...more recent posts
Dirty detritus for filthy lucre:
Antiques Roadshow is coming to town! (Does ebay tour?)
Slow as molasses. Yes I know. Made some changes this morning in an attempt at a stop gap solution to the speed problems we've been having. Didn't seem to help too much but your mileage may vary (I can always hope.) Anyway, we are close to a solution to this problem, so with the risk of sounding like a broken record, hang in there for just a little bit longer. I'm going to fix the problem with the only sure fire solution available to someone who's not that good at building faster software - I mean, of course, I'm going to throw more hardware at it. Soon. Soon.
On a related note, I'd appreciate some feedback on possible dates for a slightly larger than average gathering. This would be something like a launch party if this were a real site that did things like have launch parties. I'm thinking sometime after the second week of May. We should be running the new software on new (dedicated) hardware by then. I guess I'd like this to be a Friday or Saturday night. And of course I'd like as many of you as possible to be able to attend. Any late May scheduling conflicts that anyone is aware of at this point? Take your time. Thanks.
Thought I had a hangover, but maybe it's that sunspot.
Found a Quicksilver page, but no mention of a violinist, as was suggested last night.
When you look at the economics of it, saving the world just isn't worth it.
couldn't get you a link to this upi story, but here is a more technical paper from the authors, and here are some highlights:
“Spanish and American astrophysicists claim the universe we inhabit contains an infinite number of other universes like our own, called O-regions, that we will someday be able to contact. Jaume Garriga, of the University of Barcelona, and Alexander Vilenkin, of Tufts University, call the concept "many worlds in one."
…these universes are likely similar to our own -- share similar life forms, for instance – because they share a key feature with our world: a finite number of distinct histories. A history is the way something has evolved in time and will continue to evolve. Until now, physicists have never been able to make such an assertion.
Are these ideas far-fetched? Alan Guth (MIT) says no. "Do I think that the ideas are viable? Definitely yes. In fact, I very much admire the precision with which the ideas are expressed. I consider the work of Alex Vilenkin and his collaborators to be the leading work in this field."
”Whenever a thought crosses your mind that a terrible calamity might have happened," Vilenkin told UPI, "you can be assured that it has happened in some of the other O-regions." Furthermore, since some O-regions have histories identical or nearly identical to our own, "if you nearly escaped an accident here, then you were not so lucky in some of the O-regions with the same prior history," he said
Guth also believes the many-worlds hypothesis has profound philosophical implications. "We already know that our planet is merely a tiny speck in a vast cosmos, but now we are being told that we do not even hold a unique copyright on our own identities," Guth told UPI. "Instead, each of us is actually only a single copy of an infinite number of beings that are completely identical to
ourselves."
More collectibles as entertainment.
I possess nothing of value, but Antiques Roadshow has become my excuse for never cleaning anything, just in case it might be worth a fortune.
Yeah, but what does He look like now?
Hello Monday. Any plans for the weekly IRL meeting? I think last week was a pretty big success. Bring your own Bereket seemed to work well. But there was some talk (I think maybe I started it) of going to Grand Szechun International (hereafter: GSI.) Anybody ready to think about this yet? I know it's only Monday, but you can't start planning for the weekend too soon (and yes, I realize that by counting Thursday as the weekend I might be pushing it.)
Mmmmmm... sea cucumber.
Steve Albini eyewitness record reviews.
Can you beat Joe D? (Winner gets a virtual night with MM (not Mickey Mantle)).
Steve, Bill, and I are expecting to meet at the Local tomorrow (Thursday 3/22) after work (5:30 PM). Show up, or let us know if you've got another suggestion.
Oh that clumsy(?) CIA.
Monday, Monday : Papa John dead @ 65 from heart attack, yesterday, yesterday. Ms and Ps made 5th grade kick for me. So many groovie hits in a row ! Nothing you didn't know already (including what he was doing) in todays nyt obit.
traffic outtakes? no, california in the 20s.
William F. Buckley weighs in on Traffic.
from lemonyellow, the invisible library, books that only appear in other books.
this list looks alot better than that one from from RIAA. all hail elvis
Nice new comment feature on drat fink's page.
Spring must be close when your office building issues a
BULLETIN like the one I just received from the PA @ for WTC :
"You may remember that last year, The New York Audubon Society contacted us concerning the dangers migrating birds face in large metropolitan areas, specifically high rise buildings. At that time, The Society advised us that the fall migration pattern was from August through November and the spring migration pattern was from mid-March through mid-June. As mid-March is approaching, we are requesting once again that you turn off all office lights in the evening hours or, at the minimum, close the blinds. We realize this is difficult as many of you have employees who work late into the evenings and it is difficult for us too as the house keeping personnnel are cleaning the offices. However, we would appreciate it if you would ask your employees to turn off your lights once they leave for the evening. Thank You........"
- This request might also apply to the last person leaving Detroit.
Marianne Nowottny will be performing @ Tonic this Saturday
@ 8:00 pm. I hope to be going.
Marianne Nowottny at 8:00pm, $10
"New Jersey teen Marianne Nowottny returns to Tonic this evening
with her torchy resin voice, off-kilter harmonics and Radio Shack
keyboard. Nowottny is able to glide through scale modulation
seemingly effortlessly, stopping at random quarter-tones and angular
intervals that are unique and hyper-personal. Her song compositions,
which explore multi-layers of sound and textures, can be compared to
the early electronic music experiments of John Pfeiffer or the pop-
music simulations of Brian Eno. "Marianne Nowottny is a delicately
balanced combination of warped teenage nihilism, otherworldly
visitation and sheer joy-in-creation."
- David Keenan The Wire
TONIC
107 Norfolk Street
(Between Delancey & Rivington)
212-358-7501 / http://www.tonic107.com
I am in the process of switching over the picture handling system. I'm moving all the pictures out of the database and into the filesystem. Hopefully you will not notice anything about this change (everything will work exactly as before, although theoretically a tiny bit faster.) If you do notice anything is amiss with any photos please let me know here ASAP. I'll keep the old system in place (but not operating) for several days just in case I need to switch back. Thanks.
This site may be known to some of you, but Bill said he hadn't seen Fabulous Ruins of Detroit, so I'm posting the link. It's definitely worth a look.
ebay question (bill): how do i not get items for which "bidding is closed" in my search? i must say, i am not a happy first-time user thus far.