Nerdiest thing I've read today . . . so far . . .

This little gem from Wiki. I like the counterargument. Yes, it's dubious.

Project leader Bonwick said, "Populating 128-bit file systems would exceed the quantum limits of earth-based storage. You couldn't fill a 128-bit storage pool without boiling the oceans." Later he clarified:

Although we'd all like Moore's Law to continue forever, quantum mechanics imposes some fundamental limits on the computation rate and information capacity of any physical device. In particular, it has been shown that 1 kilogram of matter confined to 1 litre of space can perform at most 1051 operations per second on at most 1031 bits of information.[10] A fully populated 128-bit storage pool would contain 2128 blocks = 2137 bytes = 2140 bits; therefore the minimum mass required to hold the bits would be (2140 bits) / (1031 bits/kg) = 136 billion kg. To operate at the 1031 bits/kg limit, however, the entire mass of the computer must be in the form of pure energy. By E=mc², the rest energy of 136 billion kg is 1.2x1028 J. The mass of the oceans is about 1.4x1021 kg. It takes about 4,000 J to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1 degree Celsius, and thus about 400,000 J to heat 1 kg of water from freezing to boiling. The latent heat of vaporization adds another 2 million J/kg. Thus the energy required to boil the oceans is about 2.4x106 J/kg * 1.4x1021 kg = 3.4x1027 J. Thus, fully populating a 128-bit storage pool would, literally, require more energy than boiling the oceans.”

This claim is dubious, however, since the energy calculation is based not only on the storage capacity but also on the maximum possible calculation rate of 1051[12], reducing the calculation rate to, say, 1040 operations per second on 2140 bits would reduce the energy required to 1.2x1017 J -- perhaps enough to boil a small lake, but not the oceans. operations per second. Since the energy requirements are directly proportional to the calculation rate

****

Really, wouldn't we all want Moore's Law to continue forever?


1. Jeff Bonwick (September 25, 2004). "128-bit storage: are you high?". Sun Microsystems. Retrieved on 2006-07-12.

The Brothers K -- Quotable 1

Great thought out of one of the books I'm burrowing through (be it ever so slowly):

Technical obsession is like an unlit, ever-narrowing mine shaft leading straight down through the human mind. The deeper down one plunges, the more fabulous, and often the more remunerative, the gems or ore. But the deeper down one plunges, the more confined and conditioned one’s thoughts and movements become, and the greater the danger of permanently losing one’s way back to the surface of the planet. There also seems to be an overpowering, malignant magic that reigns deep down in these shafts. And those who journey too far or stay down too long become its minions without knowing it--become not so much human beings as human tools wielded by whatever ideology, industry, force or idea happens to rule that particular mine. Another danger: Because these mines are primarily mental, not physical, they do not necessarily mar or even mark the faces of those who have become utterly lost in them. A man or woman miles down, thrall to the magic, far beyond caring about anything still occurring on the planet’s surface, can sit down beside you on a park bench or bleacher seat, greet you in the street, shake your hand, look you in the eye, smile genially, say “How are you?” or “Merry Christmas!” or “How about those Yankees?” And you will never suspect that you are in the presence not of a kindred spirit, but of a subterranean force.

***
I think this is why I'm going back to school. Fear of becoming weirder and out of touch with real life.

Happy Sunday

A few thoughts from T.S. Eliot on this snowy Sunday in Colorado:

The endless cycle of idea and action,
Endless invention, endless experiment,
Brings knowledge of motion, but not of stillness;
Knowledge of speech, but not of silence;
Knowledge of words, and ignorance of The Word.
All our knowledge brings us nearer to our ignorance,
All our ignorance brings us nearer to death,
But nearness to death no nearer to God.
Where is the Life we have lost in living?
Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
Where is the knowledge we have lost in information?
The cycles of Heaven in twenty centuries
Brings us farther from God and nearer to the Dust.

Election 2008, Part I

[Warning: This message may contain some negativity. I typed this in a moment of sadness and disappointment. I don’t wish to disparage any candidates, really, and this comment applies across the board. I also realize I jeopardize my standing as a Christian for not mentioning either Jim Wallis, Brian McClaren, Pat Robertson, or Jim Dobson--somebody is bound to feel jilted.]


It looks like the election is shaping up to be quite a downer. There’s a strong possibility we will end up with the worst possible candidates from each party. Just another disappointment in a string of events that makes me lose all hope for the greatness of this country. Can you hear the national anthem in the background . . . waning? I guess what bothers me is that the people who are passionate about making a difference--on either end of the political spectrum--don’t stand a chance. Voters view them with suspicion, so we normally end up with the “safe” candidate, who will ensure the status quo, or worse, continue to drive this train into the ground.

Listening to these candidates spew out their rhetoric is almost comical, if it weren’t really happening. They can literally talk for hours and say absolutely nothing substantive. It’s quite a skill. There’s no use in complaining, really. One can be active about making choices or passively complain that whatever has fallen into one’s lap is their fate.

So, I thought I could get on the ticket in a few years by following the cues of masters of this art. I’m trying to boil this down into a couple of easy steps, what I like to call, “How to garner votes among the masses.” So, without further adieu, my list:

1. Choose a vague platform attached to an intangible notion; for example, "change." If you choose a clever enough word, other candidates will latch on and claim they are the true [intangible notion] candidate.
2. Promise to "fix" all the key issues of the day; for example, "We're going to fix healthcare, global warming, racism, employment, and end this war in Iraq!"
3. Make no provisions on how you would fix any one of these issues which have been broken for years.
4. Don't tell anybody that by "fixing," you mean throwing a bunch of money at the problem.
5. Don't tell anybody the source of that unlimited font of cash.
6. Don't mention any issues that the other party finds key in implementing as ways of fixing your key issues, such as securing the border, stopping illegal immigration, reducing our reliance on foreign oil, reducing the tax burden, protecting the unborn, increasing the strength of the American military, establishing fair export laws, keeping jobs in the U.S., and much more. How can each party ignore every issue the other party is talking about? Why is Hillary a racist and Obama is sexist? Have these issues even been mentioned on the other side?
7. Draft Hollywood into the service of your campaign. Americans will believe anything a celebrity tells them, because they so pitifully stupid they can't recognized that a multi-millionaire Hollywood elite has about as much in common with the average voter as a life-long Washington politician. Both experience a drastically different world than the average voter.
8. At all costs, avoid your own voting record. Never talk about what you have done, but what you will do, even if it’s 180 degrees from what you’ve done in the past. Accuse your opponents of “negative attacks” when they remind voters of your actions.
9. Pander like you mean it. Promise healthcare to seniors, schooling to the young, more money to the middle class, subsidies to big business, welfare to the unemployed, continued funding to the U.N., deregulation to industry, increased protection to government workers, jobs for all citizens and citizens of other countries, funding to harvest embryos for their stem cells, utopia to environmentalists, family values to evangelicals. Nobody would think of putting two and two together . . .
11. Never mention that a strong national identity and defense makes any of this possible.
12. How many ways can you slice a dollar? Apparently, there’s enough to go around, without cutting programs or raising taxes . . .

But alas, it’s too late for 2008. I’ll go and pinch my nostrils closed as I cast my vote in November, voting, once again, for the better of two mediocre choices.

This comes from somebody who tells everybody else to stop blaming the President for their problems. I’m caught up in this and I realize that I want my candidate to win, and if not, I’ll blame all my problems on the next president. Ugh.

\\\\\\

*One candidate said he would fix global warming. I guess he can fix the weather, solar flares, and finally put an end to the cola wars.

The Road

Have you read "The Road?" It's a book that merits some discussion.

Cormac McCarthy creates a nearly lifeless post-apocalyptic world of burnt ash and destruction, and amid the desolation, explores the beauty of a father-son relationship and the essence of what it means to be human. His book poses a couple of problems directed at the morality of this generation, which are more than troubling: the nature of man’s relationship to nature, God, others . . . and how one can live through the hopelessness of desolation.

To be honest, the book became a bit tedious, but the author’s goal is to lead the reader through continuous strife as the man and his boy sought life day after day. Ah, isn’t that what life feels like sometimes? It’s definitely not a feel good story, but nonetheless a vital one that carries much weight. I started feeling ashy by the end of this one.

I had some thoughts about this book, and they won’t go away:

Amid the chaos and destruction, why is there no innovation, no attempt to rebuild? Is Cormac saying that there’s nothing worthwhile in our culture and society to rebuild?
Where is man’s refuge from the evil of the world, if it can no longer be found in the placid environs of nature?
How can man relate to God in the midst of suffering?
Why does hope never die?

Also, good and evil: the man defines “good” by the behavior he does not do, rather than by the positive actions he takes. For example, the father and son agree that they will never resort to cannibalism, because that’s what bad people do; however, the son points out that they are not helping others--feeding the hungry and clothing the naked. In fact, their lack of compassion leads to death for others, which the son points out. This parallel between the rule of law and the law of love is one to be explored further, but it’s a hint about what McCarthy is getting at with this story.

Is he concerned about leaving the destroyed and decayed world to the next generation; the guilt of having children and not leaving the world a better place? Have we not learned love and gratitude in all things, by destroying the world and focusing on survival above all else? What is the legacy we are leaving for future generations?

Where does God reside? The man seems to be cursing God for his abandonment in the burnt wasteland, while the spirit of God continues to live in humanity in the soul of the child, who has no recollection of the world before it has been destroyed. Is this a messianic story exploring the hope of renewal and restoration because of the birth of a child? God also resides in the hope that senselessly drives the man toward a better place. This hope is all that he has, yet he is cursed by it.

Because we have not loved each other well . . . we have destroyed the world. What legacy will we leave our children?

Interesting quote

If you can't think of anything intelligent to write, leave it to the experts. I've been chewing on this one for a few days, by General Douglas MacArthur. Enjoy.

Youth is not a period of time. It is a state of mind, a result of the will, a quality of the imagination, a victory of courage over timidity, of the taste for adventure over the love of comfort. A man doesn’t grow old because he has lived a certain number of years. A man grows old when he deserts his ideal. The years may wrinkle his skin, but deserting his ideal wrinkles his soul. Preoccupations, fears, doubts, and despair are the enemies which slowly bow us toward earth and turn us into dust before death. You will remain young as long as you are open to what is beautiful, good, and great; receptive to the messages of other men and women, of nature, and of God. If one day you should become bitter, pessimistic, and gnawed by despair, may God have mercy on your old man’s soul.

Love

Something happens to us when we receive love from another . . . something wonderful (or awe-ful, in the true sense of the word).

That may be why God asks us to love the unlovable, to love our enemies, to pray for those who hate us.

God is in the business of transformation, and this comes not only to those we love, but to us as we love others.

Check the scriptures, it’s filled with these crazy statements like heaping coals on the enemy’s head by showing love and kindness, loving one another, being reconciled to another before we reconcile with God . . .

God knows that change must take place, and that change agent is us.

We are the ones who can change this life for the better.

We can be blessers . . . ambassadors of the message of reconciliation, those who represent what God is doing in the human race through His children.

Be reconciled to God and love one another. Act out in love to others, so they can be the recipient's of God's love, and receive the change that only love can make in their own lives.

Personally, I could stand to improve much in this area of my life.

Hi

This is the customary opening page, wherein I place false humility statements like, “I’m just one voice, what do I matter?,” and “If you’re here, you probably are a friend of you found me by accident, because nobody would seek out this nonsense I’m spouting out,” then I discuss the merits of blogging in general, asking questions like, “What do I have to contribute to the conversation?” and “Why do you need to know my thoughts, Internet stranger?”

But then I blog anyway, because I need to be heard. Yep, apparently I need this.

So here you are, smarty pants.

I hope you’re happy now. I’ll do my best to use correct grammar in my rantings, so I don't sound like a complete moron.