ztraffer

I have been too absorbed with work to make any postings lately, but now that I have some free time, I want to talk about a momentous event: The switching on of the Large Hadron Collider (the most powerful particle accelerator ever built) last Wednesday. Why is this exciting? Aside from it being likely to change our fundamental understanding of the Universe, for someone like myself, who grew up reading science-fiction and day-dreaming about what wonders FTL, or anti-gravity, or wormhole technology, or force fields, (non-sensical or not) may bring, it feels like a re-awakening of hope that the future will arrive, not in tiny bits and pieces, but in a resounding, trumpet-blaring, triumphantly big chunk. For all of my life, there have been no major applied physiscs breakthroughs. We have basically two types of motors: electrical and chemical -stop counting. Electrical motors are about one century old; rockets are centuries old, internal combustion about century also, and jets (the cutti...

In a newspaper article, a reporter attempted to use this movie as an example to justify the doctrine of the current administration. In essence, that the end justifies the means. That if the only way to defeat our enemies is to play by their rules now and then -to become like them- then that's OK. I agree that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Herein lays the key: what we do makes us what we are. If you knowingly act like a bad guy, you are one. This is why there is a line that should never be crossed. The moment we do, we give up the higher ground, loose our credibility, and our identity. Is it worth surrendering our core values, to win a fight? Some would have us believe that it takes strength to do "what is necessary" -I believe real strength lies in abiding by your principles, no matter how hard, no matter what's at stake. It is giving up on those principles that makes us weak. America strengthens its enemies and weakens itself when it practices t...

During the past two terms of the current administration, the US has plunged from a relatively good situation -budget surplus, sympathy abroad after 9/11, environmental progress- to what seems like the dark ages: a huge deficit, an environmental policy deviced to favor the oil industry, lying its way into a war designed to funnel funds into contractors of all kinds, despised and ridiculed abroad as much as by its own citizens. Perhaps a positive note can be recovered from the catastrophe of the Bush administration: that many of those who, unquestioning, fell for the deceit that sank us into the current disaster, now know better. The eye-opening experience may perhaps explain the shift away from the right, and towards the center in the republican party. In any case, and regardless of the winner, both candidates are far closer ideologically and tactically than either one would ever admit in public. This, in my opinion, bodes well for the ability of the future president to get things past ...

Today, the United States of America celebrates its birthday. To me this should be celebrated in global brotherhood as one of the great milestones in human history as the begining of modern Democracy, not just American history. After all this idea was inspired by the thinkers that paved the way; by France and Britain, by the Roman Republic and classic Greece. This idea that the people should rule their own lives instead of a tyrant or a monarch, grew out of many minds, in many countries, until it found fertile ground in this young nation. It seems so obvious now, that even dictators pretend to be legitimate representatives of the people. Let's remember the high price paid for it by so many people in so many nations, and let's not forget that many more have yet to enjoy it. Let us, at least, be grateful for what we have.

The Speed of Dark Science is more than a collection of theories or dusty books in some academic library, it is a powerful force that can add a new dimension to your life. Once you experience the wonder of it, your view of the world has a new depth of perspective that stretches the mind. Science is a also a way of thinking. I am not a scientist, but no one needs to be one to experience this. You see, coming up with a new scientific idea is the hard part -but understanding that idea once it has been discovered, is something anyone can do. Science has the power to make you rich in a way that money never will, but it's free for the taking. For generations, scientist have been accumulating and perfecting knowledge, refining it, adding to it. Billions are invested in it; like a corporation in which workers and technicians and bureaucrats labor day after day to produce a profit -but you don't have to, you are the shareholder and all you have to do is reap the benefits. Isn't tha...

At first I didn't know it was a commercial, I couldn't figure out where it was headed. It sounded intriguimg, until I realized they were just talking about mobile phones, and the seriousness of it just made it amusing -but still, it appealed to the part of me who loves to search for trends. What will really make a difference, is not so much the "4th screen" itself, but mass mobile internet access and the radical ways in which it will change our lives, and our society.

I hope you were able to join the global campfire, a day when we got together to contemplate that peace is more than just hope.

Do you remeber Internet Time ? It was intended to eliminate the hassle of time zones, as real time interactions across time zones started to raise dramatically. No matter where you are, or what time scheme is in place, everyone shares the same exact time. Under Internet Time, the day was divided into 1000 units (beats), starting at midnight European Central Time. It came out right after the internet boom, and it seemed like an awesome idea (at least to me) -if you've ever tried to coordinate an activity with someone in a different part of the world, you've surely gone through something like this: A: OK, how does tomorrow at 10 AM work for you? B: 10 AM your time or my time? A: My time B: You are US Pacific, right? A: Yes. B: OK, you're 8 hrs behind me so that's 18:00 my time A: Is that military time? I'm not sure... B: Right, sorry -that's 6pm. A: Are you sure, we're on daylight savings time here B: All right, why don't we set up the meeting on Outlook, ...

Today , the life of Netscape Navigator oficially comes to an end. This posting is my tribute to this icon of the internet's dawn. Though its real death came about in the late 90s, after loosing the browser wars to Microsoft's IE, it was given a new lease in life when it was acquired by AOL, though its market share continued to decline, and faded into irrelevance at the turn of the millenium. While Netscape was a better browser in the beginning, IE's eventual superiority became irrelevant in the face of its strategic advantage: IE was pre-installed on all new Windows PCs. In the early years of the web, Netscape soon attained dominance over Mosaic, and was the first browser for most people back then. For those of us who lived immersed in the emerging web, it was like exploring a new world. There were no commercial websites, just individual pages with all kinds of weird content. Forget about media-rich pages, with neatly laid-out content designed by web-design firms. Back the...

I could not let today pass without a posting to mark the event. Happy February 29th, world!

The combination of two events -a total lunar eclipse, and a clear night sky (in Seattle both are quite rare) prompted me to go out and document the occasion. I could see a lot of detail with my binoculars, and managed to take a few photos and video, but most of the detail was lost. Unlike solar eclipses, lunar ones aren't particularly spectacular. The Moon does not go completely dark, but acquires a redish hue. While Earth does block all direct sunlight to the Moon, some is refracted through Earth's atmosphere, the blue portion of the spectrum being absorbed in the process -just like at sunset, when sunlight paints everything red. I wonder how it looked like from the Moon. I imagine the Earth slowly blocking the Sun, its black circumference bordered by a red-gold ring of glowing atmosphere... but that of course, would be a solar eclipse.

A couple of weeks ago, I attended the democratic party presidential caucuses -where voters have the opportunity to vote for their choice of nominee. I almost didn't make it, but I am glad I did. The caucus location was -a very large room at a highschool- filled to capacity; but more than that, the crowd seemed to be humming with a kind of electricity. After speaking with several caucuses veterans, my impression that this caucus had attracted much larger crowds than usual was confirmed. For starters, for the first time in US history, a candidate that is not a white male has a serious chance of becoming president. Add to that the fact that a large part of the population is desperate for change -even on the republican side, those who supported the current administration are fed up with it, according to the polls. This could explain, at least in part, why McCain -the most anti-establishmentarian force within his party- has become the republican front runner in spite the hostility of th...

As I looked through my usually empty kitchen cabinets earlier this evening, I was happily surprised to find a TV dinner, just when I was debating which of my healthy and nutritious meal options to opt for (go hungry, order pizza, or suck on some mustard packets). The TV dinner's history is divided into two distinctive epochs: pre and post- convenience store. The former began sometime between its arrival at the convenience store, and an unknown point in time after the big bang. The latter ended a few moments ago, and started when, sometime last year, I picked up the TV dinner at said convenience store on my way to work. Somehow, it ended up in a remote corner of an unused drawer, where its existence soon faded from my mind. A few weeks ago, it again saw the light as I was cleaning my desk, and I decided too bring it home for later examination. Again, I threw it in yet another unused drawer -this time in the kitchen, and soon forgot about it. This time, when I found it, noticed somet...

Don't miss it: http://www.pangeaday.org

John McCain , republican presidential hopeful for the US elections of 2008, has just won the State of Florida primaries, leaving him well positioned for "super Tuesday", a key event in the presidential race. I am very happy about this. First of all, because I just think that he is one of those rare exotic species: the honest politician. Of course, I don't really know, I can't know for certain, what is in his mind, what his true motivations and intentions are. However, I do believe that a person's eyes are a window into their soul, and that if you pay attention, you can see a lot through them. What I see, is honesty, selflesness, and the drive to do what is right -not too scientific, but I think that intuition, when balanced by analysis, is a powerful tool. Second, because he is one of the very few -certainly the only one this close to the top- who feels strongly about finance campaign reform, which in my opinion is the single most important issue in US politics. W...

Limitations of Representation Have you ever thought to yourself, “if I was president, I would handle this issue this way” or “drastic changes are needed in this area now” or “this important issue is being ignored”? As individuals, our direct influence on the policies and actions of our nation are limited at best. So we settle for hoping that the people in office don’t upset things too much for the rest of us, and perhaps -dare we hope- actually make things better. And yet this system -representative democracy- is the best practical system of government us humans now have. By best, I mean a system that maximizes the ability of the society and individuals abiding by it, to thrive and achieve their potential. An intrinsic problem of political power is that for the most part –there are of course, exceptions to the rule- the kind of people that are good at acquiring it, are not the best choice for wielding it. If you crave power above all things, you probably shouldn't have it. By the s...

For the past month or so, it seems that as soon as I get a free moment, I find myself watching yet another fascinating talk at TED . Soon I'll run through all the archives and will have to do with just a couple a week. Delirium tremens looms.

Perhaps the most beautiful solar eclipse in our system. This breathtaking picture was taken by the Cassini spacecraft. Besides the stunning views of Saturn's ring system, our planet can also be seen as a tiny blue dot, a billion miles away.

Happy New Year, world!