Recently in Ideas Category

This North Korea thing is really bothering me. At the very least, you can say that isolation is not an option with a nuclear power. China could implode NK in an instant if it wanted, but it has to make the decision if a failed-collapsed NK is worse than a nuclear Japan. In the meantime, the US is still bogged down in Iraq, the only country of the "Axis of Evil" that was not close to developing nuclear weapons. And now its clear to both Iran and NK that being nuclear is the best way to protect yourself from an American government that is in the mood to fight.

Of course, its not like the Agreed Framework that Clinton put together was vastly successful. And obviously its not easy to negotiate with an insane person (which Kim Jong Il genuinely seems to be, as opposed to Saddam). But it seems like there had to have been a dozen things that could have been done earlier that would have yielded a better result than this.

Update:

And then I read this, and it doesn't make me feel any better.

Do I really need to say anything about this?

It seems the rage right now in media to be talking about what the "blog revolution" really means. Fine, fine, I'll bite. (Beware potential navel-gazing)

Now that you've had a chance to recover from election fatigue, I'd like to talk a bit about the electoral college.

OK, I'm going to bed. My final prediction before I go: Ohio won't be wrapped up, but Bush will declare victory anyway, in the next couple hours, and just like last year with Florida, once it's been said, it will be very hard for Kerry to unsay it. So this election will be won with spin. We'll see if I'm right, but its my itch right now.

I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this as an idea, but I thought I'd share for those that don't share my unease. For those living in swing states with progressive ideals (i.e. wanting to vote for someone besides the party zombies), Votepair offers to pair you with a party loyalist who is willing to swap votes, and vote for Nader or Badnarik or Cobb (or even Charles Jay) in their own incredibly safe state of Nebraska or California or Texas in exchange for a vote for their candidate (typically Kerry) in a swing state.

So my already lax posting habits will be getting worse, but it won't be because I'm not writing. I've decided (at Laura's urging) to participate in this year's NaNoWriMo (which is a fun to say abbreviation for National Novel Writing Month). Founded by Chris Baty, the goal is simple. Start writing a novel at midnight on November 1st and keep writing your novel until it reaches 50,000 words. If you make it by November 30th, you win!

I like it because:

1) It's thoroughly insane.
2) It allows for an opportunity to meet other thoroughly insane people and complain.
3) It enforces a deadline which usually helps me produce my best work.
4) It encourages quantity over quality, which helps break the perfectionist procrastination trap, and may help me get through my other projects.

I have no idea what I'm going to write yet. I'm throwing some ideas around. I plan on posting excerpts up here on the blog as it goes along, since I won't have much time to write anything else. Also, the election season will (hopefully) be over by the time I start so it will be a nice break.

In any case, I encourage all of you to join this insanity. You get to write shitty prose, waste lots of time, alienate and piss off your loved ones, and at the end of it all you'll have a long mostly crappy book to show for it. What more you could ask for? It's one more crappy book than most other people have written.

Andy put this in the comments of an item below, but I thought it deserved front page notice. Its worth asking: Is this President so afraid of having to admit he's wrong that he won't even allow people who disagree *near* him? I share Andy's disgust for this kind of fascist behavior being forced upon the Secret Service (an organization for which I have tremendous respect). It's an insult to freedom and everything this country stands for. And its being done by our President.

Bush Rallies routinely eject people for their political beliefs

Hey, just wanted to let everyone know, my friend and semi-frequent collaborator Chuck ('not that Chuck' for some of you, and 'yes, that Chuck' for the rest, and the link on your left that says (wait for it) NOT "Chuck" but rather "Grab Bag Comics" for those who are confused and have started to become annoyed by this incredibly long parenthetical that I couldn't possibly try to follow with my original thought, but you could possibly be prepared for it, as I actually talk the same way most of the time (which is neither here nor there)) is having a Zombie contest. All you have to do is draw your favorite Zombie picture by October 20th and email it in to him. More details can be found here at his site.

I don't think I'll participate as my manual visual arts skills are nearly non-existent. (And please don't tell me that its easy to learn, as I've broken nearly a dozen people who thought that already.) But I'm sure there are some talented artists out there who've been anxious to show off their Zombie illustrating chops. Here's your chance!

And while yer at it, stick around and check out the comics.

I've always loved just how far Rockstar games has taken their satirical content beyond the game itself. While the highlight so far has been the "Degenatron Emulator" allowing you to "relive" the 8 bit video game experience, there are several other examples, from other false websites to actually providing answering machines at the phone numbers called out in the game. (Try 1-866-9SAVEME or 1-866-PILLAGE)

Anyway, as we're on the cusp of the newest GTA (San Andreas) release, I thought I'd share one of the newest. Fear it? Do it!

Also, some trailers: August Trailer (WM9)

Official Trailer (WM9)

GTA San Andreas Official Site

While I am a complete amateur at political wonkery, I will nonetheless offer a quick prediction for the evening's debate.

W will be incredibly smug, glib, will laugh at everything Kerry says and will make at least one major verbal faux pas, and yet will win the debate handily, making Kerry look like a dink. Bush will have a stock line prepared for when Kerry spends 5 minutes answering a yes/no question. Kerry will attack Bush for his grip on reality, but I suspect Rove and company are waiting for this and will have a line prepared there too. In general, the debate will be controlled by W and Kerry will look like an afterthought.

So we will see how incredibly wrong I am soon.

First, In case there's any confusion:

For Further Information (Let's me know how well investigated my links are.)

Secondly, another plug on behalf of Chuck and Clif's show at the Improv Inferno in Ann Arbor. It's a fun night, drink specials, and an opportunity to see an artform you may not be familiar with.

Chuck and Clif were really rolling last Thursday when I was there, it was a great show. But still, I think they've totally got the ability to get even better. So if you can get a chance one of the next 3 Thursdays then head out to see them, you won't be dissapointed. Already seen the show? Go back, it will be completely different.

One critique: While I dig the whole "cat fight" competition thing, 2 half-hour performances is a bit short for a night of entertainment. And given the skills of the players involved, it seems like it would be really easy to add a half-hour to 45 minutes of short-form gamey stuff to round out the night, using the two teams together. It's only $5, I know, but if the place is gonna stay open until bar close, but the entertainment is done in less than an hour it seems a waste, what with the stage in the middle of the place and all.

Anyway, go.

While I've linked to it several times, I've never spoken directly about Wikipedia, which is one of the most important sites on the net (and with the greatest potential). It also could use your help.

I usually don't include a lot of personal items in here, but I thought it was important that I share something with all of you. I'm in love. Her name is "Vette.
Here's a picture.

Well, OK, it's not really *from* the DNC, I'm here in Detroit. Maybe thoughts from me about the DNC is a better way to say it.

A carryover discussion from Comments on the last entry: How true are movies to the novels they are based on? And how much does it really matter?

Battles over language and sensitivity rage on, but one thing remains clear to me. Those refusing to discuss history are doomed to repeat it.

If you've never seen Richard Linklater's film, "Before Sunrise" you've missed a truly outstanding film experience. It came out in 1995, starring Ethan Hawke and Julie Delpy and is exquisitely wonderful. David Edelstein of Slate movie reviews describes the experience as "embarrassingly emotionally intimate", and I think he's spot on. It is really one of the most intimate and immediate and emotionally intense films I've ever seen, and it is basically a long conversation. You need to see it, and soon.

In addition to all the reasons above that you need to see it, I'll add one more. Linklater has just released a sequel, taking you further in the story. And after seeing the first, you'll wish there was a sequel, and you, unlike me, get the opportunity to know that not only will there be one, but that it is coming out in theaters as we speak right from the moment you see it. I'm not alone in my insistence on this film, read Edelstein's "non-review review" on Slate of the sequel here.

I've enjoyed all the films that Linklater has done, from the artsy and bizaare but still fun "Waking Life" to the fun ensemble piece "Dazed and Confused", he's a really great writer and director. But there's something about Before Sunrise that is both transformative and reaffirming. It captures the essence of emotional attachment and intimacy in a way that feels like an assault, but makes you stronger in the long run. Find a way to see it, and soon.

Note: Those of you that I know who are near me, I own a copy and would be happy to loan it out. (But it better come back.)

OK, fine, despite the abuse, I'll admit it. I love Canada.

No really, parliamentary politics. I just was reflecting today what a cute system of government it is. I'm not convinced that it's superior to the US's Republican model, but it is interesting.

I am cautiously hopeful that the change in sovereignty in Iraq will help to normalize the situation there. But it seems like a difficult road ahead. It seems to me that the best thing Allawi could do for himself politically is to find something to disagree with the US about, and soon.

OK, here are some "Power Google" tips, because I'm a geek and not too proud to admit it.

Just came down from watching the International Freedom Festival Fireworks on my roof. Just incredible.

In case you haven't been through the comments, Andy posted a super-cool article about the increasing feasibility of a "space elevator". Gravity holds it down to earth on one end, and the rotation of the earth keeps it out on the other end*. The only problem was having an appropriate structure to balance those forces.

Well, that and the actually doing it part. Anyway, check it out.

*Geeky Physics Note below (BEWARE)

Several questions ocurred to me while watching the recent ad-war between Bud and Miller.

1) Why would a company want to align itself with an annoying smarmy politician type, probably the single least popular archetype possible?

2) Wow, doesn't Budweiser seem really pissed off?

3) Has any of this ever made someone want to drink that swill?

Fortunately, Slate comes to the rescue with an ad report card covering the whole thing.

Like Seth, I eagerly await to see if Miller can come up with a response. All this attention has approximately 0% chance of causing me to drink anything made by one of these companies.

(Disclosure: OK, I admit it, I actually like High Life. But I'll do without the rest of it. )

And so I have returned from the black-hole dev-null of server limbo and have emerged on the other side alive and refreshed. Which is nice.

But the big news of the day (if you're me) is Bert Rutan and his pilot Mike Melvill successfully testing their X-Prize entry SpaceShipOne. After detaching from White Knight, a first stage carrier plane, the smaller SpaceShipOne (a little bigger than an Oldsmobile) blasted off up to 62 miles from Earth, which put it right at the border where "space" is considered to begin.

In all the current media onslaught, I suppose I should say something about Ronald Reagan.

Something.

Rolf Peterson was on Stateside today. My fellow Michigan Tech alumni may remember him; for the rest of you, he is a biology researcher who does most of his work on wolf populations, including a lot of research (over 30 years) on Isle Royale.

I spent the weekend at the Movement Festival (formerly known as the Detroit Electronic Music Festival. In thinking about it, I wanted to take a quick moment to make a pitch *for* Detroit, which is something you don't hear real often.

Tried my first "spinning" class today at the gym. For those who aren't hip to the lingo, Spinning (I think the term is copywrighted to Bally's but has become "Band-Aid"ified into the common term) is sort of a group fitness aerobic stationary cycle thingy. Which sounds incredibly silly, I'll admit, but then almost all gym activity involves doing things that, if examined objectively, appear quite similar to what a hamster does with his wheel, for which we laugh at him.

On the front lines of the culture wars, combatants will invent any excuse to turn the clock in their preferred direction. But there can be no logical argument against allowing the same legal status to all committed couples regardless of gender, and ridiculous attacks serve no one.

A quick call to action: If you consider the RIAA's war on file sharing as dangerous and counter-technology as I do, then don't let your tax dollars support it. Visit the Electronic Frontier Foundation's Action Center for the new Bill proposed in Congress.

Google has become the primary source for Internet searching over the last few years. It upcoming Initial Public Offering is drawing a lot of buzz from Wall Street, but do the $treet types get what Google's about, and will their misunderstanding kill its public aspirations?

I've been trying like hell every since leaving college to turn myself back into a "reader". Its been nearly 4 years, and I'm not quite there yet, but getting closer. As stated, I did finish "Time Enough For Love" which is quite long (and quite Long, as well), which is an accomplishment, but it took me over a month, which is pretty pitiful. I can remember a time of reading voraciously, but its just been very difficult to get back into the habit after college beat it out of me.

This year's Twin Cities Marathon (October 3, 2004) will limit its prize money to only American runners. Marathon officials say that it is hard for American runners to compete with the dominance of Kenyan and Ethiopian atheletes, and this gives Americans a major event to compete in.

On the one hand, it is essentially a prize for achievement, and there are numerous prizes that are given only to Americans (or only to Germans or Moroccans or Hong Kong residents). On the other hand, it is presented by the marathon officials as a labor issue, that is, American runners can't make a living with the Kenyans stealing all the prize money.

I haven't quite made up my mind how to feel about it (not surprising as I'm equally undecided on many more general global trade issues), what does anyone else think?

Here's an article

Just a quick thought on how computers and internet have changed perception. I've noticed now that whenever I see someone close a sentence inside Parentheses, it looks like a smiling one-eyed man. (Like this.) I'm not sure why the one-eyed man is smiling. Is it because he's the king?

Watched some great hockey over the weekend. My wings lost yesterday, but not too much to worry about yet, although I'd like to see the Power Play start working again.

I watched the ABC program "Jesus and Paul" tonight, and apart from the incredibly weird MTV moments, it was really interesting.

New videogame released recently, Battlefield: Vietnam . A glorification of landmines and napalm, punji sticks and attack helicopters. The even more disturbing part: It's a lot of fun.

Does getting to work at 8 and putting everything in the right pile really make the world go 'round, or is there still room for big ideas?

The only problem: You have to prove (or disprove) a decades-old mathematical conjecture that has stumped professional mathemeticians.

NASA announced today, that we will NOT be hit with an asteroid
at 5PM. Given NASA and other astronomers' previous record with asteroid prediction(here, and here, and here), I'm sufficiently nervous. I'd feel a lot more comfortable if they said it would hit us, anyway.

Caught Randy Newman on The Connection tonight. I hope I can manage to kick that much ass in my life, but I've got a lot of catching up to do.

A quick thought on the state of technology. In many areas, technical sophistication of machines and software is already better than the corresponding human systems. But the performance is considerably less, which leaves lots of room for improvement.

In which Ish obsesses in self-absorbed navel-comtemplation to the delight of all...

Let me start with this: I'm no fan of President Bush II. Personally I find him about as fulfilling as any malformed Hollywood sequel, which is particularly disturbing to me as he's in charge of the largest economy and military in the world (and the history of the world). And I didn't like the first movie. But the prospect of President John Kerry is about as inspiring to me as cold Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and all the ketchup in the world won't fix it up.

Recent studies from cosmology are presenting strange views of the universe. Could these new studies create a scientific theory of divinity?

I visited the website for John Hutchinson, who was featured on Tech TV. Laura pointed him out to me (in the comments of this article).

Just to express again how much of a cookie cutter philosophy these people have, John Hutchinson uses crystals to create his free energy machines, which is different from some of the designs that are out there. but guess where his ideas came from... Secret research from Nikola Tesla, utilizing zero-point energy.

Dr. Atkins created a diet intended for elite athelets and sold his soul to make money. The result is an incredible threat to public health, which will likely only rear it's head a decade from now, after it's too late.

In the spirit of many great philathropists, I hereby offer my own endowment: I will buy lunch for anyone who can reliably demonstrate a free energy device. However, I'm not real worried about having to pay out, since, as Heinlein observed, "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch", and free energy follows right behind.

Safari Online Books has potential to change the way people get reference information on technical issues.

The Passion of Jesus has been a contentious subject in drama for centuries. But how can one assign blame for something that is the central foundation of Christianity?

I've been in love with The Magic of Disney from a young age. Which only makes it more painful to see what has become of the company that helped to form me at a young age.

As I prepare to cast my vote in the Michigan Democratic Caucus, I'm struck by how similar the situation is to choosing your favorite venereal disease. I think at this point I'm choosing John Edwards and chlamydia, respectively.

I suppose it's only proper that I explain myself. Its true: I am becoming a blogger. I'm not certain how to feel about it or what it means, but for some reason the universe has put me here, and I do my best to obey.

I'm not certain what it is I expect to accomplish, or even if I expect to accomplish anything. I've already been struck by the overwhelming apathy associated with writing anything. The mountains of text that modern publishing and our fair Internet have unleashed make the prospect of breaking through the noise quite daunting. And, certainly, weblogs are perhaps the worst path to being noticed even within this avalanche. So, ultimately, if I want to do this, it's for myself. And that's the best answer I have. I'm writing here because I have to, because something tells me to write, and when its published, even for less than a dozen to eventually read, it changes the bargain. If I write only for my own private pages, laziness slips in. There is a rigor that publishing (in any medium) forces from the author, and which I'm sure I can benefit from.

What do I want to say? I don't know yet. I suspect this will be a blog about ideas, whether on politics, society, poetry, science, spirit, language, music, or drinks with umbrellas in them. This at least has something to offer. The "personal" blog has a degree of self-absorbtion that makes me uncomfortable. I want to avoid the daily "Today I ate some soup" and inside-joke amalgamations I have seen. True, there is an arrogance associated with sharing my "ideas" as well, but they at least offer something, in a way that describing my lunch last Tuesday cannot. Even if you think I'm full of crap, at least I can make you consider why.

The writing will likely shadow my own obsessions, listed above, with many others to accompany them. I'll also share the experiences in my quixotic quest to create a global media empire without access to money or influence. Think of that: You can watch me fail in "real-time"!

In any case, I thank you for bothering to read this, and thank you if you bother to come back and continue reading. I'll do my best to make it interesting. My intent is to update "mostly daily", which means you get to watch me fail at that, too!

Yours,
-ish