6/17    http://www.okcupid.com/tests/describescore?testid=16534455155473404923&category=5
        Interesting. This test says I should live in the suburb. Yay!
        \_ 0 out of 40 in both metrics?  Did you do that on purpose?
        \_ The test says I should live in a "small town".  Any example of a
           small town in the Bay Area?  Also, under what classification are
           the Sunset and Richomd districts in SF?  Thanks.
           \_ I don't think so.  The existence of any large city nearby
              subverts any small town into a suburb.  Livermore tries, but it
              doesn't really work.  You can't have a small town economy when
              everyone works in San Jose. Also, the small town it recommended
              to me was La Junta, CO, which has a population of < 8000.
              \_ Livermore isn't a small town, it is a sprawl.  Small towns
                 don't sprawl.
                 \_ As I said it didn't, doesn't, work.
                  \_ Not because of San Jose, because they overbuilt it with
                     suburban sprawl.
              \_ There are plenty of true small towns in the Bay Area.
                 Probably the most notable is Canyon.
                 Sunset and Richmond, I would consider streetcar suburbs.  -tom

6/18    TLC (The Learning Channel) featured "Building the Future" where
        other countries are building big ass dams, longest manmade rivers,
        planned cities, fast mass transits, levys, etc. None of projects
        on the show is in the US. What have we built lately to secure
        our future?
        \_ We're building DEMOCRACY in the MIDDLE EAST!
           \_ as long as Hamas or Islamic Brotherhood or anyone else we don't
              like didn't win the election.
        \_ i wish we built more fast mass transits.  I don't think we need
           more big ass dams.  What would we dam?  we really should work
           on improving CA levies before CA gets turned into a vast desert
           wasteland by the next earthquake.
           \_ where exactly do you want to put these transits?
        \_We've built universities where all of the engineers come from that
          build these dams.  We also own all of the banks that finance these
          projects.
          \_ We've also learned from studies that show that damming and
             concreting everything is neither as ecologically or economically
             productive as it first appears. A lot of countries that subsidize
             non-stop construction have hugely corrupt construction ministries.
        \_ We've built the strongest military force to secure whatever natural
           resources we want that are located in other countries.
           \_ This was a lot more successful in Civ1, not so much in Civ4.
            \_ I think you mean Civ2, Civ1 didn't have the same drive for
               natural resources.
        \_ We don't do 'projects' in the US anymore.  EIRs and NIMBYism
           will delay or kill almost any project.  What projects would you
           like to see in the US?
           \_ High speed rail. Maybe a big bridge somewhere. Personally, I would
              like to see something like another big water project, but I know
              this would be hard to build in today's environment. The sad truth
              is that the US is falling behind technologically.
           \_ High speed rail. Maybe a big bridge somewhere. Personally, I
              would like to see something like another big water project,
              but I know this would be hard to build in today's environment.
              The sad truth is that the US is falling behind technologically.
              \_ Where does your HSR go to/from?  Where did we need a bridge
                 where don't already have one?  Maybe an island off the
                 Alaskan coast?  ;-)   These are reasonably 'solved'
                 technologies.  The US is moving forward in materials sciences
                 with nano-everything and a lot of really solid bio work in
                 genetics and more traditional medicines/chemicals.
                 \_ There are literally dozens of obvious corridors in
                    the US for high-speed rail that would be cheaper,
                    faster, better for the environment, and far more
                    popular than flying or driving.  SF to LA is the
                    trivially simple example.  -tom
                 \_ There are literally dozens of obvious corridors in the US
                    for high-speed rail that would be cheaper, faster,
                    and far more popular than flying or driving.  SF to LA
                    is the trivially simple example.  -tom
                    \_ I wasn't saying there weren't.  I was just asking for
                       examples.  More on this in a bit.  Busy now.
                 \_ As someone who has to fly a lot for his job, I say 'fuck
                    flying.'  I would vastly prefer high speed rail to flying.
                    High speed rail stretching from San Diego to Seattle, say,
                    would be awesome.  -- ilyas
        \_ We fixed the MacArthur Maze?
        \_ the new bay bridge, should it ever get completed...
        \_ We still have the best space program. It doesn't secure our future
           but it's cool. We do get knowledge out of that although we don't
           hoard that all to ourselves. It adds to our civilization score.
           \_ We can barely get the shuttle into orbit anymore and the
              replacement is years away.  The current program outside of the
              JPL robotics work is an embarassment.
           \_ This is an excellent example of the best not being good enough.
              We could be much, much more.

6/18    http://www.okcupid.com/tests/take?testid=16534455155473404923
        The Where Should You Live Test.
        \_ Your score indicates that you are a city-dweller of the old-
           school. You like a dense, finely grained neighborhood with
           restaurants, churches and brothels all on the same block.
           Although you've never spoken to him personally, you know that
           guy Eddie down the street is a pimp and you're sure to tell
           your lame suburban friends about him at every opportunity,
           just to freak them out.
        \_ I got small town.  It recommended I leave suburbia.
        \_ People know you as: The Yuppie
           Quote: "Sushi is so 1990s. How about Lebanese?"
           Congratulations. You are the coolest type of person. Or you like to
           think you are, anyway. Your score indicates you are a through and
           through urbanite who likes to live in the densest, most central
           part of town. Realistically, though, you're probably a "new money"
           type who, although you claim to hate chains, still occasionally
           sneaks a Big Mac and always, always gets your coffee from
           Starbucks.

6/17    http://www.nationalgeographic.com/earthpulse/sprawl/index_flash-feature.html
        The New Suburb, from National Geographic

6/18    Funny poll
        http://littlegreenfootballs.com/weblog/?entry=25896_Poll-_Should_the_US_Fund_Terrorists&only

6/17    Finally something truly funny with Jar Jar Binks in it:
        http://tinyurl.com/38n35x
    \_ I hope it's a sandwich.

6/17    Email records missing for 51 of 88 White House Officials with RNC
        accounts
        http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070618/ap_on_go_pr_wh/white_house_e_mails
        \_ Whooops!!

6/18    Funny poll
        http://preview.tinyurl.com/2f58pj (lgf)

6/17    http://preview.tinyurl.com/2gcco8 (okcupid.com)
        Interesting. This test says I should live in the suburb. Yay!
        \_ 0 out of 40 in both metrics?  Did you do that on purpose?
        \_ The test says I should live in a "small town".  Any example of a
           small town in the Bay Area?  Also, under what classification are
           the Sunset and Richomd districts in SF?  Thanks.
           \_ I don't think so.  The existence of any large city nearby
              subverts any small town into a suburb.  Livermore tries, but it
              doesn't really work.  You can't have a small town economy when
              everyone works in San Jose. Also, the small town it recommended
              to me was La Junta, CO, which has a population of < 8000.
              \_ Livermore isn't a small town, it is a sprawl.  Small towns
                 don't sprawl.
                 \_ As I said it didn't, doesn't, work.
                  \_ Not because of San Jose, because they overbuilt it with
                     suburban sprawl.
              \_ There are plenty of true small towns in the Bay Area.
                 Probably the most notable is Canyon.
                 Sunset and Richmond, I would consider streetcar suburbs.  -tom
            \_ Plenty of small towns on the coast between SF and Santa Cruz
               \_ And along the Marin coast and in Napa and Sonoma...

6/18    Is this the end of the line for Chomskyan grammar?  The strange
        language of the Piraha
        http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2007/04/16/070416fa_fact_colapinto
        \_ Their notion of color makes more sense than ours, I think.
           Daniel Dennett talks a lot about this phenomenon, how seemingly
           atomic concepts in our language aren't really. -- ilyas
        \_ Chomsky: brilliant, or just good at getting on the rolodexes of
           anyone needing a linguistic expert?
           \_ dunno, but I read the article, I don't think you did.
           \_ You should read the article, it's really interesting.
              \_ I did, sorry! I thought it was really interesting, too.
        \_ Amazing article.

6/17    http://urltea.com/spf
        The New Suburb, from National Geographic