When the first explorers from the warm lands around the Circle Sea travelled into the chilly hinterland they filled in the blank spaces on their maps by grabbing the nearest native, pointing at some distant landmark, speaking very clearly in a loud voice, and writing down whatever the bemused man told them. Thus were immortalised in generations of atlases such geographical oddities as Just A Mountain, I Don’t Know, What? and, of course, Your Finger You Fool.
Terry Pratchett, The Light Fantastic, 1986
September 27, 2010
QotD: Explorers and translation
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Europe according to . . .
Amusing infographic source including “Europe according to France”:
H/T to Cory Doctorow for the link.
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Air travel: does the punishment fit the crime?
Terry Teachout isn’t enjoying his air travel experiences on his current trip. A selection of his Twitter updates from this morning:
First: I’m at LaGuardia and seized with an all-consuming hatred for air travel, every aspect of which is disgusting, degrading, and dehumanizing.
Second: I’d also like to throttle most of my fellow travelers, including all who are conducting cell-phone conversations within earshot of me.
Third: Finally, I’d like to offer a special welcome in hell to the people at Gate D6 who are reading self-evidently stupid books and magazines.
Fourth: Gee, you wouldn’t think that I’m H.L. Mencken’s biographer, would you?
Fifth: “Democracy is the theory that the common people know what they want, and deserve to get it good and hard.”
Sixth: I guess I’m in what I like to call one of my exterminate-all-the-brutes moods. This, too, shall pass…
As I’ve mentioned before, I’ve pretty much given up on air travel since my last flight experience. I’ll use it for extreme long distance or trans-oceanic travel, but otherwise, I’ll continue to avoid it as much as possible. (Probably my worst trip overlapped with one of the attempted terrorist attacks.)
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Uh-oh. Eric’s been drinking the Eurogame Kool-Aid
If you’re not a gamer, you can safely ignore this posting.
Still here? Good. Here’s Eric S. Raymond losing his religion:
I’m what people in the strategy-gaming hobby call a grognard. The word is literally French for “grumbler”, historically used for Napoleonist diehards who never reconciled themselves to the fall of L’Empereur even after 1815, and nowadays refers to guys who cut their teeth on the classic, old-school hex-grid wargames of the 1970s.
As a grognard, I’m expected to grumble dyspeptically about the superiority of the huge, heavy, elaborately simulationist two-player wargames we used to play back in the day, and bemoan how fluffy and social the modern wave of multiplayer Eurogames are. Sure, they’ve got four-color printing and unit counters you don’t have to use tweezers to pick up, but where are my pages and pages of combat resolution tables? Where are my hairsplitting distinctions between different types of self-propelled assault gun? O tempora! O mores!
But you know what? Times change, and game designers have actually learned a few things in the last forty years. In this essay I’m going to revisit two games I’ve reviewed previously (Commands and Colors: Ancients and Memoir ‘44) and take a closer look at two others: War Galley, and Conflict of Heroes. These games exemplify how very much things have changed, and how little point there really is in pining for the old-school games any more. Yes, I may forfeit my old-fart credentials by saying it, but … I think the golden age of wargaming is now.
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EMALS back on track in time to save British carrier fleet?
As discussed earlier, the Royal Navy has been watching the US Navy’s ongoing EMALS project carefully, as it might provide a major cost-saving for the new carriers HMS Queen Elizabeth and HMS Prince of Wales. Recent testing shows the program appears to be back on track:
The US Navy’s plan to fit its next aircraft carrier with electromagnetic mass-driver catapults instead of steam launchers is reportedly on track, with shore trials using test weights a success. The progress of the Electromagnetic Aircraft Launch System (EMALS), the first of its kind, is of interest to the Royal Navy as it could offer a way to massively cut the money spent on the Service’s two new carriers — or, more accurately, to cut the money spent on their aeroplanes.
A statement issued last week by the US Naval Air Systems Command (NAVAIR) says that the EMALS test installation at Lakehurst, New Jersey is going through its planned programme without difficulty.
[. . .]
CVN 78, aka USS Gerald R Ford, is the next US Navy supercarrier, now under construction. It’s very important to the USN that EMALS works, as it is acknowledged that it’s now too late to change the Ford’s design and fit her with steam catapults like all other US (and French) carriers. If for some reason EMALS isn’t a success, the US will have bought the biggest and most expensive helicopter carrier ever.
Though the steam catapult is actually a British invention, Blighty’s present pocket-size carriers don’t have any catapults at all. Thus they can only launch helicopters and short-takeoff Harrier jumpjets.
The problem for Britain’s decision makers is that the current carrier design limits them to the ultra-expensive F-35B, which will be roughly twice the price of the ships themselves to provide sufficient aircraft to make the carriers fully operational. Being able to swap out the deluxe F-35B for cheap-as-dirt F-18E’s may be enough to save both carriers from the ongoing cost-slashing by the ministry.
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Detroit improves, but not enough to beat Vikings
Yesterday’s 24-10 victory was a result of two things going well for the Vikings: the base defence and Adrian Peterson. Peterson ran for 160 yards and two touchdowns (including a career-long 80 yard run), while the defence kept Detroit to three-and-out several times. All of Detroit’s points came from turnovers. Brett Favre had a less-than-stellar outing, with only 201 yards passing for one touchdown and two interceptions, being sacked twice and hit several other times.
On their first offensive play, the Vikings lost starting center John Sullivan to a calf injury. Ryan Cook looked quite good coming off the bench to replace him. Later in the game, Visanthe Shiancoe had a leg injury and left the field.
Minnesota’s passing game is still very much a work in progress: although Favre distributed the ball to lots of receivers, it was almost all short passes. The longest pass was the touchdown reception by Percy Harvin, and that appears to have been a defensive miscue, leaving Harvin uncovered.
It was the first NFL start for rookie cornerback Chris Cook, who was injured in the preseason and the first start of the season for Cedric Griffin, who is now fully recovered from his torn ACL in the NFC championship game.
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September 26, 2010
Vikings-Lions . . . the NFC North’s basement dwellers
After missing going to the Superbowl by inches last season, the Vikings are on a two-game losing streak. They look nothing like last season’s dominant squad, and there’s a hint of desperation in the air. Normally, facing the Detroit Lions would be a gimme for the Vikings. It might still be today, but as Jim Souhan points out, things may be changing in Detroit:
The worst Midwestern franchise this side of the Timberwolves will play in the Metrodome on Sunday, and the Vikings may leave a trail of rose petals between the Lions’ hotel and the stadium, just to make sure they show up on time.
In a sink-or-swim league, the Lions have long been the Vikings’ water wings. Sunday, the Vikes have the privilege of facing a should-lose team in a must-win game.
Where would the Vikings be without the Lions? Bud Grant (26-8-1 against Detroit) might not be in the Hall of Fame. Mike Tice (8-0 against the Lions) wouldn’t have kept his job so long. Brad Childress (7-1 against Detroit) would have a lower approval rating than house mold.
The Lions are to the Vikings what the curtain was to the Wizard of Oz.
Here’s the problem for The Purple: This might be the last day for a long time they can treat the Lions like kitty litter.
It’s frequently said that football teams are built from the lines. No matter how good your quarterback is, if the offensive line can’t keep him upright long enough to throw the ball or hand off to the running back, you’re not going to win games. On the defensive side of the ball, the more pressure your linemen can get on the opposing quarterback, the fewer options they have and the less likely they are to score. Detroit has done a good job of building their defensive line for this season, adding Kyle Vanden Bosh, Corey Williams, and rookie Ndamukong Suh.
Minnesota has been having trouble keeping Brett Favre standing upright and wearing a clean jersey this season. The Lions are starting to become the kind of team opposing quarterbacks hate to face (they sacked Michael Vick five times in last week’s game against the Eagles).
And all of this doesn’t mention that Detroit appears to have a franchise quarterback (although injured for this game), a very impressive rookie running back, and a legitimate number one wide receiver. The kind of line-up the Lions have not been able to boast of since their glory days — and nobody seems to remember when those glory days might have been.
As Souhan says, maybe it won’t be this year for Detroit, but they have started to improve and may not be the cupcake of the NFC for much longer.
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September 25, 2010
QotD: The price of locavorism
The local-food movement’s ideological parochialism would be dangerous if it were somehow enacted into law. But as persuasion, it tends to focus on the positive: the delights of local peaches and fresh cider, not the imagined evils of Chilean blueberries and prepeeled baby carrots. In this regard, it resembles the English Arts and Crafts movement of the late 19th century. William Morris, who is remembered today more for his wallpaper and book designs than for his social theories, didn’t manage to overturn the industrial revolution. But he and his allies left a legacy of beautiful things. Pleasure is persuasive.
Virginia Postrel, “No Free Locavore Lunch”, Wall Street Journal, 2010-09-25
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Irony, Polish style
By way of Jon Henke’s twitter feed, the most ironic story so far this year:
Two Polish neo-Nazis who were childhood sweethearts and later became skinheads have discovered what for them is a shocking family secret: They’re actually Jewish.
Pawel and Ola, identified only by their first names, are the subject of a CNN documentary about Poles rediscovering their Jewish roots generations after their ancestors hid their religious identities to escape persecution during World War II.
A few years ago, Ola found out from Warsaw’s Jewish Historical Institute that both she and her husband are technically Jews. “It was unbelievable — it turned out that we had Jewish roots. It was a shock,” she said.
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Colbert performance mocks the legislators who invited him
Mary Katharine Ham observes how this will play out during the remainder of the American election this year:
One wonders exactly what Democrats thought would come of this. A Roll Call story Thursday showed at least a few members of Congress were concerned that the event would become a side show (implying, rather frighteningly, that some thought it wouldn’t).
Now, they’ve managed to portray themselves, not just as fat and happy incumbents willing to irresponsibly throw our money at problems, but as fat and happy incumbents who hire a court jester with our money to entertain them while they irresponsibly throw our money at problems. That ought to be great for the party’s message this fall.
[. . .]
And, as Jim Geraghty notes, this allows every single Republican challenger to ask the incumbent Democrat he’s running against, “Can you justify this embarrassing use of our tax dollars, and the literal mockery that the Democratic Congress has become?”
[. . .]
The problem is not that a comedian made jokes in front of a Congressional committee. Colbert’s hilarious. The problem is that his appearance laid bare what voters suspect about Congress — that it’s just one really expensive joke.
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September 24, 2010
You know your football season is in trouble when . . .
. . . even the funny guys are picking Detroit to beat you:
Detroit (plus 10.5) at Minnesota
Feschuk: Did you get a good look at Brett Favre last week? He looked as utterly dazed and defeated as Frodo climbing Mount Doom or Robert DeNiro suddenly realizing he was starring in The Adventures of Rocky and Bullwinkle. I haven’t seen anyone regret a decision so intensely since the last eight women to marry Larry King. Conventional wisdom holds that the Vikes will turn it all around this week. But the Lions have 10 sacks in their first two games and — just as important — a talent for scoring late, otherwise inconsequential touchdowns that result in a cover. Pick: Detroit.
Reid: According to a new book, evidence has recently been uncovered that it was a crew member who mistakenly steered the Titanic into the iceberg, guaranteeing its doom. Any resemblance to Brett Favre is coincidental. Brad Childress? That resemblance is better described as entirely accurate. Pick: Detroit.
Okay, to be fair, they’re just picking Detroit to do better than lose by 10.5 point, but still . . .
If Detroit’s new defensive line is as good as they’ve been in the first two games, Brett Favre will not have fun in this game. Better ensure that Tarvaris Jackson (and even Joe Webb) get properly warmed up.
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September 23, 2010
Not that they’re getting too confident, or anything
Tweet of the day, from Jim Geraghty:
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xkcd on a useful, but unlikely, public service agency
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Chargers don’t get sweet enough offer for Vincent Jackson
The Minnesota Vikings still don’t have an answer for their wide receiver woes: the San Diego Chargers decided not to accept any of the offers for their disgruntled-but-talented Vincent Jackson. The NFL had set a deadline of 3pm yesterday for a deal to be struck, but San Diego didn’t get what they wanted from the Vikings or other teams, so Jackson will have to serve the full six game suspension and may not play at all this year.
As Judd Zulgad points out, this leaves the Vikings even thinner going in to this weekend’s matchup with the improving Detroit Lions:
The Vikings were hoping to end Wednesday with Pro Bowl wide receiver Vincent Jackson in tow. Instead, their receiver situation became even more unsettled as Jackson remained a holdout in San Diego and injury issues continued to mount.
Percy Harvin, already battling a hip strain, missed practice after another recurrence of migraines, and Bernard Berrian was limited because of an issue with his knee.
[. . .]
Jackson would not have been an immediate help to the Vikings, but he could have been on the field as early as Oct. 17 against Dallas, if a trade could have been worked out. Coming off back-to-back 1,000-yard receiving seasons, Jackson was considered a potential short-term replacement for the injured Sidney Rice.
Jackson, who is 6-5, would have given Favre the type of big target that he’s lacking, with the 6-4 Rice expected to miss half the season after having hip surgery.
The Vikings reportedly had agreed to a one-year deal with Jackson’s agents that would have been worth more than $6 million for 12 games of work. There also was believed to be a potential option year in the contract. However, the Vikings, and other teams, were unable to reach an agreement on trade terms with the Chargers by a 3 p.m. deadline Wednesday.
I’m in two minds about the deal: the Vikings are getting desperate enough at wide receiver to suit up Brad Childress or perhaps give Pat Williams a chance, but the Jackson situation had the potential to bring as much trouble to the team off the field as his play might have helped on the field.
With so many of their talented players coming up on the end of their contracts, it would send a terrible signal to reward a player like Jackson for his behaviour. I have to assume that’s why the Vikings didn’t pony up the kind of offer San Diego was looking for, and in the long term, I think it was the right decision. Brett Favre may have a different opinion, however.
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Meh. Civ V isn’t that addictive . . . is it really 2am?
I received my copy of Civilization V from Amazon.ca yesterday, but I was in town all evening, so I didn’t sit down to start installing it until 10:30. I figured I could install it, twiddle about with the new UI, and still get to sleep by midnight. I probably could have, except you can’t play Civ V without registering an account with Steam. After creating the account, you apparently have to download the whole game (no idea why, as there’s a DVD-ROM in the package), and because I was online at peak hour for west coast gamers, the connection speed left more than a bit to be desired.
At around 11:30, the game finished downloading and I was able to actually start. “Oh,” I said to myself, “they’ve included tutorials. That’s nice of them. I guess that’ll cover the changed UI elements. I’ll try ’em.” I spent the next two hours just playing the tutorial scenarios.
It certainly does have the “gotta play just one more turn” thing down pat. It’ll do nicely to cover the gap until Guild Wars 2 is released.
