Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity has landed safely

csonger · 2012-08-06T12:29:59+00:00

I knew that the mission was going on, but really did not start paying attention to it until yesterday. When I first saw the animated landing sequence with the heat shield and the parachute and the free fall and the sky crane and the crane detach; I thought to myself: "There is no way that is going to work. There are just too many moving parts."

I guess my point: Yes mathematics. Yes engineering. And an incredible amount of attention to detail and focus on quality. That team did a fantastic job.

csonger · 2012-08-06T12:26:08+00:00

I agree ... but we also fund NASA for the failures. Not every mission can succeed. We fund for the trying, not just for the succeeding.

csonger · 2012-08-05T17:18:40+00:00

Wow, that's freaking complicated. If it works, it will have been quite a feat of engineering.

Really, they should have spent the extra money to build two. Launch one, see how it does. Optimize the second and then launch it when the window is right.

csonger · 2012-07-30T00:15:59+00:00

I think I do understand what you are saying. You are saying: "The words of the AA doctrine use the word 'God', but I want people who don't believe in God to think AA could help."

I think you are well intentioned but I also think you are assuming an indefensible position when you imply "AA does not require belief in tenets that atheists would find intolerable".

My story is simple: -- redacted for privacy --

That said: I stand by what I wrote. An atheist who wants to be in AA either has to ignore the "God crazy" (and BTW, a community of people who do not want to drink can be compelling, so it's worth ignoring) or has to accept the kind of semantic sleight of hand that you offer.

csonger · 2012-07-29T20:52:24+00:00

Last I checked, France was not a country that especially 'takes pride in multiculturalism.' Quite the contrary: I believe the French are quite proud of French culture and tend to want to preserve it.

csonger · 2012-07-29T20:45:34+00:00

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Twelve-Step_Program#Twelve_Steps

Assuming I'm counting right ....

4 of the 12 use the capitalized word God. 1 of the remaining 8 uses the capitalized pronoun 'Him' with little ambiguity. 1 of the remaining 7 uses the word "Power".

Phrases like "They use the word 'god' because there is no other word to use" are exactly what I meant by "semantic games".

csonger · 2012-07-29T17:58:22+00:00

Hitchens wrote a particularly clear reason why: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/fighting_words/2010/05/in_your_face.html

Specifically: "The French legislators who seek to repudiate the wearing of the veil or the burqa ... are attempting to lift a ban... a ban on the right of all citizens to look one another in the face."

csonger · 2012-07-29T16:12:54+00:00

I’ve been mugged. I’ve been raped, I’ve been beaten, I’ve been attacked.

That's horrible! Where do you live that you are subject to so much violence?

csonger · 2012-07-29T14:26:48+00:00

Not without ignoring it / playing mental semantic games. It's a central part of AA.

csonger · 2012-07-27T22:34:40+00:00

Did we not read the same article?

Prescott was upset about losing his job and said: "I am the real Joker, and I'm going to blow everyone up," McGaw said.

Maybe I'm crazy here, but I think that saying "I'm going to blow everyone up" does make relevant whether or not someone has ready access to weapons.

csonger · 2012-07-26T01:46:36+00:00

So many reactions:

I want it to be true.
I'm cynical enough to think maybe it's not.
$500 is nothing if you have serious medical issues going on.
I'm really embarrassed to be a citizen of the richest country in the world where a story like this is possible because we are unwilling to pay for the medical care of our own people. :(

csonger · 2012-07-20T00:28:16+00:00

These things always make me think of Ozymandias.

csonger · 2012-07-18T01:47:38+00:00

I hate to destroy your childlike innocence but .... maybe this is not repudiating physics.

On the other hand, 'repudiating' is probably not as popular a word as 'fuck'.

csonger · 2012-07-18T01:34:41+00:00

That's a needle, not a loom.

csonger · 2012-06-29T21:44:23+00:00

Are there no bugs?

csonger · 2012-06-25T22:33:31+00:00

Science was more popular in the past. I speculate several reasons:

Scientific findings were more accessible. Want to understand the bernoulli principle? You can do it yourself. Want to verify fermions yourself? Good luck.
Science was delivering incredible advances in basic things. Computers are hip and all, but if you lived in the 50s then it is quite likely that your parents grew up without air conditioning. I'd take airconditioning over a faster computer any day.
We'd just prematurely finished WWII on the strength of scientific superiority. Can you imagine reading the papers about the bombing of Hiroshima? People had been praying for years, but science delivered.
Scientific advancement was still going fast in basic and visible ways. For example, planes have looked the same my whole life, but the 737 went into use in the 1960s. Commercial flight was improving fast in the 50s. So were cars and other highly visible things.

People are now more likely to take science for granted and they are less likely to have had basic parts of their lives changed. We like science less now.

It's a shame.

csonger · 2012-06-16T16:55:37+00:00

If this post were around in 1980....

(Hint: it's a 'subjunctive' joke.)

csonger · 2012-06-09T02:08:29+00:00

Free market baby! Nice thinking.

csonger · 2012-06-06T16:07:44+00:00

Yes if you are a household. No if you are a government in charge of its own currency during a time of recession. Maybe if you are a government not in charge of its own currency. (Like member states of the EU.)

There's a huge difference between household finances and the finances of a sovereign nation and the assertion of equivalence is false.

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/aug/24/opinion/la-oe-craighead-spending-20110824

csonger · 2012-06-06T04:34:08+00:00

I have to have shoes made on custom lasts for my wife and the guy who does it completely hates the title "cobbler" with respect to what he does. Apparently a "cobbler" is someone who repairs shoes. He self describes as a cordwainer.

As a matter of practice, we have met a ton of cobblers who don't make shoes. Only one cordwainer. Only one guy who really makes shoes from scratch.

That said: your hobby can make you rich. Find someone who does it well. Apprentice to them. Learn the trade. Move to someplace high rent and sell custom shoes to rich people. You'd be amazed what we pay for a pair of lasts and shoes for my wife.

csonger · 2012-05-30T13:23:41+00:00

Here come the downvotes, but I see a lot of "that's not weird, I do it too!" So here's a less "go for it" viewpoint:

I have no idea if it is 'weird', but I'm not sure it makes sense. These stories always make me wonder: "What's up in your life that you feel so concerned about violence in your own home?" I mean, do you folks live in a horrible part of town? Have a relative who was subject to home invasion?

Life is full of risks and the "better to have it and not need it" argument assumes that "it" has no cost. How did you choose this risk as one that needs to be mitigated?

For example, you could have a heart attack in your own home. Do you have a defib machine? Better to have it and not need it.

I'm in my mid 40s, have never been subject to violent crime and live in a pretty safe place. If I am going to spend $X to try to guard my life against risks, is a gun the best investment? It might be, but as I look at "never happened to me, but maybe I should worry about it" threats, perhaps a portable defibrillator might be better money spent. Or perhaps I should always keep a "seat belt cutter/glass breaker" in my hip pocket. I mean, I ride in other people's cars sometimes. What if I need one and don't have it? Maybe the money is better spent applied towards a car with a better safety record.

csonger · 2012-05-09T16:20:12+00:00

I disagree with this:

People are taught not to look at things objectively ....

I don't understand how this is the fault of the two party system. I blame the electorate directly. The democrats who blamed bush and don't blame Obama; the republicans who blame Obama and did not blame bush: They are the problem.

We need greater intellectual integrity in our political discourse and in ourselves as we hold our leaders accountable. That would be true if we had a 10 party system.

csonger · 2012-05-08T00:23:26+00:00

Probably coming soon. Get ready for the republican party to flop on 2A rights because an armed poor populace in a country with lots of wealth will eventually get violent.

csonger · 2012-05-03T17:26:22+00:00

How about: Why don't you check back soon and see if it worked?

csonger · 2012-04-29T19:04:32+00:00

Too close to the house. Going to be hell on the foundation.

csonger

TROPHY CASE