Thursday, December 27, 2007

Notes on "Walk Hard"


This is a satire on the conventions of the music biopic, and specifically the recent Ray and Walk the Line. I thought it was funny, sometimes very funny. At times they were spot on about the conventions and cliches of this genre or of the music business. At times it was laid on pretty thick, though. It may have been a funnier movie had it been played straighter.

- J

Image is reduced resolution version from the film's promotional material, and as such, I believe, constitutes a fair use.

Tuesday, December 25, 2007

Interspecies Cooperation among Neighorhood Birds?


By this time of year we have finished harvesting the fruit of the hachiya persimmon tree in our front yard. All the leaves have fallen, so the bright orange fruit make a striking holiday display. Besides we like to leave a portion of the harvest for the birds. Birds of several species seem to enjoy the sweet inner pulp, mockingbirds and sparrows especially.

Over the years I have noticed a curious thing: the birds never work on more than one fruit at a time. A bird will make an initial hole in the persimmon's skin, exposing the inner pulp and over the next couple of days the birds will consume the pulp, gradually expanding the hole as the need dictates. Only one bird will eat the fruit at any given time, but I have often noticed several birds waiting their turn. When only the translucent skin from the backside of the fruit remains the birds will select a new fruit and begin again.

Working on one fruit at a time maximizes the period when the fruit is available. If a persimmon fruit remains on the tree and remains untouched it will not readily spoil. If the birds were to open many fruit at once, some would spoil before they could be fully consumed. By consuming them one at a time, the fruit are available longer.

Is it possible that this is what is going on? Are the birds cooperating to extend the harvest season? If so, what is the mechanism?

- J

Sunday, December 23, 2007

The One Laptop Per Child XO


My wife bought a One Laptop Per Child (OLPC) XO box under the Give One Get One (G1G1) program. You have probably heard about the project. The idea is to provide small, extremely inexpensive laptops to children throughout the developing world. There has been a vigorous debate on whether this is a good idea or not; whether it is better to spend $200 per child on a laptop or on a cow. I am not going to address that question, because I don't know enough about it. I am just going to give my impressions of the box as a work of engineering. The box only arrived a few days ago, so these are first impressions.

To summarize: Wow!

Apple is no longer the only game in town in the area of innovative PC design. The OLPC project rethought the PC from the ground up. The particular constraints of their target users forced some novel design decisions, but many of these innovations are equally applicable in many other situations. I hope other computer makers (including Apple) are paying attention.

Most laptops, no matter how small, are heavy for their size. The XO is unexpectedly light. Not that it feels delicate or fragile. Its skin is a pretty rugged plastic. When it is closed, the screen and all the data ports are protected. It has a sturdy plastic handle. It feels like it can handle being treated casually.

What makes the XO lightweight, of course, is what it is missing. It has no hard disk, no CD-ROM. It has a relatively slow processor. It has a pretty small LCD display (7.5 inches, but, 1200×900 pixel so lots of detail). Since it is missing all these things, it needs no fan. And, voila, a lightweight rugged little go anywhere box.

But, missing all those heavy fragile accouterments of a modern laptop, the XO has plenty of features. A microphone and camera are embedded in the screen. The battery is lightweight, contains no toxic materials (indeed the whole box is pretty eco-friendly), and can be charged with a hand crank or a solar panel. It natively supports a mesh network. Here is a cool little demo of how a mesh network works, but the basic idea is a self-forming dynamically extensible network (downright subversive.) It has a new simplified window manager called Sugar to support the smaller screen. The screen swivels to operate in tablet mode. The screen/windowing system have been designed to operate well out doors in natural light. A number of cool educational applications (called activities) come installed. These applications seem to be designed mainly to encourage collaboration.

The camera, the power system, the mesh network, the table support, all of these things, of course, relate specifically to the XO's intended purpose. These are not extras or frills.

Unfortunately, for us, there is a compatibility issue with our wireless router. Linksys WRT54Gs are not supported, yet. So, we haven't yet been able to fully explore the little box's capabilities.

Its pretty impressive, though.

- J

Wednesday, December 19, 2007

My Mouth as a Toxic Materials Site

I know there are many obvious jokes about the above post title, but I mean the title to be taken literally and without irony.

I was at the dentist on Tuesday to have an aging amalgam filling replaced. These are the fillings with mercury. When I have had this procedure done in the past it was a pretty normal time at the dentist. They drilled away for a while, then filled, leveled, and smoothed. Like highway work really, only on a small scale.

This time was bit different, though. I could tell when they rolled up a big machine with a flexible fabric tube that was positioned near my head. It looks like a miniature version of the tubes they use to service airliners. This one turned out to be a big vacuum. The put one of those rubber dams around my tooth (to "isolate" it.) In a few more seconds I was breathing from an oxygen mask that had been lain on my nose, and my dentist and her assistant donning gas masks, goggles, and gloves. The gas masks were yellow plastic versions of the World War I masks, with the pair of cylindrical vents, one on each side of the mouth. They cranked up the vacuum and away we went. "Turn towards me", "open wider", and "almost done" all sound pretty much like "mmmmph-mmm-ph-mmm" when people are talking through gas masks inside a man-made windstorm. It was a pretty weird experience. If I am ever abducted by aliens, I will be prepared.

Apparently, this new protocol is completely justified by the risks. Apparently dental office workers have historically had a number of serious health problems that are now attributed to mercury.

It has been less than a hundred years since mercury was thought be beneficial to one's health. A few years ago we visited the New Almaden Park in San Jose. This was the site of the biggest mercury mines in the world (hence the name of the San Jose paper, the Mercury News.) I remember seeing in the museum that people would visit the mine area as a health benefit. The mineral water from the creak that flowed through the mine area was sold as a tonic. This was because it contained mercury, not in spite of the fact.

- J

Tuesday, December 18, 2007

Sen Feinstein (well, her staff) responds

A bit more than a month ago I emailed Senator Feinstein a complaint about her support of the Mukasey nomination for Attorney General. Today I received a response. Here it is:
Dear Mr. ---:

Thank you for writing about Judge Michael Mukasey's nomination as Attorney General.

After doing my due diligence and carefully reviewing Judge Mukasey's record, I concluded that he will be a strong and independent leader of the Justice Department. I believe that if he was not confirmed, an acting Attorney General, who would not be confirmed by the Senate, would have led the Department for the remainder of the administration. The Justice Department is too important for that to happen.

Therefore, I supported Judge Mukasey's nomination and voted to confirm him. I made a statement on the Senate floor explaining my decision which I have enclosed, along with an op-ed I wrote and op-eds from several newspapers on the importance of confirming Judge Mukasey.

Please know that I appreciate your opinion and hope that you will continue to inform me of your views. If you should have any other comments you want to share with me, or if you have a question I can answer, please feel free to contact my Washington, D.C. staff at (202) 224-3841. Best regards.

I do not understand why people in her position still fail to see that this is not business as usual. She is aware that the President, like a petulant child, would have likely refused to send up another nomination if he did not get his way, and she doesn't see anything out of the ordinary in this. She is like an indulgent parent of a spoiled child.

In fairness to Senator Feinstein, she has spoken out recently on the subject of torture and made concrete proposals. I hope that she continues to pursue the topic. I hope too that she comes to see before its over that the President does not acknowledge the rules of the game in Washington.

- J

Monday, December 17, 2007

The John "Chuck" Erreca Rest Stop



If I am driving from LA to the Bay Area I always stop at the John "Chuck" Erreca Rest Stop. I am not a drive-straight-through kind of person. I like to take a break. This particular rest stop has always been clean and well maintained and it is at a good interval from other potential stops. But, mainly it has an amazing ice cream vending machine. As far as I know it is the only rest stop with this particular type of machine.

The machine doesn't look out of the ordinary from a distance. It occupies an ordinary space in the vending machine kiosk. There is a glass window in the middle the same as other machines of the type. The only thing unusual is that you would expect to see a display of the wares through the glass and in this case it is empty. Otherwise it appears to be a completely modern vending machine. But, its not. It is a device worthy of Rube Goldberg. It would be at home next to the fortune telling machine at an old fashioned carnival. When you put in your money and make your selection things begin to whir. A door flips open inside the machine revealing the inside of an icebox. The icebox has a number of cardboard boxes with their tops torn off. Then, more whirring. A vacuum hose trolleys out, positions itself above a box, then drops. The hose starts to suck until it has attached itself to an ice cream bar. Then it lifts its prize and drops it down a chute in front. I have never seen it fail. I always get an It's It. An It's It has the shape of a squat cylinder. All the other products are roughly rectangular. They have differing weights and weight distributions. Yet, the machine handles them all. The machine apparently even responds to empty cartons appropriately.

The interesting thing is what an anachronism this machine is: a completely modern payment system with a delivery system that is from another era. A modern engineering approach would standardize the product size and shape and minimize the moving parts involved. Cardboard boxes would be out in favor of metal guides with more precise dimensions. The freezer door would be always open. A modern design would be completely uninteresting.

- J

Tuesday, December 11, 2007

Notes on "The Squid and the Whale"

A harrowing movie about divorce from the view of the children. I kept thinking about the child actors playing the sons of the self centered and hopelessly misguided (in short, normal) divorcing parents. They did excellent work, but this was a big movie to carry on one's shoulders.

- J

Image is reduced resolution version from the film's promotional material, and as such, I believe, constitutes a fair use.

Sunday, December 9, 2007

Jonathan Coulton: the future of music.

Web 2.0 gets a lot of hype, but if anyone really gets it, it is Jonathan Coulton. Jonathan Coulton, if you have never heard of him is a singer songwriter from New York City. He writes genial, usually humorous tunes. Some I like are Ikea, Re: Your Brains, The Presidents, and, of course, every geek's favorite, Code Monkey. He achieved a level of internet fame a few years ago for his "thing a week" podcast wherein he composed, produced, and published a new song each week for a year. For this he was profiled in the New York Times Sunday Magazine. At around the same time he did the Pop Sci podcast, an interview program for Popular Science Magazine, and worked with John Hodgman on the Little Grey Book Lectures.

What makes Coulton distinctive though is his relationship to his fan base and use of the internet to maintain this. During the "thing a week" period people started sending him videos, graphics, and other artifacts relating to his songs, which he would dutifully post. This established a positive feedback loop between him and his fans. A number of these home made videos became minor hits on youtube, increasing his audience.

As far as I know, Coulton does not have an agent, a manager, a record label, air play, or any other accouterments of popular music success. His albums are not on Amazon. His songs are not protected by DRM. But, then there he is, making a living and supporting his family. He does have an occasional backup band and he occasionally backs up John Hodgman's bookstore appearances.

Coulton regularly posts concert announcements to his blog, but will also post a little wrapup afterwards, almost a thank you note. The audience is always described as awesome, as I am sure they are. Recently, Coulton has been having his audience pose for a photograph from the stage at concerts and posting them on his blog. I think this is genius. It completes the web 2.0 loop: seamlessly merging the world of real life with the world of the web. At a concert in Chicago not long ago he invited the star of a popular Youtube video for Code Monkey come on stage to reproduce the video live. This, of course, was immediately posted to Youtube.

What really strikes me about the Jonathan Coulton approach to the internet is its old fashioned civility. Trust, thank you notes, and pictures of the event to help everyone remember. If I was running a music company I would be quaking in my boots.

- J

Good Bye, Berkeley! So long, paths not taken.


K had her the last session of her Berkeley class yesterday. I, as usual accompanied her. As usual I walked in the hills seeking out the pedestrian paths common there. There is a nice map published by the Berkeley Path Wanderers, but I am lazy, so I just wander into likely cul de sacs. I quite like wandering the paths. It short circuits in sometimes interesting ways the distinction among neighborhoods. Arriving on a street from a walking path feels like entering a restaurant from the kitchen side. Mostly the paths are unadorned but once I passed a bulletin board with xeroxed poetry tacked to it.

Yesterday I started out in the Elmwood district and soon found myself on a trail the Claremont Canyon Regional Park behind the old School for the Deaf (now Clark Kerr UC campus). This was not exactly an urban path, but it suited. It was cold and clear and the views of the Golden Gate were spectacular.

I got to thinking that my walks were not just about locating physical paths, but also an attempt to locate some of the paths not taken in my life. I think I felt this could help me with my current quandry with work. If I could only resurrect meaning and neglected possibility from long ago, perhaps I could trace it forward. It seems to me that most of those paths originated in Berkeley, or were abandoned in Berkeley when K and I followed my jobs to the South Bay.

It was good, remembering. Of course the idea of being able to take up those old paths was foolish. K and I have occasionally talked of moving back to Berkeley, and maybe we will some day, but we will not find the Berkeley we knew. Those paths are washed away. The answer to the conundrum lies in the future, not the past.

- J

Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Notes on "Dan in Real Life"

Cyrano de Bergerac goes to the shore for the holidays. We really enjoyed this Steve Carell movie. It was funny and warm, although it follows a well worn path. The hero, Dan, is a widowed advise columnist with three daughters. They are celebrating the holidays with their extended family at the shore. Dan meets and falls for a woman in town who turns out to be Dan's brother's girlfriend. Hilarity ensues. It is all pretty predictable but feels sincere and emotionally real.

The musical background to the movie really complements the film. K went out and ordered the CD.

K and I saw Dan in Real Life in a theater. A first run movie in an actual theater. Amazing!

- J

Update: On rereading this I realized I did not say exactly why I thought it was predictable. Movies about widowed advise columnists that fall in love with the wrong person aren't that common, after all. I meant, for example, that movies about adult children reuniting at the ramshackle home of their childhood have become a cottage industry. One plot turn in this movie occured when the woman realized that the brother's best lines were direct quotes from Dan's book. K and I both remember this exact twist in another movie, but cannot remember which.

- J

Monday, December 3, 2007

Notes on "The Bicycle Thief"

K and I watched this Vitorio de Sica film from the 40's over the weekend. It is about the degradation of the spirit caused by a corrupt and broken society. In this case the broken society is post-war Italy. The film could probably be made in many parts of the world today.

- J

Saturday, December 1, 2007

Notes on "The Waitress"

K and I saw this 2006 film last night. When it was in theaters it got good reviews, so we were looking forward to it. It was a romance involving pies. The heroine, a waitress at a diner, invents pie recipes to suit her mood. She is pregnant, but this is complicating her attempts to get out of an abusive marriage.

The villian, the waitress's emotionally insecure and controlling husband (played by Jeremy Sisto), was the most interesting person in the movie. The way he treated his wife was truly frightening. In most other films that center around spousal abuse, the abuse is conveyed with physical violence. Not here. Here it was conveyed in his relentless need to control every aspect of the waitress's life and his habit of announcing his arrival by repeatedly honking his horn.

Like Like Water for Chocolate of several years ago the movie conveyed the leading character's emotional state through recipes. Like Fried Green Tomatoes of a few more years back, the recipes each had picturesque names meant to convey honest Southern rural life. The comradery of the waitresses at the dinner resembled Nine to Five. This movie felt to me like a design by committee, that it was designed to hit a certain set of buttons with its target demographic. The rural life was too picture perfect. The colors too saturated. We were told exactly what we were supposed to feel about each character, no ifs ands or buts.

- J