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June 1st, 2012
 | 04:06 pm - Scrapbook transmogrification
My Scrapbook has been "migrated." There are no preview images, the structure of nested galleries has turned into a long flat list of galleries, and my friends-locked images are gone or else hidden in some obscure corner.
LJ has taken yet another drop in my regard. Time to look for some other image hosting site. (Anyone have any experience with Photobucket?) I don't know whether it's worth cleaning up this mess or I should just empty out the Scrapbook. Since the latter is irreversible, I won't do anything right away.
Current Mood:  angry
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May 27th, 2012
 | 08:03 pm - Beware of collect calls
In February I accepted a collect call from Worcester, Massachusetts, which lasted 6 minutes. It showed up on my phone bill as a charge for $27.10 on my phone bill. This was a $25.03 charge from Intellicall plus tax.
I'm never accepting another collect call again. If you need to call me from a public location and don't have a cell phone, buy a $10 phone card; they're sold at convenience stores and other places. It's cheaper even if you never use the card again. I'll reimburse you if the situation calls for it.
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May 26th, 2012
 | 08:14 pm - New song: Georgia Girl
My subconscious is as warped as Shaun Mason's. As I was bicycling home today from a party, the song "Georgy Girl" lodged itself in my mind. I quickly realized it was material for a Newsflesh filk, but only after setting out the first few lines did I realize just where it was inevitably headed!
Now someone has to write "Georgia in my Mind."
SPOILER WARNING for Feed and Blackout
( Here be spoilers )
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 | 08:38 am - Everybody Draw Mohammed Day
The second anniversary of EDMD was a week ago and I missed it, so today I'm doing a belated repost of my original offering.
Notes: (1) "Muhammad" is the preferred transliteration these days, but "Mohammed" has stuck for this event, and I don't want to give the impression of hiding. (2) I can't draw at all; this is a reworking of elements from XKCD under its Creative Commons license. Randall Munroe retains copyright to any recognizable fragments but has nothing to do with this. (3) Click for the full-size version.
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May 19th, 2012
 | 12:27 pm - Opera detective
Operas have such a reputation for bad plotting that some people overconfidently nitpick them. Beethoven's Fidelio deserves some of the nitpicks it gets. Leonore infiltrates the prison disguised as a young man, and she's so successful that she gets engaged to the jailer's daughter rather than blow her cover. But there's at least one complaint that isn't justified by a careful reading. (Should I put up a spoiler alert? For an opera?)
As Leonore holds Pizarro at gunpoint down in the dungeon, a trumpet announces the arrival of Don Fernando. A few seconds later it sounds again, louder. Nitpickers point out that the trumpet shouldn't have moved, and there's no mention of a relay. But it actually makes sense. The exact stage direction is "Man hört die Trompete stärker," the trumpet is heard more strongly. Immediately after this second trumpet call, Jaquino appears at the top of the stairs and announces the Minister's arrival.
So it's very simple. The door was opened before the second trumpet call.
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May 18th, 2012
 | 03:34 pm - A strange software marketing model
One of my current tasks is to determine whether a software toolkit called Kakadu is suitable for our needs in processing JPEG2000 files. At first I had a hard time making sense of their licenses. We can obtain the software for free indirectly by getting an open source package called Djatoka which incorporates it; the Djatoka people paid for a license which lets them distribute the binaries for free. After a while I figured out that Kakadu is, in effect, giving away the software but selling the documentation. Only after we get a license do we have access to the full documentation.
To make things more confusing, an evaluation license costs $500, but a full license will cost us only $250. The reason for this is that the evaluation license is priced for for-profit users, and we qualify for the cheap license as an academic library.
This strikes me as a dubious marketing model. It means that we can't really tell if the software is suitable for us till we buy it. This isn't all that big a deal at the price, but I've been getting third-party reports about what it can do that seem inaccurate and unfavorable to Kakadu, based on the limited documentation they've made public. By not letting the API be public, they've invited evaluation by rumor.
I'm inclined to recommend Kakadu anyway, but my job would have been easier if they hadn't gone about selling it the way they did.
Update: Making things more confusing, the description of the "Non-commercial, Named User Licence" says, "This licence can only be purchased by individuals, Academic Institutions, not-for-profit organizations and libraries which do not gain financially by using this software." However, the actual license text says: "Licensee means the individual single end-user that has purchased the KAKADU Software and is granted the non-commercial license under this Agreement." There's no mention of institutional licensees. The license is sloppily written in other respects as well, and Kakadu has been unresponsive to our queries.
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| 01:05 pm - Scalzi and Coulton
Jonathan Coulton and John Scalzi discuss JoCo's songs, with special attention to "The Future Soon." ![[info]](http://l-stat.livejournal.com/img/userinfo.gif?v=92.2) happyfunpaul, you've seen this already, of course?
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| 05:58 am - Schumer's demagoguery
Charles Schumer, who first came to national prominence by derailing the hearings on abuse of law enforcement power at Waco, has once again shown how slimy he is just by his choice of name for a piece of legislation. He sees it as a major problem that U.S. taxes may drive Americans to renounce their citizenship. Rather than doing something about this burden, he's proposing a bill which is very vague in its current description but either would be an ex post facto law or would claim taxing authority over non-citizens in foreign countries, it's not clear which.
But what's impressively slimy is the name: the "Ex-PATRIOT Act." This is an obvious play on the legislation which has torn down so many civil liberties, combined with a McCarthyist assault on people for ceasing to be "patriotic." Schumer not only isn't hiding his desire to punish disloyalty, he's making it the theme of his attack.
But Schumer's a Democrat and he's trying to take money from rich people, so progressives will goosestep right behind him.
Update: A third point is the appeal to illiterates who can't tell "expatriate" from "ex-patriot."
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May 17th, 2012
| 09:58 am - Coyote
There have been several sightings of a coyote in our condo complex. I haven't seen it myself, but the list of roads on which it's been seen includes mine. I posted a link on my unofficial Ledgewood Hills website to tips by the Nevada Department of Wildlife, which looked as reliable as any I could quickly find, even though New Hampshire has a very different environment. Any other suggestions or links are welcome.
So far no Acme delivery trucks have been seen.
Current Music: Beep Beep
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May 15th, 2012
| 05:42 am - New on Files That Last
Resurrecting Files. With files as with people, there's a big difference between mostly dead and all dead.
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May 14th, 2012
| 09:07 am - Beethoven's Choral Fantasy
This morning on the train, I listened to the recording of Beethoven's Choral Fantasy with Leon McCawley and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, which I'd gotten along with Der Glorreiche Augenblick. Whether because I was in the right mood or because of the performance, I especially enjoyed hearing it this time. It's in two sections. The first is for just the piano, and McCawley takes it more broadly than other recordings that I've heard, which I like. Beethoven very likely improvised that section at the first performance and then wrote it down (yeah, he was the kind of guy who could do that).
The second part clearly anticipates the "Ode to Joy" of the Ninth Symphony. The orchestra sneaks in as if on tiptoe, then kicks around a three-note short-short-long motif as if daring the pianist to do something with it. He does, with a tune which has a distant but genuine relationship to the Ode to Joy. As in the Ninth Symphony, it does through a series of variations, and then the chorus comes in with its own treatment of the same tune. The words are similar in spirit to the Ode to Joy, if not as distinguished. Then the solo singers come in, leading to a grand finish.
It's a regular in concerts even though it requires bringing in a piano soloist, solo singers, and chorus, and with good reason.
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May 13th, 2012
| 05:54 pm - Blu-Ray
I just got my first Blu-Ray disc, Terminator 2. My reactions to it as technology:
• A note in the package warns that if the disc is newer than my player, I might need to get a software update for it to play properly. Not a problem in this case, but it could be in the future.
• The player tried to connect to the Internet when I started playing the disk. When it failed, I had to go through some extra steps to start the movie.
• The video quality isn't noticeably better on my TV than DVD is. Maybe it would be if I had two identical sets side by side, but I don't really care.
• This isn't specific to Blu-Ray, but why are so many movies on disc produced so that if the music and special effects are at a reasonable volume level for a home, the dialogue sounds whispered?
Wherever I have a choice, I'll stick with DVD.
Current Music: Judgment Day
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May 12th, 2012
| 07:03 pm - Der Glorreiche Augenblick
When Classics Online announced a special on a recording of Beethoven's Der Glorreiche Augenblick (plus the Choral Fantasy), I had to grab it. Among those who have heard of it, this cantata has an even worse reputation than Wellington's Victory. He wrote it for the Congress of Vienna and probably expected it would never be performed again.
It's Beethoven, so it isn't really bad music, but the unremitting pomp of the text leaves little room for subtlety. There are a few bits worth remembering, such as the duet passage for Vienna and the Genius (I won't try to explain). It's interesting more historically than musically, but for me it's worth having.
Here's a typical sample of the text:
Führer des Volkes
O seht sie nah’ und näher treten!
Jetzt aus der Glanzflut hebt sich die Gestalt.
Der Kaisermantel ist’s, der von dem Rücken
der Kommenden zur Erde niederwallt!
Sechs Kronen zeiget er den Blicken:
an diesem hat den Busenschluß
der Aar geheftet mit den gold’nen Spangen,
und um des Leibes Faltenguß
seh’ ich des Isters Silbergürtel prangen.
("Aar" is an old word for eagle, apparently. The program notes say "Ister" is an old name for the lower Danube.)
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May 11th, 2012
 | 05:54 am - People's suffering "not an issue of significance" to Romney
Both major presidential candidates' positions on medical marijuana are disgraceful. Obama has broken earlier promises and claimed he never made them in order to go after dispensaries. Romney is even worse, though. He's declared that medical marijuana is "not an issue of significance," meaning not that there isn't any reason to continue outlawing it, but that people seeking to use it for relief from pain are insignificant and should continue to be prosecuted.
If he thought, or even claimed he thought, that marijuana is therapeutically ineffective or harmful, then he might be wrong but at least he'd be offering a legitimate case. But his argument is that marijuana is a "gateway drug," that people who use it might resort to more powerful drugs.
There are a number of legal prescription drugs which patients often abuse, sometimes moving to more powerful and dangerous drugs. By Romney's reasoning, these should be deemed "not of significance" and outlawed. He wants people seeking pain relief to remain in pain because he considers them incapable of taking medication responsibly.
Does Romney actually believe his argument? There's no telling. He's well established as a candidate who'll take any position that he thinks will help to elect him. What is clear is that he is willing to maintain prohibitions that cause people physical suffering because that will help him get elected. As far as I can tell, he has never either expressed sympathy for people who would benefit from it nor claimed that the benefit they gain is an illusion.
A person who wants to inflict pain on others to advance his own career is unfit for any honest employment. That must be why he's running for president.
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May 10th, 2012
 | 06:52 am - Raumpatrouille Orion
Recently I got Raumpatrouille Orion, "die Kult-Kollektion auf 3 DVDs," from Amazon.de, and I've had a chance to enjoy some of it while out on medical leave. Previously I'd seen the movie, "Rücksturz ins Kino," which is a rather dreadful job of pasting together clips from the episodes; the episodes themselves are much better so far. The science is awful (the writers clearly didn't have the vaguest idea what a supernova is) and the special effects cheap, but it has a good balance of serious adventure and fun and the characters are interesting. The Hydra is under the command of a woman, which is something Star Trek never did for any Federation ship. In the episode I just saw, the Orion was destroyed to take out the aforementioned supernova; it'll be interesting to see what happens next to let McLane keep his job.
There's just one technical issue, which perhaps someone who has the same set can help with. The box claims English and German subtitles are available, but I can't find any either under the menu or with the Subtitle button. Is there some unusual place where German DVDs hide their subtitles? I find it easier to understand German-language videos when they're subtitled in German.
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May 8th, 2012
| 06:21 am - New on FTL
Did you know that the animation files for Toy Story 2 were almost lost to an inadvertent "rm *"? On this week's post I analyze what happened, going just by a video which comes from Pixar but obviously takes serious liberties with the facts. Did somebody really unplug the computer in order to stop the files from being deleted? Who knows. They certainly shouldn't have.
Read all about it here.
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May 7th, 2012
 | 04:39 pm - State of self
I had a medical procedure done this morning; a relatively minor thing, though they knocked me out for it. I'm in good shape now but will be staying at home through Wednesday on the doctor's instructions. (I argued, I ranted against that, but he was firm --- well, OK, I didn't.) There are no long-term issues. Thanks to folkmew for providing transportation.
This gives me time to work on the ConCertino songbook, so if you have songs to send me, this would be a really good time.
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May 6th, 2012
| 08:23 am - New song: The Elementary Cat
The Elementary Cat
Words: Gary McGath, Copyright 2012
Music: Frank Hayes, "Never Set the Cat on Fire"
Never set the cat on fire,
She will not want to stay there.
She doesn't have the least desire
To be a cat flambé there.
It's certain she would rather not
Be sitting where it's burning hot,
So never set the cat on fire.
Chorus:
And mind your humors
In everything you do and see.
You'll find it's elementary.
Never set the cat on water,
She's not good at swimming.
She'll think she's been brought to the slaughter
When the tub is brimming.
The liquid won't appeal to her,
Nor will the feel of soggy fur,
So never set the cat on water.
Chorus
Never set the cat on air,
She won't remain there floating.
It isn't dense enough to bear:
A fact that is worth noting.
The kitty cat will surely fall
On to the ground, and that is all.
So never set the cat on air.
Chorus
Always set the cat on earth,
That's where she has good standing.
She'll roll around with glee and mirth
When she has made safe landing.
When she has four paws on the ground
She'll know that she is safe and sound,
So always set the cat on earth.
Chorus
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May 5th, 2012
| 09:48 am - How to avoid spam reports and antagonize users
This morning I received a spam message with a btopenworld.com address in the Received header. A search indicated I should send a report to abuse@btopenworld.com. This got me an auto-reply saying, "Due to the volume of email we receive, we would be grateful if you could complete our Webform http://bt.custhelp.com/app/contact_email/c/5642,5651". I went there and discovered a form with a dozen fields, including two required phone numbers. I filled in fake numbers and found that the form checks that they're real phone numbers starting with 1 or 0, no hyphens or spaces allowed, thank you.
I entered fake numbers that were acceptable and pointed out in the form that users get a high volume of spam too, that I shouldn't have to jump through hoops to report spam, that my phone number is none of their business, and that I was simply going to block the server from which the mail came (which I've done). Hopefully this will only block spam and not any mail I actually want from the UK.
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 | 09:31 am - A country divided
This week I went to a talk at Harvard by Jerry Coyne, author of Why Evolution Is True. His presentation on how various kinds of evidence support the theory of evolution was excellent, but at the end he wandered a bit to explain why so many Americans reject evolution. He said that this is because of religion, and that America is a highly religious country because it's "dysfunctional" (by which he meant things such as income inequality, drug use, and incarceration rates). The first part is unquestionably true, but the second shows a lack of understanding of our history, whether or not you think we're dysfunctional. ( Longish essay )The way ideas influence history is complex and fascinating.
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