Friday, February 22, 2008
 

(3089/898) Observations, big and little

2356) Scientific research has its own geography, with well-explored continents and treacherous peaks. Although individuals are familiar with their own fields, no one can fit it all together.

That's why a technique for visualizing such research holds such promise. Developed at Sandia National Laboratories, the algorithms will soon analyze connections between three million papers. The data is them represented as a three-dimensional landscape, where a mountain range signifying hot research issues in biology may connect to an area in physics by a narrow ridge.

What might we learn from such a map? "Connections that were previously hidden," suggests Chuck Meyers, project manager at Sandia. At the very least, a map of all research would function like a world map: it would give us a sense of perspective.
Steve G. Steinberg
"Mapping Science" in the
"Electric World" section of
Wired (1/1997)

2357) Imagine having to publish a story the way films are made. The publisher does the outline, then turns it over to you, the "writer," and says, "OK, write the story." You write it, but once you've written [it] there's no such thing as being able to take words out and change them around. Then you turn it over to me, the editor. The editor says, "Now, I'm going to put it in my word processor. I'm going to move everything around.," and he does. You get to check in once in a while and say, "No, no, that's not what I meant. I meant this." "Oh, really, I had no idea that's what you were talking about. OK, I'll put that." And then you turn it over to the printer, the printer retypes it however he wants, and then prints it that way. Then you say, "But you can't do that!" That is the way it's done in movies. [...]

The film business is designed in a kind of industrial way, vaguely the way buildings are built. The architect does the blueprint and turns it over to the contractor. The contractor then follows the instructions, and if nobody is there to say. "wait, wait, wait," and if nobody goes in and makes those change orders - which, of course, nobody wants to do because it's very expensive - you end up with a building that's only sort of interesting. I'm of a carpenter mentality. I have a rough idea of what I want to do, but I'm going to start hammering, and then when I get along here, I'll take a look at it and say, "We should move this wall here, and it would be even better." A lot of Victorian houses were built that way.... If you are a good craftsman, you really know what to do, and you understand the structure, you can build a very nice building, but it's very organic. It feels better than something that someone who had a set of plans bolted together.
George Lucas
interviewed by Kevin Kelly and Paula Parisi in
"Beyond Star Wars: What's Next for George Lucas" in
Wired (2/1997)

2358) I am an ardent subscriber to the belief that people should own their own image, that you shouldn't be allowed to take anybody's picture without their permission. In the film business, that's the way it is. If I come here with my Panavision camera, and I take pictures of you guys and then put it in my movie without getting your permission, it's against the law. Now ABC News isn't any more or less commercial than a Paramount picture, but if I come in here with the same camera, do the same thing, and give it to ABC News, I can do it. My feeling is that we should simply make it all the same: nobody is allowed to use anybody's image unless they give them permission. It's not a matter of freedom of the press, because you can still write about people. You can still tell stories. It just means you can't use their image, and if they want you to use their image, then they'll give you permission. [...] That people should own their own images, which is true in primitive cultures, is something we've given away. It's become a cultural
thing.
George Lucas
interviewed by Kevin Kelly and Paula Parisi in
"Beyond Star Wars: What's Next for George Lucas" in
Wired (2/1997)

2359) Almost every religion has a faction that leans toward the baroque. Whether Jewish Cabalism or Tantric Hinduism, these groups share an affection for complex explanations, the supernatural, and arcane rituals. This same pattern exists in pop music. Almost every pop genre periodically turns to the over orchestrated sounds and pretentious lyrics of progressive rock. Currently there is a full-scale revival. The Orb sound like Pink Floyd, while Smashing Pumpkins imitates King Crimson. A sign of fin de millenium, or just bad taste?
Steve Steinberg
"Hype List" column in
Wired (3/1997)

Note: "3089/898" is the designation I've given to the project of posting all my collected quotes, excerpts and ideas (3089 of them) in the remaining days of the Bush administration (of which there were 898 left when I began).

As of today, there are 332 days remaining in the administration of the worst American President ever.

Ed Fitzgerald | 2/22/2008 11:09:00 AM | | | del.icio.us | GO: TOP OF HOME PAGE







by

Ed Fitzgerald

Clowns to the left of me,
Jokers to the right,
Here I am...
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HOUSE
Democrats 230 (+27) - Republicans 205

Actual:
Democrats 233 (+30) - Republicans 201 - TBD 1 [FL-13]

SENATE
Democrats 50 (+5) - Republicans 50

Actual:
Democrats 51 (+6) - Republicans 49

ELECTION PROJECTIONS SURVEY
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what I've been reading
Martin van Creveld - The Transformation of War

Jay Feldman - When the Mississippi Ran Backwards

Martin van Creveld - The Rise and Decline of the State

Alfred W. Crosby - America's Forgotten Pandemic (1989)
bush & company are...
absolutist
aggresive
anti-Constitutional
anti-intellectual
arrogant
authoritarian
blame-placers
blameworthy
blinkered
buckpassers
calculating
class warriors
clueless
compassionless
con artists
conniving
conscienceless
conspiratorial
corrupt
craven
criminal
crooked
culpable
damaging
dangerous
deadly
debased
deceitful
delusional
despotic
destructive
devious
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dishonorable
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disingenuous
disrespectful
dogmatic
doomed
fanatical
fantasists
felonious
hateful
heinous
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hypocritical
ideologues
ignorant
immoral
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indifferent
inflexible
insensitive
insincere
irrational
isolated
kleptocratic
lacking in empathy
lacking in public spirit
liars
mendacious
misleading
mistrustful
non-rational
not candid
not "reality-based"
not trustworthy
oblivious
oligarchic
opportunistic
out of control
pernicious
perverse
philistine
plutocratic
prevaricating
propagandists
rapacious
relentless
reprehensible
rigid
scandalous
schemers
selfish
secretive
shameless
sleazy
tricky
unAmerican
uncaring
uncivil
uncompromising
unconstitutional
undemocratic
unethical
unpopular
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unrealistic
unreliable
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unscrupulous
unsympathetic
venal
vile
virtueless
warmongers
wicked
without integrity
wrong-headed

Thanks to: Breeze, Chuck, Ivan Raikov, Kaiju, Kathy, Roger, Shirley, S.M. Dixon
recently seen
Island in the Sky (1952)

Robot Chicken

The Family Guy

House M.D. (2004-7)
i've got a little list...
Elliott Abrams
Steven Abrams (Kansas BofE)
David Addington
Howard Fieldstead Ahmanson
Roger Ailes (FNC)
John Ashcroft
Bob Bennett
William Bennett
Joe Biden
John Bolton
Alan Bonsell (Dover BofE)
Pat Buchanan
Bill Buckingham (Dover BofE)
George W. Bush
Saxby Chambliss
Bruce Chapman (DI)
Dick Cheney
Lynne Cheney
Richard Cohen
The Coors Family
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Michael Crichton
Lanny Davis
Tom DeLay
William A. Dembski
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Leonard Downie (WaPo)
Dinesh D’Souza
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Douglas Feith
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Bill Frist
George Gilder
Newt Gingrich
John Gibson (FNC)
Alberto Gonzalez
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Katherine Harris
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Philip E. Johnson
Daryn Kagan
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Phil Kline
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William Kristol
Ken Lay
Joe Lieberman
Rush Limbaugh
Trent Lott
Frank Luntz


"American Fundamentalists"
by Joel Pelletier
(click on image for more info)


Chris Matthews
Mitch McConnell
Stephen C. Meyer (DI)
Judith Miller (ex-NYT)
Zell Miller
Tom Monaghan
Sun Myung Moon
Roy Moore
Dick Morris
Rupert Murdoch
Ralph Nader
John Negroponte
Grover Norquist
Robert Novak
Ted Olson
Elspeth Reeve (TNR)
Bill O'Reilly
Martin Peretz (TNR)
Richard Perle
Ramesh Ponnuru
Ralph Reed
Pat Robertson
Karl Rove
Tim Russert
Rick Santorum
Richard Mellon Scaife
Antonin Scalia
Joe Scarborough
Susan Schmidt (WaPo)
Bill Schneider
Al Sharpton
Ron Silver
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Margaret Spellings
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Randall Terry
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Richard Thompson (TMLC)
Donald Trump
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Donald Wildmon
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Bob Woodward (WaPo)
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guest-blogging
All the fine sites I've
guest-blogged for:




Be sure to visit them all!!
recent listening
Smash Mouth - Summer Girl

Poulenc - Piano Music

Pop Ambient 2007
influences
John Adams
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Aphex Twin
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J.G. Ballard
The Beatles
Busby Berkeley
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"Catch-22"
Raymond Chandler
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Elvis Costello
Richard Dawkins
Daniel C. Dennett
Philip K. Dick
Kevin Drum
Brian Eno
Fela
Firesign Theatre
Eliot Gelwan
William Gibson
Philip Glass
David Gordon
Stephen Jay Gould
Dashiell Hammett
"The Harder They Come"
Robert Heinlein
Joseph Heller
Frank Herbert
Douglas Hofstadter
Bill James
Gene Kelly
Stanley Kubrick
Jefferson Airplane
Ursula K. LeGuin
The Marx Brothers
John McPhee
Harry Partch
Michael C. Penta
Monty Python
Orbital
Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
"The Prisoner"
"The Red Shoes"
Steve Reich
Terry Riley
Oliver Sacks
Erik Satie
"Singin' in the Rain"
Stephen Sondheim
The Specials
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Yes
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original content
© 2003-2008
Ed Fitzgerald

=o=

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