-{ redgeek.net }-

I posted another add on craigslist. Re-posted for your viewing pleasure.

Dinette Set: Table and Four Chairs - $20

I know what you’re thinking. Really, I do. And it’s not “$20 for a full dinette set? How can that be? This is a deal too good to be true!” No, what you’re thinking is, “Wow, that must be a really crappy dinette set.” And in a way, you’re right. It is a crappy dinette set, on the outside. Inside, it’s got a heart of pure gold. (Or fibrous lignum cut into planks, I’m not sure which.)

See? I’m not trying to pull anything over on you.

That said, it does it’s job, and it’s never complained. Without the inner leaf, it’s 42” inches square, 29” high. The inner leaf is 17”, which means fully expanded you’ve got a glorious 59” of dining expanse. Now, last time I ate out with my girlfriend, we spent over thirty bucks on breakfast. That’s ten dollars more than these table and chairs, and that breakfast didn’t even come with with anything to eat it on. Score one for the crappy dinette set. See, its beauty lies in its utility, not its looks.

That’s what I’m talking about. This dinette set is like the Terminator: very few words (aside from a snappy epithet, which is seldom audible); it just gets the job done. It’s a trooper.

But what makes this dinette set look so crappy? Well, first of all, just glance at it. It looks like it came out of a 1980’s time share condo. I imagine it used to share a room with one of those red-black-and-white “modern” minimalist illustrations of some chick wearing a V-shaped shoulder-padded jacket and stirrup pants, looking provocatively back over her shoulder. You know, like the ones you still see that haircut store that hasn’t updated it’s posters since before the New Kids on the Block. But then, who expects a soldier to be stylish? I don’t. They’ve got jobs to do.

Also, it’s a bit scuffed up. If you look carefully at the front of it, you can see a small black line between two of the horizontal supports – that’s because it’s not flush. Probably the result of some field trauma. (I don’t think Cheney’s war machine properly armored it, but that’s neither here nor there.) It could probably be hammered back into place, but I never felt the urge to do so, since it works just fine as is. Don’t fix what ain’t broke, as they say. And, since I’m leaving town, I need to transfer this bad boy to another unit. Don’t let this dinette become ronin. The last thing we want is the Blackwater division of Ethan Allen getting wind of his impressive record.

Looking for a throwback to the ’80s? Have a rental unit you don’t care about? Need a poker table for the garage? All are perfect roles for this grunt of a table. You’ll never worry about spilling beer on it, potting plants, or changing your grandson’s diaper on it. (Although the last has never happened, I’m sure it wouldn’t mind. All part of the job for this intrepid dinette set.)

You support our soldiers, right? Even if our foreign policy is totally fubar’d and you don’t think they should be there in the first place? Yeah, me too.

So buy this dinette set. If you can show me military ID, it’s free.

(You’ll need a truck. Point Loma / Loma Portal area)

My girlfriend recently produced (and conceptualized, and directed, and all sorts of other things to do with the creation of) this music video for Vinyl Radio, sponsored by the Village Hat Shop (which has some pretty damn nice hats.)

Vinyl Radio is going to get big, they just played SXSW and had a blurb on Josh Spear’s coolhunting-trendspotting site. And they’re damn good live. So watch it, and pass it along.

Particle physics is like studying fine wristwatches by slamming them together to see which parts fall out.

Brilliant.

A study funded by the US government has concluded that conservatism can be explained psychologically as a set of neuroses rooted in “fear and aggression, dogmatism and the intolerance of ambiguity”.

This is fucking hi-larious. It took a fair amount of control not to laugh out loud at work.

In the martial arts world, we have meditations on all sorts of things, but some of the more common mediations, or at least well known, are on elements: generally either the five rings (earth, water, fire, wind, void) or the five elements (earth, metal, water, wood, fire) of Chinese cosmology. Some people get pretty ting-ting about “meditating on water” or they go the other way and see no spiritual nor practical application. William Saletan gives a pretty good example of how these meditation can be seen as frameworks for understanding the modern world.

On a side note, which is only tangentially related on the Taoist front, is a link that summarizes a lot of my thought on the direction I’m heading. So far, I’ve sold the stereo, given away or sold books and tons of CDs, some furniture, and more. I’m looking forward to the sale of the house and moving into something that will most likely be pretty shabby.

I cannot lose what I do not have. For I have already given it up, else I never had it in the first place.

Click Me. You won’t regret it.

Tucker Carlson has certainly [lightened up][1] (snipped in case it gets pulled):

Former ‘Playboy’ playmate deported
Argentinean model wants special immigration status and re-entry to U.S. TRANSCRIPT
MSNBC
Updated: 4:09 p.m. ET Jan. 26, 2006

Tucker Carlson
Anchor, ‘The Situation’

Here’s a believe it or not story. Talented foreigners around the world are flashing their skills to get into this country, of course. But very few have the assets of Argentine bombshell Dorismar. The former “Playboy” playmate was rounded up by immigration authorities and deported with her husband on January 5 after living illegally in Miami for five years.

Now her attorney is trying to get the calendar pinup back into this country by classifying her as, quote, “an alien of extraordinary ability.”

Tucker Carlson was joined by Dorismar’s attorney, Michael Feldenkrais, to discuss this quest for special immigration status.

TUCKER CARLSON, HOST ‘THE SITUATION’: What exactly is Dorismar’s extraordinary ability?

MICHAEL FELDENKRAIS, DORISMAR’S ATTORNEY: Well, the INS has already considered her as an extraordinary ability, and that’s probably her looks, her singing abilities, and her looks, I guess.

CARLSON: You can’t see the screen, but we unfortunately have – we’ve blotted out her extraordinary ability that you’re talking about. And that’s her rear end, of course. She was named by “Mirror” magazine as a woman who possessed one of the top 25 rear ends in all of entertainment. You’re saying that because this girl has a cute butt, she should be a U.S. citizen?

FELDENKRAIS: Well, not necessarily U.S. citizen. But she should be allowed to be able to work in this country. She should be allowed to come in and do her performances, do whatever it is that she needs to do to proceed with her continued dream of becoming a, quote unquote, supermodel and so on and so forth. Absolutely. She should have the right to work, come in, maybe even leave, go in and out of the country. Absolutely.

From sigalert:

• 15 South Before Miramar Wy Traffic Collision - No Injuries 3:52 PM
• Thomas Guide Map Coordinates: Page 1229, Grid 1G
• Reporting Party Doesn’t Think That Its a Traffic Collision / Both Vehicles Are Facing Wrong Way 3:52 PM
• 2 Vehicle in the #4, #3 Lane That Are Facing Wrong Way 3:52 PM
• CHP Unit Enroute 3:55 PM _

The First Annual MySpace Stupid Haircut Awards!

I’m trying to stay away from small posts without purpose, but there’s only so often you read, in a reputable science publication, phrases like “In some cases, breasts can slap against the chest with enough force to break the clavicle,” and “No one really knows the long-term medical consequences of ‘excessive breast bounce.’”

Here

(This is bound to get me some wierd hits from search engines….)

This is why we temper our mind and body in martial arts. (Well, one of the reasons) It’s not about bruising each other up and dulling nerves.

From over at mind hacks, a mental health charity challenged it’s members to express the contradictions of mental turmoil and the self through artwork.

Absolutely brilliant. If you’ve read any of my pieces related to turning the world upside down (Saito’s words, not mine), this is exactly the sort of thing I’m referring to: Pledge-a-Picket

Security Advisory
Component: common-lisp-controller
Date Reported: 14 Sep 2005
Affected Packages: common-lisp-controller
Category: design error

How to Argue on the Internet
or
Going Head to Head with and Internet Tough Guy and Not Looking Retarded
or
Why the Troll Handed You Your Ass

Arguing, debating, and other generally useless Internet activities are somewhat different that in other mediums. Although similar to a spoken debate, in that jabs are generally traded in somewhat of a reciprocative manner, there are subtle but important elements of human communication that are lost. Elements such inflection, cadence, and body language are not present or very difficult to convey at the least. Furthermore, there are elements of “netiquette” that are oft overlooked, where such oversights would be unacceptably damaging to one’s arguments should the analogous action be performed in person.

On the up side, it’s next to impossible to be interrupted.

Gleaned from years of net existence, here’s my guidelines for not looking like a complete dumbass when arguing on the Internet. Remember, you’re not trying to convince your opponent you’re right, you’re trying to convince everyone else. After all, your opponent is an idiot, so he or she must be wrong. You’re just trying to make sure he or she doesn’t contaminate others.

1. ALL CAPS IS LIKE SCREAMING AT A DEBATE. DON’T DO IT.
2. Smileys do not convey body language.
3. Smileys do not convey cleverness. Quite the opposite.
4. Graphical smileys incite the wrath of netizens.
5. Gratuitous graphical smileys incite the wrath of God.
6. Not your god, my god.
7. Spel check. Twwice.
8. Your computer is not a mobile phone; there are many keys on it. Use them.
9. “OMFGROTFLMAO ur so wr0ng” is not a sentence.

10. Re-read your web forum post/email/Usenet posting the greater of

    • Four times
    • Two full times through without making corrections

Your opponent will read it at least twice three times that, and quote you on it.

1. Re-read your opponent’s post until you understand it. Then read it again, slower. Then, read it empathetically from your opponents point of view. You might already be the dumbass.
2. Do not mis-quote your opponent. After all, there is a record of what he or she said, and they’ll just refer to it. And send it back to your high-school debate coach, your mother, significant other, and the credit bureau.
3. Reverting to personal attacks is about as effective as calling your doctoral review board “a bunch of snotty poopheads”. Dumbass.
4. You cannot kick, punch, or shoot someone through the Internet. You will not hunt someone down because they insulted you. You are fundamentally lazy, as you are currently Arguing On The Internet.
5. Such threats only serve to provide the masses with entertainment regarding the lack of your grip on reality. You will be trolled indefinitely after that, and any future valid point is already in the dustbin.
6. Sixteen different fonts, sizes, and colors do not impress or instill fear in your opponent. Unless arguing with the Amish, he or she has seen them before.
7. Your signature should be shorter than your post. Always. And it should never include a graphic of some anime character. Ever.
8. If you’re wrong, admit it. If you’re unsure, say so. If you’re right, spell it out word for word.
9. Sarcasm and cadence don’t translate well. Don’t try to use them unless you’re a very experienced Internet Debater, author, poet, or furry. Furries can do whatever the hell they want; they’ll never look like anything but a dumbass.
10. Cite legitimate references. Just because it’s on the web, doesn’t make it “true.” Just like this list.
11. Your “friends” are not legitimate references. Neither are your parents, siblings, children, or other relations. No one believes you actually have any of the above.
12. Asides only give your opponent ammunition and detract from your point. Omit them, don’t emit them.
13. Do not enlist the help of bystanders, let your opponent collapse under the weight of his or her own mistakes. The spectators will commence kicking the offender once he or she is down.
14. Remember, you’re not trying to convince your opponent you’re right, you’re trying to convince everyone else that your opponent is wrong. Argue accordingly.

Most of this couldn’t be more obvious. But, as they say, arguing on the Internet is like competing in the Special Olympics - even if you win, you’re still retarded.

Series of scatter-shot posts today. I’ll wind down the afternoon with Boy Lucks Out

Simply sublime.

Ok, a couple months ago I queried thusly:

_ I remember being told as a child that most people could keep track of up to seven different ‘things’ at once. Now, recent research suggests four, at least if they’re trying to integrate the four into a relationship. I’d be interested to see some research as to if the previous notion of ‘seven’ is at all accurate, and if so, if some of that mental storage in the ‘seven’ case is being repurposed for relationship processing in the ‘four’ case._

Can we really can we make time/space tradeoffs in our brain? Does keeping track of seven independent (or minimally dependent) items exhaust our on-core registers, and if we want to establish a non-trivial relationship between the up to four of the items that was not known before, do we ‘trade’ three of the registers for processing cycles, or do we just lose the ability to address three of the registers? Most of the research I’ve read suggest our short term ‘working set’ of memory a nd analysis is extremely fluid in it’s addressing of functions and storage, but that the array of functions/storage is quite large (hence activation of different areas of the brain for different exercises.) This naturally leads me to two questions:

1. _How do we increase our mental addressing space? (So we can address more analytical and and memory functions at once) _
2. _How can we apply this concept to microprocessor design? (To create more flexible , lower-power microprocessors) _

Now, I read this:

_ Working memory is the brain’s short-term information storage system. It’s a workbench for solving mental problems. For example if you calculate 73 - 6 + 7, your working memory will store the intermediate steps necessary to work out the answer. And the amount of information that the working memory can hold is strongly related to general intelligence._

_A team led by Torkel Klingberg at the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden, has found signs that the neural systems that underlie working memory may grow in response to training. Using functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) brain scans, they measured the brain activity of adults before and after a working-memory training programme, which involved tasks such as memorising the positions of a series of dots on a grid. After five weeks of training, their brain activity had increased in the regions associated with this type of memory (Nature Neuroscience, vol 7, p 75). _

Sweet, maybe I was on the right track.

Then the article followed up later with this:

_ Actors [
] attach emotional meaning to what they say. We always remember highly emotional moments better than less emotionally loaded ones. Professional actors also seem to link words with movement, remembering action-accompanied lines significantly better than those delivered while static, even months after a show has closed. _

Which is interesting because I just sent a link (to a different article) to my Sensei, and article that suggested that gestures served to help trigger memory and vocabulary, as opposed to just expressing emotion or expository direction. Where’s the connection to martial arts? Well, you know all those little finger-movements you see ninjas do in the movies? These are kuji-in, adapted from Buddhism, otherwise known as mudra. I believe such physical movements can serve to trigger not just conscious memory of words/names/text/etc, but can trigger baser emotion, attitudes, or personality shifts, if you encode them as such. It’s a feedback loop.

Now, on to the next - everyone who knows me, including former bosses who wanted me to stay up all night to get some project done - knows that I’ve always said things are hard when you’re tired (common knowledge). But let’s get a neuro-scientist to throw down $0.02:

_ “If you have been awake for 21 hours straight, your abilities are equivalent to someone who is legally drunk,” says Sean Drummond from the University of California, San Diego. And you don’t need to pull an all-nighter to suffer the effects: two or three late nights and early mornings on the trot have the same effect. [
] Sleep is when your brain processes new memories, practises and hones new skills - and even solves problems. Say you’re trying to master a new video game. Instead of grinding away into the small hours, you would be better off playing for a couple of hours, then going to bed. While you are asleep your brain will reactivate the circuits it was using as you learned the game, rehearse them, and then shunt the new memories into long-term storage. When you wake up, hey presto! You will be a better player. _

So, let’s go back to this mind-body feedback loop again, to those who think that 24/7 immersion in one thing is the best way to get things done:

_ There’s another reason why your brain loves physical exercise: it promotes the growth of new brain cells. Until recently, received wisdom had it that we are born with a full complement of neurons and produce no new ones during our lifetime. Fred Gage from the Salk Institute in La Jolla, California, busted that myth in 2000 when he showed that even adults can grow new brain cells. He also found that exercise is one of the best ways to achieve this. [
] And the effect works both ways. Just as physical exercise can boost the brain, mental exercise can boost the body. In 2001, researchers at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation in Ohio asked volunteers to spend just 15 minutes a day thinking about exercising their biceps. After 12 weeks, their arms were 13 per cent stronger. _

Jumping again, let’s hit up Ninpo (and Taoist internal arts) again:

_ Neurofeedback grew out of biofeedback therapy, popular in the 1960s. It works by showing people a real-time measure of some seemingly uncontrollable aspect of their physiology - heart rate, say - and encouraging them to try and change it. Astonishingly, many patients found that they could, though only rarely could they describe how they did it._

_More recently, this technique has been applied to the brain - specifically to brain wave activity measured by an electroencephalogram, or EEG. The first attempts were aimed at boosting the size of the alpha wave, which crescendos when we are calm and focused. In one experiment, researchers linked the speed of a car in a computer game to the size of the alpha wave. They then asked subjects to make the car go faster using only their minds. Many managed to do so, and seemed to become more alert and focused as a result. _

This is Ninpo. Control yourself body and mind to acheive your goals. This is Taoism. Control yourself, until control is no longer required, to adapt and exists without conflict. As Uncle David said to me in a dream a few weeks ago, “It’s easy if you focus.”

From the guys:

A long time ago, I knew two things about jerking off: It involved jerking something, and it felt good. Alas, if only I had known what needed to be jerked. One day, determined that I should no longer miss out on this marvelous jerking off I kept hearing about, I made a guess, grabbed a hold of my testicles, and gave them a good solid jerk straight downward. I felt something, but it wasnt good.

Oh, and from the girls, too:

I went with my dad to visit his best friend, who bred Saint Bernards. While there, I saw this large wooden contraption and asked Dad what it was for. Turns out it was a breeding support so the dog (who is usually well over 150 lbs.) doesnt hurt the bitch. My dad explained what a mommy dog and a daddy dog do to make puppies. He explained as accurately as a 4-year-old could understand, and I seemed to get what he was talking about. Later that day we came home and I ran up to my mother. Mom! Guess what I learned today! I then proceeded to give a fairly detailed description of what a mommy dog and a daddy dog do to make puppies, followed by the exclamation: You and Dad should do that! You see, I wanted a puppy.

(More from the guys, more from the girls.)

Great interview with one of my favorite groups.

Choice excerpts that mirror some views I’ve long held:

”I think we have a natural ability to recognise harmony and I think this exists as much within an engineering context as it does within music. Working in a studio is really no different than building a bridge from metal girders, isn’t it?”

Mirrors my reply to people thinking engineering is “boring” – I see tons of creativity within different constrants and languages and symbols, and different ways of breaking all the above in different environments. Good engineering is beauty, good sex is music, good literature is function.

”It seems that for a lot of people, if they hear something that doesn’t sound regular, they assume it’s random. If live musicians were playing it, they’d probably call it jazz or something. But the fact that it’s coming out of a computer, as they perceive it, somehow seems to make it different.”

If you’re going to define something, define it by it’s substance and not it’s surface. Computers are tools. While some tools leave artifacts, it is in fact the artist that should determine either: 1) master the tools enough such that the artifacts are a result of intent rather than ineptitude, and/or 2) choose the right tools for the job.

Isn’t this just all about meaning? We hear what we want, and label it accordingly, but how attentively are we listening? Maybe you should listen to a semiotician speak on electronic libraries taking the place of God. Trust me, there are parallels there if you look - err, listen - hard enough.