2021-11-05
Readings
- Video on repair efforts for transit between NYC and NJ.
- Putting the human immune system in perspective:
- One of the problems with how we do Zoning in the US - very little is permitted for construction between single-family dwellings and large apartments.
- The secrecy that used to exist around Maths was fascinating:
- Efforts to end climate devastation will always run into contoversy in developing nations. It’s unclear how to work past these issues: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-59169547
- Changes in funding rules around infectious diseases are probably not a direction we should be moving in; I think this is a mistake (from a research perspective, at least; it may be politically wise): https://www.science.org/content/article/united-states-has-stopped-funding-virus-research-it-defines-risky
- Interesting integration of research methods to lead to advances in artificial limb control: https://techxplore.com/news/2021-11-robotic-arms-based-augmented-reality.html
- A lot of materials science is about larger-scale structures than the molecular level - this is bigger than most of those - https://phys.org/news/2017-03-overview-composite-metal-foams-potential.html
- Fun analysis of 1776 (the musical):
Unprompted Thoughts
- I think there are too many commemorations - months or days - of various pet issues people have. Recently some people were making a fuss over National Stress Awareness Day, and there are endless dedications of various months to various identities, or jobs, or whatever. I consider these distractions - designed to stake a claim to some public attention, and think we should reject all of them.
- I would be impressed if a politician, after election, refused to take part in a caucus or other org based on race, on the basis that they’re there to represent everyone. I get that for historical reasons, in some circumstances it can make sense to have social orgs trying to even the scales, but I don’t think such things can/should be permanent, and as racism fades from society (and the effects of class/wealth come to dominate), such orgs should fade as well.
- I’ve been playing around with designs for software that one might use to organize dreams. For many years I’ve been mapping things I see in my dream - I think having mapped it makes the dreams more interesting, perhaps makes it more likely I return to the same worlds. I’ve named some of them, sketched a few, made maps, long docs, and so on. I’ve been wondering whether others do this kind of thing. I’ve long given up on the idea that dreams actually represent some other reality, as much as a younger me liked that idea.
- Recently I was a little annoyed at a new portmanteau that used “dammerung” as a half; I suspect it was coined by someone who doesn’t know how the likely-origin of Gotedammerung actually fits together as a word. I say this while also being wary of being someone who always refers to the original meaning of terms (“terrific and terror have the same root, so I will use it in a scary rather than great sense”); I think there’s a relationship between time-and-broad-acceptance plastering over historically bad linguistic leaps that’s somewhat akin to how de facto eventually becomes de jure, over many decades (I give no weight to historical claims to land, for example, that are over a century old). That said, I still enjoyed, when living in Pittsburgh, poking fun at people who live in nearby North Versailles for their awful Americanised pronunciation, because that shift is so ridiculous. On that last small point I admit the inconsistency.
Current Events
- This is a reason to be wary of gifts that come with too many strings attached. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-10-29/charlie-munger-defends-design-for-dorm-bashed-by-architect
- Election results
- Buffalo - A Progressive managed to win the Democratic Party nomination, but was then defeated by the Liberal incumbent due to write-ins. Delicious
- Dems lost some elections and are freaking out, although this is pretty normal. In particular a lot of places that voted for Biden for POTUS still elected Republicans. I know enough conservatives who loathe Trump that this doesn’t surprise me at all
- Eric Adams won the vote for NYC Mayor (no surprise), but the plebiscites didn’t go as I had hoped at all.
- Unfortunately, screwball flavours of Republican suggested that if they didn’t win elections there must be some fraud going on - that dangerous nonsense is still infecting our politics.
- It’s easy for donors to attach strings to their gifts that become problems; there are some limits on this (the Rule against Perpituities that gives law students in the US trouble, but see waqfs in Islamic culture as an example of the opposite) but such power can be dangerous. Recently Charles Munger designed a really awful dorm for UCSB, very high-density with few windows, resembling a prison more than a home. It’s surprising UCSB is going forward with it. https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2021/nov/04/torture-experiment-architects-appalled-windowless-student-megadorm
Reviewlets
- Mohonk Mountain House - I went there last weekend for a 2-night stay, and it was lovely. Not cheap, and the vegetarian fare is hit-and-miss, but the rooms are very comfortable and the surroundings are beautiful mountain-y woods. I liked walking around up there.
- Razer Zephyr - This is a fancy N95 facemask with a fan and gaming-computer-style-lights on it, from a gaming company. The fans make it comfortable to wear for longer periods of time, and it reminds me of cybergoths from the goth-industrial clubs I went to ages back. Neat, if a bit expensive, and a bit heavy too.
- Kena: Bridge of Spirits (game) - I just started this game, and it’s really charming. It has good combat feel, maybe is a little too closed-world for my tastes but it makes up for it elsewhere. Good animation too, perhaps a little too cutesy.
- Zelazny’s Lord of Light (book) - I had a tough time getting into this - it seems to be a mix of Buddhist mythology mixed with scifi; the character interactions are well-written, but the world is not clicking with me. Gave up.
- Greg Egan's Diaspora (book) - gave up on the first page because it uses neopronouns. Nope.
Amusements
- The framing is a little annoying, but there’s an amusing and interesting analysis of the traits that made humans successful as a species in here:
- Fun ranking of fictional women’s armor, by a Youtuber that regularly talks about fight scenes and romance in movies:
- Analysis of musical themes in the NieR (videogame) series:
- This Youtube channel is all about someone editing their cat into movies. Like Shittyflute, it’s a fun concept with a lot of potential.
Recent Music
- Wolfsheim’s “And I”, like much of their music, captures a feeling of sadness, age, and regret pretty well.
- Movits’ “Appelknyckarjazz” is one of many songs in the electro swing genre that I’ve been enjoying recently
- The B-52s’ “Rock Lobster” is a classic - Fred Schneider’s strange, distinctive voice tends to be a love-it-or-hate-it thing and I land on the “like” side (Bob Dylan, by contrast, is someone I think is a gifted composer but I dislike his voice)
- I like a lot of Jamiroquai’s hits; recently revisited his works and found “Automaton”, which is a bit less consistently melodic than his usual, but I like the variety in sound it has