News
The 2003, 2004 and 2005 news archives are available here.
2008, 2007 News:
Blog activity has mostly moved to celtinstmakers.net which is of interest mainly to Uilleann pipers.
2006 News:
Singer 241-12 Industrial Sewing Machine
December 6, 2006
Craigs list is great-- I scored a working Singer 421-12 Industrial Sewing machine for a very reasonable price of $75. This thing is a beast, with as much horsepower behind it as a small lathe, and it even has an oil pan, clutch, and transmission! It will be good for lock stitching leather - bagpipe bags, and canvas - wall tents and sleeping bags. Amazingly, the manual is available online. Parts are Singer standard, so it seems to be maintainable. The trickiest thing so far is getting tensioning right so that stitches are nice and even. One downside is that the machine operates at blinding, sweatshop rate speeds. I will need to figure out how to govern the 21.5 HP motor, or perhaps learn to sew really fast.
Anyone know what years this machine was in production?
Here is a good Make/Craftszine roundup of sewing machines.
Production Lathes for Woodwind Instrument Turning
December 6, 2006
I'm getting close to selecting a lathe for turning Uilleann chanters and flutes. I've ruled out Myfords, Hardinges and their ilk as simply too expensive, both in terms of initial purchase and later tooling. Fortunately their are several decent Chinese imports of fair quality that are much more affordable.
Two are the Shoptask and the Lathemaster. The Shoptask has come a long way from it roots as a cheap 3-in-1. It is now a very capable machine; with a 32 inch bed, power feeds on 3 axis standard, DRO, and a viable CNC upgrade path.
The Lathemaster is a 30" lathe that has been tweaked in the USA, and has a good reputation as the best of the Chinese imports.No power feed and DRO/CNC needs to be retrofitted. It is a very solid, though simple, little unit.
One issue that comes up the with Shoptask is if the mill rpm maxes out at about 2800 and that may not be enough to cleanly mill wood. It seems that wood likes to be milled at higher rates (routers run at 5-12K rpm). I'm sure the standard Shoptask mill-head bearings would not support those rates, though I hear they can be retrofitted to support up to about 5K with replacement bearings and 3HP motor, which might be fast enough for milling hardwoods like Osage Orange. Also, it is a little short for what I need-- 36" is better for the long gun-drill feeds. I can work around that limitation, and 32" is more than enough for D chanters.
The Lathemaster is a basic metal lathe. It is a bit short at 30", but I could work around that. DRO can be fitted, but CNC looks like a challenge, but I am nowhere near being ready for CNC anyway. One retrofit would be a DC variable speed motor to avoid time consuming belt switches to change rpm. It is half the cost of the Shoptask.
Both are heavy, and moving them into a shop would be a challenge. The Shoptask weighs in at around 1200 pounds and I would probably need to hire a rigger to set it up. The lathemaster is somewhere between 300 and 500 pounds and probably could be managed with an engine hoist.
Woodwinds are tapered. Neither lathe has a taper attachment, but project plans are available on the Internet, and that would be a great first project. Otherwise you can do taper by offsetting the work in the tailstock, but that sounds a bit dangerous, as you are messing with the balance of a stick spinning at 2000 rpm.
I'm tending towards the Shoptask; it has more potential for expansion. This is the kind of purchase you want to do right the first time.
A lot of good information on the Shoptask is available here.
Outdoor Gear Raw Materials
November 16, 2006
If you sew your own outdoor gear, this web source is of interest. Quest Outfitters is a supplier of fabric and fittings like canvas, Gore-Tex, silicon coated nylons, etc. Am still looking for a supplier of raw goose down.
Irish Step Dancers of New Mexico
August 28 , 2006
Missy just started a the McTeggart Irish Step Dancing class, here in Albuquerque. It it very good, and the girls seem to just love it. Already her friends want to join. The 2007 New Mexico Feis will be coming up in February and will be her first competition. I look into the future and see ringlets and competition dresses...
Indepth Learning will design and host the website.
A Few Things
August 8 , 2006
Fred Reed captures the current state of leadership nicely. To which Jerry Pournelle points out that:
"no one knows much about history now. Which is why in Mesopotamia and in the Levant we are doomed to repeat it again and again and again."
And this sort of pap is all the rage. If you build it, they will come.
The Greatest Nancy Panel Ever Drawn
August 8 , 2006
Sluggo, doing his thing. Selected by Jim Woodring.
John Stossl: Stupid in America: How We Cheat Our Kids
July 17, 2006
Important and damning indictment of the quality of public school in America, 2006. This is very much worth taking time to watch.
Singapore and Saxon Math Books
July 14, 2006
Right up there alongside the Saxon Math curriculum is Singapore Math. These both have the reputation as being about the most effective math curricula out there, but take different approaches. One difference is that Saxon places more emphasis on rote learning, and Singapore on problem solving. Singapore needs to be supplemented with drills. The Singapore series are much less expensive than the Saxon method books.
We have quite a number of home schooling families in our Suzuki violin cohort. Of the two that I know the best, one uses Saxon and one uses Singapore. Both families use these to provide the math for the Robinson Curriculum.
It is a little confusing knowing what to select from the Singapore Math catalog. This description of the program helps.
Boompa.com Launch Postmortem, Part 1
July 7, 2006
An insightful and detailed look at a .com bootstrap startup.
Common Sense on Buying Insurance
July 7, 2006
Practical advice on when to buy insurance and how to size deductibles.
Fumoto Oil Drain Valve
July 7, 2006
The Fumoto Oil Drain Valve is a $23 locking ball valve for draining oil from an engine. I usually manage to drop the plug into the oil drain pan, necessitating a fishing trip into the old engine oil-- that or it bounces onto the dirt and I have to clean the sand and grit off it. Occasionally plug threads can strip as well, requiring a re-tap of the drain pan.This looks like a good idea, as long as you are not off-roading to the extent where you could bash it off. It certainly solves both of the above annoyances.
Blackpowder Rockets
July 7, 2006
Every red-blooded American boy should try this. In the spirit of surpassing North Korean rocketry, we have to keep up. Just where would we be without Robert Goddard?
"Playing with rockets is dangerous. Use your head. If you blow your hands off, please video tape it so I can post it on the internet. Do not hold K5 or myself responsible for your dumb mistake. If someone dares you to hold a rocket in your hand, show them how much of a man you are by holding it in your mouth."
10 Reasons Why Gay Marriage Will Ruin Society
July 7, 2006
Ha! This is good.
Exceptionally Good Introduction to Reading Music
July 7, 2006
The Everything Reading Music Book: A Step-By-Step Introduction To Understanding Music Notation And Theory,
by Marc Schonbrun.
I've never seen the difficult subject of learning to read music so clearly explained. If you are interested in learning to read music, and then moving beyond the basics into music theory, this is the book. Most other books that I have seen on this subject, including the are just terrible; too complicated or not clearly written. This one provides lucid writing and clear visual examples. Highly recommended!
Mandatory Pre-K for 3-Year Olds?
July 7, 2006
The National Foundation for Child Development is recommending mandatory full-day school for 3-year olds. They suggest that this is the "best way to guarantee a successful academic start for children". And they say that "by third grade full-day kindergarten gains can be lost unless children are part of an academic system that extends from the age of three".
So, by the third grade in public schools, you know less than you did in kindergarten?
Quite possibly true...
If this nannyism comes to pass in New Mexico, it is, quite simply, state sanctioned child abuse. I also suspect this is day-care in disguise for those unwilling to parent.
This scenario is not such a reach for a state (New Mexico) that is already close to mandated full-day school for 4 year olds. Lt. Governor Diane Denish (duly anointed successor to Gov. Bill Richardson should he run for President) says that "if the (legislated) half-day program for 4-year olds doesn't produce the desired result (?) the state should consider a full-day program".
Lt. Gov. Denish's website sports a cute little taxpayer funded logo "New Mexico Pre K, Invest a Little Get a lot".
Email Lt. Gov. Diane Denish, and let her know how bad an idea this is. However, I don't think anything will change her mind on this. She is too invested in the idea.
Scary.
Rocky Mountain Star Stare 2006
June 22-25, 2006
The Rocky Mountain Star Stare is a yearly amateur astronomy get-together in central Colorado. Of three nights, Friday had exceptional viewing. Learned to use right ascension and declination dials on my pre-goto Meade. Suddenly I can find things. A real revelation. We also got to see the new JMI binocular telescope in action.
Here are some pictures of the good company. The watermelon is me. A bunch of astronomers... and we can't figure out the camera timer.
"Don't no nuttin' 'bout no machines"
-- Trace Rock, "Mr. GOTO MIDI"
Damnable Oil
June 26, 2006
"..wish the US could pull out suddenly, cut off all funding to the region, and that the rest of the world support them in boycotting their damnable oil. As you have said in the past "let them drink the oil".
-- Bill Grig
"If we cared to start now, we could begin building nuclear reactors to replace all the stationary energy sources; better fuel cells and batteries to allow electricity to power most transportation; electrify the railroads and encourage rail transportation over burning diesel fuel on the highways; do more oil drilling and use that only for transport and lubrication and such like; and so forth. It would probably take a trillion dollars in investments, research, and construction."
-- Jerry Pournelle
Cowboy Camp Coffee
June 26, 2006
Tested this procedure last weekend, and it is quite accurate.
"Here is the recommended and certified
test procedure for cowboy camp coffee:
Drop an anvil in it. If the anvil sinks, the
coffee is too weak. If it floats, it is just
right. If it dissolves, it is too strong."
-- Don Lancaster
More...
Benjamin Franklin on Self Improvement
June 13, 2006
13 sensible points that Ben Franklin lived by, and to a ripe old age. From His Autobiography, and Other Writings, which are very good reading.
California Public Schools
June 13, 2006
A report from the trenches from within the California public school system. Conclusions are that California public education is a mixed bag, AP and Honors classes can be excellent, but conversely, mainstream classes are very bad. There seems to be a culture where achievement is seen as a negative by many students, and this attitude is seemingly is reinforced by administration and unions, though not so much by the teachers themselves. A student might be able to take advantage of the better offerings, if they don't run with the herd, and can advocate for themselves (see the previous posting), not necessarily an easy, or even possible, thing for any given kid to do.
Autodidact For All?
June 12, 2006
"Lorraine Lee: If you want an education, start studying. For things you can't learn from books, find some people. The trick, of course, is persuading them (given the Tanstaafl and therefore Evil universe we live in) that sharing their knowledge with you is something they can afford to do."
"Jerry Pournelle Retort: Telling parents who have little education that they should set their children to becoming autodidacts like Abraham Lincoln might be great advice for those with bright children, but for those of normal intelligence and below it is a bit like telling them to win the lottery as a remedy to poverty. "
-- Lorraine Lee and Jerry Pournelle, discussion from Jerry's June 9 blog entry.
Three Good Online SF Short Stories
June 7, 2006
Three short stories by Barrington J. Bayley. I've only read the first and Lovecraftian second, but can say that I was captured within a few paragraphs by the unique premise of both. Big ideas here.
India Skill
June 1, 2006
They say Indians are good at programming, but how about this?
President Ahmadinejad's Letter to President Bush
June 1, 2006
Available here. Very much worth reading.
Der Spiegal Interview with Iran's President Ahmadinejad
June 1 , 2006
Think what you want about US Policy towards Iran, but President Ahmadinejad own words show him to be a certifiable dogmatic nutcase. Apparently is as happy to provoke a bad situation as the US Government is to play along with the provocations. This is about as scary a scenario as there is, with US feds perhaps ready to use nuclear bunker busters.
Regardless there is no way that this guy and the country he is elected leader of should get anywhere near WMD's. I can't see Israel standing aside for too much longer on this. It's very, very sad that anyone would put up with a goon like this.
Read the interview.
Dumb All Over
June 1, 2006
FZ's early rap song (1981) lyrics are worth a read or even better, a listen. Here's an excerpt.
"...It says in the book:
"Burn 'n destroy . . .
'N repent, 'n redeem
'N revenge, 'n deploy
'N rumble thee forth
To the land of the unbelieving scum on the other side
'Cause they don't go for what's in the book
'N that makes 'em BAD
So verily we must choppeth them up
And stompeth them down
Or rent a nice French bomb
To poof them out of existance
While leaving their real estate just where we need it
To use again
For temples in which to praise
OUR GOD
("Cause he can really take care of business!")
And when his humble TV servant
With humble white hair
And humble glasses
And a nice brown suit
And maybe a blonde wife who takes phone calls
Tells us our God says
It's okay to do this stuff
Then we gotta do it,
'Cause if we don't do it,
We ain't gwine up to hebbin!
(Depending on which book you're using at the time . . . Can't use theirs . . . it don't work . . . it's all lies . . . Gotta use mine . . . )
Ain't that right?
That's what they say
Every night . . .
Every day . . .
Hey, we can't really be dumb
If we're just following God's Orders
Hey, Let's get serious . . .
God knows what he's doin' . . .
He wrote this book here
An' the book says:
"He made us all to be just like Him," so . . .
If we're dumb . . .
Then God is dumb . . .
(An' maybe even a little ugly on the side)
DUMB ALL OVER
A LITTLE UGLY ON THE SIDE"
-- Frank Zappa, From the brilliant album You Are What You Is, 1981, (Bark 2-Barking PW2-37537)
RevoPower Wheel
May 23, 2006
A 25cc gas powered and unobtrusive wheel that fits most any mountain bike, propels the bike up to 20mph on the flat, and gets a claimed 200mpg, looks quite revolutionary. The product is not yet available, but RevoPower is taking orders.
Who Owns Your Computer?
May 4, 2006
Bruce Schneier on the escalating corporate competition to control your computer. Some examples are Google Desktop, Microsoft Update, the Sony Rootkit.
US Army Recommended Reading
May 4, 2006
Recommended readings, by the US Army, for:
There are lots of good materials here.
John Taylor Gatto on Extending the School Day
May 3, 2006
This idea periodically resurfaces: equating a longer school day with smarter kids, as well as a solution to a host of other ills. John Taylor Gatto, in his usual eloquent style explains why this is such a bad idea.
New Hampshire Can Stop the Coming Federal Police State
May 2, 2006
New Hampshire has the chance to say no (House Bill 1582) to the coming federal police state by declining to participate in the congressionally legislated REAL ID Act of 2005. Lets hope the "Live Free or Die" state lives up to its motto.
"If a state doesn't comply with REAL ID, its residents risk being forced to purchase passports just to drive in other states or enter federal facilities. Thus, it reveals itself to be a Soviet-style internal passport."
"History has shown that national identification systems are one of the critical pieces of infrastructure needed to foist complete tyranny upon a nation. They are used as the basis for tracking movements, purchases and monitoring activities."
-- Karl Beisel, of the Union Leader
Commercializing Your Blog
May 2, 2006
Commercialization of a blog or website is not for everyone. Here are some useful ideas if you should decide to do so.
Blogger Steve Pavlina points out that prerequisites are the ability to write, on topics that others find interesting, familiarity with web technologies and strategies (see section labeled "Web Savvy", dogged persistence, an eye towards changing technologies and uses, targeting an audience, marketing techniques, and others.
A goldmine of tips and resources.
Another interesting and related site is problogger.com.
Django Python Web Application Framework
May 2, 2006
Django is another web application framework claiming increased application development productivity, ala Ruby on Rails. Zope 3 is increasingly looking too complex for my needs and perhaps this is a simpler alternative that leverages Python skills?
Just Rambling, And Not a Lawfirm In Sight...
April 13, 2006
Fred Reed, on a walk in the hills.
Another Walk In The Hills
April 15, 2006
A meander in the hills north of Gorham, New Hampshire. Take 15, on this tax day, and enjoy!
Note - the content of this link has since changed, but remains interesting.
The Sword of Damocles
April 13, 2006
Wikipedia summary of the Three (7) Stooges. Good reading.
"The legend of the Sword of Damocles gets mentioned in Half-Wits' Holiday (1946), when a pie gets thrown up and stuck to the ceiling during a party. One of the guests starts talking with Moe Howard, who is getting increasingly nervous as the pie starts coming loose. Finally the guest asks, "Young man, what's wrong with you? You act as if the Sword of Damocles was hanging over your head.", to which Moe replies, "Lady, you must be psychic!" and walks away. She comments, "I wonder what's wrong with that man?" as she looks up, and gets the pie right in the face."
-- Wikipedia
Linda Schrock Taylor on No Child Left Behind
April 7, 2006
A telling essay on our current approach to education from Linda Schrock Tayler.
Last night my almostfiveyearold was introduced to the local elementary school. Class size to will be 21 and growing. One teacher and one aide per class. Standards and NCLB are the heart of the program. From the MLK elementary school website, a message from the the Principal. Notice what she is, by law, most concerned with. Quote: "We will anxiously await the results and our rating as a school and district for our Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP)!".
What happens if the results do not meet the arbitrary standards. Does my child get left behind? In this well-to-do community, I doubt it, and rom the looks of things, Principal Bryant and teachers are trying in earnest to meet this mandate and get their AYP rating so that the children won't be left behind.
But at what cost... to students ... to teachers ... to society?
John Taylor Gatto puts it all in perspective with his masterwork Underground History of American Education.
And here's a cheerful little presentation on the subject.
And the No Child Gets Behind Football Curriculum.
Monowheel
April 6, 2006
An early patented single wheel monocycle is enjoying a revival.
Basic Economics According to Richard Scarry
March 28, 2006
What Do People Do All Day is a Richard Scarry picture book that I enjoyed a great deal as a child, mainly because of all the great cutaways, funny storylines, and memorable characters.
In retrospective, the book presents basic economic principals in a way that a child can intuitively grasp. Read the excellent article for details.
Small Business Podcasts
March 24, 2006
Some interesting small business podcasts at ducttapemaketing.com. Good for listening to while working. The podcast by Guy Kawasaki is good.
"The number one thing you need to get referrals, is to be referable." - John Jantsch
Roberta Pournelle's Reading Program
March 24, 2006
A program that claims a high success rate for rapid progression in reading, for both children and illiterate adults. The CD can be ordered here. Note that this reading program is not inexpensive at $199.00 (similar to "Hooked on Phonics"), but I hear good about it.
"Many states and communities are administering achievement tests that determine their funding. The Federal "No Child Left Behind" program is one of these. As a consequences, if the school does not reach the mandated objectives in reading, the school authorities threaten to hold back under-achieving children -- leaving them behind."
"The program begins with the theory that if you can read, you can read anything; it does not use a 'controlled vocabulary' approach. The vocabulary used in the stories (which are part of the lessons) includes all the common words in the English language, but also includes many other words needed to tell the story."
"The vocabulary it teaches is an augmented set of the Thorndike 1000 most common words in English, but since it is a program that teaches systematic phonics with closure, when the student has completed the program the student's 'reading vocabulary' includes the entire speaking vocabulary; in addition, students will be able to read words such as scientific terms like trinitrotoluene that they have never seen before, as well as any other gobbledegook that can be written in phonetic English."
-- From the website program description
Locating Meteorite Craters with Google Earth
March 22, 2006
My Dad studied terrestrial meteorite impact craters with Nasa and MIT, so this has a special fascination, as I visited a number of such remote features as a teenager. Google Earth imagery, though varied in quality, allows a surprising number of these impact craters to be located and viewed on the desktop. Even some previously unknown ones are being found, it appears. If you find one, you can check if it registered with the Brunswick University impact crater database.
If you haven't already, give Google Earth (literally) a spin.
Voodoo and Pseudo Science
March 22, 2006
Two interesting and relevant links on voodoo science (from Jerry Pournelle) and pseudo science (from Don Lancaster).
Maui State Park Cabins
March 22, 2006
Some very affordable cabins can be rented ($45/night) on Maui's east coast. They are located in Waianapanapa State Park, and provide basic housekeeping services: bed/linen, shower, stove, refrigerator. The maximum length of stay is five nights, and there is no shortage of things to do in the area; beaches, waterfalls, a volcano, and lots of varied hikes...
Reservations, made far in advance, are a requirement if you expect to get a cabin. The reservation process is baroque, and probably discourages some, which, maybe, is a good thing.
More information can be found in the Hawaii State Parks Guide.
CJ Dixon Uilleann Pipes Bellows Kit
March 22, 2006
I can heartily recommend CJ Dixon's Uilleann Bagpipe bellows kit, if you are looking to make or replace bellows, for your bellows blown pipes. Instructions are clear and easy to follow, and all parts are accurately precut, allowing assembly in about 4-6 hours. A little bit of wood and leather working experience is helpful in assembly, but not really required.
What makes this kit so nice are the little things-- inclusion of a 5/64" and 3/64" drill bits, and a Roberts head screwdriver. The 3/64" bit is very hard to find in the US.
I ran into a bit of a problem with the brass Roberts head screws used in assembly. I sheared one off accidentally (I did not drill a pilot hole deep enough in the hardwood oak clappers, and the Roberts head receives a lot of torque) and have had a hard time finding a replacement screw in Albuquerque. I ended up replacing with standard 1/2 inch round head brass screws. I like the look and positive torque of the Roberts screw however, so will be on the lookout for some of these. They certainly can be ordered online.
I would also recommend the brass hinge upgrade from the standard leather hinge. It adds a few dollars to the cost, but the resulting bellows seem to work much more efficiently with the solid hinge-- no more side to side wasted movement.
CJ was very responsive and is a great guy to purchase from. Delivery, from Ontario, Canada was less than a week.
I hear his chanters are decent too, and the wait is relatively short, in the 1-3 month range.
Consumers Communication Bill of Rights
March 8, 2006
Dig Tank's Wunderman posts a concise response to unsolicited information requests:
- Tell me clearly who you are, and why you are contacting me.
- Tell me clearly what you are, or are not, going to do with the information I give you.
- Don't pretend that you know me personally. You don't know me; you know some things about me.
- Don't assume that we have a relationship.
- Don't assume that I want to have a relationship with you.
Calendaring Technology Review
March 8, 2006
An informative podcast review of the current (sorry) state of the art in group calendaring. At the moment, this technology seems to have devolved into a boatload of competing and somewhat incompatible technology 'standards' (iCal, hCal, CalDAV, EVDB, others). There seems to be an opportunity here for a calendaring "killer app". Microsoft seems to have an edge, because of its popular Outlook / Exchange platform. Mozilla SunBird is nice if it would only speak to Outlook. Likewise with Apple iCalendar.
Lisa Dusseault describes the calendaring landscape and is optimistic for ultimate interoperability between the standards. Right now, in my experience, the standards are a mess. There are variations even within implementations of the standard, for example Apple iCalendar and Mozilla Sunbird, are supposed to be based on the same iCal standard, but currently don't play well together. Mobile devices, are for the most part, in their own proprietary world. Google seems about the enter this arena as well.
Lisa mentions calconnect.org, an organization concerned with coordination of emerging calendar standards. There is good survey information there.
Fascinating Account of Mothballed Black Two-Stage Orbiter Project
March 7, 2006
A dead US military black project is described in detail (here and here); a two-stage-to-orbit military spaceplane, that may have actually been operational during the mid to late 90's, as a response to the failed Shuttle program, and the need for stealthy entry into orbit. How to keep a Federal project off the record? Make it entirely private, using contractors to both manage and do the work, ala Charles T. Main in Confessions of an Economic Hit Man. Ask the government about it, and it does not exist.
Jim Baen's Universe
March 4, 2006
An amazingly simple and apparently successful model for Internet distribution of the written word: if you want to read new works, pay writers to write them. Then distribute directly to the consumer with no DRM, encryption, or other lame and complex "pro-sumer" technology, for a flat fee.
Imagine that. Why didn't Sony or the RIAA think of it?
Jim's Baen's Universe, a bi-monthly magazine of science fiction, fantasy, and fact, is available only online, and is downloadable in a variety of formats. It is a large ezine, at around 150,000 words. You simply subscribe online for a fee, and get an edited volume of writing by established authors like Alan Dean Foster, and new writers who you've never heard of.
Given that there are so few avenues for writers outside of the traditional dead-trees publishing racket, or for readers who are interested in enjoying new written works, I'm not surprised that this is doing well. And, the reader does not need the latest in proprietary DRM technology to view the content. Just a browser and a credit card. I can save and convert between formats as I choose. Best of all, the author gets paid, (hopefully quickly) and can write more.
I'm not sure where this leaves royalties though. Probably royalties are a thing of the past, and content creators will need to charge enough up-front to accommodate the loss. What artist has seen a penny of royalties though? It may in fact be a perceived rather than real loss.
Things are changing fast.
Harry Browne’s Cogent Wisdom
March 4, 2006
Anthony Gregory writes about Harry Browne, and references some high points of his writing career, including When Will We Learn, The 7 Never-To-Be-Forgotten Principals of Government, Why You Are A Libertarian, Why I Am Obsessed with War, and others.
...especially when he quoted, as he often did, the conclusion of the poem, "The New Colossus," by Emma Lazarus, engraved on the Statue of Liberty:
"Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
TransAmerca Trail in Kentucky
March 3, 2006
A good triplog with photos of this interesting Kentucky section of the TransAmercia Trail. More.
Death of Liberty in America
March 2, 2006
Two events happened on March 2, of great sadness and importance.
First, Harry Browne died, and we lost a unique and irreplaceable voice for freedom, liberty and reason.
Second, my friend and band-mate Laura Berg, was favorably interviewed (transcript, mp3) by Amy Goodman. Laura has been accused of Sedition by overzealous Veterans Administration bureaucrats, and referred to the FBI, for a letter to the editor that she wrote. The letter letter, written from an active VA psyche-nurse's perspective, criticizes human damage done by the the war in Iraq, and the too-little too-late Federal response to Hurricane Katrina.
Sedation carries a very harsh penalty, and if you read the letter, well... sedition is quite a stretch in the letter's interpretation. The intention of the VA management seems to have been to suppress First Amendment rights, and create an atmosphere of fear, uncertainty and doubt, discouraging speaking out against this war by VA staff, through direct intimidation..
Laura spoke eloquently. She is a patriot in the Paine tradition, and damn the people who try to quiet her. If only people in Germany had spoken up in 1932.
Laura has put a lot on the line. Public criticism of Bush's policies is an increasingly difficult, risky, and costly enterprise. Fortunately she is getting a lot of favorable national and international press. Support her as you can.
"I did not sign away my First Amendment rights as a citizen, you know, by choosing to serve in the federal government and choosing to serve veterans and care for people that have been wounded like this, you know. And this letter sounds like something from a totalitarian regime, you know, that we are supposedly going in and share our democracy. This is way out of line."
-- Laura Berg
Hesperophobia
March 1, 2006
Or, why they hate the West.
"We may not, to borrow a rhetorical figure from Trotsky, be interested in the reality of human nature, but it is interested in us."
-- John Derbyshire
Steve Sailer responds, especially to the controversial "...it's long been known" section, with some emerging genetic research results, which to say the least, will not be popular.
And while we are at it: Fred on Consultations with Padre Kino.
Darn these blogs.
Fitting a Violin Bridge
March 1, 2006
Six months ago, my longtime violin (and friend), shattered into a million pieces. Justin Robertson, of Albuquerque Robertson's Violin fame, is doing one heck of a job fixing it, but in the meantime, I was in desperate straights for a fiddle. The one I found, a fine, but unnamed Strad copy needed pegs, a nut, a sound-post, and a bridge. Justin generously donated the pegs and nut, and reset the sound post, but fitting the bridge was my job. How hard could it be?
Not that hard, actually, thanks to some awesome resources on the Internet, and sharp tools.
This resource, and this one, helped in fitting the bridge.
The bridge is now set and happy. Here's to an unknown, but excellent, violin maker.
Mediocrity Quotes
March 1, 2006
In the spirit of the day, here are a few quotes on mediocrity...
...and an anecdote.
Why Philip Greenspun:
"Love's teaching flying more than software engineering"
March 1, 2006
A quote from Philip Greenspun's blog entry:
"I can understand why high school students don't care. Having looked at the curriculum, it is hard to imagine why they would care given that the unionized civil servants (teachers) don't bother to motivate the material in any way."
25 years later, we are still a "Nation at Risk"?
February 28, 2006
Charles Featherstone looks at things we've always done, well (like reading) and the perpetration of the constant "crises" in education. He makes a strong case that education is a personal, rather than national responsibility.
"People are not property and not resources to be directed and managed by others for some supposed common good, and no planner or policy maker can mandate the number of competent and motivated engineers, essay writers or paleontologists who graduate from university (or however people decide to train themselves). Nor can any planner dictate just how well someone ought to learn a skill. Or even what skill is best for someone to learn. Or even that everyone can learn something useful."
"But the truth is that not everyone is equally educable. Not everyone can be taught to read, or read well. Not everyone can be taught to add, subtract, multiply, divide, or factor equations. No matter how back to basics you get."
-- Charles Featherstone
Fred on Religion
February 9, 2006
Fred Reed continues to have a sensible, sane and ultimately decent outlook on religion. Sounds like Heresy to me.
""The world’s religions are so many, so internally inconsistent and contradictory of each other, and so dependent on assertions which seem to me not to be factual, that I cannot believe any of them.” The position is neither unreasonable nor rabid."
"I suspect that the decline of religion stems less from the advance of scientific knowledge than from the difficulty of discerning the transcendent in a parking lot."
- Fred Reed
Four Rules of Gun Safety
February 9, 2006
The Vice President violated rules #2, #3, and #4.
Wallace and Gromit
February 9, 2006
Nick Parks' Wallace and Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit is very much worth seeing, if you like this sort of clay animation. It has plenty for both kids and adults. While it's not the best in the series (I like 'The Wrong Trousers") it still is outstanding family entertainment. Helena Bonham-Carter brings a lot to the movie as Lady Tottington. The musical score (W&G Theme) never fails to send me away humming.
In case you don't know, Wallace is an inventor. Gromit is a dog. Life is better with technology.
Theatre of Fish, by John Gimlette
February 9, 2006
Theatre of Fish, a book by John Gimlette, is a disjointed, occasionally entertaining, occasionally profound, and ultimately disappointing look at Newfoundland and Labrador past and current history and culture. The author looks very much backwards, detailing the (many) troubles of the past, but not presenting Newfoundlanders vision of their future. Yes, Newfoundland and Labrador have almost unbearable problems, but at least for me, this narrative, like the work of Paul Theroux, places emphasis on the negative rather than the positive.
After a confusing start, the book picks up considerably after the first third, with a tour of the Newfoundland outports, detailing terrible events like the molestation of hundreds of boys by Catholic school staff, the closing of the fisheries, the utter devastation of factory trawler fishing, Catholic vs. Protestant, the exodus of the young, corporate abandonment amidst mining-induced silicosis and cancer, and the forced-rape/confederation with Canada. The section on Labrador is bleak, reporting on an Eskimo culture totally gone to dole, drink and huffing gasoline, and fast going the way of the Beothuk in Newfoundland (total disappearance).
Don't get me wrong, this adds a great deal of understanding to my view of this complicated island. It is just such a dour viewpoint. Perhaps it is more accurate than I care to believe.
"He said gill nets were always breaking free and drifting through the ocean. They'd never perish, and never be found. Once full of fish, they'd sink to the bottom and stay there until the fish had rotted away. Then they were off again, drifting and killing. 'They'll go on like that after we're all dead', said Jug. 'Ghost nets', said Charlie. 'They'll be fishin' forever'." -- on factory trawling
"'It's fucked' , said the boy next to me. Nothing there but rocks, bears and drunks." -- on Labrador.
"'It's all yours, stranger!', he howled. 'Just dowse the lights when you leave.'" -- on the closing of the outports.
Rating: Read it if you are interested in, or are going to visit, Newfoundland. For a more positive introduction to The Rock, try E. Annie Proulx's The Shipping News.
Helping Users Learn with Camtasia
January 25, 2006
Camtasia Studio ($299) is screen motion-capture software that allows you to record action on your computer screen and audio, and save it into a variety of compressed streaming-video formats.
I have been using this software to demonstrate complicated software procedures (i.e. click here, do this, click there, etc.), with great success. Rather that writing up a tutorial, I just turn on my computer microphone, hit 'Record' on the Camtasia console, and do the demonstration. Once finished, Camtasia Studio lets me edit out extraneous segments, and then save in Flash format, which I publish to a web server.
With a little rehearsal, I can usually get a procedure captured in one or two takes. More elaborate scripted presentations are possible.
Anyone with a Flash or Quicktime plugin can view the demonstration though their browser.
Effective, cheap, computer-based training.
UNM Web Application Development Survey Presentation
January 25, 2006
Notes from my January 16, 2006 Infobyte Presentation at UNM, which is a survey of Web Application Technology for potential students.
Powerpoint and Flashpaper.
Uilleann Pipes and Viola
January 24, 2006
Andrew Post, a fantastic Albuquerque Uilleann Piper, and I were (attempting to) make UP reeds last summer, and on a break recorded two jigs, Kitty Lie Over by the Fire and the Munster Buttermilk (4.7mb mp3). Andrew is playing a Kirk Lynch Flat D Set and I am playing the Viola. It's a powerful combination. Hope to do more recording (and reed making) with Andrew.
OpenOffice and MS Office
January 18, 2006
I'm not sure if there is any good reason to stay on the perpetual Microsoft Office upgrade train anymore. OpenOffice, a free open source alternative to MS Office is full featured and almost 'as good as'. Cost of acquisition is nil. What does an MS Office upgrade cost? Yeah, I'd rather work in Office, but keeping up with the latest version is very costly.
Core functionality aside, the main thing I need in an alternative office program is the ability to exchange files transparently with MS Word, MS Excel, and Powerpoint. In OpenOffice 2.x this interchange works, with perhaps the exception of documents that include complex internal macros and Windows specific stuff. Virtually none of the documents I encounter are like that. Most are just simple unadorned MS Word files, spreadsheets, or Powerpoint presentations. Interchange between OpenOffice 2 Writer and MS Word is for the most part excellent.
Now expect Microsoft to be messing with formats in the totally rewritten MS Office 13. Most will upgrade blindly, to the tune of hundreds of dollars per licence for functionality that they will never use.. and I will probably have to as well if Microsoft makes file interchange difficult. Sigh. Get real. It's a word processor. MS Word 95 did 100% of what most people with ever need. As did Excel, Powerpoint, and even Access. It's hard to believe we are almost to version 13 of MS Office.
Yeah, I know-- OpenOffice is a Sun Computer marketing ploy. True, but it is excellent free software.
Comments?
Buchanan on Iran Nuclear Threat
January 18, 2006
Pundit Pat Buchanan essay on the move in D.C. towards another undeclared war.
Comments?
Burke Brass Narrow Bore D Pennywhistle
January 17, 2006
Michael Burke has produced a marvelous little D narrow bore whistle (Model DBN), hardly a penny, but very much worth the price. If you like quiet pure sounding whistles as opposed to ones with lots of Chiff, (wind noise, like a Clarke) this is a good choice. It is as smooth a whistle as I've played. It is tunable, and each note is spot on in-tune. It is also quite attractively engineered. The fipple mouthpiece is made of Delrin plastic, so you need not taste brass when playing. It's not a session blaster (my Susato D is for that) but is loud enough to be heard along side other players. It records very well. A sweet, simple and elegant instrument!
Here's sample of how it sounds:
Comments?
Mermaids on the Web
January 17, 2006
 The Mermaid (song), Disney's Ariel, and my daughters Barbie mermaid have sparked an interest in creatures half-fishy around here.
This site "holds more than 1,720 resources about mermaids, including pictures of mermaids of every imaginable type, and links to articles, folklore, mermaid movie reviews, and much more."
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Hyperdrive?
January 17, 2006
Hyperdrive propulsion that would get us to Mars in a few hours? This may have been what Carl Sagan was getting at in Contact (which by the way, is an outstanding read) and the rotating ring propulsion system which was used for interstellar travel.
This is also detailed in this weeks New Scientist (which is an excellent publication, and is much more readable for the layperson than is Science magazine).
Comments?
Bioterrorism: Levels of Threat
January 17, 2006
This excellent summary on the threat of bioterrorism divides such events into four categories, first, false alarms where no real organisms are used but a threat is made, second, release of real biological agents that cannot harm many people, but cause panic, third getting a lot of people sick but not starting a sustainable epidemic, as in an Anthrax event, and fourth some sort of sustainable epidemic, as in Smallpox.. He notes that air travel is the worlds most dangerous vector of disease, and that bio-terrorism is really a fairly low-tech endeavor. The best defenses appear to be low-tech, as in preparedness training and isolation during events (shutting down air travel and quarantine). Induced large-scale epidemics are self-defeating at best.
Fred certainly knows how to cut to the chase.
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Hospital Care
January 17, 2006
Why is general hospital care in the US so bad and so expensive? This article, a summary of the book Into the Blue: A Father's Flight and a Daughter's Return, by Susan Edsall, portrays the care given at an average, and costly, U.S. hospital for stroke.
Susan Edsall's portrayal of her father's experience is in line with the quality of service and care that I have observed lately when visiting Presbyterian and the VA hospitals with my aging parents. Overall, general care is terrible (food quality, nursing staff attitude and training, billing) while specialized care, if and when you can get it, is pretty good, but inconsistent (doctor goes on a six week vacation a day after a serious operation with complications). Communication between rotating staff appears to have broken down to a level that is dangerous to the patients. Nurses are forced to work 14 hour shifts and appear impaired towards shift end. Patient advocacy is a joke.
An example of this is the standard technique of using the Emergency Room for triage and hospital admittance, instead of admitting a patient on a Primary Care Physician's recommendation. Instead of the Primary Care Physician doing their job, the patient gets to wait 12 hours in a dirty and crowded emergency room, while two rounds of overworked staff talk past each other, and often seem to cause a secondary medical crisis through this miscommunication. The Primary Care Physician usually knows little of the event, and not one (that I have seen) has taken an interest in the episode or taken the time to find out details of the incident. I'm guessing this behavior is systemic; the Primary Care Physician's role is as gatekeeper for more specialized (read expensive) care, and acts as a proxy for the insurance companies. It's probably part of their contract for doing business with a company like Blue Cross, Blue Shield. I would imagine that any quality doctor would not want to be a Primary Care physician for this reason, which leaves us with the bottom of the barrel filling that important role, i.e. coordinator of care.
Fortunately Susan Edsall take matters into her own hands with good results for her father, no thanks to the hospital rehabilitation programs offered by the institution or staff involvement in the case.
Comments?
Thinking of Enlisting?
January 17, 2006
Get the facts first. ...From an authentic source.
And, an alternative view.
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Fix Scratched CDs with Brasso
January 16, 2006
Use Brasso (brass polish) to polish out scuffs and scratches in disc media. This seems to work fairly well. I've recovered a few badly scratched software CDs for my daughters Mac that otherwise would not play. Here's the technique to use.
Comments?
Dr. Bronners Soap Quote Generator
January 16, 2006
If you have not used Dr. Bronners soap, it is good stuff-- Castile soap, good for a bunch of uses. I use it mostly for backpacking, as it does not foul water like regular soap does. Once you get some, take a few minutes and read the label. It's a real surprise.
Here is a link to a "Dr. Bronner's Magic Quote" generator, which randomly selects wisdom from the "Pope of Soap".
Also available as an RSS feed.
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Designing We Shall Go
January 16, 2006
Interesting summary of the intelligent design debate from Fred on Everything.
-- "God is Dead": Nietzsche
-- "Nietzsche is Dead": God
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On Demand Media Publishing
January 9, 2006
Don Lancaster put it well in his January 7, 2006 blog posting:
"The gatekeepers are no longer in charge, and boy are they ever pissed!"
This is well publicized in the music industry, with artist self-publishing and direct to consumer marketing via the web, both as direct downloads of songs and CD by direct-mail.
It is also happening in the realm of words. It's now easy and cheap to publish and distribute your own words (book or otherwise) on demand. Take a look at this website (lulu.com) for an example.
The big publishers are like dinosaurs thrashing their tales. Watch out as they attempt to create barriers to self-publishing and distribution.
Sony's recent DRM debacle and the RIAA suing their customers are examples.
Comments?
365 Days of Skywatching
January 7, 2006
Viewing suggestions for each night of the year for the amateur astronomer (big pdf file). Many are fun even if you only have a simple pair of 7x50 or preferably 10x50 binoculars.
Chet Raymo has had a similar paperback out for many years, 365 Starry Nights. It is very good tour of the night sky throughout the year.
CD: Great Big Sea: The Hard and Easy
January 7, 2006
Great Big Sea has been around for a while, playing is now singing traditional music of the Maritimes with youthful enthusiasm. Their new CD, The Hard and the Easy, is a great introduction to the music of Newfoundland. This is a great CD, from the traditional "Come and I will Sing You", to the "Mermaid Song" (I did not like the tail). Every song paints a vivid picture of life in Newfoundland; in the woods, on (or through) the ice, or sailing the far-shores of distant seas. Here's to lifting a pint to good trad music in a Saint John's pub
A DVD bonus of the band playing the songs live and informally is as good as the CD. Best is that GBS talks about the history of each song, and mentions sources.
Live, this is a great band, not to be missed. The tour schedule is here. Alas, no Albuquerque...
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Newfoundland Music
January 7, 2006
A repository of trad music sung in Newfoundland. Arranged in MIDI format so you can hear them. More songs than you can shake a codfish at.
Shanties and Songs of the Sea
January 7, 2006
I've mentioned this site before, Shanties and Songs of the Sea. Lyrics and MIDI arrangements of many traditional sea songs.
In honor or our local river, here is The Rio Grande, and Shantie by Leslie Nelson-Burns.
Comments?
Jerry Pournelle on Intelligent Design and Evolution, Part I.
January 3, 2006
Author Jerry Pournelle presents a well thought out summary of arguments for and against evolution and intelligent design, and the impacts on public school curricula .
Surprisingly, neither side of the argument is as clear-cut as one might suppose, and not black and white like some media sources can make it seem. For example, and much to the chagrin of the dogmatic, intelligent design can also mean design by something other than the one Christian deity. Fred Hoyle, astronomer, physicist and SF writer, pointed this out many years back. Evolution as a theory is not without its problems as well-- if you take a watch a apart, put it in a sack and shake it for long enough, will it on chance at some point, reassemble itself? Intelligent design advocates would argue that you go find a watchmaker. Both analogies simplify the argument greatly.
Pournelle does point out how misguided any kind of government legislation in this area is, especially in regards to public education. He is in favor of local control of curricula and against federal mandate.
He sums up with what is a good answer to the debate:
"In a word, the proper decision of that Judge would have been, "This Court has no jurisdiction in this matter."
Comments?
CD: Maggie MacInnes - Spiorad Beatha (The Spirit of Life)
January 3, 2006
I heard a few cuts of Maggie MacInnes' CD Spiorad Beatha on Thistle and Shamrock (NPR's great ongoing Celtic music show). It is beautiful, Mostly unadorned gaelic singing, but by no means traditional, it is very progressive in fact. Authentic and haunting, MacInnes' voice goes to the roots to the music, and she integrates well with both sparse trad instruments and synthesis.
I'm coming to the conclusion that if you want to really learn Celtic music you need to listen deeply to Gaelic singing.
This CD appears to be hard to get right now in the US. I usually order Celtic music from OssianUSA. Their service (they will successfully special order) is hard to beat.
Comments?
Macromedia is no more
January 3, 2006
Macromedia is now Adobe. The merger is complete. Note the color changes on the Macromedia website. Once thing I hope to see is Flash and Acrobat merging into a single technology. Flashpaper seems to be moving in that direction.
I have to say, having made my living with Macromedia products for more than a few years, that I hope this goes well, and that at least the core of Macromedia software; Cold Fusion, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, and Flash, continue as the innovative platforms that they have always been. However, I am glad to see Freehand go. I am ambivalent about Authorware and Director. They were both great development environments, and nothing has emerged to replace them. Had they been maintained, I would still be using them extensively, but they were not maintained, and now seem very far behind Flash (which remains a powerful PITA).
Comments?
It's A Wonderful Life, in 30 Seconds, by Bunnies.
January 1, 2006
Brilliant. Here is "It's a Wonderful Life" re-enacted in 30 seconds, by Bunnies. Check the bonus scenes at the end.
Even more bunnies...
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