Moaning and Whining

Bitcoins

2013-04-15T10:39:00.001-04:00

I guess I'm reacting to our friends at /. obsessing over Bitcoins again, but I'm finding it hard to take the idea seriously. At the same time, readers should be aware that I'm not exactly a great predictor of stuff: - I thought the iPhone wouldn't happen, and when it did I couldn't see how a $600 locked down EDGE-only device could possibly be successful. - I still don't understand why people

How Hollywood glorifies violence

2013-01-02T09:30:00.000-05:00

Kinda something that's been kicking around in my head since Wayne LeOutoftouch made his infamous post-Newtown speech blaming video games and Hollywood for the massacre. I can't honestly say that either of the movies Wayne picked depicted violence positively. In both cases, violence was depicted as insane, horrible, and unpleasant. But I can say numerous John Wayne movies have depicted it

Sensible gun control

2012-12-23T08:46:00.001-05:00

Let's accept the following premises: 1. The AWB is a load of crap. It involves weapons not involved in most of the infamous shootings of this decade. While it was internally effective (it did reduce the number of the weapons it targetted circulating), it was ineffective at its intended ultimate goal (reducing gun violence or making it less lethal - there was no reduction in the amount of gun

Rules of engagement

2012-12-17T20:41:00.003-05:00

It is not unreasonable or despicable to, in the wake of a horrific tragedy, demand changes to the law you think will prevent it from happening again. That said, it is unreasonable and despicable to demonize your opponents who have done little but disagree with you, and thus far won the arguments, as responsible for that tragedy. It also doesn't mean you're right. Also the world of politics is a

Fiscal Cliff FAQ

2012-12-07T09:01:00.001-05:00

There seems to be a little confusion as to what the effects of the Fiscal Cliff are, so here's some help. 1. What is the Fiscal Cliff? It's a package of spending cuts and tax hikes that'll take effect on the 1st of January unless Congress acts to overturn it. 2. I've spent my entire career protesting about the deficit. Is the Fiscal Cliff bad? Can you clarify your question? 2.1 OK, I'm

Please make it stop

2012-10-13T22:17:00.001-04:00

Some time ago, but after my daughter's birth, my mother related to me a tale of a neighbor who, one day, ran out into the street crying and screaming. She banged on the hoods of nearby cars, and continued to scream, and people ran out to see what was going on. SIDS. The story terrified me. I honestly had a three day anxiety attack. I read up on SIDS, and read everything I could possibly find on

Romney - killed by the echo chamber

2012-09-30T18:20:00.004-04:00

What's the origin of the 47% remark? Well, it's a combination of a fact mixed with a lot of prejudice and served with a thick helping of wilful blindness. Let's go over it. The fact that all of this is based upon is the observation that between the effect of the recession on household incomes, and the raising of income tax thresholds since Reagan, around 47% of households pay no Federal income

Thoughts on "Mass Effect", IT, Story Telling, and The Matrix

2012-05-06T12:48:00.001-04:00

(Spoilers in yellow to make 'em easy to skip) After more or less avoiding them for a long time, I've been diving back into computer games for the first time in many years. As I've said before, walking into Gamestop, for me, gave me the same kinds of feelings as I'd expect to feel walking into a Swedish Porn Shop. Not knowing the language. Feeling out of place. The paranoia of feeling that any

Confessions and concerns

2012-04-06T11:49:00.002-04:00

As I get older, I become more misogynist. I think in part it's being married and listening to the horror stories of my (wonderful - don't misunderstand me - she's the exception) wife about how women treat one another, and the degree to which apparent friendliness and warmth men think they sense from women is faked. So with a daughter on the way, I worry about being unable to connect, and being

Using systematic corruption for good

2012-04-03T10:52:00.000-04:00

Some years ago, I had an epiphany about John Major, Britain's first post-Thatcher Prime Minister. One of Major's signature achievements was the privatization of British Rail, Britain's battered state-owned railway company. British Rail was a textbook example of how taking an industry into state ownership and then subsidizing it can cause it much harm. Originally intended to be profitable, the

I, for one, welcome our Federal Overlords

2012-04-01T16:07:00.002-04:00

I've come to the conclusion that Illinois has the least corrupt government in the US. "But Squiggie!", I hear you pretend to say, "That's so corrupt the governor was put in Jail last month!", to which my answer is "Exactly". Blagojevich sits in jail because he demanded a reward for picking Obama's choice of Senator, it's not clear what kind of reward, it might have been spending money, or it

Defenders of self defense laws shouldn't smear Trayvon Martin

2012-03-28T11:44:00.001-04:00

A young man is walking through a neighborhood on his way home from buying a drink and snack from a nearby store. It's dark and raining. He's suddenly aware that he's being followed. He stops his conversation on his cellphone, his heart racing he asks his stalker what's going on. It's dark, but the man following him is armed, and starts to ask threatening questions. The young man realizes he's

Thoughts (political, etc)

2012-03-20T09:02:00.001-04:00

Many progressives are demanding the head of Staff Sgt. Robert Bales after the recent massacre in Afghanistan. I'm not going to go there at this point: my problem is that - with, obviously, all due respect to the vast majority of soldiers who are able to cope with conditions in that country - it's not immediately clear whether Bales is psychotic, or someone who's exploded after extreme pressure.

Actions have consequences [note: not nice]

2012-03-01T21:15:00.000-05:00

I prefer not to speak ill of the dead, but it would stand to reason that if, say, Bernie Madoff were to die tonight, very few people would be eulogising him. They wouldn't claim that his frauds were legitimate because they were in support of some greater goal. And so I have to admit to feeling somewhat nauseous hearing even my fellow liberals pretend that there was anything good to say about

Class wars

2012-01-26T07:31:00.003-05:00

Getting rather annoyed about the use of the phrase "class war" to describe those arguing that the wealthy should pay more in taxes. Leaving aside the motives of those spreading it as a meme - a rather transparent yet successful attempt to discredit the argument by pretending it's something else - it's also wrong. As an ex-Brit, I know what classes are, and being rich or poor doesn't determine

Rethinking abortion

2012-01-19T10:56:00.000-05:00

I'm going to preface this with a summary because this is such a hot button issue, that it's likely to get misunderstood. The position described by this blog entry is this: I am pro-choice, despite misgivings about the morality of abortion. I consider the legalization of choice important, but there are issues I care much more deeply about, that are more black and white, and my support for those

New laptop, and Ubuntu Ocelot comments

2012-01-16T13:53:00.001-05:00

Some news about my finances made me buy a laptop just after Christmas, not because they're good, but because this'll probably be the last time I get the chance to buy one for the next five years or so. Don't worry, the news is good news. I'll share more in a few weeks. What I got was a Dell. Yes, I voluntarily went out and bought a Dell. Nobody buys Dells except (1) corporate IT departments and

Romney, Bain, and layoffs

2012-01-08T13:04:00.000-05:00

Losing your job is a terrible thing. I should know. I've been laid off twice in the last two years. I wasn't fired, I remained on good terms with both companies, and the first, an automotive business consultancy, even contracted me to do work for them while I was looking for work. But it still sucked. And so you might expect me to join the chorus of those attacking Mitt Romney for his stint at

Ron Paul

2012-01-01T11:25:00.003-05:00

One of the people I read who generally tends to be fairly on the ball about things (Glenn Greenwald) is insisting we should take Ron Paul seriously purely because he says some good things on the subject of foreign policy. The argument goes "Sure, he says some stupid stuff too, but why aren't you saying the same thing about Obama?" Well, with respect, I am, which is why Obama isn't going to get

Predictions for 2012

2011-12-31T14:10:00.000-05:00

It's hard to know what's going to happen even three months from now, but I'm going to stick my head up and make some predictions about what will happen over the next year. Let's see what I get right! January The little known "Year 2012" problem causes problems with the Pontiac Aztec's onboard computer. There is much celebration as every Pontiac Aztec in the country blows up simultaneously.

Got a Kindle Fire

2011-12-26T00:58:00.003-05:00

Generally liking it, but I have to admit my major objection to it right now is that there's no Google. This means you can't, for example, install software you legitimately bought on the Android Market, unless you buy it a second time on the Amazon App Store. Not good. Also meant I had to do some fancy sideloading to get Google Music installed - as Google Music has my entire music library, and

Politifact, handwaving, and "Both sides do it"

2011-12-20T11:42:00.004-05:00

Both sides do do it. Democrats complain about abuses of civil liberties outside of office, then go in and do the same thing that Republicans complain about. Democrats express concern about the unemployed with out of office, and then suddenly don't give a rat's ass when in office. But that doesn't mean you can simply point at any random fact and say "Oh, both sides do it". For example, both

IT IS THE YEAR 2000

2011-12-19T21:58:00.000-05:00

The Earth is ruled by FOUR GIANT CORPORATIONS! The largest, VT&T keeps its people distracted by DEATH MATCHES between CONDEMNED PRISONERS. The CITIES of LOS ANGELAS and SAN FRANCISCO have been turned into a GIANT MEGA PRISON. Meanwhile, people are falling ill DUE TO A MYSTERIOUS VIRUS and TURNING INTO ZOMBIES! Doctor Ann Ordinary must TRANSPORT a mysterious BABY to the YOOGLE CORPORATION

LXC

2011-12-04T12:24:00.001-05:00

So, it's been over a week since I switched to LXC from Xen. I thought I'd post something about my experience with it. Why did I switch? Quite simply, I had two problems with my existing Xen set up, neither of which is the fault of Xen. I want to make that clear: I love Xen, I love the concept, it's a great system. But I'm also a Ubuntu guy, and (problem #1) frankly, Xen is one of those things