On the first day of statmech, the professor made an announcement. He told us that students had complained about typos in the book that we were going to be using, but he hadn't been able to find any. He had even checked the internet for errata or a list of typos, but came up with nothing. Since he thought it was a very good book, he still wanted to keep using it, but he added a safeguard. If anyone found a typo, he said, we should tell it to him, and he'd give us a dollar for every one we reported.

(It may have been a bad sign when someone immediately raised their hand and reported one, but I digress.)

I have now read the first chapter. If I'm correct, (and the other grad students seem to agree with me on this, so I don't think I'm crazy), the textbook has gotten the second law of thermodynamics wrong. Yes, the second law of thermodynamics.

...I think my professor's going to owe me a lot of money.

(Also, I teach my very own DangKids tomorrow. It's an 8 am section :(. Wish me luck!)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0CO53jQd60

If you can take the yelling, it's quite fun to see Kevin James forced to admit on TV that he has no idea what appeasement actually is, but he thinks Obama is doing it anyway.

At first, the object he had been working feverishly on looking like nothing more than an ordinary paperclip. Then, as he watched, its metal tip began to quiver. Unfolding to the first bend, the paperclip reached out and hooked onto the intricately linked surface of the paperclip workbench. It slowly pulled itself to a chunk of raw metal, waiting to be processed into the all important building blocks of the monkey's obsession. The monkey watched eagerly as the clip shaved off a piece of metal and began to bend it into another clip like itself. His building supply was now assured forever. But is wasn't long before a problem arose.

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Writing Rules:

1. First person to include the word "madness" in their comment takes next control of the story.

2. Person A writes paragraph. Person B comments "I claim this madness". Person B writes the next paragraph in their journal.

3. As part of taking control you may add or modify one rule.

4. When you post your next paragraph, post the previous portions of the story beneath an lj-cut at the bottom of the entry.

5.You may choose to write only one character's part of a dialog by commenting with "half-madness" (or quarter etc).
-For example: Person A writes paragraph. B comments "half-madness". C comments "half-madness." B and C each post half of the two person conversation. Person C allows no comments on their post and links to B's paragraph. Person D comments "madness" on B's paragraph. Person D writes paragraph. (Note that D could continue the story line before C posts or even comments))

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This took me a while to get around to, but I finally wrote it.

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( The first partCollapse )

Quoting Eric Flint quoting Macaulay:

"Those who forget history are condemned to repeat it. A century and a half ago, Macaulay predicted—with perfect accuracy—exactly what would happen if the music recording industry in the late 20th century reacted to new technological developments by getting their stooges in Congress to pass ever-more-burdensome laws forcing—or trying to force—their customers to accept their Royal Monopoly.

Read it and weep:

I will only say this, that if the measure before us should pass, and should produce one-tenth part of the evil which it is calculated to produce, and which I fully expect it to produce, there will soon be a remedy, though of a very objectionable kind. Just as the absurd acts which prohibited the sale of game were virtually repealed by the poacher, just as many absurd revenue acts have been virtually repealed by the smuggler, so will this law be virtually repealed by piratical booksellers. At present the holder of copyright has the public feeling on his side. Those who invade copyright are regarded as knaves who take the bread out of the mouths of deserving men. Everybody is well pleased to see them restrained by the law, and compelled to refund their ill-gotten gains. No tradesman of good repute will have anything to do with such disgraceful transactions. Pass this law: and that feeling is at an end. Men very different from the present race of piratical booksellers will soon infringe this intolerable monopoly. Great masses of capital will be constantly employed in the violation of the law. Every art will be employed to evade legal pursuit; and the whole nation will be in the plot . . .

Remember too that, when once it ceases to be considered as wrong and discreditable to invade literary property, no person can say where the invasion will stop. The public seldom makes nice distinctions. The wholesome copyright which now exists will share in the disgrace and danger of the new copyright which you are about to create. And you will find that, in attempting to impose unreasonable restraints on the reprinting of the works of the dead, you have, to a great extent, annulled those restraints which now prevent men from pillaging and defrauding the living."


Apparently the whole copyright issue played out with the exact same arguments a century and a half ago. Eric Flint has a very interesting series of articles on it here.

I've run out of reading material, so I'm looking to order some stuff from Amazon. the problem with Amazon is that you can't just browse the shelves like you would in a regular bookstore. Does anyone have good suggestions for interesting books to read? I'm looking for interesting science-fiction, fantasy, or nonfiction.

I finally have internet again! More information on what I've been up to (Japan!) and how I'm settling in should follow shortly.

...Getting your intertubes tied.

I'm off the waitlist! I'm going to Japan next year!