blivet 2.0

As I was sitting here spacing out (I should go to bed!) SETI@Home kicked on. I noticed that I’m sitting at 9999 hours, 21 minutes, and some seconds. Nothing really profound in that, except that it is amazing to me how many hours have been racked up by something that kicks in the computer is idle. What have I done during those 10,000 hours? Uhhh, next question please.

Happy Birthday to Sheila’s Mom!

It’s late, and I’m trying to get caught up with stuff, taking things from my favorites list on Weblogs.Com in reverse chron. Brent talks about Frank, after the network became aware of itself. I suspect lots of people will link to his (Brent’s) little vignette, its pretty good.

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via Angus: Galileo Shows Signs of Ocean On Europa. Researchers at the University of California are almost certain that a massive ocean of water exists under Europa’s icy surface.

(4:54:06 AM) The cat wanted out and was trying to get my attention by walking on my head (it worked!) so I did a page flip on my way past the computer. We had spooled a big print job that had run out of paper that needed to be fixed as well. These are the sorts of things you think are news when you’re half awake …

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Sweet Mother, these words could have come from my mouth. Al on his Grandmother … :

I loved her very much. I still speak of her as if she were still here. I often tell my patients, “Well, I’ve only been doing this for twenty years or so. But my grandmother, The World’s Greatest Nurse, sez…” and offer such advice as I can remember my Grandma giving me. Or making it up, based on some of the general principles she would let me in on.

I miss her…

I’m not a Nurse, though my Grandmother was, so the words are slightly different. But the sentiment and the actions are so very much the same … I give advice in her name as well. There is something about those Swedish Grandmothers. Thanks Al.

You’re pretty talented with Bryce, I can see why you’re writing the book Susan.

Congratulations Mom and Dad! Raphael Nicolej Spernau is the latest member of the family for Martin and Sandra.

Wow, we had a great morning in the field with the drizzle down in the wash. Heidi and Rick (HRA, Inc.) are going to be doing some exciting work come October. Are you ready Claudia?

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OK, I’m outta here. See you on the other end of the daylight today.

Flash Flood Watches in Southern Nevada. More rain is forecast for today.

Frontier is alive and well in OS X. Very cool! This, along with the announcement of the release of the OS X beta for September 13 makes my personal computing future seem familiar, stable, and managable.

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Off to the Wash first thing tomorrow so it will be an early one. There may or may not be an update in the morning, we’ll have to see. Life is good. Don’t worry. Be happy! — Mehr Baba

I was pretty concerned yesterday that Audrey’s sickness had been diagnosed as Linear Regression which, when occuring in conjunction with the advanced stages of thesisitis is rumored to be pretty dicey (few reports are in, but survivability could be questionable), but she informs me that its a much milder case of some strain of 700-level Statistical Design of Research. Whew!

After several episodes of Twenty Raindrops during the day, there is a long slow rain falling in the desert as I write this. Back home (Kansas) this would be a soak-in kind of rain and the farmers would be happy, at least as long as they weren’t scheduled to cut hay or have to get machinery in the fields in the next couple of days. Here though it will trigger some flooding, partially because there is too much pavement, and partially because what soil there is doesn’t have enough organic content to retain the moisture. The next week will see an amazing florescense as plants of all sorts bloom in the furious activity that follows the first good rain after an extended dry spell. The toads will be singing the desert’s lullabye tonight.

Rivulets are running off the roof and rattling on the metal motel chairs in the back making a pleasant drumming noise. If we had rain regularly it would probably be annoying, but for now its a pleasant reminder of whats happening outside. A side effect of water actually falling from the sky is that Dodger, the official blivet mascot of a new cat millennium, is not happy. No one likes water less than a desert cat and he doesn’t mind letting those responsible, which as far as he’s concerned is Audrey and I, know of his displeasure. He has finally decided to make a break for it, at least as far as the dryness margin at the edge of the porch. I give him five minutes, max. Later: wet feet, complaining, and lots of purring while on my lap. All at the same time.

I’m trying out Radio UserLand … this is pretty slick! (I know everybody else already knows this, I’m not at the front of the pack of early adopters). I’ve updated the page a couple of times and tweaked the site template. Neat!

Our best wishes go out to Martin and Sandra. Martin writes traumwind.

Susan reports some Cooling over in California and its happening here too. It was 72 degrees at 10 AM which is unheard of this time of year in Las Vegas. She also points to Kiss My Freckled Ass Goodbye. Resignation letters: Words for the boss, both said and left unsaid.
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I’m out of time, I have to go to work five minutes ago.

Such is the way of things. There’s not enough time to put up links to interesting things I see this morning, friendly emails go unresponded to, some lingering doubts about showing the non-public, human side of a priest - the side that is not always calm, detached, and cryptic. Too many times I want to flick my horsehair flywisk and scream “MU!” Too much bureaucratic idiocy crashed over the starboard rail at work yesterday, soaking everything and pissing off the crew.

Good morning. There’s a light drizzle falling with yellow and gold clouds off in the east. Its a very picturesque desert right now.

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As many of you may already know, this week’s Scout Report refers to a new
site that compares and evaluates domain registrars at http://www.domainnamebuyersguide.com/index.html

I finished Road to Heaven: Encounters with Chinese Hermits (1993) last night. A nice read by Bill Porter (AKA Red Pine) who wrote a book on Bodhidharma I read several years ago.

Photoshop 6 will ship in late September; garret points out that they’re taking orders now. Wow, we just moved up from 4.0 to 5.5 a couple of months ago. $145 for 5.5 here, $135 for Illy 9.0 there, bump MaPublisher up a rev, another $199 for PS 6.0 coming up, pretty soon we’re talking real money. Unless theres something really compelling in 6.0, we may coast for a bit again. Along those lines, I hope Illustrator 9.0.1 comes out soon, several things need to be fixed. I’ve given up (as well I should since InDesign came out a long time ago) on Pagemaker 7.0 … The announcement for ArcView Spatial Analyst 2 came in the mail today. sigh … I guess we should do this for a living …

Our sympathy goes out to Ric Ford and his family. Ric edits MacInTouch.

Jason at Q is boning up on bear lore and conflict resolution for his upcoming trip to Alaska. Watch out for the GRIZ Jason. Which reminds me, “How do you tell the difference between GRIZ scat and Brown Bear scat.?” “Well, I don’t know Hal, but I have a feeling you’re going to tell us.” “Well, Brown Bear scat has berries and roots and other fruits and nuts in it, and GRIZ scat has berries and roots and other fruits and nuts in it, just like Brown Bear scat, … except for the bear bells.” with apologies to the memory of Edward Abbey.

Oh my god, how did I miss hearing about this? I need to sit down … Lava lamp inventor dies in London. Thanks for the pointer John.

The Curmudgeon has a new site banner. It looks good John!

I love my wife Audrey, but I fear she has some kind of sickness …
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Have a peaceful and good day.

Today is the first day back to school for children in grades 1 through 12 in Las Vegas. Its also the first day of Fall semester 2000 at UNLV. The clouds (there are clouds?) were low and a ruddy red, warning what sailors there may be here in the desert. We took the opportunity yesterday to vote early in the Nevada primaries.

Good morning, its very quiet and calm outside, even the incessant drone of the air conditioners are still. Its quiet inside the house and my head too, which is good. Its going to be a great day.
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[Working for Change] Powerful global warming lobby disintegrates. By Dr. David Suzuki

Some persistent myths about the cost of slowing climate change may finally be coming to a rest as the lobby group responsible for a massive campaign of misinformation disintegrates. We must hope this will help spur Canada and the United States into taking a more useful stance at the next round of climate talks this fall in The Hague.

The disintegrating group is the Global Climate Coalition (GCC), which was founded in 1997, just before the Kyoto Conference on Climate Change. The GCC, comprised of powerful fossil fuel, vehicle manufacturing and other heavy industry groups, spent enormous sums of money trying to confuse the public into thinking that reducing greenhouse gas pollution from fossil fuels would reduce our quality of life.

Their advertising campaign, which was heavily promoted in the United States, was nothing short of hysterical. Television ads portrayed any efforts to reduce emissions as a threat to freedom, suggesting that reducing our consumption of fossil fuels would force everyone to live in the dark and completely give up vehicles.

The claims were outrageous, but they were influential. The U.S. government has yet to take effective action to slow climate change and, as is so often the case, Canada has toed the American line. But times are changing and, as Lester Brown of the Worldwatch Institute says, corporations are now leaving the GCC like rats from a sinking ship. [emphasis added] link via Ed

Audrey is off to the UNLV library and I’m going to wade into my thesis …

Hello, somewhat of a slow morning - the calm before the storm. Another session with whole-wheat waffles and raspberry-rhubarb jelly while perusing the Sunday funnies. But now we’re getting in gear and the day is taking shape.
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We went bookshopping today. Brick and Mortar type to get the full tactile experience. Feel the heft, smell the ink and glue. Among the several that held us in their thrall, four found a home at the blivet hacienda. I heard Craig Childs on All Things Considered a couple of weeks ago, I suppose just before his The Secret Knowledge of Water: Discovering the Essence of the American Desert was released. He read a passage about a flash flood that I had to wait in the driveway with the engine running for him to finish. I’m looking forward to reading it. Though there is a link to it above, I recommend going to your local bookstore, even if it is a national chain.

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David, just remember that no task is so pressing that it cannot be belayed (temporarily at least) by updating the weblog. Even a thesis is subject to the power that is a weblog. I know it wouldn’t happen so much without Manila and Manila Express, it makes it so easy. My vi skills are getting rusty because of it. I suppose I should try Radio UserLand at some point.

I think you’re absolutely right Dave, its time to get in touch with the inner Godzilla. It needs to be a Godzilla 2K (Gojira ni-sen mireniamu) weekend.

Andrea muses on weblogs as a distraction for thesis writers … Oh, let me count the ways …

Nine hours of sleep can do amazing things to my outlook … I had one of those sleep cycles where you sink into the bed, past the pattern on the sheets towards the center of the Earth, like a tablespoon of material from a Black Hole. Pardon me, I hear the whole-wheat waffles calling my name. The raspberry-rhubarb jelly is murmmering too.
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If architects had to work like web programmers. thanks Jonas! (who picked it up at AListApart) I think everyone feels like that at times. There was a Dilbert several years ago where the PHB says to Dilbert, “What I don’t understand must be easy. Can you have it to me by noon?” and proceeds to give a task that is incredibly difficult. If we can be charitable to each other we can see this common ground when specialists interact. You’re the expert here, how long will this take? I think we do a pretty good job of this at the Preserve where I work. Most of the time.

Once in a while when we’re all tired and under the gun we miss the other person’s clue that we’re trying to make a common ground joke like “Can’t you just double-click and change it?” referring to an illustration that is the result of several days work or something similar. Then when you get the “Are you clueless?” (sanitized version) look, you have to say “Sorry, bad attempt at humor” or something to break the disconnect. Its humbling to admit that we make mistakes like that, but it always seems to pay off in the end by keeping the lines of communication open. I learned long time ago that its my fault, not theirs, if the communication drops. We all had several go-rounds with this situtation this week. But we lived to tell the tale …

EC is leaving the water district as of September 1. I alluded to her departure several months ago. She did the Geology for Burnt Rock Mound. Now she’s seeking a volunteer position for a couple of years providing her extensive hydrological expertise to either the Peace Corps or the World Health Organization to bring water to remote villages in Africa. She says its time to give something back. Good Luck and God Speed. You will be sorely missed.

I’m not sure what’s been happening out in the weblog neighborhood, it seems like we’re in a bit of a slump, perhaps we’re just occupied by school starting again, or just busy getting things done. Cross-linking seems to be down and its my impression is that the community is in a bit of the doldrums. Or perhaps I’m just reading from my own ‘in a slump’ autobiography ….

Home after work and the longest week (so it seems) in a couple of years. It actually totals to a little over 50 hours which ain’t that bad … it just seems like forever.
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Kind of a slow morning, I need some mental floss to clear away the cobwebs.

I hope you’re doing better and having a great day …

Warning: non sequitur proximity alert - you’ve been warned

Sheila: August 24, 2000 dogcowfarting.gif       LOL! its more that a Mac thing … its trancendental I guess this graphic is a response by Dave to a comment by Cam in the Scripting News dg. My response is separate from that - I just think is funny to think of Clarus farting. shouldn’t a digital dogcow fart ones and zeros?

Yes, its come to that … dogcow fart commentary on blivet. Can the four food groups of the apocalypse be far behind?

from the ‘No need to apologize’ dept. I’d rather read one of Al’s rants like today’s No Myth than most non-rant writing, including my own. Perhaps especially my own. Sometimes it seems that in order to write well about something in a weblog you have to feel strongly enough to rant about it. Bearing in mind that there are positive rants as well…

Space Art in Children’s books 1950’s to 1970’s. I saw this in the Science that came today. Astonishingly great illustrations compiled from children’s books about space travel from 1863 through 1974, but focusing on those after 1950. The formative images of space travel for me are here.
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from Brent: How to Edit Manila Sites in Radio UserLand. You guys are great!

Good morning!
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The talk is over and went well. We even set an attendance record for this type of program. We had a great time with the audience, they were engaged and I hope had a good time and learned something. The evaluations will be circulated tomorrow and we’ll see how that part went.

Other things that have been going on: the schematic design team is in town for workshop #5. We originally weren’t on the agenda until tomorrow which would have kept us free for last minute concerns with the talk but we found out at 3 yesterday that the team reversed the day’s schedules so we lost our practice time today. There was a little tweakin’ yesterday, but by this morning we pretty much knew we were where we knew we needed to be.

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John from the Iowa Homestaead had no luck trying to get to Iguassu Falls, Brazil for a conference. I now know what airline not to fly.

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There probably won’t be updates until quite late. See you later.

[Reuters] Ancient Temple Ruins Found Under Lake Titicaca.

The remains of what is thought to be a 1,000- to 1,500-year-old temple have been found below the waters of South America’s lake Titicaca, a scientific expedition says.

“We’ve found what appears to have been a 200-meter (660 feet) long, 50-meter (160 feet) wide holy temple, a terrace for crops, a pre-Incan road and an 800-meter (2,600 feet) long containing wall,” said Lorenzo Apis, the Italian scientist leading the expedition in a region of the lake around 90 miles northeast of the Bolivian capital La Paz. “

The site is affiliated with the Tihuanacu which predate the Inka (Inca) we’re more familiar with.

Real rain during the night with more forcast for today. It was great to lay in bed and watch the flashes of lightning in the dark followed by deep rolling thunder. Then came the soiund of water falling. We haven’t heard that sort of thunder for some time. The thin high thunder always sounds promising but is seldom followed by rain. The air smells fresh this morning, though the cat glares at me accusingly when he discovers the grass is damp. The sound of the water dripping off the roof (pah, pah, pah) was real soothing.
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I love the smell of Super77˙ in the morning … it smells like mild disorientation followed by an excruciating headache. Everything is done, mounted on foamcore. We’ll pick up tomorrow on those fallow tasks. (Note: I didn’t have a problem with the spray adhesive, it was used outside in a well ventilated area. I only made that mistake once, a long time ago.)

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I’m way late, gotta go …

James has read and discusses the NYT article Do Races Differ? Not Really, DNA Shows. “We are a little village that’s grown all over the world, and we retain the genetic variation seen in that little village.” Some good thoughts here. As An Anthropologist, I’ve been steeped in Race from all angles. In a hundred years the discipline has come 180 degrees. I need to read this article so I can write about it, but that will have to be later in the day (I’m already running late). I suspect from James’s comments I will agree with the article. Just because there are ‘differences’ in groups of people doesn’t mean that we are different. There are quantifiable differences between my best friend and I, just as there are between my wife and I. Just like there is between all of us, but that’s the variation within the population. We are all brothers and sisters, and the observed variation is simply that. It doesn’t amount to a damn. Stephen J. Gould’s Mismeasure of Man tackles this well. I recommend it highly.

Angus at Latte Log (his Trellx ‘log) talks about his version of Tyranny of the Commons? His penultimate statement:

At the end of the day, I am none of these things. I am Angus Glashier and I reserve the right to change my opinion on any and all issues whenever and however I feel the need.

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