Extraordinary Thief

A very interesting story about an extraordinary thief, courtesy of Bruce Schneier

The Census: 2010

I finally filled in my census form and sent it in. I have to say, it was quite painless; I don't know why I waited so long.

One thing I find briefly amusing is that apparently many right-wing birthers, tea-partiers, and other wingnuts are rebelling and not sending in the form. I want to enjoy thinking about how all these nuts are shooting themselves in the feet, reducing their federal aid and congressional representation; but then I realize that, since the Census Bureau can't use statistical methods to improve the count, they are required to spend hundreds of millions of dollars to send canvassers out to try and correct the undercount. (For every one percentage point increase in the national participation rate by mail, taxpayers can help the Census Bureau save about $85 million in operational costs.) These guys spend so much energy decrying wasteful government spending, and then force the government to spend all this money to overcome their petulance.

Come on guys, just fill out the damn form!

The "Earth" in Earthquakes, Revisited

So apparently, when NASA told us how the Chilean earthquake altered the rotation of the earth, they didn't actually measure this, it was computer modeling. Now, someone has actually tried to measure it, and found ... nothing. Apparently, the Sumatra earthquake in 2004 packed a little more punch.

This evaluation differs from those obtained using theoretical models of the planet (such as the one produced by the Jet Propulsion Lab in Pasadena, California) which can estimate the extent of a shift on the basis of geophysical and seismological data. This is the type of calculation used in meteorological forecasts, which are based on data observed before a particular date and on theoretical models of how atmospheric phenomena develop.

What Privacy Problem?

I, for one, welcome our new Google overlords.

Funny

This video from The Onion is just about the funniest thing I have seen in a long, long time. I'm still laughing.

Why it sucks to be a progressive

A thorough and (as usual) eloquent summary by Glenn Greenwald of the "powerlessness of progressives." A quote:

Why would anyone in Washington -- surrounded by powerful lobbyists and people whose threats are actually credible -- ever take seriously or listen to a person who thinks and behaves this way (I'll support anything you want even if you ignore me, as long as I get a single crumb), and even proudly announces it in advance? They never would listen to such a person -- and they don't -- because that's the sure path to self-imposed irrelevance.

Interesting or Not?

Bruce Schneier points this out as interesting research, and it is. But is it really surprising? It seems to me that it has always been a feature in our society that we look with disapproval upon those who trade their core beliefs for some material advancement. In fact, it seems that some of the current malaise we feel today is due to the fact that although we disapprove, we see it happen more and more.

Just How Much?

This is a problem of a lack of perspective in the media, especially around numbers and percents.

Microsoft Courier

From Google Buzz ...

I had assumed this was vaporware, but it is starting to look legit. It is also pretty cool. Perhaps my next toy...?

The "Earth" in Earthquakes

I didn't know this before, that earthquakes can alter the rotation of the Earth. Way cool!

Tsunami Update

A look into why the tsunamis generated by the Chile Earthquake weren't as bad as expected.