Stirring, occasionally

A smart ass, mathematical twists, and the headband girls

2012-01-13T01:55:00.000-05:00

Creative Loafing (@cl_atlanta) fiction contest awards party filled the Highland Inn ballroom with the creative crowd and those who appreciate them. Once sufficient quantities of food and wine had been consumed, CNN's Elizabeth Landau (@lizlandau) read from her Mathematics for Life (http://bit.ly/yvpfSb) starting at number five, curiously the fifth digit of Pi, which Liz considers her favorite number and uses to frame the story. Starting off unevenly, the story finds its feet and flows on to become a poignant eulogy to a beautiful mind, intertwining the abstract and the vividly personal in a complex braid.

Benjamin Solomon's the Swallow (http://bit.ly/wcuHkP) throws the reader right into the aftermath of a gruesome crash and traces the ripples of causation through time.

Johnny Drago led his audience on a romp through a corner of the surreal landscape of his imagination in What have I done that you beat me these three times? Witty, occasionally snarky, with a delightful talent for twist of phrase tending to understated hyperbole and leaving one with a subtle sense of shifted reality, he rightfully won the applause, admiration, and the first prize. His ass truly was the star of the evening, and if you weren't there, you simply must read the story to understand. http://bit.ly/xdmNiF

The official proceedings having been proceeded according to precedent, the rest of the evening was filled with delights such as Free Poems On Demand (@freetweetsatl, @monumentalfolly) composing poetry, sometimes even rhyme, on any topic requested, written out in meticulous longhand on custom stationery, no less.

Laura brightened her corner of the space with her enthusiasm for the thoughtfully curated collection of small-press books (@vouchedatl) on display and for sale. Carapace (formerly MOTH) was rumored to be in attendance.

With an energy level bordering on the frenetic, Write Club (@writeclubatl) took (over) the stage. With "literature as bloodsport" as the tagline, it was no surprise that there was no consensus as to just what the First Rule of Write Club was alleged to be. Two no-devices-barred bouts on the themes of Addition vs. Subtraction and Divide vs. Multiply, with audience reaction precision-measured in real-time by the pseudorandomly appointed Blue Ribbon Panel of three not-so-innocent bystanders. The tale of the girl divided wrenched many a heart. A decidedly non-mathematical take on multiplication immensely amused all, with the slight exception of our fair Gallic visitors.

The Headband Girls made a valiant attempt to stay on the right side of the fine line between amplification and feedback unleashing an experimental-sounding panoply of notes, voices and echoes; reaffirmed their commitment to a Manifesto, and both committed as well as instigated more than a little bit of dancing.

"Party at Banana's house."

A dream of islands, defined

2012-01-10T10:44:00.000-05:00

In our linguistic annals there is a gaping void among the meticulously gathered lists of collective nouns. A crowd of people. A herd of buffalo. A pack of wolves. A ___________ of islands? Archipelago doesn't quite serve.

Henceforth, a collection of islands shall be called a dream.

Ex: You may find many a school of fish, wedge of swans, pod of porpoises, and perhaps even a pride of lions on a visit to that iridescent dream of islands, the Seychelles.

Credit for the inspiration must go to Philip Teece, the accomplished small-craft sailor and observer of nature.

Honey, I shrunk the grad students!

2011-11-24T04:10:00.001-05:00

Michael Crichton's _Micro_ disappoints.Cliched characters barely sketched out ... Evil villain CEO and his sidekick-in-high-heels CFO straight out of a Marvel comic-book ... Less attention to basic physics or thermodynamics (or plausible rationality) than one would expect from a Pixar cartoon. Loose threads conveniently tied up by wantonly killing off characters before we get to know them. Not that they'd exhibit any nuance or personality, anyway. Cardboard silhouettes of the token Organization Man, the Fitness Nut, the Foreigner (or two), et cetera. Did I mention preposterous disregard for any plausible extrapolation from known science and technology?This is no Andromeda Strain.

When the device has a mind of its own

2011-08-27T09:54:00.000-04:00

muteiny: n. -- spontaneous disengagement of the Mute function without your consent or knowledge. Especially interesting side effects during well-attended conference calls.

Defined: oscurofeliscopia

2010-11-02T00:35:00.001-04:00

Yet Another Word heretofore missing from English:

oscurofeliscopia (noun) - the tendency to mistakenly see every shadow in a dark space as a black kitten.

Lexicographers, opthalmologists, and psychiatrists, take note.

1/2 share available: Sukhoi SU-27 Flanker

2010-04-01T14:24:00.000-04:00

I am looking for a qualified partner to share half-ownership of this unique aircraft. One of the only two privately-owned airworthy Sukhoi SU-27 Flanker jets in the world, capable of a maximum speed of 1,147 knots (Mach 1.8) and with a service ceiling of 57,400 feet.

Economical to operate with two Saturn AL-31F turbojets (with afterburners), providing 27,557 lbs of thrust per engine. Fully IFR-equipped with U.S. avionics, instruments and cockpit markings.

Aircraft is to be based at the Lawrenceville airport (KLZU) and hangared. Serious inquiries only.

Shining, with brightness invisible to the naked eye

2010-03-25T00:46:00.000-04:00

Maria had every disadvantage one needs to succeed. Born in the semi-autonomous, at the time Russian-dominated Poland in the late 1800s, far removed from what aristocratic power structures existed at the time, she found her place in the underground Uniwersytet Latajacy, the 'Flying University'. The institution was dedicated to Polish autonomy and resisted all attempts at control by the imperial power.

Invited to Sorbonne, unable to pay the tuition, she managed to emigrate and obtained a French citizenship. Before long, she had earned degrees in mathematics, physics and chemistry, and was doing original work on magnetism and the properties of uranium compounds.

Before the age of 32, she had discovered two previously unknown elements, Polonium and Radium, coined the term 'radioactivity', and by 36 was awarded the Nobel prize in physics, the first woman to receive it. She went on to become the first woman professor at the Sorbonne.

Mother of two daughters, she managed to balance work and parenting by hiring governesses to assist in care and education of her children.

Since the damaging effects of ionizing radiation had not yet been established, she had conducted the bulk of her work without any safety measures. For this, she paid the ultimate price, dying of illnesses caused by radiation exposure.

Her work has far outlived her, influencing cancer therapies, research into structure of matter, and fundamental physics.

She is remembered by the SI unit Ci, the Curie, a measure of radioactivity.

A word heretofore lacking, lexicographers take note.

2010-01-12T17:53:00.000-05:00

"An onomatopoeia or onomatopœia,
from the Greek ὀνοματοποιία (ὄνομα for "name" and ποιέω for "I make"),
is a word that imitates or suggests the source of the sound
that it describes."

    -- Wikipedia

Similarly, morphopoeia is now defined as a word, the saying of which shapes the mouth into or thru a pose suggestive of its meaning.

Examples: grin, lick, pucker

Alternate spelling: morphopeia

Defcon 15 Shirt Decoded

2009-12-08T01:13:00.000-05:00

This is the front of a Defcon15 shirt. Looks like a QR-code, but won't scan. Hmm. The three corner positioning marks are artfully modified. Let's fix them up:

Looks better. Now, the alignment mark gives us another clue. Near the lower-right corner we should see a black dot surrounded by a white box. What should be black is white, and vice-versa.

That fixes it. Color-invert, plus a slight rotation for better alignment. Finally, let's apply a threshold to cleanly separate black from white:

Nice! Now it scans. Contents:

00110011001100010011001100110011001101110011010001001100010010010100011001000101

Eighty bits. Obvious guess is that we have ten eight-bit characters. Probably ASCII-encoded:

00110011 = 51 = 3
00110001 = 49 = 1
00110011 = 51 = 3
00110011 = 51 = 3
00110111 = 55 = 7
00110100 = 52 = 4
01001100 = 76 = L
01001001 = 73 = I
01000110 = 70 = F
01000101 = 69 = E

Et, voila: "31337 4 LIFE"

Fall colors at my wingtips.

2009-10-28T19:51:00.000-04:00

"Except when necessary for takeoff or landing, no person may operate an aircraft below the following altitudes:

(c) Over other than congested areas. An altitude of 500 feet above the surface, except over open water or sparsely populated areas. "

-- Federal Aviation Regulations, Part 91, Section 119

So, let's find some sparsely populated airspace to play with. There's this river. I know its every twist and turn, I know the hills and ridges by its banks. Most importantly, I know where the powerlines cross.

From the sky it appears as a narrow ribbon cutting thru the forest canopy, here and there reflecting the sun back at me. I accelerate and descend to just above the trees. Line up with the waterway, and drop down to below treetop height.

The river dictates my course now. It zigs left, I follow. Steeply banked turn, one wing points almost at the ground, the other skyward. River zags to the right, I follow. Now a u-turn. A few seconds of straight and level, then comes what I know as "the impossible turn". Using my excess airspeed I pop up out of the canyon of foliage for a shortcut. Quickly I pick up the river again, and drop back down.

Now it no longer feels as if I'm flying. Rather, I am suspended in space while the forest flows past me, the world directly attached to my control stick. I tilt it left, then right, then twirl it around me.

I am nearing the limits of my well-surveyed course. Not far ahead are powerlines. Then a dam.

Back at a comfortable altitude I relax, and gently slide my eyes over the landscape below, no longer rushing by.

...

(Video of a later breezy flight along the same river)

Faster

2009-10-21T05:00:00.000-04:00

John ran, his pursuer close behind. "Stop! " his pursuer shouted. "Security! Stop him, he has a knife!". John ran faster. A uniformed guard stood, blocking the way. "Help, it's not me, he's mad," John said as he dodged the guard, his accuser following. Faster. John saw a sharp glint in the blur behind him. Faster. "You! You killed me! You're not human!" he heard from behind. John ran. Past a baggage carousel, over a low railing, away from windows. His footsteps echoing on granite tiles, the crowd parting. John ran. His shadow now even closer. John glanced back, saw his pursuer had dropped to the floor, yet hadn't slowed down. He seemed even faster, loping on four legs. Or was it eight? John ran. Past the potted palm trees, up an escalator, along a high walkway. His legs stumbling, his chest heaving, vision blurry. John screamed as he felt two sharp points puncture his left heel. The venom burned in his blood.

She's not sure she can fly.

2009-09-04T22:49:00.000-04:00

She has taken flying lessons. She has passed the test, and holds a Private Pilot certificate (license to fly). They have bought an airplane. However, she is not comfortable. The only airplane she has flown is the model used by her instructor. Even of that model, she is truly only comfortable with one particular plane. The one she's landed the most. The one she feels she can put down precisely on the spot she has picked out on the runway.

The plane she co-owns is very different from those she learned on. The wings are below the cabin, not above. The instruments, the controls, everything feels different. Most importantly: the sight picture, the view out the window, is very different. The feel, the balance, the tactile feedback that a pilot uses to make a smooth landing, are not at all familiar.

Today, we flew. She flew. I reassured her, I kept her safe. I am not a certified flight instructor. I could not teach her. I could, however, act as safety pilot. She takes off, I remind her to watch airspeed. She flies the traffic pattern, I help out on the radio. She comes in for landing, I reassure her that she's doing all right.

The first landing, she did all by herself. It was not beautiful, but it was a good landing. Let's try again. The next, I helped a tiny bit. The last one, all hers again. Yes, the plane bounced off the runway on the first attempt. Well within mechanical tolerances. Yes, she got it down without any help.

She's a pilot. She can fly.

IgniteATL - a "mini TED" of the southeast.

2009-09-03T23:16:00.000-04:00

Take two parts TED, one part Pecha Kucha, add a dash of irreverence, set the blender to fast and what you get is Ignite, a show-and-tell for intelligent adults. Tonight was the first, but certainly not the last, incarnation of Ignite Atlanta (IgniteATL).

Eighteen luminaries, visionaries, and all-around nerdy goofballs each had a turn on the stage at GTRI's conference center. Alone with a wireless microphone, the wall-sized screen behind relentlessly advancing at the rate of one slide every fifteen seconds.

Topics included competitive CPU overclocking, transcendent architecture, maglev transportation, intersection of life sciences with the world of business, DIY spacefaring, suborbital skydiving, locomotion in granular media, drawbacks of hydrogen as a power source, beer brewing, high dynamic range imaging, and many others.

The presenters managed to educate, enlighten, and entertain for over two hours an audience of about 470, most wirelessly networked on laptops, iphones, blackberries, androids, and all manner of other geek-toys. Twitter, eventhive, and backnoise were abuzz with real-time commentary on each presentation ranging from delighted to snarky.

Highlights:

"Problems are a sign of life" -- David Eckoff on mistakes people make.

"The more you complain, the more you will have to complain about" -- Corvida on common sense and why it isn't more common.

"Stupid fast!" -- Chris Morrell on sustainable overclocking of CPUs.

"Maglev is transportation of the future, and always will be" -- Emily Morris

"WTF! I guess we'll have to do it our damn selves!" -- Michael Mealling on space exploration.

"Not to be used as sex toys" -- Scott Burkett on pineapples.

"Just a real pain in the ass" -- Stephen Fleming on hydrogen.

"Drink good beer with good people" -- Jonathan Baker on monday night brewing.

"Don't rely on software to align your shots" -- Paul Stamatiou on high dynamic range photography.

"Don't be a sheep" -- Tessa Horehled

"Tweeting NO! Posting YES!" -- Andrew Hyde on the posting economy.

"Open source or die" -- Joshua Davis on military open-source software.

"Cash is king. Equity is king squared." -- Paul Freet on parallel enterpreneurism.

"Technology is our gravity" -- Keith McGreggor on the singularity.