Same server, double the amount of your web applications can be run on it without needing an upgrade? You can see how something that would have just been the cherry on the icing on the cake a few months ago can now be a significant selling point.
Also, of course, there's that social responsibility - we should all be thinking in terms of the difference we can make. That's what may well be the difference between this situation easing or going on. The difference will be made by being pro-active and not waiting for "someone else" to "do something..."
I'm sort of in this situation. I've worked freelance and short term contracts for a few years due to ill health, and now that I'm on a medical pension I can still work, but these days my efforts have to be somewhat less strenuous than a fulltime freelancer.
I like "don't panic" as a leitmotif but really, the current economic situation is unlike anything we've ever experienced in recorded history. It's also more than an economic situation - we have a global climate crisis, a population explosion which is causing some serious re-balancing problems for a significant percentage of species on earth, and political climate going wild all over the world.
Be conservative? I prefer to say that we need to be frugal and each one of us take responsibility for our contributions to the current situation. What? You didn't? Let me just say that unless you have been living off planet, you're full of it if you think you aren't a contributor. In the current environment, you'd better consider the impact of EVERYTHING you do or consume or use.
Last in, first out - try contracts - post grads - all well thought out. I personally consider short term contracts and freelance to be equivalent kinds of work, in both cases you're working short term, and the difference between a freelance job and a contract spec is minimal as far as practicality is concerned. Studying is my least preferred option, because it's the one where you are least productive in the short term in exchange for a later increased productivity. And that, as I'll explain a bit later, may not be nominal.
The last four or five points I won't cover in detail. Suffice to say, there's arguments for and against each of them. For now, consider them in light of the analysis I've made so far:
The lower part of Australia has been in an ongoing and steadily worsening drought for what is claimed to be 12 years but which I from my own experience can safely say is closer to 25 years long by now. Our farmers also used the most modern tools at their disposal (newspapers, the postal mail, telephones, travelling to meetings which today we'd call "unconferences" or something similar) to develop strategies and methods to deal with the weather crisis they were undergoing.
In the meantime, every year more farmers walked off their properties and left them to the banks. For them, the situation never ended, they became victims of a series of conditions which have cost entire fortunes. When they started strategising, they assumed the situation would end soon, or at the very worst, end before it had completely ruined their chances.
Farmers presumed that if they stuck to wheat, for example, they would be the ones with the best crop when the drought finally lifted. Others diversified into canola and other crops, and a few basically said to hell with traditional crops and went for things like macadamias, olives, and other non-traditional crops. At this point, many of those farmers are now still in business whereas their more traditional counterparts are in dire straits.
And therein lies the lesson for IT and web workers today, in this situation. There may not be a "breaking of this drought" in our lifetimes. There may not be a break, full stop. It's just too early to predict whether this will be a fairly significant bump on the graph or a new median.
Meanwhile, non-traditional endeavours will have payoffs. Web work will be around, yes. But so will lots of people to do it. And while you may have regular clients, that's subject to change just as everything else is. Short term contracts building applications and online presences will still be around, for sure. Just maybe under a lot of competition and with a much lower financial return than you can live with. Working as a system or network admin, a helpdesk droid, an IT technician - there will be work in the field, yes. But ruling economic climate may well make those jobs overly lowpriced. Don't forget, one thing that the new frugal living will do, is make high tech less popular and IT less desirable. That's what the new green awareness will do for us.
So think about how to make whatever you're doing, truly green and environment-friendly. Thought of a way to use existing IT resources for longer or make existing IT resources do more? Clients and employers will be more likely to take your solution if they can be seen to be green because of it. Same server, double the amount of your web applications can be run on it without needing an upgrade? You can see how something that would have just been the cherry on the icing on the cake a few months ago can now be a significant selling point.
Also, of course, there's that social responsibility - we should all be thinking in terms of the difference we can make. That's what may well be the difference between this situation easing or going on. The difference will be made by being pro-active and not waiting for "someone else" to "do something..."
Friday, 10 October 2008
Trading in the Face of Recession - U Doin It Rong.
Ding! "OMG it's another TEdALOG! Drop the feed, 42 so far this week and counting! Sheesh the most opinionated tosser in WA's blogging scene."
Yes it's true, listeners and losteners. I managed 42 posts in a week, and that may not have included them all because I really only added one blog to FeedBurner a few days ago. (And it wasn't all that graet an experience, ackshuwally.)
This would be #43, or #1 of a new week, not sure which to call it. And it contains a burning, timely, incisive, insightful question which confuses the utter shyte out of me. Here's the setup. K-Rudd says we'll escape the recession because our resources market is still strong. The world'd stock markets plunge, ours takes a bit of a dive, but it's alright because K-Rudd says we'll escape the recession because our resources market is still strong.
Then comes that nasty news that our largest market may be wanting to take a rain-check on a lot of that natural resource. Now, what K-Rudd said, is no longer so certain... "But hey!" say Portman, "They're asking us to reduce the amount we send. But we stitched them up good, there's a firm contract they can't get out of, yay for our sales and legal teams!"
So now I wonder - if a country is feeling an impending recession (and who knows, China may well be in such a situation given the prodigious amounts of projects they have on the stove at any time) and says "uncle" that's a sign right there. Maybe shoving the contract in their faces will keep income coming in now - but how much damage will it do the Chinese economy? And will that add to the recession domino falls? Cos if it does, then we're definitely going to hit our recession. And some of our trading partners may not feel quite so enthusiastic and loving towards us once we've dunked them.
Just a thought...
Yes it's true, listeners and losteners. I managed 42 posts in a week, and that may not have included them all because I really only added one blog to FeedBurner a few days ago. (And it wasn't all that graet an experience, ackshuwally.)
This would be #43, or #1 of a new week, not sure which to call it. And it contains a burning, timely, incisive, insightful question which confuses the utter shyte out of me. Here's the setup. K-Rudd says we'll escape the recession because our resources market is still strong. The world'd stock markets plunge, ours takes a bit of a dive, but it's alright because K-Rudd says we'll escape the recession because our resources market is still strong.
Then comes that nasty news that our largest market may be wanting to take a rain-check on a lot of that natural resource. Now, what K-Rudd said, is no longer so certain... "But hey!" say Portman, "They're asking us to reduce the amount we send. But we stitched them up good, there's a firm contract they can't get out of, yay for our sales and legal teams!"
So now I wonder - if a country is feeling an impending recession (and who knows, China may well be in such a situation given the prodigious amounts of projects they have on the stove at any time) and says "uncle" that's a sign right there. Maybe shoving the contract in their faces will keep income coming in now - but how much damage will it do the Chinese economy? And will that add to the recession domino falls? Cos if it does, then we're definitely going to hit our recession. And some of our trading partners may not feel quite so enthusiastic and loving towards us once we've dunked them.
Just a thought...
Thursday, 9 October 2008
Almost Obligatory Crap Article
This article has been broken out of another article today, due to the proliferation of bodily function humour to be gained from so many posts on similar topics. It's here now because it brought a huge grin to my face as I kept reading, and so I hope you too will get at least a "hehe" out of it. Also, if it makes just one more person ecologically aware, that makes this whole article worthwhile.
From "Solar. Now U Doin It Right.":
First, a random thought about "poo humour." Why? hehehehe when someone has an article like this one, why mess with the words "poo power" when they could just come right out and say "shitricity, fo shiz!" Much better "ring" to it. (oops, no pun intended. yeah.)
From there, the day just got better: We've all referred to toilet plumbing as "the shit-pipes" but that's just alimentary... (Hmmm, why did the phrase "no shit, Sherlock" just cross my mind?)
Slightly less crappy is the drive to convert waste to energy, as in this article. They can do it more simply - I mean, we had goats and chickens and other animals when I was a kid, they turned almost all our rubbish into this neat, pelletised fertilizer for the garden...
And just when you thought it was safe, here's an article which will lead to an urban myth that goes something like "you'll wake up in a bath of ice, with a dull ache down below. DO NOT GET OUT OF THE BATH, they have put you there to facilitate the natural retraction reaction!"
Stay tuned. Today can only get better! %)
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