Quotulatiousness

September 6, 2010

Fifteen albums/fifteen minutes

Filed under: Media, Randomness — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 08:58

I got tagged with this Facebook meme by David Stamper a little while ago, but I’m only now just getting around to addressing it. Here’s the description I was sent:

The rules: Do this if it’s fun. Don’t take too long to think about it. Fifteen albums you’ve heard that will always stick with you. List the first fifteen you can recall in no more than fifteen minutes. Tag fifteen friends, including me, because I’m interested in seeing what albums you choose.

So, because I’m too lazy to do it in Facebook, I’m doing it here (eventually, through the magic of Twitter, the link’ll appear in Facebook anyway). Roughly in chronological order:

  • Rush, A Farewell to Kings
  • Al Stewart, Past, Present & Future
  • Led Zeppelin, Led Zeppelin IV
  • The Alan Parsons Project, Tales of Mystery and Imagination
  • Dire Straits, Dire Straits
  • Kate Bush, Hounds of Love
  • Neil Young, Live Rust
  • Pink Floyd, Wish You Were Here
  • King Crimson, In the Court of the Crimson King
  • Kitaro, Silk Road
  • Stan Rogers, Northwest Passage
  • Dead Can Dance, The Serpent’s Egg
  • The Pogues, If I Should Fall From Grace With God
  • John Coltrane, A Love Supreme
  • Charles Mingus, The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady

I had to take it in chronological order to limit it to only fifteen, so no really recent stuff . . . but perhaps that’s fair as it’ll take time to show if more recent stuff will hold up to long-term listening. Not quite making it onto the list was Sketches of Spain by Miles Davis & Gil Evans.

September 5, 2010

No longer “underhand, underwater and damned un-English”

Filed under: Britain, Military, Technology — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 12:38

BBC News looks at the newest nuclear-powered attack submarine in the Royal Navy, HMS Astute:

It is the stealthiest sub ever built in the UK, able to sit in waters off the coast undetected, listening to mobile phone conversations or delivering the UK’s special forces where needed.

The 39,000 or so acoustic panels which cover its surface mask its sonar signature, meaning it can sneak up on enemy warships and submarines alike, or simply lurk unseen and unheard at depth.

The submarine can carry a mix of up to 38 Spearfish heavyweight torpedoes and Tomahawk Land Attack Cruise missiles, able to target enemy submarines, surface ships and land targets, while its sonar system has a range of 3,000 nautical miles.

[. . .]

HMS Astute itself should never need refuelling over the next 25 years, thanks to the latest nuclear-powered technology which means it can circumnavigate the world submerged.

It even creates the crew’s oxygen from seawater as it sails, meaning that the air on board is no longer heavy with diesel fumes, as submariners used to complain of older vessels. The only limit to how long it can stay underwater is the amount of food on board, enough for 90 days at sea.

Rather a big step up from the diesel-electric clunkers we bought from them, wouldn’t you say? H/T to Adrian MacNair for the link.

Detroit Police save money by eliminating pistol practice?

Filed under: Law, USA — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 11:36

At least, based on this story, you’d have to think it’s the most likely answer:

Cop Fires Twelve Shots at Dog, Hits Two Animal Control Workers Instead

[. . .]

Detroit Police needed to remove the dogs, so they called the Michigan Anti-Cruelty Society. While the rescuers were setting traps for the three pit bulls, one got loose and started running towards a police officer. That’s when, we’re told, she pulled her gun and fired off twelve rounds.

[…]

“The police pulled a gun out and shot, but she missed the dog. I guess she was scared or something, and she hit the animal control person,” he said.

One animal rescue worker took a bullet in the back of the leg. Another grazed his back side. A stray bullet also clipped his co-worker’s boot.

Not quite the best advertisement for range safety, weapons handling expertise, or accuracy.

Craigslist surrenders, problem totally resolved

Filed under: Humour, Law, Liberty, Technology — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 11:26

Dan Tynan recounts the glorious moral victory scored by unhappy state legislators against the final bastion of sin and decadence, Craigslist:

Bowing to pressure from 17 state attorneys general, Craigslist has begun censoring its Adult Services ads. Visitors coming to any of the 400+ Craigslist sites will encounter a big black CENSORED tab where Adult Services used to be.

As we all know, the scourge of prostitution had been entirely eradicated from modern society before Craigslist came along. And now that Adult Service ads are banned, you can expect all those hard-working gals to pack up their condoms and lubricants and enroll in secretarial school.

Alas, we fear that — despite the best intentions of 17 state attorneys general desperately trying to get re-elected — a ban on Adult Services won’t quite put an end to adult-oriented advertising on Craigslist.

September 4, 2010

Cut-down day for NFL teams

Filed under: Football — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 10:50

Today is probably the most tense day for NFL players — it’s when all NFL teams must cut down to their final 53-man rosters. Every team in the league must cut about a third of the players who’ve been in training camp and playing in preseason games.

Some of the open questions for the Vikings were resolved yesterday with the trade of Sage Rosenfels and Darius Reynaud to the New York Giants. The quarterback situation is now clear, and including Reynaud in the deal implies that the team feels that Percy Harvin will be healthy enough to return kicks this season (still a question about who’ll be the punt returner). Other areas of interest are almost all competition for backup and special teams roles: the Vikings got all their 2009 starting players back this season, and most of them will continue to hold their top slots for the start of the 2010 season.

The sportswriters at the Pioneer Press put together their predictions on the Vikings final roster before the news broke about the trade with the Giants. Aside from that I think it’s a pretty good guess.

After the trade, the Vikings may try to bring in a cornerback to shore up that position (with two starting-quality players injured, they lack depth for the first few games of the season). It may also mean a stay of execution for one of the receivers not listed in the Pioneer Press, like Taye Biddle or Logan Payne (assuming that Javon Walker has made enough of an impression to stick with the final team).

Judd Zulgad and Chip Scoggins also provide their best guesses at who’ll still be with the team after 5:00 Central time today. As you’d expect, they generally agree with the Pioneer Press predictions, with a few minor points of difference.

Update: With 90 minute left before the deadline here are the players reported waived or released at the Star Tribune blog:

  • DeAndre Wright, CB
  • Garrett Mills, TE. A bit of a surprise here, as Mills is a solid receiver.
  • Ryan D’Imperio, FB. Late draft choice, hopefully he’ll make it onto the practice squad.
  • Marcus Sherels, CB. Another possible practice squad player if he makes it through waivers.
  • Tremaine Johnson, DT.
  • Thomas Austin, OL.
  • Ian Johnson, RB.
  • Chris Clark, OT. His goose may have been cooked by letting a couple of defensive linemen get past him for sacks in the preseason games.
  • Freddie Brown, WR.
  • Logan Payne, WR. A bit surprised he didn’t stick, but he should make the practice squad.
  • Mike Montgomery, DE.
  • Adrian Battles, LG.
  • Rhys Lloyd, K. Signed with high hopes of improving the number of touchbacks, but only managed one two during the preseason.
  • Javon Walker, WR. I thought he’d salvaged his position in the last preseason game. He’s a veteran, so he’s not eligible for signing to the practice squad.
  • Drew Radovich, LT.
  • Colt Anderson, S.
  • Patrick Brown, OT.
  • Marquis Hamilton, WR.
  • Nate Triplett, LB.
  • Taye Biddle, WR.

Swedish army gets serious about recruiting women

Filed under: Europe, Humour, Military — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 10:24

H/T to Chris Blattman. This is from a collection of recruiting videos put together by Gawker.

When you’ve lost the Globe, you’ve lost the argument

Filed under: Bureaucracy, Cancon, Law, Liberty — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:47

At least it means you’ve lost the argument to keep the long-gun registry:

The Canadian Association of Chiefs of Police cannot be faulted for their recent unanimous vote in support of the national long-gun registry. Police will understandably always want as much information about those they investigate as they can lay their hands on. It is in the nature of their business. A national fingerprint registry of Canadians would no doubt also be seen as an aid to police work. But just because police chiefs would like a long-gun registry does not make it good public policy or a wise public expenditure.

[. . .]

If passed, a vote in Parliament on a Conservative MP’s bill to end the long-gun registry would not represent the end of gun control in Canada. Stringent and necessary requirements will remain in place for handguns, and restricted weapons such as automatic rifles. A process that already requires gun owners to be licensed before obtaining a firearm would remain, with safety and background checks required for gun owners. Rules for safe handling and storage of guns will remain in place. What will end is the cost, the red tape and the stigmatization of the “law-abiding duck hunters and farmers,” often cited by Prime Minister Stephen Harper. In the absence of any meaningful evidence of the long-gun registry’s efficacy, the program should be ended.

I can’t possibly emphasize how unlikely an editorial like this from the Globe and Mail would have seemed just days ago. Did we enter an alternate universe with that New Zealand earthquake? Does Spock not only have a beard, but also a Mohawk and body piercings?

September 3, 2010

Fox reports that Sage Rosenfels has been traded to the Giants

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , , — Nicholas @ 21:30

Fox Sports has a report up saying that the Giants have traded for Minnesota’s Sage Rosenfels:

The Giants had searched for a new backup since Jim Sorgi suffered a season-ending shoulder injury earlier in the preseason. Third-stringer Rhett Bomar, a 2009 fifth-round pick, proved incapable of handling the role when starting in place of the injured Manning (laceration).

A 10-year NFL veteran with 12 career starts, Rosenfels will provide New York with a veteran presence. Rosenfels was acquired by Minnesota via trade with Houston in 2009 and signed to a three-year, $9 million contract extension. But any chance of competing for a starting spot was derailed when Minnesota signed Brett Favre.

Rosenfels has remained mired in a third-string role in Minneapolis behind backup Tarvaris Jackson despite an outstanding preseason statistically. Rosenfels completed 60.8 percent of his passes with four touchdowns and no interceptions compared with Jackson, who posted a 46.2 completion percentage.

I’m sorry to see Sage go (I thought it would be Tarvaris Jackson who’d be leaving), but hopefully he’s got a good situation in New York. Still, that means it’s pretty much certain that the Vikings will be keeping Joe Webb on the roster, rather than trying to get him past waivers and onto the practice squad.

Update: Judd Zulgad reports that the deal included running back/returner Darius Reynaud and that the Vikings will receive draft picks in the 2011 and 2012 drafts:

Sage Rosenfels apparently was being showcased after all.

The Vikings traded the veteran quarterback and running back Darius Reynaud to the New York Giants on Friday evening for an undisclosed draft choice in the 2011 NFL Draft and a conditional draft choice in the 2012 NFL Draft. The Vikings announced the trade on their website.
The deal is contingent upon both Rosenfels and Reynaud passing physical examinations with the Giants. The trade leaves the Vikings with 73 players, meaning they must cut 20 more by 5 p.m. Saturday.

The trade ends a frustrating season-plus stint in Minnesota for Rosenfels, who arrived in a trade with Houston in February 2009 expecting to compete with Tarvaris Jackson for the starting job but ended up being the No. 3 quarterback last season behind Brett Favre and Jackson.

QotD: Another key ingredient to ever-growing bureaucracy

Filed under: Bureaucracy, Education, Government, Quotations — Nicholas @ 12:12

Bureaucrats breed more bureaucrats. A system manned by university graduates, with ever higher levels of accreditation, believes that such a type of learning is socially useful. The Mandarin believes his role to be central in society. The state will manage society, and he and his class will manage the state. Other forms of learning are useful, but inferior. Since the Mandarin also controls the state schools, he will wish to gear the whole system to the generation of more like him.

This may seem counterintuitive. Why have more competition? Why not, like the original Mandarins of Imperial China, select only the best and brightest for higher education? Because the modern Mandarin lives in a democratic society. Such obvious selectivity would be damned as elitist. Mass high school and university education has the added benefit of reinforcing the bureaucratic system. This goes beyond the crude propaganda used in the schools, which really works only on those too young to challenge it, but to the very methods being employed.

The academically uninclined, even though still intelligent, youth acquires a grudging admiration for the academically talented. He begins, and the whole system reinforces this notion, that only this type of aptitude truly matters. His own talents, which might be every bit as useful to himself and society as any other, he begins to regard as inferior. Reluctantly, sometimes bitterly, he begins to defer to the “smart kids.” He has been prepared for a society in which the academic student has become the intellectualized bureaucrat. It will be easier for him to defer to the bureaucrat, whom he regards, if only subconsciously, as his superior.

Publius, “The Education Machine”, Gods of the Copybook Headings, 2010-09-02

Why we still need technical writers

Filed under: Technology — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 12:02

Eric S. Raymond has been pleased with the upgrade to his “backup” Android phone, but encountered a very common problem in technology (especially in open source projects, but still too common in commercial products):

As usual in such exercises, the hard part was interpreting the instructions. The hackers who wrote them were trying very hard to be clear, but the result was a thicket of poorly-organized details. I could follow the procedure, but I had to do it almost blind; there was nothing that gave me a high-level view of the process so that I could grasp clearly why each step was necessary and why they had to happen in the order they did. As a result, for troubleshooting I absolutely had to have live help on an IRC channel.

I wish someone would write a bird’s-eye view of the smart-phone modding process. It can’t be that complicated, and I know what’s involved in writing boot loaders for general-purpose computers. Shout to my readers: has anyone done this already, or do I need to put it on my over-full to-do list?

Much of the problem is that folks who are deeply involved in the technical details are often unable to simplify-without-dummifying their knowledge. That’s not surprising, as most are nowhere near as gifted in verbal skills as they are in their own area of technical ability.

“Admitting you’re a fan of economics is another way of saying you live a deeply tragic life”

Filed under: Economics, Media — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 09:33

David Harsanyi loves economists — at least the ones he can quote to support his articles:

[. . .] I can’t seem to get enough of economists who blog about human behavior or write wickedly counterintuitive books about how all the bad things we do are good for society.

Professionally speaking, economists are also vital. Where else are columnists going to find a Ph.D. to corroborate all the gibberish we put in our pieces?

But the most crucial lesson I’ve gleaned from smart men and women who practice the dismal science is this: Those who claim to grasp the vagaries of the economy enough to predict the future with any amount of certitude are charlatans.

Is Tarvaris Jackson on the bubble?

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 07:32

Jeremy Fowler seems to think so:

Jackson swears he’s playing well in practice, where coach Brad Childress says he’s seen “an evolution” in Brett Favre’s backup.

But the work simply hasn’t translated in four preseason games, fueling an already intriguing Vikings quarterback situation.

Jackson is still No. 2 ahead of Sage Rosenfels and Joe Webb, Childress said. Through four preseason games, that No. 2 spot has produced 60 yards on 12-of-26 passing, zero touchdowns and zero interceptions.

That’s 2.3 yards per completion after Thursday’s 2-of-8 passing performance for 2 yards. His two completions were screens of 4 and -2 yards to running back Albert Young.

When the athletic, electric Webb keeps inspiring the crowd with 40-plus-yard runs and improving accuracy, the juxtaposition is hard to ignore.

When asked Thursday night whether Jackson is still the No. 2, Childress said “as it stands right now.” Rosenfels, after all, might be the odd man out despite a solid preseason. The Vikings likely won’t carry four quarterbacks into the season, and Webb, a rookie out of Alabama-Birmingham, might have too much potential to throw to waivers.

With Joe Webb having an impressive preseason, there’s no chance he could slip through waivers and get signed to the practice squad. Many other teams in the conference would probably be willing to snap him up. Sage Rosenfels is under contract for another year, while Jackson and Favre both are out of contract at the end of this season. I’ve always liked Jackson, but his inconsistent play may force Brad Childress to go with Rosenfels and Webb as the second and third quarterbacks. I still doubt it, as Childress has been very loyal to Jackson through all the criticisms, but it’s a stronger possibility now than it was just a week ago.

Fowler also likes what he’s seen from Joe Webb:

Tarvaris Jackson might have played poorly, but Joe Webb took over the second half with 5-of-9 passing for 100 yards, a touchdown, an interception and 48 rushing yards.

The Vikings must cut the roster from 75 to 53 players on Saturday, and Webb says he’s still confident in his chances to stick.

The Metrodome erupted the moment Webb entered the game. Webb’s only disappointment was an interception by the sideline, but even his touchdown-saving tackle was impressive athletically.

The last time the Vikings tried to sneak a promising rookie quarterback onto their practice squad, Kansas City signed him (Tyler Thigpen). Within the first half of the season, Thigpen was starting for KC. Hopefully, Minnesota learned that lesson.

September 2, 2010

“How can you fall in love if you can’t see her face?”

Filed under: Asia, Military, Religion — Tags: , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 12:24

Along with the manifold military problems facing the troops in Afghanistan, there are some social issues that tend to boggle the minds of the western soldiers:

Western forces fighting in southern Afghanistan had a problem. Too often, soldiers on patrol passed an older man walking hand-in-hand with a pretty young boy. Their behavior suggested he was not the boy’s father. Then, British soldiers found that young Afghan men were actually trying to “touch and fondle them,” military investigator AnnaMaria Cardinalli told me. “The soldiers didn’t understand.”

[. . .]

Sociologists and anthropologists say the problem results from perverse interpretation of Islamic law. Women are simply unapproachable. Afghan men cannot talk to an unrelated woman until after proposing marriage. Before then, they can’t even look at a woman, except perhaps her feet. Otherwise she is covered, head to ankle.

“How can you fall in love if you can’t see her face,” 29-year-old Mohammed Daud told reporters. “We can see the boys, so we can tell which are beautiful.”

Even after marriage, many men keep their boys, suggesting a loveless life at home. A favored Afghan expression goes: “Women are for children, boys are for pleasure.” Fundamentalist imams, exaggerating a biblical passage on menstruation, teach that women are “unclean” and therefore distasteful. One married man even asked Cardinalli’s team “how his wife could become pregnant,” her report said. When that was explained, he “reacted with disgust” and asked, “How could one feel desire to be with a woman, who God has made unclean?”

It’s a telling point that western troops were committed to Afghanistan without being fully briefed on the social customs of the people for whom and among whom they’d be doing their jobs. Ignorance isn’t a solid basis for any kind of trust, and without gaining the trust of locals, the troops will always be at a severe informational disadvantage.

Farewell to “Farewell tours”, then?

Filed under: Britain, Media — Tags: — Nicholas @ 12:05

The Pogues appear to have a bit of dissent going on:

The Pogues have announced a “farewell tour” for the UK, much to the consternation of their guitarist. Phil Chevron has blasted notices for the goodbye tour, calling it “a marketing ploy” by others in the band. “This claim does not come from me,” he wrote on the group’s website, “and I will neither be supporting it nor discussing it.”

The seven-date tour begins in Glasgow and ends on 21 December in Brixton, with reported Irish gigs earlier in the month. These concerts will close the band’s 28th year, and their ninth since frontman Shane MacGowan re-formed the folk-punk rabble-rousers. But despite the flier’s unequivocal “Farewell Christmas Tour” tag-line, the Pogues don’t exactly seem ready to say farewell.

Not long after Chevron’s grumpy post to the official message-board, bandmate Spider Stacy popped in with a clarification. “This is the last Christmas tour for the foreseeable future,” he wrote. “That’s not to say we won’t be showing up at festivals here and there or maybe even the odd gig around the UK and Ireland and certainly in Europe. But we’re tired of dragging our weary, freezing carcasses around these drowning islands every December, so we’re going to give it a rest before you get tired of it, too. Go and see the Libertines. They’re the best.”

Shows how much attention I’d been paying . . . I thought 1996’s “Pogue Mahone” was the last album they’d recorded, and that they’d pretty much stopped performing. Off to Wikipedia . . .

The Pogues is a band of mixed Irish and English background, playing traditional Irish music with influences from punk rock and folk, formed in 1982 and fronted by Shane MacGowan. The band reached international prominence in the 1980s and early 1990s. MacGowan left the band in 1991 due to drinking problems but the band continued first with Joe Strummer and then with Spider Stacy on vocals before breaking up in 1996. The band reformed in 2001, and has been playing regularly ever since, most notably on the US East Coast every spring (bar 2010) and around the UK and Ireland every December. The group has yet to record any new music and according to Spider Stacy on Pogues.com has no inclination to do so.

That explains it nicely.

The local jousting scene

Filed under: Cancon, History, Sports — Tags: — Nicholas @ 09:44

Some people think I’m strange for my renaissance fencing interests, but at least I don’t combine my odd combat tastes with horseback riding like Jordan and Stephanie do!

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