On this page
| 15 February 2010 | IPCC challenge/response | |
| 22 April 2010 | Facebook blew it | |
| 29 June 2010 | Sartorial | |
| 30 June 2010 | Pride Weekend: Photo Recap | |
| 1 July 2010 | California Gays | |
| 9 July 2010 | Back on a bike... | |
| 28 July 2010 | Heart! |
IPCC challenge/response
Some recent reports have suggested incidents of scientific misconduct in the climate science community. While that is not evidence of incorrect conclusions, it does cast some doubt on the findings of the organizations involved--and right so, I believe. The APS newsletters for December and January have been chock-full of climate discussion--arguing for the retraction of the APS's climate change statement or alteration to reflect uncertainty, counterarguments, and so forth.
My personal take on it is this: climate is really effing complicated. I know a little about the scientific method, publishing, data analysis, and review, but basically have no awareness of the intricacies of modeling the world's atmosphere and hydrology. I'm also aware that plenty of people have significant personal and economic interests in the matter, and an underabundance of understanding. The only reasonable conclusion I can come to is this: trust the people who spend their lives trying to understand climate, and maintain some awareness of their methods. It is my belief, from the limited reading I've been able to do, that the vast majority of climate researchers are doing good science, and working hard to understand and explain to others a very complex problem.
Anyway, that's why I think RealCimate's analysis of the recent challenges over the IPCC's AR4 is a good read.
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Facebook blew it
I've been wary of Facebook's privacy settings for a long time. I set mine to the most restrictive possible back when they announced Beacon. Since then they've released new features on a regular basis, each of which seems to share information about me without my knowledge or permission. You know what, Facebook? Fuck that.
I even disabled the most recent feature--"instant personalization", which allowed third party websites to read my information on page load. Yet my friends can still, according to FB, share my info with any third party. Name, picture, gender, city, friend list, pages, and more. I have to explicitly block each and every app that wants my data. I don't even know how many there are! That "recommend" button? Gives the app access to your data and permission to publish to your feed indefinitely.
Even with instant personalization disabled, CNN.com shows my friends and their profile images on the main page, merged with what CNN stories they liked recently. That's too much for me.
I didn't want to leave. I'll miss keeping in touch with distant friends, especially those who aren't computer experts. I loved looking through photos, too. But I downloaded all the stuff I cared about, wiped my profile clean, and deactivated the account. Just can't trust these guys.
Sartorial
Duretti and her nonexistent website shut me down at lunch:
Duretti Hirpa: no one should take your sartorial advice
Duretti Hirpa: gays thought you were a straighty
Duretti Hirpa: THIS WEEKEND
Duretti Hirpa: at PRIDE
On frontend vs backend engineering:
Duretti Hirpa: PARTYING IS AWESOME
Duretti Hirpa: AND WE SHOULD DO IT ALL THE TIME FOR MAXIMUM USER EXPERIENCE
Duretti Hirpa: WWOOOOOOOOO
I really do have the best roommate ever. :)
Pride Weekend: Photo Recap
What a great weekend! Started off at Civic Center on Saturday.
This guy pretty much sums up the weirdness of it all.
No matter what, the hipsters reign supreme in San Francisco.
Somehow Toyota is always the one keeping the party bumpin'. I believe this is "Stuntin' is a habit".
Went to the Pink Party (along with every resident of the city, times four), at Castro and Market. Was having a pretty good time until I heard a series of quick claps from about 50 feet behind me. It took a second to realize they were gunshots, and I dropped. I've fired guns before, but this was quiet, muffled by the crowd. Turned around to see everyone streaming away from whatever had happened. I didn't get a good look, because I was busy getting a dumpster between me and the shooter. The police converged pretty quickly, and I saw two police bikes dumped on the street, a body crumpled underneath.
Four ambulances and a host of squad cars later, I figured it was time to head home. People only a half block away had no idea it had even happened. As it turns out one man was shot fatally, and two others wounded in the leg. I'm hoping they'll opt to pat people down for entrance next year, rather than shutting the whole thing down.
Sunday was a better day. The parade was exciting, better than any I've seen before. It's always fun to see the mom & pop groups marching between companies struggling to out-gay each other.
Really, if you're anti-gay... all I can tell you is to put your money somewhere else.
And Google had these cute Android shirts with the robot holding hands. Still trying to figure out where I can track one down!
And then there's the church groups—who inexplicably have the best slogans.
The rest of the day I spent at Civic Center. Ran into Chris Robertson and the rest of the Stockton gang; met the Whoo Hoo Girls (possibly the most excited band of straight Indian girls I've ever seen), who demanded pictures with every gay boy they came across; and yes, was mistaken for a straight guy by a man colored the most peculiar shade of orange, and his almost too gay to function underage friend.
"You know, you could look really good, if you just dressed well."
I didn't have the heart to tell them.
California Gays
Hi Mom! I know you want to know what I'm up to down here in CA. This basically sums it up!
Back on a bike...
So Justin took my bike out for a spin with some friends from out of town—and while locked up out in the Marina, it was stolen!
I'm sad to see you go, little grey hybrid.
I bought that bike seven years ago with my first paycheck from Kryptiq. Saved up $400 cash and bought myself a brand new Trek 7200 FX. We rode through thick and thin, all over the city. It got me to school, to work on Fridays, to friends' houses and through the rain to Aikido out in east Portland. It braved flooding, 80 MPH winds, power outages, nails through the tires, and kept on going. We ran Zoobomb, trails through the west hills, construction sites, and freeways. Mostly, though, it got me places without a car.
This happened six weeks back. I've been riding the motorcycle a lot more since then, and got my commute down to 20 minutes--only a tad slower than biking to work. Still, I really miss cycling. It's easier to hop on it and go, without a jacket, helmet, and gloves getting in the way. Anyway, yesterday I finally snagged a so-new-you-can-smell-it 7.3 FX via craigslist. It's quiet, shiny, and fast. I'm excited to move again. :)
Heart!
My bike has been parked next to this 750cc black Ninja for a few weeks now. I think they're moto friends.