tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-290445692010-09-01T19:33:14.023-04:00Tools, Things and IdeasYaakovnoreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-71451346882654320452010-08-15T11:01:00.009-04:002010-08-16T05:06:41.417-04:00

Our perception of the world is limited, of course, by the resolving power of our senses. What we can see, hear, smell, taste and feel forms the boundary of our experience of the "real world". We can extend it by thinking, but, given the data we have that can often mean creating something entirely notional rather than something "real" in the way that we consider sense data "real". Occasionally,

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-31236380652293980012010-08-15T08:50:00.003-04:002010-08-15T21:06:20.184-04:00

Apple's packaging is always designed to be a part of the product experience. Minimalism in volume and package contents are clearly among the design goals. So, when I received my new iPhone 4 I was unsurprised, if not unimpressed, that they'd managed to make the box even smaller than the iPhone 3GS's container. The iPhone's diminuitive box, photographed by its former contents Among the sparse

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-30878189845410740282010-03-11T22:03:00.006-05:002010-04-04T10:27:25.049-04:00

While I greatly appreciate the free service that Blogger has provided to me for the past four years they've decided to stop allowing me to publish to my own server. I now have to use Blogger's hosting if I want to continue to use Blogger for managing this blog. This means the service is no longer free. The move to using Blogger hosting means there is a quid pro quo. I am trading all the

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-24931914882332438452009-10-20T12:39:00.002-04:002010-05-09T14:30:16.077-04:00

I was surprised this morning by a large blur overhead and a great commotion in some low trees. When I went to investigate, I found this lovely creature hunting squirrels that were hiding on an ivy-covered building. A surprise guest, much less interested in me than I was in him (or her). Does anyone know precisely what sort of hawk this is? Update The conclusion is that the picture above is

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-15354250691653599822009-09-21T09:28:00.004-04:002009-09-23T17:49:40.330-04:00

Honesty is the first casualty in the pursuit of "Truth".

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-56888461806679713542009-08-02T10:13:00.003-04:002009-08-03T06:36:20.662-04:00

"Act in such a way that you treat humanity, whether in your own person or in the person of any other, always at the same time as an end and never merely as a means to an end."— Immanuel Kant (1724-1804) in Fundamental Principles of the Metaphysic of Morals

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-35287328426581413352009-07-31T18:52:00.003-04:002009-08-03T06:36:42.460-04:00

The hallmark of love is the desire of the lover to sacrifice something they would otherwise want, for the benefit of the beloved, and to consider themselves better off on account of it.

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-85477114404272679842009-07-30T12:45:00.005-04:002009-08-03T06:38:26.586-04:00

I spend a lot of time on various government websites. NASA, USGS and NOAA, for example, have provided me with hours of opportunity to learn the esoteric and fascinating things we've paid for with our tax dollars. Nothing prepared me, though, for something what I ran across today.This site could easily absorb every hour in the day for an indefinite period of time. It has tools and datasets from

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-74270738535122420602009-07-28T02:34:00.007-04:002009-08-03T06:37:33.668-04:00

It is the duty of every person to use their particular confluence of nature and nurture, for the benefit of themselves and of those around them, and to bring mercy and justice into the world, which only human beings can do.

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-25981353936236500452009-07-27T14:53:00.003-04:002009-08-03T06:38:08.091-04:00

Just a pointer to a really great website with a really great concept: the Periodic Table of the Elements with a video for each one. The videos range from narratives to demonstrations, and are all interesting and a lot of fun. Warning! Dangerous(ly fun) Chemicals!The site is great for kids or adults. Just be sure you set aside some time before visiting because you won't want to stop watching.

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-69669898379486354872009-07-27T12:45:00.006-04:002009-08-16T13:02:25.529-04:00

This blog's tagline is "tools, things and ideas". When I started writing it, as an exercise in putting my thoughts into essay form, I reached into my pocket and pulled out what I carry around. I wrote about those things as a start. Since then, I have written much more about ideas than tools and so I am trying to make up for that a bit.Years in the making, the "kit".My on-the-go tool kit is

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-5233072903229242402009-07-27T09:41:00.004-04:002009-07-27T10:50:22.575-04:00

This Father's Day my family gave me a great gift, a Skeletool. The Skeletool is the visually confusing next-generation multitool from Leatherman."Ooo... what is it? I mean, how do you open it?"I already owned a Leatherman Wave and like it as much as I can like any multitool (which is limited, since they are never quite right). But the Wave is big and heavy and is definitely not comfortable in

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-52524906769831295102009-07-27T07:44:00.006-04:002009-09-10T09:15:32.664-04:00

When we read Plato's stories of the life of Socrates, it is very easy for us to spot the mythology involved. Plato's Socrates is a pious devotee of Athena, the goddess of war and of wisdom. It is central to his understanding of what is ethical, and ultimately he chooses death as more acceptable than leaving Athens, Athena's city.Greek Athena, a Copy Signed by ANTIOCHOS as she Appeared on the

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-31518179635791338812009-07-24T13:28:00.004-04:002009-07-25T22:00:43.367-04:00

My friend Robert asked me "What is the value of pursuing philosophy?" I answered him:The value of the pursuit of answers to epistemic questions lies in the space beyond the limits of speech and before the limits of thought.I couldn't really say more without lying.

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-49274646400362467372009-07-17T11:30:00.006-04:002009-08-03T06:39:54.581-04:00

PGP keys are a way to digitally sign and/or encrypt data such as email, source code, documents and the like. They use a public key system whereby I provide you with a key that you can use to verify a "signature", or in combination with another to decrypt the encrypted data.Here's a key, it doesn't really have anything to do with this essay.The signature works because you get my key from a

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-3109029957705447322009-07-03T14:40:00.003-04:002009-08-03T06:41:33.479-04:00

Recently I began to notice StumbleUpon as a referrer in the logs for this blog. I had seen it before, but that was to a specific post, and I had no problem tracking down the recommendation someone had made on the site. This time, though, the link was to the front page, and try as I might I could not find such recommendation on the StumbleUpon pages. The referrer link itself was no help since

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-89877284631229016832009-05-14T05:16:00.008-04:002009-08-03T06:41:56.116-04:00

I don't know why but it appears the Google is trying to keep people from getting to UC Santa Barbara, at least people from Torrance. Has Google finally begun to use their hegemony for evil?You'll need this...Read the "driving" directions carefully. I'd still like to know the real explanation.(Part of the explanation is that there is a Santa Barbara in NZ, but this seems like an amateurish

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-50878842650905928912009-04-23T19:28:00.002-04:002009-04-23T19:30:45.722-04:00

Today I checked my Windows Live Mail account (the new name, or co-name, for Hotmail), which I use for Microsoft beta programs and other MS-related things. I found this message waiting:Dear Windows Live User,We are contacting you regarding your communication preference settings for Windows Live and MSN.Currently, your settings do not allow Microsoft to send you promotional information or survey

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-75155915786380354792009-03-24T15:22:00.008-04:002009-06-30T13:23:20.827-04:00

(Note: As a textual convention I will write terms I mean in a technical, narrow, non-portable sense in ALL CAPS. It is my intention to provide the entire meaning that I intend those words to have in my text. They don't necessarily have any relationship to the same words used in other contexts, though they might.)MEANING is the product of CONTENT (facts) and CONTEXT (assumptions). MEANING is

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-44164507436951266432009-03-24T09:19:00.006-04:002009-08-03T06:42:44.568-04:00

In theory, I like Java. Strongly object oriented and platform agnostic, I want to like it. Unfortunately, I don't. Almost* every application I have used written in Java is quirky, bloated and has an unpleasant interface. But, there is one use of Java that I have always applauded: web-based applications for scientific visualization.Visualizing a ripple tank, animated and fully interactive

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-12378905334319807452009-01-30T07:18:00.009-05:002009-03-24T20:17:04.839-04:00

I am a person that needs a home on the Internet. That is, a place I can call my own, a place where I have root. This has been the case since about 1995, when I registered my first domain. I went from home to home since then, relying on associates and friends to provide data centers or machines. There was always some quid pro quo, but it was never in the form of hard cash.Then, about ten

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-87779703597576492382008-06-30T20:50:00.005-04:002009-03-24T18:50:14.161-04:00

Oh how sophisticated we have become in our old age. There used to be a time when just about every web page that was hip and up-to-date had a silly "hit counter" on it. It counted the number of times the page was viewed in a very simple-minded way. It didn't care about unique hosts or anything useful like that, it just incremented its count every time the page was accessed.Hit counter!Well, the

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-12578556136007062332008-06-25T19:49:00.002-04:002009-03-24T18:49:25.485-04:00

A fundamental error among people looking for Truth (with a big T) is to imagine that is is a nothing but a bigger version of "truth" (the little T kind). Small truths are simply things about which we agree. We say "that is true" to mean just that. "I agree with you" or, " you should agree with me" are equivalent and work everywhere "it is true" is used. Because the same word is used we take

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-56748857745819574192008-06-04T13:12:00.004-04:002008-06-08T11:06:17.136-04:00

Miscellany's previous home became suddenly unavailable. As you can see, it's back online but it is not yet completely status quo ante. Please excuse any funny behavior, or missing functionality as I scramble to restore things to normal.On a positive note, I am now using Linode and I am very pleased and impressed. Low cost, slick as a Linux-geek's forehead and cheaper than his wardrobe. I can

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-29044569.post-83464488815481305252008-05-23T08:19:00.004-04:002009-03-24T18:50:14.162-04:00

Your IP AddressNixie tubes are a retro-technology well beloved by artsy nerds everywhere. My own memories of nixies are as the classiest digital displays, before being supplanted by the MAN-1 seven segment LED display. Today, nixie tubes are lovingly turned into clocks of very modern accuracy and even unlikely wristwatches.The nixie tube was the invention of the Haydu Brothers Laboratories

Yaakovnoreply@blogger.com1