http://elvis.trippy.org/ng Sapere Aude Tue, 16 Mar 2010 17:38:25 +0000 http://backend.userland.com/rss092 en Interesting exercise: list the top 10 books which have influenced your view of the world.. I’m not sure I have a view of the world, and it is difficult for me to think of individual books that have been that influential. In no particular order: 1. Bertrand Russell, The History of ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=795 From An Empire Wilderness …I saw how teh acceleration of technology is driving the wedge deeper between military and civilian societies, and bringing about, for the first time, a professional caste-elite… Soldiers are becoming like doctors and lawyers… “war has become so technological that it takes too long to train people ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=794 A thumb, middle finger, and tooth removed from the corpse of Galileo Galilei, lost for a century, have been recovered. The Istituto e Museo di Storia della Scienza di Firenze are planning to put the relics on display next year. I think the middle finger should be installed facing the ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=793 Just experienced my first earthquake. All I can think was: you have to be shitting me. I don’t have earthquake insurance. http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=792 News from Cosmic Variance: John Archibald Wheeler passed away this morning. To me, Wheeler was the greatest surviving name from the epic era of early 20th century physics. There is no mention yet on any news site–including slashdot. Instead are headlines about the democratic candidates in a ‘Faith Forum.’ No time to ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=791 wow, those were some bad picks in the east. Shows how much i pay attention to that conference. Tampa Bay? Carolina? TORONTO ? Ouch. I had Montreal missing the playoffs and they get the #1 seed. FAIL. The west was better. I figured four northwest teams couldn’t possibly make it, especially ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=790 It was exalting to search and find, or create, the right word, that is, commensurate, concise, and strong; to dredge up events from my memory and describe them with the greatest rigor and least clutter. -Primo Levi, The Periodic Table p. 153 http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=789 These are some cathedrals I can get behind. http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=788 NHL all star-break. I hardly noticed. Ten years ago, the all-star game was sort of fun. Now, everyone considers it a joke. This is what I would do: 1. Shorten the NHL season and ditch the all-star game completely. There are too many low intensity games. There’s nothing like playoff hockey. ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=787 A question on slashdot today asked: what would you do if you were POTUS? I’m amazed that, among supposed nerds (i.e., smart people), so many (a) have no idea what the POTUS can/is supposed to do and (b) think that saying “I will fix X” is a plan of action for ... http://elvis.trippy.org/ng/?p=786