This Shirt Is A Weapon

Oops, no morning weigh-in...

Got the car last night, then went to physical therapy. Looks like that's winding down, not much more they can do for me... Home, computer, got an email that Art was in the house making some custom chili, so it was down to Which Brew for dinner. Nice night, nice crowd and really good "Italian chili" but I was back home pretty early. Late bedtime anyway, played with the computer until past midnight.

Bring back the crypto wars: So, I see that some researchers have succeeded in making a quantum byte, a major step towards the mythical quantum computer. Oh well, so much for computer security, that'll put a major hole through RSA and pretty much all current encryption schemes.

Once upon a time (early nineties), "hard encryption" was illegal to export from the USA: the technology was deemed a weapon and restricted for purposes of national security -- too bad it was laughably easy to implement, and everyone on Earth interested in the subject knew how to do it. Dudes used to make tee shirts in protest, with simple shell scripts implementing RSA and "this shirt is a weapon" written on them -- I've even seen a tattoo -- and photograph themselves overseas.

Now technological advances are threatening to undermine almost all "hard encryption," and I can't help but notice that this particular cutting-edge research did not happen in the USA. I also noticed that the cure for cancer will not be developed in the USA either, at least not if it depends on the work of the leading researchers, who are decamping to Singapore's Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology. Well, once the Third World is rich and we're poor, I sure hope they'll let bygones be bygones, and practice enlightened drug-pricing policies.

Speaking of drugs and the Third World, here's some good news: I see that the "triple-drug method" has been found to be as effective in managing AIDS in poor countries as it is in rich ones. It's a start...

The Onset Of Chaos

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 14.5% BF

Got home last night, checked on car: almost but still not quite ready, should be done today. Went home, played with computer, cooked dinner: stir-fry of (boiled) tempeh in onions, ginger, thai chilies and broccoli -- I really must go shopping, I'm just tossing junk in a frying pan. Tasted good though.

It was pretty late after that, but I went out for a run anyway, two miles in a little over twenty minutes. I think the "evening run" concept is a pretty good way to go, much easier to accomplish than the morning version.

Thirty-two thousand generations in the blink of an eye: So anyway, I got home from the run, and decided to play around with some more population dynamics stuff, specifically, this form of the logistic equation. I am less than enamored of that particular equation; I have my reasons which I'll maybe get into someday (really, it's just that it's not as emotionally satisfying as some other forms), but this one does have the advantage of being easy to play with, and it does exhibit fractal and chaotic behavior. Mmm, buzzwords... math buzzwords...

Since it's pretty simple, I set up a Gnumeric spreadsheet, a thousand iterations for each of thirty two different values of the reproduction rate, from 0.125 to 4. Copy, paste, blink -- and it was done! The calculation is admittedly pretty lightweight, but I expected at least a second or two for crunching. The results were pretty much what you'd expect from the article; I'll probably graph a few samples and post them tonight.

Other stuff for tonight: get the car, surrender the rental car, go to physical therapy, hit the gym; I'll be leaving work a little early to get it all in. Next week starts overtime.

Meantime, I see that Wikipedia is in a little hot water...

Requiem For A World

Morning weigh-in: 180#, 14% BF

I ran across this interesting but somewhat incoherent paper the other day while musing about Olduvai Gorge, and in that paper I found the following quote:

"The human species, considered in broad perspective, as a unit including its
economic and industrial accessories, has swiftly and radically changed its
character during the epoch in which our life has been laid. In this sense we are
far removed from equilibrium — a fact that is of the highest practical
significance, since it implies that a period of adjustment to equilibrium
conditions lies before us, and he would be an extreme optimist who should expect
that such adjustment can be reached without labor and travail. … While such
sudden decline might, from a detached standpoint, appear as in accord with the
eternal equities, since previous gains would in cold terms balance the losses,
yet it would be felt as a superlative catastrophe. Our descendants, if such as
this should be their fate, will see poor compensation for their ills and in fact
that we did live in abundance and luxury." -- Alfred Lotka

Looks like there may be a misprint or two in there, but you get the idea... Anyway, I looked up Alfred Lotka and came across this set of differential equations for predator-prey population relationships, and this one for interspecies competition. Bingo! This may be just what I've been looking for, for quite some time; more on this later...

Back in the real world: I went to Which Brew last night, did my "Drinking Liberally" thing. Saw Scott U, Karl, Fred & Lara, Ed, Megan, and Kirk, as well as Carrie & K-Jo behind the bar. Apple butternut squash soup, hot wings, Allagash White & an Aviator Red, yummy. Cool conversation with Kirk on nutrition & how tofu may not be that good for you after all, and then another one with Lara on her work, the debauchery I missed by leaving the Halloween Party early, and boobs. I love that place.

Warm and Wet

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 14% BF

Tell me how you really feel: Weird weather last few days, drizzly and unseasonably warm. I was in CVS last night, waiting to pay for my stuff, and the checkout dork made a faux-pas joke about Bush and global warming to the woman in front of me (I would have agreed with the concept & the sentiment, but it wasn't the correct time or place -- and the comment, like the dude, was pure dork); the guy behind me said sotto voce to his daughter and me "if this is global warming I'll take it!" Ah, ha ha ha, good one you stupid fsck! You'll take it, eh? Because you're a lazy &^%$# who can't take winter -- you'll take global warming, and you'll pay for it with what, and what will you have left over to leave your daughter? Or do you figure that there will always be brown people far away to foot the bill for your golf-cart lifestyle, people in say Iraq and New Orleans? Complacent, smug, stupid, parasitic -- the more I think about this guy the more burned I get.

Anyway, rant over. Hit the gym last night after dinner, leg workout plus a few other things, then finished laundry, shopping spree at CVS (light bulbs, deodorant, shampoo, salt), then caught the third quarter at Porter's, which is apparently now dog-friendly, while the clothes dried.

Some fun stuff from the Internets: here's Olduvai George (via Pharyngula), and here's Elementropy (via Sadly, No!) -- now that there is certified coffee-out-my-nose funny.

Silverlight

Went out last night; did the pedestrian thing over to Which Brew, where my friend Heath (brother of Hans, husband of Margarita) was DJ'ing. Got an early start because the plan was to have dinner there and I didn't want to reenact Friday's crowded debacle... but, when I got there, the only ones in the place (other than bartenders Katrina and Jen) were Pete, myself and Ed, the place was a ghost town. Heath came in, seemed cool with the situation and started playing anyway, and by about 9:30 the place was satisfactorily crowded. I didn't stay too late, but left after dinner and a bit of conversation (Ed, Margarita, Heath -- who was broadcasting from his iPod and didn't need to physically be on stage to DJ). Probably home by 11:00.

That was too bad because I didn't have anything planned for this morning except sleeping in, but I popped awake fully rested about 8:00 AM, not early really, but much much earlier than planned. Played with the computer, had a few phone conversations and then went out to get coffee. Ran into Judy the Soupmaker at the Quadrant. (Don't know her real last name; she makes soup & bread, sells it to local restaurants including the Quadrant & Which Brew, which is how I know her.) Anyway, she came in, shared my table because the place was super crowded, and we had a good conversation -- she got an earful, which I don't think she expected since she's never encountered the "caffeinated version of Don." Also saw a very smartly dressed Cosmia there as she walked out, but she didn't seem to see me...

I went from there down to Performance Bicycle, south of Quakertown near the Montgomery Mall, my big errand for the day. I wasn't as impressed with the store as the people who recommended it seem to be -- it's just a medium-sized bike store in a stripmall, far as I could see. Picked up new biking shoes, a new Camelbak and some tights, then hit the Whole Foods store in the same stripmall for some fresh veggies.

Dinner (tempeh stir-fry, with all those fresh veggies including Thai chilies -- hot!), laundry and a little internetting, and my long weekend is complete.

And did those feet, in ancient time... Had a phone conversation with Doug this morning, about recent rumors that John Lennon used to frequent the Lehigh Valley, specifically some un-named park, possibly Allentown possibly Easton, and bring his son Sean (a preschooler at the time) to play there. This was something Doug's grandfather used to do with him when he was the same age, at about the same time period, so he was very interested in trying to guess where -- Hackett? Bushkill Park? Probably no way of ever knowing...

By the way, the light the past few days has been that silvery-white November sunshine.

UPDATE: Check this out. Ribbit! Ribbit!

Do You Know What I Know?

It's the weekend, there's no morning weigh-in on the weekend!

Oh, The Embarrassment: I had Thanksgiving dinner at my friend Brian's mom's house. Big group, Brian's sister and her family, some friends & relatives, etc. Anyway, dinner gets going, and I ate something wrong, got mega-whacked with food allergies (something cooked with peanut oil?): my throat swelled up, couldn't swallow, almost couldn't breathe -- I ended up puking in the kitchen sink. Brian's asking me "dude, you need to go to the hospital?" and I'm like "uh, maybe..." I recovered in time for dessert, but they'll be talking about me for the next 20 years. (Brian's poor mom didn't know what to do, or what to think. I told him as we left "Well, I think I made a good impression!") First time I've ever been hungry on Thanksgiving night... Seriously, that was my worst food incident in more than a decade, I think I'll be getting an epi-pen to carry with me from now on.

Other Stuff: Ride! Ride! Ride! (and Walk): Wednesday night I hit the gym for a leg workout, then walked down to Which Brew. Fantastic night: great crowd, lotsa honeys and the band was rocking. Doug & Lori and also Eric & Kris stopped in after dinner at Porters. Thursday morning was a pre-turkey ride at Jacobsburg, with a light dusting of snow on the ground. Singlespeed ride, but I also rode to/from the 'burg, so I got probably in a 40-mile ride on the singlespeed. Later that evening... (see above).

Friday I led a group ride from Genesis, starting first with Breakfast at Coffee Works on the way. There were five of us who rode to Bethlehem, but another fifteen were waiting at Sand Island, and we all went to ride at Sals. Awesome ride there, then came the ride back to Easton -- only three of us left for this -- and then back home, another 40 miles. Naptime, shower, then I went out again, hoofing it down to Which Brew. Crowded again, but I didn't like either the crowd or the band quite as much, left almost immediately. I stopped in at Porters on the way home, but stuck my head in and saw that if anything it was even more crowded and annoying, turned right around and continued home.

Today was the gym, leg workout again, and following a little bike repair I'll be heading to Which Brew -- again on foot, I kind of like walking through town on a cold night -- to see my friend Heath do his "DJ Heath" thing. I think I'll skip riding tomorrow, maybe do a short hike up in the Poconos.

Reading, Hearing: I'm re-reading Elmer Gantry, not sure why because it's kind of boring (Arrowsmith was way better), but the beginning is pretty good, and has one of the best opening sentences ever: "Elmer Gantry was drunk." I'll just read until it's no longer fun, I already know how it turns out... I just got to the part where he gets love-bombed at a revival meeting, singing all those religious songs, and converts, strange parallels to all the Xmas music now blasting everywhere. Said the little lamb to the mighty king...

Another County Heard From

Morning weigh-in: 179.5#, 11.5% BF

Here's another blog I like: Mimi Smartypants. I sometimes feel like I know her and her family, almost like For better or For Worse (the comic strip), always happy to stop by and see what's going on... until I read this post. Now I just feel dirty.

Well, hitting the gym tonight, then seeing the Foolz at Which Brew. Tomorrow is the Thanksgiving ride, followed by turkey dinner with my good friend Brian's family. (He'd heard I was solo and graciously invited me, saying "now you can see my family at its most dysfunctional." Thanks Brian, and readers: stay tuned!) Friday will be my Black Friday ride, which I'm leading for Genesis Bicycles, and the weekend is still a long way away.

Happy Thanksgiving everyone! By the way, here's an article about one of my heroes.

-- Linky McLinkerson

I've Got Something To Say

And that is, that this guy makes me laugh. Out loud.

Adding A Little Color To The Play-By-Play

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 11% BF (stupid Taco Bell!)

Not much to say, was going to add some affect to the previous post, which seemed somewhat flat emotionally. Instead, I'll just say: I was very glad (relieved, more like) to get back to the gym, and I've been messing around with the tar program lately, among other things. Didn't seem like the kind of thing you could delve into, but it's pretty deep if you want it to be...

Dropped off the car last night, then hit physical therapy, then home to eat healthy (baked stuffed tofu, saurkraut & a big salad) and finish the laundry -- then came the midnight chalupas, dang...

And It Was Good

Morning weigh-in: 177#, 12.5% BF

Fairly mellow weekend, to wit:

Friday night I walked downtown to Which Brew, had a small dinner plus some Allagash white, good time but I was home by midnight -- considering my pedestrian status, I must have left pretty early even though the band (Midnight Shift) was rocking.

Saturday started with the car-rental rigamarole (actually it started with some very-early-morning computer tomfoolery), then came the gym, Nature's Way, and Genesis Bicycles, and then I went down to my parents for a pre-Thanksgiving dinner. Pretty nice, saw my brother & his family, as well as Mom & Dad & my uncle Pat. The drive home was the Carnival of Stupid though, many, many idiots out on the roads, doing foolish and dangerous things.

Sunday was a ride at Allamuchy: me, Brian, Bob, Greg, and Bob's friend Jim. We went about 14 miles, took about four hours all told, serious technical trails. Karen skipped out of studying long enough to get in a short ride of her own; she met us at the trailhead to join us for lunch. Once I got home, it was time for the typical "Sunday Nap And Laundry" regimen.

In The Clutch

Morning weigh-in: 178#, 11.5% BF

Clutch seems like it's been been slipping on the Subaru lately, and last night on the way home it was unmistakeable and pretty severe. Scary drive home too, plenty o' hills between here & there, as well as everywhere else around here... Anyway, will bring it in on Tuesday. Got a ride in this morning, will rent a car tomorrow morning to get me through the next few days.

Meantime, check this out: videos of the last living Tasmanian Tigers. Kind of sad (link via Pharyngula).

Hail To The Chief, Baby

Morning weigh-in: 178.5#, 5.5% BF

Well, I'm now the President of the Chain Gang, as of last night's election. My campaign speech was "well, it's not like I want to be president, it's that I no longer not want to be president," and with that I was swept into power. So what will the theme be for my administration, my major policy initiatives, what I hope for as a legacy? Uh....

Cheese! Cheeeeeeese!

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13% BF

Skipped the weights yesterday, legs still felt a bit whooped. Played on the computer instead, then went to Which Brew for dinner; I had a "mini-me" salad (tomatoes & sliced mozzerella on a bed of greens) and a white pizza (ricotta, mozzerella, et cetera), washed down with a coupla Number Nines. Saw Scott and Pete (of course, of course), Megan & her dad, and Joe M, and also Fred & Lara. I think I prefer Tuesday nights there to any other, even if it's low-key and an early night.

Anyway, tonight is the Chain Gang meeting at Brian's house: pizza on the menu.

Creepiest. Ride. Ever.

Morning weigh-in: 177.5#, 11.5% BF

Went out for a ride along the towpath last night, didn't get started until about 9:00 and managed to thoroughly scare the shit out of myself, with the help of some little urchins and a few wild animals...

Going along the sewerline right-of-way from Iron Street to the start of Riverside Park, you go under the 25th Street Bridge, just after passing the orphanage, or boys home or whatever. About two years ago the orphanage built an annex across from the park and paved the path, and the kids use it to get from one facility to another. Well last night a few of them must have seen me coming, hid by the bridge and jumped out -- "Boo!" -- just as I went past. Friggin' miscreants, like I don't have enough to worry about with real hoodlums, I nearly jumped out of my skin... I'll admit it was pretty funny though, I laughed too, once I got myself a little further down the trail.

Anyway, rode to Sand Island, expecting to see those "real hoodlums" near the b'ball court, but it was quiet and an unmarked cop was parked at the Ice House. Turn around and head home, and by the way I saw more wildlife on this ride (out and back) than I did in all North Carolina, but on the way home I seems that the critters were deliberately messing with me. Crashing in the woods all around, eyes peering at me in the dark, then all of a sudden I hear a a faint but terrible screaming off to my left (at the time I thought it was birds or cats, but now I think something may have killed a rabbit). It made the hair stand up all over my body, and added a few MPH to my average, just as I was hitting the only bumpy part of the ride... Bam Bam Bam, and the battery for my new $400 lighting system pops off and bounces away into the dark. I really, really didn't want to stop, but I was sure not leaving it there. Took about 5 minutes to find, another five to reconnect, all while critters (deer, most likely) were moving around by the canal, like trying to sneak away, and accidentally crashing into/through the underbrush.

Got out of Dodge ASAP after that, ran into many more critters: rabbits, feral cats near the old dump, and one little mouse scurrying along the Palmer bike path. Full moon, I tell ya.

I Yam What I Yam

Took this test, not sure if these results really represent me, maybe should have read the questions more carefully... too late to fix it now though, time for a ride!

Haymaker

You are one of life’s enjoyers, determined to get the most you can out of your brief spell on Earth. Probably what first attracted you to atheism was the prospect of liberation from the Ten Commandments, few of which are compatible with a life of pleasure. You play hard and work quite hard, have a strong sense of loyalty and a relaxed but consistent approach to your philosophy.


You can’t see the point of abstract principles and probably wouldn’t lay down your life for a concept though you might for a friend. Something of a champagne humanist, you admire George Bernard Shaw for his cheerful agnosticism and pursuit of sensual rewards and your Hollywood hero is Marlon Brando, who was beautiful, irascible and aimed for goodness in his own tortured way.


Sometimes you might be tempted to allow your own pleasures to take precedence over your ethics. But everyone is striving for that elusive balance between the good and the happy life. You’d probably open another bottle and say there’s no contest.

What kind of humanist are you? Click here to find out.

That Old Familiar Ache

Morning weigh-in: 179#, 13.5% BF

Got the bike back Friday, rode Friday night on the towpath, very tough -- I felt like I was pushing as hard as I could, but my pace was waaaay slow. Didn't actually leave the house until 8:45 (dinner, chores), rode until 10:50, ridiculous amount of time for me. After that was a trip to Which Brew.

Saturday I ran some errands, hit Coffee Works, then went to the gym of the first time in a while. Did a leg workout: seemed I was only in the gym doing my thing for a short time, but it exhausted me (of what little energy I had) for the rest of the weekend. Forgot about that, happens every time with leg workouts. Hamstrings, the only part of my legs that aren't conditioned by cycling, are still sore/tight.

Saturday night was the George Hrab show, preceded by dinner at the Tally-Ho & followed by drinks at the Station House. Good times, but the evening was later than I intended (though it seemed to be ending prematurely), as I had to get up early. Slept like the dead.

Sunday I got up early & exhausted (damn leg workout) and went to the Deer Park trailwork session. We were supposed to build bridges/walkways, but the park didn't show up with the wood so instead we did a ride... buncha fast guys plus me, ouchie. Came home, napped during laundry, then cleaned the house. And now it's today!

The Autumn Of Our Discontent

Morning weigh-in: 181#, 12% BF

Things, and people, seem out-of-sorts lately, and I'm not just saying that because I'm wearing old-man stretch-pants today...

A Play

ASPIRING JUVENILE DELINQUENT: Uh-oh, here comes Old Man Stretchpants!
OLD MAN STRETCHPANTS: Hey, you kids! Get off my lawn!

...local scenes just seem to be coming apart.

Anyway, dropped off the Turner yesterday after work to get new pivots installed. The last time I did it, it was a total pain in the butt, so this time I brought it in to Bike King -- and Ron was halfway done with the job before I even left. I guess that's the difference between a professional and an amateur... I left the bike there instead of waiting though, because I had to race from Clinton to Wind Gap for physical therapy. Get there, typical circus (in the fun sense as well as the crazy chaos sense), then home to check the 'puter before going to Which Brew for dinner. First time there since the Halloween Party, pretty cool but I still got that "end of an era" feeling there as well.

Well, tonight I'll hit the towpath, tomorrow I'll go to the gym & then to the George Hrab record release party/concert (at the Ice House, dinner beforehand at Brew Works), Sunday I'll do some trail maintenance, it'll be just like old times.

UPDATE: Le Bobo smackdown, yo.

Odds & Ends

Morning weigh-in (Wednesday): 178.5#, 9% BF
Morning weigh-in (Thursday): 179.5#, 12.5% BF

RIP Ken Whalen: Dude in my high school class, tough-guy athlete -- baseball, maybe? and "tough guy" in the "flannel-shirt crowd rather than Izods" sense) -- decent guy though I don't think we ever exchanged more than two words even back in school. Nodding acquaintance, I'd see him at the Yorktowne Inn on occasion, last time being probably 10 years ago. He was driving on the GS Parkway the other day, another car hit his pickup and both crashed: he was ejected from his pickup and died at the hospital. My friend "Henry" (Kevin) called and told me; his mother worked with Ken. Here is an article about the crash.

It's kind of funny, I was just thinking the other day that I was in the lucky "not many people I know are dying" years, too old for teenage misadventure and not yet seeing the effects of age.

Fighting Through The Blockage

Morning weigh-in (Monday): 177.5#, 10.5% BF
Morning weigh-in (Tuesday): 179#, 87% BF (uh-oh)

I've got a lot to say about Nantahala I'm sure, but right now nothing's coming so I'll just keep to the normal routine, talk about my day... Not much to say there either: physical therapy was canceled yesterday (they had staff shortages), so I went straight home and played with the computer, then caught 2nd & 3rd quarters at Porters. Tonight I'll be cooking/eating in, then riding the towpath.

Back In The Valley

I'm back. Great time, more on that later...First thing I did when I got home was check my email -- how pathetic is that? (Don't answer!) Good night.