Isotropic is …
... my personal blog.
Unless otherwise indicated, anything I write here is simply my personal, probably ill-formed, opinion and does not represent the views, beliefs, positions, or opinions of any other person or entity.
Monthly Archives: December 2008
10 Dec 2008
Let It Snow
What you don’t see there is yesterday’s high: 73°F, with thunderstorms. So, from yesterday to tomorrow, the high temperature will drop by 50%. Also, 2-3 inches (so I’ve been told) of snow is predicted. Unlike this post, the temperatures are real. Of course what I’d really like to see is something like this (click on [...]
09 Dec 2008
Origin of “clone”
An interesting bit of trivia… Webber chose “clon.” From a Greek term meaning twig, spray, or slip, broken off for the purposes of propagation, “clon,” met Webber’s criteria of being short, euphonious, phonetically spelled, easily pronounced, and unlike any other word being used in the English language. –Alexandra Stern, Short, Euphonious, and Different: Clone is [...]
08 Dec 2008
Key Personnel Evacuation Plan
“In the event of a mass destruction attack on Fort Detrick with the resulting loss of Biological Warfare physical facilities, it is anticipated that it will be necessary to re-establish BW activities at some other location.” Thus begins a 1957 letter sent to key personnel, to be “kept on your person at all times”, identifying [...]
04 Dec 2008
I love a good rant
Wow. This is just a small portion of an epic post: This resonates particularly with me because today is a very special day. Today is the day when a private company actually succeeded in giving me customer service as bad as that of a government agency. And not just any government agency. I’m talking about [...]
03 Dec 2008
Welcome to the Gray Entity Society
I suppose I’m a (lowercase) libertarian; according to The World’s Shortest Libertarian FAQ, the simple definition of a libertarian “is someone who, in general, supports government policies that favor individual liberty in all matters, whether economic, personal, or social”. Until you offend me, of course … then I become a self-righteous prick. I ran across [...]
02 Dec 2008
Flailing Around
I think we’re leaving one metaphor on the table which more accurately reflects the way software is built in the real world: flail around randomly and pray you succeed by force of pure dumb luck. Sometimes it even works. Not very often, but just enough to confuse people who should know better into thinking they’re [...]
01 Dec 2008
Vacuum Flowers
Matter is nothing more than fluctuations in the quantum vacuum. Another flashback to (unrelated) old science fiction, Michael Swanwick’s Vacuum Flowers. Really, this is about the random fluctuations of my memory and web browsing serendipity. So … According to the NewScientist article It’s confirmed: Matter is merely vacuum fluctuations, reseachers using lattice QCD (quantum chromodynamics) [...]
