Sciolism Rocks

Despite my training in mathematics, I spend most of my day writing. And my group is a sort of end-to-end publishing house. I start with blank paper and wind up with a camera-ready book.

So I’m now acquainted with many of the finer points of publishing, like kerning, ligatures, and the fact that leading is pronounced “ledding”. I can’t imagine being the author of this book.

Update: Thanks, Xan, for pointing out the spelling mistakes in my original post. I’m used to using MarsEdit for all my entries, but that one I did using the WP web interface. Grrr.

I couldn’t agree more with Ben’s post at Big American Party! This comment won’t appear, so I’ll post it here.

IMHO, if there’s ever a time to plan to make big pots of soup, nice big roasts of meat, or simple cooking lesons for the small kids, it’s while you’re trapped inside because of snow. Oh, and do you think the library was swamped with people getting “Moby-Dick” or whatever other classic they never appreciated as a child?

Instead, everybody opts for sandwiches and television.

Oh, and Ben, should I replace Dr. Venus with Soccer Mom Monica as my favorite contender? Weird how all these contenders turn out to be Something/Model/Actress. Weird

The other view of my office. Now with more notes!

These pictures were both taken with my iPhone, which seems to have no feel for light or white balance.

MyWorkspace

Originally uploaded by Lee Creighton

Here’s my first attempt at using Notes on Flickr. A Lee-eyed view of where I work every day.

Here’s a fantastic article on the top ten economic fallacies that this econometrician wants to dispel. The only one I was already aware of was his first: the “broken window” fallacy, wherein a broken window results in work for a hardware store, a carpenter to install it, causing money to be inserted into the economy, spent, and circulated, thus a better economy.

Trask’s explanation:

The fallacy lies in a failure to grasp what has been foregone by repair and reconstruction—the labor and capital expended, having been lost to new production. This fallacy, seemingly so simple to explain and grasp, although requiring an intellectual effort of some mental abstraction to comprehend, seems to be ineradicable.

After the horrific destruction of the Twin Towers in September 2001, the media quoted academic and corporate economists assuring us that the government’s response to the attacks would help bring an end to the recession. What was never mentioned was that resources devoted to repair, security, and war-fighting are resources that cannot be devoted to creating consumer goods, building new infrastructure, or enhancing our civilization. We are worse off because of 9-11.

Imagine my surprise—nay horror—when I discovered that my favorite American Gladiator contender to be an American Gladiator (thanks Ben), Dr. Venus, is a professional reality show star.

Her web site contains a resume (I”m sorry, “media resume“) that lists the following.:

• American Gladiators — Contender — Reveille Productions/NBC
• Diagnosis X — Dr. Rachel Toledo — GRB Entertainment/TLC
• The Bachelor: Paris — Bachelorette — Next Entertainment/ABC
• Temptation Island — Single Woman — Rocket Science Labs/FOX
• I’d Do Anything — Featured Competitor — TWI / ESPN
• Scream Play — Featured Competitor — E! Entertainment
• Star Dates — Featured Guest — E! Entertainment
• How Do I Look? — Featured Guest — E! Entertainment
• Lawless — In-Line Skater — FOX

None other than the irrefutable Bruce Schneier has explained in two places (this Wired essay and in an answer on the Freakonomics blog) that it’s good in many ways to run an open home network. For a long time, mine was closed, but I have recently opened it because of his opinions.

To me, it’s basic politeness. Providing internet access to guests is kind of like providing heat and electricity, or a hot cup of tea. But to some observers, it’s both wrong and dangerous…
I remain unconvinced of this threat, though. The RIAA has conducted about 26,000 lawsuits, and there are more than 15 million music downloaders. Mark Mulligan of Jupiter Research said it best: “If you’re a file sharer, you know that the likelihood of you being caught is very similar to that of being hit by an asteroid.”

I’m also unmoved by those who say I’m putting my own data at risk, because hackers might park in front of my house, log on to my open network and eavesdrop on my internet traffic or break into my computers. This is true, but my computers are much more at risk when I use them on wireless networks in airports, coffee shops and other public places. If I configure my computer to be secure regardless of the network it’s on, then it simply doesn’t matter. And if my computer isn’t secure on a public network, securing my own network isn’t going to reduce my risk very much.