The Pragmatic Idealist

"There are two things to aim at in life: first to get what you want, and, after that, to enjoy it. Only the wisest of mankind achieve the second." - Logan Pearsall Smith   Vintage Blockbusters Reshuffle Race The C.I.A.'s Reckless Breach of Trust St. Johns Concours Celebrates Virgil Exner Great Airshow Pics Setting a Fedora Hat on Fire is Apparently One of the Steps to Make it

"Judge a man by his questions rather than his answers." - Voltaire Audi's Semiautonomous A7 Broke Down with Florida's Governor on Board Out of Wreckage, Lives Emerge   "Quantum Chesire Cat" Observed Rustle, Tingle, Relax: The Compelling World of A.S.M.R.

"We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence is therefore not an act, but a habit." - Aristotle US, Europe to Sharply Increase Russia Sanctions Those will leave a mark. I agree, though. Can't let them just invade outright without objection. $50 Billion Awarded in Breakup of Yukos Fascinating story. I wonder how you collect a judgment against a sovereign? Looking for Love on the Web, as it Experiments with you Not surprising. When you think about it, the whole damn internet is really an experiment . . . With Microsoft in Sights, China Starts to Squeeze US Tech Companies Yikes.

"A leader or a man of action in a crisis almost always acts subconsciously and then thinks of the reasons for his action." -  Jawaharlal Nehru   Hold the Phone: A Big Data Conundrum Fascinating. Conspiracy? Or just convenient coincidence for Apple? In Ferry Deaths, a South Korean Tycoon's Downfall Wow. Bizarre. The South Korean system is really screwed up. Surprisingly, iPad's Loss is not Samsung's Gain In Search for Killer, DNA Sweep Exposes Intimate Family Secrets in Italy Mobile App Sheds New Light on Risk Taking Behaviour

"One cool judgment is worth a dozen hasty councils. The thing to do is supply light and not heat."   - Woodrow Wilson Is NPR Biased in its Gaza Coverage? Is Moore's Law Still Relevant to the Tech Industry This is really interesting.  The main point is that Moore's Law created a periodicity and business cycle that is now not so present.  What the article misses is that Moore's law and that cycle still apply at the cloud service provider level - that is, all that compute power in the cloud still comes from the same place. Nine Things we Learned from the GOT Comic-Con Panel 21 Books that Changed SF and Fantasy Forever Close Encounters of the Radio Kind

"There is hardly anything in the world that some man can't make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this man's lawful prey." - John Ruskin  Mapping the Spread of the Drought E.C.B. Says it was Hacked in Apparent Blackmail Attempt Crash Victims to Undergo Routine Tests, Experts Say First Drive Review: Porsche Cayman GTS

"A person will be called to account on Judgment Day for every permissible thing he might have enjoyed but did not." - The Talmud   Jet Wreckage Shows Signs of Impact by Supersonic Missile In case there was any doubt. What the Internet can see from your Cat Pictures Good explanation of the methodologies behind figuring this stuff out. Three Person IVF Plans "Progress" in UK Not really sure what to think here. On the one hand, it seems like a good idea. On the other hand, it has a pretty high unintended consequences coefficient.

"The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone." - Harriet Beecher Stowe  Sometimes, Early Birds are too Early Important points here.  I have seen this kind of thing happen. I've also seen a related issue, where people think "faster is better" and kill themselves trying to get something done, thereby making everyone around them uncomfortable and even resentful. Early Risers are Less Moral at Night Another good reason to be a night person! Watch this guy haul off one of MH17's black boxes This story just keeps going farther down the rabbit hole. And just to feel good:

"There is no dishonor in losing the race. There is only dishonor in not racing because you are afraid to lose." - Garth Stein Technology's Rainbow Connection Avoiding Roommate Shock, Online Faith Based Fanatics The German Officer Who Tried to Kill Hitler

"The winds and the waves are always on the side of the ablest navigators." - Edward Gibbon  Obama Points to Rebels in Downing of Jet It doesn't seem at all likely that it was anyone other than the rebels. It will be interesting to see how much this changes the international dynamic on the conflict. A Lesson in How Not to Run a Company Um. Wow.  You should also read the embedded reference piece .  Holy moly. Can't believe he got away with that for 10 years . . . Tech World's Challenge: Staying New This is very insightful and clear.  Worth coming back to from time to time, I think. Picture Everyone Naked I heard an interview with Lockwood a couple of weeks ago.  Really cool and likable person.

"It has been said that democracy is the worst form of government except all the others that have been tried." - Winston Churchill  Malaysia Airlines Jet Crashes in Ukraine This is horrible. It's likely to really change the game on the conflict in Ukraine. Presumably Russia provided the air to air missile that was used. Bad stuff. Some Universities Crack Code in Drawing Women to Computer Science Interesting.  I think the productivity and creative environment in tech will get a lot better as the diversity and gender mix gets more balanced. The Future Sure Looks Better from the Past Intel Reports a Strong Quarter :-)

"Blessed is the man who, having nothing to say, abstains from giving us wordy evidence of the fact."  - George Eliot How Coffee Fueled the Civil War Fascinating.  I had no idea . . . Real-Life Illness in a Virtual World Per our discussion the other day re: Oculus Rift. I wonder to what degree this can be solved with better and better processing speed and fidelity. A Two-Page Form Spawns a Contraceptive Showdown Grrr. Demo Flights for Airliners Oh. Emm. Gee.  Really does put people's nervousness over turbulence into some perspective . . . The USAF's Deadliest Viper Pilot Pretty damn interesting.

"It is impossible to defeat an ignorant man in an argument." - William G. McAdoo Rory McIlroy hits a 436 yard drive at the Scottish Open He drove the green on a 440yd hole. 30+ yards longer than any other drive on the tour this year. Hard to get one's mind around. Palestinian Death Toll Nears 100 as Hamas Vows More Attacks on Israel The mess here is just unimaginably bad. It feels like the whole region is just melting down. Science Journal Pulls 60 Papers in Peer-Review Fraud This kind of thing makes me really angry. Science struggles with credibility among the general population enough without stuff like this.  Boeing's Space Bins Designed to Fit Everyone's Annoying Carry Ons

"If you would stand well with a great mind, leave him with a favorable impression of yourself; if with a little mind, with a favorable impression of himself." - Samuel Taylor Coleridge Flop Life - What if we all acted like we were in the World Cup? This is pretty funny. I have to say all the flopping is one of my least favorite parts of soccer (and NBA basketball for that matter). Space Probe Might Lack Nitrogen to Bring it Home European Effort to Simulate Brain Draws Fire I had heard about this. I didn't know there was controversy around it.  "Like a moonshot before we know how to build a plane" makes it sound pretty unfeasible. Twin Turbo Porsche Cayman GT4 Yeah baby - 450HP. For Cyclists, Best Helmet may be no Helmet at all

"There is always an easy solution to every human problem -- neat, plausible and wrong" -H. L. Mencken The New Business Casual is Still Uptight   Every tribe has it's headdresses and nose rings . . . Three Reasons to Tout your Colleagues Good ideas here. I find these principles to be consistently true. Apple will Engrave "Penis" on your IPad, but not "Clit" or "Vagina" I'm sure this is clueless, not intentional. But man, it looks really bad. Cutting the High Cost of Digital Living

"Everything should be as simple as it is, but not simpler" - Albert Einstein Fan Sues After Untimely Nap Brings Unwanted Attention Wow - now that is a stretch. "Something vaguely bad happened to me, so someone owes me $10,000,000." A Billionaire Mathematician's Life of Ferocious Curiosity Wow - quite an impressive dude. I find it really interesting the level of impact that these enormous fortunes can have when people apply them philanthropically. Smallpox Virus Found in Unsecured NIH Freezer Really scary. I am reading a book about a terrorist plot involving synthesized small box virus. Terrifying stuff. In the book, the author suggests that, vectored against an unvaccinated population, the virus could essentially wipe out a country in the space of a couple of months. Germany 7, Brazil 1 Absolutely brutal. The team in tears? Brazil fans cheering Germany's last two goals? 

"A good solution applied with vigor now is better than a perfect solution applied ten minutes later." - George Smith Patton, Jr.  New TSA Rules for Electronics on Flights Bound for US That's gonna leave a mark.  Those lines will be slow. Principles are no Match for Europeans' Love of US Web Titans I can really understand that the people who are stridently against the collection and use of personal data aren't all necessarily using Facebook and buying at Amazon.  But the numbers indicate that some of them must be.  Hypocrisy, thy name is humanity. Remote Control Contraceptive Chip This seems like a really wonderful idea. So long as it's not hackable, it really solves many problems.

"Diamonds are nothing more than lumps of coal that stuck to their jobs." - Malcolm Forbes Prepare Yourself: Game of Thrones Wines are Coming Heh.  Just don't drink the House Baelish red. Umm - that's a LOW landing All I can really say is holy sh%t. That would be  . . . exciting. Coming to US for Baby, and a Womb to Carry it This is one of the places where my US individual-freedom oriented view really diverges from the parentalist European states. To me, the notion of outlawing surrogacy because it inevitably means someone is being exploited is incredibly narrow minded and self defeating.  How many times does it have to be shown that if there is something people want, then there will be a market for it before people learn? Drugs? Prostitution? Abortion? Alcohol? Prohibition does not work, and only serves to expose the potentially exploited service providers to a greater risk of really, really nasty exploitation. College Students Joining V...

20's Beach Vernacular For Bellicose Brazil, Payback Carries Heavy Price: Loss of Neymar This is a really interesting one. While it's always nice to think of karmic justice coming in, what really stands out is the clear idiocy of the ref. They Have Seen the Future of the Internet, and it is Dark Things are definitely at the paranoid end of the pendulum right now. From Axes to Razors, the Stuff that Makes you Feel Manly

Younger Americans are Less Patriotic, At Least in Some Ways I actually think this headline is wrong - the article says: . . . the decline seems to have more to do with reactions to the symbols of American democracy than its values. Older Americans remain remarkably high in their devotion to symbols like the flag, while young citizens are cooler toward Old Glory but express higher support for classic American ideals like equality and opportunity.    Seems to me that real patriotism is about values, not symbols. Is Obesity OK? This is not really a tough one. Obesity is terrible for you. Being obese does not make you a terrible person. People need to get their minds around the distinction. Google Reinstates "Forgotten" Links After Pressure Seems to me that under any interpretation, it's dead wrong to remove news articles. I hate the right to be forgotten. Fireworks from a Drone - Awesome I really want a drone now . . .

Winner in the Amazon War   Why has Google Cast me into Oblivion?   World's Largest Plane was Just in Minneapolis   There's no Injury Epidemic, but be Careful with Fourth of July Fireworks

Tearing Down the Whorearchy   Anthrax? That's not the Real Worry   All of Tim Howard's Saves Against Belgium

Terrifying Navy Destroyer Runs on Jet Engines, Is Terrifying   Supreme Court Rejects Google's Street View Appeal   Technology as a Path to Product Transparency   Internet Billionaire: Revolution is Coming   How two Polish Gamers Created a Global Blockbuster