:: Life of Dave ::

:: Sunday, November 30 2008 ::

If you haven't read it already, there was an article in the New York Times, titled 'what they hate about Mumbai'. It is, sadly, becoming a familiar type of article - the love letter to a city that has suffered an attack. It's a fascinating view of a city I don't know very well.
:: David (11:17 in Arkansas, 18:17 in Paris) - Comment

:: Friday, November 28 2008 ::

For my next trick, I will spend the holiday weekend sick in bed. Blech.
:: David (21:11 in Arkansas, 4:11 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[3]

:: Thursday, November 27 2008 ::

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Hope you had good food, with good company, and all that.
:: David (21:58 in Arkansas, 4:58 in Paris) - Comment

:: Wednesday, November 26 2008 ::

We did some random touristy things around Little Rock today, such as visiting the Old State House (where the guide helpfully told us in which room they had voted to secede from the Union). It was actually fascinating - state history so often gets overlooked in favor of national narrative, so seeing the stories of the locals was quite interesting. Now we're in full prep mode for Turkey day.
:: David (18:37 in Arkansas, 1:37 in Paris) - Comment

:: Tuesday, November 25 2008 ::

More Pirate news, but of a different sort: the Pittsburgh Pirates, an American baseball team, have signed a pair of Indian pitchers after a TV contest was held in India to find people who could throw a fastball. Although they aren't expected to play in the majors for several years (if ever), the US has taken one tiny step closer to actually having a 'world series' for real. Of course, it probably helps to remember Japan: "Sales of merchandise jump when American clubs sign Japanese players. [Major League Baseball]'s revenue in Japan, $100m last year, now accounts for 60% of its income outside America." I imagine the thought of opening a market of one billion people was in somebody's head while all this was going on....
:: David (10:15 in Arkansas, 17:15 in Paris) - Comment

:: Monday, November 24 2008 ::

Sasha's folks arrived Friday night, and since then we've been doing the rounds of holiday parties and travelling to random places (a bird sanctuary and a state park, yesterday). Our party got a little smaller for Thanksgiving, as one of our friends is, sadly, having a family emergency. But we will make due. Sasha's work ends tomorrow, and then we're all on holiday. Ordinarily I would be prepping for Black Friday, but looking at this year's ads, I'm not convinced there's anything worth running out for. Given my expectations that the stores are going to continue offering deeper and deeper discounts into next year, I think I'll just wait.
:: David (11:45 in Arkansas, 18:45 in Paris) - Comment

:: Friday, November 21 2008 ::

The EU's new digital library died of overuse shortly after it was released, reports the BBC. It is supposed to relaunch in December once it has been made 'more robust'. Initial interest was twice the expected level, and the three (!!!) servers couldn't keep up. Here's a thought - if you're launching something that's supposed to be a pan-european repository, you might consider buying more than three servers.
:: David (12:44 in Arkansas, 19:44 in Paris) - Comment

:: Thursday, November 20 2008 ::

So I called the state's HR department, because they had rejected my resume for a programming job, saying I had too little experience, which struck me as odd. During the conversation I was explaining my background, and one of the jobs was my work building computer models of tax and benefit systems while I was working at the OECD in Paris. She hadn't recognized that as a programming job, so as she was reading the list I said 'what about the computer modelling job in Paris'. Except I left out the 'computer' part. And she says 'were you really?' And I realized what she thought I meant, and hilarity ensued for the next several minutes.
:: David (16:16 in Arkansas, 23:16 in Paris) - Comment

Oil has fallen below fifty dollars a barrel today, losing two thirds of its value in four month, according to the New York Times. This backs up the obvious changes you may have noticed at the pump (can anyone beat one fifty-nine, by the way? I saw that last night).
:: David (10:59 in Arkansas, 17:59 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[2]

:: Wednesday, November 19 2008 ::

The Associated Press (AP), a major news cooperative, has banned the use of the US' Department of Defense after a photo was found to be digitally altered. While in this instance the changes seem mostly harmless, one does wonder why so much time, energy, and taxpayer money was spent altering a photo when they could have just taken another. It's funny, because I had just recently discovered the DoD photo page, which features amazing photos (one wonders now if they aren't too amazing) which I believe are free to use.
:: David (23:31 in Arkansas, 6:31 in Paris) - Comment

The business world is an odd place. Today's announcement that US consumer prices fell by one percent is treated like bad news, even though it means that... wait for it... prices fell by one percent. We all just got a raise! We're in no danger of stagflation!

Of course, if things get cheaper, over time people expect them to keep getting cheaper. This leads to a deflationary spiral. Like the great depression. An article from 2002 by the (then) president of the St Louis Federal Reserve explains in simple language why deflation is not necessarily a good thing.
:: David (12:41 in Arkansas, 19:41 in Paris) - Comment

I guess today is just geeky stuff - I just ran across a company offering virtual private servers at seven dollars a month. Which is insane. A VPS is effectively a server of your very own - you can log in to it, configure it, make it dance and sing - it's like web hosting, only for crazy geeks like me. I'm assuming there's a catch somewhere, but if not, I may have myself a new project for the spring (it's nice, too, because I've been thinking about starting a tech business, and stuff like this makes that cheaper and easier).
:: David (12:33 in Arkansas, 19:33 in Paris) - Comment

Hooray! Random tech geek stuff: Flash is now available in a 64-bit version. It was funny, because a Windows user noted that it was only available for Linux, which has to be a first - a major corp releasing software for Linux before Mac or Windows.
:: David (11:57 in Arkansas, 18:57 in Paris) - Comment

:: Monday, November 17 2008 ::

Yarrr! Somali Pirates seize a friggin' supertanker, for cryin' out loud! But not to worry - the BBC reminds us that the Royal Navy has lots of experience in this sort of thing.
:: David (21:53 in Arkansas, 4:53 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[8]

Deutsche Welle is reporting that the Polish plumber phenomenon is false. Figures to be released suggest there was no mad rush of Eastern European labour into 'old Europe' after the EU was expanded.
:: David (21:48 in Arkansas, 4:48 in Paris) - Comment

I hadn't heard of Westmont College before, but they have posted some photos of the damage the recent fires in California did to their campus. It's pretty amazing - I can't imagine what they're going to do (and I imagine some of them can't, either).
:: David (10:17 in Arkansas, 17:17 in Paris) - Comment

:: Sunday, November 16 2008 ::

Because you know you should know: lifehacker has a link to the proper way to fold a handkerchief. They add, of course, a link to how to tie a tie. If you're feeling a bit older fashioned, you could also learn how to tie a cravat.
:: David (21:59 in Arkansas, 4:59 in Paris) - Comment

A couple months ago, I ran across a website that did taste tests of coffee, based on a 100 point scale. The rather obviously named Coffee Review does tastings on all sorts of coffees, and has an assortment of articles (such as their recent top budget coffees, which notes the Trader Joe's coffee is an "extreme dark roast, considerably darker than Starbucks or Peet's" and thus is "watery and lifeless, with only the barest hint of Ethiopian flowers (and not much else)"). I ordered a couple of their highest rated coffees (both from Atomic Cafe, and found that yes, indeed, those were some darned fine coffees. So if you are a bit of a coffee snob, or just weird like me, head on over and see what sort of exciting beverage you can come up with.
:: David (19:10 in Arkansas, 2:10 in Paris) - Comment

:: Saturday, November 15 2008 ::

The New York Times offers up a reminder that in Japan, things work a little differently. Even the mafia.

Just like any other business, the Dojinkai was always attentive to the needs of the residents surrounding its headquarters here. Its members adhered to the sacred rules of living in a Japanese neighborhood by handing out small moving-in gifts, exchanging greetings with the neighbors and, needless to say, properly sorting out their trash.

The relationship between police and criminal has always been a bit odd, and the Yakuza are just another demonstration of that relationship. More on crime in JApan, and how it can go very wrong, can be found at the website for Ishikawa Sayama, a man who the website purports was wrongly treated by the law.
:: David (13:48 in Arkansas, 20:48 in Paris) - Comment

:: Thursday, November 13 2008 ::

I spent quite literally all day trying to get my cable modem replaced - D-Link technical service was... challenging. When I called back and the second person made me go through the same stuff the first person had I got a little belligerent. In the end, I'm going to get a replacement, and in the meantime we have a loaner from the cable company, so all is good.
:: David (17:11 in Arkansas, 0:11 in Paris) - Comment

:: Wednesday, November 12 2008 ::

Well, I've finally crossed over to the dark side. With my purchase this morning of a caulk gun, I am now officially a DIY homeowner. And speaking of homeowning, it's time once again for 'what's living in David's house?' Today: mice (or at least, mouse). I acquired a live mouse trap this morning after seeing a little guy scurry across the back porch. Having no peanut butter to bait it with (do all critters like peanut butter?), I decided to try stinky cheese instead. So our mouse, before becoming either (a) an outdoor mousie, or (b) cat food, will at least have the opportunity to sample brie. I hope he appreciates the finer things in life!
:: David (10:37 in Arkansas, 17:37 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[3]

:: Tuesday, November 11 2008 ::

I'm going to take a moment to geek out here - the camera maker Sigma has purchased Foveon. five years or so ago Foveon looked like it was going to take over the digital camera universe with a swanky sensor, but nobody was biting (probably because they had already sunk money into their own sensor). So now Sigma, the only camera company that was using a Foveon sensor, will own the whole chain. I hope this means exciting new cameras, although it may be that black silicon will make all existing camera sensors obsolete....
:: David (15:59 in Arkansas, 22:59 in Paris) - Comment

Photo by Natalie Johnson

It's Armistice Day (called 'Veterans Day' in the US), just after the "eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month" local time. The Telegraph reminds us that World War One was supposed to be the 'war to end all wars', but clearly that didn't work out so well. This is the 90th anniversary of the symbolic end of the war - maybe in another 90 years we'll be better at peace.
:: David (11:29 in Arkansas, 18:29 in Paris) - Comment

I've just updated the comment editor to the new version, so you might see some minor changes to the way it works. I'm not positive, but if you use IE this may be the first time you've seen the comment editor. Try it out, if you haven't used it before - it's really nice if you want to put a link in your comments. Please let me know if anything crashes and burns!
:: David (10:39 in Arkansas, 17:39 in Paris) - Comment

:: Sunday, November 9 2008 ::

Carla Bruni Sarkozy (the wife of the French president) tells a fascinating story in the Jounal du Dimanche about racism in the US:

Je me souviens, jeune mannequin - j'avais 25 ans -, d'une séance photo organisée en Caroline du Sud. Nous sommes restées plusieurs jours là-bas. On nous faisait manger des plateaux-repas dans notre caravane, alors qu'il y avait un restaurant à côté. J'ai demandé pourquoi, on m'a expliqué que le diner n'accepterait pas Naomi Campbell, parce qu'elle était Noire...

I remember, as a young model - I was 25 years - a photo session held in South Carolina. We stayed several days there. We were eating dinner in our trailer, when there was a restaurant nearby. I asked why, and it was explained to me that diner would not accept Naomi Campbell, because she was Black...

This comment appears in an article in which the first lady announces her support for a manifesto which "urges affirmative action-like policies and other steps to turn French ideals of equality into reality for millions of blacks, Arabs and other alienated minorities". AP has an English article on the movement.
:: David (15:45 in Arkansas, 22:45 in Paris) - Comment

Has everyone been following the fascinating events going on right now in Iceland? The NY Times (which now advertises on The Daily Show website and streaming videos, bizarrely) has an excellent article which attempts to show how ordinary Icelanders are dealing with the collapse of the Icelandic economy. Meanwhile, an Icelandic news source is reporting that Holland and Britain are blocking IMF aid unless it includes a written guarantee that foreign holders of accounts in Icesave (an Icelandic online bank) will get their savings back.
:: David (11:17 in Arkansas, 18:17 in Paris) - Comment

:: Saturday, November 8 2008 ::

So you may remember back in 2004 there was that guy who did the cool 'shades of purple' election map. Well, his name is Mark Newman, he's at U of M, and he's updated for 2008. I think my favourite uses shades of red and blue to indicate percentages. And yes, we currently live in or near the 'voted more than 70 percent Republican'.
:: David (16:42 in Arkansas, 23:42 in Paris) - Comment

:: Friday, November 7 2008 ::

If the elections are over, it must be time to start pigeonholing the first lady. Thus, Reuters offers up an article on Michelle Obama's fashion sense. It does contain some amusing moments, such as the quote from New York magazine, which notes "you know what else is great about this? We don't have to envy France for Carla Bruni anymore!" Were we doing this? Well, maybe the Brits were.
:: David (16:17 in Arkansas, 23:17 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[1]

:: Thursday, November 6 2008 ::

For our election night party, I streamed media in from the various news channels. Before we got rolling, I did some testing to see how many channels I could run at once. This pic is a shot of my screen, showing three channels running, along with my router's bandwidth meter.
:: David (10:42 in Arkansas, 17:42 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[1]

A new study commissioned by UT Austin suggests that female professors at the University make $9,000 less than their male counterparts. For a lark, be sure to read the comments as well.
:: David (10:35 in Arkansas, 17:35 in Paris) - Comment

The Economist has a fascinating story about bias in the news. They report on a study which suggests that in a competitive market, there is an optimal bias (right or left) to maximize the audience. Note that audience maximization appears to occur only when the reporting is biased. Thus, a biased media is a sign of healthy competition in the media sector.
:: David (10:21 in Arkansas, 17:21 in Paris) - Comment

By the by - if anyone has any suggestions about where the 'Sarah Palin 2012' image should link to, let me know! (In thinking about it, I realize I should corrupt the images Paris used in their olympic bid.
:: David (10:06 in Arkansas, 17:06 in Paris) - Comment

I know it's really sad, but the idea of John Kerry as secretary of state makes me happy. Mostly because he speaks French.
:: David (9:51 in Arkansas, 16:51 in Paris) - Comment

:: Wednesday, November 5 2008 ::

Julee was good enough to post pictures from last night's election party. As you can see, champagne was the order of the day.
:: David (18:13 in Arkansas, 1:13 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[3]

It was really nice this morning to hear NPR back to talking about how crappy the economy is, even if they were addressing the question of what 'president-elect Obama' (and they most certainly seemed to relish using that phrase) could do between now and January to help the situation, given that he isn't actually anything just yet.

The party was great, and champagne was drank at the appropriate moment. I was surprised to see how quickly it swung to Obama, and even more surprised when McCain conceded. Isn't it nice to have a democracy that actually works for a change? I thought his concession speech was excellent, though certainly not in the same league as Obama's victory speech, which was...quite good. Monumental, one might even assert - certainly the historians in the room were impressed with his rhetoric.

It was a great result, on a night full of not-so-great results. Here in Arkansas, the most bizarre anti-gay legislation ever written passed by a large amount. It looks like California will lose gay marriage again (and if those marriages already performed are invalidated, it would be those who claim to be 'protecting the institution of marriage' who are most effectively destroying it. I hope the irony is not lost on them, though I expect it will be). In our local elections a closely fought state senate battle will go to the Republican.

In one bright spot, I'm pleased to see the bill on how you confine animals in California has passed.
:: David (9:49 in Arkansas, 16:49 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[4]

I found a nice reminder in my driveway this morning that just because I'd like to forget they are out there, the beasties haven't actually gone away (although, as you will see if you click through the image, it does look like they are enjoying the cold somewhat less than I am!)
:: David (9:33 in Arkansas, 16:33 in Paris) - Comment

:: Tuesday, November 4 2008 ::

We decided to host an election results party this evening, which means all the cleaning I've been putting off for the past month has to happen today. Zoiks. I'm off to the next county, now, in an attempt to secure liquor (which, of course, we can't buy here because we live in a dry county). I'm also periodically looking at the news sites to see if anything new has happened, which is really dumb, but I do it anyhow. I'm sure when I drive down to get the alcohol I'll listen to NPR, which will report, in endless detail, how we won't know anything until this evening.
:: David (11:22 in Arkansas, 18:22 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[3]

:: Monday, November 3 2008 ::

Wow. Obama's grandmother has died. That's a heck of a rough pre-election note.
:: David (15:52 in Arkansas, 22:52 in Paris) - Comment

Halloween went without a hitch, excepting the rain that made the trick-or-treaters stay away in droves. We realized as the night wore on that we were in danger of getting stuck with the massive quantities of chocolate we had purchased, so we started actually letting the children help themselves, which, if you've ever done it, is a sure way to get rid of lots of chocolate. Sasha actually had a one kid nearly hurt themselves scrabbling for chocolate she had dropped because it wouldn't all fit in her hands at once. Once the kids were more or less done (we actually had a group of ten or so show up as we were heading out the door), we headed over to the 'tower of terror' party in our group costume - Sasha as Sarah Palin, me as Todd Palin, and Jeff as a moose (the moose may have been dead, or maybe it was like Cheney, and we didn't have time to hunt for real, so we brought a tame moose to hunt - I'm not sure). There was a second Palin at the party, but she had gone the distance and had 'President Palin' sewn into the lining of her jacket. Very scary. The photo on the left is our kitten waiting for trick-or-treaters (or at least, waiting for the door to open), and on the right, of course, are our costumes. I didn't mean to have a bottle in my hand when the photo was taken, but it does sorta fit the character, doesn't it?
:: David (14:54 in Arkansas, 21:54 in Paris) - Comment - View Comments[1]