everybody reads raymond

The NGST - Next Generation Space Telescope will be an infrared telescope, scheduled for launch by about 2010. Note: [On 10 September 2002, the Next Generation Space Telescope (NGST) was named in honor of James E. Webb, NASA's second administrator.] It will assume a position at L2 - one of 4 spots where the Earth's and Sun's gravity tend to cancel themselves out. L2 is beyond the Moon's orbit, and as such, the now named JWST will be beyond NASA's reach, if repairs are needed. It's task: Step 1) to replace the HST (Hubble) as the Earth's primary orbital telescope and; Step 2) to look beyond the visible universe. Now that is cool! On this cold and rather rainy day in late April, Saturday the 26th, I experienced a sustained brain cramp when contemplating the second of these two tasks. The visible universe? What's beyond it? In order to satisfy the “Big Bang” theory, it would have to be nothing. But contemplating nothingness is about as easy as understanding that there was (or might have been) nothing prior to the “Big Bang.” This is true even if you subscribe to the ever expanding and collapsing (pulse-like ebb and flow) concept of the universe's shape and movement. This is presently explained by “Red Shift” (first noticed by Edwin Hubble, btw) which suggests that due to most stellar objects' reddish glow, they must be traveling away from each other (and us) very fast for the past 12-15 billion years. In a collapsing phase, they would demonstrate a “Blue Shift”. ***Which begs the question, are there any stellar objects between us and the center of our galaxy where a “Blue Shift” exists?*** While this might be a slim probability due to the need for it to be traveling toward us faster than we are moving away from the very same center, it should be more likely and easier to prove than finding the presence of life on other worlds. In this case, we at least know the direction to look - in, not out. I feel that like periods before (say, when the Earth at the center of the universe theory was challenged), we are on the verge of completely rewriting the theory of the universe once again - and in doing so, rewriting the origins of life. It is going to stir things up so overwhelmingly, you might as well suggest that we - life, the universe & everything - doesn't exist at all; that we are simply a complex (or passing) thought, but of whom? God(s), H.A.L., me, you?

While waiting for a fresh pot of coffee to be brewed at my local deli, I took a gander at the latest headlines from the selection of newspapers: 15 Dead in Car bomb, Hamas cowards bomb bus stop, cafe in Israel, Hamas terror strikes 6 hours apart, etc.

The gist: Two separate, but coordinated Palestinian suicide bombers took out a bunch of innocent people in a religiously motivated, terrorist strike. What the fuck, already!?

Here's a link to the "story-of-the-day" that outlines the: Suicide bombs in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv kill up to 15 - Belfast Telegraph

For those interested, this collection details some of the more deadly attacks that have come as a result of religious terrorism: Israel's history of bomb blasts - BBC News - 70 since September 2000

Last week I watched Star Trek V: The Final Frontier again. While this film is widely know to be the worst of the Star Trek offerings, at least writer & director William Shatner understands the ridiculousness of religious fanatics and their belief in "God's calling". When Kirk finally meets the "supreme being" and is instructed to bring the Enterprise closer, he asks the question: "What does God need with a Star-ship?" Indeed!

And I ask the question: Why does God need a car bomb? Why is it that religious nuts always think that God wants them to do something destructive? Obviously, throughout history there have been more deaths at the hands of those acting in the name of God than all natural disasters or disease combined. Are we as humans complete incapable of logical thinking whereby we might understand that using a justification such as religion (a concept designed to keep people from killing each other) for the very purpose of killing each other? And is there a moment of question just before the suicide bomber dies where the paradox flashes before his eyes - that he might not really get a slice of heaven for his actions in the name of God? I just can't understand it.

But, even as a pagan whose belief is "do what you will but harm none", I would feel completely justified in turning the middle east into a parking lot if it was in my power. Before 9/11 I didn't care and figured that eventually the factions fighting over a tiny strip of land, only significant to them, would kill themselves off and life for the rest of us would carry on as normal. But after 9/11, and on the eve of its 2nd anniversary, I am reminded of my fear - fear that these religious zealots, acting in the name of religion and under the belief that terrorism brings one side-by-side with God will affect my way of life; that they will harm me. And everyone knows: the quickest way to deal with a bully is to bloody his nose first. But, shame on me for thinking it. Its not very pagan of me, is it?

On a lighter side: while searching for links to this post I found a website that invites posters to point out the errors in film, such as "out-of-sequence" shots, or wrong color shirt, etc. Check out: The Slip-Up Archive & Star Trek V Mistakes Even non-trekkies will have a laugh.

While chitchatting over a pint, it was suggested that the computer generation uses less brain power than the generation (or two) before us.

For the purposes of discussion, let us be mindful of the Urban Legend regarding the so called 10% Theory of brain use. Its bunk apparently. [wink]

Consider the notion that we might use less brain power than our predecessors for particular functions and perhaps more for other tasks. For example, its been suggested that the invention of calculators has removed the need for us to learn simple math and by extension complex mathematics. Indeed, this is probably true as illustrated by Fred below:

Fred B. writes at Yahoo Groups: "...[It's] easier to teach pushing the + sign than math fundamentals...[but] when the wrong key is pushed at the check out or the "computer is down" getting the correct change for a $7.35 purchase from a $20 bill becomes a remedial math course..."

To continue: with the computer and word processors comes spell-checkers, resume templates and letter drafting "bots" that do most of the work for you. I can't spell worth a lick and have little motivation to learn. So long as I get it close enough for the spell-checker to catch on, it'll take over and I can continue to pound away at the keyboard. I am probably making the same spelling mistakes 1000s of times and I am reinforcing the misspellings through repetition. I have become dependent on the computer to correct my errors, whereby I type: it underlines mistakes in red and I right-click my way onto the next phrase. I do this without thought or learning. It is a practiced method of symbiotic regurgitation of text.

Which brings me to the wonderful invention of Johann Gutenberg and the concept that the average person today is exposed to more information in a single day than a Renaissance man was in a lifetime. I don't know if that's an accurate depiction of the availability of information or if its also a myth. But it seems plausible enough for me to run with it. Gutenberg gave us movable type, the printing press and the spread of information on a mass-scale. Today's MovableType allows for the spread of information on a scale incomprehensible to the Renaissance man, I'm sure. The question is: with all the information that bombards us on a daily basis, do we actually process or comprehend it? How much of this web-posting have you actually read? Or did you skim?

While the title of this little slice of the WWW carries the egocentric banner of "everybody reads...", I think the title of my moblog is a more accurate depiction of today's brain use: everybody SEES.... I believe that we see more information than we process. We like pictures and sound-byte captions [g] that are easy to store in our mishmash GreyMatter. We rely on our computers to think for us; to remind us of when to meet a colleague for lunch or when to buy a gift for Mom's birthday. We see our computers as extensions of our own brains. The faster and more powerful they are, the more superior we feel about our intellectual prowess. But we don't really take advantage of the information gathering opportunities computers grant us. Instead, we use them to warehouse data. Information gets filed away in case we need it - forever lost among folders of free-ware applications and recipes for Monkey Brains or Duck Soup.

Adam explains that sometimes we don't even look at the information we gather. He confesses to using searches on IMDB to update his Netflix subscription list all rather mindlessly. I agree with this concept. We use the web to quickly gather a tidbit of information but don't even pause to assimilate it. We just store it and pass it on. This [weblog] is as guilty as any. I offer it as a perfect example of data pass-through. Look at all the links throughout this posting. Do they offer any information? How should I know!? I didn't bother to read them but I saw them.

So: if you can't do simple math, don't read, can't spell, use your computer as a data warehouse and post pass-through weblogs, can you truly say you're using more or less brain power than earlier generations? How many are still reading this?

Hell, I've already lost interest and am looking at the pretty pictures.

Its predicted that within thirty years, there will be thousands of people living on our moon, funded by private corporations, not tax-paying dollars. If you think about it in terms of history, its really not all that far fetched.

A couple hundred years ago, America was a vast, untamed region that has become overwhelmed by human life due to the need for exploration, expansion & profit. Most of the west was settled in the spirit of "first-to-get-there". But that's not exactly how it happened. Is it? What happened is that a few went out to stake a claim or seek a fortune and the rest followed to feed off that new life - providing services to the original explorer. A 49er was happy to part with his gold at the first whiskey hall en route back to civilization. An enterprising businessperson would set up shop close to the mining site. What followed was construction ventures, law enforcement, schools, etc.

The first long-term visitors to the moon won't be all that different from the 49ers of the past - only more educated and better equipped. But due to the enormous costs in getting there, it will be mostly (or entirely) funded by corporate dollars. Once the first long-term whiskey hall sets up shop we can consider the moon "colonized". Because what will follow is construction ventures, law enforcement, schools, etc. The biggest difference this time around is that the corporate mentality is actually willing to part with their investment dollars because they know more profit will come from the act of colonization than from the miner's gold.

So why are we going if the act of going is more profitable than the first explorer's mining claim? Why especially when the corporation is essentially both sides of the equation? The answer: because we are, simple as that. And whoever gets there first will hold all the cards.

It is this theory that raises my greatest concern. What will the moon be like if "run" by unchecked corporations? Imagine it. We all joke that Microsoft controls or owns the country because of its stronghold on our operating systems. But that's not even close to the stranglehold that could be exerted by a company with dominance on the moon. They would have a truly captive audience.

But should the responsibility be handed to our governments of earth? Probably. But it will never happen because the choice of governing body would be impossible - except perhaps for something along the lines of a Solar UN. But, I don't think that will happen either. Well, it will most likely happen, but it will prove to be ineffective. In a harsh environment such as the oxygen starved moon a slow-acting governing body will simply be ignored, replaced by "law-of-the-gun" as was the west's history.

I lost my virginity to U2, I found solace when getting divorced with U2 and I learned to cry and still be a man with U2.  So they must be important.  And truth be told, I own every piece of music they ever made, as well as a couple pieces of art, t-shirts, vintage LP coverers, etc.  They are "my" band.  Or they were...

As sad as I am to say it - 100s of "great" U2 songs later - I have found a new band that speaks for me.  Green Day has been lighting up my radio, my Mac and my car for 10+ years but the album "American Idiot" made the turn.  It is without question the perfect album.

There are many bands and albums where you can expect to only like a minor selection of the tracks offered.  Never all.  And still, you consider it to be a "great" album.  However, "American Idiot" is perfect.  There isn't a beat missing.  It's simply perfect.  Every song.  Every note.  Perfect.

Maybe its timing.  Maybe its luck.  But they did it, nonetheless.  Listen - all the way through and tell me I'm wrong.  You can't.  If you like one note, lyric or song; they all work.

Sorry Larry, Adam, Bono and the Edge, but while I considered this I played: Holiday / Boulevard of Broken Dreams from the album "American Idiot" by Green Day.  Punk lives!  Sorry to Green Day for taking so long to admit it, but I have been trying to find a U2 song or album that could compete.

Oh my!  What a disastrous choice Zurich made by getting rid of the old lights in exchange for the new ones that run along Bahnhofstrasse during the Christmas holidays.  You can see them in the photo here, or at WiFi-Art.com, where there's a great shot of them in the dead of night.  They are the white toothpick looking things lining the center of the street.  Apparently the old lights were too old and too expensive to maintain, so they gathered all the smart minds of the city to devise a fancy, new decoration for Zurich's main shopping district.  In a nod toward Swiss clocks, its supposed to be "The World's Largest Timepiece" - designed Fabio Gramazio and Matthias Kohler.  Well the people of the city hate it; and I can see why.  Its just plain ugly.  And the lights are too white.  It looks industrial, not festive.

There is still a section of Zurich where you can see the old-style lights - on Rennweg.  They look warm and inviting, so I understand why the new lights are the talk of the town.  Zurich is old, small and charming; and Bahnhofstrasse is like New York's Broadway.  But they ruined it with white test tubes.  However, from what I here, the talk is that the smart minds are being asked to reconvene early next year to "fix" the situation.  What I'd like to know is, "Was making a poor choice cheaper than keeping the old ones?"

Click on either of the two photos and tell me what you think.

While considering this, I played: City of Blinding Lights from the album "The Complete U2 - How to Dismantle an Atomic Bomb" by U2.

Some well known European fund manager and financial advisor suggested that gold would jump from $550 an ounce to $3,000 in a few years and indeed it broke through the $550 celling today and moved about 2% higher on the news.  Wow!, maybe.

But it makes me think of the true "herd mentality", to which I have become dependent - in some fashion or another.  Every day I see some IR crew crow their "next great pick" and its usually followed by a spike in price and volume.  I often wonder how they achieved the first pick, because the second, third and the last are all driven by the herd - and not the knowledge or foresight of the picker.  The very fact that they have a following is what makes them successful "pickers".  It is the following that causes the success.  To a certain point, they could say that peanut butter would be in short supply tomorrow and indeed it would as their following would buy cases of it to insure they could sell it to those in need when the price was right.  Cart/Horse theory.

Given that, I wonder how often any of these soothsayers are wrong.  And why?  Is there a point when the herd says, "Hey Buddy!  You're going the wrong way."?

I see that the US, in all its wisdom, decided to strike fear into hearts of man by bombing someone, someplace, something. While the US might be chanting praises and whoops of glory, the European view is a little different.

In a local paper, here in Zurich, an expert was asked a series of questions that went something like this:

Q: The Americans just bombed somebody,...who was he?
Expert: He was part of a terrorist ring. As people go, he was a very bad guy, as terrorist go, he was just a guy with lots of friends.

Q: Was he important?
Expert: Not really. Just unlucky.

Q: Will this bombing and the execution of this guy change terrorism?
Expert: No. It might make it worse. This was only one guy in a sea of thousands.

Q: Are Americans any safer today?
Expert: No. And it will probably get worse.

Q: Are Europeans safer today?
Expert: Not really.

Q: Then why did the Americans do it?
Expert: Bush needed a win to deflect the attention away from his horrible numbers and an eroding economy. Plus, he needed to make sure that everyone saw that they were actually "doing something" in Iraq.

Q: Will they ever catch Bin Laden?
Expert: Never. American politics needs an enemy.

What a difference it makes to not be exposed to the political machine of the US and its control of the media. I think I'll stay in Europe for a while. "Ra-Ra-Ree! Kick 'em in the knee! Ra-Ra-Rass! Kick 'em in the other knee!"

I have been thinking of getting a new (mobile) phone for months. I like the Sony Ericsson UI - always have. But I have been thinking about moving to the Motorola V3i for form over function reasoning, and so that I might make the switch to flip vs. candy-bar. BTW - a great review site lives here: Mobile-Phones-Uk.org

But the problems over which phone to pick only grows from there. For example: I would rather have the SE UI vs. the RAZR version. I would also prefer the functions of the SE (K800i) vs the RAZR, but I don't want to be carrying around a "brick" that occasionally "self opens" the camera lid when in your pocket. Which brings me back to the RAZR,..but I hate the UI and I cannot believe that Motorola still doesn't have a multi-numbered concept per entry. (What's with that? Its 2006/7, already!) I have several hundred contacts in my phone directory - each with 1, 2, 3 or 4 numbers and a couple of extras like email addresses. That adds up. The scroll "nipple" on my old SE is already well worn from scanning down the list. That would multiply by 2-6 times with the RAZR UI.

But,...still: my old SE phone is a bit bothersome due to the candy-bar form and it likes to call people from my pocket (because its bored, I guess) - despite the key-lock being engaged. A colleague of mine named Aaron is continuously the recipient of unwanted (and empty) text messages send by my bored, pocket residing and "supposedly" key-locked phone. A clamshell would solve this. Give me a K800i in a clamshell model and I'd jump, but the problem is that it would measure 3 inches thick.

What I really want to know is: Don't Sony Ericsson and Motorola know this? They assuredly use their own phones and have secret labs where they investigate the competition's, don't they? Doesn't the CEO of Motorola carry a RAZR? If he does, how the fuck does he not notice that it takes 20 minutes to find the right number because it lists them one-at-a-time-in-a-single-file-fashion-that-lists-Aaron's/cell-Aaron's/home-Aaron's/work-Aaron's/fax-Aaron's/email-Aaron's/beachhouse, etc? And how does the CEO of SonyEricsson not notice that his phone is dead because the camera has been filming the inside of his coat pocket for the last 3 hours (with sound) while he was attending a VIP brunch at the "happy ending" Sushi House? Come on guys! As a friend of mine loves to say, "have your people call my people"...but the problem is that they either have dead phones or can't find the number.

The verdict is still out.

While rummaging for the cellphone hiding in my pocket, it played (to its own contented happiness): Bitch Called Jealousy from the album "Sky Daddy" by Alan St. Jon.

According to Madison Avenue, Gillette represents “The Best a Man Can Get”.  But Madison Avenue only stretches a few miles along Manhattan's east side and doesn't reach through to the rest of the world or their (as seen by the eyes of an American) quirky advertising laws.

For example, in Germany and the rest of Europe that speaks German, Gillette represents, “Für das Beste im Mann” which translates as, “For the Best in the Man”.  That's not quite the same now, is it?  And don't be fooled into thinking that its a funny translation thing, as its not.  Its a “truth in advertising” thing.  You're simply not allowed to say things like your product is the “best” in the EU - or at least in Switzerland, which is where I get to see German broadcast and/or German-language commercials.

What's funny is that the “PC” version just doesn't make much sense to my American ears.  I come from the land of everything being: BIG, GRAND, the BEST.  I want that and more of it.  I don't want a product that brings out the “potential” best of me.  I want the best there is.  Or do I?  I don't know anymore.

While rubbing my face, I played: Skin Feeling from the album “Together Alone” by Crowded House.

With the US population passing (an estimated) 300 million, some things still remain as true when we had half that amount - we're still stupid when it comes to the world outside the US, and occasionally even about things inside the US.  So is it 300MM or 1.5B?

According to a National Geographic Survey one third of the Americans surveyed thought the US population to be between 1 and 2 billion.  But we're not alone when compared to the “rest of the world”.  There is a lack of knowledge as to geography almost everywhere.  And the good news is that if it were not for Mexico, the US would have placed last.  And if not for Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Sweden (the winner), the US might have been first.  I would suggest that we want to be the biggest and the best(est), that we get rid of those other 7 countries.  Only problem is that 11 percent of the Americans polled couldn't even find the US on a map; and one-third were unaware of the location of the Pacific Ocean - there are only 5 oceans for goodness sake.  Come on.  1 in 5 should have gotten it right by default odds.  The fact that the true results were only slightly higher than that is ugly, just ugly.

But when a full 74% of all that were polled thought that English was the language spoken by the most people in the world as their primary language, I guess you can't fault them too much,..afterall, with America being 1/3 of the World population by the American count, how can you blame them for not caring about a couple of funny-looking people speaking Chinese?

My Election Predictions:

Its 11:30PM EST and the mid-term elections are too close to call when it comes to the Senate majority.  The Dems need 3 seats and the GOP requires 4 to retain.  However, the real story will be Virginia - and my prediction is that it will be the laughable story heard around the world as we, again, go through a legal battle regarding who is in power.

Virginia will be contested; there will be a re-count; and there will be legal challenge over that count as both parties fight for the top spot.  That's my call.  And I hope I am wrong, as I can already see my future wife's eyes rolling as she “tisks” me and my stupid little country.

With the aid of thankful foresight by a loved one, yesterday, I decided to book my flight to see my folks over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I'm glad I did.  I wasn't sure I had the schedule to make it to see them this year, but as I will surly be elsewhere over Christmas, I decided to make the time.  Family is always more important than the hell that is last-minute travel.

That is true - to a point.  I was lucky to book yesterday, as I got one of the last two seats there, and the only one left on the way back - both middle row seats.  There was a flight that had two seats remaining  - and was $15 cheeper - but I refrained from that choice.  Take a look.  Which one would you choose?

While writing this, I listened to: NYT: Wine Update for 11/09/2006 from the album “New York Times Wine Update” by Eric Asimov of The New York Times, and thought of a nice $15 wine the people on flight 3347 would surly want at the end of their holiday travel.

People love to say, “But, I don't do windows.”

Why?  Windows aren't really all that difficult to clean; and the reward of doing them is evident immediately - giving the cleaner instant satisfaction.  The only real difficulties come depending on the perfectionist status of the one doing the windows.