Three Monkeys, Ten Minutes

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.

There are some indications that a TV show you like is in trouble. For example, the arbitrary introduction of new characters - cute kids or replacement support cast more notable for hotness than character. Then there is the introduction of love interest stories and attendant sex scenes to previously plotline driven drama. The reverse also happens to character driven shows. Basically, these are all actions where an attempt is being made to spice up a show, but all they are doing is breaking what was best about the show.

There is one indicator that is more powerful than any of the above though. Something so horrific that you might as well just stop watching now. The fingernails on a blackboard* sensation that accompanies the appearance on screen of Jason Priestly. Bye bye Haven.


*By the way, do schools even have blackboards any more? Is this imagery even understood by younger generations?

...Sgt Pepper told...no wait. Something just as important - the start of the '81 Springbok tour. For anybody here at the time, regardless of your side in the debate, it was an immense emotional event. Personally, I think it was an important piece of nation building. I believe that it created a general change in the attitude of Kiwis to the rest of the world. Sure, some people had been outward looking and active before then, but it seemed as if most folk were content to think that what we did hidden down here at the bottom of the world didn't matter on the world stage. The Tour changed that - we could be seen and could make a difference. And while there are scars from that time, I think we are much the better for it.

I first heard this one relating to iPhones and it probably pre-dates them, but it applies here:

q: How do you know if somebody has a Google+ account?

a: They tell you.

For the record, I still don't own any iStuff - the last Apple product I owned was an Apple //e. However I don't want to appear hypocritical...

Post-con blues set in during the taxi trip to Auckland airport, so not sure if I want to do a con report or not. But, as usual, throwing some thoughts out at random and seeing what happens.

Judging by personal experience and various reports, there are some good places to eat up that end of Parnell. It is a pity that the weather didn't cooperate. I wonder if I had ordered a "hot" curry whether I would have dried out faster.

The hotel was quirky. It used to be a motel and the split units in two to make hotel rooms. Problem is that they did it on the cheap - recycling some of the tired old motel fittings. On the other hand, it was rather cheaper that most places around town, so it can be forgiven most of it. A leaking window and a bad that wasn't flat however were not so hard to forgive. I don't mean the bed had a bit of a depression in the middle - it had a noticeable step in the middle then one side of the step sloped to the edge. Not obvious when looking at it, but there to feel when you lay down.

Id doesn't matter how nice they are, when you choose a guest of honour that most people haven't read then you are not going to attract many new people to your con. (In fact, I had tried to read one of the GoHs books but had quit after about a quarter of it.) Whether that was the reason or not, it was a very small con. That can be nice and intimate for the folk attending but not so good for long term convention health. Things were certainly different last year.

Speaking of last year, the 2013 convention will be Au Contraire 2. This is particularly happy news for most of us attending and we all hope that A-C2 will be even bigger and better.

I hate high humidity. Just sayin'.

Publicly nominated, fan voted awards are a deeply flawed concept in many ways. But as long as they are honestly and well run (as ours are), then they are a lot better than the alternative of not having them. Nevertheless, I do find myself drawn to tilt at some of the windmills that exist. In this case, you have to take a really big swing at things to even get the smallest of movements. But even small movement is better than going along without noticing the problems.

I'm off the SFFANZ board again - phew. It looks like there is a very good set of new recruits who have been co-opted onto the board. Good result I think. I did volunteer to keep looking after the SFFANZ news site though - no hardship there.

I'm also looking after the web site for next year's con. Have a look - as you can see I'm adopting a simple is best philosophy. And while you are there why not think about planning a trip to attend - should be fun.

In case it isn't clear, I did have a pleasant time overall. I spent most of the con indulging in friendly conversation - that suits me well. I did get annoyed at one point when somebody suggested that this is all that needs to be done for a con. What may suit me and others is not what drives everybody. Con organisers needs to cover all the bases to make sure that everybody has the type of experience that they are after. It looks to me as if the people running the next two natcons understand that well.

Don't you hate data caps? There never seems to be quite enough bandwidth to do what you want. But this month, I found the following message buried deep down in the usage tracking info that my ISP provides:

"There is currently a known issue where are systems are potentially reporting you as using more data than you have. We are working on a fix for this issue and can assure you that you will not be detrimentally impacted by this until the fix is in place."

It is a real thing - the tracking software had me using 27G in one day - a little extreme. Somehow, I don't think my only activity that day, downloading an Ubuntu release, is that big. But re-read that message "not be detrimentally impacted" - that means they have turned their data cap enforcement off until the problem is fixed.

No data cap. What would you do? Really?

My least favourite destination on the planet? No competition - it is Sydney Airport. I have said so on many occasions including in this blog. I usually don't get much argument. But the real question is, how did it get to be that way?

It seems we have an answer. You see, the problem with Sydney Airport is operational - it doesn't operate properly. So who is GM of Operations? Well it used to be a chap called Steve Fitzgerald. How do we know he was (partly) responsible? Well he is now CEO of Wellington airport and anybody stupid enough to go ahead with the "Wellywood" sign is clearly an idiot who shouldn't be trusted with paper planes let alone an airport.

There is a facebook group opposing the sign over here if such are your thing.