scenic rout

Posted on Sunday, 2003 January 12 by Anton

Took a spin up Skyline today (so my One True Ex could “look at trees”), and chanced to find Los Altos Rod & Gun Club. Guess I know what we’re doing next Sunday. (Later: Still haven’t.)

Posted in California, neep-neep | Leave a comment

wish I’d saved that issue

Posted on Sunday, 2003 January 12 by Anton

Once upon a time The New Republic had a contest to find the most boring headline. It is often said that the winner was “Worthwhile Canadian Initiative” — but my erratic memory says that headline was the inspiration for the contest, not an entry. Of course I don’t recall what the winner was; too boring. (But the prize was a copy of Gerald Ford’s memoir A Time to Heal.)

(later) Aha, I saved a copy.  Curiously, WordPress won’t let me put this list in a comment. Continue reading →

Posted in humanities | Leave a comment

dialect, chronolect

Posted on Friday, 2003 January 10 by Anton

Ken MacLeod’s novel The Sky Road is set at least a few centuries in the future. I once argued that there’s a limit to how far it can be, because the protagonist plays some voice-recordings from our time without mentioning the strangeness of the language. But now it hits me: Maybe English won’t sound any stranger a thousand years from now than the Queen sounds in Glasgow (where part of The Sky Road is set) today.

Speaking of books, does the Mafia in Snow Crash engage in any gainful trade other than pizza?

Posted in futures, language | Leave a comment

what hath Coxeter wrought

Posted on Friday, 2003 January 10 by Anton

pretty hyperbolic tilings

Posted in eye-candy, mathematics | Leave a comment

Arlo nails it

Posted on Friday, 2003 January 10 by Anton

One of my favorite songs begins:

It’s the tenth of January / and I still ain’t had no sleep

Posted in bitterness, music+verse | Leave a comment

globalization and the underground

Posted on Thursday, 2003 January 09 by Anton

Hm. I got this spam:

Hello and welcome to our super-undeground site —
Here you can find where to buy any drugs (including Cocaine and Ganja) absolutely risk-free, where to watch child pornography almost for free, where to find stolen credit cards.
You can even buy guns here (including beretta and desert eagle).

Well, in the spirit of scientific inquiry, I had a look. Guess what? The content is all in Russian!

Earlier today I got a pitch from an Italian tour organizer, in Arabic (using Arabic script anyway) and English.

Posted in spam | Leave a comment

tank treads without the wheels

Posted on Wednesday, 2003 January 08 by Anton

MIT Leg Lab’s Recti-Blob Robot (1995-1997). Mentioned in passing on a geometry list.

Posted in technology | Leave a comment