Author Archives: Anton

beauty’s where you find it

I mis-heard some trivial question as “What is Hamming music?” For some of us, the name Hamming is strongly associated with information theory, and so I imagined that “Hamming music” must be algorithmic composition using error-correcting principles. And that got … Continue reading

Posted in mathematics, music+verse | Leave a comment

“An Epidemic of ‘Isolated Incidents’”

Radley Balko has finished and published his report, Overkill: The Rise of Paramilitary Police Raids in America.

Posted in drugwar | Leave a comment

the FDA must die

The only effective treatment for Teresa Nielsen Hayden’s narcolepsy is no longer available, thanks to the risk-averse regulatory establishment. You know what they say: if a regulation can save just one life (in six years) — who cares how many … Continue reading

Posted in drugwar | Leave a comment

fret globally, sweat locally

I took a cold shower a few minutes ago and now the water dripping in my hair is hot. Any more of this and the chemo-kids are welcome to my amber waves! Seriously, do you know of any organization around … Continue reading

Posted in California | Leave a comment

spam-b-gone

Akismet appears to be effective in protecting WordPress blogs from spam.

Posted in blogdom, spam | 5 Comments

elsewhere

Will Wilkinson debunks the notion that private charity would be better spent to “leverage” government spending — in other words, in rent-seeking.

Posted in economics, politics | Leave a comment

quasi-human space exploration

It’s well known that a vampire exposed to sunlight will catch fire. But what if there’s no free oxygen about?

Posted in general | Leave a comment