Shock, horror – Top Gear drove car aggressively during track test ?!? I actually thought the Tesla came out really (really) well in that test, absolutely no surprise the practical economics and reliability couldn’t stand that kind of thrashing, but it was actually possible to thrash it. How dumb do Tesla believe the market is [...]
Entries from March 2011
Are They Mad ?
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March 30, 2011 at 7:19am
by Psybertron
Voting – Help
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March 28, 2011 at 11:45am
by Psybertron
I’m in a genuine quandary. I’m a big advocate of UK electoral reform (both houses), but I cannot see myself voting yes in the upcoming referendum, (same as I cannot see me supporting the idea of popular votes for the second house). The AV system proposed remains a first-past-the-post system. There is weighted value for [...]
Bond in a Frock
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March 28, 2011 at 7:34am
by Psybertron
Dame Judy Dench voiceover for Daniel Craig in drag for international women’s day a couple of weeks ago makes it’s own point. Love the comment thread ironies. The usual trolls and neanderthal misogynists and gay-bashers, but the idea that Sean Connery wouldn’t be caught dead in a dress sparked the Zardoz memory (nightmare surely) – and lo, [...]
For Away Fans
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March 28, 2011 at 6:56am
by Psybertron
Falmer has been coming for so long, that most of us (away fans) have despaired of it ever becoming a reality – even the Seagulls home announcer. I still dislike modern all-seater stadia, and I seriously miss the away end terraces at Chesterfield, Colchester, Cambridge, anywhere beginning with C, but Brighton’s Withdean has to have [...]
Parasitic Genes
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March 28, 2011 at 6:25am
by Psybertron
I commented on a post of Johnnie Moore’s a couple of weeks ago, along the line of meme’s being mimicked by their own analogue, genes – as funghi, bacteria, virus infections, etc – affecting (human) host brain behaviour. The cordyceps fungal infections of insects are used by Dennett to illustrate meme behaviour. Over the weekend [...]
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Left Right Brain (again)
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March 28, 2011 at 5:45am
by Psybertron
So nearly but not quite in Dilbert today: It’s not speed you get in dual-hemisphere processing, but quality. Think Jill Bolte-Taylor. The two brain halves are quite different processors for a reason, the whole is more than the sum of the parts.
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Infinite Free Regress
4
March 28, 2011 at 5:37am
by Psybertron
Galen Strawson describing his four level view of free will, ends up describing it as a proof of a problem between free-will and determinism, whereas it is the solution IMHO. If I am responsible for my decisions and actions, then that responsibility is somehow related to what I am, the set of resources available to [...]
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Project Management Memetics
2
March 24, 2011 at 8:59am
by Psybertron
Leon sent me a link to this paper a couple of years ago, to which I responded “interesting” – he knows I’m interested in memes. I didn’t actually read beyond the title until today. The essence of memes is that there is something “self-serving” about patterns of information (*1) which is independent of any rationally [...]
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Hay Light
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March 24, 2011 at 7:11am
by Psybertron
Hay on Wye (How the Light Gets In) looking promising.
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Integration
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March 23, 2011 at 5:43am
by Psybertron
Dunno, but this just tickled me. I guess because I’ve made a point of fitting a little R&R around the business travel recently. Long weekend in Queensland. Long weekend in Aransas. Long weekend in Barcelona, with Sylvia. Week in US South West after conference in Phoenix next month, also with Sylvia. Beats airport lounges.
Nuclear Sense of Perspective
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March 22, 2011 at 8:35am
by Psybertron
Nuclear Power radiation risks are largely in the mind. [Post notes thanks to Facebook activity. From Smiffy http://understandinguncertainty.org/node/1272 From Smiffy and XKCD http://xkcd.com/radiation/ From every man and his dog, George Monbiot is a convert http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2011/mar/21/pro-nuclear-japan-fukushima Anyone who was already pro nuclear power, and has had their beliefs reinforced by Fukushima, probably already recognizes the real risks ... not [...]
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No Messi’n
1
March 21, 2011 at 6:47am
by Psybertron
Lucky enough to see FC Barcelona with 91,000 others under the stars at the Nou Camp on Saturday evening. With Barca clear of Real’s galacticos and both well clear of the rest we weren’t sure if they would field their star team against lowly Getafe, but we needn’t have feared. Starting line-up included Messi, Iniesta, [...]
Information on Trust
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March 16, 2011 at 8:20am
by Psybertron
Trust and information go hand in hand. There is no information without trust. Limited data maybe, information of real value; no. Interesting to read this piece on Three Mile Island in the light of the current Japanese problems: “The understated equivocations of their spokesmen – and their genuine uncertainty about the situation – engendered mistrust, [...]
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Japan Nuclear Situation
1
March 14, 2011 at 5:11am
by Psybertron
BBC environment analyst Roger Harrabin explains what has happened at the Fukushima plant: “The power plant is supposed to be earthquake-proof and shut down automatically in response to the quake,” he says. “But this starved power from the stations’ cooling systems. Then the back-up diesel cooling system also failed. Reactor number 1 overheated, and it [...]
Blair on Battle of Ideas
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March 7, 2011 at 9:10am
by Psybertron
Higher education is the front-line in the arms race of values and cultures. He’s not wrong.
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Success = Redundancy
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March 7, 2011 at 6:24am
by Psybertron
I have an adage that no-one ever seems to buy, that aiming to make oneself redundant is a primary driver (for me and quite a few people I know, at least). If something takes effort to explain and sell, implement and extract value, then there is work for consultants, sure, but boy it becomes boring [...]
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Life in the Old Dog
2
March 4, 2011 at 5:17am
by Psybertron
“If I ruled the world, I would downgrade rulebooks and replace them, wherever possible, with humane, intelligent discretion.” Richard Dawkins Blimey, maybe the scientist is losing his scientism and sees the wisdom in judgement and discretion. Actually the piece is just a single example of the ancient “rules are for the guidance of wise men, [...]
In No Particular Order
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March 4, 2011 at 5:05am
by Psybertron
Three links I need to capture: (1) Interesting piece from Prospect on the portrayal of stammering in The Kings Speech: “This is also why it’s helpful for non-stammerers to maintain steady eye contact, and to send vibes that convey, “No hurry, we’ve got all the time in the world.” (While we’re on the subject, please [...]
