Sutro Tower and San Francisco, from Twin Peaks

Global Wind Map

This is very cool:
http://earth.nullschool.net/#current/wind/isobaric/1000hPa/orthographic=32.45,52.92,305

about: http://earth.nullschool.net/about.html

feed the oligarchs, see what happens

this quote:

'He is referring to the 2012 book Why Nations Fail: The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty, in which economist Daron Acemoglu, of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, argues that societies fail when they move from an inclusive to an extractive economy, meaning an economy “designed to extract incomes and wealth from one subset of society (the masses) to benefit a different subset (the governing elite).”'

from: http://www.thestar.com/news/atkinsonseries/2013/12/13/the_incredible_disappearing_middle_class.html, via: @sarahkendzir

image thanks to: http://economyincrisis.org/content/america-is-caught-in-a-vicious-downward-cycle

Helping my bro-in-law

Jack Kerouac audio

linked via this article: http://www.openculture.com/2013/10/jack-kerouac-allen-ginsberg-margaret-mead-explain-the-meaning-of-beat-in-rare-1950s-audio-clips.html  Thanks OpenCulture!

photo thanks to phawker.com, read Paul Maher's take on a book about Ginsberg/Kerouac correspondence here:

http://www.phawker.com/2010/07/16/books-the-letters-of-kerouac-and-ginsberg/

The Smiths, of course, because The Smiths

Those who know me well know me to be a Smiths fan. The occasion of Morrissey's autobiography is pumping plenty of Smiths bits though the internet. This post is my contribution.







Slate:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/10/21/the_smiths_best_songs_for_a_new_listener_from_first_album_to_strangeways.html

The book, on Amazon:  http://www.amazon.com/Autobiography-MORRISSEY/dp/0141394811

updated, another fun articles in Slate.   Thanks +Slate!

http://www.slate.com/blogs/browbeat/2013/11/08/morrissey_autobiography_playlist_every_non_smiths_song_mentioned_in_morrissey.html

yesterday, Mt Diablo

Yesterday we visited Mt Diablo. Wikipedia: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Diablo

Is the idea of radical longevity going mainstream?

If I were anywhere near Washington DC in early October I'd attend this event:
http://futuretense.newamerica.net/events/2013/the_future_of_longevity

More people are starting to realize that advances in various health and aging sciences are going to lead to significantly longer lifespans, and, I like this term (new to me) 'healthspans'.  We'll be challenged to adjust our mental models of the world and our place in it as fast as the changes will come. Not to mention the challenges for the existing institutions and mores of our culture.

Here is another related article, from Slate: http://www.slate.com/articles/technology/future_tense/2013/09/four_scenarios_for_our_future_lifespans.html


thanks to http://chinesecalligraphystore.com/free-chinese-symbols/chinese-symbol-for-longevity.html for the image

August 18th, Dogpatch

Sorta recently, nearby...

public safety building

A recent snap, they are making lots of progress.  Maybe I'll add a couple more similar photos soon to compare and contrast.

Sterling on the NSA, Wikileaks, Assange, Manning, Snowden. Oh my.

Bruce Sterling frequently gets to the real point very clearly, and he's outdone himself in this article posted on Medium: https://medium.com/geek-empire-1/a1ebd2b4a0e5

recently, in a city where we used to live

Boston

Earth, from Saturn

There are a lot of things to be in awe of here in the 21st century.

Image Credit: 

NASA/JPL-Caltech/Space Science Institute

http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/cassini/whycassini/cassini20130722.html#.Ue52GKxzf8I

Brannan Street Wharf is pretty much open.

As envisioned here: http://www.sfport.com/index.aspx?page=262

Sonoma Coast State Park

We'll go back here, for sure.

recently, locally.....

Transbay Terminal lines are a little longer during BART strike. 

 

You Are Here - Cosmography of the Local Universe

This is an awesome video.  Thanks to http://irfu.cea.fr/cosmography   Broadens the "you are here" meme more than I've seen before.

more pallets in the wild

Haven't posted one of these in a while.

Are Cable Operators non-Competitive?

Say it isn't so!

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-06-12/time-warner-cable-content-incentives-thwart-new-web-tv.html

I'm a believer in property rights, but not when you view the market itself as your property.

dystopia is on the march

From the ever entertaining yet thought-provoking @FearDept

https://twitter.com/FearDept/status/341777394459365377

Another William Gibson Interview

Recently, Paul Holdengraber interviewed William Gibson via NYPL. This is one of the better interviews of the estimable author that I've encountered.  Thanks to Paul for a job well done, and to artforum for the image.

The interview (PDF):  http://www.nypl.org/sites/default/files/livetranscript.pdf

The artforum article: http://artforum.com/diary/id=40530

dock

Another beautiful day in the neighborhood.

Good Friends

Together with good friends, some old and some new.

Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

Military Spending - Leading Nations

This is evocative.  Data from 2007. Would be interesting to see updated post-Great Recession data.

Thanks to Lindsey Bieda on Twitter: @lindseybieda, original: https://twitter.com/lindseybieda/status/312943374359478272

Long Life and Inequality

As healthy life extension becomes more prevalent, societal consequences are more visible.

Financial Planners have talked about longevity risk - where people outlive their retirement savings because life extension blew through the accounting parameters.  A new consequence is arising because healthy life extension is unevenly distributed, currently by income. Poorer people will pay into social security for benefits they may never receive because life extension is skewed towards the better off.  So, poorer people will pay to fund the retirements of the wealthy. The Economist explains: http://www.economist.com/blogs/democracyinamerica/2013/03/wealth-inequality?fsrc=scn/tw/te/bl/yourmoneyyourlife



photo tnx to: http://www.voxxi.com/life-expectancy-70-new-30/

passports by state

This is telling.  Don't need Nate Silver to spot some of the correlations in this data.

Thanks to: http://www.cgpgrey.com/blog/how-many-americans-have-a-passport.html

via:

 http://exp.lore.com/post/44802179035/passport-ownership-in-america-by-state-lets

Sunol Regional Wilderness

Doesn't take long to get there from San Francisco, and some great walks, wildlife, and views. Recommended, not strenuous for day hikers for sure.

Welcome...

Little Yosemite

Path

What is Wealth Inequality in the United States?

Check the video on Mashable:  http://mashable.com/2013/03/02/wealth-inequality/

TLDR - more inequality than we imagine, or wish.

Maybe GMO seeds are not all that?

An article in Grist questions the actual improvements due to the use of GMO seeds. http://grist.org/article/gmo-fail-monsanto-foiled-by-feds-supreme-court-and-science/

But GMOs took the biggest punch this week from academia: Tom Philpott highlights a USDA-funded study [PDF] by University of Wisconsin scientists who found that several types of GMO seeds (including Monsanto’s RoundUp Ready varieties) actually produce a lower yield than conventional seeds. Only one seed — a corn that produces its own pesticide to combat the corn borer — offers any significant yield benefit. In other words, planting most genetically modified seeds results in less harvest per acre than planting non-genetically modified seeds.

Its worth following the links on this, the study seems credible.   Nothing is black and white, I expect there are cases where a GMO product may be beneficial to crop yields, particularly in the short-term, at least maybe.  But what is certain is that the large seed companies patenting these technologies, and using interlocking product strategies that Microsoft would be proud of, stand to make a lot of money. Corner the market on food production with a patent strategy, anyone? Queue the efforts to discredit the study.

So what is that thing on Mars?

http://www.jpl.nasa.gov/images/msl/20130211/ventifacts

rickshaw bags

Walking around today in our neighborhood

Matt Won!

northern Minnesota visit

Grand Marais to be specific.  See the forecast below.  Wouldn't you know we arrive on the 1degree day....

foolin' around - Koalas To The Max

http://www.koalastothemax.com/

X37b Space Plane - latest

from Weird Warp:  http://www.weirdwarp.com/2013/01/air-forces-secretive-x-30-7b-space-plane-blasted-off-again/

Mihai's article at Weird Warp raises interesting questions about x37b's missions, and what it can or cannot do relative to other approaches for getting stuff back and forth from orbit.

The apparent success of the form-factor of the x37b leads me to hope that similar approaches will turn out eventually to be economically feasible for the emerging private space industry.

why are species endangered?

Its a disappointment-filled irony that we are investing so much in research on artificial intelligence, robotics, and similar technologies while watching species, including "charismatic megafauna", become so endangered.

Its also heartening to see technology being applied to help address the problem, for example, drones being deployed to help save white rhinos - http://www.forbes.com/sites/alexknapp/2012/12/23/crowdfunded-drones-could-save-white-rhinos-from-extinction/

I'm happy to see continued investment on the robotics/AI front, but I very much want to see increased focus and investment to help make sure we minimize the losses in our natural world.  Every loss is poignant and I believe future generations will be aghast at what we're allowing to happen.   Even if the wild dreams of science fiction come true and we can re-create lost life in the future, what is happening now, especially at our hands, is shameful.