I am where I am

As I finished up work for the day, a thought occurred to me. Earlier I had configured a system for a test, and when it worked I got that sense of satisfaction that I only get from a computer. It's binary in nature: it works, or it doesn't.

And when it did, I caught myself feeling... happiness.

So as another day at the office ends, I feel content. I may not be living my dream, and what I'm doing may not be so lofty as to change the world, but it makes a difference to someone.

And that is satisfying in its own quiet way.

Another tech bubble?

You be the judge. From the New York Times:

Quote for the day

The problem with people who have no vices is that generally you can be pretty sure they're going to have some pretty annoying virtues.

-- Elizabeth Taylor, 1932-2011

Goodbye, Elizabeth

I'm going to say this just once, and then we'll never speak of it again: imagine that Elizabeth Taylor was our friend and was here, in that Maggie the cat dress, dancing with us now.

-- Michael to Bette, on the dance floor at Aftershock, circa 1995

Note to the anti-wind turbine crowd...

From the New York Times:

The American Bird Conservancy estimates that up to 500 million birds are killed each year by cats — about half by pets and half by feral felines...

By contrast, 440,000 birds are killed by wind turbines each year, according to the United States Fish and Wildlife Service....

Quote for the day

Many of us crucify ourselves between two thieves--regret for the past and fear of the future.

-- Fulton Oursler

Voicemail is so 20th century

I just left someone a voicemail, and given how rarely I do that these days, it felt a bit awkward.

The New York Times had a good article yesterday about how the culture has turned its back on voice calls. I immediately forwarded the link to Bette who once remarked, "I just need a phone to make, and occasionally receive, calls." :-)

Song for the day

Nina Simone's "O-o-h Child."

(Video link)

The latest on the Japan nuclear plant situation

From the Los Angeles Times:

U.S. government nuclear experts believe a spent fuel pool at Japan's crippled Fukushima reactor complex has a breach in the wall or floor, a situation that creates a major obstacle to refilling the pool with cooling water and keeping dangerous levels of radiation from escaping.

That assessment by U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission officials is based on the sequence of events since the earthquake and information provided by key American contractors who were in the plant at the time, said government officials familiar with the evaluation. It was compelling evidence, they said, that the wall of the No. 4 reactor pool has a significant hole or crack.

If they're unable to keep these still-hot fuel assemblies covered with water, the uranium in them will continue to release radioactivity and make it more difficult to handle the ongoing problems at the other five reactors on the site.

The BBC has a helpful "What Went Wrong?" infographic here (scroll to the bottom of the story).

The slow-moving nuclear catastrophe in Japan

The Guardian has a really useful live blog of events at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear complex on their news blog page. Click on the "Japan nuclear crisis" link there; it updates regularly. It's the best single source of information I've found on the topic.

Note that reactor #3 is the only one that contains plutonium, making containment there particularly important.

And you wonder why...

If you find yourself skeptical of politicians' rhetoric, Ezra Klein thinks the hypocritical circumstances of Democratic Senator Evan Bayh's retirement are a perfect reason why:

When he decided not to seek reelection in 2010, he published a precise and devastating broadside against the institution in which he and his father had served. Instead of merely condemning the bitter partisanship of the place, he proposed to close the loopholes that had enabled polarization to metastasize in paralysis. “Filibusters should require 35 senators to ... make a commitment to continually debate an issue in reality, not just in theory,” he wrote. And “the number of votes needed to overcome a filibuster should be reduced to 55 from 60.” Strong stuff. He then went after money in politics, calling for “legislation to enhance disclosure requirements, require corporate donors to appear in the political ads they finance and prohibit government contractors or bailout beneficiaries from spending money on political campaigns,” not to mention “public matching funds for smaller contributions. Bayh had no record of leadership on any of these topics. But, in part for that reason, it was particularly potent to hear him speaking out on them.

But Bayh, rather than returning to teaching as he told Ezra that he wished to do, will be splitting his time between a law firm that lobbies for big corporations and foreign governments and... being a commentator for Fox News.

Ezra's full post is well worth a read.

Biology notes

The amazing, tool-making crows:

New Caledonian crows are renowned for their toolmaking skills.

In the complexity, fluidity and sophistication of their tool use, their ability to manipulate and bird-handle sticks, leaves, wires, strings and any other natural or artificial object they can find into the perfect device for fishing out food, or fishing out second-, third- or higher-order tools, the crows have no peers in the nonhuman vivarium, and that includes such textbook dexterous smarties as elephants, macaques and chimpanzees.

(Video link)

AND on the human sexuality front, research has determined that men think women are most attractive during ovulation... unless the man passing judgment is already in a relationship.

Meanwhile, women who are dating men perceived to be less attractive than them tend to flirt more around the time they're ovulating, even if they have no intentions on walking out on their mate.

More interesting insights into the mysteries of human romance and reproduction here.

Alfalfa irony

The U.S. Department of Agriculture recently approved the use of genetically modified alfalfa. I love the irony in this comment from an agribusiness spokesperson:

Critics of planting restrictions said they were concerned that the approach used in alfalfa would eventually be extended to other crops, causing restrictions on the growing of corn, soybeans and cotton, the vast majority of which are already genetically engineered.

“It’s like a Pandora’s box,” said Keith Menchey, manager of science and environmental issues for the National Cotton Council of America. Critics also said that the growing of alfalfa based on pollen drift concerns would undermine Washington’s efforts to persuade other countries to accept genetically modified crops. The Agriculture Department first approved the commercial planting of the genetically engineered alfalfa in 2005. But some environmental groups and alfalfa seed producers sued.

Mr. Menchey thinks that allowing the government to take action to prevent the unintended introduction of Monsanto's Roundup resistance genes into non-engineered alfalfa represents a Pandora's box problem, while I think the real Pandora's box is putting the gene in alfalfa seeds in the first place.

Unfortunately the government sided with Menchey and Monsanto. Sigh.

I WROTE my Representative, Earl Blumenauer, about the issue. Here is his response:

Thank you for contacting me with your concerns about Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). I appreciate hearing from you.

Experience has demonstrated that GMOs may pose significant risks to the existing food system. Seeds from genetically modified crops can migrate to neighboring fields or farmland, leading to the creation of monocultures which are dangerously vulnerable to disease and exposing small-farmers to potential claims of patent–infringement.

Furthermore, the potential risks to human health posed by GMOs are still poorly understood. A recent study published in the International Journal of Biological Sciences found that certain varieties of genetically modified corn caused long-term organ damage in rats. Offspring of rats fed genetically modified soy have also shown abnormally low birth-weights and increased sterility. And investigators in India have documented fertility problems, premature births, and other serious health problems among buffaloes fed genetically modified cottonseed.

Given the seriousness of these findings, it makes sense to proceed with caution when it comes to approving new or existing GMOs for commercial use. I have strong concerns about the deregulation of genetically engineered alfalfa, and I hope that Agriculture Secretary Vilsack will reconsider this decision. I have also expressed my concerns about genetically engineered (GE) salmon, specifically, to Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Margaret Hamburg, and hope the FDA will study this issue further to determine the environmental, ecological, and public health impact of GE salmon.

I strongly support mandatory labeling for foods that contain GMOs. Consumers have a right to this information, and I will continue pushing for stronger consumer protections when it comes to food safety.

Thank you again for contacting me about this important issue. Please continue to be in touch.

Sincerely,

Earl Blumenauer
Member of Congress

Internet security, esp. at public wi-fi hotspots

If you use public wi-fi networks at places like coffee shops, libraries, or airports, beware... it's gotten a lot more dangerous out there.

I wish I had read this article sooner, because I think I've been snared by this hack before: wi-fi "evil twins." Basically, these are fake, "free" internet hotspots set up in locations where you expect to find service, like airports. And in connecting to them you may be giving someone access to your online or financial identity.

And since being released on the net last fall, a new tool called Firesheep has been downloaded heavily all around the world. Once installed on a hacker's system, it allows them to steal your logon credentials to sites like Facebook when you access them via public wi-fi locations.

Either of these methods may be in use by that cute college kid sitting two seats away from you...

To protect yourself:

• confirm that the SSID of the wireless network you are connecting to is the right one (this means ask someone who should know if it's not posted!)
• log on to websites with https (rather than http) whenever it's supported (I'm switching from Yahoo! Mail to Gmail because the latter supports https as the default; it's not an option with Yahoo!)
  
• and to be completely safe, subscribe to a virtual private network (VPN) service; three are reviewed here (I use HotSpotVPN)
  

Katrina... Japan... and then?

Watching the latest coverage from Japan, I can't help thinking about what a similar disaster would be like here in Portland.

We saw what happened in Katrina. And now Japan, one of the world's most advanced nations, is struggling with everything from the "simple" act of getting food and fuel to those who lost their homes to the complexity of preventing further catastrophe at the six Fukushima Daiichi nuclear reactors.

Scary.

Live TV : Ustream

(Video link)

Quote for the day

And on the pedestal these words appear:
'My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
Look on my works, ye mortals, and despair!'
Nothing beside remains.
Round the decay
Of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare
The lone and level sands stretch far away.

-- Percy Bysshe Shelley (Ozymandias)

No easy answers to the energy question

Coal is the biggest contributor to global warming and negatively impacts the environment and human health.

Oil skews America's foreign policy and leads us into wars.

Nuclear power is so complex that human fallibility leads to disaster.

Solar and wind energy, ironically, bring out the least likely of critics: environmentalists and the NIMBY-focused middle class.

Efficiency gains can counter-intuitively lead to more energy use.

Oh, what is the human race to do?

Re-living the Bush disaster

I just watched Inside Job, the documentary about the global financial collapse we're just emerging from. And while there's plenty of blame to go around--the last several presidents and their economic teams (and that includes the Obama team), Phil Gramm and others in Congress, Ben Bernanke, Alan Greenspan--I found myself totally remembering what it was like to live through the George W. Bush presidency...

There's not much comfort in being able to boast that you've lived through the worst presidency ever.

Oligarchy, sigh.

(Video link)