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Fundamental Physics Prize

There’s a new kid gunning for Nobel in town. Seven of the nine prizes went to string theorists. I kinda thought ST might be a bit in disfavor now that the LHC has pretty much ruled out supersymmetry in any reasonably testable regime. No experimentally verifiable SS means that ST is kinda in there with luminiferous aether and N-rays. Better yet is that either the committee which determines the prizes just gave it to themselves (kind of a Cheney vetting the veep moment), or more likely, the past winners get to select the next winners. Meaning more ST lottery winners.

Of course all smart folks. Just no evidence that ST is the right horse. Or even a horse. Or even equine. Much less in the right race.

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2012 07 31 Brent Science Comments Off on Fundamental Physics Prize Permalink

X of the year 2011, update

In the previous year end summary, I forgot this. And the other Bigfoot memoirs. Laugh out loud funny. Seriously. I sat on the porch and guffawed through the whole thing. Woulda been funny even without the G&Ts.

2012 07 23 Brent Comment
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Food for thought

And not so much for eating. Drought, persistent 15% unemployment, austerity in the air.

Is it me, or does something smell like 1937 around here?

2012 07 22 Brent Because linking is an intrinsic good
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My answer to tech support requests from now on…

Should be this. Or quote the going rate (you don’t wanna know).

The obvious reply is that no one knows everything, and sometimes you just want a quick question answered yourself. But that kind of turns it into a barter economy of favors.

Nonetheless, I think I spend a lot more time fixing other people’s tech issues than they (the in-toto “they”) spend on my non-tech issues.

2012 07 20 Brent Because linking is an intrinsic good
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Picture of the day, 20 July 2012

 

2012 07 20 Brent Picture of the day Comments Off on Picture of the day, 20 July 2012 Permalink

Picture of the day, 19 July 2012

Hannover Hbf

Hannover unterHbf

2012 07 19 Brent Picture of the day
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Notes of the day, 12 July 2012

  • Two drops of rain as I put the top up on the car, just because.
  • The fake fireplace with the real flame at the Hilton Pasadena.  Outside temp:  97 F.  Outside humidity:  37%
  • On the radio:  LA’s homicide rate is half of 2005.  Innovative police tactics are given credit.  Never mind that crime rates all over the western world are half what they were in 2005.
  • “Out of the box bold moves that would work.  That would be best.”  Two graying gentlemen (that is to say, my age, or a bit older) in pastel Izods, deck shoes, and sansabelt shorts, over Peet’s iced mocha frappacinos.

Yes.  Yes it would.

 

2012 07 12 Brent Comment Comments Off on Notes of the day, 12 July 2012 Permalink

Picture of the day, 11 July 2012

polar bears

polar bears

2012 07 11 Brent Picture of the day Comments Off on Picture of the day, 11 July 2012 Permalink

Your corporate masters

Send you on a trip, to an uninteresting place, for unrelenting work. For this, you are expected to arrange your own travel, price compare to save the corporation’s money, pay for it out of your own pocket, bear the ancillary expenses of rearranging your life for weeks or months at a time (which won’t be reimbursed – the corporation treats every employee equally in assuming no personal life outside of work), be treated like a criminal suspect should you decide to take any personal time whilst on the company dime, then beg to get your expenses reimbursed, months later, all the while the vig is ticking.

REIMBURSED! You floated a loan of many thousands of dollars, probably at usurious vig, to a entity which deals with billions of dollars every year, yet can find no way to pay such expenses out of its own pocket. Yet is penurious about tens of dollars in reimbursements when it comes to giving your back your own money. And obsequious and unresponsive to boot. Heaven forfend you should misinterpret some arcane rule, written with the worst components of legal precision and human resources intelligence. That is to say, not precise, and able to be arbitrarily interpreted in a manner not to your favor.

2012 07 10 Brent Comment
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Higgs

If we hadn’t cancelled the SSC, we’d have found it 20 years ago. And many other things besides, given that the SSC had several times the energy and luminosity of the LHC.

Congratulations, CERN.

2012 07 06 Brent Rant
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Dickensian

Debtors prison is alive and well.

2012 07 05 Brent Rant Comments Off on Dickensian Permalink

Software activations and DRM

I spent $129 on your software. Now I have a new computer, and apparently you’ve gone out of business. Website can’t be found. Emails are not replied to. The software still runs, but it asks me for an activation, which I can’t get. Cause in your infinite wisdom and fear of someone using your software without paying, you tied the activation code to a specific MAC address. Given what I see when I search, there’s no shortage of cracked software, but your paying customers are SOL.

There’s the story of DRM in a nutshell: paying customers – screwed. Thieves – still running just fine.

As when I train my dogs, maybe you should ask yourself: what incentives am I reinforcing with this?

2012 07 04 Brent Rant Comments Off on Software activations and DRM Permalink

Nerd Xmas

The package that was supposed to arrive 18 July, and then be delivered by Fedex 6 July, was shipped from Shanghai 30 June, and arrived at my doorstep at 0908 2 July. Now it appears that Apple has invented a time machine (as opposed to Time Machine).

Or they’re gaming their inventory. But the Fedex trick was a new one, showing up five days before the tracking said it would.

Good thing I was so blown by the weekend climbing and post-climb work out (and two G&Ts) that I couldn’t get my lazy butt off to work sooner.

But now I’m surprised that I’m at work and not at home playing with the new toy.

And so, off to the pixel mines.

2012 07 02 Brent Comment Comments Off on Nerd Xmas Permalink

The only place

Three more summer runs for the dogs. Temps in the low 50s, and it’s almost July.

2012 06 27 Brent Comment Comments Off on The only place Permalink

Prometheus

6/10

I don’t mind plot holes, but you better be moving fast enough that I don’t have time to dwell on them while I’m waiting for the next thing to happen.

For comparison – Alien 9.875/10. Aliens 9/10. Even the one that execrably had Winona Ryder in it gets a 7.5/10. Played by its rules and who doesn’t love some Hedaya?

Click here for spoilers. These are just the ones I thought of sitting in the movie waiting for something to happen that I didn’t already expect.

Just go watch The Avengers again (8/10 with a summer action movie level up +1 bonus). At least Cobie Smulders is way hot. And all the characters get to be intelligent, esp. Stark and Banner. Yeah, I’ll buy your levitating aircraft carrier and humans fighting (literally!) gods, if you keep it moving at Mach 3.5. Consistent within its own universe buys a lot.

Update: This guy does it better than me. Yeah. What he said.

The more I think about it, the more insulted I am. RS can make an image but he’s well and truly out of ideas.

2012 06 10 Brent Comment Comments Off on Prometheus Permalink