Al Petterson

Interesting...

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 17:50:39 GMT

There's an analogy. I never did post my essay, did I, with the provocative title "How Hitler Gave Facism A Bad Name" -- probably just as well, but the gist of it is that Hitler was so overwhelmingly evil that he made it impossible to seriously accuse anybody else, anywhere, of being a fascist, even if they really are one.

(Somehow Stalin doesn't do the same thing for socialism. Liberals get incorrectly accused of socialism a lot. The difference between that and conservatives being incorrectly accused of fascism is that there doesn't seem to be a societal justification for liberals shaming and disposing of their accuser the same way a conservative can with theirs -- to the point where to accuse a person's political position of being proto-fascist is seen as a worse offense against civility than it is for that person to hold a political position that in actuality is proto-fascist.)

I bring it up because, after reading this thread on slactivist, I think one can say the same thing is true vis-a-vis Bull Connor and racism -- a sort of "How Bull Connor Ruined Racism For Everyone Else" or something. It is, today, more offensive to accuse someone of racism than actually to be racist.

On the eighth day...

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 01:36:33 GMT

My best birthday wishes to my wonderful wife silkiemom.

We really should take the hint...

aamp@surewest.net — Sun, 29 Nov 2009 23:31:05 GMT

VCRs no longer exist.

We bought a DVR, for about five times as much money as the last VCR I bought (which still works, btw), but this DVR is an absolute piece of garbage; my father-in-law bought the same device, but in the space of two months, three different new DVRs each:

- Runs slightly fast, so after a couple of days it starts cutting off the ends of shows.
- At random intervals, in the middle of the night, sets itself 3-4 hours ahead.
- Refuses to burn a DVD unless all programming is erased.
- After approximately a month of service, shuts itself off and will not turn back on unless unplugged for 24 hours.

That's three different devices, each showing the same symptoms. My FIL returned the first one, had the same problems with the second, and returned it, giving up. I have had all the same things happen to me and am about to make the same return.

But that means we're stuck.

No device for recording TV off a cable signal (including an old-style analog signal, which we have) exists unless you pay a monthly fee to rent the device. I do not want to rent a device, I want to own a device. But there appear to be no such devices for sale, only for rental with a huge up-front fee that is falsely claimed to be a purchase price.

I accept that this is good for the device manufacturers. What I am confused by is the consumer market failure: why the hell is there no huge public outcry? I suppose it's because people who don't want to pay a subscription fee can just download the shows off the Internet. But I have no way to hook my TV up to my computer (and the computer's in the wrong room anyway), and we want to watch TV in the family room -- the room where we have, for example, a television and a couch and an accessible table -- as opposed to the den, where there's barely room to sit and the screen is tiny.

I know, I'm just ranting, and I sound like an old grumpy fart. I understand why technology has gone so phenomenally backwards; it is a fine way to extort more money from consumers. Likewise, if we just gave up on all our perfectly-good tech and bought all new TV and recorder and cable contract, we would probably be very happy, just a good deal poorer. I understand how this is very good for all the corporations involved.

What I do not understand is why consumers have put up with it.

Ps 109

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 23 Nov 2009 16:41:58 GMT

I was going to paraphrase this, but I'm not sure I have much to add. I keep coming round to the idea that the leaders of the Republicans who come up with this stuff are really liberals punking their movement.

I had thought it was obnoxious, but now it's just funny. Using Ps 109:8 as a threat to the president is exactly as bad a misrepresentation of the entire psalm as claiming "There is no God" is a bible quote. I am again stunned by the illiteracy of these people with whom I am supposed to be sharing a country.

Classification

aamp@surewest.net — Sat, 21 Nov 2009 18:02:08 GMT

I attempted a taxonomy of Republicans on Balloon Juice as my explanation for what makes them think they can profit from making a state, or country, ungovernable. Republicans probably shouldn't read this.

The Big Money Republicans - the Thumb - believe they'll be okay whatever happens, they just want their bottom line to improve, and so if you have a government responsive to money instead of to people it will benefit them. And all the other parts of the Party are useful tools.

The Military Republicans - the Forefinger - believe that we are continually beset by external threats, but with strong leadership all real Americans will fall into line, and those who are not real Americans will be identified and dealt with appropriately once it is again blissful wartime.

The Libertarian Republicans - the Middle Finger - believe that if we just remove all restrictions on the Market, the Laissez Fairy will come down from On High and give us all Invisible Hand Jobs and bliss will ensue.

The Religious Right Republicans - the Ringfinger - believe that if everyone just Behaves The Right Way, God will come down from On High and give us all His Blessing and bliss will ensue.

The Racist Republicans - the Pinky Finger - believe that until the inevitable Race War, things will get worse, but once we've shot all the f*gs and n****rs and t***lheads and f***nists and M*x***ns, bliss will ensue.

It is impossible to parody...

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:44:37 GMT

RedState has to be a parody. There's simply no way this could be real.

Today Barack Obama is going to announce that the terrorist mastermind of September 11th, Khalid Sheikh Mohammed, will be sent to New York City for a criminal trial in a civilian court.

In that trial, the terrorist will get all the rights afforded an American citizen in a criminal trial, including the right to a fair trial, the right to a taxpayer funded attorney, the right to review all the evidence against him, potentially including classified intelligence matters, the right to exclude evidence against him including, potentially, any confession obtained through enhanced interrogation techniques, etc.

At best, this will be a show trial fit not for the American Republic, but a third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime...

Can anyone find anyone willing to defend that point of view? That the right to a fair trial, the right to an attorney, the right to review evidence against the accused, and the right to exclude evidence obtained through torture, add up to "a show trial fit not for the American Republic, but a third world kleptocratic totalitarian regime"?

What the hell planet are these people on? I cannot believe the level of self-parody to which they've descended. Are there people who in real life believe this?

Awesomeness

aamp@surewest.net — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 19:23:41 GMT

Almost as good as the Star Trek / Rocky Horror video mashup last year.

Lyrics:

1,2,1,2,3,4
We accept her, one of us, we accept her, one of us!
Gooble gobble gooble gobble!
We accept her, we accept her!
We accept her, one of us, we accept her, one of us!
Gooble gobble gooble gobble!
We accept her, we accept her!

(We-we) we came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
I was testing you - and you passed,
Dental plan! Lisa needs braces,
Be required to fart on a regular basis,
I'm gonna make him an offer he can't refuse,
Channel 13 - Eyewitness news!
Robocop, who is he?
Dead or alive you're coming with me.

In a hurry to be fed, beady eyes and big blue head.

I'm telling the truth Doc, you gotta believe me,
Why does everything I whip leave me?
My beautiful chocolate! Candy is dandy,
Fava beans and a nice Chianti,
You can count on Slippery Pete,
Suicide will be nice and neat!
I didn't build the Panama canal,
Open the pod bay doors please, HAL,

These aren't the droids you're looking for,
These aren't the droids we're looking for,
I am not a number I am a free man!
Rosebud.
To The Idiotmobile!
Right away Michael,
I-I-I-I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered.

We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
You don't understand I coulda had class,
Round and tasty on a bun,
Ooh Zippy look what you've done!
Finally! Cast off those lines!
No, I've been nervous lots of times,
Red Rum! What's the matter honey?
Just robbed Boss Hogg all of his money!

We came, saw, we kicked its ass,
Writing checks your body can't cash,
I was elected to lead, not read,
I feel the need - the need for speed,
Watch out for snakes, a good man's loafer,
HQ - my hat looks like a muffin - over,
My god it's full of stars,
There was no driver in the car..

In the car (repeat)

Well you see I'm in hot pursuit!

There are only two things I love in this world - everybody and television!
#The Simpsons
#Run With Us!
Ugh - you must be shrooming,
Wait for me Moomin!
Cross live to meet the host of that show, Meat Boy,
I want to go to there.

We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
An oil tycoon - like a.. moustache,
Nice beaver! I just had it stuffed,
I don't give a shit, close enough,
Where's me washboard? I'll get me coat,
Y-y-y-you're gonna need a bigger boat,
What'd she say? I think she bought it,
Suck it monkeys! I'm goin' corporate!
C'mon let's take a drive! A drive?
Number 5 is alive!
It's only a laugh, no harm done,
Pickles, french fries, yum yum yum,
Bueller, Bueller, Bueller,
It's 2 degrees cooler,
The light that burns twice as bright burns half as long,
Six words in the whole song.

We-we-we accept her, one of us, we accept her, one of us!
Gooble gobble gooble gobble!
We accept her, we accept her!
You are number 6 5 4 3 2
I am not a number, I am a free man

We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
Give me my 20,000 in cash,
We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
I think you woke up the dead with that blast
We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
I think fast, I talk fast,
We came, we saw, we kicked its ass,
Lois, this is not my Batman glass...

War bulletin

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 20:42:13 GMT

Top 10 Internet Laws

aamp@surewest.net — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 18:21:31 GMT

The UK Telegraph had a list of the most important laws of the Internet. I didn't know most of these, but I have no difficulty whatsoever in endorsing all of them wholeheartedly. In inverse order:

10. Law of Exclamation: The more exclamation points (or all-caps) used, the more likely it is a complete lie.

9. Cohen's Law: Whoever resorts to the argument that "whoever resorts to the argument that... has automatically lost the debate" has automatically lost the debate.

8. DeMyer's 2nd Law: Anyone who posts an argument on the internet which is largely quotations can be very safely ignored, and is deemed to have lost the argument before it has begun.

7. Pommer's Law: A person's mind can be changed by reading information on the internet. The nature of this change will be from having no opinion to having a wrong opinion.

6. Danth's Law: If you have to insist that you've won an internet argument, you've lost badly. (Corollary: "the lurkers support me in email.")

5. Scopie's Law: In any discussion involving science or medicine, citing Whale.to as a credible source loses the argument immediately, and gets you laughed out of the room. [Corollaries include answersingenesis, huffingtonpost, etc.]

4. Skitt's Law: Any correction of another's grammar, punctuation, or spelling will contain at least one eror.

3. Rule 34: If it exists, there is porn of it.

2. Poe's Law: Without a winking smiley or other blatant display of humour, it is impossible to create a parody of fundamentalism that someone won't mistake for the real thing.

1. Godwin's Law: As a discussion grows longer, the probability of a comparison involving Nazis or Hitler approaches 1.

aamp@surewest.net — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 20:37:34 GMT

Hah. I will see Kit's Earth/Jupiter and raise her some Martian sand art.

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:34:45 GMT

And for those who think it's undeserved, or "out of nowhere"...

“What’s really remarkable is that in all my years studying national reputation, I have never seen any country experience such a dramatic change in its standing as we see for the United States in 2009...”

If "the bar" is being better than your predecessor, Obama cleared the bar by an enormous margin... of course the bar was very, very low.

But when I heard, a year ago, about the Central African nation where all the posters of bin Laden had been torn down and posters of Obama put up in their place, this has been something to behold.

Europe has a bit of discomfort about race these days, and seeing America elect a minority as president did shame them more than a little. Like it or not, wingnuts, this is not just about Obama but also about the fact that the US elected him.

And, um, people should get a grip. It's not an American prize. That Obama is only liked by some 55% of Americans is not representative of the whole world. Most of the world does not have the benefit of Fawkes News brainwashing. He's much more popular everywhere else.

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:16:33 GMT

I could say a lot more, but I will keep it short. My amusement and admiration is tempered by two things.

1. He is not in very good company.

2. The favorite for the Econ prize (to be awarded Monday) is one of the people most responsible for the dereg fever that led to the current economic meltdown.

That said, there's more than a little schadenfreude when I see headlines like

Obama Wins Nobel Prize
Criticism of decision from Hamas, Taliban, Republicans

Tell me. How does it feel to be listed alongside the enemies of America? Please do tell us all about how unfair you feel that is.

That Oklahoma civics test

aamp@surewest.net — Thu, 08 Oct 2009 00:45:22 GMT

You recall that OK citizenship test. Was all the rage last month. Oh, our poor stupid teens. We are doomed. Our schools are failing. Learn Mandarin.

I wanted to get the links down here, so I can reference it later, but there is compelling evidence that it was a fake -- and a fake that took in most major media outlets.

A Kos diary about it.
Nate Silver delivers the math smackdown.
If this isn't enough, consider this suspiciously similar thing from two years ago.

The most compelling red flag of forgery? That out of the pathetically huge number of wrong answers to "What is the supreme law of the land?" not a single Oklahoma teen, out of these 1000 supposedly benighted folk, answered "The Bible".

Nate Silver, being on the scent, finds that these are not the only shenanigans pulled by this pollster. We have a crime syndicate posing as a polling organization.

Now, if only news organizations could DTFJs and report on the fraud, instead of just reporting uncritically on the absurd data.

aamp@surewest.net — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 16:15:21 GMT

Seeing trailers for 2012, I am reminded again of how much we owe to Dennis the Short for his miscalculation -- how much more panic would have ensued had Hyakutake and Hale-Bopp appeared in 1999-2000? And for that matter what if we'd had 4 fewer years to hack code around Y2K?

So it makes me happy 2012 is coming to our theaters in 2009, because it gives me reason to reflect on Dionysius Exiguus, and on cool astronomy. 2012 will also feature what is likely to be the final Venus transit of my lifetime, unless we make some significant breakthroughs in either life extension or space travel.

aamp@surewest.net — Sun, 27 Sep 2009 00:02:47 GMT

After two weeks, the cumulative points for/against the six teams in the league were:

Alphas 13-0
Betas 6-0
Gammas 6-6
Deltas 3-8
Epsilons 1-10
Zetas 0-5

Each team has played two other teams, for a total of six games over two weeks. In one game, the Zetas played the Deltas.

What were the scores of all six games?

(Real life question, since this is Kate's soccer league. I'm pleased that there's enough information to solve it.)

aamp@surewest.net — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 20:37:45 GMT

Thought for the day:

"Selfishness" is not, as commonly used, defined as "acting in accordance with one's own desires", since with broad definition of "desire" this becomes a tautological definition of all human choice. A better definition of selfishness is "acting without regard for others' desires." Those who use the first definition to justify the second need to be beaten with sticks.

aamp@surewest.net — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:37:46 GMT

It occurs to me that neither silkiemom nor I have yet journaled our Alaska trip. I will have to rectify this soon -- I have notes (and oodles of photos) but before the memory fades further I should get more details down to share.

aamp@surewest.net — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 23:58:02 GMT

This was a truly memorable moment. The picture doesn't quite capture the full coolness of it, where this young chimp was squatting in front of a gaggle of young boys, each of whom had a hand pressed up against the glass, and fist-bumping one hand after another right down the line.

Josh's fist is at the bottom of the picture.

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 16:01:04 GMT

Successful squicking of my D&D players

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 17:43:21 GMT

(Not the kids, I mean Jason/Wendy/Silkie.) Slightly gross stuff involving undead, and spoilers (up to the point where my campaign has reached) for City of the Spider Queen, if anyone should care about this seven-year-old module.

City of the Spider Queen has a new sort of undead, the quth-maren. It's an elf whose (warning, grossity) skin has been removed, and blood replaced by a viscous acid. It can spit acid, cause fear, attack for 2d6+3 points of damage, ~~and is normally found at least 2200 feet underground~~ (oops, wrong game).

Anyway, they'd fought a couple of these gross things, in the company of drow, when they finally captured and interrogated a drow company captain. By now they know Lolth is dead or silent, and all actually-potent drow clerics are of a new demigod of undead, Kiranselee.

The party paladin, knowing the drow relationship with Lolth, and working under the assumption that the clerics had changed their allegiance, said to the captive, "I'm impressed that this Dark Lady managed to peel off some of the Lolth clerics." The captive, herself a former lay follower of Lolth and now for obvious reasons firmly in the tank for Kiranselee, blinked at him and then started laughing ironically and hysterically.

When she could talk again, she volunteered an explanation. "'Peel off' -- what an unusual paladin. I didn't know they had a sense of humor." There was a pause as no one got it yet. "Where do you think quth-maren come from?"

I got a very satisfying "Eeewwwwww!" from around the table. :)

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 31 Aug 2009 14:49:37 GMT

Last night we saw the Smallville and Supernatural season finales. Finally, we're basically caught up on almost all our TV - only Heroes and Lost are still to be watched (the former for half the season, the latter for the full season). We may yet finish watching everything before we get behind on the new season...

3.5e question

aamp@surewest.net — Sun, 30 Aug 2009 08:18:41 GMT

You are a powerful evil wizard or cleric. Your valued minion was just slain by perfidious PCs. The paladin then summoned his warhorse, picked up the corpse of your minion, threw him across the back of his warhorse, and dismissed it.

True Resurrection is still a touch-range spell. It "works even if the body has been destroyed", but what if it hasn't? If the body still exists, you need the body, as I read the rules.

So if you need the body, how do you get it? Discern Location might tell you "in the holding area where extraplanar mounts go when dismissed", but is it possible to reach that location?

aamp@surewest.net — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 17:37:56 GMT

Among the many reasons I love our schools: the junior high principal made all the teachers watch this video, and some of the core-class teachers (including Robert's) showed it to the parents during back-to-school night:

And they bragged more than a little about the school -- justifiably. Standard scores going up seven straight years, with a big jump right after they instituted the discipline policy the principal clearly considers his signature achievement. Huge percentages - >80% - scoring proficient or advanced in both English and math. Of the 8th graders who took geometry last year, 97% scored proficient or advanced in geometry.

Promethean boards in every single classroom, and teachers who know how to use them in every single classroom - even the english/history teachers who pretty much brag about being tech and number illiterate are able to use them effectively. Every teacher showed us their website, each showing how you check assignments, find makeup work if you're sick, find the textbook online with its supplemental study material, see the progress of your kid's grades and check their attendance.

Our schools rock.

aamp@surewest.net — Wed, 26 Aug 2009 16:01:45 GMT

We have lost the lion. Let us continue to roar.

Pathfinder

aamp@surewest.net — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 17:37:43 GMT

I have the Pathfinder rulebook. (Pathfinder, for those of you who don't know, is essentially D&D v3.75, i.e. a fix for many of the awkwardnesses and asymmetries of D&D 3.x, but in a direction more compatible with what D&D has traditionally been, instead of being an entirely new creature like 4.0.)

Short version: they fixed about half of the things in 3.5 that interfere with the game's fun, without changing the game fundamentally.

It's got a ton of little changes, far too many to list. Here are some that jump out at me.

Experience is somewhat slower: there are three different XP charts, for different campaign styles, but all of them are slower than the 3.5 standard.

Every level is an interesting boost for every character class. 10 feats in 20 levels instead of 7, and you can drop feats (e.g. Toughness) like sorcerers drop low-level spells.

Skills are reduced in number. No more listen/spot/search, just Perception, meaning that you can take this skill and still have points left over for other skills. No more cross-class skills. Instead of 4x at 1st level, you get +3 in all skills that would have been "class skills" for a class you've taken.

Much more healing is available, assuming either a paladin or cleric in the party, but best done out of combat: clerics/paladins can use a turn undead to indiscriminately heal every living creature within 30' by 1d6/2lev hp. (Turn Undead is replaced by the ability to do the same amount in damage -- Will save for half -- to every undead within 30'.)

Everyone who gets an animal companion has the option to do something else instead. (Druids can choose a cleric domain. Rangers get cool wilderness powers. Paladins can call holy power into their weapon. Wizards can create an Ars Magica-like talisman. Sorcerers no longer get familiars at all, but get a bloodline instead.)

The most unbalancingly "versatile" spells are nerfed (polymorph is the obvious one: split into about a dozen spells, all of which limit the form you can change to -- example: beastform I -- and all of which allow a specific limited set of powers to be added depending on form.)

An attempt was made to make all class abilities actually useful. For example, a paladin's 'smite evil' is truly SMITE EVIL, not 'slightly inconvenience evil': you get the same bonus as before to hit and damage, but it lasts until the opponent is dead (or you stop attacking it), and as long as you're engaging that opponent you also get your CHA bonus to AC.

Every wizard should be a specialist. Specialist wizards get an at-will power (on the order of magic missile but varying by specialty), another one at higher levels, and can still perform "prohibited" school spells, albeit at a hefty penalty.

All known/memorized 0-level spells are at-will (note there's no more Cure Minor Wounds) for all major spellcasters.

Grapple and all other "combat maneuvers" (disarm, bull rush, trip, etc.) are unified under a single mechanic that works much more like normal combat.

Spells have numerous small changes that will affect play -- rope trick no longer allows you to pull the rope up after you, reducing its value as an uber-safe auto-camping spell, for example. I haven't come close to reading all of them.

A change that was in the beta but dropped -- and I wish they'd kept -- was a bonus equal to CON to first-level characters' hit points. But that might have made monsters annoying to convert.

There's no monster manual yet: the main $50 book is a combination PH/DMG. But monsters don't need major upgrades; just a few of them probably need some fiddling.