nerdcore { This is Hallow's End...

I play an undead, a Forsaken in World of Warcraft. The origins of the Forsaken trace back to the plague released upon Lordaeron by the Lich King, Ner'zhul. This plague created the Scourge, undead minions bound to the will of the Lich King and meant to destroy humankind (and elf-kind) and convert them to the will of the Lich King. The greatest champion (and who would merge with Ner'zhul to be the new Lich King) was the Death Knight Arthas. When Arthas sacked the High Elf homeland, he took their greatest general Sylvanas Windrunner and made her a Banshee queen. She served the Lich King and slaughtered in his name until circumstances allowed her to suddenly regain her will. She gathered those others of the Scourge who were newly awakened to a kind of cursed freedom and took the ruins of Lordaeron City as their home and capital. This became the Undercity, this is Pernox's home. Blizzard released a great video illustrating this story:



Every year, the Forsaken celebrate their independence from the Lich King in a holiday called Hallow's End. Undercity and Brill (a town outside the Undercity) host many activities and experiences. The world of Azeroth is also plagued by the spirit of a relentless and restless paladin, known as the Headless Horseman, he wreaks havoc upon the towns and resides deep within the Scarlet Monastery. This video illustrates Hallow's End and the Headless Horseman.


Hallow's End - Undercity and Brill

politics { President-o-tron 9000

So from now until the election, I'm gonna fire up the President-o-tron 9000 and have it randomly spew out who will win, cuz really at this point it almost doesn't matter.

I fired it up and it gave me this result...

A turd in a hat

Hmmm...I can't tell if needs further debugging or if its dead on...

music { Bubbles and Water...

Over the weekend a reader named 'nse' sent me a link to the english translation and video of the Alizee song 'J'en ai marre'...its crazy as hell.

She's still hot though...

quiz { What Kind of Liberal Are You?

Saw this quiz linked on Norwegianity's site. You can take the quiz here.

My results:

My Liberal Identity:

You are an Eco-Avenger, also known as an environmentalist or tree hugger. You believe in saving the planet from the clutches of air-fouling, oil-drilling, earth-raping conservative fossil fools.

Take the quiz at www.FightConservatives.com

Interesting. If our environmental concerns were not so dire, my natural tendency would be much more likely to be Reality-Based Intellectualists.

holidays { Halloween

Halloween, know as Samhain by some, Hallow's End in Azeroth.

In this world or the virtual it is my favorite holiday. I look forward to it every year. Nerdwife and I used to host costume parties. That changed when we came to Rochester. This town does not celebrate Halloween. No haunted houses, not haunted hay rides, no scary movie showings or special events. I don't know what the issue is with this place. The mall every year around this time puts up Christmas crap and only pays token nods to Halloween and Thanksgiving. Which is odd, from a capitalist perspective, Halloween is, or was, the #2 holiday where people spend money. I suppose that is now Valentines's Day if you go by the local mall, which puts up Valentine's stuff the day after Xmas it seems.

Luckily some grad students we know throw a party, though this year there they won't be. Last year I was the ghost of Albert Einstein. This year I was going to be Professor Moody, but couldn't get the stuff together in time.

Why Halloween? I dunno, I've always liked the scary stories of ghosts and ghouls. Stories like the Headless Horseman and The Raven. I liked dressing up in costume and trick or treating...back when you could still do it after dark before the panicked parents brigade and their over protectiveness took the country by storm. No one trick or treats after dark anymore, well at least not down here.

In St. Paul Nerdwife and I would always stay home and dress up a little and watch scary movies with a big bowl of candy and wait for the children. We lived in a part that was not considered safe, so we only usually had the little girl from across the street, but it was a time when we could connect at least with one of our neighbors.

My elementary school used to hold giant Halloween parties for grades K-6. The gym was turned into a haunted house. There spooky story sessions, costumes of course, and candy...lots and lots of candy.

High School Halloween was when...uh...nevermind...moving on, no need to incriminate myself with tales of certain types of paper and certain projectiles of a certain kind. Lets just say...if teenagers come to your door asking for candy, give it to them and don't be stingy.

Our biggest and most successful Halloween party that Nerdwife and I hosted, as Count and Countess D'Ghoule will always have a warm spot in my heart. Here is the recipe for the chili we made:

Evil Recipes

Wretched chili:
Seasoning mix: Other ingredients:
1 tb + 2 tsp salt
1 1\2 c. toasted cornmeal
3 tsp cayenne
3 tb vegetable oil
3 tsp cumin
6 cloves garlic
3 tsp onion powder (optional)
4 c chopped onions
3 tsp oregano
3 lb. lean beef chuck
3 tsp white pepper
2 tb coarsely ch fresh jalapenos
3 tsp thyme
2 tb ch. fresh Hungarian wax peppers
2 tsp cinnamon
4 c beef stock
2 tsp nutmeg
1 large red bell pepper, ch
1 tsp ground coriander
1 large yellow bell pepper, ch
2 tsp black pepper
1 large orange bell pepper, ch
2 tsp paprika
2- 28 oz cans plum tomatoes in juice
2 coarsely ground dried guajillo peppers
3 1\2 c pinto beans
4 coarsely ground dried super chilies
Fresh basil to taste
Fresh cilantro to taste



Combine seasoning mix. Toast cornmeal in a 6-8 inch skillet over high heat, stirring frequently, until it turns light brown. Set aside, Heat oil in a large pot, and add 2 c onions and all of the garlic. Brown for 5 minutes. Add 1\2 the seasoning mix, the fresh jalapeno and wax peppers, and meat. Cook until meat is lightly browned. Add cornmeal and 1 1/2 c stock, then vigorously stir and scrape pan bottom. Add remaining broth, bell peppers, and onions. Bring to boil, then reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes. Add tomatoes and bean, bring to boil, and reduce heat. Cook until well thickened and meat very tender, 2-3 hours. Add basil and cilantro, if desired. Serves an insane number.

Vegetarian: omit meat; use vegetable broth in place of beef broth.

casual_friday2 { Because I can

'Dumb Animals', Handsome Furs

casual_friday { Its getting colder

'Tropical Iceland', Fiery Furnaces

in memoriam { Remembering Paul

Paul David Wellstone (1944-2002)




Paul and Sheila died 5 years ago today. Minnesota is diminished by his absence.

television { A Little Signal in the Noise

For what it is worth, Pushing Daisies on Wednesday nights is a delightful stylized fantasy, a rare reason to turn on my tele these days. You can watch all the episodes online free here.

my_day { Word

life { Friendships

Indecision

environment { Jebus!

The North Pacific Gyre aka the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

musings { The Farm Life...?

I've lived and grown in many different settings, city, rural, farm. I've always felt farmer's have a thankless job. Its hard work. Little pay. You do get to see the fruit of your labors (hopefully, if the season/harvest/herd does well). But it doesn't give you magical insight into life. Although you do get to see the circle of life in all its messy, shit-soaked, and painful glory, especially if you're on a dairy farm and its birthing season. God I'll never forget that smell. One thing that has especially bugged me is why everyone thinks the Midwest, places like Kansas know anything about anything beyond the rest of the country? I'm not alone, I found this article.

excerpt:

The rural life, specifically, the agricultural industry, is a massive, important part of our nation's economic well-being. And yes, yes, I've read Kunstler's Long Emergency, and I know that one catastrophic afternoon in the near future, I will rue the day my grandfather gave up the sod to become a cop in the New World. For some people the rural life is an incredibly rewarding way of life. They should be very proud of the fact they have held on to this great tradition of commerce and, one might argue service, in the face of corporate farming. But that life is not holy, it does not bless one with special insight into the intent of the Framers of the goddam Consitution or what America "should" be like. Have I lost some sort of sacred connection with the land? Maybe. But the last time I checked, the land was dirt, same dirt as the rest of the world, and several generations of my family went broke farming other people's dirt, interrupted only when easily annoyed Englishmenwould occassionally show up and burn all their shit down. Pardon me for enjoying my goddam latte.

Now unlike the author, I lived a part of my life on a farm, a dairy farm to be exact. My father had a life long dream of owning a farm and being a farmer and he made his dream come true. The only insights that way of life gives you is how unfair things can actually be, how fucked the American economy is in regards to the, what they call 'owner/operator' which used to be called the 'family farm'. All this, at least it seemed to me didn't give mystical insight, but it gave a deft sense of practicality. You do what works. You don't do what doesn't, pretty simple. You also see directly how your actions have consequences. Don't rake the hay after its been cut and rained on? It goes moldy and useless. Choose not to clean out the barn regularly? You see a spike in the bacteria count of your milk and consequently a drop in value and price you are paid for it, and if its too bad, they will make you dump it.

Oh and my father is no longer a farmer. He gave up that dream a few years ago. Its not a life that is kind to you as you get older.
I agree with the author fully. Middle America has not been a good gauge for anything since perhaps the 1940s when most of the country were still farmers.

And Hollywood is not in touch with anything, most especially reality. Though for the last few years I feel the same can be said about Washington D.C.

music { Radiohead's new album

Radiohead has broken away from traditional music pricing and has made available on their site, their new album. The cost? You choose. Yes, you heard me correctly, you choose. Any amount. They did this because they feel fans will pay a fair rate for their product.

I purchased my download today at #0.50 per song, or #5 total (~$10, cheaper than a CD) to support them, and to support this out of the box, not the traditional model of music pricing.

I try to buy from the artist when possible, since the artist, along with the consumer (with the exception of shit artists like Brittney Spears who would not be anything without the music industry) get screwed the most by the music industry and its attack dog the RIAA.

politics { The Gutless and the Gullible (pick up)

Picked up this reading from EvilBobby and thought it warranted a repeating of this Daily Kos article.

Excerpt:

What these politicians fail to realize is that the attacks will come no matter what. No matter which vote is cast, no matter how tightly one embraces this war or how far away from the party they run, the attacks will always come. Because the only thing that matters to the Republicans during election time is that there is a "D" after their opponent's name.

It is that "D" which ensures the inevitable flow of lies. It is that "D"--no matter how faded--which is blood in the water for the campaign sharks. Voting against Feingold-Reid did not and will not save the gutless from these attacks. Voting for telecom immunity will not make the Republicans suddenly raise their hands and admit that Democrat X is "really strong on terror!" In compromising then to try and avoid these attacks, Democrats are only compromising their principles.

And something specific to Tim Walz...who I feel has betrayed us as an elected official in our district, who was elected to help bring change, to protect our basic freedoms and rights (from both terrorists and an overzealous Executive Branch) and who so far, in my opinion has failed.

It is, to be blunt, a lack of a brain and not lack of a spine, which typifies this group. As an extreme example, take Representative Baird, who is enamored with the war. Take the Democrats who voted for the atrocious FISA bill because they genuinely believed it was the right thing to do.

In this category falls every Democrat who takes any word uttered by this administration at face value. Tht includes those idiots who voted for FISA because they were told of al Qaeda was going to strike Congress before September 11th. That includes the naive who think that a sternly worded letter will actually get more than a chuckle out of this administration. That includes the suckers who think putting administration officials under oath isn't necessary.

The gullible are those who fail to appreciate the extent of the damage done to this country by the Republican Party. They are the ones who earnestly reach out to Republicans with open hand and are blind to the knives hovering over their backs.

These Democrats, more than the gutless ones, are the ones hindering progress. They prattle on in Capitol Hill as if the Republican Party weren't controlled by neocons and the radical right. They trust those who have evidenced through their wars and through their words that they should not be trusted. And they, in all their dense glory, believe that they are doing what is in the best interest of this nation.

God help us all.

But ultimately the article was a hopeful one, and very realistic. We, as those who choose to align with the Democratic Party, will have a lot of work and fights ahead of us, both within and without.

Our task, as I see it over the next year, is two-fold. We must continue to call for courage on the part of the gutless, and we must continue trying to wake the gullible. We do so by joining with those in Congress, with the Russ Feingolds in the Senate and the Barbara Lees in the House, to show the gutless and gullible the error of their ways.

It's not an easy task. To be frank, I'm not sure if it's even a possible task. But I will never hold back from writing a letter or making a call because I think it may be futile, and neither should you. Because as impossible as true change may seem, inaction solidifies failure's fate.

energy { 2007 Nobel Conference (redux)

The webcasts of the energy conference talks at Gustavus are finally up.

books { What's in Dumbledore's Closet?

An interesting twist.

activism { Panty Power

Saw this on omninerd:

Panty Raid Activism
from OmniNerd News by gnifyus

When diplomacy fails in Burma, it’s time to break out the radical activist weaponry, namely: The Women’s Panty. In response to the recent crackdown on monks, The “Panties for Peace Campaign” has found its way to Chiang Mai Thailand where they are sending women’s underwear to the men of Burmese embassies around the world. They are hoping to play on the superstitious beliefs held widely by junta generals that any contact with women’s undergarments (clean or dirty) can reduce their strength. So far activists claim that hundreds of the dangerous undergarments have been sent around the world with 140 pairs sent to the Geneva embassy alone.

The message on the activists' website reads: "This is your chance to use your Panty Power to take away the power from the SPDC. You can post, deliver or fling your panties at the closest Burmese Embassy any day from today. Send early, send often."

So remember to fling early and fling often.

poem { Fury of October

I sit and sip
I sit and think
I see the sky turn dark and gray
the wind blows from all around
the season has changed
and so have I
on the invisible current come a smell
wetness and darkness and the promise of hell
the world goes on, oblivious
the day of the rose is over
the twilight of winter is rising
the falling leaf brings a warning
the cold stab in the air, a longing

casual_friday { Nothing this week

Since Allthingsspring has been doing the week of music, nothing for casual Friday this week. Enjoy the past week in music.

On a side note its a good thing they make me turn off my bazooka before the movie starts.

music { Week of Music - Friday October 19, 2007

Queen - 'Bohemian Rhapsody'



Mischa Maisky - 'Le Carnaval des Animaux XIII: Le Cygne' (Camille Saint-Saëns)

word { WoWiversary

Now it's time for another in our series of highlighting non-words making it into life's grand pageant:

WoWiversary

not a word

Brought to you by the current champion of words: melty

music { Week of Music - Thursday October 18, 2007

Muse - 'Citizen Erased'



Otis Redding - 'I've Been Loving You Too Long'

music { Week of Music - Wednesday October 17, 2007

Kate Rusby - 'Jolly Ploughboys'



The Smiths - 'The Boy with the Thorn in His Side'

psa { don't copy your butt

music { Week of Music - Tuesday October 16, 2007

Eva Cassidy - 'Over the Rainbow'




Imogen Heap - 'Let Go'

philosophy { Steve Pinker/Rebecca Goldstein interview

Over at salon.com.

I found it interesting and recommend it to others, warning though, its a loooong interview.

tech { the coming 'Storm'

As an Information Technology professional, stories like this scare me and keep me up at night.

Storm represents the future of malware. Let's look at its behavior:

1. Storm is patient. A worm that attacks all the time is much easier to detect; a worm that attacks and then shuts off for a while hides much more easily.

2. Storm is designed like an ant colony, with separation of duties. Only a small fraction of infected hosts spread the worm. A much smaller fraction are C2: command-and-control servers. The rest stand by to receive orders. By only allowing a small number of hosts to propagate the virus and act as command-and-control servers, Storm is resilient against attack. Even if those hosts shut down, the network remains largely intact, and other hosts can take over those duties.

3. Storm doesn't cause any damage, or noticeable performance impact, to the hosts. Like a parasite, it needs its host to be intact and healthy for its own survival. This makes it harder to detect, because users and network administrators won't notice any abnormal behavior most of the time.

4. Rather than having all hosts communicate to a central server or set of servers, Storm uses a peer-to-peer network for C2. This makes the Storm botnet much harder to disable. The most common way to disable a botnet is to shut down the centralized control point. Storm doesn't have a centralized control point, and thus can't be shut down that way.

This technique has other advantages, too. Companies that monitor net activity can detect traffic anomalies with a centralized C2 point, but distributed C2 doesn't show up as a spike. Communications are much harder to detect.

One standard method of tracking root C2 servers is to put an infected host through a memory debugger and figure out where its orders are coming from. This won't work with Storm: An infected host may only know about a small fraction of infected hosts -- 25-30 at a time -- and those hosts are an unknown number of hops away from the primary C2 servers.

And even if a C2 node is taken down, the system doesn't suffer. Like a hydra with many heads, Storm's C2 structure is distributed.
5. Not only are the C2 servers distributed, but they also hide behind a constantly changing DNS technique called "fast flux." So even if a compromised host is isolated and debugged, and a C2 server identified through the cloud, by that time it may no longer be active.

6. Storm's payload -- the code it uses to spread -- morphs every 30 minutes or so, making typical AV (antivirus) and IDS techniques less effective.

7. Storm's delivery mechanism also changes regularly. Storm started out as PDF spam, then its programmers started using e-cards and YouTube invites -- anything to entice users to click on a phony link. Storm also started posting blog-comment spam, again trying to trick viewers into clicking infected links. While these sorts of things are pretty standard worm tactics, it does highlight how Storm is constantly shifting at all levels.

8. The Storm e-mail also changes all the time, leveraging social engineering techniques. There are always new subject lines and new enticing text: "A killer at 11, he's free at 21 and ...," "football tracking program" on NFL opening weekend, and major storm and hurricane warnings. Storm's programmers are very good at preying on human nature.

9. Last month, Storm began attacking anti-spam sites focused on identifying it -- spamhaus.org, 419eater and so on -- and the personal website of Joe Stewart, who published an analysis of Storm. I am reminded of a basic theory of war: Take out your enemy's reconnaissance. Or a basic theory of urban gangs and some governments: Make sure others know not to mess with you.

politics { 'Where have all the Leaders gone?'

This appeared in my inbox and I thought I would share:

Where Have All the Leaders Gone?

Remember Lee Iacocca, the man who rescued Chrysler Corporation from
death throes?

He has a new book, and here are some excerpts.



"Am I the only guy in this country who's fed up with what's happening?

Where the hell is our outrage? We should be screaming bloody murder.

We've got a gang of clueless bozos steering our ship of state right
over a cliff.

We've got corporate gangsters stealing us blind, and we can't even
clean up after

a hurricane much less build a hybrid car. But instead of getting mad,

everyone sits around and nods their heads when the politicians say,
"Stay the course."



Stay the course? You've got to be kidding! This is America , not the
damned Titanic.

I'll give you a sound bite: Throw the bums out!



You might think I'm getting senile, that I've gone off my rocker,
and maybe I have.

But someone has to speak up. I hardly recognize this country anymore.

The President of the United States is given a free pass to ignore
the Constitution,

tap our phones, and lead us to war on a pack of lies. Congress
responds to record

deficits by passing a huge tax cut for the wealthy. (thanks, but I
don't need it)



The most famous business leaders are not the innovators but the guys
in handcuffs.

While we're fiddling in Iraq , the Middle East is burning and nobody
seems to know

what to do. And the press is waving pom-poms instead of asking hard
questions.

That's not the promise of America my parents and yours traveled
across the ocean for.

I've had enough. How about you?



I'll go a step further. You can't call yourself a patriot if you're
not outraged.

This is a fight I'm ready and willing to have



The Biggest C is Crisis



Leaders are made, not born. Leadership is forged in times of crisis.

It's easy to sit there with your feet up on the desk and talk theory.

Or send someone else's kids off to war when you've never seen a
battlefield yourself.

It's another thing to lead when your world comes tumbling down.



On September 11, 2001, we needed a strong leader more than any other
time in our history.

We needed a steady hand to guide us out of the ashes. Where was
George Bush?

He was reading a story about a pet goat to kids in Florida when he
heard about the attacks.

He kept sitting there for twenty minutes with a baffled look on his
face.

It's all on tape. You can see it for yourself.



Then, instead of taking the quickest route back to Washington and
immediately going

on the air to reassure the panicked people of this country, he
decided it wasn't safe

to return to the White House. He basically went into hiding for the
day, and he

told Vice President Dick Cheney to stay put in his bunker.



We were all frozen in front of our TVs, scared out of our wits,
waiting for our

leaders to tell us that we were going to be okay, and there was
nobody home.

It took Bush a couple of days to get his bearings and devise the
right photo op at Ground Zero.



That was George Bush's moment of truth, and he was paralyzed. And
what did he do

when he'd regained his composure? He led us down the road to Iraq ;
a road his own

father had considered disastrous when he was President. But Bush
didn't listen to Daddy.

He listened to a higher father. He prides himself on being faith
based, not reality based.

If that doesn't scare the crap out of you, I don't know what will



A Hell of a Mess



So here's where we stand.

We're immersed in a bloody war with no plan for winning and no plan
for leaving.

We're running the biggest deficit in the history of the country.

We're losing the manufacturing edge to Asia , while our once-great
companies are

getting slaughtered by health care costs.

Gas prices are skyrocketing, and nobody in power has a coherent
energy policy.

Our schools are in trouble. Our borders are like sieves.

The middle class is being squeezed every which way.

These are times that cry out for leadership.



But when you look around, you've got to ask:

"Where have all the leaders gone?" Where are the curious, creative
communicators?

Where are the people of character, courage, conviction, competence,
and common sense?

I may be a sucker for alliteration, but I think you get the point.



Name me a leader who has a better idea for homeland security than
making us

take off our shoes in airports and throw away our shampoo?

We've spent billions of dollars building a huge new bureaucracy, and
all we

know how to do is react to things that have already happened.



Name me one leader who emerged from the crisis of Hurricane Katrina.

Congress has yet to spend a single day evaluating the response to
the hurricane,

or demanding accountability for the decisions that were made in the
crucial hours

after the storm. Everyone's hunkering down, fingers crossed, hoping
it doesn't happen again!



Now, that's just crazy. Storms happen. Deal with it. Make a plan.

Figure out what you're going to do the next time.



Name me an industry leader who is thinking creatively about how we
can restore our

competitive edge in manufacturing. Who would have believed that
there could ever be

a time when "the Big Three" referred to Japanese car companies?

How did this happen, and more important, what are we going to do
about it?



Name me a government leader who can articulate a plan for paying
down the debt,

or solving the energy crisis, or managing the health care problem.
The silence is deafening.

But these are the crises that are eating away at our country and
milking the middle class dry.



I have news for the gang in Congress. We didn't elect you to sit on
your asses and do nothing

and remain silent while our democracy is being hijacked and our
greatness is being replaced

with mediocrity. What is everybody so afraid of? That some
bobblehead on Fox News will

call them a name? Give me a break. Why don't you guys show some
spine for a change?



Had Enough?



Hey, I'm not trying to be the voice of gloom and doom here. I'm
trying to light a fire.

I'm speaking out because I have hope. I believe in America . In my
lifetime I've had

the privilege of living through some of America 's greatest moments.
I've also

experienced some of our worst crises: the Great Depression, World
War II, the Korean War,

the Kennedy assassination, the Vietnam War, the 1970s oil crisis,
and the struggles of recent

years culminating with 9/11.



If I've learned one thing, it's this: You don't get anywhere by
standing on the sidelines

waiting for somebody else to take action Whether it's building a
better car or building

a better future for our children, we all have a role to play. That's
the challenge I'm

raising in this book. It's a call to action for people who, like me,
believe in America .

It's not too late, but it's getting pretty close. So let's shake off
the horseshit

and go to work. Let's tell 'em all we've had enough."





Excerpted from Where Have All the Leaders Gone?.

Copyright C-2007 by Lee Iacocca. All rights reserved.

(I'm posting without permission but the message is good and should go out.)

music { Week of Music - Monday October 15, 2007

Thievery Corporation - 'Lebanese Blonde'



Weezer - 'Keep Fishin' '

music { Week of Music - Sunday October 14, 2007

The Tallis Scholars - 'Nunc Dimittis' (Giovanni Pierluigi da Palestrina)




R.E.M. - 'Country Feedback'

music { Week of Music - Saturday October 13, 2007

Now through Friday, I'll be posting music, two per day. Enjoy.


John Coltrane Quartet - 'Alabama'



Peter Schilling - 'Major Tom'

awards { Nobel Peace Prize

Former vice-president Al Gore, along with the U.N.'s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, have won the Nobel Peace Prize for their work in highlighting global climate change.

This almost makes up for their awarding it to Kissinger in '73.

politics { U.S. Senate race 2008

Joe Bodell at Minnesota Campaign Report says that Jack Nelson-Pallmeyer is making his Senate run official, and will announce later today.

He's got my support.

casual_friday { <3

Sting, 'Shape of my Heart'

politics { Bush to condemn Democrats as 'Tax and spend'

Which you know is different than the Republicans who are 'Spend and let someone else take the fall for paying for it.'

In other news Bush will veto S-CHIPs because, you know, it costs too much and it really only covers poor people and since we're America (Fuck Yeah!) we don't have poor people.

Someday I will wake up and this will all have been a bit of bad beef, an undigested piece of potato or something like that.

atheism { Sam Harris @ Atheist Alliance International

This last week, some of the major luminaries of the 'new' Atheism ("Now with less shutting up!"&trade) were at the Atheist Alliance International Conference in Washington D.C..

Sam Harris gave an interesting talk that apparently didn't go down quite as well as some of the other speeches. Worth a read.

energy { 2007 Nobel Conference

Gustavus Adolphus College is hosting a Nobel Conference this week, and the topic is "Heating Up: The Energy Debate". Noted presenters include Professor Kenneth Deffeyes of Princeton, James E. Hansen of NASA Goddard and Columbia University, and polar explorer and conservationist Will Steger. The conference will undoubtedly touch on the major interrelated issues of energy, peak oil, and global climate change. I cannot attend the conference myself (although I made the time to hear Ray Kurzweil at Mayo this morning), but Gustavus will be posting online video of the two days (today and tomorrow) shortly. Worth a look, given the importance of the topic and the notability of the speakers.

Information on the conference is here.

The webcast will likely be posted here.

life { Rushford six weeks later

Star Tribune did a piece about Rushford, MN, a town not far from here that was destroyed by the flood. It covers a topic that I've been wondering about, what happens when winter hits?

I've lived in MN for my whole life. I grew up farther north where the winters are a bit harsher than down here in SE MN, but winter is winter. And even though its felt like I've not had winter the last 3 years, the SE MN winters can get get to -10F. We can still get two feet of snow, often all at once (the first winter we lived here, we received 27" inches of snow over night in March 2005).

Donate clothing or cash to the relief effort. Many in this area have lost everything except the clothing on their backs and they will need more of that in the coming months.

SE MN 2007 Flood Volunteer/Relief Information

politics { Its Monday

Found this video via 'Second Life'.



Wonder if the MN House has the same issue...what about the Federal House of Representatives?