Pliny The Elder

Why a players league is the answer.

2011-11-06T11:32:00.000-08:00

As I've mentioned before, in the NBA's superstars, the players have distinct leverage over the owners, and for them to move forward the NBPA has to recognize this fact and use it. Nobody goes to a basketball game to watch the owner (except maybe in LA or Dallas), or even to watch bench players.

It's the stars they comes to see, and always has been since the days of George Mikan, and unlike the NFL, putting on games with replacement players won't cut it for the owners.

In order to win, the players need to do two things:

Earn money to neutralize the owner's leverage.
Put the squeeze on the owners by severely reducing the value of their NBA assets.

As I've proposed earlier, an 80 or 96 man league, set in Las Vegas, and playing a 28 game schedule + playoffs is the way to go. A few things need to be borne in mind:

After expenses, *all* revenues go to the players & the NBPA (or whichever organization replaces it), and not a percentage.
Most of the NBA's revenue comes from two sources: merchandising and TV, and these are the easiest kinds of deals to set up. For superstars, who could now take a cut of that revenue that they generate, this could be a very attractive proposition.
By playing in arenas that already exist, the NBPA would be able to leverage a much smaller expense base, making the start-up cost fairly manageable.
A short season allows the NBPA to make a deal with the owners, and salvage what's left of the season.

Now, there are issues that the players and their representatives themselves have to address:

Fair revenue sharing. Players who aren't invited to the tournament need to be fairly compensated. Strictly speaking, this isn't an issue after decertification, but it's the right thing to do, and it will curtail scab players returning to the NBA.
Fair revenue sharing. How to split revenue between the superstars and everyone else. It's an issue right now, because many superstars like Dwayne Wade don't feel like their compensation reflects the money they're generating for the NBA.
How to resolve endorsement conflicts. Bear in mind that for companies like Nike & Adidas, active players are far more valuable. In order to combat any NBA retribution, it might be wise for these companies to gang up into a neutral group.
If this goes on for a couple of years, what happens to veteran players, when they decide to retire? Players like Duncan and Nash only have a small window before they're gone. This is the NBA's real long term advantage: the ability to cultivate and market new stars, although what the NCAA does will act as a cover in this case.

Apple and the SIlicon Valley spirit

2011-08-27T23:20:00.000-07:00

In the late 70's, when Apple was created, Silicon Valley and Route-128 were full of innovative, engineering driven companies, trying to improve the world with better products, including DEC, Data General, Fairchild, Varian, Lockheed Martin, Nat Semi, Intel and many others.

They all stood pitted against IBM, the company that didn't so much represent evil, as banal conformity, corporate blandness and a company that dictated how the world would work in its image. A company run by salesmen, with their blue suits, crisp white shirts and company songs.

Leading the rebellion was HP, who at the time made a lot of things, including computers and test equipment, but were famous for their calculators, and the quality of their products. Corporate, to a degree, but this was the one company, with its mythical HP Way, and ethical spirit, that everyone wanted to emulate.

These companies, and their smaller brethren, often built products because they were simply cool, and that impulse led to the creation of the PC and the modern computer industry.

But times have changed. In 2011, as Steve Jobs's health forces him to give up the reins at the company he founded, it's clear that Apple is the only company left that embodies the original Silicon Valley spirit. Dec, Sun, SGI are gone or a shadow of their former selves, and HP makes most of it's money by selling ink in small plastic boxes.

And it's clear what happened. Companies started to employ people without the engineering gene, MBAs without a sense of history or wonder about what the companies they worked for did. Without a sense of mission.

As these people focused on activities that would improve their bonuses, they became marketing and finance oriented, saving pennies in a constant race to do things more cheaply, outsource work until eventually they outsourced their core competencies, focusing on emphemeral things like branding, mindshare and "leadership", losing their attention on the things that got them there, until these companies died from parasitic invasion.

And even Apple got sucked up by this, during Jobs's exile, seemingly on a collision course with oblivion. Until he returned.

Now. some people might say that companies like Google and Facebook are the modern Fairchild and HP, but it's clear these companies don't actually make anything, or at least for the sake of making the thing. Android phones and tablets are simply vehicles for Google's advertising business, no more, no less.

Apple is different. It builds products for the sake of building them, for people to use them, so that they in turn can do great things. Let's be clear, they're no saints, and some of their recent business practices have left a sour taste in the mouth.

But ultimately, Apple brooks no short cuts, no facile compromises, in a crusade to follow a clear philosophy about how the world should look, and to make that world. Religious fanatics? Perhaps, but it's clear they're committed to the joy of creation.

And it should be noted, that Tim Cook, the man Jobs anointed to succeed him, rose through the ranks of the industry via operations, and not through sales or marketing. Someone with hands-on experience of the creation process..

Will Apple continue to kick ass with its products? While Jobs is still alive, I'd have to say yes. But when he's truly unable to engage with the company he created, one only needs to look north to a company in Redmond to see a possible outcome, and that one isn't pretty. Then again, Gates was only ever really interested in making money., and the man who succeeded him was originally in charge of sales.

A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA (part iii, player compensation)

2011-07-02T15:39:00.000-07:00

Let's assume:

non-merchandising based revenue (i.e everything except jersey sales). This includes tv & video game rights, sponsorship, etc...
80 man roster
up to 3 players can team up, before the selection process. these players must pool and split their salaries. If there are more than 8 groups of players, the commissioner will arbitrate, with preference given to players with the greatest number of NBA all star appearances. Once this is done, the 8 captains will be selected by the commissioner. The order in which teams select will be done by lottery, two hours before team selection commences.
Each team will have 1 head coach and 1 assistant coach
$24 million regular season compensation/team

In an 80 man league, 16 players are designated as centers, 32 as forwards and 32 as guards. Teams are constructed by means of a round robin selection process, and in the first five picks, a team must select 1 center, 2 forwards and 2 guards. Also, this rule prevents 3 forwards or 3 guards from teaming up as about.

From a salary perspective, salaries are graded according to which round the player is selected in:

$3,000,000
$2,800,000
$2,600,000
$2,400,000
$2,200,000
$2,000,000
$1,800,000
$1,600,000
$1,400,000
$1,200,000

also pay the coach $2 million and his assistant $1 million, for a total of $24 million/team. This is done just to illustrate. The numbers could change.

Also we need to take pooling into account. let's say Kobe, Nash and Garnett wanted to play on the same team, then they would pool the salaries of the 1st 3 picks ($3.0 million + $2.8 million + $2.6 million), and split it 3 ways so that each player got $2.8 million. These 3 players would also count as the team's first three selection, so their first pick, in this case, would be a 4th round pick, depending on how Kobe and Garnett are designated, their team would have to select to fill the 1/2/2 criterion described above.

So the total salaries before tournament compensation would be $192 million.

Now for the tournament, lets take the salaries of two teams as the total prize money, which in this case would be $48 million. Split the money into 12 shares, and allocate it to the teams in winning order 6/3/2/1. So if a team won the whole thing, they'd double their salaries. 2nd place would increase their salaries by 50%, etc...

For individual players, there some interesting ramifications. Players will be paid according to how highly their fellow players rate them, and superstars who win, will reap the rewards of their play.

Take LeBron, for example. Let's say he teams up with Wade and Chris Bosh, and they win one tournament and come second in another. Then, using the numbers above, he'd make $9.8 million for around 6 months work. Not his NBA salary, but not chump change either, and certainly enough to keep the light running, while keeping his public profile high. Bear in mind, this doesn't include royalty compensation from jersey sales, which could greatly increase that number.

Another aspect is that teams are able to reset at the start of each tournament, so you will see the most competitive players join forces to give themselves the best chance to win. This is the kind of thing that sports writers love, since they get to speculate ad nauseam and generate a huge amount of content.

A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA (part ii, arena revenue)

2011-07-02T14:32:00.000-07:00

I wanted to explore this proposal a little bit more, this time from the financial side of things. First, let's take a look at arena based revenue sources:

Some assumptions just to illustrate the math:

28 game regular season
Playing in non-NBA affiliated arenas that hold 10k+
Playoffs: semis are best of 3; finals are best of 5

For the regular season

There are a total of 112 games (28 x 4, there are 8 teams)
Assuming full attendance, that means there are 1.12 million tickets to be sold
at an average $30 ticket price, total ticket revenue is $33.6 million
average $50 ticket price: revenue is $56 million
average $75 ticket price: $84 million dollars

For the playoffs.

Best case there are 11 total games, worst case 7 games
average $100 ticket price, revenue is between $11 million and $7 million

So the gross ticket revenue, assuming $50 regular season tickets, would fall between $63 and $67 million dollars. This isn't a huge amount of money for a business like this, but even after a 50:50 split with the arenas, it's more than enough to pay for everything except player salaries.

Now, there's a case to made for more expensive tickets, given that the average seat for a Laker game @ Staples is over $100, but the point of the exercise is to keep the fan-base engaged, providing high quality basketball for a low price, while at the same time putting pressure on NBA ownership.

From a financial point of view, assuming this tournament was set in Vegas, then a fan in the greater Los Angeles area could catch a game for the same total price as a seat in the lower bowl @ Staples. With back to backs and doubleheaders in the same arena, a fan could see 4 high quality basketball games over a weekend. That's got to be an attractive proposition to a hoops fan

If the NBPA were smart, they would make a deal with the hotels to offer package deals, making this easier. Now, it's important that all tickets are sold at full price, so what you offer the hotels is not discounted tickets, but guaranteed preferential seating. If you bought your tickets through the MGM Grand or the Bellagio, for instance, you'd be able to get front row or center court seating. Same thing applies to "season tickets".

Bear in mind, that this revenue doesn't include concessions or local merchandising sales. That could easily push total game-derived revenue to over $100 million.

Also bear in mind, the assumption of 10k seat arenas. Bigger or smaller arenas could change the revenue model substantially. Las Vegas has 3 venues that seat 12k+ (Mandalay Bay, MGM Grand, Thomas & Mack), Greater LA has the Forum, Coliseum & the Honda Center with Valley View in San Diego. And on the East Coast, there are many in the Boston->Washington corridor.

A proposal to Derek Fisher and the NBPA

2011-07-02T00:52:00.000-07:00

In the lockout, I find myself firmly on the side of the players. It's clear that this dispute is as much about class, in the American sense, as it is about money, which is to say it's really the same old struggle over the balance of power between employers and employees.

Now, the NBPA has one big stick with which to hit the owners, and that's the stars.

If I were Derek Fisher, I would try to put together a mini league under the following conditions:

Eight teams, consisting of the NBA's best 80 or 96 players
Make Oscar Robertson or Bill Russell the commissioner. Important to have the old-time union connection.
Allow for the desire of some players to team with others (up to 3 players on a team), then designate a captain for each team.
Have a selection event, kind of like a draft, where the captains select other teammates, in round-robin fashion
Play a mix of FIBA/NBA rules (4, ten minute quarters, 22ft 3pt line, etc...)
3 pts for a win, 2 for an overtime win, 1 for an overtime loss
Each team plays each other 1,2,3 or 4 times depending on the desired length of the season
Most points wins the tournament. Tiebreakers on points differential, points scored, etc...
Top four teams go into a semis/finals best of 3/5 playoff for the title
Make the finals a big prize money competition.

Revenue is simple:

Set the tournament somewhere like Las Vegas, or any area that has multiple 10k seat arenas
Let the hotels accommodate the players as sponsorship in kind.
Ticket sales.
Let the NBPA sell the tv rights worldwide (who wouldn't want to see Kobe & Nash on the same team?)
Let the NPBA sell video game rights.
Offer one of the major networks Christmas Day games.
Let the NBPA sell jersey/merchandising rights worldwide
Sponsorship, jersey advertising

Where does the money go?

A big chunk of money goes to the active players, but 50% to the NBPA's general fund

Why would there be an audience?

Most of the players will be the NBA's stars, so this would be like an all-star tournament
Short season. If every team played each other 4 times, that would equate to a 28 game regular season. Include the playoffs, the whole thing could be done in a short 3 month season.
More exciting basketball
Rebel league factor

Why would the stars go for this?

Loyalty to the union
A chance to play with other stars.
Better level of basketball than in Europe
A chance to stay in the public eye. Makes sponsorships valuable.
Can make not great, but decent money
reduced travel.

I should point out, that with the current economy, Las Vegas could use a boost like this, especially if teams played back to back on Saturday and Sunday (midweek games Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday). Plus the chance to stick it to David Stern, who has refused to allow an NBA team to relocate to Vegas is hard to resist. And with a short 28 game season, it would be possible to have two tournaments per year, perhaps in different cities. Even shorter seasons (14 & 21 games) open up the possibility of staging this tournament abroad.

The issue with such a league for the players is revenue, and how much such a venture could generate.

In 2010, NBA merchandising sales across the US and Canada alone hit $1.93 billion, and you can easily double that when taking the rest of the world into account. Most jersey sales are for the top 25 or so players in the league, and most if not all those players would participate in a rebel league. It goes without saying, that this revenue stream comes at the expense of the NBA, as people buy the new, more exciting, rebel merchandising over the existing official wares.

So, in my mind, $250 million per tournament is within easy reach when one takes into account all the sources of revenue, and I don't think it's too far fetched to think that it might hit $500 million, or even a $1 billion. And each tournament offers a new opportunity for merchandising sales, as players change teams, etc...

Bottom line is that kind of revenue would definitely put pressure on the owners to settle, as the more successful the rebel league becomes, the more the NBA loses value.

more thoughts:
part ii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part.html
part iii: http://plinytheelder.blogspot.com/2011/07/proposal-to-derek-fisher-and-nbpa-part_02.html

Dear LeBron...

2011-06-13T05:26:00.000-07:00

I know things kind of suck right now, but your time will come.

The first thing you should realize is that your team overachieved this year. Forget all the crap from these modern day Max Mercies in the sports press, but you really weren't expected to win a title this year. Getting to the finals was a big achievement in itself, although you should have put up a stronger fight.

What you need to take away from this is the understanding that team coordination and planning often trump individual talent, and that the most important muscle is the grey one between the ears.

So where do you go from here? Well, you need to develop some mental toughness. Not easy, but here's how:

At Liverpool (which you own part of), there's a man called Kenny Dalglish, the original King Kenny. This man has been through more than you could possibly imagine, and come out a winner. He also happens to be the mentally toughest sportsman to grace this fair planet, on the same level as Bill Russell and Mohammed Ali.

Go to Liverpool's training camp, this summer, and listen respectfully to everything that man is willing to teach you. He will provide you with the tools that you need to step up to the next level.

Bill Hicks on Jay Leno

2010-01-14T23:29:00.000-08:00

This was Bill talking about Jay, *20 years* ago.

As prescient as ever, and a warning to those who would sell their souls to the Devil for fame, fortune or whatever.

Chris Hipp, 1961 - 2009

2009-07-15T17:08:00.000-07:00

Life is sometimes truly unfair... Chris Hipp, passed away yesterday, and the world is a poorer place for it.

There's a character on a TV beer ad called "The most interesting man in the world". Hipp was the real life incarnation of that invented person.

He was one of those extraordinary people whose actual life was far more interesting than anything one could make up: He started out as a semi-pro cyclist in Texas, competing against the likes of Lance Armstrong, and started an SGI reseller in Dallas just when 3D graphics and DCC started to make a real impact in the market. He then founded RocketLogic (later RLX systems) and, in the process, invented Blade Servers and created an entire market, for which he never got anything close to real credit.

Later, he moved west to California, and co-founded Orion Multisystems (where we worked together), a company that built deskside supercomputers, and helped usher in the age of low power supercomputing, and green computing in general. At the time of his passing he was working for DWave who build quantum computers, and along the way, he championed, nurtured and helped a number of companies to get funding, and develop partnerships. He was a visionary who was always happiest at the bleeding edge, and made it his mission to ensure that technology, big or small, had a fighting chance to make an impact, and to change the way people think.

His incessant fascination with other people, and the things they were doing, compelled him to go out of his way to make friends with interesting and creative people, in many fields. Whenever I was with him, at a trade show or an event, it seemed like he knew almost everybody of importance in both the High Performance Computing and the Cycling world, and they knew him too (there are *many* cool and off-color stories). At a show like SC, it would take him 2 days to walk the floor, just because of bumping into people he knew. I think I only ever managed to introduce him to a handful of people he didn't already know, or hadn't already met.

Through it all, one had the sense that even though he had achieved so much, he wasn't close to being finished helping to change the world.

He was infinitely curious, and technologically was attracted to the innovative, the meaningful and the cool. He deeply loved his companera, Lorraine, his cats, cycling, technology and the Chipotle burritos at Maria Elenas in Alviso. He was also one of the few people I called a friend.

I'm having a hard time dealing with the fact that a voice that was so full of life is now silent. Damn.

God hates me, yes she does....

2009-06-14T19:00:00.000-07:00

The f***ing Lakers are about to win the championship.

I can't say just how overrated I think Kobe is. Not that he isn't good, because he is, and borderline great, even. His absolute best is right up there with Jordan, Magic, Wilt and the rest, but he doesn't bring that game very often. To me, the number of shots taken, notwithstanding, he's been the 3rd best player on his team during the finals, behind Gasol and Odom, and it's not even close. He'll probably win finals MVP, and Gasol and Odom will be denied the praise they deserve.

Let's be clear... the Magic lost this series, and the Lakers are mature enough to take advantage. For that reason they deserve the win, and the title. But let's not kid ourselves as to the quality of this Lakers team, who would have been long gone from the playoffs had it not been for some iffy refereeing, particularly during the Denver series.

The Governator and his legacy..

2009-06-14T12:18:00.000-07:00

As the state faces the prospect of going broke, it's clear that the Governor has challenges ahead of him. His real problem, like that of Gray Davis, is that much of the problem is out of his hands, mandated by ballot initiatives, and that his options are severely limited. Still it hasn't helped that Arnold's tenure as Governor has been marked by the same bullshit conservative philosophy that has brought the rest of the country into depression.

My hope for him, when elected, was that he'd behave like a true adult, in the sense of bringing a far more mature perspective to state politics, given that he was elected as a Republican, without the real support of the party's state organization. He could be a Republican, philosophically, but wouldn't have to pander to the kooks and crazies in his party.

But he hasn't done that. He pushed for tax cuts at a time when we should have been saving for the future, knowing full well that we could smell the rain of a recession on the horizon. He has wasted his unique opportunity of being a true populist, and failed to introduce and support the kind of reforms that would have allowed California to escape the brunt of the depression.

It's not too late, only because the state faces chaos. What is needed is a change to the state constitution that takes general spending away from the ballot box, and puts it back into the hands of legislators, but leaves the decision to levy taxes in the hands of the populace. In addition, the state should remove the cap on property taxes, and replace it with a means test. There are too many people not paying their fair share of property taxes, despite being full capable of doing so.

In exchange for that power, the constitution should mandate a balanced budget, with a small amount of leeway to deal with reductions in revenue.

If the Governor takes those bold steps, which he should have no trouble doing, because both Democrats and Republicans will benefit from it, and changes the political dialog in this state, he will have done a good thing.

Bolden to be new NASA Chief.

2009-05-16T13:13:00.000-07:00

According to the Wall St Journal, Charles Bolden is likely to be the new head of NASA. Bolden is an ex-Marine, who flew shuttle missions in the 80s.

This is a good move, in that it puts an ex astronaut at the helm, and will do much to bolster morale after the mess with Griffin. In theory, it reinforces a commitment to manned exploration, which is the glamor activity within NASA and is something that drives the people within the agency.

As defense expenditures decrease in the face of a diminishing desire to police the world, NASA will be there to pick up the slack wrt high value jobs and projects. Our aerospace industry needs NASA in order to evolve. So Bolden will certainly have his hands full. But, it's not entirely clear to me that he has the capacity to cultivate a "grand strategy" for moving the agency forward, and Ares I & II will certainly give him much grief.

New Guitar Magazine...

2009-05-09T21:59:00.000-07:00

Future US, has just published a new guitar magazine, called Guitar Aficionado, that's targeted at the 35-54 year old male reader with significant disposable income. While I'm a little skeptical of the timing of publishing such a rag, given the economy and the fact that I thought such an audience was dead, that's not what bothers me. What bothers me is it's perspective.

Don't get me wrong.. the magazine is elegant, with beautiful photographs, and somewhat interesting people as interviewees, and is as fine a piece of guitar porn as you'll find anywhere, without actually touching a guitar. But it's focus is on guitars as objects, things whose worth is measured solely by their financial value, or their rarity as collectible objects. And given it's predisposition towards the solid-body era, and Rock music, it misses the point entirely.

There's an interview with Joe Perry, in the magazine, that talks about his horses, his houses, his cars and his guitar collection, without once referencing the fact that he was the man who wrote the riff to "Walk this way". There's no mention of the music or the makers, or the players as musicians rather than as squires of country estates.

And that's ultimately a jejune perspective. Rock and Roll isn't a lifestyle.. it's a way of life. It's Iggy Pop and Lemmy, not Richard Gere or Johnny Depp. Jimmy Page and Robert Plant didn't get all that tail by showing off how big their cars were. They did it by playing "A whole lotta love" on stage, and meaning it. John Lee Hooker was still getting young pussy at the age of 80 because he could still play the blues with true soul.

I'm loathe to criticize a magazine's first issue, and I get the idea that this is a publication designed to ease affluent men through their midlife crises, and that through the possession of symbols of rebellion, some youth may be recaptured. You know, the guitar magazine Playboy would publish. But I'm a little angry about it, because of the cynicism. This is the same mentality that turned the Rock fan into a demographic, took Rock and Roll away from it's real audience, sanitized it, and caused the Eagles to charge $250 for concert tickets. By embracing the arrogance of wealth, the idea that being rich in of itself makes you a better person than someone who's poor, it encourages the delusion that if you buy an expensive enough guitar, you'll magically be good.

What this magazine lacks is soul. The publishers and editors seem to know the cost of everything, but the value of nothing. The Bible says it is easier to thread a camel through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven. And the same is true of rock and roll, which is about rebellion, anger and hope, and desperate animal sex with a skanky chick up against a side-alley wall. Rock and Roll isn't the sanitized airbrushed Playboy, it's the down and dirty Hustler.

Still, I'll probably end up buying more issues of this thing. You know, for the bathroom.

Dikembe Mutombo Mpolondo Mukamba Jean-Jacques Wamutombo.

2009-04-22T14:06:00.000-07:00

Thanks for *everything*.
You will be missed.

The Lawyers and Youtube

2009-04-22T01:30:00.000-07:00

I noticed, going back to old posts, that many youtube links of music videos I had posted are no longer valid, due to copyright restrictions.

Now, I don't dispute the right of the respective record companies to ask for those videos to be removed from youtube, but I do find it puzzling. Why? Because almost all of those videos were created as promotional material designed to help sell records, and because the record companies allowed (and still allows) MTV to use them free of charge (i.e MTV doesn't have to pay residuals, etc...). The cost of making the videos has been amortized a long time ago.

You'd think that keeping a 20 year old video alive (eg B52's Deadbeat Club, for instance) would continue to keep the songs in peoples minds, resulting in record sales. They don't seem to get that this is free money and advertising for the record companies, because the records are essentially out of print, to use a publishing industry term.

Oracle buys Sun...

2009-04-20T10:39:00.000-07:00

I used to work at Sun, and while it has many of the qualities of a large company, a soft spot for that company remains in my heart. When I was growing up, Sun, DEC & Cray were the 3 companies I wanted to work for, since they all built products that put technology into the hands of the people who could use them, rather than the approach taken by IBM. And of the 3, Sun is the last to go.

The Oracle/Sun merger is probably the best fit available, although Oracle is a lot more like IBM, culturally, than people would like to admit. Still, over the last 10 years, Oracle has managed to survive the onslaught of open source and Microsoft with it's profits and pricing model intact, which is an amazing feat.

What the merger means is this: Oracle, like IBM, has over the last few years been moving more and more towards a model of selling turnkey Database systems, that includes the hardware and software, specifically using Linux clusters.

What the Sun acquisition does for them is give them a much broader and stronger systems base upon which to build that strategy. People forget that Sun used to be Oracle's main business partner before and during the dot-com boom, and Sun made billions of dollars selling large Sunfire boxes running Solaris/Oracle as back-ends to websites like Amazon. Moreover, having direct control of Solaris, ZFS and Java can only benefit Oracle.

For the Sun people, knowing that you're building systems primarily for Oracle will help bring a focus and purpose to systems design that I think has been lacking. If Sun innovates, and implements new features on their systems specifically designed to make Oracle installations easier to build, that in turn could spur external demand for their products.

There are a few questions that remain:

Will Sun operate as a semi autonomous entity outside of databases ?
Will Oracle/Sun continue to service the general IT market
Will Oracle/Sun continue their presence in HPC ?
How much of the staff, specifically engineering, will Oracle retain ?
Will the engineering direction at Sun change dramatically ?

Easter Genesis

2009-04-10T12:03:00.001-07:00

The song, and the guitarist that compelled me to start to play guitar.

Easter U2.

2009-04-10T11:52:00.001-07:00

Good Friday....whaaaa??

2009-04-10T11:26:00.000-07:00

Since moving to the US, I've noticed that Americans really don't celebrate holidays, as such, but use them, instead, to punctuate shopping seasons. I mention this, because I woke up this morning and wondered to myself: "Isn't it Easter soon?", not noticing that today is in fact Good Friday, the start of the most important religious holiday in the Christian calendar.

In the UK and the rest of Europe, this is a long weekend, with both today and Monday as holidays, and there's usually a huge buildup. But, here, in the US, the stock market (and the banks, post office and other federal offices too) is closed, but other than that, unless you were paying attention, you could easily miss, as I did, all the signs of Easter.

And this comes to the fundamental bone I have to pick with the Rollers, who claim that this is a Christian country, and that Christmas needs to be saved, but yet do nothing wrt Easter. Now you might think, as an atheist, that I have no skin in this particular game. But you'd be mistaken, because culturally I am a Christian (1/2 Church of England, 1/2 Catholic), and even though I don't believe, I do take great comfort in the social constructs and traditions imposed on our western society over the years by the Church.

I hate April Fools.

2009-04-01T12:31:00.000-07:00

Just because of the sheer number of insanely lame attempts to be funny.

Sequoia's 20 PFlops

2009-02-03T14:32:00.000-08:00

IBM just won the contract for LLNL's next gen flagship machine. The system is basically an upgraded BlueGene/P, with faster CPUs and more cores/socket.

But it's an astonishing level of performance, given that the 100 TFlop barrier was only crossed a few years ago, and the fact they've been able to do it in such a small footprint is pretty amazing too. Of course, it would be fairly straightforward to achieve the same peak performance (not the same sustained), with a bunch of GPUs, and in a smaller footprint (both physical & power), but that machine probably wouldn't have the same level of flexibility, although the per cpu memory bandwidth is probably higher for the GPU system.

For the rest of the industry, this a big deal. It seems that LLNL is now exclusively an IBM house, at least when it comes to Big Iron, and it's hard to see how any other vendor could have any reasonable expectation to win such a contract, despite the open bidding process.

Stand Up Confession

2009-02-02T09:26:00.000-08:00

I guess this is some form of closure for David Letterman.. It's clear that his misjudgment in removing Bill's routine from his show has haunted him since.

It was the religious content, particularly the segment railing against the pro-lifers, that got Bill banned. And a week later, when he saw a pro-life ad being played in the commercial breaks during Dave's show, Bill had his moment of epiphany.

Still, the reason people feel guilt is that they know right from wrong, and Dave did a profoundly decent thing by inviting Bill's mom on the show, to apologize to her personally in public, and to try and make amends.

Now there are people who don't get Bill Hicks, and don't understand what the fuss is all about.

He was a man, who despite the evidence to the contrary, and his own occasional lapses in faith, believed profoundly that the human race deserved to be saved, especially from itself.

And his comedy was all about the contrast between wrong and right, between freedom and sanctimony, about defying political correctness but still being compassionate about people, and most importantly about truth, intelligence, heart and integrity.

Most tellingly, he showed no fear by performing his comedy at a time when Reagan and George Bush were President, the PMRC was trying to put labels on CDs, and when the most controversial comedians out there were shlock merchants like Andrew Dice Clay, Sam Kinison and Howard Stern. Then, his outrage actually meant something, as opposed to today, where it's just another demographic.

The day after.

2009-01-21T11:11:00.000-08:00

Will we have the collective attention span to follow through on the promise of yesterday's events ?

Or will we all get bored, and/or fall back onto the familiar mindset of greed and self-centeredness that has taken this country from greatness to lowliness in such a short time. I'm a cynic on such things.. imho, there is no tragedy, or event, that someone will not try to use to their advantage. From the guy selling T-shirts on the site of the WTC, *two* days after the event, to Katrina scams, and so on.

We'll see.

President Obama..

2009-01-20T13:48:00.000-08:00

Has a nice ring to it, doesn't it??

While I wasn't alive when President Kennedy was sworn in, I did grow up in one of those 60's Catholic households that idolized Pope John XXIII, JFK, RFK, MLK and Gandhi. For the African-American community, this is just as big a moment in time, a nexus where everything changes.

Like Kennedy, Obama hasn't just brought along his core cultural groups, but has seized the imagination of the young and the hip. The inaugural speech was good: a call to arms, in the sense of trying to mobilize the national imagination and promulgate a common vision, direction and purpose for the country, tempered by realism, and the extending of an olive branch to those who might be our adversaries. I wouldn't underestimate the goodwill Obama will have from the rest of the world, just from not being George Bush or a neocon oriented Republican, and he won't squander it.

For the first time, in a long time, since the 1st George Bush, in fact, there are true adults in the White House. It goes without saying that these guys are smart, too. It bodes well. I feel some measure of hope, and think this country is back on the road to greatness. Truly.

If Charles Shultz drew Watchmen.

2009-01-19T18:01:00.000-08:00

Some things are just *perfect*

Offical Watchmen Peanuts Guy by ~kyle-latino on deviant ART

Ron Asheton, RIP

2009-01-06T11:06:00.000-08:00

As the original guitarist for the Stooges, he changed the sound of Rock & Roll and created the template for what became Punk, especially West Coast/LA Punk.

He will sorely missed.

Dimestore Philosophy

2009-01-04T16:51:00.000-08:00

Those that can, do.
Those that can't, teach.
Those that can't teach, administrate.
Those that can't administrate, blog.

NASA Cojones award

2008-12-31T23:09:00.000-08:00

It's kind of pathetic if you have your wife plead for your job in public. This goes double, if you're Mike Griffin, NASA chief administrator. It would help, of course, if Mike Griffin wasn't uncooperative with the incoming administration.

It seems to me, though, that there's one thing that Mike Griffin doesn't understand, which is that President-elect Obama is truly serious about supporting NASA's big picture mission, and fully promoting their scientific missions and activities, unlike the Bush administration, which seemed to me to have a truly sectarian agenda. What this means, in practice, is an overall increase in actual activity, possibly at the expense of big ticket/flashy programs, such as Ares I.

What is guaranteed, with the incoming administration, is that intelligent questions will be asked, and that consequently NASA will need a good man at the top. It's unlikely he'll change his attitude, and cultivate a little humility, which is a shame because Griffin is clearly qualified at the technical level. With a truly cooperative disposition, such a person could clearly help define a coherent and meaningful strategy for NASA over the next 8 years, in association with the new administration, which would commit fully to the new direction.

And that's important, because a strong civilian NASA is critical to the economic well being, and technical leadership of this country, and would provide a true and meaningful alternative to defense spending. To me, Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo were inspirational to a generation of engineers, and directly responsible in large part, to the US developing and gaining an overall technological superiority that wasn't ceded to the Japanese until Wall St invaded Silicon Valley in the 1990's. And as much as I support it, the private space industry, imho, is just not in a position to do anything over the next ten years, except put a small number of people/small payload in low orbit. As much as we marvel as what Burt Rutan has been able to do, with his limited resources, it's laughable to suggest that his technology can even begin to compete with what NASA does on a bad day. It's Little League vs Major League.

SciFi Channel redux..

2008-12-31T12:15:00.000-08:00

I guess I spoke too soon. SciFi has a *2 day* Twilight Zone marathon going on, right now.
What a fricking waste of airtime.. Just when you thought there was hope...

Christmas sales.. not too bad.

2008-12-26T23:27:00.000-08:00

So it looks like not all the financial news, this Xmas, is bad. Apparently, the sales dropoff in stores was only 2%->4%, and Amazon had a monster Xmas, with sales up 17%.

If you're an MBA, spreadsheet driven bean-counting 80's Reaganaut, that might seem like a disaster, but considering the general atmosphere, it's not a bad result for the stores, bearing in mind that to really get a pulse on the economy, we have to see what happens now that the winter sales season has started. Amazon's results suggest that at least part of the drop-off in brick & mortar sales have been made up by online sales, which is a trend that, quite frankly, many people expected to be stronger.

From an economic perspective. it seems to be reasonably good news, as is all activity in the retail sector. It suggests that if the government can stabilize the housing market, by reducing the number of foreclosures and hence allowing the banks to take small but absorbable losses, then we might be in for a much softer landing in the consumer economy than would otherwise occur.

The curse of the Spurs

2008-12-26T10:13:00.000-08:00

There's always some relapse, or twist of fate against these guys. You just knew it was going to happen.

It's time to perform an exorcism, sacrifice a chicken or something.. At least try to get the forces of the supernatural world working for the Suns, instead of against them.

SciFI Holiday marathon

2008-12-26T10:11:00.001-08:00

Sci FI deserves approbation for putting on Star Trek NG, and Highlander marathons on Xmas & Boxing Day.

This is better, guys. Much better.

Oh Ricky...

2008-12-25T16:23:00.000-08:00

Ricky Gervais, live, doing the kind of comedy that only the Brits seem to have a handle on. A sick subject, but it made me laugh out loud.

Ricky Gervais: Hitler Interprets Nietzsche - watch more funny videos

Xmas Repo Man music

2008-12-25T13:06:00.000-08:00

Coming from the UK, we got a lot of the NY East Coast Punk scene (Blondie, Ramones, Television, Talking Heads, etc...), but aside from the Dead Kennedys and Wall of Voodoo, not much of the West Coast punk scene, and little from the LA scene. In fact, the only thing we got in abundance from the LA music scene in those days, were the Sunset Strip metal/hair bands like Van Halen, Ratt and Motley Crue.

Anyhoo, this is "Reel Ten", by the Plugz. I love everything they did on the soundtrack to Repo Man, especially the punk version of "Ride of the Valkyries".

Xmas Holdsworth

2008-12-25T12:43:00.000-08:00

Kinder, from the Velvet Darkness record.
Most people, including Allan himself, don't realize just how much of a monster player he is on acoustic, where his melodic sense is dramatically different to his electric playing, and has a nice Ralph Towner vibe. He should play more acoustic.

Xmas guitar (part 1)

2008-12-25T12:36:00.000-08:00

This has been one of my favorite pieces of music, ever since I was a child, and is performed by probably the greatest living classical guitarist, John Williams.

Merb/rails merger

2008-12-23T15:09:00.000-08:00

The Merb & Rails dev groups have decided to merge their two projects into one.

This merger in unprecedented. I can't recall a situation where two such projects, with such orthogonal but functionally overlapping code bases, were joined together. Sure, there have been projects that have been joined, but these were either two forks of a single original project recombining, or two projects that were usually combined in installation.

I think this one announcement illustrates the power of Ruby more than anything else could. This kind of thing wouldn't even be possible, outside of Lisp. Certainly, the Python community is strewn with the corpses of duplicate projects. Even the Numpy/Numerical Python guys had *major* issues.

A tune for the times.

2008-12-23T01:31:00.000-08:00

Amazingly underrated band, except by muso types. Great powerful sound live.
Anyhoo, the song is prescient.

The Warren inauguration benediction.

2008-12-20T21:37:00.000-08:00

The LGBT community is all in a tizzy about Rick Warren being invited to lead prayers at the Obama inauguration. I understand the outrage, but in the grand scheme of things this will help them.

Why? because, by giving Warren this opportunity, Obama is essentially anointing him as the reader of the Christianist movement at a time, because of the Republican election failures, that group has a massive leadership void. This preemptive move essentially forces the Dobsons and Robertsons out of the picture, and neuters their power.

Why does this matter ? Because despite the fact that Warren is infact almost as homophobic and hateful as the old Christianist guard, he isn't as vitriolic, nor is he much of a power broker or political animal. And that means that when Obama pushes through his proposals for ending DADT and other anti-gay legislation, the opposition will be much weaker than it would be now.

IMHO, the LGBT community needs to stop getting outraged by symbolic acts, and needs to focus on getting it's shit together to move it's own agenda forward. You only have to look at the total amateurish effort to defeat Prop 8, here in California, to see that. At the end of the day, those actual political battles are more important.

Still, that's not to say that the LGBT people shouldn't play hardball against the Mormons, Evangelists and the rest of the religious right. By all means go after the Rollers' tax status, planning, construction and other permits, and make them feel some financial/legal pain.

Credit where credit is due

2008-12-05T10:43:00.000-08:00

The SciFi channel has greenlit Caprica, the prequel to Battlestar Galactica. For all my complaining about them, they deserve kudos for this great news. This bodes well for intelligent, non-dumbed down, and well written TV.

Actually, I'm hoping Universal/NBC will rerun Caprica in one of those 10pm slots they're currently struggling to fill, like they're doing with Monk. It seems to me that all their best shows are on their cable channels, where editorial interference from NBC's execs seems to be much less, than on the network.

I'm fully convinced that those execs had much to do with the decline in quality of Heroes, and don't really get the notion that you fixate an audience with ideas rather than stunts and special effects.

Do you know what you are ??

2008-11-30T11:32:00.000-08:00

My feelings for humanity encapsulated in 16 seconds:

Nanu, Nanu, my big white hairy ass

2008-11-28T09:30:00.000-08:00

ok, SciFi channel... this time you've gone too far: A James Bond Marathon, followed by a Mork & Mindy marathon... this has to stop. now.

Now, don't get me wrong I loved M&M, am a huge Robin Williams fan, and am pretty much a priapic poster child, whenever Pam Dawber appears on screen.. But neither this or the Bond are SciFi.. not even close... This is even worse than the 3 day Twilight Zone/Outer Limits marathons you guys seem so fond of programming.

Listen, it's called the SciFi channel for a reason, and you guys have to try harder to cater to that niche market segment you originally targeted.. Whoever is in charge here is running this network into the ground.

Mitch Mitchell, RIP

2008-11-12T18:41:00.000-08:00

Mitch Mitchell passed away this morning.

He was one of the quartet of great British rock drummers from the 60's, the others being Ringo, Keith Moon and Ginger Baker. As a member of the Jimi Hendrix experience, he provided a perfect foil to Hendrix's guitar playing, being as intense, innovative and original in his playing as Jimi was to his. And without him, Hendrix would not have been as successful.

Mitch will be missed.

Honour the covenant

2008-11-11T11:26:00.001-08:00

Even though I really didn't fit into English society, there are certain things about the old country that I still cling to, and Remembrance Sunday symbolizes those things.

Let's be clear.. I am not a knee-jerk jingoist, and I was against the Falklands War. But that doesn't mean I don't fully and unreservedly acknowledge the duty and sacrifice of the people who served in that or other conflicts.

The poet Horace wrote: "Dulce et decorum, est pro patria mori". He had a point.

To all our servicemen and servicewomen, thank you.

The coming Civil War

2008-11-11T11:13:00.000-08:00

I don't know whether this will be a Cold War, or something more dangerous, but Prop 8 was the first shot of the first battle of this conflict. For the first time I can remember, the Gay community has basically said enough is enough to the Mormons.

They're combating the LDS in a way I only thought Republicans did, which is to go after them in court. This could be very damaging to the LDS, as they could lose their Tax Exempt status, maybe even going back a few years. The consequence, though, will probably be to galvanize the Christianists to prevent a similar attack on them.

Prop 8 makes one thing clear: the Rollers aren't about freedom to practice their beliefs, but are focused on forcing the rest of society to follow their lead. Things are only going to heat up.

What now Sarah ??

2008-11-07T10:56:00.000-08:00

One thing that's clear from post-election examination is that the Republican Party just aligned itself Rightwards, and with a Christianist bent. The Republican ticket became a Palin/McCain ticket, the moment she was selected, and McCain wouldn't have come anywhere this close to Barack without her help in rallying the base.

And she did: 57.2 Million people voted for McCain, more than voted for Bush in the 2000 elections (although W got 62 million in the 2004 elections). To me, 57.2 million voters is a solid base, that in the event of voter dropoff, can win her a Presidential election. If the McCain concession speech is anything to go by, all those people are strongly behind her.

Some commentators have been making the Nixon/Palin comparison, correctly noting that Nixon was considered to be somewhat of a joke in 1962. Her best bet, imho is to position herself for a run in 2016, and to take the intervening time to take control of the Republican Party. However, her success depends on a few things:

Making sure that Alaska becomes a well run state, and distance herself from the incompetence and fiscal imprudence of the Bush administration.
Make sure her state administration becomes a paragon of virtue, and clean up ethically. Caesar's wife, & all that.
Develop a coherent policy portfolio, including Energy, Immigration and the Economy. If I were her I'd read up on the Austrian school (like Ron Paul), and use that as the basis of an economic policy.
Stay in the public eye, at least to the base. That means going on Rush and the late night shows, and trying to cultivate an image of intelligence.
Build a team to start her 2016 campaign now, and make sure those people are loyal to her, and not to others. McCain's big mistake, in this campaign, was hiring Rove's protege Schmitt, and in losing control of his own campaign. If Obama has demonstrated anything in this campaign it's the need for the candidate to be clearly in charge, and to drive the strategy and major tactical decisions of the campaign. Sarah Palin will need to be 1/3 Mother Theresa, 1/3 Feynmann and 1/3 Napoleon.

Even in the age of Youtube, rehabilitation is possible: look at Hilary Clinton's revitalization from the election. In any case, Sarah Palin's story is not over, by any stretch of the imagination. And that should be a scary prospect to anyone who is not a Roller.

Sun Tzu...

2008-11-06T13:09:00.000-08:00

Amare has a new nickname now.. It looks like the kid is finally growing up, under the tutelage of Shaq Fu himself.

For that reason alone, the trade for Shaq seems to be working out. Clearly, as much as I think of Nash, while he can lead a team into battle, he isn't the kind of leader that can get someone to completely change his attitude away from the court. And because of the racial nature of the NBA, and the players therein, it's helping that the white boy isn't getting the lions' share of the glory, however much he may have deserved it.

It's early, but with the full preseason together, and the spotlight shining away from them, for once, this years Suns have the opportunity to create some real chemistry. This could be a magical year.

Oh Emanuel!

2008-11-06T12:20:00.001-08:00

Barack Obama's choice of Rahm Emanuel, as his Chief of Staff, is a very important development, and an early warning to the Republicans, and others, that their usual shenanigans will not be tolerated.

There's an air of Don Vito Corleone about Obama, that I'm starting to like: make the reasonable, mutually beneficial offer up front, and send Luca Brazzi/Rahm Emanuel around when the compromise is rejected out of hand. This new administration is starting to shape up as a group that intends to get a lot of things done, through reason and mutual understanding, where possible, and by coersion where necessary.

Of course, only someone like Barack could get away with such an approach, because he is not a man whose ego is driven either by ideology, the need to humiliate his enemies, or the need to be placated by Ozymandian constructions. This is an administration that is going to move forward relentlessly in increments, making enough small changes, in the right order, so that at the end, a massive change will have occurred. For them, the destination is far more important than the journey.

Shaq and Awe 2.0

2008-11-05T02:42:00.000-08:00

This evening, the Suns put a smackdown on the Nets, 114 to 86. What was encouraging was the fact they shot 77% in the 1st half, including 93% in the 2nd quarter (13 of 14). Turnovers, though, are still a problem.

Here's the thing.. the Suns are a rhythm team, and Steve Nash is a rhythm player, depending on timing and everybody moving to the right place on the floor, at the right time, in order to make some plays almost automatic. During the Nash era, it has usually taken the Suns at least 10 games to get into full sync. That the Suns were able to put up this kind of performance, this early in the season, should have the rest of the league watching nervously.

I don't think we've seen the best of the Suns offense, yet this year. In my mind, they're just warming up. This could be really good.

Holy crap!!!

2008-11-04T20:01:00.000-08:00

The news networks just called the election for Barack Obama.

For now, this represents the victory of hope over cynicism. Of competence and intelligence, over idiocy and dogma. I'm a little teary eyed about this. The world has just become a better place.

Dear President-Elect Obama. Our hopes and dreams are in now in your hands. Please don't fuck it up.

Big trade between Denver & Detroit

2008-11-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Iverson to Detroit for Billups & McDyess. I don't get it, except for the salary cap thing.

Don't get me wrong.. I'm an Iverson fan, ever since Philly played LA in the finals... not because I think he's a particularly good player, but because he has more heart & moxie than any player in the NBA not named Steve Nash. Still, this means that one team has decided to shut down for the season after two games, because Detroit just traded 2/3 of their mojo.

Oh, before I forget... Rasheed & Iverson on the same team ?? Holy crap!! talk about gangsta!

We live in strange times.

The NBA is back, baby..

2008-10-28T11:43:00.000-07:00

Cool. it's time to get serious.
A few points and predictions:

Steve Nash is *still* the best PG in the league. While Chris Paul is destined to be the next great PG, he isn't there yet. Nash is still a better passer, shooter, court seer, decision maker, had to deal with 2 head cases in Amare & Marion, *and* had to reformulate his offense with the introduction of Shaq. Chris Paul will have to deal with the curse of Shinn this year, as well as the extra physical toll due to the Olympics.
The Suns will not suck as much as everyone thinks. They have a front line that can beat the Lakers and the Hornets, if Shaq has been doing the work to become more mobile. Their new found depth will help.
Kobe will be injured for extended periods this season. For that reason, the Suns will win the Pacific.
Either LeBron or Chris Paul will win the MVP, this year. maybe Amare, if he has the statistically monster season we expect.
Western conference in this order:

Hornets
Jazz
Suns
Rockets
Lakers
Spurs
Mavs
Blazers

The winner of this years title will be a team that didn't send someone to the Olympics.
The Jazz are this years championship dark horse.
Boston will get back to the finals. One of Jazz, Suns, Rockets in the West.
The Knicks will make the playoffs. As will Portland.

Friday morning jazz-grunge

2008-10-24T01:34:00.000-07:00

Foo Fighters & Chick Corea at the Grammys, with a theme for our times:

If you reward behavior, you'll get the behavior you reward.

2008-10-21T17:17:00.000-07:00

Today I booked a trip to Austin, for SC-08. For some reason, Travelocity thinks I'm a cripple, and chose an accessible room for me, which I missed in my struggle to complete the transaction.

Now, not being a complete asshole, and knowing that a lot of disabled people turn up to the SC show, I figured I'd do the right thing & give up the accessible room for a standard room, since they cost *exactly* the same.

I phoned Travelocity, and after waiting for 20 mins for a service rep, they wanted $260 to make this trivial change. Phoned the hotel, and they wouldn't make the change, since I booked it through Travelocity.

Now, I tried to be a nice guy, I really did, but all I got was a load of jip.

To be honest, I'm a little pissed about it, because there shouldn't be any barriers to doing this kind of thing, especially when there's no cost. But these companies all hide behind their policies, which dehumanize the people working for them. We've become an amoral, callous people.

The cold war with Cuba will end soon.. but...

2008-10-18T10:37:00.000-07:00

Because of this.

20 Billion barrels is a lot of oil, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Mexico, Venezuela and Cuba form a little bloc, just like the Arab nations. I'm guessing their instincts would not drive them to be overtly friendly to the US, especially if we continue our neo-imperial foreign policy.

It's going to be hard for President Obama to solve this, without pissing off the wingnuts.

I think we're already in a situation where a whole bunch of armed people think that any Democratic administration is inherently illegitimate, and that if Barack Obama becomes President, the only way that could happen is if the election was stolen. If President Obama normalizes relations with Cuba, and ends the fake cold war, that could trigger a whole bunch of trouble.

The question I have in my mind, is whether we will have a second civil war in this country, with the Rollers and Christian Paranoids vs. everyone else. From a population point of view, it's a 40:60 split between the Christianists and the rest of us, and they're armed. Heavily armed.

This is the true danger of a Blackwater or similar company: a private army outside the control of any legal authority, and subject only to the whims of its owner, who happens, in the case of Blackwater, to be a true, balls to the wall, Christian Dominionist.

Joe the Plumber...

2008-10-16T11:44:00.001-07:00

sounds like the title of a Primus song.

Here's a real Primus song:

Evidence that if there is a God....

2008-10-13T10:54:00.000-07:00

he/she/it has a sense of humor. Congrats to Krugman. I'm sure the money will come in handy in these troubled times.

Still, I have to say, he didn't strike me as the kind of person who was Nobel worthy. Don't get me wrong, I'm a fan, but his NY Times columns really don't betray the kind of searing intellect or organizational capability I'd normally associate with Nobel laureates or Fields Medal winners, Kary Mullis notwithstanding. And I've met a few of both, including the bongo player, over the years. Guess I was wrong.

From a political point of view, though, this is a big plus for the Democrats. Krugman was Hillary's economic adviser, and the prize is going to be seen as a significant kind of approbation.

And I'd bet dollars to pesos that Bill O'Reilly is just about ready to blow a gasket. *That* is going to be fun to watch.

From the dept of the bleeding obvious...

2008-10-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

IBM's tech marketing guys just put up a page on how to optimize your app using Lapack. Oh really??.. Can we have a page about kittens too ?

I'm not sure they realize how lame this is, nor do they understand they it betrays a level of ignorance about HPC that is quite astounding. LAPACK is a sort of HPC Rorshach test.. it's main use is for the HPL benchmark, and although some solvers do use those routines, most don't.

Whenever I deal with a company in the HPC space, and they get all exited about LAPACK and other libraries, I start the countdown until they do out of business. Now, there's no danger of IBM getting out of the HPC space, since because of BlueGene and P series, they're one of the few companies making money in this space. But it's depressing to see such an unsophisticated and prosaic piece from them.

Barack Obama: Superhero

2008-10-08T14:22:00.000-07:00

IDW publishing has just put out their Presidential Material series, a couple of comic books outlining the biographies of Barack Obama and John McCain. From this cover, Barack looks like a man on a mission:

New Nobel prizes for Medicine

2008-10-06T12:28:00.000-07:00

Montagnier & Barre-Sinoussi for the discovery of the AIDS virus, and Hausen for discovering the link between HPV and cervical cancer. Its good to see truly important work being acknowledged.

Still crazy after all these years...

2008-10-05T14:55:00.000-07:00

So, John McCain has a wild and crazy brother? Scary thought. Although, reading the new article in Rolling Stone about St John, one would still have to give the edge to him.

This reminds me of the Vick brothers... just when you thought Marcus Vick was a total loon, along comes Michael to put things into true perspective.

She sells Sanctuary.

2008-10-04T01:39:00.001-07:00

Just watched the new SciFi channel show, Sanctuary. The premise is interesting, with a mix of Victorian Gothic and modern themes.

The first show was a little hokey, and the pacing was a little uneven, as all first shows are. But the villain was pretty good, although he was dispatched fairly quickly and without too much fuss, despite being quite dark and formidable. It's too much to expect this show to be as intelligent as Galactica, but there are signs the producers could make this show fairly sophisticated, once it gets into it's stride, without alienating the audience.

In any case, Amanda Tapping is smoking hot as a long haired brunette. That will be enough to keep my attention, for now.

Some songs should not be used for ads.

2008-09-28T15:19:00.000-07:00

I just saw an ad for Lincoln automobiles, which had a cover of Space Oddity emasculated by some random girl singer, the way Target has done with the Beatles' Hello Goodbye. This is different because Bowie still owns the songwriting for his songs, unlike the Beatles' publishing, which are owned by Sony.

So, while I respect the artists' right to do anything they want with their songs, and Bowie is certainly commercially aware, I have to say that it cheapens them to be used in this way.

Anyway, this is the original video & recording of Space Oddity, pre-Angie. And it doesn't have Rick Wakeman's classic mellotron.

The man from Berkshire Hathaway.. he say yes.

2008-09-26T13:11:00.000-07:00

When Warren Buffett says it's time for government intervention, we really ough't to pay attention.

I don't usually pay much attention to what Wall St asks for, since I think they're a bunch of overpaid prissy primadonnas. But Berkshire Hathaway is the epitome of a conservative, risk averse company, and Buffett is well known for being prudent and farsighted, and not being greedy.

I think he's really worried about what could happen, and that's enough for me.

Thursday Night Doors

2008-09-25T20:28:00.000-07:00

My 2nd favorite Doors song, after Riders.

Happy International Talk like a Pirate day

2008-09-19T08:59:00.000-07:00

Yarrgh

No tech for you..

2008-09-18T18:02:00.000-07:00

I'm sick & tired of the Rollers.

Listen, if you don't believe in Science or Reason, and think that the truth is contained in a black book about the continuing adventures of an insecure invisible Sky Wizard, his kid, and their sidekicks, then you're not allowed to use the stuff we discovered and invented. That's right.. no more tv or radio, no more cell-phones, computers or internet, no more medicine, automobiles, and definitely no more guns for you.

You want a weapon? Jawbone of an ass.
You want transport? Horse & buggy works just fine for the Amish.

Don't like it. Then apologize.

A silver lining to the financial crisis

2008-09-18T12:10:00.000-07:00

Now, I understand that structurally what the government did was essentially extend a bridge loan to AIG, but even so there is a big upside to this thing: if Barack Obama becomes President, he will have an enormous opportunity and now the means to implement universal health insurance, given that the government now controls the worlds' largest insurance company. And probably do it far more cheaply than before this event.

Because of its size, AIG will be able to directly set pricing for the entire industry. We should have a health care system that is comparable is scope to what the French have, and be able to take advantage of cost savings due to scale, and the shift away from using expensive emergency medical services to treat the uninsured to encompassing those people within the medical systems' normal framework. If we supplement that with laws to reduce the legal shenanigans of the medical insurance industry and truly reduce the cost of prescription medicine, it could be a good system.

IMHO, every company should support Universal Health Insurance as it will reduce the burden on individual companies, and provide all workers with the health care they need.

From the dept of I told you so..

2008-09-18T11:45:00.000-07:00

As I've mentioned a number of times here, for the Rollers, Palins' gig as VP is all about the apocalypse, and nothing else matters. Here's a post, via Sullivan & Salon that corroborates my earlier contention.

Let's be clear, Sarah Palin is the kind of politician that makes you glad Dick Cheney is the VP.

Vas deference

2008-09-17T17:26:00.000-07:00

While I'm not surprised at Big Medias' complicity with the McCain campaign, it is amazing to see that servitude in action, and the lengths to which the Media is going. As Frank Zappa once said: "There's a big difference between kneeling down and bending over".

It is somewhat breathtaking to see the McCain campaign lie, deceive and bully the press and not get even a wrist slap from them. Even I'm impressed. However, the self-yielding of the press to the Republicans though, must come with a price: if the Republicans get re-elected into the White House, given the mess the country is in, the press must be held responsible for that. After all, only a sociopath would allow a pit bull unleashed on the street, after it had already bitten some people.

I'd bet, though, that if the Democrats came to power, and seeing how they treated Clinton, the press corps would find their missing cojones in a hurry.

From the dept of irony...

2008-09-17T09:54:00.000-07:00

Apparently, the dude got this piece of junk mail in the post yesterday. I guess they do have the protection they need.

Late night Frisell

2008-09-17T01:30:00.000-07:00

One of the most tasteful guitarists around, Bill Frisell uniquely bridges the gap between jazz and country, to produce a truly American sound, in the same spirit as Copland. In addition, he collaborates with many people, and the results are almost always intriguing.

Anyway, this is his take on a classic American song:

The laws of supercomputing

2008-09-16T18:03:00.000-07:00

Its about time I wrote some of these down:

It's all about the memory.
Latency is next to Godliness
Any asshole can build a fast floating point unit.
Cache is King.
Storage is memory
Parallel programming isn't complicated, but it is hard.
Data drives computation.
You can hide latency, but you can't make it run.
Go for capability or capacity, but not both.
One process, then two, then many.
Explicit parallelism beats implicit parallelism.
Don't call, compile.
No non-trivial application will run faster than the Linpack benchmark.
Innovation in HPC in the last 10 years has consisted almost solely of the bending of sheet metal.
95% of all supercomputing is capacity oriented.
All meaningful HPC programming is done in Fortran or C

Carly, Carly, Carly.

2008-09-16T15:50:00.000-07:00

So, Carly Fiorina doesn't think Sarah Palin is qualified to run a big company like HP:

Talk about pot calling the kettle black. Has everyone forgotten Carlys' less than dignified forced exit from HP ?? There is no person in the valley who has more experience being under-qualified to run a large tech company than Carly herself.

It's directly because of people like Carly Fiorina, and their greedy grasping for self-aggrandizement and self-enrichment that we find ourselves in the economic mess we're in. When she was kicked out of HP, she had a $42M golden parachute. That says it all.

From the dept of oxymorons: Low cost Cray

2008-09-16T11:35:00.000-07:00

Cray has finally announced a low-cost HPC system.

This might have been a good idea for them, 6 years ago, when I first proposed it as a member of Cray's ill-fated cluster group. However, this is nothing more than a minor play, rebadging OEM blade boxes with Cray livery, and represents an expensive implementation of something that is already available for far below what Cray is charging. It's an exercise in branding, in an industry where branding takes second place to word of mouth and reputation, and from the press release, Cray isn't adding any significant value, using Infiniband instead of their own interconnect, and using off the shelf software. Ciara and Tyan make boxes just like this, only much cheaper.

The problem for Cray is that most of their stellar talent, with the exception of Steve Scott, have left for greener pastures. What's left is basically a bunch of mostly ex-IBMers running the joint, people who really don't understand this business from a user point of view. OTOH, this is a tacit acknowledgment that the future of HPC is not in Big Iron (although that will always be there), but in smaller, more easily deployable chunks, and that's a good thing for Cray, even if it took them 6 years to get there.

If Cray can innovate in the software side, add their own personality to the box, and use it as a stepping stone to their larger systems, they might have a shot. I wouldn't hold my breath, though.

2/3 HBS = BS

2008-09-15T11:45:00.000-07:00

When I first came to the US in 1991, the valley was still a place where people made things. Cool things, like SGI workstations and satellites, and the corporate ethos was dominated by engineers. The competition was simple: the companies that built the best products, won. And it was a straightforward activity, because the guys who designed and built the products also used them.

In that rarefied time, those innovative tech companies did well: well qualified engineers did the work, and were paid well. Management saw its role as that of being an enabler or facilitator, in a collective context. The only people who did spectacularly better, financially, were the founders of these companies, and that's as it should be given they were the ones with the cojones to walk the walk.

But that all changed. Silicon Valley became infused with Business School graduates and people with marketing degrees, and the focus changed from the team/collective journey to the deification of individual accomplishment, reinforced by a trend to spreadsheet driven management. Individuals in a company were being judged, and compensated, by the completion of their individual goals and how much they had individually contributed. If you saved the company $500K this quarter, that was good for you, no matter what the consequence of that 1 year down the line. From a corporate culture, point of view, we had given ourselves an acute case of ADD.

In addition, the focus at the top end of the company centered around two concepts: shareholder value and corporate leadership/vision. Companies were now being run to maximize shareholder return, rather than to increase market share and customer satisfaction. In fact, as the MBAs figured out they could outsource many essential functions, and hide the true cost in the balance sheet while taking credit for payroll and other savings, customers became less and less satisfied. Meanwhile, those savings didn't go to the customer, but ended up in the pockets of executive management. And as executive leadership metamorphosed into a cult of personality, more and more of a company's' revenue and value was diverted to satisfy those compensation needs.

What is happening in Wall St, is just the chickens coming home to roost. It is the direct consequence of letting people with paper qualifications, but no real world experience, make corporate decisions that primarily benefit themselves, in the short term. Letting newly minted MBAs run around proclaiming that the world had moved on, and the rest of us didn't get it.

And this isn't going to be easy to fix. The country owes more money than it can pay back, and we still have a corporate class that insists on pursuing the trust-fund economics that this administration and those since Reagan have foisted upon us. But there is a solution, and it does have a simple overall structure:

End the war in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Cut all corporate subsidies to large corporations including Oil & Gas, and large Agriculture.
Eliminate tax loopholes and other evasion/avoidance schemes.
Force entities who issue credit to be able to back those loans.
Treat dividends as income.
Reduce outsourcing: penalize companies that do outsource abroad and VCs that encourage it.
Vigorously prosecute corporate malfeasance.
Fix and regulate stock option and other compensation for management and executives.
Redact laws that force companies to put shareholder concerns above others: customers first, employees next, and *then* shareholders.
Raise taxes if necessary, but do it at the high end first.
Invest in new energy: power and transport
Invest in infrastructure: transport and energy distribution and storage.
Reduce dependence on foreign energy: this one act will alter our balance of payments in a favorable way.
Universal health insurance: remove this burden from companies.
Universal access to all levels of education.

The key here is to try and revitalize spending at the consumer & corporate level, by freeing more money at the lower end of the income scale, and stimulate the economy by spending money at home, specifically with infrastructure projects such as construction. Bubble up economics, if you like.

However, part of the problem is that we have become decadent and corrupt, and have lost the creative spirit and can-do attitude of the 50s. Our new President, needs to show us the way back to a more honest way of life.

Rick Wright, RIP

2008-09-15T10:10:00.001-07:00

Rick Wright, the keyboard player with Pink Floyd just died.

To me, he was the George Harrison of the Floyd, and vastly underrated, while at the same time hugely influential. People raved about Waters' songwriting, and Dave Gilmours' guitar playing, but Rick Wrights' atmospheric space-rock keyboards where the heart and soul of that band, especially on "Dark Side of the Moon" and "Wish You Were Here". When he did contribute, compositionally, the results were often classic songs.

I was never a huge Floyd fan, certain songs notwithstanding, but I loved his tasteful and understated playing and textures, and the fact that he rejected the muscular pyrotechnics of a Jobson, Wakeman or Emerson, even though he was abundantly capable of doing that. His sound was unique, and continues, to this day, to be copied and borrowed, and the Floyd would not have been anywhere close to the band it became without him.

This song was one of his:

A few 9/11 anniversary thoughts.

2008-09-10T23:25:00.000-07:00

I grew up in England, near London, during the height of the IRA's and UDF's reign of terror on the UK. In my life, there are 5 or 6 places I have frequented or visited that were bombed by the IRA, and where people died, including some people I knew. But life carried on.

And when 7/7 happened in London, I couldn't have been prouder of my fellow countrymen, for telling the terrorists, in no uncertain terms, that they wouldn't be cowed or browbeaten into submission, by just going down to the pub and drinking a defiant pint or two. After all, if Hitler and the IRA couldn't intimidate Londoners, then a bunch of low-rent Muslim terrorists really don't stand much of a chance.

However, one thing is certain: in the UK, no politician, not Thatcher, Blair or even Boris Johnson would ever dare contemplate the use of any such tragedy for direct political advantage. Ever.

So,when I say I'm disgusted with McCain & Palin for doing just that, please understand where I'm coming from. For me terrorism is not an abstract notion, but a real and present danger, and one which tells us about ourselves by the way we respond. Nietzsche once wrote: "Those who hunt monsters, must be careful not to become monsters", and I think that's a prime and moral imperative in our fight against terrorism. We cannot let ourselves become what we despise, whatever the temptation or provocation.

For McCain to be such a fearmonger, is a reprehensible and vile act by a venal man. But it won't work. Not on me, nor on the average American or Brit.

Senator McCain and Governor Palin, let me say this on the 7th anniversary of the 9/11 tragedy: I am not frightened by our enemies, nor will I condone the efforts by you and your cronies to scare us into submission. If you want to be scared, by something you don't understand, instead of confronting it, that's fine by me, but I, for one, will not be a hostage to your fears. Not now, not ever.

And if Barack Obama wins this election, neither will the rest of us.

When the game is rigged.

2008-09-08T08:21:00.000-07:00

As a foreigner, I am amazed at the relationship between media and the political parties in the US, especially at how blatantly the major TV and cable channels shill for the Republicans.

MSNBC have dropped Matthews and Olbermann as anchors for their election coverage, apparently on the grounds of impartiality. That might be true, insofar as Matthews and Olbermann have called the Republicans on their bullshit, and not given them a free pass. The real problem, imho, is the link with NBC, and the fact that the people at the Peacock network think of themselves as serious journalists and cable TV as some kind of broadcasting ghetto.

Of course, if this were the UK, we wouldn't have this problem. People like Jeremy Paxman make Olbermann look like a nice, shy boy from New York.

Ratings....

2008-09-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

According to Neilson, John McCain's speech got 500,000 more viewers than Barack Obama. Combine that with Sarah Palin's ratings, and it doesn't take a blind man to see that the Republicans have a really good chance to win the election.

The Democrats have work to do. This is not going to be a cakewalk for them.

A disturbance in the farce...

2008-09-05T08:46:00.000-07:00

John McCain's speech, last night, had the tired air of a condemned man, almost apologetic in it's tone. Contrast that with Sarah Palin's, which was defiant and full of condescension. The torch was clearly passed, and say what you will, this is now a Palin/McCain ticket.

Coincidentally, Ron Paul was on Colbert, last night, and talked about how the Republicans has basically gagged him and his supporters during the convention.

Which leads me to my point.. Regardless of whether the Republicans win or lose, this year, the Christianists are now the dominant force within the party. And while in the past, the Patrician wing of the Republican party has been willing to join forces with the Rollers, in order to get what they want, there's a clear fracture within the party. If they do lose, there's going to be a strong realignment within the party, and the Ron Paul libertarian wing of the party might be the blade that cleaves the stone, clearly dividing the Republicans into fiscal conservatives and social conservatives.

Now, imho it's not that clear cut, since Ron Paul, while havng a cohesive philosophy, doesn't have a cohesive or realistic plan for governing. In particular, his audience includes many of the same Dominionist/Christanist elements that dominate the Republican party right now, drawn by his call for States Rights, and other dogwhistle issues.

Thursday night Prog

2008-09-04T22:19:00.000-07:00

Just a reminder of how great a guitarist Steve Hackett is, even when he's not soloing but "just" providing counterpoint and textures. Along with Edge, he is probably the guitarist that best provides just the right colour, tone and sound at the right time.

He could be subtle and dominant at the same time. In 30 years, Daryl Stuermer, as great as he is, could never quite capture what made Hackett tick. Of living guitarists, only Holdsworth and Jeff Beck are greater, although Fripp is an equal.

Anyhoo, this one is dedicated to John McCain, and the song title says it all.

Fundamentalist Terminators

2008-09-04T12:35:00.001-07:00

Sullivan has a good posting on his blog about the shift in the Republican Party towards a Theocratic state. While I think he understands the danger, I don't think he quite realizes how far down the path the country has already gone.

Let me quote from The Terminator, so you get what I'm saying:
"Listen. And understand. That terminator is out there. It can't be bargained with. It can't be reasoned with. It doesn't feel pity, or remorse, or fear. And it absolutely will not stop, ever, until you are dead."

These people are relentless, and will not stop until they've forced the rest of us to live under the yoke of their theology. Dismantling Rove vs. Wade will only be the start.. they'll force creationism and who knows what other nonsense down our throats.

Let me put it this way, in deference to her namesake Pythonista: if she's elected, you can expect the Spanish Inquisition. Only this time around, there won't be any comfy chairs.

Darth Palin

2008-09-03T17:35:00.000-07:00

I touched on this a couple of posts ago.

The question on everybody's lips wrt Mrs Palin is how good a president will she make if McCain fails to complete his first term. The more salient question that should be on everyone's mind is what kind of a Vice President will she make. The answer is Dick Cheney, with a vindictive streak and a Messiah complex.

Why? Well I've been trying to figure out why someone like Sarah Palin would accept the nomination, when she knows full well what her baggage looks like, and what national exposure would do to bring all that to light. After all, she's a Republican, and all she has to ask herself is what would she do if she were the press or the Democrats. From a normal perspective, there would be just too much downside if she didn't take time to prepare.

However, it's my opinion that she, and the rest of the Christian Right supporting her, feels that she's been selected, plucked out of thin air, to be an "Instrument of God" in order to perform some holy task.. Whether that's true or not, or what that holy task is (my guess is that it involves continuing to blow the shit out of a bunch of short brown people), you'd have to ask the Big Guy (who I technically don't believe in). But it is a mindset that permeates the whole right-wing end-times Christianist movement, that they are chosen, and the rest of us are damned. Remember, these are people who think that the Left Behind books are akin to a fifth gospel.

The danger comes from the fact that unlike Helen Chenowith, Mrs Palin doesn't come across as a fundamentalist nutcase when you see her on TV, but as a regular all-American gal, with 5.5 kids and a manly husband, a dog and a killer recipe for Moose stew. But make no mistake, she's someone who has already demonstrated an eager willingness to use the privileges of office to settle scores and reward supporters, and to promote her Christianist mindset, without a care as to who gets damaged in the process. She has also shown a talent for profligate spending, and the political nous to get substantial earmarks allocated to her town and state. There won't be any problem for her trying to fit in Washington, especially with the Republicans circling the wagons and protecting one of their own.

I'll say this, if John McCain gets elected, things could get bad. Sarah Palin, is Dobson's Trojan Horse, let in through the gates of Troy by McCain's Faustian deal with the Religious Right. And once you make a deal with the Devil, there's no turning back.

Say what you will about George W, but he only appropriated the language of that movement, and while he was actively sympathetic to their cause, he never let them actually drive the car. If I gave a rats ass for myself and the rest of the Human Race, this prospect would scare me, but I'm just here to watch, and roast my marshmellows in the fires. We'll get who we collectively deserve.

btw, if McCain does somehow get himself elected President, I'd bet dollars to doughnuts he won't last the first term. There's just too much temptation for the Rollers to pass up.

There's never a vet when you need one.

2008-09-02T02:25:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking a little more about the Palin pick, and how the McCain organization has seemingly failed to properly vet the Republican nominee for VP. It seems to me that if Dobson, Limbaugh and co. were going to impose a running mate on McCain, then they themselves should at least have properly pre-vetted that person.

I will be surprised, though, if Sarah Palin gets dropped: unlike George W Bush, who simply co-opted their line, she's the real deal, if a little low-calorie, so to speak. Belonging to the Alaskan Independence Party in the 90's, and the association with her pastors, far from being disqualifying, actually reinforce her bona fides with the Christianist/Dominionist wing of the Republican Party

This is post-invasion Iraq all over again, in the sense that these people care only about a very small set of criteria (the usual positions on abortion, etc..), and don't even care that the people they're placing in positions of responsibility should at least be moderately qualified for the job, if not actually good at their jobs. The problem with that attitude is that these people only know 2 ways to solve a problem: a prayer and a hammer (the more heavy handed, the better). We're seeing that in St Paul, this week, with the way the authorities are dealing with the protesters. It doesn't bode well.

I have have just one request. Guys, if you're going to be fascist tyrants, could you at least be competent fascist tyrants, and put a little elan into the job? What you're doing right now, well it's just amateurish and embarrassing, and not worthy of a 3rd world banana republic. Truly.

Cheneys young apprentice..

2008-08-31T23:08:00.000-07:00

here's the thing: if John McCain does become President, he's likely to be just as lightweight in the job as our current president.

As the saying goes, nature abhors a vacuum, and what that means is that there will be a huge opportunity for Sarah Palin to fill the power void, and be as powerful a VP as Dick Cheney, if not more so. At the very least, you will see a continuation of the energy policies that the current VP has been pursuing, as he takes her under his wing to teach her all he can. Also, she'd be much more proactive in ensuring important positions get filled by Christianists.

The diss on Palin is that she'd have to build an entire team, but I don't think that's true. For one, she can inherit Cheneys, or quickly assemble a team from Dobsons organization. These people will be ready to go on day one. All she has to do is embrace the Dark Side, and she could do that in a heartbeat.

Scandals on the McCain side don't matter

2008-08-31T11:53:00.000-07:00

Some time ago I thought McCains campaigns was dead, not because he was in involved in a scandal, but because he was involved in a scandal involving a woman on the side, Vicki Iseman. There's nothing more that the media likes, imho, than a fresh & juicy sex scandal. Or so I thought. But, McCain is still here, in part because the media gave him a total free pass on that scandal.

Similarly, the press is probably going to drop Palins Troopergate problem like 3rd period French once the convention gets going, and Gustav blows its way through Louisiana & Mississippi.

Unless, of course, they've come to the conclusion, as I have, that McCain is a complete and total nutcase. I wouldn't hold by breath for that particular epiphany to happen, btw.

I can tell you this, though: given all that has happened with the current administration, Troopergate and Babygate are nothing. The religious base won't care one iota and will forgive almost any sin of hers, because all they really care about is that she's one of them, and that is an extremely powerful meme, especially since many of them still think Barack is a Muslim. You shouldn't be fooled, either, by the fact that she's only the VP. With McCain, given his health and his dubious past, she's closer to the main chair than any recent VP, Cheney notwithstanding, and the base are a patient bunch.

What they see in Sarah Palin is the whole brass ring: the chance to turn this country into a provincialist, 19th century minded, fundamentalist theocracy, and that prospect more than anything else is what has fired them up. I know this because McCain just raised $7 million in 24 hrs, and the Democrats underestimate this at their peril.

If the rollers can get themselves a 50% or 60% turnout in the base, that in combination with all the dirty tricks the Republicans are likely to pull, could carry them over. And rest assured, the Republicans won't go down without a fight.

Half baked Alaska

2008-08-30T19:42:00.000-07:00

All the talk has been about John McCains judgment in selecting Sarah Palin, and I myself have used a few strong words in that regard.

However, no-one has yet talked about Sarah Palin's faulty judgment in accepting the nomination for VP. Clearly, she is unqualified, right now, to serve either in that capacity, or as the President. In my view, she should know better and declined the offer, particularly in light of her on-going troubles in her state. That she didn't tells you a couple of things: either Sarah Palin is too vain, naive or stupid to realize her predicament; or she thinks John McCains campaign is stone cold dead, right now, and is using the opportunity to earn some chits with the rest of the Republican Party that she can redeem in the future, say 2016.

The difficulty for her is that she's a fringe player, both geographically and politically, and not close to the Republicans central power base. It's a play, if she's not careful, that could split the Republican Party for years to come, between the social/religious conservatives, and the fiscal/constitutional conservatives.

How far we've come in HPC.

2008-08-30T12:15:00.001-07:00

GPUs represent a revolution in the way HPC will get done in the future, but something obvious but important needs to be said.

For $550, I can now buy a single graphics card that can do 2.4 TFlops single precision, and almost 1/2 TFlop in double precision. That's more floating point performance on a single card than existed in total on the entire planet in 1984, in either single or double precision, and about 100x over the performance of a desktop or laptop PC. Similar scaling is happening in other places (you can now buy a single TByte disk for $300). Moores Law is a wonderful thing.

But this has an important consequence: the Pandora's box of technology has not just been opened, but finally and irreversably shredded apart. Any attempt to prevent enemy or terrorist nations or mad supervillains from using computer technology is pointless. Any laptop, even from Frys, has more than enough power and memory to do the job, whatever job. Malevolence is not tempered or regulated by elegance or efficiency.

None of you know who this man was

2008-08-30T12:01:00.000-07:00

Henri Cartan has just passed away at the age of 104.

He was a co-founder of the Bourbaki group, who were the philosophical leaders of the French school of 20th century mathematics, and who had a profound influence worldwide. His father, Elie Cartan, was a giant in the field, working on Lie groups and Differential Geometry.

Johnny Too Bad

2008-08-30T11:15:00.000-07:00

John Martyn is a huge influence on my playing, doing the Echoplex call and reply interplay a good decade before Edge. This is kind of Prog-Reggae and a little strange.

Given how much I've been ranting at the old geezer, and the title of this song, I had to share.

In the end we get the president we deserve.

2008-08-30T10:36:00.000-07:00

Or at least, the president we collectively think we deserve.

I've had a little more time to ponder the Palin selection, and while I understand the tactical and strategic thinking behind it, I can't help but think that John McCain must be clinically insane. Not Ron Paul, eccentric uncle crazy, but full-blown Sterling Heyden in Strangelove, Martin Sheen in Dead Zone, Heath Ledger as the Joker, batshit deranged psychosis.

After Friday, the stark contrast between him and Barack has never been clearer. The only question in my mind, now, is whether the conservative media will come to their collective senses, and start to understand how dangerous this guy is, stop covering for him, and stop acting as the Republican Party's ventriloquist's dummy.

Look, the rollers will vote for McCain in any event, especially given his VP pick, and they don't care about anything except making the Rapture happen as soon as possible. But the rest of us (actually, the rest of you since I can't vote yet) have a decision to make.

From my point of view, it's an easy choice.

Jumping sharks and the Palin pick

2008-08-29T11:39:00.000-07:00

McCain has just shifted the goalposts in the national debate from experience to judgment, and in the process it looks like he scored a huge own goal.

Now, I don't know anything about Sarah Palin (and that's problem #1), she could be the sweetest, most capable and most decent person on the planet, and if George W Bush is qualified to be President, then Sarah Palin is certainly qualified to be Vice President (actually she might be too nice for the job).

However, she's involved in an active and ongoing scandal, and has *strong* associations with Ted Stevens.

For McCain to choose her, after Obama selected Biden, must call his judgment into serious question, and only reflects the bind he's in in trying to maintain his base while wooing disaffected Hillary supporters. It also shows that McCain is not a serious man, when it comes to the presidency, and that he's trying to win this election through the political equivalent of branding, rather than through a substantive campaign of issues.

The prospect of McCain as president now has my attention. Seriously. The guy is a lunatic, and I can't wait to see what happens.

All the nightmares came today, and it looks as though they're here to stay.

2008-08-29T01:08:00.000-07:00

Sure, he was probably reading way too much Edward Bulwer-Lytton, but the whole spaceman, human evolution shtick made Bowie an interesting and original artist up to & including the Ziggy Stardust years

Late night chick asskickery

2008-08-29T00:36:00.000-07:00

Along with post-Genesis Peter Gabriel and David Bowie, she was part of the British Prog-Pop movement, and became a highly experimental musician in a pop context, doing pioneering work with the Fairlight sampling keyboard.

From a musical point of view, and taking into account her amazing singing, if I were to compare her to another female musician, it would be Joni Mitchell. Not because of styles, because Joni's is rooted in folk-rock via LA studio/country/jazz, but because of how profoundly she influenced the musicians that followed her.

Bear in mind that Kate was also the first rock/pop artist to combine dance and music in a live show, presaging Madonna and the others by a good 10 years.

Anyway, the amazing thing about this song is that Kate wrote it when she was 14. In fact, it was part of the demo she put together for Dave Gilmour (of the Floyd) who discovered her.

What's even more amazing is how presciently in control of her early career she was, refusing to put this song out as her first single, instead choosing Wuthering Heights.

The virtue of Blind Faith

2008-08-28T23:55:00.000-07:00

Blind Faith were the first "Supergroup", yada, yada.

Important for two reasons: firstly in the 60's there were 4 great rock drummers: Ringo, Moon, Mitch Mitchell and Ginger Baker (John Bonham really didn't arrive until the 70s), and Ginger might have been the most Jazz oriented of the lot. Unfortunately, this was his last good recording until 1986.

Second, with Blind Faith, Clapton made the transition to Fenders from Gibsons. Here he's playing a Telecaster like Muddy Waters. He would end up being forever associated with Stratocasters (Blackie), even though his most important recordings with Mayall & Cream were all done with Gibsons.

Anyway, it's amazing to me that an album with only 2 great songs ("Find my way home" and "Presence of the Lord"), was so lauded, but as I mentioned before with the Zappa clip, it was a time when Rock musicians were starting to be treated as artists, and encouraged to experiment and collaborate, even if their milieu was based on a more traditional form (in this case Blues). It's a shame they only recorded one album together.

Political campaigns and guitar solos

2008-08-28T22:47:00.000-07:00

Keith Moon once said that the most important thing about a guitar solo is how you start, and how you finish. I think the same thing holds true of political campaigns.

Tonight, Barack Obama gave one of the great speeches in American political history, the opening phrase, I guess, of the last part of his guitar solo. Even I was impressed, and you get the feeling that even better speeches are yet to come.

In the words of Bill Murray: "He came, he saw, he kicked ass"

Premature adulation

2008-08-28T09:52:00.000-07:00

This made me laugh out loud.

Knowing Steve Jobs, though, I'd bet money that he'll get some people together to make sure his obituary is *just right*, ensuring a dignified and elegant shuffling off of these mortal coils. After all, the man is legendary for his refined good taste.

The only issue is his control freak nature. The Pearly Gates might be too much for him. Heaven would probably have to rename them to the Pearly Lasseters or something to keep him happy in the afterlife.

None of you understand. I'm not locked up in here with you. You're locked up in here with me

2008-08-28T02:11:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I really hate the human race, as a whole. This following quote from Watchmen really captures how I feel.

"Stood in firelight, sweltering. Bloodstain on chest like map of violent new continent. Felt cleansed. Felt dark planet turn under my feet and knew what cats know that makes them scream like babies in night.

Looked at sky through smoke heavy with human fat and God was not there. The cold, suffocating dark goes on forever and we are alone. Live our lives, lacking anything better to do. Devise reason later. Born from oblivion; bear children, hell-bound as ourselves, go into oblivion. There is nothing else.

Existence is random. Has no pattern save what we imagine after staring at it for too long. No meaning save what we choose to impose. This rudderless world is not shaped by vague metaphysical forces. It is not God who kills the children. Not fate that butchers them or destiny that feeds them to the dogs. It’s us. Only us. Streets stank of fire. The void breathed hard on my heart, turning its illusions to ice, shattering them. Was reborn then, free to scrawl own design on this morally blank world.

Was Rorschach."

Plate or shrimp, or plate of shrimp.

2008-08-28T02:07:00.000-07:00

"The more you drive, the less intelligent you are"

Late nite Zappa

2008-08-27T00:23:00.000-07:00

Inca Roads, from the One Size fits All record.

There was a time when bands like this had an audience, because the music industry and specifically the music press were devoted both to the notion of rock music as a true artistic form, and to the nurturing of musical experimentation and diversity. Nowadays bands are judged more on how cool or street they are.

I don't think it's possible anymore for a band on a major label to deliver a record with this kind of sensibility.
Oh, and did I mention I have been hopelessly and eternally in love with Ruth Underwood, since I was 15.