Wednesday, December 09, 2009
Tuesday, December 08, 2009
No Time For Sergeants
I have it on good authority from Hill sources that Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner will send Congress the letter tomorrow morning that will extend the Troubled Asset Relief Program through October 3, 2010.
They were pushing this on NPR's Morning Edition today. A congress-critter [1] was on and asked how they'd use it to save jobs.
Hand to my heart he said 'We could give it to state and local governments to boost employment in government.'
If they're going to piddle around like this they might as well adopt the Nicaragua Plan and draft everyone into the Army. Then we can all get to wear drab uniforms, mop floors, and bitch about sergeants for a living.
[1] Which one? The name flew clean out of my head: one greedy pol sounds like another. Pick a senior guy with a (D) after his name and the odds are good you'll have the right one.
Monday, December 07, 2009
'The Post-American World and the Rise of the Rest'
Fareed Zakaria

"A laptop is a luxury in most developing countries. The cell phone is the personal computer of the third world."
Sunday, December 06, 2009
Saturday, December 05, 2009
Interview with Brad Edwards
Interview with Brad Edwards, in which we find he is still foolishly over-optimistic about building a space elevator.
He's still claiming $10 billion and fifteen years will see it done.
Which seems mighty quick to build a system using materials that have not been made yet, and real cheap to field a fully working system.
I am not a big-brained scientist but .. when is he going to flight test the components? Test the gear and materials that today only prototyped (if that) and must work in the field 24x7 for years? Prove the nano wonder material isn't going to fail a few years after it's in production?
P'haps we should build a few bridges with the nano-material first and get some experience with the stuff before launching it into space.
He's always been dismissive of the fiddly details and it drives me nuts. Like this
Awesome. And where do we get four of these? Nobody is making a Saturn V class rocket - how many billions to kick-start a program? Perhaps the assumption is that they will just happen. Well, golly, Doctor Edwards: maybe unicorns will just happen along and poop gold coins and make me rich. But I won't hold my breath.

He's still claiming $10 billion and fifteen years will see it done.
Which seems mighty quick to build a system using materials that have not been made yet, and real cheap to field a fully working system.
I am not a big-brained scientist but .. when is he going to flight test the components? Test the gear and materials that today only prototyped (if that) and must work in the field 24x7 for years? Prove the nano wonder material isn't going to fail a few years after it's in production?
P'haps we should build a few bridges with the nano-material first and get some experience with the stuff before launching it into space.
He's always been dismissive of the fiddly details and it drives me nuts. Like this
The initial stage would require 4 launches of a heavy lift, Saturn V class rocket.
Awesome. And where do we get four of these? Nobody is making a Saturn V class rocket - how many billions to kick-start a program? Perhaps the assumption is that they will just happen. Well, golly, Doctor Edwards: maybe unicorns will just happen along and poop gold coins and make me rich. But I won't hold my breath.
Festival of Linkage
We're nearly there ... 12 reasons unemployment is going to (at least) 12 percent.
“I’m not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.” Phht: Like the CEO of a company know anything about running a business.
Shoot me first.

“I’m not going to hire anybody in the United States. I’m moving. They are doing everything possible to destroy jobs.” Phht: Like the CEO of a company know anything about running a business.
Shoot me first.
Marian, one of the two thirteen-year-olds in the room, quickly assumed leadership of the younger girls, doing everything she could to help protect them. Realizing he planned to kill them, she said,
”Shoot me first,”
hoping to save the other and fulfilling her duty to watch over the little ones in her care.
Thursday, December 03, 2009
Slack-Jawed Yokel
Matt Lauer on the Today Show:
"Meredith Baxter - you're a lesbian! And right now all over America jaws are dropping .."
Jesus Hector Christ.
No, Matt Lauer, you lunk-headed talking-head dipshit, jaws are not dropping all over America because you have just informed us proles that Meredith Baxter is a lesbian.
Jaws are dropping because we're astounded at your presumption that everyone outside of your enclave is a yokel who is smacked into slack-jawed idiocy by the notion that someone who is sorta famous for acting in a sit-com a generation ago is gay.

"Meredith Baxter - you're a lesbian! And right now all over America jaws are dropping .."
Jesus Hector Christ.
No, Matt Lauer, you lunk-headed talking-head dipshit, jaws are not dropping all over America because you have just informed us proles that Meredith Baxter is a lesbian.
Jaws are dropping because we're astounded at your presumption that everyone outside of your enclave is a yokel who is smacked into slack-jawed idiocy by the notion that someone who is sorta famous for acting in a sit-com a generation ago is gay.
Wednesday, December 02, 2009
Flip over a rock and just look at the crazy
Richard Hoste on hiring practices:
Given a white guy and a black guy, with demonstrated equal ability, hire the white dude. Because African-Americans as a group have a lower IQ.
I don't know where our Mr. Hoste went to school, but where I come from stereotyping a guy based on race marks one as low class, no matter how much breeding, education, or wealth he has.

Given a white guy and a black guy, with demonstrated equal ability, hire the white dude. Because African-Americans as a group have a lower IQ.
I don't know where our Mr. Hoste went to school, but where I come from stereotyping a guy based on race marks one as low class, no matter how much breeding, education, or wealth he has.
Next we'll pump up the jam and put on our puffy parachute pants
A friend is earning her B.S. at UW. And learning DOS batch programming for a class called 'Network Operating Systems'.
What in the ring-tailed rambling heck is up with that? Who uses batch files in 2009?
1990 called. They want their operating system back.

What in the ring-tailed rambling heck is up with that? Who uses batch files in 2009?
1990 called. They want their operating system back.
Tuesday, December 01, 2009
The game ain't the only thing that sucks
This is pathetic.

It is not courageous, nor profound. It is not powerful. It is most certainly not rad.
What this is .. is a sad, strange, waste of talent and money.
Also a great big warning sign to prospective mates: This chick lives in Crazy Town - turn back now.

It is not courageous, nor profound. It is not powerful. It is most certainly not rad.
What this is .. is a sad, strange, waste of talent and money.
Also a great big warning sign to prospective mates: This chick lives in Crazy Town - turn back now.
Richard you ignorant slut
The White Goddess
We've managed a neat trick in this country: to raise up generation upon generation who never know what it is to sacrifice for something bigger than themselves. People whose biggest inconvenience is a long commute to an office. People who see and read a great deal but understand nothing about how the world works.
Richard Hoste, you will never know, nor understand how profoundly ignorant you are.
You have my pity.

Palin takes John Kerry to task for his joke about those who don’t study getting “stuck in Iraq,” but the story of her own son proves that he was right. Track joined the military after deciding that he didn’t want to bum around after high school like his friends. This implies that he wasn’t smart enough for college.
We've managed a neat trick in this country: to raise up generation upon generation who never know what it is to sacrifice for something bigger than themselves. People whose biggest inconvenience is a long commute to an office. People who see and read a great deal but understand nothing about how the world works.
Richard Hoste, you will never know, nor understand how profoundly ignorant you are.
You have my pity.
Saturday, November 28, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Dear Lazyweb: VMS to Unix edition
Dear Lazyweb,
Once upon a time, a team of guys sat down and wrote an application in C, running on VMS on a VAX. It was a rather important undertaking and runs a reasonably important back-end operation at LargeCo. This whole shebang works so well that twenty-five years later it's still chugging along and doing it's thing.
Time passes and people retire and it so happens that the Last Man Standing has turned over the keys to a new generation who - we might imagine - are less than thrilled to find themselves caretakers of a system old enough to be their younger brother. Yet, as underwhelmed as they are by the idea of dealing with Ultra Legacy Systems, they can't justify the cost of replacing the venerable application.
LMS discovered that I habla unix and put this question to me. And since I habla unix but don't speaka the C I shall summarize and put it to you. Long Story Short:
LMS wants to port LegacyApp, written in C. from VMS to unix. Resources? Any books he can read? People he can talk to?
Cross posted to Stackoverflow.

Once upon a time, a team of guys sat down and wrote an application in C, running on VMS on a VAX. It was a rather important undertaking and runs a reasonably important back-end operation at LargeCo. This whole shebang works so well that twenty-five years later it's still chugging along and doing it's thing.
Time passes and people retire and it so happens that the Last Man Standing has turned over the keys to a new generation who - we might imagine - are less than thrilled to find themselves caretakers of a system old enough to be their younger brother. Yet, as underwhelmed as they are by the idea of dealing with Ultra Legacy Systems, they can't justify the cost of replacing the venerable application.
LMS discovered that I habla unix and put this question to me. And since I habla unix but don't speaka the C I shall summarize and put it to you. Long Story Short:
LMS wants to port LegacyApp, written in C. from VMS to unix. Resources? Any books he can read? People he can talk to?
Cross posted to Stackoverflow.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
The green police, they come to me in my bed
Dude gets busted by the La Crosse department for drinking underage. The evidence? Facebook pictures.
On the contrary, Mr. Luebker. The taxpayers of La Crosse got themselves a few hundred bucks for the cost of a cop sitting down for an hour at the computer.
That is an efficient use of the taxpayer's money.
And, hey: a guy operating a computer consumes less energy and has a smaller carbon footprint than a guy driving around in a police car. It's Green Policing!
The kids at UW should like that a whole bunch.
Via.

“I feel like it is shady police work and a waste of taxpayer money to have him (an officer) sit on the computer on Facebook when he could actually be doing police work,” said Luebker.
On the contrary, Mr. Luebker. The taxpayers of La Crosse got themselves a few hundred bucks for the cost of a cop sitting down for an hour at the computer.
That is an efficient use of the taxpayer's money.
And, hey: a guy operating a computer consumes less energy and has a smaller carbon footprint than a guy driving around in a police car. It's Green Policing!
The kids at UW should like that a whole bunch.
Via.
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Crap jobs all the way down
Overheard at home
Listening to that conversation second-hand pisses me off.
X doesn't get it. There won't be a next time: if it's a choice between waiting for a lazy-ass to decide that today she's going to get up and work and an ambitious soul who can work right now - who gets the work? And who is on the list for next time? Not Miss X.
Get with the program or your entire life is gonna be one shit job after another, cupcake.

Herself: I've got a line on a temp job in merchandising: you said you wanted to get into that. It's only four hours, starts today at noon but you'll be on her list for the next time she needs help and you'll have experience for your resume.
X: Ah. Man. Ya'know? I'm feeling kinda lazy today. Maybe next time.
Listening to that conversation second-hand pisses me off.
X doesn't get it. There won't be a next time: if it's a choice between waiting for a lazy-ass to decide that today she's going to get up and work and an ambitious soul who can work right now - who gets the work? And who is on the list for next time? Not Miss X.
Get with the program or your entire life is gonna be one shit job after another, cupcake.
Lesson Learned: Smooches
Lesson Learned: Next time my wife gets off an international flight saying "Ugh, I'm sick don't kiss me" I shall take her at her word and refrain from smooching.
'Cause man, whatever viral ick she picked up on the flight from Istanbul is some serious international heavy-duty world rocking shit.
Ah - who am I kidding? I'll kiss her no matter what. Maybe next time I'll slap on a surgical mask ...

'Cause man, whatever viral ick she picked up on the flight from Istanbul is some serious international heavy-duty world rocking shit.
Ah - who am I kidding? I'll kiss her no matter what. Maybe next time I'll slap on a surgical mask ...
Monday, November 23, 2009
A Small Core Sample of America
Vanderleun: A Small Core Sample of America

It's a commonplace to say that the states of our nation are now so diverse that we are a deeply divided country. I've come to see that that old saw is a dull old saw, useful for pundits and prognosticators, but much more false than true. It's the view that arises when people are pent up in the cities far too long, and fall far too much in love with their own voice and views; their own set and setting; their own media-mirrored visage.
What all our media mouthpieces assert is happening in America, is happening -- it turns out -- only in their sealed and secular Happy World. It is not what's happening in the core of our states where the whirr and the buzz and the blather of the coasts come through only faintly, like screams heard through walls and quickly fading.
Out here, there's a different drum sounded and different dances danced. And, if you could, as I did yesterday, look out over the Owens valley and coast down into the small town of Bishop and watch the men come out at dusk to furl the American flags that line the sidewalks by the hundreds, you'd know, beyond a shred of a doubt, that the states of our union are still strong, and will survive, no matter what happens in the Happy World of our coastal cities, our capitols of culture and corruption, into which, in the course of the decades, everything cheap and corrupt and loose has rolled and congealed.
What happens in those cities may matter in the news of the day, but out here it is the news of the decade that matters. Here is where what we were and are and will become is finally and irrevocably decided. Everyone who thinks they know what the country is and where it is going needs to take some time out every so often and take their own personal core sample.
Sunday, November 22, 2009
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