Textbooks, the Rand incident, and other mixed mail

Mail 710 Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Textbooks and memory

You said: "It used to be that textbooks were used for a long time. Now

they can be revised by “revision” with changes in text and emphasis

happening in hours."

I’ll note that as an asthmatic boy in a farming area, I spent much of

one of my early summers indoors, reading through my fathers’ elementary

school history textbooks (all eight grades worth) in their entirety. He

went to a one-room schoolhouse in the early Cold War period, and his

family was required to purchase his textbooks rather than having them

provided. Which is how I ended up on the living room floor with them,

reading in air-conditioned splendor. Those textbooks were an excellent

introduction to American history, because they presented it as a

coherent and easily-remembered story first and foremost, starting early

on and ending with (if I recall correctly), World War 2. They definitely

had their share of politically correct nonsense–the Spanish-American

War was caused by the sabotage of the /Maine/, for example. But learning

that version of history first, followed by my "modern" public-school

texts was an excellent education in some important fundamentals. Having

noticed the factual differences between the two versions, I had to

conclude at a young age that the "facts" I was being taught were not

immutable. Further, the confusion registered by adults when I asked

about the differences brought the conclusion that I had to puzzle

through the inconsistencies on my own.

I eagerly anticipate electronic textbooks, but I told that story to

emphasize that there is some value to the earlier versions of textbooks.

Political manipulation aside, I’d hate to see older versions made

inaccessible. There is value to old textbooks simply as a record of what

people wanted their children to learn.

Neil Tice

I have and am about to put up as a Kindle book (it’s public domain, of course) an old California 6^th Grade reader, with stories and poems which at the time were known to everyone with a grade school education. We still need continuity. Some things change, though.

Re: textbooks

Dear Dr Pournelle,

Steve Jobs observed in his bio that the process by which states certify textbooks is deeply corrupt. Richard Feynman, who examined California textbooks in the 60s, and was horrified by what he found, describes the process in-depth in his essay "Judging a book by its cover", available in the excellent "Classic Feynman" anthology.

Perhaps our state’s budget crunch will cause it to revisit the cozy kleptopoly of textbook publishers, and consider the option of publicly financed ones distributed electronically instead. I am not holding my breath.

—

Fazal Majid

Or perhaps the state will work a magic in which every high school graduate owes an enormous debt to government, thus completely converting all citizens into bondsmen.

Jerry,

When the textbooks for one semester in college combine to the price of a basic iPad (or more sophisticated Android-based device such as my new Lenovo) the economics of buying textbooks electronically changes.

I note from my searches on Amazon that the Kindle versions of technical books and texts run at about a 25% discount of the dead tree version. That would still pay for two or three high-end iPads over four years of college.

Jim

Security Theater Showdown

Jerry,

As of about an hour ago, the TSA detained US Senator Rand Paul at the Nashville Airport for refusing a "patdown", IE an invasive groping search, according to Senator Paul’s staff.

Good on him for refusing consent. TSA will no doubt attempt to resolve this without setting any precedent. Let’s see how this turns out for the Senator, and then consider whether we should insist on equal treatment.

Update: He’s now reported by the TSA to have walked away from the security check-in area voluntarily – http://www.businessinsider.com/breaking-rand-paul-has-been-detained-by-the-tsa-at-nashville-airport-2012-1. Stipulating the inadvisability of unreservedly believing the TSA, it looks as if the penalty for refusing consent to a grope may now be to catch a later flight. Unless the TSA is going to openly decide to treat Senators differently from the rest of us?… It’d be awfully hard to get word out to all the minions on such without leaving a paper trail.

Perhaps we’ll need lots of volunteers with a modicum of patient stubbornness (and tolerance for travel delay) to emulate the Senator and clog up the system. I’m not sure if I’m volunteering – yet. But this situation bears watching.

And the 4th Amendment is worth it.

sign me

Porkypine

Rand Paul incident

From what you posted, it doesn’t sound like he was detained for very long. Here we might want to apply some common sense. Guy makes a stink about a pat down at an airport check point, then claims he is a US Senator, maybe even flashes the right kind of ID. Now are the people at that check point familiar enough with congressional ID’s to know if this is legit documentation. Do they know Rand Paul well enough to ID him on sight? Are they expected to be able to identify on sight, and without error, all 535 members of Congress? At the very least, there would have to be some consultation with superiors, perhaps a phone call or two has to be made, at least to verify his identity and figure out what is supposed to happen. All that would take some time, and that does not strike me as unreasonable.

Also, it is not clear from the passage you posted that there is a constitutional guarantee of access to a plane flight, or to any particular form of transportation. I don’t think that denying him boarding on a plane is quite the same thing as detainment for questioning or arrest. If they simple turned him away at the gate, and then let him leave the airport to seek other passage (after taking sufficient time to verify his identity), I think his constitutional rights would have been preserved.

And does making a stink at the checkpoint, and refusing to comply with the directives of the TSA constitute a "Breach of the Peace", which might make you subject to arrest?

craig

Rand Paul

You write in response to mail, “I really haven’t time to give this the commentary it deserves because it is so stunning. To begin with of course is the plain language of the Constitution regarding Senators and Members of Congress travelling to or from the national Capital. I can understand Senator Paul’s reluctance to invoke his Constitutional immunity from this sort of treatment but he should have done so.”

Generally I agree, and have as much disgust for the TSA as anyone who flies these days. However, in this case, I wonder about rushing to judgment. The constitution language is, as you point out, clear, “…during their Attendance at the Session of their respective Houses, and in going to and returning from the same; and for any Speech or Debate in either House, they shall not be questioned in any other Place.’ “

The fly in the soup is that Senator Paul was traveling to Washington, when he was detained. He noted earlier on his Twitter that he was planning to speak at the March for Life. While the TSA probably would not have known that, the Senator certainly would, and since HE knows the constitution, probably knew that he may not have been entitled to immunity under Article I.

Chuck Ruthroff

Plausible TSA scenario

"I wonder if a fiction scene in which the US Army overpowers a local TSA despoty on Constitutional grounds would be good reading? It would certainly be fun to write."

How about a TSA screener getting out of hand and every person in line begins recording the event on their cell phones. The agent(s) demand that the passengers stop recording, but there aren’t enough security personnel to prevent them. TSA gets more and more irate, eventually going over the deep end. Within minutes the event is all over YouTube, Twitter, etc., plus one of those recording is a close relative of someone with influence. Throw in a local police officer with no love for the TSA leaving on his vacation.

This is a scenario that is just waiting to happen.

The clock is ticking.

TSA vs.Military

"I wonder if a fiction scene in which the US Army overpowers a local TSA despoty on Constitutional grounds would be good reading? It would certainly be fun to write."

Sir:

While it did not involve the TSA, I recall hearing of an incident in which a USAF team was transporting a Minuteman ICBM to an operational silo. A local law enforcement officer took note of a nonfunctioning tail light on the missile transporter, turned on his lights and siren, and pulled the convoy over to give the Air Force a warning. In very short order he was surrounded by USAF Security Police with automatic weapons, taken into custody, and transported to and locked up in an Air Force detention facility. Thereafter it became common practice for such USAF convoys in that area to receive a civilian police escort. I think that under similar circumstances the TSA – or for that matter the FBI – would fare just as well, if they were lucky.

Also, back in the early 1980’s a friend of mine had bought a North American T-6 WWII vintage trainer from the Haitian Air Force and while moving it back home flew it into an airfield in South Florida. The tailwheel tire failed during the landing and he told the control tower he would have to pull off the taxiway in a remote area of the field because he had a problem. Soon after climbing out of the airplane – and in the process of taking a leak – he was surrounded by black clad hooded men with automatic weapons who shouted various somewhat contradictory instructions (E.g., "Don’t Move! Put up your hands! Who are you? Shut up!). He finally was allowed to produce some identification, which happened to include a red cover US Government passport (he had recently been employed by NASA, for a number of years). Seeing the US Government passport the black clad ninjas with the burp guns put two and two together – and appeared to get 22 as the answer. As in Unmarked military aircraft! Red passport! Oh kee-rap! We have just jumped the CIA! They departed at high speed before he could even ask for a lift to the inhabited portion of the airport to purchase a new tire. That would be a fun scene to write, too!

Best Regards,

Wayne Eleazer

Chris Dodd and The MPAA –

I don’t know if you caught this little gem about Chris Dodd, former Senator and CEO of the Motion Picture Ass. of America. He seems a little upset the the politicians he bribed, err, gave donations to, backed away from the legislation his paid toadies had tried to shove through, after vociferous objections by many.

“Those who count on quote ‘Hollywood’ for support need to understand that this industry is watching very carefully who’s going to stand up for them when their job is at stake," Dodd told Fox News http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EoATjTI-_NA . "Don’t ask me to write a check for you when you think your job is at risk and then don’t pay any attention to me when my job is at stake.”

The comments caused a huge stir, and prompted a petition https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions#%21/petition/investigate-chris-dodd-and-mpaa-bribery-after-he-publicly-admited-bribing-politicans-pass/DffX0YQv , hosted on the White House’s "We the People <https://wwws.whitehouse.gov/petitions> " opinion-seeking site, that calls for an investigation of the MPAA on bribery charges.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/23/mpaa_bribery_petition_white_house/

A warning? More like The Godfather.

Dave

Dodd and Kennedy. They understood what lobbying was about.

Dallasblog.com, the Dallas, Texas news blog and Dallas, Texas information source for the DFW Metroplex. – DALLAS BLOG – Democrat Warren Buffet Profits from Keystone Closure

Jerry,

http://www.dallasblog.com/201201231008717/dallas-blog/democrat-warren-buffet-profits-from-keystone-closure.html

Nothing more needs to be said except that rail transport is far more energy inefficient and expensive than pipelines and that pipeline are far safer. Transporting the crude will require about two dozen, hundred car trains per day.

Jim Crawford

Of course it’s still legal for Congresscritters to profit from inside information about government actions.

Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson

I just finished the Biography of Steve Jobs by Walter Isaacson and highly recommend it.

He was not often the "smartest man in the room" but his focus, drive and charisma made him the dominant one. I bought the first Mac in 1984 and continued buying newer ones until the present. I now know what drove the decisions that frustrated me over the years.

I have a lot of experience with being more intelligent than my peers and know that the focus and drive of a Steve Jobs are much more important for success. In fact the scattered nature of my own mind made it harder to accomplish goals throughout my life.

I have read both your fiction and that of Newt Gingrich with great pleasure over the years. I remember the details of the ethics charges against him and my impression at the time were that they were bogus. I think he left office more because he lost faith in his reform as his cohorts deserted him under pressure. He was not ready for the vilification by the press and the grossly biased reporting on the government shutdown.

When public sentiment grew for Bill Clinton and the Democrats he lost heart and resigned. The scandal was just an excuse.

Newt may have learned from that experience. The cash he has socked away while out of office may give him the confidence to weather biased and unfounded slurs. I hope so.

I supported Romney over McCain and Dole but he never got traction. He may make a great President if he can focus on what is good for the country instead of paying back his supporters. He has the knowledge confidence and tools for it. If he and Gingrich don’t damage each other to much either would be the best choice for the other slot on the ticket.

Palin for Secretary of Interior and Ran Paul for Treasury to complete his "Team of Rivals".

Just bought Kindle edition of Red Heroin my next book to read.

I like your ZERO based budget proposal. Is it doable?

Thomas Weaver

Doable of not, it is certain that exponential increase in spending cannot continue.

Subject: Cache of ancient Jewish scrolls discovered in Afghanistan

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/46102501/ns/technology_and_science-science/

Tracy

Subj: Soviet Venus Probes

Roland wrote Tuesday:

><http://deathby1000papercuts.com/2012/01/venus-ufo-photo-1982-russian-probe-photos-proof-of-aliens-on-venus/>

>The object in the photo looks like part of the Venera re-entry shroud or a fragment of one of its landing pads, to me.

The object is a lens cap, or more precisely half of one. The caps were designed to break apart and eject from the lens on command just before landing and are apparent in most Soviet Venus surface photos.

The caps were a continuing problem for the Soviets, as more than half failed to eject. In one famous case, Venera 14, a cap-half landed directly under the steel pin of a surface compressibility probe that was designed to one-time fire a spring-propelled pin into the surface and measure its penetration. Instead, American engineers said, the probe measured the compressibility of the lens cap in a demonstration that Murphey’s Law extended to other planets.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venera

Cecil Rose

LASFS

laser based cooling

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/23/laser_cooled_semiconductor/

Lasers heat things up, right? – unless you happen to hit upon the right resonance, in which case it seems you can use lasers to cool things down.

In an announcement that could be filed under either “counter-intuitive” or simply “wow”, scientists at Copenhagen University’s Niels Bohr institute have used a laser to cool a semiconductor membrane to -269°C.

Laser based cooling is one thing that I don’t ever remember stumbling across in all of my scifi reading.

John Harlow, President BravePoint

Microsoft revives flight sim by giving it away free 

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/06/microsoft_flight_sim_free/

Microsoft revives flight sim by giving it away free

One of Redmond’s longest-running lines gets reboot

http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2012/01/06/microsoft_flight_sim_free/

Posted in Developer http://www.theregister.co.uk/software/developer/ , 6th January 2012 12:24 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/06/

Microsoft has said that it will be reviving its Flight Simulator franchise this spring with a free version of the game entitled simply Flight.

Redmond is making the game available in a private beta at present, but plans to release it as a free download eventually. The game needs a minimum of 10GB of hard drive space, a dual-core 2Ghz processor, Windows XP SP3 and 2GB of RAM, according to the video trailer http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4iITFuySPsM [1]. Initially Flight will only have one plane – the ICON A5 flying boat – but Windows Live users will get access to extra missions and plane types if they sign in.

“Many people dream of flying, but few have the chance to experience the fun of exploring the world from above. Microsoft Flight provides players the opportunity to explore that curiosity and interest,” said Joshua Howard, executive producer of Microsoft Flight in a canned statement http://www.microsoft.com/games/flight/#press-takes_to_skies [2]. “Aviation can be incredibly technical, but we’ve taken great care to build an experience that makes taking to the skies thrilling and accessible for everyone.”

Microsoft’s flight simulator arm is one of its longest running software franchises, and the first version was released in 1982 – years before Windows saw the light of day. The game was originally bought in from subLOGIC, rumour has it because Bill Gates was a huge simulator fan and wanted one of his own, but the game attracted a small but devoted following. It was also very handy for checking compatibility on PC clones, which was where this El Reg hack first found it in 1987.

Microsoft developed the platform, adding 3D in the third version and developing a growing following, both among gamers and amateur plane enthusiasts. It was to that latter group that the game increasingly addressed, adding more and fans were willing to pay silly money http://www.reghardware.com/2011/11/15/ultimate_flight_sim_rocks_living_rooms/ [3] for the ultimate rig.

By its tenth iteration with Flight Simulator X in 2006, the game was using simulations of 24,000 airports, with 24 planes to choose from on the high-end version. Its success also spawned other Microsoft simulators, including the late and unlamented Train Simulator – which was even more boring than it sounds. Companies like Just Flight grew up to provide add-ons to the game, including a memorable Space Shuttle sim, and virtual airlines sprung up in the community.

But in 2009, with the economy tanking and shareholders asking increasing questions about fixed costs, Microsoft axed the ACES Studio http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/02/03/microsoft_flight_simulator_partners/ [4] and the 150 developers working on the code. But this left a large group of commercial and private software developers out on a limb. For them, Flight’s announcement probably isn’t good news.

From the trailer the new game, set on the Hawaiian Islands, is going to be much more like an airborne Grand Theft Auto, just without the blood and guts. It shows pilots flying for awards and bonus features, rather than handling accurate wind shear or experiencing the exact layout of Lihue Airport. Worse still, the game is designed to be played with a keyboard and mouse.

Purists may not approve, but the move will almost certainly give the game a huge new user base, thanks to the free model. It looks likely that Microsoft will either sell upgrades, aping Zynga’s business model, and/or come to a deal with the existing developer base for a level of compatibility – in exchange for a 30 per cent cut of the take. Significantly, Microsoft made no mention of a software developer kit with the initial announcement.

More details will be released at the annual Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas (potentially Microsoft’s swan dive at CES) and no doubt many Microserfs are frantically beavering away to get the code up to snuff. They may not avoid bluescreens, but the company’s stand will no doubt be full of people looking to check out the new code.

NASA close to approving first sci-fi flick shot in space

Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/21/nasa_sf_film_shot_on_iss/

NASA close to approving first sci-fi flick shot in space

ISS space tourist shoots schlock horror short

http://forms.theregister.co.uk/mail_author/?story_url=/2012/01/21/nasa_sf_film_shot_on_iss/

Posted in Space http://www.theregister.co.uk/science/space/ , 21st January 2012 01:14 GMT http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/21/

The first science fiction film shot in orbit could be coming to terrestrial viewers, now that NASA has confirmed it’s almost ready to give approval for the project.

Apogee of Fear was shot by space tourist Richard Garriott http://www.theregister.co.uk/2008/10/14/space_tourist/ [1] during his 2008 sojourn on the International Space Station (ISS). Garriott shot the basic footage for the film, using astronauts as his cast, and then added scenes and effects after his return to Earth. The film, privately shown at Dragon*Con <http://www.dragoncon.org/> [2] last year, has been in legal limbo because it wasn’t included in Garriott’s deal with NASA.

"NASA is working with Richard Garriott to facilitate the video’s release,” Bob Jacobs, deputy for communications at NASA, told The Register in an email. “While the project was not part of his original Space Act agreement with NASA, everyone involved had the best of intentions. We hope to resolve the remaining issues expeditiously, and we appreciate Richard’s cooperation and his ongoing efforts to get people excited about the future of space exploration."

Millionaire game developer Garriott – aka Lord British in Ultima and General British in Tabula Rasa – shot the film during his 10-day tourist jaunt up to the ISS, while performing his other orbital duties. Without giving too much of the plot away, it involves a mysterious passenger who sneaks aboard the ISS for their own reasons, and it contains knowing nods to many of the greats of the science fiction genre. An audience’s-heads-in-frame bootleg can be seen here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hyC_s_mom3w [3].

Garriott, the son of a US astronaut who did a tour of duty on SkyLab back in the 1970s, and the second British astronaut to make it into orbit, shot the film to a script from noted fantasy author Tracy Hickman. Two US astronaut and one Russian cosmonaut have supporting roles. If NASA resolves the contractual issues, the film could be released as either a short, or as part of other films Garriott has made about space history.

Garriott is one of two second-generation astronauts: the other is cosmonaut Sergey Volkov, whose father Aleksandr was stuck on the Mir space station when the Soviet Union dissolved. Garriott also owns the Lunokhod 2 rover http://www.theregister.co.uk/2010/03/17/lunokhod_2_located/ [4] that surveyed the Moon in 1973 for around six months before breaking down.

And, yes, Garriott’s Lunokhod 2 is still on the moon. ®

The SECRET FACEBOOK OF POWER used by global premiers at G20:

http://www.theregister.co.uk/2012/01/22/g20_facebook/print.html

“At the Toronto based G20 summit in 2010, the men and women holding the purse strings of the world were forced to get on the Facebook-style network to access documents and communicate with each other, because email was strictly banned. Only 125 members were accepted – the finance and deputy finance ministers of the twenty countries along with a "sherpa" or guide for each member state. 55 of them decided to upload profile pictures too, giving the financial negotiations a more personal touch. It’s highly likely that the remaining 60-odd invites were parcelled out to the global premiers, which means that it is likely, though not certain Barack Obama was/is on there. Users on the network were able to upload documents, read documents, message each other, blog, have live instant message conversations and see who was talking about topics they were interested in.”

Hm. The Return of the Trilateral Commission will be next, I suppose.

Ed

A friend posted this on her Facebook page.

https://fbcdn-sphotos-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/406950_218671828223432_168372346586714_447701_403260359_n.jpg

Ah, those female infidels. Maybe not 72, but clearly some of those are already patrolling heaven.

Ed

This is interesting:

<.>

Many women are choosing tattoos as a way to celebrate their children, both publicly and privately.

The trend has grown even more popular in recent years with celebrity moms like Angelina Jolie, Nicole Richie and Jessica Alba showing others tattoos and the love for their kids are nothing to hide

</>

http://www.myfoxdfw.com/dpp/news/mommy-tattoos-gaining-popularity-011912#ixzz1k3DyqFcV

Every woman I’ve met with a "mommy tattoo" seemed to never have their child around. Most were single mothers and many did not care for their own children; a relative did. You could always see the tattoo and hear about how much they love their kids, but you never met the kids — ever. When you made inquiries into these people’s activities and lifestyle, it became apparent they did not spend much — if any — time with their children. So, instead, they got a tattoo to convince everyone they were fulfilling their perceived responsibilities as a parent.

But, can we blame them? Most people think that going with the Cult of the Donkey Totem or the Cult of the Elephant Totem will save them from political or financial hardship. It’s just as idiotic and just as obvious to me.

—–

Most Respectfully,

Joshua Jordan, KSC

Percussa Resurgo

KulturKampf – but in fact the culture war is essentially over. Culture seems to have lost.