Experiments in Woolgathering

Recently several school boards here in the US have started requiring that Intelligent Design (if you aren’t up on what ID is and want to read the rest of this post and not be confused, read the stuff at this link) be taught in biology classes. Their reasoning for this is that because there are aspects of the development of life on Earth that the Theory of Evolution can’t explain we have no recourse but to fall back on some supernatural entity to fill in the gaps.

I see this as akin to humans thousands of years ago trying to appease deities to which they’d accredited the causation of natural phenomenon in order to stave off the next drought or to induce a milder winter or to keep them safe from lightning. They have no rational explanation (yet), and so they throw up their hands and don’t try.

(This also gives me visions of the Barbie doll that used to say ‘math is hard’ or something similarly implicitly demeaning toward women, although this is perhaps less relevant.)

Now, first of all, pretty much all theories have or have had gaps and these gaps are steadily filled through research and experimentation (and history bears this out again and again and again and again – you get the idea). Can you imagine where we’d be if Louis Pasteur and Robert Koch had just thrown up their hands and attributed the causation of disease to intelligent design just because biology and medicine didn’t yet have a theory to explain the communicability of disease? Hurrah for 18th century medicine and sepsis!

Are we to explain the timing of earthquakes by appealing to Poseidon’s (and you thought he was just in charge of the oceans, hah) irritation with us because geologists haven’t figured out how to predict them?

What reveals their agenda to some extent is that they don’t attack other theories, some of which are much less solid than evolution. This agenda, of course, is to promote religion in public schools. And ‘they’ are mainly the neo-conservatives and religious right – the overwhelming majority of scientists feel that introducing ID into the classroom is a very bad idea.

What’s funny is that it’s really a false dichotomy if you ask me. Maybe there really is an intelligent designer. Maybe the Christian God did create the world 6K years ago and just set up everything to make it look like it all kicked off 15 billion years ago with a huge explosion. How do we tell the difference?

Even if there is an ID, we can not deny that modern scientific research and methodogy has been a successful mechanism for discovery and learning for hundreds of years. Now, I’m not going to try to argue that science is some sort of holy grail (sic) – we’ve done some pretty horrible things with the tools science has given us, as well as some truly great things I’m just saying that clearly it works, whether because we live in a theistically vacuous universe or because the ID set it up to work the way it does.

Either way, it seems to that we have an obligation to keep pecking away at the truth. To figure out how to predict earthquakes, to find a cure for cancer, to develop renewable energy sources. Maybe somewhere in our explorations we’ll discover real evidence of ID. Even if we never do, it doesn’t rule out matters of faith. By definition, it can’t. If it turns out that the ID is omnipotent/omniscience and its existence really is a matter of faith then so be it, we’re never going to find the evidence, but there still seems worth in advancing human understanding!

I have a couple other basic issues with the ID agenda. First, the main idea behind the separation of church and state is to protect everyone’s religious freedom. If the IDers succeed in getting their creationist toe in the door, what next? How do we decide who’s brand of creationism to teach? To say we’re a Christian nation (which makes my teeth itch, btw) and leave it at that is ridiculously naive. Christians span a huge range of creationist scenarios: young earth, old earth, biblically literal, biblically metaphorical, and so on. Not to mention the fact that there are Christians who are evolutionists! Keep subjective religious matters out of the objective scientific classroom, for all our sakes.

Second, by promoting the ID agenda, these people are in essence admitting that they need scientific proof – i.e. denying the role of faith. Now, obviously this isn’t the case for all religions, but most (all?) Judeo-Christian sects(and lets face it, that’s who makes up the religious right in this country) state that belief in God is a matter of faith, not proof. Can’t they see they’re taking a huge risk here?

What happens if we do finally come up with a seamless theory of evolution? By hitching their religion, their ‘faith’, to a formerly incomplete scientific theory they’ve done the truly faithful a monstrous disservice and left the ones who bought into their crazy scheme out in the cold.

Here’s a link to start exploring this who ID/evolution this. It’s anti-ID in the classroom, but there are links that will get you to the pro-ID in the classroom stuff. And here’s a link that explains the over all argument, albeit from the anti-ID-in-schools side as well.

We went book shopping today, and for cheap! Half Price Books was having a 20% off sale, so it was 60% off all told. I picked up a couple calendars, an Italian dictionary (just need a Portuguese one and I’ll have one for each of the ‘big’ romance languages), a DVD of the original Terminator (we have T2 already), and a few novels.

• Girl In Landscape by Jonathan Lethem
• A Canticle For Leibowitz by Walter M. Miller, Jr.
• The High House by James Stoddard
• Baudolino by Umberto Eco

Toss in a blank book and the grand total, including tax, came to a bit over $40. Yay me.

Ah yes, haven’t had a good miss-IMing lately, now have we?

I am always amazed at home Moore can consistenly craft a story so bizarre that is still coherent with characters you care about and makes you think. Fluke hits on all these points.

The book is set in Hawaii, and centers around a group of whale researchers (Nate, Clay, Amy and Kona). One day, Nate sees the phrase ‘bite me’ on the tail of a humpback. No one else sees it, and, mysteriously, the frame containing the shot is gone when they get the film back from the developer.

Things turn ominous when their lab is trashed, Nate gets swallowed by a humpback and, in the course of rescuing Clay, Amy manages to survive underwater for over an hour after her air tank runs out. When Amy disappears, it’s up to Clay and Kona (aka Preston Applebaum, kid from New Jersey cum Rastafarian surfer dude) to solve the mystery of why the whales sing, why the Old Broad on the volcano insists Nate is still a live, where Amy is, and why the humpbacks are flashing ‘bite me’ to them on their tails.

Anyone who’s read Moore knows that I’ve probably barely scratched the surface of the weirdness that he serves up – and they’re right. I’m not going give up any more goodies here as it would give up too much of the book, and, well, I don’t like putting spoilers in these reviews.

Moore stays away from being preachy about saving the whales, but still conveys that message. (He saves a bit of preachiness about saving the wholes for the afterword, which is fine.) Another aspect of the plot revolves around evolution and the conveyance of information by genes versus by memes – again, I can’t say more here because of spoilers, but I did want to point out the aspects of the book that might make one think and which make it more than just a comedy/scifi/mystery.

But, whait, there’s more! Character development. All four of the main characters are well developed and grow through the course of the book. They’re likable too, you care about them. As an example, I was proud when Kona went from the stoner/surfer he was at the beginning to genuinely caring about the whales with some skill as a genuine stoner lab technician.

I wouldn’t call Fluke Moore’s best, Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove is still that for me, but it’s definitely a great read. If you like Moore, you’ll will definitely like it. If you enjoy some wackiness with substance and plot, then try it!

So.. re-relaxing. Ice storms. Power outages. Bitter cold. Fun fun! And “clearly this bottle it too heavy, I must not be drinking fast enough.”

I like storms. Even if it’s not real, or so weak as to be less dangerous that driving to the grocery when the weather’s good, there’s a certain thrill that comes with them. It’s something primal, that touches the inner survival instinct, and by overcoming it – or just sitting in my living room through it – I get a small thrill.

Going out, driving on the ice, even only half a mile to the aforementioned grocery, become an adventure in hunter-gathering – hunter I suppose, if I were to assume the ‘proper’ gender role, though I have difficulty forming the simile with gathering food at the grocery, no matter the mood of the other shoppers.

Ice storms: we had a serious one. On top of several inches of snow, we got a night and part of a morning of sleet and freezing rain. Add in the single digit to subzero temps we got right after that, and I can no walk on snow like a snow hare, just in a fleece pullover and sneakers instead of a soft pelt and hairy feet.

The other consequence of this ice storm is that power was out, at its worst, for 280,000 customers of the local electric company. Including some friend of ours. They gave us a call Thursday evening. Their power had been out since 10 am and they have a toddler and an infant, so, needless to say, we could hardly turn them down! The spent the night at our house and most of the the next day (today for the next 13 minutes) with us.

Now, to preface this next section, I’ll explain our ‘plan’ for the holidays. It was a simple plan really, stay at home, relax, spend time with one another, watch some movies, do some work for R’s clients. Also, add in that we have no plans to have kids – we like kids, we have nieces and nephews we spoil and will continue to spoil, but when it comes right down to it we simply don’t want to make the kind of commitment. At least we’re honest about it.

So anyhow, having our home invaded by two kinds and their parents even for a day and half was… traumatic for us. There’s no way I’d want them to stay at their place under these conditions, but still I resented it. I suppose this just makes me human, but part of me still feels guilty about it.

That selfish bit, that part of me that wants for me, wants the peace and relative tranquility of just being alone with my wife. To read, to watch DVDs, to cook, to code on my own scheduld, blah blah blah, all that was suddenly threatened.

When R, in an inadvertant nicety, invited their extended families (she was thinking to only invite them) over for Xmas day, I was shocked, to say the least. Threatened. Fortunately, breakfast on them and their power coming on a few hours ago assuaged all.

Xmas is saved, we can be relative Hermits over the Holidays.

Go us.

Cary

I was stuck for a subject for a entry in which I was going to write about nothing in particular, so this ludicrous quotation by the New York Times on the cover of Fluke, by Christopher Moore, seemed a good enough one. Ludicrous because it’s Moore’s seventh novel. The question isn’t where has he been hiding, but how have you missed him. (And shame on them if they have been missing him for 6 novels, he’s great.)

I’ve been enjoying my time off immensely. This morning was the first one where I didn’t wake up and check the clock to see how much time I had to get ready for work. Of course I normally work from home on Wednesdays, so maybe that had something to do with it. I’m prefer to think I’m slowly relaxing.

Since we’re doing Xmas on the cheap this year, our gifts are of the crafty kind (in the sense of us making them, not in the sense of being deceptive – though we’ve done that upon occasion as well). Rachel is making bath salts, bubble bath and massage oil – and mixing up the scents herself. The first round of testing left my nose reeling from sniffing the various mixtures and anyone making an ascent to the second floor walked into an almost physical wall of nasal confusion as their scent receptors attempted to sort out all the various essential oils floating around in the air.

I’m making and canning some salsa. I hope. The last time I canned it was under duress and I was about 10 and helping my mother, it should be an interesting time – I’m just hoping it’s not interesting in the Chinese curse sort of way.

Much to the joy of Christmas traditionalists here, a white Christmas seems virtually assured. The forecast calls for a lot of snow and some freezing rain and sleet on top of the few inches we have already. After that the temperatures are going to drop into the teens for highs and subzero at night, so no melting will be going on.

See? Nothing in particular.

I’ve been trying to remember how I found out about and decided to read this book, but I can’t for sure. I think it was just following lists on Amazon, maybe.

Anyhow, the cover of this book is littered with praises from various authors and publications. So, it was certainly promising on the outside.

However, this book never really quite clicked with me. It came close, but never went all the way.

The setting of Sunshine is an alternate reality/future where demons, were-creatures and vampires (collectively know as Others) are slowly taking over. In the not too distant past a major war was fought against them which was basically a draw, but which resulted in widespread devastation including the creation of ‘bad spots’ – areas were even Others found it too uncomfortable to enter.

The book is first person and told from the perspective of Rae Seddon, aka Sunshine. Sunshine is a baker, and, as it turns out, the daughter of a powerful sorcerer. Early on in the story she is captured by vampires and held along with another vampire, Constantine (yes, very original), or Con, or, less often, Connie.

Sunshine is self-admittedly a coward and would much rather ignore the rest of world in favor of her kitchen. This is fine, and given the world that McKinley has created, understandable. That said, her self-indulgent cowardice and avoidance really got old for me – so I was never really very emotionally involved in Sunshine.

That wouldn’t normally be a problem, but I didn’t really feel much empathy for the rest of the characters either. With the exception of Con and a couple others, they stay pretty well in the background. None were ever threatened by the Others, and aside from her kidnapping, Sunshine was never really threatened by them either – she and Con sought them out. There was the statement by a Special Other Forces agent that the Others will be effectively running the world in under a century, which is described as pessimistic by Sunshine’s grandmother (also a Sorcerer). As a result, I never really felt any sense of genuine urgency to their actions.

The other big problem I had was the annoying segues into world-building right in the middle of a fairly fast-paced scene, and these could be paragraphs to pages long. For me this really disrupted the flow and pacing.

My issues with the world-building hurting the pacing are ironic in a way, since the world is one of the things I really did like. Obviously, from the detail McKinley gives us, it’s richly imagined (though nothing as amazing as Miéville’s Bas-Lag) and she’s thought a lot about the details of it.

Overall, I can’t say I’d recommend this highly. If someone was very into vampire novels and had already read the usual suspects, then sure, give this a whirl, but otherwise, read something by Anne Rice or Laurell Hamilton.

I’ve been having some sort of oscillating epiphany experience while I’m at this “computer security training:http://www.sans.org/cdieast04/ this week.

On the first day, I was sitting there thinking ‘is this really worthwhile stuff?’ Not just meaning computer and network security, but spending so much of my time on a careering in the IT field at all. Shouldn’t I be doing something more meaningful, something that really helps people?

The, on the second day, I am thinking, ‘okay, a lot of people are dependent on this industry, doing my part to help protect my employer’s network as well as the Internet is helping them.’

The third and fourth days were more exciting, or at least renewed my excitement in what I do for a living – particulary the fourth day, were we got into secure communications, cryptography and steganography.

Days 5 and 6 were Windows and Unix/Linux security respectively – they were interesting, but in the first case I’m not a windows admin (except at home, and a good bit of the stuff we went over was really only practical for large installations), and in the second case, a lot of it was review. Plus, by the 6th day we were all pretty fried.

We got out of Day 6 about 2 hours early. So, I got my butt to the airport in time to catch a 2+ hour earlier flight home, for only $25 extra. $25 for shortening my slouching around the airport time by two hours seemed like a no brainer to me!

So, I dunno. I know I don’t want to do this forever, and starting on another path is a bit daunting. I suppose it will happen when it happens…

I’ve come to a small conclusion about M. John Harrison’s novels, small mostly because this is only the second one I’ve read. The conclusion is this: he has a knack for making a story just confusing enough that you want to keep reading to try to figure out that little thing you think you are not quite getting; but not so confusing that you get frustrated and put it down.

Light was definitely this way to me. Had I not been busy lately, I would have finished it much more quickly. Three interweaved stories which on the surface are only tangentially related, come smashing together in a burst of elucidation in the last 10 pages of the book; and I was left saying ooohhh, and wow for a good while.

So, I’ll back up and bit and say what else I liked about Light.

First, Harrison is known for writing about the banality of everyday life – though what ‘everyday life’ is is quite different for the various characters.

For Michael Kearney, a physicist trying to create a quantum computer in contemporary (more or less) London, everyday life is serial killing in an effort to keep a mysterious being known as ‘The Shrander” at bay; for Ed Chianese, former starship jockey, it’s what seems to pass as the urban life of a 24th century has-been: trying to scrape up enough money to escape now meaningless life by spending as much time as he can in virtual reality tanks; for Seria Mau Genlicher it’s life built into a starship (which she opted to do when she was 13 to escape the sexual advances of her widowed father) which also happens to be an incredibly advanced alien artifact.

None of these characters are heroic in the classic sense, but, given their circumstances, I find them quite realistic and sympathetic. I cared about all of them, cheered when they did the right thing, and hated, but understood, it when they didn’t. That Harrison can do this in particular with such apparent ease is what I think makes him a truly great author.

Light is fast paced in general, and when the action really gets going, which happens most often with Seria and her K-ship, it’s blistering. Things for a K-ship pilot are perceived in fractions of a nanosecond and Harrison manages to convey this heady pace amazingly well.

I think Harrison’s books have resonated with me more than they might otherwise, as lately I’ve been somewhat overwhelmed by my own day-to-day existence. That said, I will still recommend Light to pretty much anyone that likes a good, fast-paced scifi story.

In an odd bit of serendipity, the next book I’m reading is Robin McKinley’s Sunshine. (Light, sunshine… get it?)

So, this is my schedule for the next two weeks:

Monday: dry run presentation of our secure coding course at work. All day, though technically I only need to be there for the half I’m teaching, but I really should be there to comment on the the section coworker Michael Li is giving.

Tuesday: Some sort of ‘Presentation’ training. All day.

Wednesday: normal work, hopefully.

Thursday through Tuesday: SANS conference in NY. I’m taking a course that has a bootcamp, which means class all day, and a two hour lab 5 of the 6 nights. And, yes, no weekend effectively.

Wednesday: regular work day, hopefully.

Thursday: pilot of the secure coding course. Can probably bail on half of it.

Friday, Monday: regular work.

Tuesday onward: vacation! I only had 9 days left to take, otherwise I’d be off Monday too. Alas.

Of course, even on the ‘regular/normal work days, I have 1-3 hours of meetings.

Needless to say, I am going to be so fucking ready for my vacation.