Quotulatiousness

August 8, 2011

Another technical problem? Must be a day with a “y” in it

Filed under: Administrivia, Technology — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 21:44

Last week, you’ll recall that I was bewailing the failings of the Microsoft Windows Easy Transfer utility. Having given up on that and managed the transfer of files by the traditional tools of Brute Force and Ignorance (BF&ITM), I thought I was done.

All the necessary files now reside on the new laptop, and the old laptop has been dedicated to a new life as a genealogy workstation for Elizabeth. Today’s problem was network connectivity.

But not just network connectivity for the laptop, as I discovered when I tried turning on my desktop machine a little while ago.

At some point while we were away, the wireless router seems to have had some hiccoughs, because now it seems to imagine that it’s actually two separate machines. When I tried to connect to the internet this morning (from the new laptop), it insisted that I was connected to both a public network and our own named private network. But because it thought the public network was the primary, it refused to actually interact with our named network. It took several iterations of running diagnostics and power-cycling the router before the phantom “public” network disappeared and I was able to connect to the internet normally.

This evening, I had a similar problem with my desktop, except that my desktop machine is connected by ethernet cable, not wireless. That phantom “public” network re-appeared, and nothing I could do would get rid of it. The physical connections were fine, but nothing could persuade my desktop that it actually had a connection to the router and it was unable to get an IP address.

Having just bought a new laptop, I’m hoping that these symptoms do not imply that I need to also buy a new router, as you can imagine.

ESPN’s new attempt at a more accurate Quarterback rating system

Filed under: Football — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 17:25

The existing quarterback ranking is hard to understand and concentrates on the “passing” side of the quarterback’s job. ESPN is introducing a more broad-based ranking system:

The Total Quarterback Rating is a statistical measure that incorporates the contexts and details of throws and what they mean for wins. It’s built from the team level down to the quarterback, where we understand first what each play means to the team, then give credit to the quarterback for what happened on a play based on what he contributed.

[. . .]

Total QBR Basics

A quick primer on the fundamentals of Total Quarterback Rating:

Scoring: 0-100, from low to high. An average QB would be at 50.
Win Probability: All QB plays are scored based on how much they contribute to a win. By determining expected point totals for almost any situation, Total QBR is able to apply points to a quarterback based on every type of play he would be involved in.
Dividing Credit: Total QBR factors in such things as overthrows, underthrows, yards after the catch and more to accurately determine how much a QB contributes to each play.
Clutch Index: How critical a certain play is based on when it happens in a game is factored into the score.

Under the new ranking, Brett Favre’s performance gets a lot less impressive (if an average QB would score 50 points):

  • 2008 – New York Jets – 41.7
  • 2009 – Minnesota Vikings – 63.1
  • 2010 – Minnesota Vikings – 25.8

“Canada has become the snotty kid at the front of the class that gets every answer right”

Filed under: Cancon, Economics, Government, USA — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 15:39

Kelly McParland reads the fine print:

Near the bottom of the Standard & Poor’s report that downgraded U.S. debt last week is a tribute to the Canadian economy that could contribute to what’s becoming a serious case of swollen-headedness.

In comparing the U.S. situation to “relevant peers”, i.e. other western economies, it notes that Canada has become the snotty kid at the front of the class that gets every answer right. Of five countries — Canada, the U.S., Germany, France and Britain — Canada has the lowest government debt burden (net debt to gross domestic product), at 34%.

It adds: “By 2015, we project that … net public debt to GDP ratios will range between 30% (lowest, Canada) and 83% (highest, France), with the U.S. debt burden at 79%.”

And while the other four are all expected to see their debt declining, in the U.S. it could still be on the rise. So nya-nya to you, rest of western world.

Subsidized flights from remote locations

Filed under: Government, Politics, USA — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 12:57

Steve Chapman knows where to get the “best” deal in government subsidy of domestic flights:

As a resident of Illinois, I’d never had any particular desire to fly from McCook, Nebraska, to Denver. But lately, I’ve been looking for an opportunity. Turns out the federal government is willing to pay me a handsome fee to do it.

Oh, I wouldn’t get the cash directly. But the Department of Transportation provides more than $2 million to subsidize that particular route, which works out to about $1,000 for every passenger. My fare, meanwhile, would be less than $150.

I could get an even bigger hand on the hop from Lewistown, Montana, to Billings—$1,343. But if I’m feeling the need for indulgence, there is nothing to beat the flight from Ely, Nevada, to Denver, for which Washington will kick in $3,720. For that sum, of course, it could buy me a perfectly functional used car.

These extravagances are part of the Essential Air Service initiative, which is part of the reason for the recent congressional impasse over a bill to keep the Federal Aviation Administration operating.

China discovers that “You can’t stop the signal” again

Filed under: China, Government, Media, Technology — Tags: , , , , , — Nicholas @ 12:32

Strategy Page looks at the way news was disseminated about the high speed rail crash despite the Chinese government’s attempts to quash the story:

Since July 27th, China got another reminder that it no longer can control the news. On July 27th, China’s high-speed “bullet train” had a fatal accident, leaving over 30 dead and many more injured. The cause was inadequate safety and communications systems. In this case, one train was halted by a flaw in the signalling system and another came up from behind and there was the collision that sent four train cars off the tracks, and a bridge. The government immediately tried to keep the accident out of the news. This effort failed because of the ingenuity of Chinese Internet users, despite the government ban on Twitter in China. The ban was meant to impede the rapid spread of news the government wanted to control. Given enough time, the state controlled media could get out a story the government could live with. But blog, RSS and other Internet tools have been tweaked to do the same thing Twitter does. This was especially true of “micro-blogs” that quickly distribute the same 140 character messages Twitter does. Not as well, but good enough, and the news the government wanted to control spread uncontrollably. This included pictures and video of the accident, which the government planned to keep out of the news.

Reduce US military spending by reducing US military responsibilities

Filed under: Military, USA — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 12:28

August 7, 2011

Wind turbines totally dominate the skyline over Wolfe Island

Filed under: Cancon, Technology — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 18:39


Click to see full-size (very wide) image

I took this photo from the Wolfe Island ferry on Friday. It amazed me how many wind turbines were in view (32, I think). I kept having images of James Blish’s “spindizzies“.

Mitchell: Obama bears only 15% of the blame for the downgrade

Filed under: Economics, Government, History, USA — Tags: , , , , , , , — Nicholas @ 17:57

In a blog post guaranteed to tick off members of both parties, Daniel Mitchell tries a first approximation of where the blame should be assigned:

Well, it turns out that Social Security is a relatively minor part of the problem, so even though President Roosevelt’s policies exacerbated and extended the Great Depression, the program he created is only responsible for a small share of the fiscal crisis. To give the illusion of scientific exactitude, let’s assign FDR 13.2 percent of the blame.

The health care numbers are much harder to disentangle because it’s not apparent how much of the increase is due to Medicare, Medicaid, Bush’s prescription drug entitlement, and Obamacare. A healthcare policy wonk may know these numbers, but the CBO long-run forecast didn’t provide much detail.

So with a big caveat that these are just wild estimations, I feel reasonably comfortable in saying that both Bush and Obama made matters worse with their reckless entitlement expansions, but that they merely deepened a fiscal hole that was created when President Johnson imposed Medicare and Medicaid.

“When I used to do this I broke my hand 14 times, and I’m a banjo player”

Filed under: Europe, History, Russia — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 17:13

Poland’s answer to the Society for Creative Anachronism, Knights’ Brotherhoods stage their own form of medieval recreation:

Compering and judging the hand-to-hand combat is Krzysztof Ptasinski, the son of a Polish diplomat who learnt English from an American teacher in Addis Ababa and insists I call him “Redneck Chris”.

His hooded robe and summer gear make him look like a monk in flip-flops.

“Whoa dude! Ouch! In your face!” he hollers as two knights wearing full body-plate armour weighing 35kg (77lb) lay into each other with double-handed swords.

To progress, a knight has to reach five points, each earned by laying a clean blow on an opponent above the knee.

The swords are blunt, of course, but that does not mean it is completely harmless.

“When I used to do this I broke my hand 14 times, and I’m a banjo player,” he says.

“I’ve got two screws in this finger. I had a cracked skull.

“When we were fighting the Belarusian guys, I had my kidney displaced.”

I ask him what the appeal is.

“Whenever you get hit in the helmet you almost lose consciousness because it’s so loud. It’s a thrill,” he says.

I used to work with a guy from St. Petersburg who told me all about the replica medieval armour and weapons he had to leave behind when he came to Canada. It sounds like this is a similar group.

From this description, the group doesn’t have quite the same concerns about participant safety that the SCA and other North American re-creationist/re-enactor groups have generally adopted.

The Guild, appearing in a Munchkin game near you

Filed under: Gaming — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 16:52

The Daily Illuminator had an interesting pre-announcement today:

As the delightful Felicia Day mentioned in her panel at San Diego Comic-Con, The Guild will have its very own Munchkin expansion next spring. We’re keeping the details under wraps for the moment, but you may want to watch The Guild‘s fifth season — airing now in a variety of places. Just sayin’.

(Also watch Felicia in Eureka on SyFy — not just for her rocket scientist character Dr. Holly Martin, but because Eureka is one of the geekiest shows on TV right now.)

You can see the entire panel on YouTube.* The Munchkin announcement is around the 6:00 mark . . . and if you were in that audience, thank you for the huge response!

Trawling a virtual economy to support a non-viable “real” economy

Filed under: Asia, Economics, Gaming, Technology — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 14:47

Give North Korea some credit for finding a viable source of revenue:

What’s a dictator to do when his third-world economy is wheezing along on its last legs? Hack some video games, of course! According to a report in the New York Times, North Korea’s Kim Jong-il unleashed an army of young computer crackers on popular South Korean online gaming portals to find ways to make quick cash.

South Korean authorities claim that a squad of approximately 30 hackers operated from a base in China and were given the mission of breaching online gaming servers (including those of the immensely popular Lineage) to set up bot factories and automated farming collectives. The digital booty was then sold to gamers for a reported $6 million over two years.

Addressing traffic congestion (in any city)

Filed under: Economics, Technology, USA — Tags: , , — Nicholas @ 14:03

Everyone knows that gridlock leads to wasted time and increased stress, but the effects of degraded mobility are worse than most people realize. Traffic congestion deprives job-seekers of opportunities, robs businesses of customers, and hastens the exodus of residents from the central city to the suburbs.

And although mounting gridlock may seem like the unavoidable result of increased population and strained budgets, the experience of nations from France to Australia proves otherwise. Reason Foundation draws on what’s worked worldwide and recommends a three-part plan:

1. Expand roads with underground tunnels and elevated structures.
2. Use pricing to keep traffic flowing.
3. Pay for new projects with private-sector financing instead of taxes.

That plan can help Chicago or any other city bust congestion and boost economic growth.

August 6, 2011

Oh, good: I didn’t miss much while I was away

Filed under: Economics, Humour, Politics, USA — Tags: , , , — Nicholas @ 16:24


Obama: Debt Ceiling Deal A Prime Example Of Democrats And Democrats Sacrificing For The Greater Good

This week in Guild Wars 2 news

Filed under: Gaming — Tags: , — Nicholas @ 13:26

I’ve been accumulating news snippets about the as-yet-to-be-formally-scheduled release of Guild Wars 2 for an email newsletter I send out to my friends and acquaintances in the Guild Wars community.

I got a few comments from non-gaming folks that these posts can get too long to scroll past, so it’s now in the extended post below.

(more…)

Back from vacation . . . posting will eventually resume a more normal pattern

Filed under: Administrivia — Tags: — Nicholas @ 09:19

To my mild surprise, spam comments only accumulated at the usual rate, so it wasn’t a huge problem to wade through them to ensure that there weren’t any real people’s comments mis-marked as spam. The vacation was great — but too short — and we had lots of low-key fun.

Now, I’ve got all the stuff to catch up on that happened last week, so blog posts will happen, just delayed a bit by all the other things that need catching up.

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