Well, I didn't go to the Air Show. That required some effort from me, like getting up earlier to have enough time to get to the CNE grounds. ^_^
But I needed to get out for a while so I decided to drop in unexpectedly on both my sisters. To my surprise they were both home! So I had a pleasant afternoon catching up with the family stuff. Thankfully, there's not much to report. In our family, no news really is good news.
Monday, September 7, 2009
Sunday, September 6, 2009
Labour Day Weekend
Its a long weekend and I worked today. I was upgrading a customer Debian server to Debian 5.0 Lenny. I scheduled the upgrade a few weeks ago and is the last of five servers for this customer. When I set up the schedule I didn't actually pay any attention to the holidays that might intervene. I've been self employed too long, I think.
I was considering going to see the Canadian International Air Show tomorrow, but I'm still not sure. I haven't been in a few years so there is an urge, but I'll need to get up earlier, which may be a problem. I'll just wing it, I guess.
I was considering going to see the Canadian International Air Show tomorrow, but I'm still not sure. I haven't been in a few years so there is an urge, but I'll need to get up earlier, which may be a problem. I'll just wing it, I guess.
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Shigofumi
Shigofumi is a fantasy anime series from 2008. A shigofumi is a letter from beyond the grave and is grated to a few as their final communication with the living. The letter is hand delivered by a postal worker from beyond. This story is about one such shigofumi postal worker, Fumika.
The first few episodes deal with the fairly routine task of delivering shigofumi until Fumika encounters someone who knew when she was alive. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent the Fumika is as much a mystery to her fellow postal workers. Although all postal workers are of course dead, Fumika is aging. Ultimately her past and present collide is a rather touching ending to the series.
There are no scenes of the after life except for those of the off duty postal workers. The point of view of the series is that of the living and how individuals cope with death. It is actually refreshing to see the subject handled in such a realistic manner, and makes the fantasy aspects of the story much more interesting.
The first few episodes deal with the fairly routine task of delivering shigofumi until Fumika encounters someone who knew when she was alive. As the story progresses, it becomes apparent the Fumika is as much a mystery to her fellow postal workers. Although all postal workers are of course dead, Fumika is aging. Ultimately her past and present collide is a rather touching ending to the series.
There are no scenes of the after life except for those of the off duty postal workers. The point of view of the series is that of the living and how individuals cope with death. It is actually refreshing to see the subject handled in such a realistic manner, and makes the fantasy aspects of the story much more interesting.
Friday, September 4, 2009
Forecasting
Here is a BBC article describing how the the IMF's forecasts got the downturn all wrong. What I'm wondering is if they examined their forecasting models to see if they can be improved.
Somehow I doubt it. More likely everyone just threw up their hands and said "Oops, we goofed," and just continued with same assumptions as before. Economics isn't a scientific or technical field so there is no need to prove your ideas are correct. You only have to convince enough people to follow you. Sounds more like religion, actually,
Somehow I doubt it. More likely everyone just threw up their hands and said "Oops, we goofed," and just continued with same assumptions as before. Economics isn't a scientific or technical field so there is no need to prove your ideas are correct. You only have to convince enough people to follow you. Sounds more like religion, actually,
Thursday, September 3, 2009
Tom Baker Returns As The Doctor
No, no, not on television! Tom Baker is reprising his role as the fourth Doctor in a new Doctor Who audio drama. The first episode was released today. If you even for a moment thought Baker could do it on TV, you obviously haven't seen him recently.
To many in North America, Baker's portrayal is the Doctor, even though it was already the fourth incarnation. David Tennant is now my favourite Doctor but it took many incarnations to replace Baker.
To many in North America, Baker's portrayal is the Doctor, even though it was already the fourth incarnation. David Tennant is now my favourite Doctor but it took many incarnations to replace Baker.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
The Corporation
Tuesday, September 1, 2009
Commercial Space Flight
Aircraft technology was developed because a handful of entrepreneurs saw opportunities to make money. The early years of space flight was completely different. The governments of the U.S. and the U.S.S.R were the only groups developing space flight. It was really just a pissing contest with no long term goals or commercial interests.
SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, and Virgin Galactic are hoping to change all of that, but so much time has been lost. Aircraft went from crude prototypes to production combat models in under fifteen years. What would have been accomplished in the fifty odd years since the first satellite if that had been achieved as a commercial venture?
My imagination runs wild thinking about it.
SpaceX, Orbital Sciences, and Virgin Galactic are hoping to change all of that, but so much time has been lost. Aircraft went from crude prototypes to production combat models in under fifteen years. What would have been accomplished in the fifty odd years since the first satellite if that had been achieved as a commercial venture?
My imagination runs wild thinking about it.
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