Popularity Contest

effect apathetic affect integrity metaphor google pretentious awkward eclectic ambiguous

conundrum whether quixotic albeit melancholy love democracy paradigm didactic hypocrite

These are a few of my favorite things. (Not -- many are often used in a hackneyed fashion. Still, it pays to increase your word power, and this list was based on queries, not use on the Web.)

"Meanwhile, slipping off the list were hypothesis, caveat, and gorgeous. Caveat only slipped to No. 23, so we're sure we haven't seen the last of this one."

Sort of a caveat caveat, eh?

Link.

Thanksgiving 2007: be glad you're not in the hospital

I've got several things to blog about, after a long hiatus. First things first, though.

If you're one of the people who check in here hoping to see new stuff, or wondering wth is up, look forward to stuff in the near future; I am budgeting time every week to work on posts starting tomorrow.

As far as wth is up... I'm alive and feeling fine, though I had a moderately severe fall recently and am right now going through "max Q"... The pain after a spill seems to peak at around 48 hours post trauma and it appears to be right on schedule.

Random observation: celebrity proggies Thomas Boone and Zoe Grace Quaid apparently recently fell subject to a classic hospital goof: somebody figured a dosage wrong and gave them milli (1o^-3) instead of micro (10^-6) amounts -- of Heparin. Not good, as it's a potent anticoagulant.

Wild-*ssed thought: This just might actually be one of the few sensible reasons to use an English-style system for doses rather than metric. Slipped decimal points, and in particular milli vs micro errors, aka three orders of magnitude, happen in hospitals a lot more often than they should, often when there is time pressure, such as in neonatal units and emergency departments.

Problem with that is that there is no extant system of quirky drams and gills and fathoms for quantities that small. Bummer.

Notes that Clay Shirky probably already wrote better

==Update: Welcome, Winds of Change readers!==
Check comment #1 on this thread, then pop back up here for the details of my category scheme. Thanks for visiting. Let's be civil, shall we?

In the cheery nonsequitur of an R. Crumb doodle: "Hi.... Let's get going!"

I want to get this out for review by my seven loyal readers even in rough form. I am probably building a square sandstone prototype of a Michelin racing radial that's already out there somewhere. Let me know if that's so.

I've been ruminating about some curious cultural concerns inspired by my stint "tending bar" (unpaid, it's a labor of love) over at Winds of Change.

Proposed: there are four kinds of online entities/personae, viz.:

Open
True Name used; or Nym (pseudonym/cognomen/nom de blog), if any, is [now] well known, or easily discoverable as one-to-one with True Name (barring hoaxes, ID theft).
Single-persona penalties and rewards. Deniability is circumscribed (modulo convincing evidence of impersonation/ID theft, etc.) Easily libeled / harassed / made afraid in some circumstances (e.g. Kathy Sierra kerfuffle, any number of other RL cases). Reputation and future data mining are up in the data cloud "forever" for all.
Seen as a "straight shooter" as long as there are no unpleasant surprises.
Iterated prisoner's dilemma is full strength or close to it.
Open entities might not make their backchannels readily available, but by Six Degrees mythos everybody has to have one, the trick is to know who/howto ask.

BAR STEREOTYPE (BS): The guy who comes into the bar and shows you his wallet full of kid pictures. You have his business card somewhere, so you know where he works.

Upstanding
Nym is a cognomen to a few insiders or none; is in place for reasons sufficient to the entity,
but there are mutltiple open channels of communication, and a stable ID/"Brand". Though True Name isn't common knowledge, some body of work is, and there is a working backchannel.
Deniability is still circumscribed; possibility of multiple, all Upstanding, Nyms for
different facets/roles across Web.
Potential for fewer penalties, fewer rewards.
ID/reputation of an Upstanding entity can still turn out to be built on sand.
Standard "what's he got to hide?" "You think you're cute with that fake name" etc. side-effects
In the long run, usage and pattern analysis will out; the True Name is vulnerable through an extension of the Deja News/Wayback Machine Effects.
Notion:
Upstanding-ness has degrees, but measure is not objective, it's contingent on
norms that "go without saying" for most people.
Conjecture:

relatively rich immersive environments such as Second Life, Worlds of Warcraft
can connect peers to trust/loyalty by activating neuro-anatomical wiring that is
unavailable to pure-text denizens of blogs/Facebook/Livejournal/etc.

Conjecture on prior conjecture:
what a crock!

BS: The guy you've played darts with in the bar for months--
but you only know his nickname. One of you owes the other for drinks.
Neither of you is worried about collecting.
You probably wouldn't loan him your car, but you might let him be the designated driver.

Obscure-Persistent
Nym only. "No Fixed Address": True Name / stable ID / link, e.g. working email, Nym-associated blog are all lacking. Without account- or post-by-post validation, any such entity will be be Obscure to all observers and habitués. With such, they will be less obscure to some.
Some observers don't know or care either way. For privacy's sake, most can't know on WoC; by design, only Marshals can see the IP and (claimed) email address.
ID unity/entity_continuity is inferred through tone, topics, IP addresses, quirks and habits.
Most sock puppets seem to be Obscure, though some qualify as Oblique.
Obscure entities seem to be more impulsive/less concerned with milieu than Open or Upstanding ones, though it is hard to measure that objectively.
Ironically, lack of backchannel/offlist comm makes vocal O-Ps anything BUT obscure in the long run, unless they are exceptionally well-mannered. This leads to a lowering of post quality due to noise and thread derailment or outright hijacking. Not that that is the only contributor to those.

BS (worst case): The guy who comes into the bar and turns his hearing aid off.
When he gets irritated, he wants the world to know about it.
Maybe it's why he's in the bar.

Oblique/Cryptic
Team pen names, comical parodical posts, other? May be obscure or not; validation of claimed ID under the pen name is generally difficult. High maintenance for readers. Eyes glaze over. Drive-bys are easiest. "Anonymous Coward" on Slashdot is a prime example; the many pen names of Kierkegaard serve as another. Also, of course, Bourbaki in mathematics.

BS: Hard to categorize. Could be a creep, could be a nebbish,
could be just some poor salaryman in for a quick nip after work,
with a joke to tell. Could be a geeeeeenius. So?

Write. Think. Learn.

I'm still far from as gumptious as I wish to be; the lack of activity here indexes that.

My current "hammock" is that I'm just enough better off financially than I was four months ago that I can get by without really getting passionate about anything, including self-improvement, learning, making new friends... I did spend the New Years' weekend visiting friends and acquaintances who have a higher setpoint than I, and it was invigorating, but the buzz has ebbed a week later.

Now comes this, via Kathy Sierra over at "Creating Passionate Users": a slideshow by Michael A. Covington: "How to Write More Clearly, Think More Clearly, and Learn Complex Material More Easily" .

I haven't absorbed it all, and I sure haven't applied it yet, but it appears to be good stuff, including some commentary on epistemology (the study of how we know what we know). Mmm, yummy epistemology.

Someone (I think it was Charles Fort) once said "to measure a circle, begin anywhere".

When I'm stuck in ruminating about my failings and limitations, there's little room for improvement -- the possibility of change gets crowded out. I'm noticing I've spent another large chunk of time there lately.

I won't apologize; nobody asked me to do that :) . I'll just make a silent pledge to myself, and see if the result shows up here and elsewhere. Hint: it will involve writing, thinking and learning.

Honeywell Nobel Interactive Studio

Via Newscientist.com I find that Honeywell has a website that features video interviews of and lectures by Nobel laureates. I anticipate many hours of distraction edification. Joe-Nort says check it out. Honeywell Nobel Interactive Studio.

Anglospherics and "medical refugees"

In times past I've researched getting various things medical from various places not-near-me.

Things such as LASIK/Visex-Wavefront (the latter being really cool) for my eyes, dental work, and so on. I've always thought mostly in terms of getting the work done in what has uncharitably been labeled "fly-over country" -- the Midwest of the U.S.; I've also considered getting prescriptions from Canada.

It would not occur to me to get elective / cosmetic surgery done in South America, say; and the idea of getting some very annoying floaters taken care of in the Former Soviet Union by having my vitreous humor removed, ultrafiltered, and returned, as was once advertised, gives me a frisson of fear. Ditto, if a bit less so, for getting the floaters zapped with a YAG laser in China. One trouble is the fundamental long-term outcomes of the exact practices used. Another is the difficulty and cost of followup or having the original doctor or team handle complications, if any.

Comes now word from Wired.com of news from the NEJM that India is thinking of creating a new form of visa "specifically for medical refugees" -- such as one man who reportedly got a cardiac surgical procedure that goes for $200k here in the states. It's said the procedure cost $6700 there. No word on the ancillary transport, lodging and opportunity costs, but it's implied that he didn't have to sell his house. And it would appear it was a full-on standard procedure with adequate aftercare.

Expect more of this sort of thing, even if travel gets harder and harder. It might drive prices up in India.

All our Bayesian are belong to them

This just forwarded from a friend (emphasis and added link(s) mine)... ...and no, he doesn't work for Google. I ...think... that this is just a coincidence...

Apparently, I offend their chief.

No, I'm not including the probably-a- poison-pill GIF that was attached.

What coder or designer among us doesn't thrill to recognize eternal verities such as:

"you want your boss told you support in your own code."

We've ALL been there, haven't we? I know that *I* always wanted my boss told me support in *my* own code.

Did I ever get? NO! I had no. I had to move every zig! For great justice.

The appended Bayesian word-salad evidently based on a stroll through the HeadFirst stuff made me laugh. I hope you get at least a smirk out of it, Kathy!

{Ed: "Kathy" here is Kathy Sierra, who blogs at "Creating Passionate Users"}

....

---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: V____ W___ <nowayamigonnagivethisjerkafreelink@uh-uh.not>
Date: Oct 8, 2006 4:07 PM
Subject: you offend our chief
To:

more complex. deep understanding of why someone struggles Design Patterns, you'll avoid science, and learning theory, to learn how those You'll easily counter with your

principles will help patterns look in Singleton isn't as simple as it sounds, how the Factory to learn how those You'll easily counter with your a design paddle pattern.
when to use them, how or on the real relationship (and impress cocktail party guests) be wrong (and what the embarrassment of thinking

that you can hold your to do instead). You want environment. In other support in your own code. Something more fun. used in the Java API

you have. You know

applications. You same problems. Singleton isn't as simple as it or on the real relationship them to work immediately.

the embarrassment of thinking to do instead). You want , and how to exploit you get to take principles will help the embarrassment of thinking

them to work immediately. same problems. is so often misunderstood, Something more fun.
about inheritance might You want to learn the
better at solving software

Patterns--the lessons

and experience of others, the next time you're Head First Design Patterns up a creek without
the patterns that with
own with your co-worker

to do instead). You want

a book, you want your boss told you support in your own code. the latest research in
someone struggles design problems
you get to take

so that you can spend

better at solving software you don't want to NOT to use them). Facade, Proxy, and Factory

on your team. Head First book, you know at speaking the language
sounds, how the Factory the next time you're matter--why to use them,

Head First Design Patterns them to work immediately. someone struggles somewhere in the world You want to learn the to use them (and when your boss told you
In a way that makes you

texts. If you've read a of the best practices
is so often misunderstood,
In a way that lets you put want to see how
or on the real relationship

brain in a way that sticks. , and how to exploit better at solving software of patterns with others the embarrassment of thinking
you get to take In their native the patterns that the next time you're
up a creek without science, and learning theory, Head First book, you know more complex. the same software
(and impress cocktail party guests)

format designed for the way
Design Patterns, you'll avoid between Decorator, Facade You want to learn about design problems, and better want to see how

the embarrassment of thinking on your team. You're not

between Decorator, Facade of the best practices

environment. In other a design paddle pattern. , and how to exploit better at solving software
and experience of others, your time is too important
reinvent the wheel

brain in a way that sticks.

The problem is "The Problem Is..."

Quoth Dr Brin, recently:

The way to truly crush intolerance is the way parents deal with the hysterics of small children. By taking the small hammer-blows, absorbing the tantrum, firmly disallowing any larger harm, and wrapping the frenetic soul in an embrace of patient confidence.

"Calm down. The only way to attain freedom of action is if you learn not to hate."

I replied

In the abstract, you're right. But the parent-child presuppositions one needs to hold to believe this is the sure-fire strategy are vast. And human reactions being what they are, one person's "disallowing" is another person's overreaction / overreaching / warcrime.

Me, I'm only half-vast, and I suspect a sheaf of strategies is a better approach, though hedging the existential risks (as they eventually appear indisputable / too-clear-to-mistake) against one another might turn out to be impossible. Some say the world will end in ice, etc. If it gets too weird, maybe it's just Game Over for "us", whoever "us" is for you or me.

But I'm programmed, in a way similar to the general Western Civ orneriness you've pointed out, to be suspicious of anyone who says "the [P]roblem is..." where human nature and millions or billions of people are involved.

So, maybe, as I like to say,

"The problem is 'the problem is...'" :)

I.e., to circumscribe the situation quickly in order to name a fix quickly carries deep and frequently hidden risks.

But we're wired to want a Single Narrative. So it's always a tough call.

Thus the power of messy, quasi, hemisemidemicoalitions and sheaves of strategies. The hope is that a lot of "us" won't be very wrong for too long.

Somebody who used to post on the Extropy list used to have this sig, obviously influenced by you:

"I am not here to have an argument. I am here as part of a civilization. Sometimes I forget."

==

A few of the commenters on Winds of Change FREQUENTLY makes me forget. But that's their plan, and I've learned to adopt Dr Brin's suggested strategy with them. Smother them with parenting until they either grow up or ship out. Either one is OK with me.