4/26    Dubya finally embraces his role as Village Idiot:
        http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLYyMJ6XY6U
        \_ He's a better dancer than Gore that's for sure.

4/27    Good morning!
        http://img9.imagepile.net/img9/53902bignaturals-jerri.jpg
        \_ That filename sounds NSFW.

4/27    Walmart building its own private CIA:
        http://www.businessweek.com/ap/financialnews/D8ON2P400.htm

4/27    "It's not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars
        just trying to catch one person." -Romney on Osama Bin Laden
        http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/n/a/2007/04/26/politics/p131443D20.DTL&type=politics
        Buried deep in AP story, media reaction nil.  Wonder what would have
        happened if a Democratic candidate had said this...
        \_ Romney stands no chance anyways. Only WASP males get elected
           Kennedy being the only exception, but he cheated to get that
           \_ Kennedy cheated? Oh, spin us a tale, please. This has gotta be
              good.
              \_ This is part of the Neocon lexicon: it is okay that Bush
                 cheated because Kennedy did too. If you ask them to explain,
                 they always say that dead people voted in Illinois. If you
                 point out that Kennedy would have won without Illinois,
                 they are rendered mute.
                 \_ Hardly. Was watergate ok because Nixon would have won
                    without spying on the Dems?  The claim that a gross
                    immoral act is unimportant if it does not affect the
                    outcome is so ridiculous, that I can not believe you
                    actually think that.
                    Also neocon does not mean "every person I disagree
                    with."
                    \_ Indeed.  PP has his moral reasoning in a knot.  The
                       proper point is "what was the evidence?"  The Karl
                       Rove "There's voter fraud in them thar hills" line
                       that underlies the US Atty scandal is another of these
                       web-weavings.  See also, Foster, Vince, Murder of.

4/27    Musical renderings of mathematical constants:
        http://www.tomdukich.com/math%20songs.html
        \_ As mathematically derived music goes, pretty uninteresting.
        \_ Old, but cooler: http://www.theuser.org/dotmatrix/en/intro.html
           \_ Also old, and cooler: http://www.coverpop.com/whitney/index.php
              \_ that is super-cool.
        \_ It says it assigns musical notes to digits 0-9 to play the
           constants.  What digits do they use to represent sqrt(-1)?

4/27    Commentary on Aristole found in the Archimedes Palimpsest:
        http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/6591221.stm

4/27    Do you own a light laptop with 12" screen and under 4 lbs?  Which
        brand and model do you have?  I thinking of purchasing one.
        PC only, macbook is nice but doesn't have cardbus interface.  Thanks.
        \_ I have a panasonic toughbook. giant screen , 3.5 lbs.
           runs linux and windows great.
        \_ ThinkPad X60.
        \_ If I had to get a non-Apple laptop again, I'd get a Fujitsu
           Lifebook P series.  I still have a P2110 that' is at least five
           years old(probably few more) that is still as good as the day I
           bought it(functionally.  The felt at the bottom is peeling.)
           Too bad they don't have a Core 2 Duo model of it at the moment.

4/27    Now Forbes is spreading the liberal Global Warming lie:
        http://members.forbes.com/global/2007/0507/066.html
        \_ MOTD has gotten to the point where I can't tell if the op
           is a ranty neocon or a bitter moderate
           \_ You don't think op could be a bitter far-lefty?  That
              was my first guess.
              \_ I would have guess smug far lefty.
                 \_ Oh, I think we're smug all around the political spectrum
                    \_ Mission Accomplished!

4/2     http://biz.yahoo.com/ts/070427/10353243.html
        Investor Jeremy Grantham says we are now experiencing the first
        worldwide bubble in history -- all asset classes are inflated.
        "My colleagues suggest that this global bubble has not yet had this
        phase [an "exponential phase" just prior to the falloff] and perhaps
        they are right. ... In which case, pessimists or conservatives will
        take considerably more pain."
        \_ Then again, we could just be entering a period of long term low
           interest rates, which would make fixed income producing assets
           worth more. During the middle of the Pax Romana, real interest
           rates were about 2% and during the Victorian Era in England,
           worth more. During the middle of the Pax Romana, interest
           rates were about 4% and during the Victorian Era in England,
           rates were even lower. This may be a comparable time. -ausman
                \_ We're entering uncharted territory since never before
                   in the history has the global economy been so interdependent
                   and dependent on energy -- which is about to experience
                   a major disturbance.
                   \_ What major disturbance? Peak Oil does not qualify as
                      a disturbance, more a slow motion train wreck.
        \_ "By his calculations, the only assets likely to beat inflation by
           any significant margin if you hold them for the next seven years
           are managed timber, "high-quality" U.S. stocks, and bonds."
           That doesn't sound like all asset classes. His idea of high
           quality stocks includes Home Depot, which proves he is on crack.
           Ignore him.

4/27    Special psb motd emergency post, top 50 restuarants in the world rated.
        http://tinyurl.com/25ckhk
        French Laundry in Yountville scores the number 4 spot
        \_ "Alice Waters, the founder of Chez Panisse, in Berkeley,
           California, received the Lifetime Achievement award."
           Chez Panisse was rated #40, which goes to show that the list
           is suspect. Chez Panisse is very good, but no longer #40
           good. Maybe if it was still in the 1970s...
           \_ Is this you:
              http://eastbay.citysearch.com/saved/userprofile/gastronome1
              \_ No. I think Chez Panisse is a very good restaurant, but
                 what was groundbreaking in 1971 is not groundbreaking
                 in 2007. Same might go for Spago or whatever. I find
                 it interesting that 'Nobu' in London is so highly rated,
                 too. I've been to his restaurants in Aspen and LA and...
                 I dunno. My opinion is that making this list is an
                 indicator of PAST success, not current success. I found
                 that true in New Orleans as well when I went recently.
                 Once people are successful, they rest on their laurels.
                 What 30 years go was incredible (Chez Panisse's insistence
                 on organic produce) is more mundane now. The bar keeps
                 being raised.
                 \_ Is food really that much better than it was 30 years ago?
                    Is the future really always brighter than the past?
                    \_ You are missing the point, which is that expectations
                       keep getting higher.
                       \_ Expectations of what?  How much altitude the food
                          should have?
                          \_ Expectations of what constitutes fine
                             cuisine/dining. Lots of restaurants that were
                             considered gourmet in their day would now
                             seem to be putrid in comparison to competition.
                             Not only have menus and tastes changed, but
                             access to top quality ingredients has improved
                             and consumers' for demand them has increased.
                             \_ What are other restaurants providing that
                                Chez Panisse is not?  Having food stacked
                                six inches off your plate is not innovation,
                                it's pretension.
                                \_ You are asking the wrong question,
                                   which should be: "What is Chez Panisse
                                   providing that other restaurants are
                                   not?" There's not much to distinguish
                                   it anymore.
                       \_ Expectations of how good the food tastes or
                          something else?
                          \_ Both. Expectations of what constitutes a "top
                             restaurant" includes ingredients, menu,
                             ambience, decor, service, and so on. While in
                             some areas expectations are little changed
                             (e.g. service, which has probably actually
                             gotten a bit worse over time) in other areas
                             (e.g. quality of ingredients) consumers are a
                             lot more sophisticated. Some of the things
                             Chez Panisse did were groundbreaking or
                             trendsetting at the time, but are now status
                             quo. Give Chez Panisse the credit for
                             innovating, but at the same time recognize
                             that without continued innovation (of which I
                             believe there has not been much of at Chez
                             Panisse in years) other restaurants have
                             matched or beaten it at its own game while
                             also contributing more in a culinary sense
                             and as a dining experience as a whole.
                             \- i think this is a stupid list, but i'm not
                                especially outraged about it. here is the
                                "spatial distribution"
                                  http://tinyurl.com/33tlwk
                                i really doubt the place in new delhi
                                is that great. although supposedly the chef
                                used to cook kabobs on the street, which is
                                a pretty good story. also it may be the
                                cheepest place on the list.

4/27    Anyone from the Beijing area here?  My mother-in-law is on a trip
        there.  She bought a SIM card there and put it in her cell phone.  She
        said the number is 1XXXXXXXX (total 9 digits).  What should I dial on
        my home phone in order to call that number?  I tried 011-86-1XXXXXXXX,
        but I always got a tone that sounds like a busy signal.  Thanks.
        \_ Try removing the leading 1. Many include the long distance dialing
        prefix like we would say 1-510-...
           \_ If '1' is not the area code, do I need an area code before the
              eight remaining digits?
        \_ Don't use a cell phone if you are. Most cell providers require
           that you activate international dialing. Try using Skype, if all
           else fails.
        \_ Telephone number in China are 8 digits (7 in the US).
           Large cities have 2 digit area code, most other cities have
           3 digit area code. So a normal phone in BJ would be
           011-86-10-aaaa-bbbb. GSM cellphone usually have 3 digit
           area code, so it's usually in the form
           011-86-???-aaaa-bbbb. (??? being 138/136, etc). But some
           cellphone (not GSM) uses local area code (Xiao-Ling-Tong).
           Try 011-86-10-XXXX-XXXX (take the last 8 digit of the
           number she gave you. If it's a real cellphone, it should
           have 11 digits.

4/27    Thanks to all the alumni who showed up for the BBQ today despite the
        late notice.  We ended up having about 15 alumni and 15 students and
        just about the right amount of steak to make everybody happy.  It
        was also nice to chat with you all, despite most of the talk being
        about how screwed up the university policies/employment situation
        is. -mrauser
        \_ We talked about how current undergrads are not using MOTD and wall.
           Too retro. A Jabber server was floated to, uh, supplement wall, but
           what about MOTD? I think we want current undergrads to enjoy the
           online community we had, no matter what form it takes.  We also
           talked briefly about how hard it is to hire good people, so if we
           want to throw job/internship offers to CSUA, we need a reliable way
           to reach the membership, which does not seem to be in place any
           more. -tcmoore
           Too retro. A Jabber server was floated to, uh, "supplement" wall,
           but what about MOTD? I think we want current undergrads to enjoy the online
           community we had, no matter what form it takes.
           We also talked briefly about how hard it is to hire good people, so if
           we want to throw job/internship offers to CSUA, we need a reliable way
           to reach the membership, which does not seem to be in place any more. -tcmoore
           \_ thre is a jabber server?  where? how?
        \_ The meeting was a successful for me as an alumnus.  I got to meet
           some of my old buddies.  I'm not sure how successful it was for
           the CSUA since I saw (and experienced) very liitle interaction
           between the curent undergrads and the alumni. -jrleek
           \_ It did seem like mostly two camps, with only one or two
              undergrads (or quasi-undergrads) hanging out with the crotchety
              old alumni.  But that's to be expected; because there's no
              online connection between undergrads and alumni, there's no
              natural reason for the groups to interact when they get
              together in person.  We're strangers to each other.
              If the current students view this as a negative thing (and I
              think they should), they'll need to devise ways to get
              undergrads and alumni interacting online, as tcmoore mentions
              above.  -tom