Le Figaro, France is running an article on Canada's Artic Rangers.
Quebec's Rangers work out of the local army base, here in Saint-Jean sur Richelieu!!
Thursday, March 30, 2017
A Rangers
NAFTA Again
The United States is planning to re-open the NAFTA agreement (Canada, U.S.,
Mexico), probably in the fall. The reason being it no longer serves U.S.interests;
particularly that the U.S. is running continuous negative trade accounts.
Rather complicated issues. Might be interesting if one could look at the fact that
the majority of illegals entering the U.S. from Mexico are really from other parts
of Middle and South America. While we're at it...
http://www.ledevoir.com/economie/actualites-economiques/495226/trump-fait-un-premier-pas-vers-la-renegociation-de-l-alena
http://www.international.gc.ca/economist-economiste/statistics-statistiques/data-payments-paiments/data-BOP_current-courant/BP_Canada_US-EU_Current-Courant.aspx?lang=eng
Wednesday, March 29, 2017
Provisions
The French Presidential election seems to be caught up in a
rather silly business having to do with financing the wardrobe of the
President's significant other.
For President Hollande, the problem solved itself
in that the mother of his children is currently a minister in his cabinet
(Segolène Royal, Environment), and can choose and finance the look
appropriate for her status.
We learned yesterday that E. Macron - the current favourite from the
Socialist family -and his older teacher wife, currently on leave, have also
solved the problem. She receives clothes, on loan, for each public appearance
from the Dior family of Luxe businesses. Everything is duly returned.
We are left with the unpleasant affair of the large amounts
that were paid to the English wife of candidate Fillon, for the right,
rumoured to be put 'en examen' - indicted - today. She was, to put it
mildly, overpaid for ther services while her husband was Prime Minister,
thus allowing her to sport the expensive look the wives of the political class
are expected to project. France is, after all, in the Luxe business. Not very
savoury, as an issue. F. Fillon was initially favourite, but he is being tanked
on this and nothing seems to help, the more he complains.
A minor issue, internal to the French election, no doubt. But it is clear that in
the Internet age, there is great pressure on certain women to be style icons.
Michelle Obama got her frump out, and it was a stretch for her, not always
congruent with her personality. Melania Trump won't leave the house and
designers pronounce on whether they would dress her at all!? Perhaps there
was protection in being the invisible wife of earlier presidencies.
It's all the Queen's doing, who has always worn monochrome outifts in bright
colours, to be easily seen in a crowd. Maria Theresa of Austria, during her reign,
was 'king' of Austria, the title of 'queen' being reserved for the spouse of the monarch.
It is clear today the the spouse of a head of state - where there is one - is a host or
hostess. Surely provisions could be arranged for that, no questions asked.
Tuesday, March 28, 2017
Monday, March 27, 2017
Hard B
Observers in the media consider a hard Brexit - one without an accord - more
of a negotiation stance than a real possibility as Britain initiates Article 50
to leave the EU this week.
(BTP stands for Bâtiments Travauz Publics ie construction)
source: MSN France
of a negotiation stance than a real possibility as Britain initiates Article 50
to leave the EU this week.
There are also concerns about the availability of manpower.
source: MSN France
Thursday, March 23, 2017
Wednesday, March 22, 2017
Toast
The word is in on carbs. One should not overeat
carbohydrates because this will result in instant bloat
and accompanying weight gain. One stocks 3 grams of water
for every gram of carbs ingested.
This said, one still needs these for energy. A normal
person should aim for 3 to 7 grams per day, per kilo
of body weight. This is someone with a normal level of activity.
Athletes have been known to need between 7 and 12 on
high performance days. So a 70 kilo runner, making it to X10,
would want to consume 700 grams of carbs.
To get an idea, the carb standard measure is 15 for an order of toast.
700 grams makes for 47 orders of toast. At 180 calories per, that is
8460 calories form carbs alone.
That's a lot of toast.
information source:MSN
carbohydrates because this will result in instant bloat
and accompanying weight gain. One stocks 3 grams of water
for every gram of carbs ingested.
This said, one still needs these for energy. A normal
person should aim for 3 to 7 grams per day, per kilo
of body weight. This is someone with a normal level of activity.
Athletes have been known to need between 7 and 12 on
high performance days. So a 70 kilo runner, making it to X10,
would want to consume 700 grams of carbs.
To get an idea, the carb standard measure is 15 for an order of toast.
700 grams makes for 47 orders of toast. At 180 calories per, that is
8460 calories form carbs alone.
That's a lot of toast.
information source:MSN
Reuters Pics
* * *
source: le Figaro
* * *
* * *
* * *
* * *
source: le Nouvel Obs
* * *
Tuesday, March 21, 2017
Hard News
In hard news: Ivanka Trump will be getting a West
Wing office, as a citizen advisor to her father's administration.
Perfectly legal!!
Donald Trump is a billionaire, number 544 on the list of the
World's billionaires published by Forbes (There are 2043
although, 565 are actually Americans). Reported in
yesterday's Libération.
The Times will not be hosting its usual pre-party
for the annual Correspondents' dinner. And will be making a
donation instead of tables at the event.
I thought it was snobby when the New Yorker
pulled out. The Times not going? Downright humourless!!
I also read recently, in the National Enquirer, that Barack
Obama's brother was showing a birth certificate to the
effect that B. O. was actually born in Kenya. Nothing
that I'm going to lose sleep over, but it might well be true.
Dead or Alive
One thing I look forward to every year is an outing with Lyse, celebrating
the end of the school year and all that effort. Looking to find
a suitable activity for this year, I was saddened to reach something of a dead
end with the City of Montreal website. I'm always upset to reach sites that
are not updated. At least it would be sheer politeness to indicate the last update
date on the welcoming page!!
R U DED ?
ALIVE !!
Sunday, March 19, 2017
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Friday, March 17, 2017
Wednesday, March 15, 2017
Tuesday, March 14, 2017
Sunday, March 12, 2017
Eyeliner
The colour of my eyes is not entirely stable as I age. I have a ring of blue around the (yellowish)brown, and I've noticed store clerks sort of staring at my eyes.
No reason to feel self-conscious about this. Eye colour is pigmentation, and the situation is fluid.
I've recently taken to wearing grey eyeliner; it is a principle of Art School that the horizon
line is always grey. Voilà, less noticeable!
Working for the Web
source: Le Monde
interviewer: Grégoire Orain
translation: doxa-louise
Researcher Antonio Casilli explains how, behind apparently free services,
Facebook, Amazon, Google... have created an enormous 'click economy'.
What is the commonality between the moment one consults one's Facebook
feed, watch videos on YouTube or look for cat pictures on Google?
In all three cases, although undoubtedly not aware of this, one is performing
work. On the Internet, the large American digital platforms are going all out to capture
our attention and our time, offering ever more sophisticated services to enable
communication, travel, be informed, or simply consume.
Free tools, superficially so. Because our digital amusements hide a major overthrow,
global, of how we produce value. In a more or less invisible manner, more or less
insidious, Silicon Valley has put us to work.
Antonio Casilli is a teacher-researcher with Télécom Paris Tech and l'École des
hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), author, with sociologist Dominique Cardon, of
Qu'est ce que le Digital Labour? (INA éditions, 2015).
In your book, you explain that the minute someone connects to Facebook, or
even to Internet in general, he is put to work. How is that?
Antonio Casilli: It is a concept which the scientific community has called digital labor,
that is click labour, made up of many little tasks, done on platforms, which require little
qualification and whose primary purpose is the production of data. It is work which is
eminently social. On social media, for example, one is always cooperating with someone -
sharing content, liking a photo, and so on - but also working for someone - the social
network which uses the data thus generated. This is how the large digital platforms we are
connected to produce value.
Who are these platforms and how do they make us work?
There are four types. The first type, are the on-demand, such as Uber or Airbnb, which
under cover of other activities (transport, accommodation, etc) generate data, log our
destinations, our origins, our comments, our reputation, our evaluations, and which are
then free to sell these data.
The second type, are microwork platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, Upwork,
mCent... sites from which millions of people in the world execute extremely simple tasks
(finding on Internet the address of a store, entering the information from a business card,
describing the elements of an image...) for extremely low levels of remuneration, in the order
of a few Euro centimes per minute.
The third type, are platforms dedicated to the management of the Internet of objects. Our
smartphones, our connected watches, but also our televisions, our lightbulbs or connected
thermostats produce useful data. Our houses are becoming data factories, and this production
converges towards immense servers belonging to Google or Amazon.
The last type, finally, are the social platforms. Writing a post, a tweet, making a video
that will be shared, but also helping contents circulate, flagging those that are shocking or
inappropriate, that's work, even though there is a playful aspect, an aspect which gives pleasure.
Is it really an issue that we may be working indirectly and free for Facebook or Uber?
After all, they are providing a service which is useful and for which we do not pay...
Those who do not see anything wrong with digital labor are the privileged few.
They are the people wo have the times and the social and cultural capital to profit
in the extreme from what the Net has to offer. Internet is meant to reach these
people, and they get great rewards from it.
At the same time, as we let our privilege hold sway, we are ignoring tens of millions
of people in India, China and elsewhere, who make it possible for us to enjoy the Internet, for
starvation wages. A platform such as Upwork has 12 million registered users, as many for the
Chinese on Witmart. The micro tasks accomplished on these platforms make it possible to
enhance the artificial intelligence and algorithms of the services we use, and filter out the contents
we do not want to see. Invisible labour, a click economy, made up of exploited workers at the
other end of the world.
How is it that this aspect of the Internet is ignored by its users?
Because these companies use tricks to get us to work for them. To begin with, generating
data is made as easy as possible. In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg declared that a share on Facebook
should happen - 'without resistance of any kind' One thus seeks to make the production of data a
seamless process.
The second trick, which makes the work invisible to us, is 'ludification'; production becomes a
game, which permits people to get pleasure from spending hours and hours connected to systems
which, nonetheless, continue to give them instructions: click here, 'like' this video, comment on
your experience, etc.
The platforms dedicated to micro labour are similar. The interface for Amazon Mechanical Turk is
rather likeable: icons everywhere, a competition effect between workers, rewarding reactivity,
scores which unblocks better tasks to be accomplished, etc.
In short, game simulations push people to constantly interact...
Not only. By turning production into a game, and thus not an economic transaction, one minimizes
the danger that people might organize, become conscious that they are in fact working, and,
finally, ask for money. It is for this reason that it is very difficult to organize a collective
awakening: everything is done so that the user is kept out of seeing a contractual or paid
relationship.
But are you not then telling us that this is happy work?
The real question is not that of happiness or pleasure, but that of difficult labour, which
becomes invisible. People other than us end up with the difficult stuff, see despicable
content, the awful, the terrible, and make the organic functioning of Facebook possible. The
people who filter out the videos of beheadings from the Islamic State are in the Philippines,
Mexico, elsewhere. The awful has been relocated.
What can be done once one recognizes these new forms of production which escape
the usual notions of worktime, contracts, salaries?
There is a problem of organization at the international level, an urgent, serious one, with no
answer for the moment. If someone goes on strike in the Philippines, someone else in Indonesia
will pick up the work. But it is not merely a question of competition between countries. How to give
everyone rights, the possibility to stand up for better working conditions?
conversely, at the national level, things are advancing rapidly. Unions in France,
Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, are initiating consultations on platform workers, all
platforms, those on-demand, of course, like Uber, but also microwork platforms. The German
union IGmetal, for example, has started Fair Crowd Work, a tool meant to allow those involved in
microwork to complain of bad practices, to evaluate their bosses, etc.
If regulation doesn't come, what will happen?
A union, today, cannot afford to keep the old logic for social dialogue or financing, because all
scenarios ahead are conflictual. We are already there: Uber and many others are facing strikes,
and meanwhile moderators and filtering have started organizing. On the other side, traditional
enterprises are becoming like platforms as they turn to the use of data, the elaboration of algorithms, etc. This polarization means that intermediate bodies need to understand what is going on, and what their social and political responsibilities might be.
interviewer: Grégoire Orain
translation: doxa-louise
'On the Internet, we are all workers, and the difficult conditions of that work are invisible'
Researcher Antonio Casilli explains how, behind apparently free services,
Facebook, Amazon, Google... have created an enormous 'click economy'.
What is the commonality between the moment one consults one's Facebook
feed, watch videos on YouTube or look for cat pictures on Google?
In all three cases, although undoubtedly not aware of this, one is performing
work. On the Internet, the large American digital platforms are going all out to capture
our attention and our time, offering ever more sophisticated services to enable
communication, travel, be informed, or simply consume.
Free tools, superficially so. Because our digital amusements hide a major overthrow,
global, of how we produce value. In a more or less invisible manner, more or less
insidious, Silicon Valley has put us to work.
Antonio Casilli is a teacher-researcher with Télécom Paris Tech and l'École des
hautes études en sciences sociales (EHESS), author, with sociologist Dominique Cardon, of
Qu'est ce que le Digital Labour? (INA éditions, 2015).
In your book, you explain that the minute someone connects to Facebook, or
even to Internet in general, he is put to work. How is that?
Antonio Casilli: It is a concept which the scientific community has called digital labor,
that is click labour, made up of many little tasks, done on platforms, which require little
qualification and whose primary purpose is the production of data. It is work which is
eminently social. On social media, for example, one is always cooperating with someone -
sharing content, liking a photo, and so on - but also working for someone - the social
network which uses the data thus generated. This is how the large digital platforms we are
connected to produce value.
Who are these platforms and how do they make us work?
There are four types. The first type, are the on-demand, such as Uber or Airbnb, which
under cover of other activities (transport, accommodation, etc) generate data, log our
destinations, our origins, our comments, our reputation, our evaluations, and which are
then free to sell these data.
The second type, are microwork platforms such as Amazon Mechanical Turk, Upwork,
mCent... sites from which millions of people in the world execute extremely simple tasks
(finding on Internet the address of a store, entering the information from a business card,
describing the elements of an image...) for extremely low levels of remuneration, in the order
of a few Euro centimes per minute.
The third type, are platforms dedicated to the management of the Internet of objects. Our
smartphones, our connected watches, but also our televisions, our lightbulbs or connected
thermostats produce useful data. Our houses are becoming data factories, and this production
converges towards immense servers belonging to Google or Amazon.
The last type, finally, are the social platforms. Writing a post, a tweet, making a video
that will be shared, but also helping contents circulate, flagging those that are shocking or
inappropriate, that's work, even though there is a playful aspect, an aspect which gives pleasure.
Is it really an issue that we may be working indirectly and free for Facebook or Uber?
After all, they are providing a service which is useful and for which we do not pay...
Those who do not see anything wrong with digital labor are the privileged few.
They are the people wo have the times and the social and cultural capital to profit
in the extreme from what the Net has to offer. Internet is meant to reach these
people, and they get great rewards from it.
At the same time, as we let our privilege hold sway, we are ignoring tens of millions
of people in India, China and elsewhere, who make it possible for us to enjoy the Internet, for
starvation wages. A platform such as Upwork has 12 million registered users, as many for the
Chinese on Witmart. The micro tasks accomplished on these platforms make it possible to
enhance the artificial intelligence and algorithms of the services we use, and filter out the contents
we do not want to see. Invisible labour, a click economy, made up of exploited workers at the
other end of the world.
How is it that this aspect of the Internet is ignored by its users?
Because these companies use tricks to get us to work for them. To begin with, generating
data is made as easy as possible. In 2011, Mark Zuckerberg declared that a share on Facebook
should happen - 'without resistance of any kind' One thus seeks to make the production of data a
seamless process.
The second trick, which makes the work invisible to us, is 'ludification'; production becomes a
game, which permits people to get pleasure from spending hours and hours connected to systems
which, nonetheless, continue to give them instructions: click here, 'like' this video, comment on
your experience, etc.
The platforms dedicated to micro labour are similar. The interface for Amazon Mechanical Turk is
rather likeable: icons everywhere, a competition effect between workers, rewarding reactivity,
scores which unblocks better tasks to be accomplished, etc.
In short, game simulations push people to constantly interact...
Not only. By turning production into a game, and thus not an economic transaction, one minimizes
the danger that people might organize, become conscious that they are in fact working, and,
finally, ask for money. It is for this reason that it is very difficult to organize a collective
awakening: everything is done so that the user is kept out of seeing a contractual or paid
relationship.
But are you not then telling us that this is happy work?
The real question is not that of happiness or pleasure, but that of difficult labour, which
becomes invisible. People other than us end up with the difficult stuff, see despicable
content, the awful, the terrible, and make the organic functioning of Facebook possible. The
people who filter out the videos of beheadings from the Islamic State are in the Philippines,
Mexico, elsewhere. The awful has been relocated.
What can be done once one recognizes these new forms of production which escape
the usual notions of worktime, contracts, salaries?
There is a problem of organization at the international level, an urgent, serious one, with no
answer for the moment. If someone goes on strike in the Philippines, someone else in Indonesia
will pick up the work. But it is not merely a question of competition between countries. How to give
everyone rights, the possibility to stand up for better working conditions?
conversely, at the national level, things are advancing rapidly. Unions in France,
Germany, Scandinavia, Austria, are initiating consultations on platform workers, all
platforms, those on-demand, of course, like Uber, but also microwork platforms. The German
union IGmetal, for example, has started Fair Crowd Work, a tool meant to allow those involved in
microwork to complain of bad practices, to evaluate their bosses, etc.
If regulation doesn't come, what will happen?
A union, today, cannot afford to keep the old logic for social dialogue or financing, because all
scenarios ahead are conflictual. We are already there: Uber and many others are facing strikes,
and meanwhile moderators and filtering have started organizing. On the other side, traditional
enterprises are becoming like platforms as they turn to the use of data, the elaboration of algorithms, etc. This polarization means that intermediate bodies need to understand what is going on, and what their social and political responsibilities might be.
Friday, March 10, 2017
Dunzo
Researchers at IBM successfully coded an individual atom with a binary value of 0 or 1
...
The researchers were able to imbue two Holmium atoms with separate binary values using a magnetised scanning tunnelling microscope. They then connected them to make a miniscule hard drive with four possible combinations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/09/data-stored-single-atom-first-time/
http://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/science-et-techno/ibm-parvient-%c3%a0-stocker-des-infos-sur-un-atome/ar-AAo4BK9?li=AAgh0dy
* * *
On another topic, the IBM web site presents quantum computing in a cute way. For the nuts
and bolts of it, it's Grover's algorithm:
https://cryptome.org/qc-grover.htm
...
The researchers were able to imbue two Holmium atoms with separate binary values using a magnetised scanning tunnelling microscope. They then connected them to make a miniscule hard drive with four possible combinations.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/2017/03/09/data-stored-single-atom-first-time/
http://www.msn.com/fr-ca/actualites/science-et-techno/ibm-parvient-%c3%a0-stocker-des-infos-sur-un-atome/ar-AAo4BK9?li=AAgh0dy
* * *
On another topic, the IBM web site presents quantum computing in a cute way. For the nuts
and bolts of it, it's Grover's algorithm:
https://cryptome.org/qc-grover.htm
The Recipes
I've been looking over this set of recipes from the Quest web site.
The pictures are super appetizing, and the macros are incredible. A bit
complicated to make, especially that I have no experience of protein powder
(and I wouldn't want to turn into ???, in my late sixties, eating all that).
Quest bars are pretty expensive, but are upper tier: high protein, low
carb, no gluten, and great reviews on taste. (Other high carb bars are called, in review,
hidden candies). Although I would think that a protein powder is a standard thing,
a bit like yogurt. Quest goes so far as to propose a non-flavoured one for cooks!!
I know it would asking a lot of the (mostly) guys in the fitness community
to tweak these recipes. One step at a time, this can be done...
The pictures are super appetizing, and the macros are incredible. A bit
complicated to make, especially that I have no experience of protein powder
(and I wouldn't want to turn into ???, in my late sixties, eating all that).
Quest bars are pretty expensive, but are upper tier: high protein, low
carb, no gluten, and great reviews on taste. (Other high carb bars are called, in review,
hidden candies). Although I would think that a protein powder is a standard thing,
a bit like yogurt. Quest goes so far as to propose a non-flavoured one for cooks!!
I know it would asking a lot of the (mostly) guys in the fitness community
to tweak these recipes. One step at a time, this can be done...
Thursday, March 9, 2017
At work
Although well into retirement age, one thing I do enjoy
is going to various Microsoft events, which are sometimes
workshops. Because one meets interesting people, from
managers to computer workers and one might be tasked to form
teams. Whatever is going on in that session, one will leave having
learnt something.
Particularly interesting is how things go down in organizations
where computer professionals (aka coders) and other creatives
work together. It is rather different than the environment in
government organizations, which is solo work punctuated
by meetings. Here, it is group work in sepulchral silence, or perhaps
a whispered communication only those involved can hear. And
you can have a good day where there is absolutely no output.
When there is output - to the group - it's a party.
It is important to have some sense of this, a good manager
can convey it.
It is rumoured that organizations such as Facebook and Google
have fun work environments, with insane perks. There is more to
know about that, and it may well be related as much to the
rhythms of the work being performed, as to progressive management.
Oh, and you have to be dressed like a bear, because a room
full of expensive laptops is kept pretty cool. And it's okay to go
to the goodies table for a drink or nibble. Brrrr!
is going to various Microsoft events, which are sometimes
workshops. Because one meets interesting people, from
managers to computer workers and one might be tasked to form
teams. Whatever is going on in that session, one will leave having
learnt something.
Particularly interesting is how things go down in organizations
where computer professionals (aka coders) and other creatives
work together. It is rather different than the environment in
government organizations, which is solo work punctuated
by meetings. Here, it is group work in sepulchral silence, or perhaps
a whispered communication only those involved can hear. And
you can have a good day where there is absolutely no output.
When there is output - to the group - it's a party.
It is important to have some sense of this, a good manager
can convey it.
It is rumoured that organizations such as Facebook and Google
have fun work environments, with insane perks. There is more to
know about that, and it may well be related as much to the
rhythms of the work being performed, as to progressive management.
Oh, and you have to be dressed like a bear, because a room
full of expensive laptops is kept pretty cool. And it's okay to go
to the goodies table for a drink or nibble. Brrrr!
Saturday, March 4, 2017
Thigh G
So this is the time of year when the temperature yo-yos wildly in Montreal,
as we find ourselves above or below the jet stream on different days. It is -16°C this
morning; it should be 9°C by Tuesday.
This scroungy pair of black jeans is 4-seasons dressing for these circumstances. The
ankle zipper makes them super-skinny, easy to put on, easy to wear under boots.
On a warmer day, the zipper adds visual interest to what can be a monochrome black
look. There is even banding above the knee, which helps 'create' a thigh gap.
Si seulement jeunesse savait...
as we find ourselves above or below the jet stream on different days. It is -16°C this
morning; it should be 9°C by Tuesday.
This scroungy pair of black jeans is 4-seasons dressing for these circumstances. The
ankle zipper makes them super-skinny, easy to put on, easy to wear under boots.
On a warmer day, the zipper adds visual interest to what can be a monochrome black
look. There is even banding above the knee, which helps 'create' a thigh gap.
Si seulement jeunesse savait...
Friday, March 3, 2017
Moo
Should soy and nut milks be considered - and labelled -
as milk when sold in stores. Some people in the American government
think not, they claim it is misleading, when cow milk is regulated and
subsidized (here in Canada) as a healthy food for children.
Clearly, these products are milk substitutes for certain people and certain
purposes. Vegetarians, and vegans appreciate that they are equivalent to
milk in calcium. They also serve as milk for eating cereal, and baking. But
at the same time, they are lower in fat, and thus calories, and lack the sugar and
micronutrients ie the many vitamins and minerals, found in Moo.
Etymologically, I would guess the word milk is a metonym, derived in a number of
languages from the activity of milking.
...
From Old English melcan, from Proto-Germanic *melkaną, ultimately from Proto-Indo-European *h₂melǵ-, the same root as the noun. Compare Dutch and German melken, Danish malke, Norwegian mjølke, also Latin mulgeō (“I milk”), Ancient Greek ἀμέλγω (amélgō, “I milk”), Albanian mjel (“to milk”), Russian молоко́ (molokó), Lithuanian mélžti, Tocharian A mālk-.
Verb[edit]
...
source: Wikipedia
Milk will always be Moo for me, but that is perhaps generational. Young adults are increasingly
making the shift to these other beverages. I also sympathize with a nascent industry that may not
want to be marketing a 'beverage' when a milk sounds so much better. But then it is
the Dairy industry that is complaining that their products are being undersold. So it is
dairy-milk(D-Milk) vs milk-substitute(Milk-S) for the moment.
* * *
Just had to comment on the below article, on the US Space Program.
Because it is terribly chagrin (sad), confining, frighteningly sensible. The
gist of the argument is this: that humans have no business traveling in space
themselves, but should content themselves -indeed, will prosper - by sending
robots to do the work.
So let me say this about that: not robots but droids. Because if we accept the line
of reasoning, that humans are so fragile that they make space exploration costly to
the point of absurdity, robot control has clear limits as well. The 5-second rule
is impossible to apply for a robot on Mars. Drop the piece of toast, it takes fifteen
minutes for Earth to register that this has happened; and another fifteen to answer
back 'pick it up'. And a robot capable of making that call for itself would have to be
a droid, close enough to a human to require an extensive sensing and programming
capability. How far is that down the line.
Just saying...
http://www.latimes.com/business/hiltzik/la-fi-hiltzik-trump-space-20170228-story.html
http://blogs.esa.int/mex/2012/08/05/time-delay-between-mars-and-earth/
Thursday, March 2, 2017
Best Picture
The question of what is the best picture of the year is not
really that straightforward. For purposes of the Academy Awards,
it is : members of the Academy vote, and that's it. But on
what grounds to these people vote. Presumably they are all
professionals of the industry, so that their votes each carry
a veto on anything shoddy, particularly if there is expertise involved.
But they are not given a rating sheet which spews out a winner,
but a ballot. So ultimately, the choice is subjective. About the experience
of watching that movie.
Well, I'll tell you what the movie of the year was; it was Bridget Jones' Baby.
I laughed, I cried, I aaaawed. And I'm waiting for the sequel. Not even nominated
for anything. But then I too was pregnant in my 40s, and I guess we are a minority
demographic.
Srsly, lovely dialogue: what's her name, Candida? No, you know her name is Camila.
And René Z., powering through with a British accent was a go-all-out performance.
That female gynecologist was the bomb. The American seducer was right on. Heck, I
would have married Mark Darcy, who has been charming women since Jane Austen.
So, to say it, I enjoyed the theatrical aspects of the movie, the literary allusions,
the solid comedy of American romance. A wee bit of satire as well, that mud fest
Music Festival with our heroine in white jeans.
Did the movie embody production values: there was no one dancing on cars, or turning
blue during a late night swim. Ed Sheeran sang - and no one recognized him, but the
viewer did - allowing me to wallow in a moment of smugness that my age is perhaps not
that much of a cultural barrier. So it was a feel good movie, and I feel good about it.
All this to say that the best movie category is perhaps the least well defined.
Things could have gone in a number of ways last Sunday. Indeed they did.
Wednesday, March 1, 2017
Moon Notes
from: Le Figaro
author: Jean-Luc Nothias
translation: doxa-louise
GETTING CLEAR ON THIS- The entry of private enterprise into the space
exploration game could overturn the legal rules with respect to the
exploration and use of beyond-the-atmosphere space.
The question has been deemed settled for a very long time. Ever since
a treaty uner the umbrella of the United Nations stipulated, in 1967, in
article II that ' Space beyond the atmosphere,including the moon and other
celestial bodies, cannot become the object of nation appropriation through
the proclamation of sovereignty, neither by way of use or ocupation, or by any
other means'. thus the moon belongs to no one (opr to everyone).
Yet space exploration has evolved considerably since 1967. And regulation
has flourished, bilateral or multilateral accords between governments or space
agencies have multiplied. Tons of documents define rules and responsibilities
for space launches, satellites, men in space, the international space station, space
exploration vehicules...The legal rules applicable to space are today very (too) complex,
without an underlying vision. Even specialists in the matter have difficulties finding
their way in what has become an almost intractable jungle. Certainly now that are
appearing the first private enterprises for space flight like Space X. What happens
if one of these gets a footing on the Moon to engage in its development?!
Lunar development is openly permitted
Meanwhile there are claims of lunar property rights proliferating. To the point
where the Intenational Institute of Space Law (IISL) has had to remind us that it
is up to individual states to render illegal such claims to property. The problem
is that not everyone has ratified, or even signed, the space treaty of 1967. As of
January 1 2017, 105 countries have ratified the 1967 treaty (including China, France,
Russia and the United States), while 24 others have merely signed it (signature is less
strong than ratification).
A further international treaty, dated 1979, exmines the eventual development of
the moon and other celestial bodies. Developement which is regulated but
certainly permitted. A mere 11 states have signed, including France and India. But no
major actor, such as the United States, Russia, China or Japan has done so.
And we know that there are projects in the drawers of various space agencies
concerning mining operations: helium-3 ( which could become a super-fuel) and
water on the Moon, magnesium, cobalt or uranium on Mars, gold on various asteroids...
Nonetheless, in announcing a return to the Moon before 2020, and the
establishment of a permanent base in 2024, NASA has primarily emphasized the
scientific nature of the project. And the fact that the moon could serve as a base
for launches of settlements towards other planets.
Hotel Projects?
There are, as well, projected hotels for the moon or in orbit. What body of law
would be applicable here? for now, one can take measure on maritime law. Space
crafts, like boats, fly the flag ovf various countries. Thus it is the law of the country
where it is registered which applies. If a Russian craft is launched from France,
both France and Russia are responsible for this engine coming and going, but inside
the rocket, Russian law applies.
Now for the moon . A number of cranks, here and there on the planet,
pretend to own it. Well best known is Dennis M. Hope ( who appointed himself
President of the Galactic Government), an American citizen who, in 1980, filed
ownership documents for the Moon and all the planets of the Solar System with the
City of San Francisco, with copies to the United Nations and the American and Russian
governments. His company, Lunar Embassy, sells parcels of the Moon. One can thus
buy a lot of some 4000 square meters near the Sea of Tranquility for a bit over thirty
Euros. And receive a stunning certificate of property with a picture of the lot in question
and the geographic characteristics of the area. Which might make a wonderful wall
hanging for a modest amount ( although a do-it-yourself of the same would be cheaper).
Another American brand has gone into this business in 1999. The Lunar
Republic Society is based in New York and also claims to own the Moon.
Of course these securities have no notary-worthy value, yet these companies
claim to have sold millions of square meters of the Moon. To thousands of folks
who are ... perhaps already on the Moon.
author: Jean-Luc Nothias
translation: doxa-louise
To Whom Does the Moon Belong
GETTING CLEAR ON THIS- The entry of private enterprise into the space
exploration game could overturn the legal rules with respect to the
exploration and use of beyond-the-atmosphere space.
The question has been deemed settled for a very long time. Ever since
a treaty uner the umbrella of the United Nations stipulated, in 1967, in
article II that ' Space beyond the atmosphere,including the moon and other
celestial bodies, cannot become the object of nation appropriation through
the proclamation of sovereignty, neither by way of use or ocupation, or by any
other means'. thus the moon belongs to no one (opr to everyone).
Yet space exploration has evolved considerably since 1967. And regulation
has flourished, bilateral or multilateral accords between governments or space
agencies have multiplied. Tons of documents define rules and responsibilities
for space launches, satellites, men in space, the international space station, space
exploration vehicules...The legal rules applicable to space are today very (too) complex,
without an underlying vision. Even specialists in the matter have difficulties finding
their way in what has become an almost intractable jungle. Certainly now that are
appearing the first private enterprises for space flight like Space X. What happens
if one of these gets a footing on the Moon to engage in its development?!
Lunar development is openly permitted
Meanwhile there are claims of lunar property rights proliferating. To the point
where the Intenational Institute of Space Law (IISL) has had to remind us that it
is up to individual states to render illegal such claims to property. The problem
is that not everyone has ratified, or even signed, the space treaty of 1967. As of
January 1 2017, 105 countries have ratified the 1967 treaty (including China, France,
Russia and the United States), while 24 others have merely signed it (signature is less
strong than ratification).
A further international treaty, dated 1979, exmines the eventual development of
the moon and other celestial bodies. Developement which is regulated but
certainly permitted. A mere 11 states have signed, including France and India. But no
major actor, such as the United States, Russia, China or Japan has done so.
And we know that there are projects in the drawers of various space agencies
concerning mining operations: helium-3 ( which could become a super-fuel) and
water on the Moon, magnesium, cobalt or uranium on Mars, gold on various asteroids...
Nonetheless, in announcing a return to the Moon before 2020, and the
establishment of a permanent base in 2024, NASA has primarily emphasized the
scientific nature of the project. And the fact that the moon could serve as a base
for launches of settlements towards other planets.
Hotel Projects?
There are, as well, projected hotels for the moon or in orbit. What body of law
would be applicable here? for now, one can take measure on maritime law. Space
crafts, like boats, fly the flag ovf various countries. Thus it is the law of the country
where it is registered which applies. If a Russian craft is launched from France,
both France and Russia are responsible for this engine coming and going, but inside
the rocket, Russian law applies.
Now for the moon . A number of cranks, here and there on the planet,
pretend to own it. Well best known is Dennis M. Hope ( who appointed himself
President of the Galactic Government), an American citizen who, in 1980, filed
ownership documents for the Moon and all the planets of the Solar System with the
City of San Francisco, with copies to the United Nations and the American and Russian
governments. His company, Lunar Embassy, sells parcels of the Moon. One can thus
buy a lot of some 4000 square meters near the Sea of Tranquility for a bit over thirty
Euros. And receive a stunning certificate of property with a picture of the lot in question
and the geographic characteristics of the area. Which might make a wonderful wall
hanging for a modest amount ( although a do-it-yourself of the same would be cheaper).
Another American brand has gone into this business in 1999. The Lunar
Republic Society is based in New York and also claims to own the Moon.
Of course these securities have no notary-worthy value, yet these companies
claim to have sold millions of square meters of the Moon. To thousands of folks
who are ... perhaps already on the Moon.
Poached E
How to poach an egg... srsly, there's stuff to know.
Use a large egg.
The more fresh, the more it will hold together.
Add both salt and vinegar to the water to maximize hold.
Use a spatula to bind the whites into a sphere.
Plunge into cold water to stop the cooking and remove the vinegar taste.
One needs to shape the whites, cut off the inelegant parts.
The egg can be served in a hot soup; it can be reheated to be served as such
for 2-3 minutes on medium boil.
from: Le Monde
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