Three Monkeys, Ten Minutes

So have any of you geeky types been to your school reunions? What were your experiences? The reason I ask is that my old high school is having a major anniversary reunion at Easter this year. I wasn't even considering going, but over xmas down south I had a couple of conversations(1) where I was actively encouraged to attend. The thing is, I suspect that I have nothing in common with old school mates. My experiences whenever I've bumped into old fellow inmates is that the lingua franca of such encounters is children (and now grandkids) - a language which I do not speak. It doesn't help that I'm from a rural area and most people stayed in that environment when I didn't.

So are my concerns justified, or have you had good experiences? Of course I may not be able to go anyway - work commitments and money might get in the way (and if I had plenty of time and money, I'd be going to Swancon or Eastercon for sure).


(1)The two conversations were both with pairs of sisters who went to the same school. The older sister of each pair was called Bronwyn and the younger was in the same year at school as me. The fact that I find that worthy of note goes a long way to explaining why I suspect that I will be out of place at a reunion.

Many of the local shops have small ads posted in their windows etc for various local handyfolk services. The local takeaway has a notice up advertising the services of a nanny - it reads more like a babysitting service. But unlike most of the stores, the ad isn't in the window - it is stuck to another glass surface. It is on the hood above the display cabinet where this takeaway shop keeps their cooked chicken on display. Unfortunate placement or subtle advertising - you be the judge.

The local suburb's residents association is running its annual inorganic recycling/rubbish collection day today. This year I was actually organized enough to remember and put a bunch of stuff out. There has been a small but steady flow of vehicles cruising around with people slowing down to peruse the piles along the street. I wasn't expecting much of the stuff I put out to be attractive to the collectors and which would therefore get picked up in the final "rubbish" collection. Although there were a couple of items that I thought might be desirable. Thus far everything except that couple of items has been taken away. Go figure.

The GUFF ballot is now available. As the saying goes - vote early,vote often.

I'm delighted to see that Dan Shechtman has won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry for his work on quasicrystals. The idea of regular crystalline-like forms that don't have a repeating translational component is just fascinating to me. My PhD research work involved ways of representing three dimensional crystal structural concepts. The basic mathematical model (Space Groups) at the time was thought to represent all crystal forms. Space groups does not allow for five-fold symmetry in crystals. I remember being required to do an on the fly proof of that during a research review (a proof that relies on the assumption that all crystals have a regular repeating translational component).

But even then, we knew that not all solids that appeared crystalline fit the space group model. Ice is a common example and elemental Boron a less common one but even more interesting because it has five-fold components. Also, during the time I was doing my PhD, word was coming through from Russia of experimental evidence of crystals with five-fold x-ray diffraction patterns. So even then, cracks were appearing in the supremacy of the Space Group notion. But here is the crucial thing, the possibility of unprecedented crystal forms did not upset those of us working in this area. It excited us with the prospect that things could be bigger and stranger than we had previously thought. Sure, it meant that the work we were doing was no longer the only way of defining a crystal, but it was still valid as a sub-set of the new greater whole. When Shechtman published and validated his work, it turned that prospect of a bigger picture into a reality. That is often the way science works - an expansion of a vision to a bigger picture.

It is sad to read about some of the personal struggles that Shechtman suffered doing this work. Which isn't to say that he shouldn't have had to struggle in a professional sense. When you introduce something as big and ground changing as his work into the world, you have to expect to be challenged and you have to expect to defend your work with great rigour. The skeptics have a saying "extraordinary claims require extraordinary proof". That is the way of the scientific method.

Which brings me to another point about science. Contrary to the way many people view it, science is not a monolithic block of knowledge which explains everything in the universe. Science is a process - a way of taking information and theory and turning it into knowledge. The body of knowledge generated is not science as such, simply the product of it. What is more, as science continues, that knowledge is fed back into the process and may become changed by doing so. The body of knowledge is not fixed but constantly being examined, refined and changed. That is not a failing of science but instead is its strength. I could go on about how people who come at this with fixed belief systems struggle to understand this dynamic concept, but you can draw your own conclusions. What I say instead is congratulations to Dan Shechtman for doing his bit to reshape our view of the universe.

Dick Smiths still sell* electronics components - y'know resistors, capacitors, leds, switches etc. They also sell the blank circuit boards into which you solder those components. Then they will also sell you the soldering iron with which to do that soldering. So why then do they not sell solder? I asked a sales droid - their reply, "yeah, I know, we get a lot of people asking about that". Do you not think there might be a sales opportunity there?!



(* - well, at most of their stores anyway - they do have some shops which only sell home electronics)

Watching RWC Tonga vs Japan, when I hear a name I know. Turns out a family member (a cousin's son) is playing for Japan. I know that there are a lot of Kiwis playing in Japan and they have a Kiwi coach, but I still find it very very weird.

I hasten to add that he certainly doesn't get the talent from our side of the family. Not that I'm surprised that he is good enough - his father played for Canterbury for many years and his sister is a Silver Fern.

My German language skills are pretty non-existent but according to this report the German Pirate Party has entered the state parliament of the city-state of Berlin with nearly 9% of the votes, counting for 15 of the total 149 seats. These numbers still subject to some fluctuation of course as all the votes aren't in yet.

Local politicians take note - don't piss off the geek vote or you may find them holding the balance of power.

Interesting. I just ordered two books from an online seller. One of the books was available now and the other was a pre-order. The second book not being due for release for another week or so from now. So when a book turned up, I assumed it was the first volume. That was, until I opened the packet and there was the other unreleased book. In the light of all the kerfuffle over early release of GRRM's A Dance with Dragons in some places, I'm wondering if there is cause for concern or action I should take.

For background I should say that a google search revealed only one item about early release of this (fairly prominent) title and that was a small window of opportunity for electronic versions only. It also has to be said that I won't actually have read this book by the actual release date. In fact I'm more worried about getting the first book - it is actually the one I want to read first.

ETA: The other (first) book just arrived. Supposedly shipped two days before the other book and arriving two days later. Ah the vagaries of the postal system.

It begins again. With elections later in the year, certain political parties are ignoring my "No Circulars" sign and shoving their propaganda into my mailbox. Again I find myself wondering if I can trust any party that shows such a simple lack of respect for personal wishes. It is only a small thing but symptomatic of an attitude. Yet again I find myself drawn to vote for any party which makes anti-junk mail signs legally enforcable - including the email and phone equivalents as well of course.