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journal 2002 |
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pizza
shuttleworth the four universal graphs the unseen apollo 11 post-postmodern computing german WWI grave designs kopfschmerzen decaf |
This is my 2002 journal. Jan Feb Mar Apr May Jun Jul Aug Sep Oct Nov Dec Also available: 2003 2001 2000 1990s 1980s Everything on this page: Copyright 1985-2002 by Thane Plambeck, except where obviously not. 29 August 2002 Panic-Grass: The World's Worst Weeds [Resurrected from an archive of the Stanford University "su.roger-or-andy" bulletin board] 
Date: Sat 14 Mar 87 14:40:21-PST
From: Thane Plambeck
Subject: Noxious Weeds--the top eight.
This is a list of the world's worst weeds. I took the commentary from
several weed books that are listed below.
1. Purple Nutsedge (Cyperus rotundus L.)
“Almost uncontrollable. Reproduces both by seeds
and by vegetative nutlets that are produced in great
numbers at various depths in the soil...”
2. Indian Doob (Cynodon dactylon L.)
“A persistent weed...”
3. Panic-grass (Eschinochloa crus-galli L.)
4. Junglerice (Eschinochola colonum L.)
“Very troublesome... The rootstalk delights in being
fragmented, each piece giving rise to a new, complete
plant...”
5. False Guinea-grass (Sorgum Halepense L.)
“Once widely advertised and planted. It was one thing
to start, quite another to kill it out. Like the
English sparrow, it will be with us forever...”
6. Water Hyacinth (Eichornia Crassipes L.)
“Makes a gorgeous display but has many objectionable
features...”
7. Cogongrass (Imperata cylindrica L.)
“The bane of framers in India, Africa, and much of
the Far East.”
8. Lantana (Lantana canara L.)
References: H. F. Jaques, “How to Know the Weeds,” 1959.
Alden S. Crafts, “Modern Weed Control,” 1975.
Lawrence Crockett, “Wildly Successful Plants,” 1977.
29 August 2002 How they drive: A Cali-braskan study (in two parts) [Resurrected from an archive of the Stanford University "su.roger-or-andy" bulletin board] 
Date: Sun 15 Feb 87 14:32:37-PST
From: Thane Plambeck
Subject: How they drive: A Cali-braskan study (part I)
Situation I:
A four-way stop sign.
|c |
|b |
|a | The scenario: Cars a, b, and c
-------- -------- arrive almost simultaneously, as
-------- -------- depicted in the diagram. Their
| d| drivers wish to continue down south
| | through the intersection. Car d
| | arrives just after car a, but before
b or c. Car d wants to turn left.
The California protocol: Car a, car d, car b, and finally car c: the
precedence being determined by arrival times.
The Nebraska protocol: Car a, car b, car c, and finally car d, as if
we had a stop light rather than a 4-way stop.
NOTES: 1) Deadlock if b is Californian, and d is Nebraskan.
2) Starvation impossible in the Nebraska protocol--
there aren't enough cars in Nebraska, except in
funeral processions.
Date: Sun 15 Feb 87 14:46:11-PST
From: Thane Plambeck
Subject: How they drive: A Cali-braska study (part II)
Situation II:
A wind-swept icy tundra. Two cars approaching one another
at an angle of 37%. Visibility blocked by cows and windmills.
The California protocol: Not supported.
The Nebraska protocol: Person driving the pickup with more
hay in the back taps horn, and proceeds.
NOTES: Of any two automobiles in Nebraska, at least one
is a pickup.
29 August 2002 From Self-Reliance  There is a mortifying experience in particular, which does not fail to wreak itself also in the general history: I mean the “foolish face of praise,” the forced smile we put on in company where we do not feel at ease in answer to conversation which does not interest us. The muscles, not spontaneously moved, but moved by a low usurping willfulness, grow tight about the outlines of the face with the most disagreeable sensation.
28 August 2002 Securities Fraud 101 
Today's indictment of former WorldCom CFO Scott Sullivan contains a succinct description of Income Statements, Balance Sheets, Capital Expenditures, and Operating Expenses, and how to abuse them to commit securities fraud. The Wall Street Journal describes Sullivan's apparent idea of hiding Operating Expenses by moving them to Capital Expenditures as "clever." But the following passage from the indictment doesn't make it look so subtle: CERTAIN RELEVANT ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLES
27 August 2002 From The Futurological Congress, by Stanislaw Lem (1971) 
13 IX 2039. I met Burroughs, Symingtons's brother-in-law. He makes talking packages. Manufacturers these days have peculiar problems: a package may recommend the virtues of its product by voice only, for it is not allowed to grab the customer by the sleeve or collar. Symington's other brother-in-law runs a security door factory. Security doors open only at the sound of their owner's voice. Also, the ads in the magazines animate when you look at them.
26 August 2002 A letter and reply 
To: The Editor, Phi Beta Kappa Key Reporter Sir: In the Summer 2002 Key Reporter, I find the mysterious statement that "the Phi Beta Kappa Development Office regrets that given names were used, instead of the generally accepted salutation, in a recent invitation to certain Society members to become Sustaining Members." Would the editors care to reveal 'the generally accepted salutation'? Is a secret handshake, code word, or unusual gesture involved? I'm thinking, perhaps too hopefully, of something along the lines of Mr. Spock's "Live Long and Prosper" (from Star Trek). A certain Society member, I remain Thane Plambeck
25 August 2002 A losing $120 million California SuperLotto ticket I purchased this ticket yesterday afternoon in a Palo Alto liquor store. It cost me $5.  Four jackpot tickets—with all five numbers plus the Mega number correct—were sold. They are each worth $30.5 million. Here's where they were purchased: CIRCLE K 2331-3078The Brisbane Liquors place looks like it's in a nice location near San Francisco Bay. It wouldn't take long to drive there from the liquor store I visited. A bit out of my way, yes, but well worth $30.5 million. The "Circle K 2331-3078" is pretty close to Newport Beach, very near a small green spot on the map named "Pinkley Park." San Marcos is also in Southern California, closer to San Diego. Rosemead is in North LA, not far from Alhambra. After looking up the winning numbers on the Internet, I circled the (two) numbers I got correct (over all the five picks I made). Had I watched the live drawing on TV, I would have had the momentary thrill of seeing the first two numbers drawn (9 and 35) match my (computer generated "Quick Pick") selection "E". But you win nothing for getting two numbers correct in SuperLotto, as the following table published by the Lottery people reveals:
The chances of winning the jackpot are the same regardless of whether you play—ie zero—or what any reasonable person should accept as zero (worse than 1 in 41 million). I'm just happy to have contributed my five dollars to those four lucky fellow liquor and convenience store patrons. They'll only get $1.20 apiece from me, and perhaps less than that after the Lotto people get their cut. But I'm sure they will spend it wisely. Brisbane Lotto winner all giggles It's goodbye work, hello Europe for Cindy Blair 
The giggling Brisbane woman who just won $30.5 million said Monday she won't need to get an unlisted phone number.
23 August 2002 Warrantless Search & The Constitutional Worm 
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.That's the Fourth Amendment to the United States Constitution. (It's not the preamble to the 4th Amendment, or perhaps simply its introduction. It's the whole thing. The Framers knew how to cut the BS). So: What should the 4th Amendment mean for digital "papers and effects?" How should it apply to personal information scattered over Internet databases? What are the appropriate definitions of a digital "place to be searched" or "thing to be seized"? Lawrence Lessig wrote an interesting 44 page article on the subject in 1996. Here's a provocative passage from pages 15-16: Warrantless Search
22 August 2002 How old is the Oak Tree on Tasso Street?  This morning I took some photos of the oak tree across the street from our house at 2341 Tasso St in Palo Alto. Michael Goldeen, who lives in the house closest to the tree, told me that the tree is 300 years old. It's possibly not quite that. People like to believe that big and beautiful trees are older than they really are. This evening I measured its circumference at a height 4 and 1/2 feet above the ground by wrapping string around it. I got a result of exactly 13 feet, which gives it a radius of about 25 inches. Assuming .2 inches growth per year—a figure I dug out as typical for an oak tree—gives 125 years for the age (ie, planted 1877). Using another rule of thumb, that a tree grows an inch wider every three years, gives a result of 150 years (ie, 1852). Certainly its location, in the street, suggests it was already there (and presumably pretty big) when the street was created in the early 20th century. [Note added 30 September 2002]. I've investigated this further.
20 August 2002 A 10x10 Word Square
"Ah yes, the Sturnidae. We were just chatting about them...."
20 August 2002 Greg Whitehead Explains Pizza Making Greg,
20 August 2002 Photo of Thane Plambeck with Bruce Oberg (bottom) Seattle, Washington April 1995 
Bruce was my college roommate for three years at the University of Nebraska, Lincoln. These photos were taken about 10 years after we graduated, in 1985. [Note added 27 September] Bruce's computer software game development company, Sucker Punch, just released a new game for the Sony Playstation.
p 20 August 2002 Overheard at the Internet Chess Club 
...skydiving is not for you.
17 August 2002 Pung. Ching. Bong. 
A less strenuous craze was Mah-Jong, a Chinese game which, like ginger and the Pekinese, had once been a prerogative of exalted rank. It was played with chips and domino-like counters and had a terminology full of quaint chinoiseries. People excitedly called 'Pung', 'Ching', and 'Bong' when they completed particular sets, and talked mysteriously of the 'East Wind', the 'North Wind' and the 'Red and Green Dragons'. Mah-Jong came from the United States in 1923; by Christmas the West End stores were full of expensive sets, and several Mah-Jong handbooks were published. Instruction in the newspapers consisted of such advice as: 'Don't forget to say "mah-jong" very quietly and with a restrained air. The moral effect is doubled.' And: 'Don't either lie or speak the truth consistently.'
16 August 2002 The Morgan Stanley Internet Report (1996) What does the future hold? Where's the next big opportunity? When's the next train leaving the station? 
The Internet Report is a breathless document by Mary Meeker and Chris DePuy that was published in early 1996 under the auspices of the investment bank Morgan Stanley. It's still an enjoyable read today, if only for its abundance of now dead URLs. You might as well be in a civil war graveyard. If you flip it over (yes, I own a copy!), you'll find this blurb: "To participate in the Internet is to participate in the supreme opportunity of the age. Whether you are an investor, user, creator or observer, The Internet Report offers critical insight into both the Internet as well as the markets it will affect."Now it's 2002, and the Internet investing craze has come and gone. The New York Times recently observed that money invested in Treasury bills in 1996 would have out-performed the S&P 500 in the period 1996-2002, and would have absolutely slaughtered Internet investments (unless you happened to get out in time, before the tech stock bubble burst in March 2000). Choosing a page from The Internet Report at random, my eye falls upon Based on our market growth estimates, we are still at the very early stages of a powerful secular growth cycle for Internet-related stuff. Remember how Microsoft's Windows cured for about seven years before it became a runaway hit in 1990 with the launch of Windows 3.0? Well, the Internet—TCP/IP in particular—has been curing for about 15 years, and the rollout of the graphic Web browser (Mosaic) in 1993 is having a significant impact on market growth similar to the launch of Windows 3.0.Here's the final sentence of the Introduction: "May the next ten years in technology be as exciting as the last ten years have been...
13 August 2002 Some Concepts Developed in Collaboration with Anil Gangolli "This is a rich minefield of opportunity."
10 August 2002 Mark Shuttleworth, Space Tourist 
In early 1999, I exchanged email with a then-unknown South African Internet software entrepeneur named Mark Shuttleworth. Mark's company, Thawte Consulting, was engaged in a business that had some similarities to the startup company I was involved with, Structured Arts. I tried to convince him that we should be working together in some capacity. Things didn't go very far, although we did agree to meet in person sometime in the future. Shuttleworth revealed in one email to me that he personally held all the equity in his company. "The decision what to do with this company is mine alone," he wrote. He seemed to be mostly concerned that partnering with or being acquired by an American company would corrupt the culture of his company in some way. It seemed to me that convincing him to work with our company would be a long process. $575 million can change a person's opinions about such matters. Neither of us knew then that our respective companies would be both acquired by Verisign about 8 months later (Structured Arts indirectly via Signio). And I doubt that Mark thought he would be the world's second space tourist (after Dennis Tito) either.
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